A 25-year-old ship is starting a new chapter, and the journey there is half the appeal. Celebrity Summit sailed out of Los Angeles on October 1, 2026, at the start of a 17-night repositioning voyage that will deliver it to its new winter homeport of Tampa, Florida.
The route reads like a greatest-hits of Latin America and the Caribbean. From California, the 91,000-ton ship heads south with calls in Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica, then threads through the Panama Canal in a full transit — still one of the great travel experiences at sea. On the other side come Cartagena in Colombia, Ocho Rios in Jamaica and George Town in the Cayman Islands before the ship docks in Tampa.
Once there, the Summit settles into a season of seven-night sailings starting October 18, 2026. The first cruise heads to the Bahamas and Florida, stopping at Bimini, Nassau and Key West. After that, the program leans heavily on the Western Caribbean: Cozumel, Costa Maya and Progreso in Mexico, Belize City, Roatán in Honduras, George Town again, and the Jamaican ports of Ocho Rios and Falmouth.
There's a curveball in the schedule, too — a chartered jazz-themed sailing in January 2027 that adds New Orleans to the itinerary, a genuinely unusual port for a Tampa-based Caribbean ship. The season wraps in April 2027, when the Summit repositions back to the West Coast.
Why should travellers care? Tampa departures are a solid alternative to the crowded Miami and Fort Lauderdale scene, often with easier drives for anyone in the southeastern US and shorter transfer times from the airport. And the Summit itself is an interesting pick. It launched in August 2001 from France's Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard as part of Celebrity's Millennium class, carrying 1,950 passengers — small by today's megaship standards, which means fewer queues and a more classic cruise feel. A 2019 overhaul under Celebrity's Revolution program brought redesigned staterooms and refreshed restaurants, bars and lounges, so it doesn't feel its age.
If you've always wanted to see the Panama Canal but couldn't face a full 14-plus-day commitment, a week-long Caribbean cruise on this ship once it reaches Tampa is the low-effort way to sail with a vessel that just did the real thing. And for cruise nerds, catching a repositioning itinerary — like this one or the April 2027 return leg — often means better per-night pricing and a port list you won't see repeated on the same ship.
