Celebrity Cruises order second Solstice-Class ship

Jason · March 27, 2006

Miami - Celebrity Cruises has exercised its option to order a second 118,000 gross-registered-ton ship today, reaffirming its commitment to innovative products and high guest satisfaction. German shipbuilder Meyer Werft will build the new tonnage, with delivery of the first ship planned for Fall 2008 and the second ship in Summer 2009. Celebrity also announced names of both new ships.

The first new ship will be called Celebrity Solstice, and the second ship will be named Celebrity Equinox. The new series of ships will be known as the Solstice class. Terms for the second Solstice-class vessel are substantially the same as those of the first ship.

Both new ships will be 2,850-guest vessels measuring 1,033 feet in length and 121 feet in width. Their added size will allow Celebrity to offer larger standard staterooms, a higher percentage of balconies and an exceptional range of guest-inspired services and amenities.

"The Solstice-class ships accelerate the tremendous growth and excitement that continues to build with this brand," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "We owe a lot of our inspiration to guests and travel partners, and we think they will be enormously pleased with this collaboration. We also thank our shipbuilding partner, Meyer Werft, for working with us to produce so many of our beautiful ships."

"Meyer Werft is proud to be a part of Celebrity Cruises' continued growth," said Meyer Werft Managing Partner Bernard Meyer. "These new ships demonstrate Celebrity's tradition of breakthrough design and leading innovations."

Source: Celebrity Cruises

Joanandjoe · March 27, 2006

Jason, is this a new development? I thought that Celebrity had exercised the option, and announced the names of the ships, more than a month ago.

The jury is out on whether we'll try such a large ship. Our cruise on the Noordam in November will be on a 1,918 PAX ship, about 500 PAX larger than the largest ship on which we've sailed. I took Joan to see the ship from the Jersey side on Saturday. Her reaction as we rounded a bend and the ship came into view was: "wow, it's huge!" That was from a mile away, for a ship much smaller than the solstice ships. We have qualms about 1,900 PAX; more so about nearly 2,900. Too bad: we like X and HAL.

Shari2 · March 28, 2006

Thanks for the info, Jason! I wasn't sure that I'd want to go on that size of a ship, but I like Celebrity, so I think I'd give it a try. I'm excited that they're building new ships.

KarenUK · March 28, 2006

Thanks Jason,

Slightly unusual names for the ships but not horrible, just unusual. I know some lines have strange or wierd names for their ships & I suppose it helps you to remember them if they are a bit wacky - these just remind me of Summer Solstice & Druids!!!! :grin: