Celebrity Cruises

History

Chandris Group (1988–1997)

Celebrity Cruises was founded in April 1988 as a subsidiary of Chandris Group, based in Athens, to operate upmarket cruise ships to Bermuda. Chandris had been involved in cruise traffic since the 1960s, and during the late 1980s the company operated in the United States market under the brand name Chandris Cruises. Chandris Fantasy Cruises targeted the lower end of the cruise passenger market, with fleets consisting of second-hand ocean liners.

Celebrity Cruises came into existence in April 1988, when Home Lines, at the time one of the world's leading premium cruise lines, was sold to Holland America Line. Home Lines' ships had held two of the five contracts offered by the Government of Bermuda to cruise lines, giving the ships priority berthing arrangement and unlimited access to sail to the islands in exchange for the ships sailing to Bermuda between April and October each year. Although these contracts were highly valued, Holland America Line withdrew the former Home Lines ships from this service, leaving an opening for two new ships to gain access. Chandris wanted to acquire the contracts, but the Government of Bermuda was only willing to award them to upmarket cruise lines, which Chandris Fantasy Cruises was not.

Chandris created Celebrity Cruises to gain the Bermuda Government contracts and immediately began negotiating with the Bermuda Government in April 1988. As a result of the negotiations, Celebrity Cruises was awarded the contract for two ships for five years beginning in 1990 To fulfill the contract, Chandris Fantasy Cruises' Galileo was rebuilt at Lloyd Werft, Germany in 1989, re-entering service as the SS Meridian for Celebrity Cruises in February 1990.

Celebrity Cruises adopted the Chandris "Χ" (the Greek letter Chi, standing for "Chandris"), which was slightly stylized for their logo. The new line advertised itself as a “Luxury Cruising by Design", with the strategy of offering an upscale product with mass-market pricing. The ships would have refined interiors, destinations and dining, which included a partnership with famed chef Michel Roux, a unique thing for a cruise line at the time. Quoted by then chairman John Chandris, "We will feature comfort and quality, not glitz and glitter."

Celebrity Cruise's second ship Horizon, which had been ordered in 1988 as a replacement for Amerikanis in the Chandris Fantasy fleet, was transferred to Celebrity Cruises fleet, entering service in May 1990. It would be the line's first purpose-built new build. In late 1990 Celebrity Cruises placed an order for a sister ship of the Horizon, delivered in 1992 as Zenith.

Celebrity ordered a trio of newbuilds at Meyer Werft, known as the Century class, with the first ship, the Century debuting in 1996, followed by the Galaxy and Mercury. These would be the last ships designed under the Chandris family management.

Royal Caribbean Group (1997–present)

In 1997, the Chandris family sold its interests in Celebrity Cruises to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, leading to the formation of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (later Royal Caribbean Group) as a holding company to keep both brands separate and the renaming of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line to Royal Caribbean International. Following the delivery of the Mercury, the lines first ship, the Meridian, was sold to Singapore-based Sun Cruises.

Between 2000 and 2002, Celebrity took delivery of a quartet of new ships, the first gas turbine-powered cruise ships, and aptly named Millennium-class ships Millennium, Infinity, Summit and Constellation. The new class of ship introduced a new hull livery, with dark blue hull, gold stripes, and red accents on the mast and funnel. The livery was short Iived, and after a few years, would revert to Celebrity's original white hull, dark blue stripe color scheme.

The Celebrity Expeditions sub-brand was launched in 2001 with the acquisition of Celebrity Xpedition, a small boutique ship offering specialized cruises around the Galápagos Islands. In 2005, the Horizon was transferred to the fleet of Royal Caribbean's United Kingdom-based subsidiary Island Cruises. In the same year, the first ship of what was to be named Solstice class was ordered from Meyer Werft. By 2007, three more ships of this class were on order.

In 2006, plans were made to transfer Blue Moon and Blue Dream from the fleet of Pullmantur Cruises to Celebrity Cruises under the names of Celebrity Quest and Celebrity Journey. The ships would have joined the Celebrity Expeditions sub-brand, but in the end the decision was made to form an entirely new line, Azamara Cruises, to operate these ships in 2007. Also, in 2007, the Zenith was transferred to Pullmantur Cruises 'in exchange' for the Azamara ships. Transfer of the Zenith also meant the end of Celebrity Cruises' association with Bermuda for the time being, as no ship was brought in to replace her on the cruises to Bermuda. In April 2010, The Celebrity Summit began to reposition yearly to New Jersey to offer cruises to Bermuda.

In 2007–2008, all Celebrity Cruises' ships were renamed with a "Celebrity" prefix added to the pre-existing ship names.

Fleet

Future fleet

A new class named Nirvana is planned, and Celebrity has announced they are building ships for the river cruising market, expected to start service in 2027:

In January 2026, ten more ships were announced to be built until 2031; a fleet of 10 vessels in 2031 is planned.