Xperience and Xploration Gone from Celebrity?

The same day as Celebrity announced their new ship Flora was being built for Galapagos sailings their web site was changed, removing all sailings on the Xperience and Xploration after May 2019. After May 2019 only the 100 passenger Flora and Xpedition show up as Celebrity options in the Galapagos. Is Celebrity eliminating their small ship options, Xperience and Xploration, for the Galapagos and eliminating these ships from fleet?

"The Celebrity Flora will take over itineraries now offered on the 100-passenger Xpedition, which will take on itineraries of two smaller ships, the 48-passenger Celebrity Xperience and the 16-passenger Celebrity Xploration. The two small ships will likely be sold, Lutoff-Perlo said."

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Celebrity-building-small-ship-for-Galapagos-cruises

"Those two ships aren't in our long term strategic profile for the Celebrity fleet," Lutoff-Perlo said, mostly because the line is not able to provide the full Celebrity experience cruisers expect."

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8217

"The Celebrity Flora will take over itineraries now offered on the 100-passenger Xpedition, which will take on itineraries of two smaller ships, the 48-passenger Celebrity Xperience and the 16-passenger Celebrity Xploration. The two small ships will likely be sold, Lutoff-Perlo said."

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Celebrity-building-small-ship-for-Galapagos-cruises

 

 

"Those two ships aren't in our long term strategic profile for the Celebrity fleet," Lutoff-Perlo said, mostly because the line is not able to provide the full Celebrity experience cruisers expect."

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8217

Thanks for the links. They confirm what we thought and the reason we scrambled this weekend to book a cruise on the Xperience many years before we had planned to go to the Galapagos.

 

 

"Those two ships aren't in our long term strategic profile for the Celebrity fleet," Lutoff-Perlo said, mostly because the line is not able to provide the full Celebrity experience cruisers expect."

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8217

Makes one wonder why they bought them out from Ocean Adventures to begin with, so recently. To buy out a competitor?

Makes one wonder why they bought them out from Ocean Adventures to begin with, so recently. To buy out a competitor?

That, and a quick way to boost capacity in Market by approx 60% while they determined if the new build program was going to be "a go" or not. I am willing to bet that the acquisition/refit costs were minimal compared to the short term ROI they have provided. I don't know what Ocean Adventures' financials were at the time of the acquisition, which may have played into things as well if they were shaky.

Long term I expect Celebrity to add a sister (or two or three) to the Flora and retire the eXpedition (or send her elsewhere). I also foresee Celebrity eventually dipping their toes in the TRUE Antarctica market with some sort of expedition vessel - possibly acquiring an existing ship from another operator (I'm doubtful eXpedition is rated/suitable for Antarctica), determining the viability of the offering and then doing a purpose build vessel(s) a few years in.

Makes one wonder why they bought them out from Ocean Adventures to begin with, so recently. To buy out a competitor?

I read in another article that it was about the medallions for cruising in the Galapagos since it is pretty heavily regulated.

Makes one wonder why they bought them out from Ocean Adventures to begin with, so recently. To buy out a competitor?

In addition to AtlantaCruiser; there was a passage in the CC article about medallions, I am not sure what and how exactly but it seems to be rights to sail?

"The two most recent additions to the line's three-ship Galapagos fleet came when Celebrity purchased local operator Ocean Adventures -- more for the medallions needed to operate ships in the area than for the ships themselves, which are significantly smaller than the line's Galapagos flagship, Celebrity Xpedition (16 and 48 passengers versus 100)."

Wow, just hearing this news and very upset by it. We are booked for November 2019 on Xperience and haven't heard a word from X about the cruise being cancelled or them transferring us to the Xpedition. I've gotten in touch with our rep at X to find out what the story is. Sounds like it's time for me to shop for a new cruise option.

Just talked to our cruise rep and indeed, they are transferring our reservation to the Xpedition. Going to leave the booking in place for right now, but looking into other options.

Following back on what we ending up planning. To get a cruise on the Xperience we moved up our Galapagos trip to 2018. We were pleasantly surprised to find 6 out of the 24 cabins still available only eight months from sailing. This will crimp our budget for a while, but looking at the Celebrity web site we are paying over $2,500 less per/person and don't get put on the Xpedition, if we had waited until 2019 to do the northern loop.

Following back on what we ending up planning. To get a cruise on the Xperience we moved up our Galapagos trip to 2018. We were pleasantly surprised to find 6 out of the 24 cabins still available only eight months from sailing. This will crimp our budget for a while, but looking at the Celebrity web site we are paying over $2,500 less per/person and don't get put on the Xpedition, if we had waited until 2019 to do the northern loop.

I am happy that you worked out a resolution.

The fact that 6 out of 24 cabins are still available is a good indication of part of the reason that X is eliminting these ships.

Just purely out of curiosity - are there reasons, other than size, that you are so against getting "put" on the Xpedition? We did a ton of research, and were fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with a number of Xpedition cruisers. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Also, if size was the determining factor, did you consider any of the other companies offering small ship experiences?

Thanks!

I am happy that you worked out a resolution.

The fact that 6 out of 24 cabins are still available is a good indication of part of the reason that X is eliminting these ships.

So your theory is that having too many cabins unsold is solved by building bigger ships with more cabins to sell?

More like these ships sailings are not discounted, unlike most other cruises, and they're not planning to change that model. That said, I'm still sceptical that can be achieved given the controls on visitor numbers that the government puts, to curb environmental degradation.

So your theory is that having too many cabins unsold is solved by building bigger ships with more cabins to sell?

Nope!

The fact that too many cabins on the small ships are unsold indicates to me that there is a problem with those particular ships/sailings. I never related that to the addition of the Flora. In fact the smaller ship, Xploration, was originally presented as one only available for group charters.

Although X rarely discounts Galapagos sailings, there was a recent marketing effort which generously discounted them (so much in fact, that we upgraded). Last year they included rt airfare as an incentive. There has not been the need to offer incentives as Xpedition sells well.

It willl be very interesting to see how successful they will be with the Flora since the pricing seems high. Interestingly, the suites on the Xpedition seem to sell well so the addition of this ship may very well fill the needs of this niche market.

Time will tell.

Actually after May 2019 Celebrity is putting the Xpedition on the current routes of the Xperience and as I mentioned above charging over $2,500 more per person. During our research we had read about national park limits on the number of guides and passengers that can land on an island. Plus like any ship with limited egress points, less passengers should make unloading and loading quicker. Other companies like Natural Habitats, International Expeditions, and National Geographic just didn't offer routes that went to as many locations as we liked to visit. All that really matters is we got the cruise route and ship we wanted, at the time of year we wanted, just a few years early.

Having sailed on Xpedition, I can say that your fears are misplaced. We had no problems loading and unloading, and on the plus side the fact that we had to be separated into 6 groups [16 pax limit on shore excursions] meant that we got to rotate among the naturalists and enjoy their personalities. Also the galley crew was able to offer more dining choices, and the ship was more stable than a smaller craft would be. [These islands are far enough apart that the entire area is essentially in the middle of the ocean. Since you almost never dock, you are always aware of the 'motion of the ocean.' We were very glad that we weren't on the other lines' 16- and 32- passenger vessels as we saw them bobbing up and down!] The price increases for Xpedition are a mark of its popularity and Celebrity's unique ability to give you a complete experience rt Quito (including their direct charter flight to Baltra). I see that Flora is even more expensive -- and frankly we were very happy with our XP cabin on Xpedition and glad we hadn't spent the extra bucks for a suite. Since your gear is kept near the marina platform, you really don't need a lot of room in the cabin.

Actually after May 2019 Celebrity is putting the Xpedition on the current routes of the Xperience and as I mentioned above charging over $2,500 more per person. During our research we had read about national park limits on the number of guides and passengers that can land on an island. Plus like any ship with limited egress points, less passengers should make unloading and loading quicker. Other companies like Natural Habitats, International Expeditions, and National Geographic just didn't offer routes that went to as many locations as we liked to visit. All that really matters is we got the cruise route and ship we wanted, at the time of year we wanted, just a few years early.

Yes, you are correct, all that really matters is that you are happy with the route and ship. I'm sure you will have a fantastic time! Another point of interest is, not only do the park rules limit the numbers of visitors, but also the frequency of visits. Hence, the routes alternate. Kudos for the steps the government has taken to protect this ecosystem. (An area in which we, in the US, seem to be regressing.)

Having sailed on Xpedition, I can say that your fears are misplaced. We had no problems loading and unloading, and on the plus side the fact that we had to be separated into 6 groups [16 pax limit on shore excursions] meant that we got to rotate among the naturalists and enjoy their personalities. Also the galley crew was able to offer more dining choices, and the ship was more stable than a smaller craft would be.

Thanks for posting this. I'm still going back and forth in my mind about the advantages of Xpedition over Xperience and whether to move up our sailing date to get to be on Xperience. One of my big concerns about the larger ship is time lost to waiting around for the pangas to load up. It's good to hear you didn't find that to be an issue, and the additional dining choices and stability of the ship are good points to keep in mind. When I talked to our X rep, she also said that Xpedition is getting refurbished in September 2018, so that's another good thing to know in deciding what to do.

Thanks for posting this. I'm still going back and forth in my mind about the advantages of Xpedition over Xperience and whether to move up our sailing date to get to be on Xperience. One of my big concerns about the larger ship is time lost to waiting around for the pangas to load up. It's good to hear you didn't find that to be an issue, and the additional dining choices and stability of the ship are good points to keep in mind. When I talked to our X rep, she also said that Xpedition is getting refurbished in September 2018, so that's another good thing to know in deciding what to do.

That's self-sorting: those who were in a hurry to get on shore edged* their way to the front, others like us hung back because the last Zodiac was usually not full. [*I was going to say "pushed their way," but since this is a Celebrity thread I had to go with "Edge" ;p]

I would like to ask about possible sea sickness, something I unfortunately suffer from.

We are currently booked for late November 2018 on the Xploration on the higher deck, oceanview.

In your opinion would you venture on the smaller ship or go to the 48 passenger ship? I'm in one way excited to experience an intimate experience yet don't want it ruined by my constantly battling an irritated head and stomach. My choice of drug wouldn't be the patch as it causes more troubles than it cures. Bonine would I guess be the better option.

Really trying to be a trouper here but frankly I'm anxious as hell about this trip.

Hello,

are all excursions included in the Celebrity Galapagos cruises?

thanks

Yes I think they are part of the package

Hello,

 

are all excursions included in the Celebrity Galapagos cruises?

 

thanks

If you'd like to find out more about the Galapagos cruises check out the "Recently Back" threads here.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=278