Its all about ships and more
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CELEBRITY CRUISES PAGE
ADDRESS:
Celebrity Cruises
1050 Caribbean Way
Miami, FL 33132-2096
Celebrity grew out of the Greek shipping company,
Chandris Lines. That line was begun after World War
I as a cargo line. After the Second World War, it
expanded into the passenger business. When
commercial jets made transporting passengers from
point-to-point unattractive, Chandris started to use its
fleet of re-conditioned ocean liners for cruising. Over
time, however, these older vessels lost the ability to
compete with the new modern cruise ships that were
appearing on the market.
In 1989, Chandris announced that instead of
revamping its existing cruise line, it was starting an
entirely new brand. Furthermore, this new brand
would not be aimed at the lower end of the mass
market cruise business as its previous cruise line had
been but would be targeted at the premium end of the
market.
The line started off using a reconditioned Chandris
ocean liner, the Galileo, which was renamed the
Meridian. However, she was soon joined by a newly
built state-of-the-art cruise ship, the Horizon. The
two ships began with cruises from New York to
Bermuda and the Caribbean. As the new line caught
on, the itineraries were expanded and new ships added
to the fleet.. An almost identical sister ship to the
Horizon, the Zenith, was delivered in 1992. Three
larger new builds, Century, Galaxy and Mercury were
added between 1995 and 1997. With the arrival of
the Century class ships, the Meridian was sold and
Celebrity had a fleet consisting entirely of new,
luxurious, state of the art ships.
In 1997, Celebrity merged with Royal Caribbean
International with the two companies operating under
a new parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
Although the two companies share some common
operations, they have retained their own identity and
have their own managements.
Following the merger, four technologically-advanced
Millennium class ships joined the Celebrity fleet. In
2008, the first of five 122,000 gross ton Solstice class
ships was delivered with the remainder due to arrive
by 2012.
True to its original concept, Celebrity remains a
premium cruise line. This is evident in the
sophistication of its activities and entertainment, the
innovative dining and the attention to detail in design
which is the hallmark of a Celebrity ship. The lifestyle
onboard is relaxed but sophisticated with the majority
of the passengers participating in the formal nights.
Indeed, the line describes itself similarly as offering “a
comfortably sophisticated, upscale vacation experience
with highly personalized anticipatory service (guest to
staff ratio of 2:1); fresh gourmet dining; understated
elegance and exceptional attention to detail.”
Celebrity’s description of who it would like to have
onboard is also a good description of the type of
guests that one encounters onboard. “Celebrity
Cruises target demographics are Baby Boomers, with
a household income of $75,000 and up. Celebrity
tends to attract experienced travelers who appreciate
service with style, and who desire a superior vacation
within an inviting, engaging and unpretentious
environment. In terms of geographic distribution,
Celebrity has sourced primarily the U.S. and Canadian
markets, but is increasingly tapping the European and
Latin American markets, as well.”
BEYONDSHIPS INSIDE
INTERVIEWS
Cruise line profile - Celebrity Cruises - home page
Horizon, the first ship built for Celebrity.
The Tuscan Grill on Celebrity Solstice
The bar in Michael's Club on
Celebrity Constellation
Dancers interact with passengers as
part of the Celebrity Life activities
program.
Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of
Celebrity's parent company Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd.