The Cruise Explorer

Celebrity Cruises presents the latest Exciting Deals. These offers are special rates for upcoming cruises with limited availability. Only a selection of staterooms are available, and these rates must be booked on Tuesday, 8/31/2010. Take a look at this small sampling of the great cruise deals available and start making your plans for a terrific cruise. To see the full list of deals with details, click here.

• 9/11/2010: 7 Night Mediterranean Cruise on Celebrity Constellation from Barcelona – Oceanviews from $599

• 10/24/2010: 14 Night Eastbound Panama Canal Cruise on Celebrity Infinity from Los Angeles – Oceanviews from $849

• 10/29/2010: 10 Night Bahamas Cruise on Celebrity Mercuryfrom Baltimore – Oceanviews from $549

• 10/31/2010: 15 Night Transatlantic Cruise on Celebrity Equinox from Rome – Verandahs from $1049

Inspired by guest demand, new itineraries feature 36 ports in six countries

Like the iconic boomerang believed to have originated in Australia, Celebrity Cruises today announced plans to return to the region in 2011-12, with an enticing new series of vacations on Celebrity Century.

“This marks a significant expansion of Celebrity’s diverse array of global vacation options,” said Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Dan Hanrahan. “We’re thrilled to return to Australia and New Zealand. It’s a region our guests and trade partners around the world have said they wanted to experience again with Celebrity, pairing our award-winning dining, exceptional service and high style with the beauty, charm and diversity of the area. This move further exemplifies our ‘Designed for you’ platform, and how we fulfill what cruisers desire.”

Marking the line’s first return to the land Down Under in two years, Celebrity’s exotic new Australia and New Zealand season – bookended by a series of vacation options in Hawaii – features a total of 36 ports in six countries: Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, French Polynesia, the U.S. and Mexico. The lineup includes 10 distinct itineraries, with six varied departure ports, including Sydney and Perth (Fremantle), Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Honolulu, Hawaii; San Diego, California, and Ensenada, Mexico.

Celebrity’s new series begins October 2, 2011, with two consecutive 15-night Hawaii sailings from San Diego, followed by a 10-night Hawaii cruise from Ensenada to Honolulu. An 18-night “Pacific Jewels” voyage departs Honolulu November 11, followed by five 12- and 13-night New Zealand cruises between Sydney and Auckland, including a festive holiday sailing departing Sydney December 24. These offer a more destination-rich experience for cruisers, with only three days at sea, versus five on most competing lines’ itineraries.

Cruisers also have the opportunity to experience a rare, 36-night circumnavigational voyage – a first for Celebrity – through two combinable 18-night sailings: One will sail around the southern portion of Australia, featuring an overnight stay in Sydney and transits through three sounds – Milford, Doubtful and Dusky – in New Zealand’s World Heritage-designated Fiordland National Park. The second of the combinable 18-night sailings takes cruisers around Australia’s northern coast, and features a visit to the idyllic island of Bali, Indonesia – marking yet another first for Celebrity.

The new series also includes two tantalizing, 18-night Trans-Pacific voyages visiting the French Polynesian islands and Hawaii.

Among the ports Celebrity will visit for the first time are Geraldton, Broome, Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide, Albany, Bunbury and Perth, Australia, in addition to Burnie, Tasmania, and Bali.

To complement the cruises and allow guests to delve deeper into the land Down Under, Celebrity has created a series of cruisetour packages.

The 1,814-guest Celebrity Century is ideal for offering guests spectacular views of the scenic region, having been refitted in 2006 to add 314 new verandas, along with the elegant Murano restaurant and the truly “cool” Martini ice bar.

Just two months ago, in a vivid reinforcement of its new brand platform, “Designed for you,” Celebrity Cruises announced plans to introduce on Celebrity Eclipse – the third in Celebrity Cruises’ stylish Solstice Class fleet of ships – the first “Celebrity iLounge.” The announcement met with such positive response from guests, travel agents and press that today, the brand announced plans to introduce the hip, modern lounge on Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Summit next month.

Dubbed by members of the press as “a hipster haven,” “a nifty app for tech junkies,” and an illustration of “how much thought some cruise lines are putting into their Internet offerings, while others treat it as an afterthought,” the Celebrity iLounge on Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Summit will – as on Celebrity Eclipse – offer what the line’s guests said they wanted most in an Internet café: easy access to the Internet, inspiring classes and new products.

The Celebrity iLounge on each ship will consist of three main areas: a series of contemporary MacBook workstations where guests can check their e-mail, retain their social media connections, or print boarding passes; a retail space offering cruisers the opportunity to check out the latest MacBooks, iPods® and accessories; and an enrichment center where certified staff will offer guests tips on Mac or iPod usage.

“Our ‘Designed for you’ brand platform is built on Celebrity’s commitment to listen to our guests and offer experiences and programs inspired by them,” said Celebrity’s President and CEO Dan Hanrahan. “The reaction we received after announcing the new venue on Celebrity Eclipse made it clear that our guests would appreciate more opportunities to experience the Celebrity iLounge, and now, they can do that while sailing year-round in the Caribbean on our stunning Celebrity Solstice, or while visiting the sophisticated island of Bermuda on Celebrity Summit.”

Cruisers themselves can become more sophisticated with new applications for creatively preserving meaningful vacation moments. Within the “Discover” component of its “Celebrity Life” series of inspiring enrichment and entertainment experiences, Celebrity will offer in each Celebrity iLounge a series of engaging new courses, including movie editing and web design, through programs including iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and iWeb. And Celebrity’s certified staffers will be well-equipped to assist, having completed more than 125 hours of training in operating systems, applications and products.

Technophiles and collectors of cool merchandise alike will find the Celebrity iLounge an enticing venue. As an Authorized Apple Reseller, Celebrity will offer a variety of products in each Celebrity iLounge for guests to purchase, including iPods, MacBooks and essential accessories.

Located on deck six of Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Eclipse, the Celebrity iLounge will house the 26 MacBook Pro’s, classroom and retail area, in addition to display pods, a 56-inch flat-screen TV for use during classes, and an accessible workstation.

On Celebrity Summit, the Celebrity iLounge will replace the current computer classroom on deck six, with the same new products and technologies as on Celebrity Eclipse and Celebrity Solstice. Even the “Online@Celebrity” cybercafé on deck four of Celebrity Summit will be retrofitted with entirely new MacBook workstations.

The new Celebrity iLounge will be ‘live’ on Celebrity Summit by May 16, on Celebrity Solstice by May 30, and on April 26 on Celebrity Eclipse, when the new ship enters service. The Celebrity iLounge also will be presented on Celebrity Silhouette, which launches in 2011, and the fifth ship in the Solstice Class fleet, which sets sail in 2012.

In this morning’s Inbox is one of the best cruise deals I’ve seen in a very long while. It’s a 15 Night Canal & South America cruise from Fort Lauderdale on the Celebrity Infinity. On the December 5th sailing, an oceanview cabin starts at $599! Inside cabins start at $499.

For more information, see this page. For more Celebrity deals on November-December cruises, click here.

Cultivate your sense of wonder on an unrivaled journey while celebrating Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday.

Explore a part of the planet where few have trod before.Where nearly half of the species are found nowhere else in the world. Celebrity Cruises offers you a truly seamless, all-inclusive, environmentally conscious vacation. Welcome to the islands of the Galapagos and an experience so singular, that among premium cruise lines, only Celebrity can bring it to you, with their 100-passenger ship Xpedition.

7/10/11-Night All-Inclusive Galapagos Vacations:

2009: July 12, 19, 26; August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; October 4, 11

Ports of call include Quito, Ecuador · Baltra · North Seymour · Puerto Baquerizo Moreno · Punta Suarez · Cormorant Point · Baroness Outlook · Las Bachas · Bartolome · Urbina Bay Punta Espinoza · Puerto Egas · Dragon Hill · Puerto Ayora

7-Night Cruise starting from $2,899

11-Night Cruise starting from $3,899

10-Night Cruise starting from $3,799

13-Night Cruise starting from $7,479