“We have a renewed fleet. As of March, we are operating two new-to-the-brand vessels and have moved away from the older ships,” said Chris Theophilides, CEO of Celestyal.

The company purchased the 1993-built Celestyal Journey, the former Ryndam, in March 2023, and started operations in September. That was followed by the 2003-built Celestyal Discovery, which was the former AIDAaura and was purchased in November when a previous deal Carnival had to sell the ship fell through. The Discovery entered operations in March. With the fleet refreshed, the 1992-built Crystal and 1982-built Olympia have been retired.

“We have also committed to new operating regions in the Adriatic and Arabian Gulf. The culmination of this means it’s a year-round operation for us,” added Theophilides. “The headline is investment, not just in hardware, but in people, systems and anything to do with the customer.”

Investment

The ships and refurbishments were helped by new capital, with private equity joining the Celestyal ownership structure some 24 months ago.

Theophilides said the first phase of cap-ex in both ships was finished, with the investment going into passenger areas on both ships.

The Discovery saw a refresh of its premium suite inventory, and now features all new balcony and penthouse suites, enabling the company to triple the number of balconies it has on its weeklong product.

The Journey saw a significant amount of work in public spaces.

“There is nothing left from the AIDA era,” said Theophilides. “The ship was in good condition but just had a different look and feel for that market. So we’ve completely redone all that and changed the passenger flow, making it more conducive for our three- and four-night cruises.”

A new phase of investment will include exhaust gas cleaning and shore power installations for the Discovery, and shore power and automation systems for the Journey, which already has an exhaust gas cleaning system.

 Differentiators

“What distinguishes us is that we have a full in-house management company for technical, marine and hotel operations,” said Theophilides. “That works tremendously in our favor in terms of purchasing.

“We do a benchmark on this every few years and look at potentially outsourcing some items, but we always come out more efficient, especially on the hotel and food and beverage purchasing side.”

Theophilides said one of the reasons the company was able to absorb and refurbish capacity quickly and on time was thanks to having its own in-house ship management, thus completely controlling the process.

“Our key ingredient has always been differentiating ourselves through our itineraries,” he continued. “When we say destination immersion, I really mean it and we show it. We stay in ports longer; when there are other ships pulling out we are still there, allowing the guests to immerse themselves in destinations and nightlife.”

That is the recipe, so to speak, the company is leaning on as it opens new operating areas in the Adriatic and Arabian Gulf.

Deployments in both those regions grow in 2025. The company will spend more time in the Adratic next summer in a butterfly rotation with the Eastern Mediterranean, allowing guests to combine two unique seven-day itineraries into a two-week cruise. The Arabian Gulf deployment will also grow, with a longer season planned for 2025-26 with both ships.

Excerpt from the Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine Summer 2024