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Celebrity Cruises back Down Under in 2011-12

Celebrity Cruises will be returning to Australia and New Zealand in 2011-12 with an enticing new series of vacations on Celebrity Century.

Marking the line’s first return to the land Down Under in two years, Celebrity’s exotic new Australia and New Zealand season - bookended by a series of vacation options in Hawaii - features a total of 36 ports in six countries: Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, French Polynesia, the U.S. and Mexico.

The lineup includes ten distinct itineraries, with six varied departure ports, including Sydney and Perth (Fremantle), Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Honolulu, Hawaii; San Diego, California, and Ensenada, Mexico.

Says Celebrity Cruises president Dan Hanrahan: “It’s a region our guests around the world have said they wanted to experience again with Celebrity, pairing our award-winning dining, exceptional service and high style with the beauty, charm and diversity of the area.”

Celebrity’s new series begins October 2, 2011, with two consecutive 15-night Hawaii sailings from San Diego, followed by a ten-night Hawaii cruise from Ensenada to Honolulu. An 18-night Pacific Jewels voyage departs Honolulu November 11, followed by five 12 and 13-night New Zealand cruises between Sydney and Auckland, including a festive holiday sailing departing Sydney December 24. These offer a more destination-rich experience for cruisers, with only three days at sea, versus five on most competing lines’ itineraries.

Cruisers also have the opportunity to experience a rare, 36-night circumnavigational voyage - a first for Celebrity - through two combinable 18-night sailings.

One will sail around the southern portion of Australia, featuring an overnight stay in Sydney and transits through three sounds - Milford, Doubtful and Dusky - in New Zealand’s World Heritage-designated Fiordland National Park.

The second of the combinable 18-night sailings takes cruisers around Australia’s northern coast, and features a visit to the idyllic island of Bali, Indonesia - marking yet another first for Celebrity.

The new series also includes two18-night Trans-Pacific voyages visiting the French Polynesian islands and Hawaii.

Among the ports Celebrity will visit for the first time are Geraldton, Broome, Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide, Albany, Bunbury and Perth, Australia, in addition to Burnie, Tasmania, and Bali.

To complement the cruises and allow guests to delve deeper into the land Down Under, Celebrity has created a series of cruisetour packages, with details to be announced when bookings open for the entire slate of vacation options on Thursday, July 29. Celebrity also will announce details of an early booking incentive on that date.

The 1,814-guest Celebrity Century is ideal for offering guests spectacular views of the scenic region, having been refitted in 2006 to add 314 new verandas, along with the elegant Murano restaurant and the truly “cool” Martini ice bar.

Celebrity Century’s new series of itineraries from October 2, 2011 through April 20, 2012, replaces the previously announced series of 12-night Caribbean cruises from Baltimore.