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After pulling out of the Arabian Gulf, Celestyal is expanding its Mediterranean deployment in winter 2026/27 and winter 2027/28 to the western region, supplementing its traditional eastern Med and Greece focus.
Celestyal Discovery will operate the new 14-night "Mediterranean Odyssey: Spain, Portugal and Morocco" itinerary with overnight stays at Tarragona, Cádiz and Lisbon and extended calls at Málaga and Casablanca. Other destinations are Gibraltar, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca and Sète. Fares start at €1,069 per person.
The itinerary will also be available in two seven-night versions, sailing from Tarragona to Lisbon or Lisbon to Tarragona, with fares starting at €639 per person.
The Western Mediterranean will be bookended by two eight-night "Mediterranean Rivieras" repositioning cruises, linking the Eastern and Western Med. Departing from Piraeus on Nov. 28 this year, Celestyal Discovery will call at Kusadasi, Messina, Naples, Civitavecchia (Rome) for an extended stay, Nice and Tarragona (overnight).
After two "Mediterranean Odyssey" cruises, Celestyal Discovery will leave Tarragona on Jan. 2 and return to the Eastern Med via the same ports.
Fares start at €729 per person.
The eight-night cruise may be combined with "Mediterranean Odyssey" for a 22-night voyage. This can be extended to 26 nights by adding a four-night "Iconic Greek Islands" cruise.
For the 2027/28 winter season, Celestyal Discovery's first West Med repositioning cruise will leave Piraeus on Nov. 19, 2027. The ship will operate six "Mediterranean Odyssey" departures before beginning its return voyage to the East Med from Tarragona on Feb. 19, 2028.
The company is still finalizing Celestyal Journey's operating plans for the 2027/28 winter.
Since exiting the Arabian Gulf and returning to the Med, Celestyal's had a "really, really good May and June," according to John Diorio, VP and managing director of business development for North America, though sales skewed to the brand's home markets, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans.
High air costs put "a little pressure" on North America with a "little bit" of a shift to European source markets in May, June and July. However, Diorio said North American business recently started to pick up for September and October and is driving the bulk of the fall sales, and 2027 is "off to a great start."
Most marketing is focused on 2027.
That said, the company just launched a new "Suite Summer Sale" in North America, offering the chance to upgrade with suite fares starting at $649 per person. Running through August, the sale applies to all 2026 Mediterranean itineraries.
Included is Celestyal's "Sail with confidence" program with flexible booking conditions and low deposits starting at $50 per person.
According to Diorio, "North America is the market that continues to drive the company's business." It's been a year since he joined Celestyal and he's pushing out more trade programs so that when travel advisors think of sending clients to the Mediterranean, they think of Celestyal first.
"Nobody is more authentically Mediterranean," Diorio said, citing Celestyal's mix of iconic destinations like Mykonos and Santorini and less frequented places such as Milos and Patmos, along with the brand's land expertise. And advisors earn commission on excursions booked in advance of sailing.
Diorio recently introduced Celestyal Stars of Excellence to reward the top 50 individual travel advisors in North America, based on calendar-year bookings. They'll be invited to sail the Mediterranean in premium accommodations in spring 2027 on a cruise that will feature a Stars Gala, round tables and exclusive tours.
Diorio's also close to announcing Celestyal's first North American travel advisory board. He's thinking five to seven members representing a range of US and Canadian sellers across various business models.
Celestyal has no current plans to go back to the Arabian Gulf, where it had both ships. "The Arabian Gulf was amazing for us," Diorio said. "It's unfortunate what happened. We're grateful for our partners there."
He couldn't venture if the region is in the cards long-term, saying only: "For now, it's on hold."
