Celestyal on the lookout for a replacement ship

Celestyal Cruises has revealed that it is looking for a new ship to replace either of its current ships, the Celestyal Crystal or Celestyal Olympia

The Greek operator said that it would be focusing on “increasing capacity rather than fleet expansion”,  highlighting how few balcony cabins the line has on its current ships.

Speaking exclusively to Cruise Adviser, Leslie Peden, Celestyal’s chief commercial officer, said: “Celestyal Crystal carries between 900 and 1,200 passengers depending on the mix of third and fourth berths. We need a ship with a higher density of balcony staterooms, particularly on those longer seven-night itineraries where we’re developing our deployment.

“What you could therefore see is us switching to a higher-capacity ship. It might not mean that we start a ton of new routes but we might be able to use a new vessel to do something different.”

Peden also revealed that the line was looking at changing its messaging, transitioning from a line known for being Greek to one that is a Mediterranean specialist.

He explained: “We’re also doing quite a big piece of work to create a narrative around our brand. We’ve hired a brand guru to help us. We have all of these great Greek components but we need to make sure that they can be translated into the other regions of the world where we sail.

“Our Adriatic itineraries are a good example. We visit Greece but once we’ve gone beyond those borders we need something that is portable. That will come through this year in our marketing messages and how we present the brand to the trade.”

He also revealed that the company was hiring a business development manager for the North of England, for an area to include Scotland and Ireland. The new addition will take Celestyal’s UK team to six members.

Celestyal Cruises is the main home-porting cruise operator in Greece and a leading line serving the Greek Islands and East Mediterranean region. 

Its focus is on destination, with the relatively small size of its ships – Celestyal Crystal carries 1,200 passengers and Celestyal Olympia carries 1,664 – enabling the line to reach smaller ports. 

Last year, Celestyal welcomed 3,000 UK passengers on board its ships. Peden has said he expects this to reach 5,000 by the end of 2020.