Celebrity Cruise Line executives came up with a novel idea--to use the brand new Celebrity Eclipse as a transport ship to to assist U.K. travelers whose return from their Easter break had been delayed up to seven days. The cruise line canceled the first leg of the Celebrity Eclipse launch celebrations (a two-day cruise for press and travel partners) in order to evacuate about 2200 stranded vacationers from Bilbao, Spain back to Southampton.
Celebrity worked with tour operators Thomson, First Choice, Thomas Cook, Travel Counsellors, and the Co-Operative Travel Group to bring their travelers from package vacations home. In addition, Celebrity made 50 staterooms available to Britons identified as having an urgent need to return to the UK. These travelers were organized with assistance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's crisis team in Madrid.
After returning to the U.K., the rest of the launch events were able to proceed as planned. Godmother Emma Pontin, ocean-racing yachtswoman and breast cancer survivor, cut the ribbon holding the bottle of champagne to name the ship in a gala celebration in the theater of the Celebrity Eclipse on April 24. The naming celebration coincided with a marathon "Celebrity SunWalk" to raise funds for a breast cancer charity. The Celebrity SunWalk was quite a sight--men and women decked out in decorated bras walked a 5km and 10km route through Southampton, ending up in Mayflower Park in front of the new ship, all designed to raise both awareness and charitable funds.
Following the launch, Celebrity Eclipse departed Southampton on a three-night Paris (Le Havre) cruise. She returned to Southampton for the ship's official maiden voyage on April 29 to Cork (Cobh), Ireland, followed by a series of Mediterranean, Canary Islands, and Russia and Scandinavian cruises throughout the summer. Celebrity Eclipse will offer Caribbean sailings from the Port of Miami, Florida, beginning in the winter of 2010-2011 before returning to Europe for the summer 2011 season.
The Celebrity Eclipse is much like her two sister ships, the Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox. This tour of the Celebrity Eclipse describes some of the features of the new ship.
Celebrity Eclipse Photo Galleries
