Celebrity Cruises Looks Ahead to 2027 and Beyond
Updated: 8 hours ago
ITTN’s Katie joined key travel trade at the Celebrity Cruises dinner last night in Fire Steakhouse. Katie was lucky enough to sit down with Claire Stirrup, MD UK&I and Leigh Aslett, new Sales Director for UK&I, to talk to them about all things ocean and river!
Two weeks into her new role, Aslett spent most of her 14-year career at the Royal Caribbean Group leading the trade marketing, trade support and training team, taking on European sales in the last two years. With her team, Aslett created Celebrity Central, designed selling guides, trade incentives, and campaigns like Celebrity Moments: “I think that's given me a really good grounding and understanding of what we need to do, commercially with our partners and also what it’s like for frontline sellers and what they need from us," said Aslett talking to Katie yesterday evening.
Last week, Celebrity announced they have formally opened bookings for the maiden sailing season of its new Celebrity Xcite ship, the sixth ship in the Celebrity Cruises’ award-winning Edge Series, which will sail the Caribbean in 2028 and 2029.
“We haven't announced any details around the ship. It's still very top secret,” said Stirrup, “we're incredibly pleased that it's gone on sale, as has most of our 2028 deployment now. And we’ve launched that earlier than ever before - which was really down to the feedback we've received and the demand that we've seen.”
With 2027 just around the corner, Celebrity have also announced their exciting ship enhancements coming down the line. The Celebrity Solstice recently completed a 45-day dry-dock modernization in March 2026 as part of Celebrity Cruises' $250M+ Solstice-series enhancement program. They brand is revolutionising spaces and delivering new ways to experience the Caribbean with Celebrity Reflection. A beloved ship in Ireland, having had her homeport for a season here, she is the second Solstice Series ship to be made new again, the transformation introduces 13 new spaces including Edge Series standouts like the stunning Grand Plaza, guest-favourite venues from the revitalized Celebrity Solstice and two brand-new concepts – Orange Peel Bar & Grille and Tacos del Sol. She’ll be coming out of dry dock in March 2027.
It’s no secret that Celebrity River Cruises are long anticipated in the market with priority booking access selling out in just 6 minutes with the remaining 2027 inventory selling out in 5 hours. Celebrity Compass will make its maiden voyage on August 5, 2027, while Celebrity Seeker will begin its inaugural sailings in October 2027 on the Danube and the Rhine with customers predominantly booking seven-night stays.
Last week at World Travel Market London, Katie had the opportunity to join a press briefing where journalists had the opportunity to try a VR experience of Celebrity Compass. Here, they could explore a virtual reality design of the new river ship, seeing the bedrooms, dining facilities and top deck. Valerie Murphy will be bringing this experience to travel agents across Ireland soon, so that they can get a feel for the new ships.
“I absolutely want to reassure our partners in Ireland we're on sale for 2028,” said Aslett yesterday, “there is availability there. We know river cruising is growing within the Irish market. There are certain elements of our ocean ships that our customers really love and it’s very important to us as a brand that when you go onto a Celebrity river ship, you have that same feeling. One of the things that we really pride ourselves in for our customers is how we make them feel when they're on board – whether that their surroundings, the design, the service that we bring, and you will see that on a Celebrity River ship as well.”
There are now five ships on sail for Celebrity river cruises, available to book up to 2028 with the goal to have 20 ships on the water by 2030. With just 86 suites onboard and 172 guests, getting trade on the ships is a little different that their ocean liners – but, says Stirrup, there’ll be some exciting news in the new year about what the plan is: “the sooner we can get trade comfortable and confident and give them all the training and the tools they need, then they'll be off and running.”
Celebrity ocean cruises remain a priority at Celebrity, says Aslett: “we have had a really great year in the Irish market and there is still so much opportunity. The Irish travel trade really do get behind us. I've been spending a lot of time with partners this week and the love for our brand is phenomenal. They do such an incredible job for us. What we need to do is make sure that we continue to provide the tools and the resources to help enable them to understand why we're different and why we demand a premium price point.”
There are some exciting new training initiatives that Celebrity will be rolling out both in Dublin and Belfast next year while they continue with their commitment to invest in training overall.
“The Irish travel trade never ceases to amaze me,” said Stirrup yesterday, “because they've had a great year with us but it's been a tough year for everybody. It has hit some markets harder than others. I think our commitment to the Irish trade could not be stronger and it excels for two reasons: their commitment to our brand which we are forever grateful for alongside their partnerships and developing relationships. We don't just want to hear when it's great, we also want to hear when we don't always get it right. Their feedback and their honesty and their relationship is absolutely vital – they’re the ones talking to the consumers at the end of the day.”
Celebrity’s support of the trade is continuing with the launch of Cruising Power yesterday, across both the UK and Ireland markets. The new global trade platform will now give agents the ability to see Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises in one place.
“Celebrity Central has been our trade platform for the last few years and everything that you see within Central Central will be available in Cruising Power,” said Aslett, “we will also have additional enhancements available on Cruising Power now. We have a new live chat function supported by AI – which is really great for home workers who might need a question answered at ten o’clock at night, the bot can help with that. I would absolutely encourage our partners to go into the system, create a log on if they haven't already and have a look around.”
New features of the Cruising Power platform will also include itinerary search functionalities, bringing Royal and Celebrity together. This will bring ports of call into more focus with attractions and restaurant recommendations, especially for agents that might not be familiar with every stop. Travel agent reservation systems like Espresso are not affected by this new move, and will have increased booking power as well.
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