- Celebrity Cruises is confirmed to visit the new Royal Caribbean private destination at Lelepa.
- For now there are only two itineraries scheduled, but it’s possible this will be ramped up for future seasons.
- Royal Caribbean has organised the majority of its sailings around Lelepa, it’s possible that Celebrity could do the same.
It’s been confirmed that Celebrity Cruises will also be visiting Royal Caribbean’s new private destination at Lelepa. This was expected as Royal Caribbean Group owns Celebrity Cruises, but itinerary changes on Celebrity’s website have confirmed it.
Luxury cruise line Silversea is also part of Royal Caribbean Group, but is yet to announce any voyages to Lelepa.
There are currently two itineraries for the 2027/28 season that show Lelepa as a stop. Particularly interesting is the Fiji & Vanuatu round-trip from Sydney, as so far, this is the only sailing available that visits both Lelepa and Fiji, as all other Lelepa itineraries visit only New Caledonia or Vanuatu during other stops.
The other sailing is more stock standard, with stops at Mystery Island, Lelepa, Port Vila and Lifou over a 10-day cruise.
While Royal Caribbean has organised a large portion of its sailings around the new destination, with over 60% of Aussie itineraries heading there, for now, Celebrity only has these two sailings and is unlikely to add more as there are no other itineraries to the South Pacific.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if Celebrity adds a larger portion of South Pacific sailings that visit Lelepa, as currently it’s itineraries tend to favour domestic sailings and trips to NZ. Celebrity offers great variety with cruises to Tasmania, the Great Barrier Reef, Victoria and South Australia.
While it’s possible that we could see Celebrity Cruises hugely ramp up South Pacific sailings, it’s unlikely that they’ll focus as high of a percentage of their sailings around the South Pacific like Royal Caribbean has. What appears more likely is that Royal Caribbean will serve as the main line to sail to the South Pacific, and Celebrity will offer an alternative option for Aussie domestic cruises.
As far as non-luxury cruise lines go, Celebrity is likely second to only Princess Cruises in terms of the range of availability Australian itineraries, so many cruisers will definitely be keeping a keen eye on whether this trend continues or whether Celebrity narrows its selection of sailings following the opening of Lelepa.
Celebrity has also previously hinted about potentially adding more sailings to Australia, likely through Celebrity Solstice which currently only sails a handful sailings each year in Australia, compared to Celebrity Edge, which homeports the full season. Until now, this hasn’t materialised, with Solstice sailings actually being slightly scaled back for the 2027/28 season, but it’s possible that Lelepa could provide the impetus for Celebrity to ramp up Solstice’s presence in the region.
When Celebrity reveals its 2028/2029 sailings later this year we’ll have an answer on whether Celebrity leans into the South Pacific sailings like Royal Caribbean, or remains a line with flexible itineraries and occasional visits to Lelepa and the South Pacific, as well as some clarity on whether we’ll see more activity from a second ship, likely Celebrity Solstice.
You can check out the Lelepa itineraries so far below or click here.
For a deep dive into what Lelepa is and what to expect, you can go here, and to see Royal Caribbean’s Lelepa itineraries, head here.
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