Celebrity Equinox just arrived at her new home in Florida. The 2,850-passenger Solstice-class vessel was welcomed into Port Canaveral Tuesday morning, marking the first time Celebrity Cruises will homeport a ship from the area.
The move to homeport a ship in Port Canaveral was announced last August when the cruise line revealed the new location in order to reach more travelers who were both in-state and out-of-state.
“At Celebrity we are continually striving to elevate our guests’ holiday experience from start to finish, and are delighted to offer even more ways to relax, unwind and explore the Caribbean,” stated Laura Hodges Bethge, President of Celebrity Cruises. “The addition of Port Canaveral offers guests the ultimate flexibility for their perfect Caribbean getaway.”
Celebrity joins six other cruise lines that currently offer regular sailings from the port, including Carnival, Disney, MSC, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and a recent addition: Princess Cruises.
Caribbean Princess was just moved to the Florida port last week.
Celebrity Equinox arrived in Florida after a 12-day transatlantic cruise from Portugal.
The 121,878 gross ton ship will begin its sailings out of Port Canaveral with a 4-day sailing to Bimini and Nassau in The Bahamas.
After this debut sailing, Celebrity Equinox will offer 7-day sailings to the Caribbean and Bahamas, including ports of call in Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Key West, and other destinations.
More than 15 ports of call are included on sailings with Equinox, including stops at the popular private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
The ship will call Port Canaveral home through April of 2025. The next assignment for the vessel will be in Europe.
In May of 2025, Celebrity Equinox is scheduled to offer a transatlantic cruise to Barcelona, and the ship will remain in the Mediterranean until December of 2025 when it will begin offering sailings to Antarctica from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Solstice-class ships have been a very popular class with the cruise line, and even after the more modern Edge-class ships were built, many Celebrity cruisers still gravitate to the classic ships.
Celebrity Equinox was the second of five Solstice-class vessels and was last renovated in 2019. There are some reports of the ship heading to dry dock in April of 2025 after a season in the Caribbean, but nothing official has been announced yet.
