Celebrity Cruise Line announced this week that it has bought tour operator Ocean Adventures which will add a small ship and a catamaran to its fleet. The luxurious vessels include the MV Eclipse, which accommodates 48 passengers, and the 16 passenger catamaran MC Athala II, which will join Celebrity Xpedition (100 passenger capacity) on voyages to the Galapagos Islands,

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Celebrity Cruise president and CEO, said, "Our guests use the most amazing words to describe their journeys to the Galapagos Islands.

"They tell us the experience is 'once in a lifetime', 'awe-inspiring', even 'life-changing'.

"That's why we've made Celebrity Xpedition such a special experience, and why we are thrilled to expand our Galapagos programme with these two intimate ships. We want to make more lifetime memories."

Celebrity credits its new acquisitions with giving their clients more choices, now being able to offer a more intimate luxury experience in the Galapagos Islands.

Ocean Adventures has 64 permits for passengers to disembark on the Galapagos Islands so Celebrity passengers will have more itineraries to choose from and can opt to stay overnight on the islands.

A statement from the cruise line said that the sale will be finalized later in spring. Ocean Adventures will operate the ships through January; then ships will be refreshed in drydock before sailing as part of Celebrity's fleet.

Bookings for the new ships start in April.