blog, client news
Celebrity Cruises gets closer to the Edge, and reveals Apex news_
Last week, Siren’s Celebrity Cruises team was busy as we worked with our client to deliver an exclusive ship yard tour of their new ship Celebrity Edge, in Saint-Nazaire, France for a hand-picked group of top-tier trade, consumer and cruise specialist media from the UK and Ireland. Little did they know that, while there, they would also be the first to learn that the next ship from Celebrity Cruises’ Edge Class series, Celebrity Apex, will be launched and be named in the UK in April 2020.
Our group included representatives from The Sunday Times, Mail Online, Sleeper Magazine, Travel Weekly, TTG and the Daily Telegraph, and fellow journalists from across Europe and the US. They were hosted on their tour of Celebrity Edge by Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. They were shown Edge’s Stateroom with Infinite Balcony and twin-level Edge Villas, the swimming pool deck, Eden restaurant and The Spa, and the ship’s iconic, world-first Magic Carpet cantilevered dining space which hangs over the side of the ship itself. Throughout the day, they were immersed in to the thinking behind the transformational design of the ship, and Celebrity Cruises’ signature ‘modern luxury’ reimagination of a holiday at sea.
Their tour also included a reveal of the Grand Plaza, the final signature component of the Celebrity Edge experience by Jouin Manku Studio, and the beating heart of the ship’s design story. This immersive space will embody the heart and soul of Celebrity Edge with the aim to completely transform the way guests connect to the world at sea.
The surprise announcement about Edge’s sister ship, Celebrity Apex, represents a major commitment by the Celebrity Cruises brand to the UK market, and is the first time in a decade that Celebrity Cruises has named and operated a ship from the UK. More importantly, this will be the first time Celebrity Cruises will operate two ships from the UK’s busiest port, Southampton, as Celebrity Silhouette will also return in 2020 for its third consecutive year.
Two such significant announcements inevitably created a lot of buzz in our target media. Breaking across social media, the news was picked up by The Daily Telegraph Online, Travel Weekly and TTG in minutes, with local Southampton-area media also running it through the day. Coverage has continued since, meaning interest in Edge (and now Apex) remains high as we get ever closer to the official inauguration later this year.
