You'll be surprised which cruise line is offering short weekend cruises in 2024
Move over Carnival: There are new, short weekend cruise offerings in town. For the first time, Celebrity Cruises will sail three- and four-night voyages from Florida, year-round, beginning in April 2024.
In offering these cruises, Celebrity will also double its capacity in the Caribbean by redeploying Celebrity Reflection to the region all year. It will join new fleet mate Celebrity Beyond, which has been sailing there since November 2022.
The announcement comes just a week after sister brand Royal Caribbean said the new ship Utopia of the Seas will offer similar short sailings. It's rare for newer vessels to offer short voyages, which often appeal to passengers with limited time or money or new cruisers who aren't sure they want to commit to an entire week.
Catering to a recent surge in traveler demand for shorter voyages, Celebrity Reflection will offer a consistent rotation of three-night weekend cruises (departing each Friday and returning each Monday morning) and four-night weekday sailings (departing each Monday and returning each Friday morning).
The ship's itineraries will include stops at Key West in Florida, and Nassau and Bimini in the Bahamas, round-trip from Fort Lauderdale.
Celebrity Beyond will sail six- and eight-night voyages from Fort Lauderdale, calling on ports like Grand Cayman; Cartagena, Colombia; Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao; St. Lucia; St. Maarten and St. Kitts.
In another first for Celebrity, both ships will also visit Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas, which received a $250 million overhaul in 2019. The island features several beaches, a hot-air balloon ride, a lazy river, a giant wave pool, a cluster of waterslides (including North America's tallest) and an exclusive beach club with elevated cuisine and floating cabanas.
"Our customers are consistently asking for more opportunities to visit this stunning region year-round, have more weekend options so they can get away easier, and have expressed a desire for a private island destination. By introducing this new program, we can meet this demand and offer something new and historic to all our guests," said Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises, in a statement from the line.
"Perfect Day is a destination like no other, and we are honored to add it to our portfolio."
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The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month