Celebrity Cruises’ latest ship, Celebrity Equinox, departed for the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale recently, capping an eight week period that leads the cruise industry with eight ships sailing again.
Celebrity Cruises restarted the North American cruise industry on June 5 with Celebrity Millennium sailing the Caribbean from St. Maarten, followed by the Celebrity Edge on June 26, the first ship to sail from a U.S. port in more than a year.
The recently ‘revolutionized’ Celebrity Equinox‘s first sailing features a seven-night Western Caribbean itinerary visiting the ports of St. Maarten and St. Thomas, along with Nassau, Bahamas. She then rotates between Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.
“With each new ship that goes in the water, I’m overwhelmed by the palpable sense of reconnection on board for both our guests and our crew – with each other, their families and the world,” said Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. “Being together, again, and absorbing the beauty around us is what we’ve all dreamt about for over a year, and now it’s really wonderful to be a part of our guests’ aspirations to travel again.”
“Bringing a large cruise ship back into service isn’t as easy as turning the ignition key. It’s a multi-dimensional process that involves moving and training crew, large-scale procurement, mechanical adjustments, destination outreach, port availability, sales and marketing and so much more,” said Brian Abel, Celebrity’s senior vice president of hotel operations.
With today’s sailing, eight of the 14 ships within the Celebrity Cruises’ fleet have returned to sailing in 2021 and are taking guests to the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska and the Galapagos, including:
- The Celebrity Millennium, returning to service as the first ship to sail in the Caribbean on June 5 from St. Maarten. In early July, Celebrity Summit took over the service, allowing Celebrity Millennium to reposition for the Alaska season.
- Celebrity Apex, the newest addition to the Celebrity fleet, made her world debut in Athens on June 19, with seven-night sailings to the Greek Isles. The cruise marked a return to Greece for the company founded there 33 years ago.
- Apex’s sister ship, Celebrity Edge, made history as the first ship to sail from a U.S. port in over a year, restarting the U.S. cruising industry.
- On July 3, Celebrity Silhouette began taking guests from Southampton, U.K. around and along the British Isles and coastline.
- Celebrity Flora, the luxurious mega-yacht, resumed sailing the Galapagos Islands on July 4. She was followed into the water by the Celebrity Xpedition on July 24.
- And, on July 23, Celebrity’s long-awaited return to Alaska began as Celebrity Millennium embarked on a journey to the “last frontier”.
Healthy at Sea
Celebrity Cruises has established new health and safety measures in accordance with guidance from public health authorities, government agencies, and its own team of health and safety experts.
All Celebrity ships will sail with a vaccinated crew. U.S. guests ages 16 and older must be fully vaccinated and, as of Aug. 1, 2021, all U.S. guests ages 12 and older must be fully vaccinated. In Florida, vaccinations are strongly recommended. Requirements for Non-U.S. guests vary and more details can be found by visiting https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea. Guests are encouraged to regularly check the guidance on all health and safety measures across the entire Celebrity Cruises vacation experience as they will evolve in keeping with current public health standards.
For more information on Celebrity Cruises’ new U.S. summer sailings, visit https://www.celebritycruises.com/2021-2022-cruises or contact your travel agent.
