Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Cruise line
Predecessor	Chandris Group
Founded	1988
Founder	Chandris Group
Headquarters	Miami, Florida , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Laura Hodges Bethge (president, as of 2024)
Products	Cruise services (ocean and river cruises)
Owner	Royal Caribbean Group
Parent	Royal Caribbean Group
Website	www.celebritycruises.com

Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line based in Miami, Florida, operating as a fully owned subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Group. The brand was created in 1988 by the Greece-originated Chandris Group and later merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1997.

Establishment and Launch of SS Meridian

In April 1988, the Greece-based Chandris Group founded Celebrity Cruises to offer premium cruise services to Bermuda. Since the 1960s, Chandris had engaged the U.S. market through Chandris Cruises and Chandris Fantasy Cruises, which catered to budget-conscious travelers using older vessels.

The creation of Celebrity Cruises was driven by the need to acquire Bermuda Government contracts that were previously held by Home Lines before its sale to Holland America Line. When Holland America exited Bermuda operations, an opportunity arose. The Bermuda Government sought a high-end cruise operator, a criterion that Chandris Fantasy Cruises did not meet, prompting the launch of Celebrity Cruises.

Celebrity secured two five-year contracts beginning in 1990 and refurbished the Chandris Fantasy's at Lloyd Werft shipyard in Germany, relaunching it as the SS Meridian in February 1990.

Adopting a refined version of the Chandris "X" emblem, Celebrity Cruises branded itself as “Luxury Cruising by Design,” aiming at an upscale clientele with attractive pricing. Their strategy focused on elegant interiors, exclusive destinations, and elevated dining options, including collaboration with acclaimed chef Michel Roux, setting them apart within the cruise sector. Chairman John Chandris encapsulated their philosophy: "We will feature comfort and quality, not glitz and glitter."

Introduction of New Vessels: Horizon and Zenith

The second vessel for Celebrity Cruises was Horizon, initially ordered in 1988 to replace from the Chandris Fantasy fleet. This ship transitioned to Celebrity Cruises and commenced operations in May 1990. It marked the line’s first ship purpose-built for their brand. Later in 1990, Celebrity placed an order for a sister ship to Horizon, which entered service in 1992 as .

Debut of the Century Class

At Meyer Werft shipyard, Celebrity commissioned three newbuild vessels categorized as the Century class: beginning with Century launched in 1996, followed by Galaxy and Mercury. These ships represented the final designs overseen by the Chandris family management.

Acquisition by Royal Caribbean Group (1997–present)

In 1997, the Chandris family divested its stake in Celebrity Cruises to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, resulting in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (later renamed Royal Caribbean Group) becoming the parent company managing both brands. Concurrently, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was rebranded as Royal Caribbean International. Following delivery of Mercury, Celebrity’s inaugural ship, Meridian, was sold to Sun Cruises based in Singapore.

Millennium class introduction

From 2000 to 2002, Celebrity launched four Millennium-class vessels powered by gas turbines: , , , and . This series featured a distinctive hull design with a dark blue base, gold striping, and red highlights, before eventually returning to Celebrity’s traditional white hull complemented by a blue stripe.

In 2001, Celebrity expanded its portfolio by creating the Expeditions sub-brand through acquiring , which specialized in cruises around the Galápagos Islands. By 2005, the ship Horizon was reassigned to Royal Caribbean’s UK-based subsidiary Island Cruises. That same year marked the order of Celebrity's inaugural Solstice-class vessel from Meyer Werft, with an additional three ships commissioned by 2007.

Plans in 2006 to move and from Pullmantur Cruises into the Expeditions fleet were superseded by the creation of Azamara Cruises in 2007, which took over operation of these ships. In 2007, Zenith was swapped to Pullmantur Cruises in exchange for vessels from Azamara, effectively pausing Celebrity’s Bermuda itineraries until Celebrity Summit was repositioned to New Jersey for Bermuda cruises in 2010.

Between 2007 and 2008, all Celebrity vessels were renamed to include the "Celebrity" prefix before their original names.

Solstice class introduction

The first ship of the Solstice class, , was delivered on 24 October 2008. In May 2009, the vessel Galaxy transitioned to TUI Cruises—a joint enterprise between Royal Caribbean Group and TUI AG—and was renamed Mein Schiff. Two additional ships of this class, (launched in 2009) and (in 2010), followed. In 2011, was sold to TUI Cruises as Mein Schiff 2, while the fourth Solstice-class vessel, , commenced operations. The final ship of this series, , entered service in 2012.

In 2014, Celebrity unveiled the "Catalyst" blog focusing on travel, style, and cultural topics. The fleet saw the retirement of its oldest ship, , in April 2015.

Edge class introduction

On 4 December 2014, Celebrity signed a letter of intent for two new ships under the project title EDGE—each accommodating approximately 2,900 passengers and measuring 117,000 GT—building upon its Millennium and Solstice designs. The first EDGE-class ship, , was delivered on 31 October 2018; it was followed by in 2020 and the larger in 2022. This class debuted a new blue hull color scheme that was later adopted fleet-wide as part of the Celebrity Revolution program.

Also in December 2014, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo—a veteran with over three decades at Celebrity—was promoted to president and CEO.

On 14 March 2016, Celebrity broadened its Galápagos presence by acquiring Ocean Adventures along with its two vessels: MV Eclipse (renamed Celebrity Xperience) and catamaran MC Athala II (renamed Celebrity Xploration), boosting guest capacity by approximately 65%.

Following Malta’s legalization of same-sex marriage in October 2017—the registry for most Celebrity ships—the company began conducting legally recognized same-sex weddings onboard while sailing international waters.

In July 2018, Celebrity announced a $500 million refurbishment initiative aimed at updating all Millennium- and Solstice-class ships between 2019 and 2023.

The global COVID-19 pandemic necessitated halting cruise operations worldwide through various periods during 2020 and early 2021. On 19 March 2021, Celebrity declared plans to resume North American cruises from St. Maarten starting in June with mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for all adult passengers onboard. Subsequently, on 26 June, became the first cruise vessel to depart from a U.S. port with ticketed guests since March 2020 when it sailed from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.

Project Nirvana

In November 2024, Celebrity's president, Laura Hodges Bethge, revealed plans for an innovative class design named "Project Nirvana," aiming for its introduction in either 2029 or 2030.

By January 2025, Celebrity expanded its contemporary fleet by commissioning a sixth vessel within the Edge Class series.

Celebrity River Cruises

On January 28, 2025, Celebrity unveiled Celebrity River Cruises with a contract for 10 ships that incorporate the sophisticated design elements of the Edge Series. Constructed at the Netherlands-based TeamCo Shipyard, these initial vessels are scheduled to launch in 2027, servicing routes along the Rhine and Danube rivers and marking the company's strategic entry into the river cruise market.

Current fleet

Ship	Year Entered Service with Celebrity	Shipyard	Passenger Capacity	Gross tonnage	Flag State	Remarks	Image
Millennium class (M class)
Celebrity Millennium	2000	Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France	2,137	Template:GT	Malta	Renamed in 2008; most recent refurbishment in 2019.
Celebrity Infinity	2001	Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France	2,170	Template:GT	Malta	Renamed in 2007; last updated in 2013; planned 2020 refurbishments were cancelled.
Celebrity Summit	2001	Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France	2,158	Template:GT	Malta	Renamed in 2008; underwent last renovation in 2019.
Celebrity Constellation	2002	Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France	2,170	Template:GT	Malta	Renamed in 2007; last refurbished in 2013; planned updates for 2020 were cancelled.
Solstice class (S class)
Celebrity Solstice	2008	Meyer Werft, Germany	2,850	Template:GT	Malta	The inaugural vessel of the Solstice series.
Celebrity Equinox	2009	Meyer Werft, Germany	2,850	Template:GT	Malta	Underwent renovation most recently in 2019.
Celebrity Eclipse	2010	Meyer Werft, Germany	2,850	Template:GT	Malta
Celebrity Silhouette	2011	Meyer Werft, Germany	2,886	Template:GT	Malta	Last refurbished in 2020.
Celebrity Reflection	2012	Meyer Werft, Germany	3,046	Template:GT	Malta	Most recent dry dock completed in 2022.

Ship	Year Entered Service with Celebrity	Shipyard	Passenger Capacity	Gross tonnage	Flag State	Remarks	Image

Edge class

|- ! colspan= "8"| Expedition vessel |- | Celebrity Flora ||2019

|Shipyard De Hoop, Netherlands||100||||||

|| |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-

Future Fleet

Celebrity Cruises is set to introduce a new vessel category called Nirvana and is also venturing into river cruising, with operations anticipated to commence in 2027:

Ship	Class	Shipyard	Entry into Service with Celebrity	Capacity	Gross Tonnage	Flag	Remarks
Celebrity Xcel	Edge	Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France	November 2025	3,200	141,400 GT	Malta	Construction initiated in November 2023
TBA	Edge	Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France	2028	3,200	141,400 GT	Malta	Sister vessel of Celebrity Xcel
TBA	Project Nirvana	To Be Announced	2030	To Be Announced	To Be Announced	Malta	Planned new ship class

River Fleet

Ship	Class	Shipyard	Entry into Service with Celebrity	Capacity	Gross Tonnage	Flag	Remarks
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2027	180	To Be Announced	Introduction of new river vessel class.
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2027	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2028	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2028	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2028	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2028	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2029	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2029	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2029	180	To Be Announced
TBA	River Class	TeamCo Shipyard, Netherlands	2029	180	To Be Announced

Former Fleet

Ship	Class	Service Period	Tonnage*	Post-Celebrity Status
Meridian	—	1990–1997	30,440 GRT	Operated as Sun Vista under Sun Cruises (1997–1999). Sank in the Straits of Malacca in 1999.
Horizon (2)	Horizon class	1990–2005	46,811 GT	Renamed Island Star for Island Cruises (2005–2009), later operated as Horizon and L'Horizon for Pullmantur and CDF Croisières de France until dismantled in 2022.
Zenith (2)	Horizon class	1992–2007	47,255 GT	Served with Pullmantur and CDF until scrapped at Alang in 2022.
Celebrity Galaxy	Century class	1996–2009	76,522 GT	Transferred to TUI Cruises as Mein Schiff, subsequently renamed Marella Explorer.
Celebrity Mercury (2)	Century class	1997–2011	77,713 GT	Converted to Mein Schiff Herz, currently operating as Marella Voyager.
Celebrity Century	Century class	1995–2015	71,545 GT	Sold and rebranded for Marella Cruises as Marella Explorer 2.
Celebrity Xperience	—	2017–2019	1,610 GT	Acquired from Ocean Adventures; succeeded by Celebrity Xpedition.
Celebrity Xpedition	—	2001–2025	2,842 GT	Passenger capacity adjusted to comply with Ecuadorian regulations; sold to Lindblad Expeditions early in 2025.
Celebrity Xploration	—	2017–2025	320 GT	Previously operated by Ocean Adventures; transferred to Lindblad Expeditions in early 2025.

External links

• Official site
• Official UK site