Celestyal Journey

The 1994-built (as "MS Ryndam", fka "Aegean Goddess") cruise ship Celestyal Journey between 1994-2015 was named "MS Ryndam" (operated by HAL-Holland America Line) and in 2015-2020 was named "Pacific Aria" (operated by P&O Australia). The sisterships (by design) are the former HAL boats MS Maasdam/CFC Renaissance, MS Veendam/Aegean Majesty and MS Statendam/Vasco da Gama Nicko.

While operated by P&O Australia, the vessel (IMO number 8919269) was UK-flagged (MMSI 235113823) and registered in London. The new shipowner (Aegean Goddess Inc, subsidiary of Eaglepower Shipping Ltd/Seajets Ferries Greece) renamed it "Aegean Goddess" and reflagged it to Bermuda (MMSI 310811000). For the management was contracted Optimum Ship Services Ltd (2014-founded, Piraeus-based company part of Scorpio Group). Holland America Line owned and operated the boat via its subsidiary HAL Nederland NV (1994-founded).

History - construction and ownership

On August 12, 2022, was announced that in 2023 (May) will be inaugurated the new cruise brand "Victoria Cruise Lines" (website victoria.cruises) having a two-ship fleet - the sisterships Aegean Goddess (VICTORIA AMAZING) and Aegean Majesty (VICTORIA MAJESTIC).

• The Paralimni Cyprus-based Victoria Cruise Lines company specializes in residential cruise shipping and is led by Olavs Zvinelis (CEO). The adults-only, all-inclusive travel brand provides a residential travel experience by allowing stateroom rentals for long-term occupancy (minimum 6 months).
• Victoria Amazing was scheduled to depart from PortMiami (Florida USA) on February 1, 2023.
• Victoria Majestic was scheduled to depart from Livorno (Italy), on April 1, 2023.
• Victoria Cruises' cabin rates start at USD 8000 (inside cabin), US$10000 (oceanview), US$16000 (balcony). Travel and rental options are offered only to adults (18-yo or older).
• All interior cabins on both ships were to be fitted with a 100-cm/40-inch LCD monitor for real-time sea views and sounds provided by 10x HD cameras.

For 3 years (2020-2023) Aegean Goddess was out of service (in cold layup) and remained docked in Port Lavrio (Attica Greece).

In late February 2023 was announced that Aegean Goddess was sold to/acquired by Celestyal Cruises and renamed "Celestyal Journey". Before entering service for Celestyal, the boat was scheduled for an extensive (EUR 20 million/~USD 21,2 M) drydock refit and refurbishment. The drydocking project was conducted at Valletta's Malta Dockyard/Palumbo Shipyard (May 21 thru August 27, 2023) and included full-scale refurbishments (public areas, staterooms), general hotel maintenance, hull works (steel, cleaning, painting, new livery), safety equipment and technical overhauls.

In April 2021, Pacific Aria was planned to leave P&O Cruises Australia, with the last voyage scheduled for April 9, 2021 (departing from Melbourne to Singapore via Fremantle). The last voyage was bookable as short break (Melbourne-Fremantle), Asia Explorer (Fremantle-Singapore) and "full farewell" (18-night B2B cruise Melbourne-Fremantle-Singapore). In February 2021, P&O Australia's fleet was also planned to leave Pacific Dawn (now Ambassador Ambience).

In November 2019, for both vessels were signed presale agreements with CMV-Cruise and Maritime Voyages. Pacific Aria was to be renamed to "CMV Ida Pfeiffer", Pacific Dawn - to "CMV Amy Johnson". Following the CMV's collapse (filed for bankruptcy in July 2020), Carnival Corporation reopened both ships for sale. Pacific Dawn was sold to Ocean Builders to become their "Crypto Cruise Ship" (residential ship). Pacific Aria was sold in mid-October (the buyer was not revealed) and left the fleet. With P&O Australia (November 2015 through March 2020), the 26-year-old Pacific Aria sailed 450,000+ NM (~520K mi / ~835K km).

SEAJETS Greece (1989-founded) is a Cyprus-based shipping company that specializes in passenger and cargo ferry services exclusively in the Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean Sea). Seajets' fleet includes mainly fast-ferries (14x high-speed catamarans, max capacity 2100 passengers + 600 cars) plus 3x conventional Ro-Pax vessels (max capacity 1300 passengers + 400 cars). Seajets operates from homeports Piraeus-Athens, Lavrion and Crete (Heraklion and Rethymno) interconnecting 26 Cyclades Islands (Crete including) with 260 connections.

The 1260-passenger ship was launched and operated as "MS Ryndam" by Holland America Line between 1994 and 2015. In May 2014, Carnival Corporation (shipowner for both brands P&O AU and HAL) announced that the liner would be transferred to P&O Australia's fleet in 2015, following a drydock refurbishment to tailor Ryndam for the Australia-New Zealand source market.

Decks and Cabins

Celestyal Journey staterooms (630 total) include 28x Grand Dream Suites and 120x Junior Dream Suites. The ship's largest accommodation is Deck 11's Stargazer Suite (Celestyal Cruises' first penthouse) with a large terrace which is sized 940 ft2 / 87 m2 (including the terrace). Over 80% of all staterooms are outside, and ~55% of those are Cosmos Cabins.

Pacific Aria had 29x Grand Suites, 120x Balcony Junior Suites, 353x Oceanview, and 128x Inside staterooms, grouped in 13 cabin categories.

Most staterooms are standard-sized (190 ft2 / 18 m2) and nearly 1/4th are with private step-out balconies.

The boat has 12 decks, of which 9 are passenger-accessible and 5 with cabins.

Shipboard facilities and amenities (Celestyal Journey review)

Celestyal Cruises Journey ship has 7 new dining options including Thalassa Restaurant, Olive Restaurant, Leda Casual Dining, Grill Seekers, Pink Moon (Asian restaurant), and the exclusive Chef's Table (VIP dining room with a live cooking demonstration station).

Thalassa Restaurant is the MDR (complimentary Main Dining Room) open for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner (a la carte menu). Adjacent to the Restaurant is the Galley (kitchen with storage rooms for food and beverages).

Leda Casual Dining is a buffet-style outdoor seating/alfresco area where is served Continental Breakfast (7-8:30 am) and Afternoon Tea with snacks (4-5 pm).

Other dining venues include Marco Polo Restaurant, Mediterraneo Restaurant, The Grill Specialty Restaurant, and The Grill Lounge.

The Grapevine Wine Cellar is a boutique winery with a large selection of premium wines. Here are hosted daily wine tastings and classes. Top-brand wines are available for purchasing and pre-ordering for dinner.

At the new Fizz Club guests can enjoy hand-crafted cocktails and fine champagne.

Martini Piano Bar & Lounge is a specialty cocktail bar with live piano performances (nightly) and also serves the Casino (gaming lounge). The Martini Lounge offers as entertainment live music and dance performances. Martini Bar serves exclusive Signature Cocktails.

Ble Bar and Lounge

The outdoor relaxation complex has a resort-style swimming pool and is served by the Ocean Bar. Its spacious sundeck/sunbathing area is fitted with padded loungers and deckchairs (sun lounges, daybeds, cabanas, hanging pod chairs).

Helios Deck & Beach Club

Helios Bar has a few barstools, stylish lounges, tables and chairs. Its retractable roof and covered spaces enable open-air drinking. 

Ice Cream and Healthy Juice Corner also sell iced coffee, thick shakes, specialty coffees and teas.

The fore-located Horizons Lounge is an indoor observation lounge with a full-service bar, ample seating, floor-ceiling windows (for 270-degree panoramic views), large central dance floor. The Horizons doubles as a Cocktail Bar and Disco Nightclub (karaoke bar in the evenings).

The Amphitheatro (fka Teatro Show Lounge) is a 2-deck high theater/big-capacity show lounge with tiered seating and a dance floor. The grand-style evening entertainment program is complimentary and includes show productions, music revues, live music, dance shows, stand-up comedy acts, magicians and acrobatic performances.

The Atrium's lower level/Lobby houses the Reception Desk (guest services, assistance, information) and Shore Excursions Desk (information and booking of land tours). The Atrium's upper level is served by the Argo Bar & Lounge. The lobby bar provides a home-like environment, furnished with comfortable lounges and small coffee tables. Beside the theater's shows, the onboard entertainment options also include live music performances, guest lectures, cooking workshops

The Photo Shop & Gallery displays photos made by the ship’s photographers and also sells duty-free equipment and accessories.

The cruise ship has three Conference Rooms (Symposium 1, 2, and 3) hosting large-group and corporate meetings, lectures, seminars, conferences at sea, and other private events.

There are three Tax and Duty-Free Shops ("Duty-Free and Value", "Agora", "Essentials"), including a general store for convenience goods. The onboard shops sell liquor, tobaccos, brand perfumes, cosmetics, sunglasses, fashion and accessories, and luxury watches – all at duty-free prices. 

Jewellery Shop

Shorex Selling Kiosks

The Casino/gambling lounge has gaming tables (poker and roulette), several slot machines, video arcade, and is served with beverages by the Martini Bar.

Spa & Fitness (the ship’s Wellness Center "The Sozo Experience") consists of 2x Sauna Rooms 1x Steam Room & Jacuzzi (unisex, all complimentary), Treatment Rooms (for spa massages and therapies), a Gym Room (equipped with a treadmill, exercise bikes, free weights), Beauty Center (facials, nail-hairdresser-barber services).

Celestyal Journey's main pool deck (deck 11) has 1x large Swimming Pool, 1x outdoor Jacuzzi/Whirlpool, and 2x Spa Pools/hot tubs. The entire pool area is covered with a retractable glass roof. The luxury resort experience here is provided by a Greek Deli with deluxe daybeds. This is also the place for the open-air deck parties held in the evenings.

The ship's sports complex groups a full-size Tennis Court (portside), a full-size Basketball Court (starboard), and a Deck Games area around the sliding dome (quoits, golf putting green, shuffleboard).

Kids' Room and Video Arcade include all teen- and kids club lounges offering complimentary and supervised age-appropriate activities.

Pacific Aria (ship review)

Pacific Aria showcases P&O Australia's biggest dining options selection, with 15 venues in total.

The Pantry replaced the traditional buffet. It is an area of fresh-food stations including items like fish and chips and a delicatessen.

The Dragon Lady serves a range of Asian dishes, Angelo's is an elegant Italian venue.

The Open Kitchen is a modern cooking school. Back by popular demand are favorites, such as the exclusive 14-seat Chef's Table and Salt Grill by Luke Mangan.

The Waterfront Restaurant (main dining room) continues to serve classic Australian dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a stylish setting.

Follows the complete list of Pacific Aria restaurants and food bars.

• Waterfront Restaurant (open-seating dining room; each of all three dining rooms on Pacific Aria is operated with “Your Choice Dining” (a la carte) menus for breakfast and lunch, and offers a 4-course dinner menu. Tables seat up to 10 guests. Dining times vary according to sea/port days. The Waterfront is connected with the Asian- and Italian-themed dining rooms)
• The Dragon Lady (Asian cuisine restaurant; ship’s second dining room)
• The Angelo's (Italian cuisine restaurant, the third dining room)
• The Pantry (self-service buffet restaurant with an open-air terrace)
• Salt Grill (reservations-only specialty restaurant via a partnership with Australian celebrity chef Luke Mangan)
• Chef's Table (specialty dining venue with gourmet private dining and tour of the galley).

Pacific Aria's bars and lounges include the Salt Grill Bar (complementing the MIX cocktail bar), Cellar Door for wine tastings and Dome nightclub. For kids, innovative activity clubs include Turtle Cove (ages 3-6-yo), Shark Shack (ages 7-10-yo) and HQ for teens. Adults can relax in the child-free Oasis (top deck's sundeck), while all ages enjoy the swimming pool on Lido Deck and the P&OEdge (top deck).

On Top Deck is P&O Australia's signature P&OEdge Adventure Park. This unique outdoor playground offers 20 different high-adrenaline activities, including zip-lining, rock climbing, rope jumping, racing. The most popular P&OEdge activities are named “Cargo Net Race”, “Flying Fox” (rope jumping across pool deck), “Atrium High Ropes” (net climbing in the Atrium), “Aft Funnel Climb” (rock climbing wall), "Bungee Tramp", "Bow Ladder Climb" and "Slackline Bouncing Bridge" (ropes course).

Follows the complete list of Pacific Aria's bars, clubs, lounges, and other entertainment venues for adults, teens and kids.

• Atrium (3-deck central open floor area and social hub)
• The Marquee Theatre (2-decks, featuring large-scale shows, magic and comedy acts; during the day, the theatre hosts Jackpot bingo games, trivia quizzes)
• Cellar Door (boutique winery); Ocean Bar; Blue Room (bar); The Bar/Monkey Bar; The Grill/Lido Bar; Pool Bar
• Cinema & Open Kitchen (indoor cinema with a culinary school)
• Tax and Duty-Free Shops; PANDORA shop (jewelry)
• The Dome (indoor observation lounge with floor-ceiling windows, large dance floor, full-service bar; transforms into disco nightclub in the evenings)
• Casino (served by The “MIX” Lounge and Bar which doubles as a sports bar)
• Expressions Studio (Photo Gallery and Shop); The Library (with Internet Cafe)
• The Oasis (adults-only relaxation complex)
• Aqua HealthSpaFitness (Wellness Centre with Day Spa, Thermal Suites, Fitness Centre with a separate room for classes, Hair and Beauty Salon); Main Pool Area
• Promenade (decks 6 & 7), 2 pools (1 covered with sliding roof), 2 jacuzzis
• Teen- and Kids club lounges (offering complimentary activities by P&O youth program: Turtle Cove/kids, Shark Shack/children, HQ Lounge/children, HQ+ Teen Lounge)
• P&OEdge Adventure Park experience (high-adrenalin program with 20 different activities, such as climbing, jumping, racing, flying on ropes)
• Jogging Track; Traditional deck games area (Deck Chess, Deck Quoits, Shuffleboard); Sports Court (basketball, volleyball, tennis); Table Tennis; Golf Nets.

In 2024, on Celestyal Journey was opened Cafe Nation - an Italian coffee bar & lounge (via an exclusive partnership with illy/1933-established as "illycaffe" by Francesco Illy) introduced on Celestyal Discovery. Cafe Nation offers illy brand's classic and decaf coffee blends, in addition to Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, and Brazil. The coffee bar's menu lists 90+ beverages in addition to customized drinks (including barista-made coffees, teas, hot chocolates, various iced drinks).

Itineraries

For Celestyal Cruises, Celestyal Journey's inaugural season started with the Maiden Voyage on September 2, 2023, when the ship took over Celestyal Crystal‘s schedule. The program grouped 7-night Greek Islands itineraries leaving roundtrip from Piraeus-Athens, as well as from Thessaloniki and Heraklion (Crete Island) as alternative turnaround ports/homeports.

Celestyal's "Idyllic Aegean" itinerary (Piraeus roundtrip) visits Greece's Thessaloniki, Kavala and Patmos Island and Turkey's Istanbul, Dikili and Kusadasi-Ephesus. Select voyages visit Crete's Heraklion, Santorini Island (Thira), Mykonos Island, and Milos Island (Adamantas). Roundtrip departures are also offered from Thessaloniki and Heraklion (both serving as alternative homeports to Piraeus).

Celestyal's "Three Continents" itinerary (Piraeus-roundtrip) is Holy Land-themed and visits ports in Egypt (Port Said), Israel (Ashdod/Jerusalem), Greece (Limassol Cyprus, Rhodes) and Turkey (Kusadasi). Roundtrips are alternatively offered also from Limassol.

In late November 2023, was announced the new 7-night "Heavenly Adriatic" itinerary introducing 3 new Adriatic countries and 6 new ports - three in Greece (Kefalonia, Kerkyra/Corfu Island, Katakolon/Olympia) as well as Dubrovnik Croatia, Kotor Montenegro, and Bari Italy.

The itinerary was incorporated into Celestyal Journey's 2024-2025 schedule, starting on March 2nd (2024).

"Heavenly Adriatic" includes extensive port stays in Kefalonia, Kotor, Bari, and Corfu, along with late-night departures from Dubrovnik and a half-day stay in Katakolon for tours to Olympia.

Phoenix Reisen's World Cruise 2023-2024 ship charter

After being chartered by Phoenix Reisen, the Celestyal Journey is sailing from Genoa, Italy today on the first leg of a 143-night world cruise.

In December 2023, Phoenix Reisen chartered Celestyal Journey due to a delay in Amera ship's drydock refurbishment in Poland. On December 1st (2023), Celestyal Journey departed from Hamburg on Amera's 143-night World Cruise.

The itinerary was only the first segment of Amera's World Voyage (25-day from Hamburg to Cape Town).

However, as Amera's drydock was further delayed, Celestyal Journey's charter was expanded to the World Voyage's second segment (18-day from Cape Town to Victoria/Mahe Island Seychelles).

The Celestyal Journey-Amera ship exchange (scheduled to take place in Mahe/Seychelles in February 2024) was later rescheduled for Feb 25th (Benoa, Bali Indonesia) when Amera started the 23-day itinerary to Auckland New Zealand.

The full itinerary you can see at Amera's CruiseMinus page.

Pacific Aria itineraries (P&O Australia)

Pacific Aria itinerary program was based on Australia cruises from homeports Sydney NSW and Brisbane QLD, including roundtrip “South Pacific Islands” voyages to Fiji, Vanuatu, Santo, New Caledonia, “cruises to nowhere” and Moreton Island short breaks, Queensland cruises to the Great Barrier Reef (Coral Sea) and Papua New Guinea, Sydney-Brisbane repositioning cruises with one-way itineraries.

In 2020, the ship had planned its longest-ever New Zealand season - 7 months (April through October) with roundtrips from homeport Auckland NZ. P&O AU's 2020 program featured a new 14-day "Bounty Adventure" itinerary (operated since July 2020) visiting Norfolk Island, Vavau, Nuku'alofa, Suva, Dravuni Island, Port Denarau-Nadi.

The boat's New Zealand 2020 program included 18 longer itineraries ("P&O Voyages", 8- to 12 days) leaving roundtrip from Auckland to South Pacific Islands (including 12x visiting Fiji Islands). The 10-day "Bounty Discovery" itinerary (April, June, July, September) was to Norfolk Island, Lifou, Noumea, Port Vila, Mystery Island.

Following the vessel's sale in October 2020, a total of 26x P&O Pacific Aria cruises (departures between December 7, 2020, and April 9, 2021) were canceled. For details on the scheduled 2020-2021 itineraries see the ship's Wiki page.

MS Ryndam itineraries

For HAL, Ryndam operated on Caribbean voyages leaving roundtrip from Florida (during winter) and on Alaskan voyages out of Vancouver BC Canada (during summer). Before its transfer to P&O AU, MS Ryndam was drydock-refurbished in Singapore, then renamed “Pacific Aria”.