CELEBRITY Cruises VP International Giles Hawke (pictured) has confirmed the line will visit the Lelepa private destination in Vanuatu, currently in development by its sister brand Royal Caribbean, CW can exclusively reveal.
Hawke said some of the line’s best feedback is for its calls at Perfect Day at CocoCay – another Royal Caribbean private destination that Celebrity has only recently begun sailing to (CW 23 Jun 2023).
Lelepa is scheduled to arrive in 2027 (CW 04 Jun), with the cruise line’s Celebrity Edge and the recently renovated Celebrity Solstice scheduled to sail in Australia during the season.
“We’ll go to Lelepa when it opens,” Hawke confirmed.
“If we’re in that region of the world, then it would make sense for us to go there, the same way we go to Perfect Day.”
Royal Caribbean will be prioritised in visiting Lelepa, Hawke clarified, as the main patrons of the destination.
The cruise line’s CEO Michael Bayley recently confirmed to CW it will visit the private destination on almost all of its Australian itineraries (CW 18 Aug).
Celebrity, like Royal Caribbean (CW 19 Aug), is also beginning to pursue a shorter itinerary strategy in order to further tempt new-to-cruise passengers onto its ships (CW 28 Jun 2024).
However Australians are still continuing to book longer with Celebrity, Hawke confirmed. MS