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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