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Celebrity Edge sails with all-female bridge and leadership team

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 09 March 2020 09 March 2020

For the first time in maritime history, an all-female bridge and onboard leadership team set sail yesterday, commemorating International Women’s Day. Led by Captain Kate McCue, the first American female cruise ship captain, who was accompanied by 26 other women representing 16 different countries, the award-winning Celebrity Edge sailed out of Port Everglades and began its 7-night Caribbean journey. Retiring Pilot Boat Captain Cheryl Phipps, one of only a few female pilot boat captains in the country, led the ship out to sea.

Also, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Celebrity Edge lit up the high seas with a vibrant purple glow, the color associated with the day, to further celebrate change-making women everywhere.

Around the world, only 2% of the world’s mariners are women. Celebrity Cruises made it a priority to #BRIDGEthegap, leading the maritime industry into a more diverse future and growing the number of women on their bridge teams from 3% to nearly 25% over the last few years, ultimately, making this historic moment possible.

“I fell in love with cruise ships at age 12 when my family took its first cruise vacation. At the end of the trip, I asked my Dad if he thought I could be a cruise director someday and he replied that I could drive the ship, if I wanted to. Five years later, I enrolled at the California Maritime Academy and nineteen years later I became a Captain,” said Captain Kate McCue. “I firmly believe that you have to see it, to be it. My hope is that today we inspire a new generation of young girls and women to chart their own course of pushing boundaries and breaking barriers to be whatever it is they want to be.”

“To ‘man the bridge’ with 100% women and to fill every leadership role on board with women is truly significant. I am so proud of these accomplished women, who worked tirelessly to be the best person for the job in a traditionally male-dominated industry and I am honored to work alongside them,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. “Advancing gender equality in our industry takes a purposeful and focused commitment because it is not easy. This is such meaningful progress and we’re just getting started.”

On board for the history-making sailing are trailblazing women in other fields including Madeline Stuart, the first Supermodel with down syndrome; Kellee Edwards, the first black woman to host a national adventure travel show; and child prodigy artist Autumn de Forest; international jewelry designer Reout Kallati; and world-renowned fashion designer Mary Frances. The historic seven-night sailing will celebrate other female achievements through a variety of events including panel discussions, gallery exhibitions featuring female artists, excursions to women-led businesses in the ports the ship visits, and a cinema series putting female directors, actors and inspirational narratives center stage.

Celebrity Edge, which debuted in late 2018, was brought to life by a team of visionary architects and designers and features an array of stunning industry-first innovations – such as the transformational Edge Stateroom with Infinite Veranda and Magic Carpet, the world’s first cantilevered platform that travels up to 16 decks alongside the ship. Building on Celebrity Edge’s incredible momentum, Celebrity Apex debuts in 2020, followed by three additional sister ships in 2021, 2022 and 2024, respectively.

CLIA to introduce stringent boarding procedures, protocols to avoid onboard quarantines

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 09 March 2020 09 March 2020

CLIA says industry wide procedures to prevent outbreaks of coronavirus onboard cruise ships and protocols to care for guests on land to avoid quarantine onboard should an outbreak occur are under preparation.

This follows a meeting with the US Vice President Mike Pence and acting Homeland Security Chief Chad Wolf on 7 March.

“We thank the Vice President for a productive meeting marked by our shared focus on public health. We have committed to do even more to protect our guests, our crew and the communities where we sail. This includes more stringent boarding procedures, adding additional onboard medical resources and temperature screenings at embarkation,” CLIA said in a statement.

“We will also develop industry funded protocols to care for guests on land in the event of an incident to eliminate future incidents of onboard quarantine. We are pleased to know the government agencies are prepared to work with us in developing these aggressive new measures. We expect to report back this week with further details of this enhanced approach to protecting public health,” CLIA stated.

Updated: U.S. State Department issues a travel advisory on cruise travel

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 08 March 2020 08 March 2020

According to the U.S. Department of State, which Sunday afternoon issued a travel advisory against cruise travel, it's recommending that Americans, particularly those with existing health issues, avoid travel by cruise ship in light of an increased risk of infection of the COVID-19, also known as coronavirus.

In the statement, the advisory notes that cruise lines continue to face challenges. "Many countries have implemented strict screening procedures that have denied port entry rights to ships and prevented passengers from disembarking," the statement says. "In some cases, local authorities have permitted disembarkation but subjected passengers to local quarantine procedures. While the U.S. government has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities."

What's not divulged in the travel advisory, which some U.S. media outlets are erroneously calling a travel warning, is the level of severity of the advisory. The U.S. State Department has three different levels of advisories. These start at #1: "Exercise normal precautions; #2: "Exercise increased caution;" and #3: Reconsider travel."

The fourth, the only level of travel warning, simply states "Do not go." No travel warning has been issued for cruise travel.

We’ll keep you posted as changes occur in this extremely fluid situation.

CLIA response to speculation about U.S. Government action

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 06 March 2020 06 March 2020

Any action to restrict cruising is unwarranted, and at odds with the World Health Organization which “continues to advise against the application of travel or trade restrictions to countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks." Singling out the travel and tourism industry, and cruise lines specifically, will have significant detrimental impacts – some possibly irreversible – on the national and local economies. The cruise industry is a vital artery for the U.S. economy, supporting over 421,000 American jobs and contributing nearly $53 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018. Cruise activity supports travel agencies, airlines, hotels and a broad supply chain of industries that stretches across the United States. With the proactive measures in place by the cruise industry based on prevailing guidance from global health authorities, restricting cruising is unreasonable and will have long-lasting detrimental effects on the U.S. economy well beyond the travel and tourism industry.