The primary motivation for my recent sojourn to Europe and the UK was to attend the naming ceremony for Celebrity Eclipse. Eclipse is the third ship in Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice class and based upon my experiences on her two predecessors, Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox, I was very pleased to have been invited to witness Eclipse’s entry into service. Although quite a few adjectives have been used to describe the Solstice class ships, to my mind they can be summed up by saying that everything is really well-done. The ships are visually interesting, the food is excellent and the entertainment and enrichment program are stimulating.
The naming ceremony took place in Southampton, England. Eclipse is going to be based in Southampton and is being directed at the British and Irish markets. This is something of a bold move. When sister company Royal Caribbean International first decided to test the British market, it did so by deploying one of its smaller Vision class ships to Southampton. When this was well-received, it substitutes a larger Voyager class ship. When that ship was a success, it brought in a bigger Freedom class ship and now Independence of the Seas is calling Southampton home all year.
While various Celebrity ships have called in or sailed out of British ports on an occasional basis for some time, Celebrity is using one of its top-of-the-line ships for its first real foray into the British market. UK passengers who have tried Celebrity have rated the experience well. Also, sister company RCI is now well-known in the UK. The latter fact is a bit of a two-edged sword as the Celebrity style of cruising is much different than the RCI style. Nonetheless, I think that Eclipse should do well in the UK if the word can get out about its sophisticated yet relaxed style. Both Cunard and Princess have followings in the UK and Celebrity combines elements of both of those companies’ styles as well as adds elements of its own.
The naming ceremony took place in the midst of the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano. Flights had been cancelled all over Europe, leaving travelers stranded for days. Eclipse was scheduled to do a short promotional cruise for press and travel agents prior to the naming ceremony. However, Celebrity decided to cancel the promotional cruise and to have the ship ferry travelers who were stranded in the UK to Spain and then bring some 2,000 British stranded travelers home. She did so and arrived back in Southampton, late in the afternoon before the naming ceremony.
Eclipse’s successful rescue mission cast a joyful atmosphere over the naming ceremony. Yes, it had been taxing on the crew but the ship had done something good that was out of the ordinary and which was widely appreciated. Thus, the ceremony was not just a corporate event but an actual celebration. I’ve put together a photo essay on the naming ceremony along with excerpts from the remarks of the various speakers. It is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Eclipse-art-naming.html
One of the nice things about ship naming ceremonies is that one has access to the cruise line’s senior executives. Along this line, I have put together an article in which Dan Hanrahan President and CEO of Celebrity talks not just about Eclipse but about the Celebrity fleet in general as well as the UK and other markets the line serves or plans to serve. It is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-art-Hanrahan.html
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