MIAMI BEACH — When Celestyal Cruises' two ships made it out of the Persian Gulf last week, one thing was finally clear: the cruise line's two-month shutdown -- the longest the world had seen since the Covid pandemic -- was headed toward an end.
Since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, the Strait of Hormuz had sat at the center of geopolitical tensions. It also literally stood between Celestyal's ships and the Mediterranean, where it sails during the spring and summer.
Celestyal was forced to cancel all of its March and April cruises and complete a complex repatriation effort to get its guests back home after the outbreak of war.
Now, Celestyal is headed into a summer season that remains well booked despite, well, everything, chief commercial officer Lee Haslett said during an interview at the Seatrade Cruise Global conference on April 15. But after establishing an identity as a cruise line that sails Gulf cruises in the winter, how Celestyal will pivot is unclear.
"I don't think anyone could predict exactly what has happened," Haslett said.
As a small cruise line, Celestyal prides itself on offering destination partners itinerary stability," he said, meaning "if we're going to do something, we're going to do it for a long period." Its ultimate decision will likely be a multi-season strategy rather than just adjustments for next winter, Haslett said.
"What we can't do is just stop and then choose to go somewhere different without a multiyear plan to build that awareness," Haslett said. "We need to think very carefully about where we deploy the vessels."
A niche wrecked
Until Feb. 28, Celestyal's operations in the Gulf had been a success.
This past winter was its second season in Arabia, and it featured a fam trip that coincided with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In December, vice president and managing director for North America John Diorio described the trip as "an amazing few days." At the time, he said the company expected the region to be the fastest-growing cruise market in the next two to three years.
Haslett said Celestyal had "carved out a real point of difference in the Arabian Gulf."
At the end of January, Celestyal reported record Wave season results, including a 92% year-over-year increase in travel advisor bookings.
"When you're a niche operator like us, you have to find those niches," Haslett said. "Would I see Celestyal in the short term in the Caribbean? No."
The Celestyal Journey was at port in Doha, Qatar, and the Celestyal Discovery was in Dubai when the war began on Feb. 28. That day was a turnaround day, so there were guests scheduled to disembark -- some of whom were already in the process of doing so -- and new guests scheduled to start their cruises, Haslett said.
For just that day, guests were able to get on and off the ships, with those opting to disembark placed in hotels, he said.
From then on, the ships essentially entered a lockdown, with guests only leaving to begin their journeys out of the region. The onboard experience was much like a regular cruise, Haslett said, though guests and crew reported being able to hear defense missiles.
Celestyal's repatriation effort involved coordinating with dozens of embassies because the cruise line's guests were from 27 countries, Haslett said. Some embassies were busing citizens into Oman or Saudi Arabia for their repatriation flights, he added.
Within a 10-day period, Celestyal had successfully completed the repatriation process for guests and then began getting as much of its crew out of the region as possible. Some were sent to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the ships had planned to stop and pick them up on the way to the Suez Canal -- when they were able to transit the Strait of Hormuz, that is. Some crew members went to Greece to meet the ships upon their eventual arrival in Athens.
Delayed Mediterranean start
With the repatriation effort complete, Celestyal's next hurdle was the uncertainty of when it would be able to leave the Gulf. It gradually canceled its spring sailings in the Mediterranean, eventually calling off all of April.
Delaying the start of the season was "painful for us," Haslett said, though he said a strong company shareholder was "continuing to support us, and we're still committed to our growth strategy." Private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the cruise line in 2021.
Even as of mid-April, May remained well-booked, Haslett said. Most guests had not canceled their summer cruises.
Days after the meeting with Haslett, the Strait of Hormuz briefly reopened for commercial activity, and on April 17, the Celestyal Discovery became the first cruise ship to make it through. The Celestyal Journey followed the next day.
Celestyal's Mediterranean season is scheduled to start May 1, ending the longest period a cruise line had been out of service since the pandemic.
But even before the ships made it out, Haslett was confident that Celestyal would not only be fine but would continue with expansion plans, though he declined to share what those will look like.
"We love the challenge of being a small challenger brand, which is what the team is great at," he said. "That won't stop."