Celebrity top brass discusses ships, markets and design changes for Solstice 4 and 5

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Category: Top Headlines

Published on Thursday, 30 July 2009 13:53

Written by Kari Reinikainen

Celebrity Cruises' senior management in Miami and in the UK have commented on the company's plans for the future and current trading conditions in a press conference on board the new Celebrity Equinox. Dan Hanrahan, President and CEO, said that the company is getting higher ticket revenue and on board spending on the new Solstics-class vessels than on board its other ships.

Celebrity Solstice, the first unit, entered service late last year, but Hanrahan said in addition to higher revenue, the class is attracting lots of passengers in the 30s and 40s, which is below the average age of about 50 fleetwide. However, he underlined the fact that Celebrity Cruises does not focus on the age but on the lifestyle of its passengers.

When asked at what age a ship will exit the Celebrity fleet, he stated that e.g. in case of Celebrity Century, the oldest ship in the fleet at 14 years, it remains one of the best revenue earners in the fleet, following a $50 million revitalisation in 2006. Decisions regarding the deployment of assets are based on which brand can offer the best financial revenue to each ship.

Robin Shaw, the company's UK and Ireland Managing Director, said that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd group currently has market share just in excess of 20% in Britain, compared with "a single digit figure" in 2004. The third Solstice-class ship, Celebrity Eclipse, will be based in the UK after delivery in April 2010, which will increase the figure with one or two percentage points. Celebrity Constellation will then be homeported in Amsterdam rather than Harwich, which will reduce the growth of the market share.

Design changes for Solstice 5 and 6? 

Celebrity is planning to introduce design changes in the fourth and fifth unit of the Solstice-class ships, according to Harri Kulovaara, EVP of Newbuildings at Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited. He told a news conference on board Celebrity Equinox, the second unit of the five strong class, that the time to decide the changes in now.

Kulovaara did not elaborate on what could be changed in the final, yet unnamed units of the class. He said that the design had been very solid and operational experiences of the Celebrity Solstice that was introduced last year had not required major changes in the subsequent vessels. The first two units of the class are thus very close to each other yet with a personality of their own. However, it is the company's intention to move the design forward within the same concept. 

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