Celestyal Nefeli

Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean

For the 2016 season, Celestyal announced the Celestyal Nefeli as the ship for its Turkish homeport program. The program was planned for 2016 and 2017, with Istanbul, Izmir and Kusadasi named by the cruise line as embarkation ports. These ports described the program’s offering, not a single fixed itinerary with three scheduled departures for every voyage. The Nefeli was to operate voyages from Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In 2019, the same hull is documented under the name Gemini in a separate Etstur offering: three- and four-day round trips to Greek ports were operated from Izmir. The ports named were Syros, Mykonos, Santorini and Piraeus near Athens. These short sample itineraries show a different, compact use of the ship for island and city-port traffic. They belong to the later Gemini period and should not be confused with Celestyal’s 2016–2017 program.

Capacity and onboard facilities

Celestyal stated a maximum capacity of 1,074 guests in 400 cabins. An archived profile also lists 340 crew members. These figures describe the size of the ship at the time, not its current occupancy or operation. Seven passenger decks are documented for the Nefeli period.

Two restaurants were listed onboard: the Aegean Restaurant and the Leda Buffet. There was also a swimming pool.

Ship identity and service history

Behind the name Celestyal Nefeli was a hull built in Valencia in 1992 by Unión Naval de Levante, with IMO number 9000687. The ship’s history records several names: first Crown Jewel, later SuperStar Gemini and Vision Star, and then Gemini. From 2016, the hull was listed as Celestyal Nefeli. In December 2017, the name Gemini returned. This sequence connects the historical itineraries to the same ship without conflating its different cruise line and naming periods.

For the Nefeli period, the history lists the Bahamas as its flag state and Nassau as its port of registry. Celestyal announced the ship’s deployment after a refurbishment and planned a two-year charter or operating period. This was a plan for the program at the time, not a statement about its later or current use.

The documented dimensions are 163.81 meters in length and 22.5 meters in beam. The ship profile gives a gross tonnage of 19,093 and a service speed of 17.5 knots.