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Celebrity Cruises Expands 'Celebrity Expeditions'; Adds Celebrity Quest to Exotic Brand Extension |
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MIAMI, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Celebrity Cruises has taken another significant step in its quest to expand the "Celebrity Expeditions" extension of the brand. Celebrity Quest will join Celebrity Expeditions in 2007, pairing new avenues for delivering the "Celebrity Treatment" with exotic new itineraries for the vessel and its sister ship, Celebrity Journey. The three-ship class includes Celebrity Xpedition, which has sailed in the Galapagos Islands since 2004.
"Rounding out the Celebrity brand has been a strong focus for our company, and the expansion of Celebrity Expeditions furthers that strategic objective," said Celebrity's President Dan Hanrahan. "Celebrity Quest, Celebrity Journey and Celebrity Xpedition combined represent a natural extension of the brand as we move into new markets with tailored-to-market products."
The 710-guest Celebrity Quest - most recently sailing as Blue Moon, owned by Pullmantur - will join the Celebrity Expeditions fleet in October 2007. Like Celebrity Journey, which sets sail in May 2007, the vessel's smaller size allows for greater versatility in deployment, allowing Celebrity to offer guests exceptional destination experiences, while adding 32 new ports to the line's itinerary portfolio. With those, the Celebrity brand next year will call on 247 ports.
"These smaller, upscale ships are the perfect complements to the premium destinations they'll visit, while offering the best of what the Celebrity brand is all about - unparalleled service, extraordinary dining experiences, revitalizing spa programs, truly exotic destinations and exceptional shore excursions," said Hanrahan.
Unique to Celebrity Journey and Celebrity Quest will be a more exclusive guest experience, with two specialty restaurants, 15 classes of accommodations, butler service and concierge amenities in every stateroom and suite, and expanded spa services, including in-room offerings.
Both Celebrity Journey and Celebrity Quest will undergo a combined $35-million revitalization during separate one-month drydock periods to incorporate 32 new suites on each ship, entirely new bedding and soft goods, and a variety of Celebrity's most popular signature elements, including the Martini Bar, Cova Cafe, Sushi Cafe, Michael's Club jazz/piano bar, casino, Boutique C, AquaSpa by Elemis, Acupuncture at Sea and Online@Celebrity.
Celebrity Journey will sail seven-night Bermuda cruises from May through October 2007, then will present an exceptional series of 12- to 18-night cruises in remote areas of Antarctica, Brazil, the Chilean Fjords and other faraway regions of South America, from October 2007 through April 2008.
Celebrity Quest will make its first sailing under the Celebrity Expeditions banner in October 2007, introducing a series of 12- to 14-night Caribbean sailings featuring several first-time ports of call, including those in St. Barts, Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Turks & Caicos, followed by a series of 14-night Eastbound and Westbound Panama Canal itineraries featuring some of the most exotic destinations in Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. Additionally, each port will feature a new, immersive series of shore excursions.
Fortifying the Celebrity fleet remains a strong focus for the company, with the expansion of Celebrity Expeditions falling on the heels of announcements for three extraordinary new ships - Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Equinox, and a third Solstice-class ship, launching in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. Setting the stage for the build-up was a $55-million revitalization of Celebrity's Century, completed in May.
Central to Celebrity's recent expansion was the agreement between Celebrity's parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), and the shareholders of Madrid-based cruise and tour operator Pullmantur S.A., signed in August, to buy all the company's capital stock. In October, RCCL announced plans to swap Celebrity's Zenith with Pullmantur's Blue Dream, renamed Celebrity Journey, which enters service in Bermuda in May 2007. RCCL completed its purchase of Pullmantur on November 14, 2006.
"Only two months ago, we pledged to realize increasingly greater synergies as a result of our new partnership," said Pullmantur General Manager Alfonso Lopez Perez. "This is a vivid and significant outgrowth of that pledge, and of our shared goal to provide guests with a wide variety of cruising options worldwide."
Celebrity Quest was constructed in France and entered service in November 2000 as R7. Like Celebrity Journey, the ship is 30,277-grt and has 355 staterooms.
Celebrity Cruises offers comfortably sophisticated, upscale cruise experiences with highly personalized service, authentic five-star dining, and extraordinary attention to detail. Celebrity sails in Alaska, Bermuda, California, Caribbean, Europe, Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, Mexican Riviera, Panama Canal and South America, and will begin sailing in Australia and New Zealand in 2007. Noted for "The World's Best Large Ships," as voted by the readers of Conde' Nast Traveler (February 2006 Cruise Poll), Celebrity's current fleet will be joined by Celebrity Journey and Celebrity Quest in 2007, Celebrity Solstice in 2008, Celebrity Equinox in 2009, and a third Solstice- class ship in 2010. For more information, call your travel agent, dial 1-800- 437-3111 or visit the Celebrity web site at www.celebritycruises.com.
SOURCE Celebrity Cruises
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Travel Agents Name Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan Executive of the Year |
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MIAMI, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Travel agents honored Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan by naming him 2006 Executive of the Year in Travel Trade's annual industry-wide election this month.
Under Hanrahan's leadership, Celebrity Cruises has made numerous efforts to put the line's partnership with travel agents in the spotlight. Among these initiatives is a TV ad in which an exuberant guest in eveningwear glowingly thanks her travel agent, Hollywood-awards-show-style, for making her Celebrity Cruises experience possible. Travel agents have reacted favorably to being positioned as crucial to the line's accomplishments, and Hanrahan says the spot reflects the way Celebrity feels about travel agents.
"As the woman did in the ad, I'd like to thank our travel agent partners, too, for this incredible honor and their tremendous support," said Hanrahan. "We've always known agents are vital to our success. Our TV campaign illustrates that commitment."
Earlier this year, Celebrity also launched BEST (Being an Extraordinary Sales, Service and Support Team), a program that provides monthly recognition of extraordinary effort by Celebrity's travel agent partners and its own employees. Winners in each department are determined by travel agent feedback and nominations from immediate colleagues and supervisors.
"Dan has really led our efforts to help our agency partners get more of the recognition they deserve, and we promise to continue to introduce more incentive programs and selling tools to help agents be even more successful through the BEST program," said Celebrity's Senior Vice President of Sales Dondra Ritzenthaler.
Celebrity has also taken its partnership with travel agents to an unprecedented level by involving them in the $55-million redesign of Celebrity Century, which set sail earlier this year.
"On behalf of the Celebrity Cruises family, I'm incredibly honored," Hanrahan said. "In addition to thanking our travel agency partners, I would also like to thank our Marketing and Sales teams for their focus on ensuring we have great relationships with travel agents."
Celebrity Cruises offers comfortably sophisticated, upscale cruise experiences with highly personalized service, authentic five-star dining, and extraordinary attention to detail. Celebrity sails in Alaska, Bermuda, California, Caribbean, Europe, Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, Mexican Riviera, Panama Canal and South America, and will begin sailing in Australia and New Zealand in 2007. Noted for "The World's Best Large Ships," as voted by the readers of Conde' Nast Traveler (February 2006 Cruise Poll), Celebrity's current nine-ship fleet will be joined by Celebrity Solstice in 2008, Celebrity Equinox in 2009, and a third Solstice-class ship in 2010. For more information, call your travel agent, dial 1-800-437-3111 or visit the Celebrity web site at www.celebritycruises.com.
SOURCE Celebrity Cruises
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Royal Caribbean International Offers Family Fun with Strategic Alliances |
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Young Cruisers and Parents Create New Adventures with Fisher-Price(R) and
Lowe's
MIAMI, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean International's littlest guests can get their hands dirty and their minds expanded through new onboard family activities offered by Fisher-Price and Lowe's. These partnerships allow young cruisers to have fun while learning and create lasting memories along the way.
More than 330,000 children and teens under 18 sailed with Royal Caribbean in 2005, an 8.4 percent increase over 2004, and an impressive 62 percent increase over 1999. With these staggering numbers in mind, the cruise line continues to look for ways to keep their youth programs fresh and entertaining.
Fisher-Price Revs Up CocoCay
Royal Caribbean's guests, ages 3 to 8, accompanied by their parents, can experience a special driving adventure on the Fisher-Price Power Wheels(R) Track, featured on the cruise line's private island, CocoCay, in the Bahamas. Young driving enthusiasts have the newest Power Wheels(R) vehicles to choose from, including the Jeep(R) Hurricane, Ford(R) Mustang, Cadillac(R) Escalade(TM) Custom Edition in either black or Barbie(R) pink versions, and the Barbie(R) Beach Party Jeep(R) Wrangler(R).
'Build and Grow' with Lowe's
The 'Build and Grow' with Lowe's program invites parents and their children, ages 5 to 11, to take part in constructing and decorating a Lowe's wooden cruise ship, designed exclusively for Royal Caribbean. The 'Build and Grow' workshops, developed by Lowe's, are interactive and encourage children and parents to work side-by-side. Budding builders receive a cruise ship kit, a Lowe's apron, safety goggles, a certificate of completion and merit patch. 'Build and Grow' is part of Royal Caribbean's Adventure Ocean program, long recognized as one of the industry's premier shipboard youth programs.
"Royal Caribbean's new Power Wheels(R) Track and 'Build and Grow' programs will be a great complement to our existing Adventure Ocean activities and give children more opportunities to learn and interact with their parents while on vacation," said Charly McDonald, manager, guest vacation and leisure activities, Royal Caribbean International. "Based on guest feedback, our youth programs are hugely successful with families and continue to exceed our guests' expectations."
In addition to the new Power Wheels(R) Track, Fisher-Price will continue its popular infant and toddler programs fleetwide, in which curriculums created by early childhood experts were developed exclusively for Royal Caribbean. Learning groups are divided into age categories - Aqua Babies, 6 to 18 months and Aqua Tots, 18 to 36 months. Each class offers 45-minute play groups in which parents and their children can explore, discover and imagine with great toys, songs and themed activities.
"High Touch-High Tech" Adventure Science
In a continuing effort to offer its youngest cruisers amazing adventures, Royal Caribbean has re-launched its Adventure Science program. The new "High Touch-High Tech" Adventure Science program, also part of Adventure Ocean, provides participatory science experiences for children of every age. Each interactive program is 45 minutes long with such themes as: Meteorology Madness, Buccaneer's Bounty, The Power of the Sun, Volcanoes, Think Snow and Jurassic Jr.
"Adventure Science continues to be the most exciting program for children on the high seas," said Jaclyn Fink, Adventure Ocean specialist, Royal Caribbean International. "Young cruisers don't expect to conduct fascinating science experiments while on vacation, but 'High Touch-High Tech' brings science to life 1,000 miles out to sea. Before they know it, they've learned the impact made by Isaac Newton in everyday life."
With fiscal year 2005 sales of $43.2 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE(R) 50 company that serves approximately 12 million customers a week at more than 1,250 home improvement stores in 49 states. Based in Mooresville, N.C., the 60-year old company is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit www.lowes.com.
Fisher-Price, Inc., a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. (NYSE: MAT) and located in East Aurora, New York, is the leading brand of infant and preschool toys in the world. The Company has a 75-year legacy of high-quality toys that enhance early childhood development. Its often-emulated Play Laboratory was the first child research center of its kind in the toy industry, allowing researchers to observe the way children play and how play benefits their development. Some of the Company's best-known "classic" brands include Little People(R), Power Wheels(R) and View-Master(R). Fisher-Price is also a leading developer of baby gear products (nursery monitors, infant swings, high chairs) as well as a wide array of character-based toys inspired by high quality children's programming such as Sesame Street(R), Dora the Explorer(TM) and Winnie the Pooh. The Company's web site, at www.fisher-price.com, provides valuable information and resources to parents.
Royal Caribbean International is a global cruise brand with 20 ships currently in service and three under construction. The line also offers unique land-tour vacations in Alaska, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand through its cruisetour division. For additional information or to make reservations, go to www.royalcaribbean.com or call (800) 327-6700.
SOURCE Royal Caribbean International
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Royal Caribbean Makes a Big Splash in the 'Big Easy' |
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Cruise Line Returns to New Orleans, Post Hurricane Katrina
MIAMI, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean International returns to homeport in New Orleans on December 2, when Grandeur of the Seas sails in with balmy 7-night Western Caribbean itineraries on her roster. The 2,400-passenger ship's return will help to boost local tourism -- and spirits -- as the local economy recovers from the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
"Royal Caribbean's return to New Orleans means a lot for the cruise line, and hopefully for the city and its people as well," said Adam Goldstein, president of Royal Caribbean International. "The impact of Hurricane Katrina was overwhelming, but we are confident that the return of cruising to New Orleans will help bring back the 'Big Easy,' reinforcing the city's legacy as being a truly world-class destination."
Through April 28, 2007, Grandeur of the Seas will sail to Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman and Costa Maya, Mexico. Prices start at $399 per person, for interior cabins, based on double occupancy.
Grandeur is part of the Vision-class series of ships, known as "ships of light" and characterized by thousands of windows and stunning glass canopies. The ship comes equipped with a full-service spa, six whirlpools, an outdoor jogging track and a wide variety of bars and restaurants. In addition, Royal Caribbean's Explorations! program gives Grandeur's guests the opportunity to explore New Orleans' history and culture with a guided city tour of the French Quarter, the Garden District and other celebrated neighborhoods in the "Big Easy."
Royal Caribbean International is a global cruise brand with 20 ships currently in service and three under construction. The line also offers unique land-tour vacations in Alaska, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand through its cruisetour division. For additional information or to make reservations, go to www.royalcaribbean.com or call (800) 327-6700.
SOURCE Royal Caribbean International
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Thanksgiving Specials! |
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Make sure you register for
Best Cruise Spot's Annual "Day After Thanksgiving" Sale
for exclusive savings on 2007 sailings!!!
ONE DAY ONLY FRIDAY 11/24/06; 8 AM - 6 PM EST
Register by Thursday 11/23 to receive your exclusive offers!
To register, click on the link to subscribe to our newsletter and we'll email you our exclusive specials on 11/23/06.
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