Celestyal boss says Gulf crisis shows ‘strength’ of booking through agents

The chief commercial officer at Celestyal says the crisis in the Gulf, which has stranded the line’s two cruise ships in the region, shows the “strength” of booking through a travel agent.

 

Lee Haslett also praised the travel industry’s response in helping to repatriate passengers after war broke out in the Middle East – and promised the cruise line will “build back stronger”.

 

He told a Travel Weekly webcast how the main priority was the safety and well-being of those onboard Celestyal Discovery and Celestyal Journey – all passengers have now been repatriated and most of the crew will disembark ahead of the vessels’ repositioning on their way to the Mediterranean.

 

Celestyal has cancelled four Mediterranean cruises because Celestyal Discovery remains stuck in Dubai following a winter season of sailings in the region. Meanwhile, Celestyal Journey remains in Doha, Qatar.

 

The vessels cannot sail to Jeddah and onto the Mediterranean via the Red Sea as planned because shipping is “greatly restricted” in the Strait of Hormuz, said Haslett.

 

“When crises like this happen, it really does bring out the best in our industry,” he said.

 

“Travel is the business of partnerships…be that the cruise lines…or the airlines or tourist boards that you partner with, or hoteliers.”

 

More: Celestyal cancels two more Med cruises as ship repositioning from Gulf delayed

 

Celestyal cancels two Mediterranean sailings due to Middle East conflict

 

All passengers ‘safely disembarked’ from Celestyal Discovery in Dubai

 

He said Celestyal went “beyond” what was expected of it, keeping guests on board until there was a repatriation plan, then sorting hotels and transfers, and keeping embassies and agents informed.

 

“This really shows for me – when things like this happen – the absolute power of booking through a travel agent,” he added.

 

“Working with those travel agents [and] embassies to repatriate those passengers shows the strength of booking through an agent.”

 

The airports at Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai were closed so the cruise line had to send many passengers by bus to Saudi Arabia and Oman as part of the repatriation process.

 

“Crew members across both vessels are safe and continue to receive our full support,” he added.

 

Some are being brought back home and others will rejoin the ships in Jeddah to prepare for the Mediterranean season, he explained.

 

“Both ships are fully fuelled. They’re crewed for the repositioning and ready to sail as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

 

He does not yet have a date for when the ships can start sailing but added: “We are in hourly, daily conversations across many parties around the safe positioning of those vessels.

 

“We are in constant conversations with all our tour operators and travel agents about what it means for their guests, and they will always find out, first and foremost, around what our plans are.

 

“They are as eager as we are to start seeing those vessels move so we can start our very popular Mediterranean season.”

 

Guests affected by the Mediterranean cancellations can have a full refund, future cruise credit, or move to another sailing “which a lot of guests are choosing”, said Haslett.

 

“It looks very strong from a booking standpoint,” he said.

 

“It is also in the interest of our travel agent partners. Those travel agents have done a lot of work to get those bookings, and we want to protect that that commission for them, which is something we have committed to doing.”

 

He said 2026 had been shaping up to be “extremely strong” until the conflict began on February 28.

 

“We had a really successful wave campaign, over 55% up year over year, across all markets, but the UK as well has been growing very nicely,” he said.

 

“We’re seeing bookings for this summer, predominantly June, July...August looks very strong, September looks good.

 

“We are seeing very early bookings, earlier than we’ve seen previously, for 2027 and we’re even seeing part of Q1 2028 coming through as well.

 

“From a Mediterranean perspective, it’s holding up quite well.”

He said some markets such as the US and Spain are performing better than others.

 

“The UK, France and Australia are lagging a little bit. The Middle East is a popular destination with Australians and Brits, so maybe they are more exposed to this than some of the other markets,” he said.

 

The cruise line is in a “holding pattern” for marketing and discounts but will talk to travel partners in the coming weeks for feedback to see if sales need to be stimulated.

 

“We are very much focused on positioning the vessels back and starting the Mediterranean season,” he continued.

 

“We are pretty well booked for the summer, and we are going to have to pretty quickly make a decision on when we start to stimulate more demand for 2027.

 

“In the short term, there’s going to be some displacement of Brits that were looking to go to Dubai for some for some late winter sun or Easter sun, or even into April and May, who may choose to go to Greece [and] the Mediterranean, and there is a chance that there could be some late capacity and some good deals.

 

“Watch this space when those ships start moving, if there is an opportunity.”

 

He assured the trade about the strength of the business: “We have got very strong shareholding and investment in the business.

 

“The team have done a great job with raising the awareness of the brand.

 

“We have still got ambitions to add more vessels.

 

“We have great partners. We’ve got amazing crew and great itineraries. As soon as we start again, we’ll be off.”

 

Asked about sailing in the Gulf next winter, he said: “It is a little bit early to make that decision.

 

“We need to make a decision relatively quickly.

 

“We will be coming back to our travel agent partners and our industry partners in the next four to six weeks.”

Hailing the performance of his team during the crisis, he added: “If you speak to our guests, we may not be the biggest ships with the newest robots on board, [but] we have the most amazing crew, and the way that our crew have looked after our guests has been exceptional.

 

“The one thing I’ve received more than anything is emails from agents all over the world, saying: ‘You went above and beyond for our guests, and thank you for that.’

 

“You can trust putting a guest on board Celestyal, and that is why we will build back stronger.”