Cruise Line Information
Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line which was founded in 1988 by the
Greece-based Chandris Group In 1997, Celebrity Cruises Ltd. merged with Royal
Caribbean International to become Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which operates
Celebrity, Royal Caribbean International, Azamara Club Cruises, Pullmantur
Cruises and CDF Croisieres de France. The signature "X" displayed on the funnel
of Celebrity ships is the Greek letter chi, for "Chandris". The company has its
headquarters in Miami, Florida. Common features on board Celebrity brand ships
are aft-glass dining rooms, formal foyer areas, alternate dining venues, balcony
and suite staterooms, large pools and lounging areas, signature bars and
lounges, libraries, elegant spas and gyms, and relaxation areas.
Celebrity Cruises was founded in April 1988 as a subsidiary of the
Greece-based Chandris Group to operate upmarket cruise ships to Bermuda.
Chandris had been involved in cruise traffic since the 1960s, and during the
late 1980s the company operated in the United States market under the brand name
Chandris Cruises. Chandris Fantasy Cruises targeted the lower end of the cruise
passenger market, with fleets consisting of second-hand ocean liners. Celebrity
Cruises came into existence when, in April 1988, Home Lines, at the time one of
the world's leading premium cruise lines, was sold to Holland America Line. Home
Lines' ships had held two of the five contracts offered by the Government of
Bermuda to cruise lines, giving the ships priority berthing arrangement and
unlimited access of sail to the islands in exchange for the ships sailing to
Bermuda between April and October each year. Although these contracts were
highly valued, Holland America Line decided to withdraw the former Home Lines
ships from this service, leaving an opening for two new ships to gain access.
Chandris wanted to acquire the contracts, but the Government of Bermuda was only
willing to award them to upmarket cruise lines, which Chandris Fantasy Cruises
was not.
In order to gain the Bermuda Government contracts, Chandris created
Celebrity Cruises and immediately began negotiating with the Bermuda Government
in April 1988. As a result of the negotiations, Celebrity Cruises was awarded
the contract for two ships for a five-year period beginning in 1990 In order to
fulfill the contract, Chandris Fantasy Cruises' Galileo was rebuilt at Lloyd
Werft, Germany in 1989, re-entering service as Meridian for Celebrity Cruises in
February 1990. As the second ship Horizon, that had been ordered in 1988 as a
replacement for Amerikanis in the Chandris Fantasy fleet, was transferred to
Celebrity Cruises fleet, entering service in May 1990.In late 1990 Celebrity
Cruises placed an order for a sister ship of the Horizon, delivered in 1992 as
Zenith.
Summit, a Millennium-class ship, renamed Celebrity Summit in 2008.
In
1997 the Chandris family sold their interests in Celebrity Cruises to Royal
Caribbean International.[9] During the same year Celebrity Cruises took delivery
of the first Century class vessel, Century, that was followed by Galaxy in 1996
and Mercury in 1997. Following the delivery of the Mercury, the Meridian was
sold to Singapore-based Sun Cruises, Between 2000 and 2002 Celebrity took
delivery of a quartet of new ships, the gas turbine -powered and aptly named
Millennium class ships Millennium, Infinity, Summit and Constellation.[8] The
Celebrity Expeditions sub-brand was launched in 2001 with the acquisition of
Celebrity Xpedition, a small boutique ship offering specialized cruises around
the Galápagos Islands. In 2005, the Horizon was transferred to the fleet Royal
Caribbean's United Kingdom -based subsidiary Island Cruises. In the same year,
the first ship of what was to be named Solstice class was ordered from Meyer
Werft. By 2007, three more ships of this class were on order.
In 2006, plans were made to transfer Blue Moon and Blue Dream from the
fleet of Pullmantur Cruises to Celebrity Cruises under the names of Celebrity
Quest and Celebrity Journey. The ships would have joined the Celebrity
Expeditions sub-brand, but in the end the decision was made to form an entirely
new line, Azamara Cruises, to operate these ships in 2007. Also in 2007 the
Zenith was transferred to Pullmantur Cruises 'in exchange' for the Azamara
ships. Transfer of the Zenith also meant the end of Celebrity Cruises'
association with Bermuda for the time being, as no ship was brought in to
replace her on the cruises to Bermuda. In April 2010, The Celebrity Summit
reposition yearly to New Jersey and offers cruises to Bermuda.
Celebrity Solstice, the lead ship in the Solstice-Class.
In 2007-2008,
all of Celebrity Cruises' ships were renamed with a "Celebrity" prefix added to
the pre-existing ship names. Celebrity Solstice, the first ship in the new
Solstice class, was delivered to Celebrity on 24 October 2008. In May 2009
Galaxy was transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between
Celebrity Cruises' owner Royal Caribbean International and TUI AG and renamed as
Mein Schiff. Two more Solstice Class ships entered service - the Celebrity
Equinox in 2009 and the Celebrity Eclipse in 2010.
Celebrity Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line embarkation point, Port of
Seattle Bell Street Pier
In 2011, Celebrity Mercury was sold by Celebrity
fleet to become Mein Schiff 2 for TUI Cruises. The fourth Solstice Class ship
the Celebrity Silhouette entered service in 2011. The Celebrity Reflection was
recently delivered in 2012. After the Solstice class ships were released,
Celebrity renovated all their older ships to make them more modern, they also
put features that were only in the Solstice class. Therefore, they called the
renovations "Solsticising".[citation needed]
In April 2015, Celebrity's oldest ship, the Celebrity Century will depart
the fleet.