Celebrity Cruises will have four of its Solstice Class ships sailing full European seasons in summer 2012.
The cruise line is also offering extended overnight stays and eight new ports – Klaksvik (Faroe Islands), Akureyri (Iceland), Bari, Catania and Ravenna (Italy), Skijolden (Norway), Koper (Slovenia) and Fuerteventura.
The 2,886-guest Celebrity Silhouette, due to launch in summer 2011, will be the first Celebrity Cruises ship to offer sailings from Venice.
These will be a series of roundtrip, Venice-based cruises and open-jaw cruises between Venice and Rome, ranging from 11-13 nights from May to August 2012.
In mid-August, Celebrity Silhouette will offer eight Holy Land itineraries from Rome, ranging from 11-14 nights.
UK based Celebrity Eclipse will be based in Southampton for the summer of 2012, offering four 14-night itineraries in the Mediterranean, Scandinavia/Russia, Iceland/Fjords and Canary Islands/Azores.
A new expanded Baltic season will include cruises to Iceland and the Norwegian Fjords, with an overnight stay in Reykjavik.
Celebrity Constellation, which was fitted with a series of Solstice-class features in 2010, will offer a series of cruises from Amsterdam, including seven Scandinavia/Russia cruises, one Arctic Circle cruise and one Norwegian Fjords cruise.
Celebrity Constellation will also offer three 12-night Greek Isles and Turkey cruises with only two sea days, and three 12-night Holy Land sailings that each feature three days in Israel: a two-day overnight, in-port stay in Ashdod and Alexandria and a full-day in Haifa.
Celebrity Solstice and sister ship Celebrity Equinox will continue 2011’s itineraries.
Celebrity Solstice will present two 12-night Mediterranean sailings out of Barcelona and Celebrity Equinox will homeport in Rome, and perform 10- and 11-night cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean.
By Bev Fearis
