Happy 30th birthday Celebrity Cruises!
It’s a momentous year for Celebrity Cruises as the line celebrates its 30th birthday in 2020.
Established in 1990 by the Greek company Chandris Group, the line was bought by RCL in 1997, and now, has 14 ships.
This year, the line delivered the new Celebrity Apex, the second ship from the Edge-class series. We saw a number of industry firsts when her sister ship, the Celebrity Edge launched in 2018.
There are magic carpets on the exterior of the ships – a floating platform which moves up and down and creates different experiences for guests on different levels.
It can be an alfresco dining area, a sea viewing platform and a bar on the top deck.
Celebrity Cruises was also at the forefront of some other industry innovations including speciality dining in 2000; the first solar panels at sea in 2008; in 2015 the first female captain of a cruise ship; the first ship to replace plastic water bottles and in 2020, the first all-female bridge and leadership team to command a ship.
“Having recently celebrated my 35th Anniversary with the company, my time at RCL predates the acquisition of Celebrity Cruises, giving me a unique perspective in watching Celebrity grow from day one. I was a District Sales Manager in New England, at the time, and Celebrity was a formidable competitor that really started to change the complexion of premium cruising,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises.
“For me, Celebrity’s legacy will be setting modern luxury cruising standards that are Celebrity’s to own, and then resetting and raising the bar, again and again. It is that spirit of pioneering that continues to take the brand and our guest experiences to new heights – and I’m not just talking about the view from the Magic Carpet.”
The line has sailed to all seven continents since joining the RCL family and in 2000, the company introduced the Celebrity Millennium series, the first new-build vessels for the brand. It was followed by the Celebrity Solstice Series in 2008 with five additional elegant ships.
The Edge-class series was launched in 2018 and the Celebrity Edge has won a number of awards for the onboard innovations.
Celebrity Cruises also has three smaller expedition ships which sail the Galapagos Islands and last year, we saw the launch of the Celebrity Flora. Aside from a passenger vessel, the ship also has a laboratory onboard for scientists and collects data of the area.
P & O (UK) had their first female Captain back in 2013 on ‘Arcadia’