Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity Cruises President & CEO said:
“What better time than our 20th anniversary to celebrate Celebrity’s history of award-winning service, cuisine, and our new, brand-defining Solstice Class? Everything we’ve offered over the course of 20 years, and everything we’ll offer in the future, is designed for discerning cruisers – from our contemporary, new Celebrity Life onboard experiences, to the world-class cuisine of Chef Jacques Van Staden, to our enhanced Captain’s Club loyalty programme. So, we’ve summed up our longtime commitment to understanding them and delivering what they want within a new brand platform: ‘Designed for You’.”
The introduction of Designed for You pairs Celebrity Cruises’ commitment to stunningly-designed ships and innovative onboard experiences with its commitment to impeccable guest service. The move is the culmination of an extensive, six-month exploration into more deeply understanding the needs of discerning cruisers. The process included a research survey of nearly 10,000 international cruisers, numerous focus group sessions with past guests and travel partners, in-home interviews with some of Celebrity Cruises’ frequent and prospective guests and exhaustive reviews of cruisers’ needs, attitudes and behaviours. All these efforts, combined with Celebrity Cruises’ 20 years of experience in focusing on guest needs, helped the brand to create the ultimate combination of ship design, service, cuisine and programmes for cruise lovers.
Hanrahan added:
“We’ve always been committed to identifying and designing what our guests want, and the awards our brand continues to receive are welcome validation that it’s working. Our new Celebrity Life onboard experiences – inspired by our guests’ interest in more widely varied onboard programming – are netting consistently high marks from our guests, as are the enhancements we’ve made to our Captain’s Club loyalty programme, built to suit what our members wanted most. But, the greatest validation has been the response to our stunning Solstice Class.”
Strength in numbers: USD $3.7 billion investment
Celebrity Cruises’ five-ship Solstice Class fleet represents an investment of USD $3.7 billion – the largest newbuild commitment for a single brand in industry history – offering modern cruising “firsts,” including The Lawn Club; The Hot Glass Show; AquaClass; the industry’s first application of solar technology, and stylish staterooms whose design was influenced by a panel of women with unique travel and hospitality insights.
Celebrity Cruises’ Millennium Class to receive Solstice Class features
Hanrahan explained:
“Through our Designed for You platform, we plan to leverage our Solstice Class ships’ stylish, modern design and ambience even further.” Celebrity Cruises plans to incorporate iconic Solstice Class features across the fleet, most notably through a significant reworking of all four Millennium Class ships. Celebrity Constellation will be the first to receive the new enhancements during scheduled drydock in April, 2010.
Solstice Class features to be introduced on the Millennium Class ships include:
· More opportunities to enjoy Celebrity Cruises’ world-class cuisine with the addition of Tuscan Grille, the Napa Valley-meets-Italian-steakhouse venue found on Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox
· Bistro on Five, the vibrant, popular creperie introduced on Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox
· A Solstice Class-inspired, ice-topped Martini Bar paired with Crush, whose ice-filled table presents a selection of chilled, top-tier vodkas
· Café al Bacio and Gelateria, replacing the former Cova Café
· As introduced on the Solstice Class, an Enomatic ® wine bar, the state-of-the-art, Italian designed wine serving system allowing guests to select and serve, at the touch of a button, the wines of their choice by the glass
· Restyled suites and staterooms, on a par with those in the most modern hotels in Europe, with new furniture, flat-screen TVs, upholstery, bedding and carpeting
· New colour schemes, carpeting and upholstery reflective of Solstice Class in every public venue including the Celebrity Theater, Seaside Grill, main dining rooms and Michael’s Club
The renovations are part of Celebrity Cruises’ full Designed for You platform, which when combined with the brand’s Celebrity Life onboard experience, bolstered Captain’s Club, and many other brand enhancements represents a nearly USD $200-million investment.
Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice Class also takes centre stage in the brand’s new advertising campaign with distinctive images, contemporary graphic treatment and the tagline, Designed for You. Marking a first for Celebrity Cruises, a new video shot on Celebrity Solstice to capture the essence of the Celebrity Cruises experience will run on a wide selection of online travel, video, social, lifestyle and news sites.
Hanrahan said:
“We’ve studied where cruise enthusiasts go to research options for their next vacation, and more than 70 per cent go online. So, we’ll have a big presence there, on some of cruisers’ favourite sites, to allow them to briefly and virtually immerse themselves in a vacation experience designed for them.”
Celebrity Cruises also will continue to ensure its celebritycruises.co.uk web site is designed for cruisers who appreciate online options, such as Celebrity Select Dining, the industry’s first pre-cruise, day-by-day flexible dining reservation system; pre-cruise AquaSpa reservations; specialty dining reservations; shore excursion bookings; and online documentation, or “e-docs.”
Celebrity Cruises’ new Designed for You brand platform, renovation programme and ad campaign are one element of the investment the line is making to continue to offer the best in cruising.
Hanrahan also praised a partnership Celebrity Cruises has considered invaluable since its founding. He said:
“For 20 years, we have benefited enormously from our relationships with the travel agent community. We look forward to continuing to help them grow their business with new programmes and promotions designed for them, and to drive cruisers to capitalise on their expertise when booking their next Celebrity Cruises vacation.”
To check out Celebrity Cruises’ new Designed for You branding and video, visit the Celebrity Cruises web site at www.celebritycruises.co.uk.
Celebrity Cruises is designed for discerning cruisers, with modern, sophisticated environments, impeccable service, enriching and inspiring onboard programmes, and world-class cuisine. The ultimate in premium cruising, Celebrity Cruises sails in Alaska, Bermuda, California, Canada/New England, Europe, the Pacific Coast, Panama Canal, South America, and year-round in the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands. Celebrity also offers immersive cruisetour experiences in Alaska, Canada, Europe and South America. Celebrity’s mega-series of honors include being named the top mega-ship line in Condé Nast Traveler’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards (November 2009). Celebrity’s fleet currently consists of nine ships. Its USD $3.7-billion investment in building five stylish Solstice Class ships between 2008-2012 represents the largest newbuild commitment for a single brand in industry history.
For further information or to speak to a Sales Consultant about Celebrity Solstice Class call Bolsover Cruise Club on 01246 819819.
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