When Celebrity Cruises launches its 3,248-passenger Celebrity Xcel this November, model loyalists will discover one thing new: The Bazaar, a sea-day idea that may take over a mammoth devoted house throughout three decks with meals, leisure, and retail impressed by the earlier port of name. It’s a spot the place friends will be capable of discover distributors that promote sombreros the day after a go to to Cozumel or rum tastings after they’ve left Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, adopted by bachata dancers at evening. “It essentially extends guests’ time in each port,” says Jeannette Coto Dou, Celebrity’s vice chairman of product improvement.
Silversea pioneered the motion to deliver the tradition and meals of ports on board with its standard SALT program again in 2021, which showcased native delicacies on ships via immersive experiences and partnerships; now different strains are honing their very own approaches. In the coming 12 months Celebrity plans to deliver The Bazaar, the largest-scale effort of this sort, to Celebrity Xcel’s 4 sister ships in the Edge class on sailings via the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Boutique line Azamara Cruises lately debuted its Stories Under the Stars program, for which native consultants hop on board to share myths and legends; in November cultural specialist Thato Mahlangu will inform tales of the crafty Grootslang serpent, mentioned to protect the riches of South Africa’s Richtersveld area, as Azamara Pursuit sails the South African coast. Similarly, in Quebec, Ponant introduced Gaspe Mi’kmaq storyteller Tim Adams on board Le Commandant Charcot throughout its new icebreaker sailings up the St. Lawrence River, the first in a collection of conventional performances on the ship. Native Polynesian craft courses protecting such subjects as the making of Tahitian hairpins at the moment are supplied when the 245-passenger ship sails the Society Islands.
As for Silversea, it has prolonged its SALT program to its latest ship, the year-old Silver Ray, providing a devoted chef’s desk, set in a vivid room with massive home windows that look out over the sea; it has additionally retrofitted sister ship Silver Nova to create the same house. Here, consultants like João Sá, the chef of the Michelin-starred Lisbon restaurant Sála de João Sá, will serve dishes to passengers utilizing uncommon and specialised components from close by ports—only one extra instance of the methods cultural immersion can final lengthy after the ship has sailed on.
Seven-night sails on board Celebrity Xcel from $883. This article appeared in the September/October 2025 difficulty of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the journal here.