Millie - bookings now open for Australia/New Zealand 2008/9

**Ally** · 05-21-2007, 07:11 AM

CELEBRITY CRUISES OPENS BOOKINGS FOR 2008-2009 AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND SAILINGS

With bookings for its first-ever Australia/New Zealand sailing anything but “down” or “under,” today, top-rated Celebrity Cruises announced that it will send one of its largest ships, the 2,038-passenger Celebrity Millennium, to the region for its second season, winter 2008-2009. Over 50 percent of Celebrity Millennium's staterooms have verandas, which will give even more guests the opportunity to view the spectacular regional landscapes in privacy.

On October 17, 2008, the Australia/New Zealand season opens with a 15-night Pacific Islands voyage from Honolulu, Hawaii to Auckland, New Zealand, calling on the stunningly beautiful ports of Hilo, Hawaii; Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia; Moorea, French Polynesia; Bora Bora, French Polynesia; and Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

From November 23, 2008, through March 29, 2009, Celebrity Millennium will sail a series of 14-night open-jaw Australia sailings between Sydney and Auckland. During the sailings from Auckland to Sydney, which will take place on November 23, December 21, January 18, February 15, and March 15, stops in New Zealand will include Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. In Australia, these voyages will include overnight stays in both Melbourne and Sydney. During the sailings from Sydney to Auckland, which will take place on December 7, 2008, and January 4, February 1, and March 29, 2009, the voyage will start with an overnight stay in Sydney’s harbour before continuing to Phillip Island and Melbourne, Australia; Hobart, Tasmania; Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Dusky Sound, Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand. The ship will take a scenic cruise past Volcanic White Island before continuing to Tauranga and Auckland.

To close the Australia and New Zealand season, Celebrity Millennium will sail a 14-night Pacific Islands voyage from Auckland back to Honolulu on April 12, 2009. Ports of call include Tauranga, New Zealand; Rarotonga, Cook Islands; Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia; Bora Bora, French Polynesia; Fanning Island, Kiribati; and Hilo, Hawaii.

Guests wishing to extend their vacation in Australia can do so on a Celebrity cruisetour out of Sydney on a five-night package offered either before or after their cruise. The Australia cruisetour explores the exciting destinations of Ayers Rock, deep in the Australian Outback, and Port Douglas, on the coast with access to the Great Barrier Reef.

One 12-night Hawaii sailing is also slated for Sunday, April 26, 2009, sailing open-jaw from Honolulu to Vancouver, British Columbia. The voyage features an overnight stay in Honolulu, stops in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii; Kauai (Nawiliwili), Hawaii; and Hilo, Hawaii; and an overnight stay in Kailua Kona, Hawaii.

Celebrity Cruises offers comfortably sophisticated, upscale cruise experiences with highly personalised service, exceptional dining, and extraordinary attention to detail. Celebrity sails in Alaska, Antarctica, Bermuda, California, Caribbean, Europe, Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, Mexican Riviera, Panama Canal and South America, and will begin sailing in Australia and New Zealand this year. The line also offers unique land-tour vacations in Alaska, Canada, Europe and Australia through its cruisetour affiliate. Noted for "The World's Best Large Ships," as voted by the readers of Conde' Nast Traveller (February 2007 Cruise Poll), Celebrity's current fleet will be joined by Celebrity Solstice in 2008, Celebrity Equinox in 2009, and Celebrity Eclipse in 2010.

For more information, call your travel agent, or Celebrity Cruises (02) 8644-1880 or 1300 659 021 or visit Celebrity Cruises.