Celebrity Cruises Reaches Out to Guests About Itinerary Change

Guests sailing aboard Celebrity Millennium for a stunning “Best of Japan” cruise in March 2025 have been informed of several itinerary adjustments, including the addition of an overnight visit in a new port of call.

Other port times are also adjusted, but as the sailing is over a year away, passengers have plenty of time to review their plans for each destination and make changes as needed to any tour options.

Celebrity Millennium Itinerary Change

Celebrity Cruises has begun to reach out to guests booked on the March 27, 2025 departure of Celebrity Millennium to alert them to itinerary changes for their “Best of Japan” sailing. A new port of call and several port time adjustments are all part of the changes.

Of greatest interest is the addition of an overnight call early in the sailing, which has a slight knock-on effect for later ports of call on the 12-night cruise.

“We are excited to announce that we have added an overnight stay in Kobe, Japan,” the email explains. That overnight stay is from 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 29 to the early morning hours of Sunday, March 30.

To make the next port visit in Kyoto (Osaka), Celebrity Millennium will depart Kobe at 5 a.m., moving over to Kyoto for an 8 a.m. arrival. The two ports of call are just 20 miles (33 kilometers) apart across Osaka Bay.

The ship will depart Kyoto at 3 p.m. rather than 5 p.m. on Monday, March 31, as originally planned, but will arrive in Hiroshima at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1. To compensate for arriving in Hiroshima three hours later than the original schedule, the ship will also remain in port three hours later, until 10 p.m., so the overall time in Hiroshima is not shortened.

The remaining destinations on the itinerary are not affected. The ship will bring guests to Nagasaki from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 3; Jeju Island in South Korea from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, April 4; Kagoshima from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 5; and Mt. Fuji (Shimizu) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, April 7.

The cruise will end as scheduled in Tokyo (Yokohama) on Tuesday, April 8, with no anticipated change to its 6:30 a.m. arrival time. It will take further time for authorities to clear the ship before debarkation can begin, as is standard with any cruise vacation.

Shore Tours Impacted

With the new port of call and different time changes for following destinations, any shore excursions that have been booked through Celebrity Cruises will be automatically rescheduled to comparable times.

If guests have already made independent tour arrangements for this trip, they will need to reach out to their tour operators for rescheduling or cancelling if necessary.

Because the cruise is more than a year away, however, any impact to tours is likely to be minimal and guests should not have difficulty adjusting their plans so they don’t miss a minute of the amazing destinations on the itinerary.

Why the Change?

There have been no details provided about why Celebrity Millennium‘s itinerary has been adjusted, but it is not uncommon for cruise lines to tweak itineraries somewhat well in advance of a cruise departure date, especially if new options may become available.

Celebrity Cruises made several similar changes to another “Best of Japan” itinerary aboard Celebrity Millennium, the ship’s June 8, 2024 sailing – those changes were announced in July 2023.

Berth schedules, port management, fuel adjustments, and other factors can all contribute to such itinerary changes. Guest feedback from similar sailings could also prompt itinerary changes for the time in port or the most popular ports to visit.

The 91,000-gross-ton Celebrity Millennium, the oldest ship in Celebrity Cruises’ fleet, is based year-round in Asia, offering sailings from Yokohama, Singapore, Mumbai, Incheon, and Benoa, depending on sailing date and cruise length.

The lead ship of the Millennium-class can welcome 2,138 guests aboard for such amazing adventures and is also home to approximately 950 international crew members who work diligently to ensure everyone has a fabulous and memorable cruise vacation.