Celebrity Cruises to Visit Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and French Polynesia

Celebrity Cruises is planning to return to Australia and New Zealand in 2011-12, with an enticing new series of vacations on Celebrity Century.

"This marks a significant expansion of Celebrity's diverse array of global vacation options," said Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Dan Hanrahan. "We're thrilled to return to Australia and New Zealand. It's a region our guests and trade partners around the world have said they wanted to experience again with Celebrity, pairing our award-winning dining, exceptional service and high style with the beauty, charm and diversity of the area. This move further exemplifies our 'Designed for you' platform, and how we fulfill what cruisers' desire."

Marking the line's first return to Australia in two years, Celebrity's exotic new Australia and New Zealand season - bookended by a series of vacation options in Hawaii - features a total of 36 ports in six countries: Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, French Polynesia, the U.S. and Mexico. The lineup includes 10 distinct itineraries, with six varied departure ports, including Sydney and Perth (Fremantle), Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Honolulu, Hawaii; San Diego, California, and Ensenada, Mexico.

Celebrity's new series begins 2 October 2011, with two consecutive 15-night Hawaii sailings from San Diego, followed by a 10-night Hawaii cruise from Ensenada to Honolulu. An 18-night "Pacific Jewels" voyage departs Honolulu November 11, followed by five 12 and 13-night New Zealand cruises between Sydney and Auckland, including a festive holiday sailing departing Sydney 24 December 2011. These offer a more destination-rich experience for cruisers, with only three days at sea, versus five on most competing lines' itineraries.

Cruisers also have the opportunity to experience a rare, 36-night circumnavigational voyage - a first for Celebrity - through two combinable 18-night sailings: One will sail around the southern portion of Australia, featuring an overnight stay in Sydney and transits through three sounds - Milford, Doubtful and Dusky - in New Zealand's World Heritage-designated Fiordland National Park. The second of the combinable 18-night sailings takes cruisers around Australia's northern coast, and features a visit to the idyllic island of Bali, Indonesia - marking yet another first for Celebrity.

The new series also includes two tantalizing, 18-night Trans-Pacific voyages visiting the French Polynesian islands and Hawaii.
Among the ports Celebrity will visit for the first time are Geraldton, Broome, Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide, Albany, Bunbury and Perth, Australia, in addition to Burnie, Tasmania, and Bali.

Bookings open for the entire slate of vacation options on Thursday, 29 July 2010.

The 1,814-guest Celebrity Century is ideal for offering guests spectacular views of the scenic region, having been refitted in 2006 to add 314 new verandas, along with the elegant Murano restaurant and the "cool" Martini ice bar.

Celebrity's new series of itineraries from 2 October 2011 through 20 April 2012, replace the previously announced series of 12-night Caribbean cruises from Baltimore on Celebrity Century. Guests with individual and group bookings that are named and deposited on Celebrity Century on or after 2 October 2011, have the option to cancel their booking, or move to the same category of accommodations on a comparable Transcanal voyage on Celebrity Infinity, either 28 October 2011, or 27 March 2012; Celebrity Century's new Hawaii sailings 2 or 17 October 2011, or 2 or 20 April 2012; 10 or 11-night Caribbean cruises on Celebrity Equinox in 2011, or entirely new 12-night Caribbean sailings from Cape Liberty, NJ, on Celebrity Silhouette, the line's fourth Solstice Class ship, entering service in 2011. Holiday sailings are open only to guests currently booked on Celebrity Century's double-holiday voyage of 23 December 2011. Guests with applicable bookings who opt to shift to one of the eligible sailings will receive a $200 per stateroom or $400 per suite onboard credit.

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