Celebrity Cruises has replaced the Kotor, Montenegro call with Bar, Montenegro on select Celebrity Constellation Best of Italy and Croatia sailings after a berth conflict in Dubrovnik. Guests who planned a Kotor-only day now have a different port, different docking times, and a new independent-tour problem to solve before they go ashore.
Official guest letters for the 20 July 2026 and 21 September 2026 departures put Dubrovnik on Monday from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm and Bar on Tuesday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Celebrity says pre-purchased Kotor shore excursions will still run, with timing adjusted for the new port day, because Bar sits close enough for those trips to continue.
- Ship: Celebrity Constellation on Best of Italy and Croatia sailings.
- Change: Kotor is replaced by Bar, Montenegro, on listed dates.
- Cause: Celebrity cites a berth conflict in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
- Confirmed sails: 20 July 2026 and 21 September 2026 guest letters match.
- Excursions: Line-sold Kotor tours still offered with schedule adjustments.
What Celebrity officially changed
Celebrity publishes modified itineraries on its itinerary modifications board, with guest letters attached by ship and departure date.
For Constellation, the 20 July 2026 guest letter opens with the same berth-conflict language used on the 21 September 2026 letter.
Both letters state that Dubrovnik moves to a Monday call from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm The scheduled Tuesday call to Kotor is replaced by Bar from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm before the ship continues along the Croatian coast.
The full revised 20 July 2026 table still runs Rome (Civitavecchia), Florence and Pisa via Livorno, the Amalfi Coast via Salerno, Sicily via Messina, Dubrovnik, Bar, Split, Zadar, and Ravenna. The material traveler change is the Montenegro day, not a full Adriatic rewrite.
Read the letter that matches your booking number and sail date rather than assuming every Constellation Adriatic cruise received the same swap. Different departures can carry different port fixes under the same Dubrovnik pressure story.
Why this is not the Ascent story
Deep Arrival already covered a related but separate stream when Celebrity Ascent changed five port dates after a Dubrovnik berth conflict on its 17 July 2026 sailing. That package kept every named destination and reordered days.
Constellation is different. On the documented Best of Italy and Croatia letters, the Montenegro day is not merely retimed.
Kotor is removed from the call list and Bar is inserted in its place for a full daytime call.
Treating Ascent and Constellation as one URL would hide the traveler decision.
Ascent guests needed a new day order. Constellation guests on the listed sailings need a new city plan for Montenegro.
The shared root cause still matters. Dubrovnik berth pressure is cascading into Celebrity fleet schedules in the same mid-summer window, so guests on either ship should re-open the official modifications board before they freeze private transfers.
What a Bar day actually means for guests
Celebrity describes Bar as a south-coast Montenegro resort town between mountains and the Adriatic.
The line highlights Skadar Lake National Park, the ruins and lanes of Stari Bar, Topolica City Beach, King Nikola’s Palace, and historic sites such as the Omerbasica Mosque and the Church of St. Nicholas.
That is useful orientation, not a promise that every guest will reach every site in a 7:00 am to 7:00 pm window.
Independent travelers who only researched Kotor Old Town, the city walls, and Bay of Kotor viewpoints now need a Bar-centered plan or a paid excursion that still reaches Kotor from Bar.
Guests who already booked private drivers, yacht charters, or small-group walks that start on the Kotor pier should contact those operators now. A provider waiting in Kotor will not automatically move to Bar without a new pickup instruction and price confirmation.
If your only goal was the Bay of Kotor scenery, ask whether a Celebrity excursion still includes that bay from Bar and how much of the day is spent in transit. Proximity helps, but it does not erase road time.
Shore excursions versus independent plans
Celebrity’s letters tell guests who already bought cruise-line shore excursions that they do not need to take action for those products. The line says Kotor-planned excursions remain available and will be adjusted to the revised port date and times because Bar and Kotor are close enough for that model to work.
That guarantee applies to Celebrity-sold inventory tracked in the Celebrity app or My Celebrity Cruises. It does not cover Airbnb Experiences, local guides messaged on WhatsApp, or hotel day-use bookings tied to a Kotor pier arrival.
As sail day approaches, open the official excursion catalog again. Titles may still say Kotor even when the ship is alongside in Bar, so read the meeting point, duration, and cancellation language before you treat the product as unchanged in practice.
If you need a refund or rebook path for a private plan, start that conversation with the outside vendor first. Celebrity’s operational letter is not a voucher for third-party refunds.
How to verify your exact sailing
Start on Celebrity’s itinerary modifications page and open the PDF that matches your Constellation departure date.
The 20 July 2026 letter is the current day-of reference for guests already in that voyage window. The 21 September 2026 letter shows the same Kotor-to-Bar language for a later Best of Italy and Croatia departure.
Do not stop at those two dates if your cruise is later in the year. Other Constellation letters on the same board can use different fixes.
For example, the 12 October 2026 letter reviewed for this report replaces the Dubrovnik call with Brindisi, Italy, and still lists Kotor rather than substituting Bar.
That is why a blanket “every Constellation Adriatic cruise skips Kotor” headline would be wrong. Confirm the letter for your embarkation date, then confirm the live itinerary in your booking account and app.
Travelers comparing ships can also use Deep Arrival’s newest cruise ships guide for fleet context, then return to the official letter for the operational truth that booking sites may lag.
Independent plans that break first
Private transfers timed to a Kotor tender or pier are the first failure point. Bar is a different port of call with different road approaches, even when the region is the same country.
Second are multi-stop land tours sold as “Kotor and Budva” with a fixed ship-return time based on the old schedule.
Recalculate buffer time against the 7:00 pm Bar departure and any traffic between Bar and the Bay of Kotor.
Third are hotel or restaurant holds that assumed you would sleep or dine in Kotor after a short walk from the ship. On a Bar call, that plan becomes a longer road day or a cancelled reservation.
Readers who still want Montenegro coastal time after the swap can compare Bar against nearby options using Deep Arrival’s Kotor cruise-day guide and Budva cruise-day guide only as planning context, then re-map pickup points to Bar.
For independent port context beyond the line’s marketing copy, Montenegro’s tourism portal at Montenegro Travel remains a useful place to cross-check regional day-trip geography before you pay a private driver.
Guests who keep Split on the same voyage can still use the Split cruise day guide for the Croatian call that remains on the revised July table.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Sail Constellation on 20 Jul or 21 Sep 2026 | Open the matching Celebrity guest letter and treat Bar as your Montenegro call. |
| Bought Celebrity Kotor excursions | Leave them booked, then re-read meeting times in the app as the port day nears. |
| Booked private Kotor-only plans | Contact the vendor now to reprice, re-route from Bar, or cancel with written terms. |
| Hold a different Constellation date | Open that date’s PDF; some sailings use other port fixes, not a Kotor-to-Bar swap. |
| Need the Bay of Kotor scenery | Ask whether a line tour still includes the bay from Bar and how long transfers run. |
- Re-open the official letter: Match ship, date, and PDF before you change private bookings.
- Move private pickups to Bar: Do not assume a Kotor pier vendor will relocate without a new quote.
- Keep line tours unless cancelled: Celebrity says its Kotor products continue with timing changes.
- Recheck later sailings one by one: October packages on the same board can differ from July and September.
- Protect the all-aboard buffer: Bar ends at 7:00 pm on the documented letters; build road time into every independent day.
For guests already at sea on the 20 July 2026 departure, the practical work is same-day: confirm tomorrow’s Bar call, review excursion meeting points, and cancel any Kotor-only private services that cannot relocate. For September guests, the same checklist applies earlier, while refund windows and private-tour deposits are still easier to change.
Is Kotor cancelled on every Celebrity Constellation Adriatic cruise?
No: the documented 20 July and 21 September 2026 Best of Italy and Croatia letters replace Kotor with Bar, while other Constellation dates can use different fixes, so open the letter for your embarkation date.
Will my Celebrity shore excursion still run if it was sold as Kotor?
Celebrity says pre-purchased Kotor excursions remain offered and will be adjusted for the revised port date and times because Bar is close enough for those products to continue.
What are the Bar port times on the confirmed letters?
Both the 20 July 2026 and 21 September 2026 guest letters list Bar, Montenegro, from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm on the Tuesday call that replaces Kotor.
How is this different from the Celebrity Ascent Dubrovnik change?
Ascent reordered five retained ports on a July sailing. Constellation’s listed letters remove the Kotor call and insert Bar for the Montenegro day, which is a different traveler decision.
What should independent travelers change first?
Contact private drivers, guides, and timed reservations that assumed a Kotor pier, then reissue written pickup instructions for Bar or cancel under the vendor’s terms.
