Celestyal Cruises

Over 30 senior cruise executives responsible for ports and destinations at the world's biggest cruise lines will be participating in the biennial Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum that will be held on May 28-29 at the Domotel Kastri Conference Center in northern Athens.

Niche cruise operator Celestyal Cruises is gearing up to participate in its fifth Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum, where it hopes to further cement its reputation as the world's foremost Greek cruise specialist.
At this May's event in Athens, Celestyal will unveil details of its ongoing efforts to extend the cruise season in Greece and announce new itineraries from 2020 and beyond.

The first Celestyal Cruises ship carrying a group of Chinese passengers will set sail from Piraeus on Friday, signaling the opening of this huge market for Greek destinations - a target shared by Athens and Beijing, and also by Piraeus Port and Cosco alike.

To this end, the Greek Foreign Ministry has accelerated visa-issuing procedures at Greek consulates in China.

Managers of Greek ports (including Piraeus's Cosco) and entrepreneurs in the local cruise tourism sector are battling to contain the anticipated drop in cruise traffic this year and to correct the country's course in 2018. This week all eyes will be on the global cruise industry's biggest annual rendezvous, Seatrade Cruise Global 2017, which opens on Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Greek cruise market is bracing for a serious contraction next year, according to figures on cruise ship calls scheduled for Greek ports in 2017.

While many cruise companies have canceled their trips to Turkey over security concerns, Eastern Mediterranean-based Celestyal Cruises has increased its number of voyages to the country.  

Mediterranean operator Celestyal Cruises is to offer a new seven-day roundtrip from Asia, Turkey in May 2016, aboard the Celestyal Nefeli – the newest addition to the fleet – that will feature three new destinations.

A cruise ship has collided with a tanker off Gallipoli while crossing Turkey's Dardanelles Strait.

"Louis Cristal," a 162-meter-long cruise ship registered in Malta, was travelling from Greece to Istanbul when it collided early June 27 with "STI Pimlico," a 182-meter-long tanker registered in Marshall Islands, which had left Russia for Malta, Do?an News Agency reported.

Dance lovers and salseros are called to join the Celestyal Cruises’ “Olympia” on July 31 for a 3-day salsa cruise full off surprises. The Aegean cruise includes a huge lineup of salsa professionals aimed at helping skilled salsa dancers develop techniques while also teaching beginners the salsa, bachata, zumba, tumbao all in three days!

By Nikos Roussanoglou

The Louis Group will add a third cruise liner to its fleet in Greece next year to cover the increasing demand by cruise passengers.