The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Celebrity Cruises ship

Like many of the seven big lines that account for the majority of cruises taken by North Americans, Celebrity Cruises offers a wide range of itineraries. You’ll find Celebrity ships in almost every corner of the world at some point during the year.

Still, the line’s heaviest presence, by far, is in the Caribbean, Europe and Alaska. In a typical summer, the line will deploy seven of its 13 main vessels to Europe, while sending another three to Alaska. That leaves just three vessels free to assign to the Caribbean and Bahamas as well as a few other places such as Bermuda and Canada.

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During the winter, the line will move most of these ships to the Caribbean but also send a few to more far-flung destinations such as Asia and Australia.

For the coming winter, nine of the line’s 13 main ships are scheduled to sail in the Caribbean, and there will be three ships visiting Asia and Australia.

Celebrity is also a major player in Galapagos sailings, with three additional small vessels based in the destination year-round.

In all, Celebrity ships sail to nearly 80 countries in a typical year, hitting all seven continents. They visit more than 300 different ports and cruise destinations. Those are large numbers, but they’re not quite as large as what you’ll find at some of Celebrity’s biggest competitors. Celebrity doesn’t offer as big a range of itineraries as Princess Cruises and Holland America, for instance.

Among the best Celebrity Cruises itineraries, you’ll find everything from two-night sampler cruises to the Bahamas to 18-night voyages to Hawaii and the South Pacific. That said, Celebrity isn’t known for the sort of multimonth voyages and around-the-world sailings that are a hallmark of Holland America’s schedule. Most of the line’s itineraries are in the one- to two-week range.

For the best Celebrity Cruises destinations for your next sailing, check out our five favorites.

Europe

Some of Celebrity’s most exciting itineraries are in Europe, where the line is a significant player. It will typically deploy more than half of its 13 big ships to the continent from spring to fall, making Europe its biggest focus for more than half the year.

The itineraries that Celebrity offers in Europe are wide-ranging, with a diverse set of routings in both the Mediterranean as well as across Northern Europe.

In the Mediterranean, the line offers everything from six- to 14-night voyages that offer the chance to see such iconic destinations as Barcelona; Rome, Florence and Venice in Italy; and Dubrovnik, Croatia, in a single cruise.

Related: The ultimate guide to Celebrity Cruises

Or you can sign up for a Mediterranean cruise that focuses on the Greek islands. Some Eastern Mediterranean cruises that Celebrity offers include stops in Israel and Turkey.

In Northern Europe, Celebrity will take you to such famed Baltic cities as Stockholm; Tallinn, Estonia; and Helsinki (until a couple years ago, the line’s Baltic itineraries included stops at St. Petersburg, Russia, but those sailings are on hold for now due to the war in Ukraine). Itineraries that zero in on Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the Norwegian fjords also are available.

Among the longest sailings Celebrity offers in Europe is an unusual 14-night “Iceland and Ireland” trip out of Amsterdam that brings stops at Cork in Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Akureyri, Isafjorder and Reykjavík in Iceland; Lerwick in the Shetland Islands; and Inverness, Scotland.

In Northern Europe, Celebrity ships mostly sail out of Amsterdam and Southampton, England.

In the Mediterranean, the line’s hubs are Southampton; Amsterdam; Barcelona; Piraeus, Greece (the port for Athens); and Ravenna and Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) in Italy.

The line also offers some sailings out of Lisbon.

The Caribbean and the Bahamas

Come winter, Celebrity turns its focus to Caribbean and Bahamas sailings. While the line typically only deploys one vessel to the Caribbean and Bahamas during the summer, it moves the lion’s share of its ships to the region during the winter.

For the coming winter, for instance, the line will have nine of its 13 big ships sailing to the Caribbean and the Bahamas — including its three newest ships, the 3,260-passenger Celebrity Ascent, 3,260-passenger Celebrity Beyond and 2,910-passenger Celebrity Apex.

Celebrity offers a broad range of Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries from three main home ports, all in Florida — Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades; Port Canaveral and the Port of Tampa. It also offers Caribbean sailings out of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Related: The 4 types of Celebrity Cruises ships, explained

If you’re looking for something short, the line has you covered in the form of quick three-night trips to ports in the Bahamas and Florida out of Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral. But it also offers an abundance of seven-night sailings to Caribbean and Bahamian ports, as well as a number of longer 10-night and 11-night trips in the region.

At the core of the line’s Caribbean and Bahamas program are a diverse collection of six- to nine-night sailings, which break down into three broad categories:

• Eastern Caribbean voyages
• Western Caribbean voyages
• Southern Caribbean voyages

A typical seven-night Celebrity sailing to the Eastern Caribbean includes stops in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; and Nassau in the Bahamas.

A typical seven-night Celebrity sailing in the Western Caribbean might include stops at Key West, Florida; Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Falmouth, Jamaica.

The line’s Southern Caribbean itineraries, which can be as long as 11 nights, will bring visits to such destinations as Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

Alaska

Celebrity isn’t the biggest player in Alaska cruises. The giants of cruising to Alaska are Princess Cruises and Holland America, which together control a large percentage of the market.

Still, Celebrity typically sends three of its 13 big ships to Alaska every summer, making it a not-insignificant operator in the area.

The Alaska cruise season is a short one, lasting roughly from May to September. For 2025, Celebrity plans to deploy these three ships to the Alaska market during those months:

• Celebrity Edge: The 2,908-passenger vessel will operate seven-night voyages to Alaska round-trip out of Seattle. It’ll call at the Alaska towns of Ketchikan and Skagway and Victoria, British Columbia. It’ll also visit Endicott Arm for glacier viewing.
• Celebrity Solstice: The 2,850-passenger vessel will operate seven-night voyages to Alaska round-trip out of Vancouver, British Columbia. It’ll call at the Alaska towns of Icy Strait Point, Skagway and either Juneau or Ketchikan. It’ll also visit either Endicott Arm or Hubbard Glacier for glacier viewing.
• Celebrity Summit: The 2,218-passenger ship will operate one-way voyages to Alaska between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seward, Alaska. It’ll feature calls at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Icy Strait Point in Alaska. It’ll also visit Hubbard Glacier for glacier viewing.

The appeal of the one-way sailings on Celebrity Summit is that they can be combined with Celebrity-organized land tours of Alaska lasting from three to six days to create 10- to 13-night “cruisetours.”

The land tour portion of such trips brings visits to such well-known interior Alaska locations as Denali National Park and the town of Fairbanks.

Galapagos

Celebrity is one of the biggest operators of cruises around the Galapagos, the wildlife-filled archipelago in the Pacific Ocean made famous by Charles Darwin.

Almost no major cruise lines offer voyages around the Galapagos due to local regulations that limit the number and size of vessels operating in the destination. But over the years Celebrity has jumped into the market in a huge way with first one, then two and now three very small vessels dedicated to the destination full-time.

The first thing you need to know about these three vessels is that the cruise experience they offer is very different from what you’ll experience on Celebrity’s other vessels. Just because you love cruising with Celebrity in Europe or the Caribbean doesn’t mean you’ll automatically love sailing with the line in the Galapagos.

Related: The ultimate guide to Celebrity cabins and suites

For starters, the three Galapagos vessels are significantly smaller than Celebrity’s traditional ships. They hold just 16 to 100 passengers, compared to the 2,000 to 3,000 passengers that typically will be aboard Celebrity’s larger ships. This is in keeping with local regulations that say cruise vessels can’t carry more than 100 passengers.

Because of their small size, these three Galapagos vessels have far fewer onboard amenities than the bigger Celebrity ships.

But cruising in the Galapagos isn’t about the onboard experience. It’s about seeing the incredible wildlife that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

Related: Celebrity to withdraw two vessels from Galapagos in 2025

To that end, all three of Celebrity’s Galapagos vessels are expedition cruise vessels — the kind that carry landing craft on board for exploring in remote areas and sail with specialized guides.

Voyages on the three vessels (they’re really too small to call ships) revolve around daily landings with these guides — all Galapagos National Park-certified naturalists — to view the destination’s famous land iguanas, tortoises, blue-footed boobies and Darwin’s finches.

The most recently built of the vessels, the 100-passenger Celebrity Flora, is one of the newest and most luxurious vessels in the Galapagos. It boasts two penthouse suites spanning the entire width of the ship. Each measures 1,300 square feet. All other accommodations are suites, too.

Bermuda

Celebrity has a long history of offering voyages to Bermuda, with at least one ship on Bermuda runs every year out of Cape Liberty, New Jersey (one of the ports in the New York City area).

For 2025, the line has scheduled its 3,324-passenger Celebrity Silhouette to sail to Bermuda out of Cape Liberty, with most of its sailings to the destination lasting seven nights.

The seven-night Bermuda sailings only will include a single, extended stop in Bermuda. During these trips, Celebrity Silhouette will spend the better part of three days at the destination, with the rest of the seven days taken up with the long open-water sailings to and from the island.

Related: Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club loyalty program guide

Celebrity Silhouette in 2025 also will offer a single 10-night Bermuda sailing that adds a two-day stop in Charleston, South Carolina, and a day visit to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. That’s an unusual differentiator from the Bermuda cruises offered by other lines.

All of Celebrity’s Bermuda trips in 2025 will take place in May and June.

Bottom line

Celebrity offers a wide range of itineraries in cruise destinations around the world, from the Caribbean to Asia. However, you’ll find the most choices among Celebrity itineraries in the Caribbean, Europe and Alaska. The line is also well-known for voyages to the Galapagos and Bermuda. Its significant focus on Galapagos sailings, in particular, is something that sets it apart from other big lines.

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