Andrea Zelinski
The booking window is stabilizing at Celebrity Cruises, but it is still not back to normal, according to Katina Athanasiou, a cruise-exec veteran who is now the line's new senior vice president of sales.
That said, Athanasiou, who took over the role after the retirement of Dondra Ritzenthaler in May, said she refuses to believe that Celebrity is still in a transitionary phase as the pandemic fades further in the rearview mirror.
As she explained, the booking window was "very condensed" in 2022, with bookings coming in between three and seven months ahead of sailings. That's elongated now, with the window stretching from five to nine months -- although it is still shorter than the pre-Covid norm.
For context, the traditional booking window at this point of the summer would be 12 months out, she said. "But each week that goes by, we're seeing a little bit more 2024 business come through."
Instead of seeing this as a transition, she is approaching this trend as a new reality for the time being. And it's one that she said is spurring the brand to work more closely with travel advisors about how to adjust.
"We're navigating what that looks like and how we show up with partners in terms of marketing and support and different itineraries, to talk to and engage with [travel partners] about that, because their customers are in fact booking a little bit closer than what we're traditionally used to seeing," she said.
Looking to trends and 2024
Athanasiou, formerly of Norwegian Cruise Line, has been with Royal Caribbean Group's companies for 18 months. She was senior vice president of sales at Silversea Cruises for a little more than a year before pivoting in January to Celebrity, where she became senior vice president of sales in May. In her new role at Celebrity, she said her first order of business has been getting out to see as many travel partners as possible, work with her team and focus on a plan for 2024.
Short cruises and Perfect Day
As she looks to next year, the brand is marrying current trends with its Caribbean business. While the Caribbean is doing "tremendously well" for Celebrity, the line has noticed a strong demand for shorter and more frequent trips, she said.
That encouraged the line to put together the year-round, short-cruise product on the Celebrity Reflection in the Caribbean, with calls to Royal Caribbean International's Perfect Day at CocoCay.
A view of Royal Caribbean's private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay, where Celebrity Cruises will begin calling on two of its ships. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International
Immersive experiences?
Another trend is a desire by guests to dive deep into culture and experiences during the cruise.
"Consumers are looking to just do more than visit places," she said. "They want to experience, and they want to feel like they're learning and growing from whatever they're doing, and that that can mean very different things to different people."
That trend is leading the line to explore new ways to deliver experiences. One is through private, customizable excursions on shore, but other ideas are still in the works: The line is engaged in an internal dialogue about how to raise the bar both onboard and onshore, she said.
"How do we create experiences that customers may not have known that they wanted until they experience it?" explained Athanasiou.