Celebrity Cruises is expected to include calls at Royal Caribbean Group’s new private destination on the island of Lelepa in Vanuatu, following itinerary updates that confirm the port on selected sailings. The development had been widely anticipated, given that Celebrity Cruises forms part of Royal Caribbean Group alongside Royal Caribbean International.
The Lelepa destination, scheduled to open in 2027, will be the first private cruise line destination in the Southern Hemisphere and is intended primarily for ships operating South Pacific itineraries from Australia.
Current itinerary listings for the 2027–2028 season indicate two voyages that include calls at Lelepa. One of these is a round-trip sailing from Sydney visiting Fiji and Vanuatu, which stands out as the only itinerary currently combining both Lelepa and Fiji within the same voyage. Other itineraries that include the new destination generally focus on ports in Vanuatu or New Caledonia.
A second itinerary scheduled for the season follows a more conventional South Pacific route, featuring calls at Mystery Island, Lelepa, Port Vila and Lifou during a 10-day cruise.
While Royal Caribbean International has incorporated the new destination extensively into its regional deployment plans, with a substantial share of Australian sailings expected to include Lelepa, Celebrity Cruises currently lists only these two voyages that call at the island. The limited number reflects the company’s smaller South Pacific programme, as its deployments from Australia often emphasise domestic itineraries and voyages to New Zealand.
Celebrity Cruises maintains a varied schedule in the region, offering voyages to destinations including Tasmania, the Great Barrier Reef, Victoria and South Australia, in addition to occasional South Pacific itineraries. Industry observers have suggested that the cruise line may expand its presence in the region in future seasons, although it is considered unlikely that the company will concentrate as large a proportion of its itineraries on the South Pacific as Royal Caribbean International. Under such an approach, Royal Caribbean would remain the primary brand operating voyages to destinations such as Lelepa, while Celebrity would continue to provide alternative itineraries focused on Australian and New Zealand routes.
Within the premium segment of the Australian cruise market, Celebrity Cruises offers one of the broader ranges of itineraries, second only to Princess Cruises in terms of the diversity of regional sailings. As the opening of Lelepa approaches, attention within the market has focused on whether the cruise line will expand its South Pacific deployment or maintain a broader mix of itineraries that include only occasional visits to the new destination.
The company has previously indicated the possibility of increasing its Australian deployment, potentially through additional sailings by Celebrity Solstice. At present, the ship operates only a limited number of voyages in the region compared with Celebrity Edge, which typically spends a full season homeporting in Australia. For the 2027–2028 season, however, Solstice sailings have been slightly reduced rather than expanded.
Greater clarity on Celebrity’s future deployment strategy is expected later in the year when the company releases its 2028–2029 itineraries. Those announcements are anticipated to indicate whether the cruise line intends to increase its presence in South Pacific itineraries linked to Lelepa or maintain a broader portfolio of regional sailings with occasional calls at the destination.