Celestyal to Expand to Year-Round Operations, Adds Persian Gulf Itinerary, Expands Trade Team

Celestyal Cruises is entering 2024 with full confidence in its role as “challenger brand,” cruise line executives told journalists during an online media briefing on Tuesday. With two new-to-brand ships ready to set sail this March, the line is also ready to set sail to new destinations, including via an all-new seven-day Persian Gulf itinerary that launches in November. The itinerary will run from January to March, marking the first time Celestyal has sailed during the winter months. Prior to this year, Celestyal only operated cruises from March to December.

“We’re building a platform for future growth,” said Celestyal’s CEO, Chris Theophilides. “Our aspiration is not to remain a two-ship line but to get from two ships to more ship we need to ensure that we’re operating in more parts of the world, that we’re operating on a year-round basis…”

Winter season
The new seven-night “Desert Days” itinerary, which will be operated on Celestyal Journey, launches Nov. 9, sailing roundtrip from Doha, Qatar with calls in Bahrain, Dubai, Khasab (Oman), Sir Bani Yas, and Abu Dhabi.

Desert Days itineraries will be offered through Jan. 18, 2025, and subsequently return as a permanent feature for the line’s winter season.

In 2024, the Desert Days itinerary will be the only winter season offering, but in 2025, the cruise line will bring back its popular “Three Continents” itinerary, which includes stops in Israel and Egypt (along with Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus). These are scheduled to start up again in November 2025 and will run through March 2026.

“Moving to an all-year round operation is a big, big step forward for us,” said Lee Haslett, chief commercial officer at Celestyal.

“We’re listening to what our guests would like from us,” added Theophilides. “We get very high ratings for what we do in the Greek Isles. We have a very low repeat rate simply because we don’t give our guests the opportunity to revisit us. What you’re seeing here is giving our very satisfied guests the opportunity to revisit Celestyal in new areas.”

Core program expansion
Celestyal will continue to run its “core” program (Idyllic Aegean and Iconic Aegean) from April to October.

New to the core deployment is an expansion of the line’s recently introduced “Heavenly Adriatic” itinerary that departs from Greece and visits Montenegro, Croatia, and Italy. Several summer departures for this itinerary have been added in response to demand from North American passengers and include a call in Venice.

Trade team and trade support expansion
In Celestyal’s ongoing efforts to court more of the North American travel agency community, Celestyal has expanded its trade team with four new hires, bringing the total number to 11 members with additional recruitment underway.

“North America represents roughly 50% of our business from a sourcing perspective today,” said Brandon Townsley, vice president & managing director, North America for Celestyal.  “We are interested in growing that number a bit more.”

As such, the line did research into the various agency channels and what “each of those business models need as far as resources in order to do business with us and making sure that they have the resources and the outreach and the support they need to sell Celestyal,” Townsley added.

The most recent additions to the team include Elena Rodriguez as director of business development; Scott Moore, director of key accounts and partnerships; and Taylor Hendwood as business manager for the Southeast. All will report to Townsley.

Rodriguez joined Celestyal from Princess Cruises where she served as director of national accounts since 2007. As director of business development, she will be responsible for revenue generation from travel agencies. She will lead a team of business development managers responsible for generating sales and providing support to travel advisors, while also collaborating with various teams and departments within Celestyal to create programs that drive sales and provide support.

Prior to joining Celestyal, Moore was with American Queen Voyages in the role of director of host accounts and Northeast/Mid-Atlantic field agencies. He has also held positions with Club Med, the Scenic Group, and The Walt Disney Company. As director of key accounts and partnerships, he will be responsible for overall relationship management and revenue generation from a portfolio of Celestyal’s most engaged partners.

Hendwood also joins Celestyal from American Queen Voyages, where he served as regional account manager. He has previously held positions with Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and American Express.

Also new is Lauren Barreras, who will serve as trade marketing manager. She will work with the trade to deliver events and raise awareness of Celestyal’s brand, products, and itineraries. She joins Celestyal from Oceania Cruises where she managed strategic and national account marketing. She will report Anna Gregori, vice president of brand, marketing, communications, and customer journey.

The line also restructured the sales and marketing department in North America to create new functional roles.

Cyndi Berardi, who previously held the position of trade sales support executive has been promoted to the new role of manager, trade support and operations. She will be responsible for providing travel advisors with sales support and problem resolution services. She will lead a team of trade sales support executives.

Sandra Jakovac, who was also a trade sales support executive, has been promoted to the new role of manager, group sales and administration. She will support and facilitate the group creation and booking process for travel advisors. She also will play a pivotal role in enhancing Celestyal’s group program, as well as the development and design of training materials, and marketing collateral development around the cruise line’s group offerings.

Finally, Stephanie McDonald, who most recently served as business development manager for Canada has been promoted to the new position of manager, partner training & development. She will provide on-going Celestyal product and systems training for both Celestyal’s travel advisor partners and internal sales team members. She will also be responsible for designing, maintaining, and updating all materials created for the purpose of providing education around Celestyal’s products and programs, as well as play a pivotal role in redesigning the cruise line’s travel advisor portal and online training platform.

“These new functional positions and promotions are a direct result of our listening carefully to our trade partners,” said Townsley.

“We’re listening,” added Gregori. “We know we need to do more. We’ve got a new brand. We’ve got new assets coming. We’ve got a revitalized team. We’ve got a bigger team.”

The new agency portal and education platform are expected to launch in the third quarter of this year, but Gregori said advisors can expect to see bits and pieces of new trade-focused initiatives trickling in starting this quarter.