Celestyal Adds 190 Shore Excursions for Winter Mediterranean Season, Its First Without Gulf Sailings
Celestyal has unveiled 190 new shore excursions for its winter Mediterranean deployment, covering Celestyal Discovery’s Western Mediterranean itineraries for winter 2026-27 and 2027-28, and Celestyal Journey’s new Eastern Mediterranean sailings for winter 2027-28. The excursion catalog splits 118 tours for Discovery and 72 for Journey, and introduces a new tour category the line is calling “Community Connections.”
What’s new in the excursion lineup
The 190 excursions run half-day, full-day and two-day formats. Twenty-seven fall under Celestyal’s existing “Authentic Encounters” label, which pairs guests with local hosts in smaller groups rather than standard coach tours. The Community Connections category is new to this season and is built around meetings with local producers rather than sightseeing stops.
Specific new tours include a full-day trip from Malaga into rural Andalucía for an olive oil mill visit and a five-course lunch hosted in a private home in Alfarnate, priced from $128 per person; a half-day cheesemaking workshop from Cádiz in the village of El Bosque, from $118; and a half-day citrus tour from Valencia to a family orchard in Carcaixent dating to 1870, from $93. Other additions include a tagine cooking class in Tangier, a private flamenco and tapas experience in Cádiz, and a food tour of Palma’s Mercat de l’Olivar.
Celestyal is offering a 15% discount on excursions booked before September 30, 2026, for Discovery’s 2026 Western Mediterranean sailings.
Who this affects
The new excursions apply to two distinct groups of travelers: guests on Discovery’s Western Mediterranean season, which runs winter 2026-27 and 2027-28, and guests on Journey’s Eastern Mediterranean season, which begins winter 2027-28. Existing Eastern Mediterranean bookings on Discovery outside the Western Med program aren’t addressed in the announcement.
Why the split matters
Discovery, which carries up to 1,360 guests, gets 118 excursions, or roughly one option for every 11.5 passengers aboard at full capacity. Journey, at 1,260 guests, gets 72, or about one per 17.5 passengers. That gap tracks with where each ship sits in its Mediterranean rotation: Discovery’s Western Med program is new territory for Celestyal, launched in mid-2026 with itineraries built around 14 first-time port calls in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, while Journey’s Eastern Med routes through Greece and Turkey are longer-established ground for the line. A newer, less-familiar itinerary getting proportionally deeper excursion coverage is a reasonable way to read the split, though Celestyal hasn’t stated that as its rationale.
The excursion rollout also lands months after a bigger deployment shift. Celestyal canceled its Arabian Gulf season for winter 2026-27 in mid-2026, redirecting both ships to an all-Mediterranean winter footprint after they’d spent nearly two months sidelined in the Gulf due to regional conflict earlier in the year. Chief Commercial Officer Lee Haslett said at the time the line was “strengthening our authentically Mediterranean offering.” The 190-excursion catalog is the on-the-ground follow-through on that pivot: it’s the first winter season where Celestyal isn’t splitting its two-ship fleet between the Gulf and the Med, and the excursion build-out reflects that concentration.
What travelers should know
Winter Mediterranean fares for the season start at $549 per person for seven nights, part of Celestyal’s “Uncrowded, Unforgettable, Authentically Med” pricing that runs through November 2, 2026, and includes meals, soft drinks, WiFi, port fees and gratuities. The 15% excursion discount applies specifically to Discovery’s 2026 Western Med sailings and has a hard booking deadline of September 30, 2026, so travelers weighing the Andalucía or Cádiz add-ons should book before then to get the reduced rate. Excursions for Journey’s 2027-28 season and Discovery’s 2027-28 season aren’t tied to that discount window based on the current announcement.
