By
Rebecca Gibson |
Celebrity Cruises’ new expedition ships Celebrity Xploration and Celebrity Xperience are to sail itineraries in the Galapagos Islands when they launch in March 2017 following multimillion-dollar refits.
Celebrity Xperience will offer seven-, ten- or 13-night, all-inclusive vacations to new ports including Mosquera Islet, Black Turtle Cove, Cerro Brujo, Santa Fe, Darwin Bay and El Barranco. The ship will also offer a new Xperiential Travel 13-night itinerary, allowing guests to spend two nights in Quito, Ecuador, sail for seven nights and then enjoy a three-night experience in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island.
This will include two nights in a seaside hotel, a visit to a local farm or greenhouse to gather provisions that will be used to prepare an exclusive dinner with a professional chef at a local restaurant. Guests will also get the opportunity to join local fisherman to find the catch of the day for a special dinner with the chef that evening. Vacationers will learn about responsible tourism that fuels and helps preserve the islands while encountering wild species of fish. After, guests can visit a private beach to snorkel and swim.
Meanwhile, guests can charter Celebrity Xploration for a seven-night, all-inclusive vacation to ports such as El Barranco, Darwin Bay, Espumilla Beach, Mosquera Islet, Chinese Hat, Kicker Rock, Cerro Brujo, Walls of Tears and Puerto Villamil, the home to the Galapagos Giant Tortoise Center.
In addition to the two new ships, travellers can continue to enjoy seven-, ten-, 11- or 15-night, all-inclusive vacations on the 100-guest Celebrity Xpedition. Available shore excursions will range from dining on authentic cuisine prepared by local residents to contributing to the protected islands through the Scalesia Reforestation Project – a unique partnership with the Galapagos National Park.
All sailings can be combined with pre- and post-cruise land experiences, while shore excursions will be led by expert naturalists.
“With more than 12 years in the Galapagos Islands, guests have told us that we are best-in-class at providing award-winning vacations in this unique corner of the world,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. “Now we are offering the trip-of-a-lifetime onboard our newest ships with itineraries featuring ports of call we’ve never visited before and experiences that are exclusive to Celebrity. If a modern luxury vacation in the Galapagos Islands wasn’t on your bucket list before, it definitely should be on it now.”
Celebrity Xploration is a catamaran featuring eight staterooms, each with a window or veranda, while the larger Celebrity Xperience has 24 staterooms. All guest accommodation features premium mattresses, pillows and bedding, and LCD TVs. Both ships will also offer a high-speed internet service.