Following completion of their summer 2021 Mediterranean itineraries in late August, Celestyal Olympia and Celestyal Crystal's fall and winter sailings will be postponed until March 2022.
"All named and paid individual guests" scheduled to sail on affected 2021 itineraries from September through December can opt for full refunds or apply their deposits to 2022 or 2023 sailings, with 20 percent bonuses applied to future itineraries, the line said.
Celestyal Olympia is slated to conclude "Legendary Archipelago" sailings on Aug. 28, and Celestyal Crystal is set to complete "Idyllic Aegean" itineraries on Aug. 30.
"The 2021 summer season has proven to be an important first step in gradually returning to a more normalized operating environment following the pause of operations throughout 2020," Celestyal said.
"The cruise line typically shifts to longer haul source markets in fall and winter, which are the primary source for Celestyal's popular shorter, three- and four-night itineraries.
With the current travel restrictions in place, and the continuing evolution of additional restrictions coming into play across most source markets that typically sail later in the season, travelers have been less willing to take the necessary steps to travel this fall and winter especially for trips of shorter duration and have indicated a clear preference to defer their cruises until 2022."
The 1,664-passenger Celestyal Olympia is operating the "Legendary Archipelago" itinerary calling at Thessaloniki; Mykonos; Santorini; Agios Nikolaos and Rhodes; and Limassol, Cyprus.
The 1,200-passenger Celestyal Crystal is sailing on seven-night "Idyllic Aegean" itineraries, with calls at Patmos, Rhodes, Santorini, Lavrion, Mykonos, Milos and Crete.
"We are confident our decision to postpone the fall and winter itineraries is the right one," said Celestyal Cruises CEO Chris Theophilides.
"Celestyal continues to draw a large portion of our guests from a number of global source markets that each have their specific preferred travel period, and it became apparent to us that these core markets have become less interested in being inconvenienced by the current and ongoing travel restrictions in place - particularly for shorter duration trips in the fall and winter."
"In the coming months, we look forward to announcing new experiences to be enjoyed by guests in 2022 and beyond," he said, adding that the line plans to launch a new reservations system this fall with enhanced self-service functionality for its travel advisors partners.
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