Celestyal revealed plans to invest more in the UK market and offer additional fam trips and ship visits as it put multiple seasons on sale.
The line’s summer 2028 programme, comprising 124 sailings, will go on sale on September 4, while seven new sailings on Celestyal Journey for winter 2027-28 are already open for booking.
Both seasons expand the company’s presence in the Mediterranean, with departures from Barcelona, Lisbon, Athens and Istanbul.
The new season launches put the specialist on sale up until November 17, 2028, and winter 2028-29 will go on sale in the first quarter of 2027.
It comes after Celestyal confirmed 50% of its first winter season in the western Mediterranean for 2026-27 on Celestyal Discovery is already sold, replacing its cancelled Arabian Gulf sailings.
The line has launched a campaign – ‘Uncrowded, Unforgettable, Authentically Med’ – to promote the sailings, with seven-night cruises leading in from £419 per person.
Janet Parton, vice-president of marketing, PR and customer experience, said the new itineraries represented “a really clear direction for Celestyal”, with expanded destinations and durations in the western and eastern Mediterranean which would appeal to UK customers.
Parton said: “I absolutely think the new Mediterranean itineraries mean the UK can get a bigger share of voice in terms of bookings, certainly with the airlift that’s there.”
She added the company will “rebuild the UK team back again” and invest more in the market, including in co-op marketing with agents and multiple trade incentives.
The business plans to host a fam trip for 40 of its top-selling agents on a sailing from Tarragona on December 5.
Dan Buckingham, director of sales for Europe, promised more details to come on future fam trips and ship visits, adding: “There is a huge piece of work we are doing in the background to look at where we can have continual ship tours and ship visits which is something quite unique that we have not been able to do before.”
Speaking about future deployment plans, Parton said the line had “not completely ruled out” returning to the Gulf after both of its ships being stuck there for two months earlier this year, but it would have to “make commercial sense to do so”.
“I very much doubt we would ever go back with two ships, so if we do go back, it would be with one, and then have one in the Mediterranean, but there is nothing finalised for that deployment at the moment,” she said.
“We are using the next six months to look at what the winter deployment looks like for 2028-29.”
