CELEBRITY Cruises President Laura Hodges Bethge said the line was “overwhelmed” with the level of interest shown in its river cruises upon their announcement earlier this year (CW 26 Sep). The new product, which sold out less than five minutes after going on general sale, has necessitated a rush from...
CELEBRITY Cruises President Laura Hodges Bethge said the line was “overwhelmed” with the level of interest shown in its river cruises upon their announcement earlier this year (CW 26 Sep).
The new product, which sold out less than five minutes after going on general sale, has necessitated a rush from Celebrity to get its hands on as many more river ships as possible, the line’s leader told Cruise Weekly.
This came a few weeks after priority allocation sold out in just six minutes (CW 04 Sep).
“We’d love to get as many river ships as we can as fast as we can,” Hodges Bethge told CW in an interview on board the new Celebrity Xcel earlier this week (CW yesterday).
“We knew when we opened for sale that it would be successful – we didn’t realise it was going to go as quickly as it did.”
Celebrity’s first river cruises are set to sail in 2027, with itineraries for 2028 expected to open early next year.
The line also has the newly announced Celebrity Xcite to look forward to, due in 2028, with construction having commenced last month (CW 24 Oct).
Hodges Bethge revealed to this masthead that Trattoria Rossa, the new Italian restaurant set to be added to Celebrity’s Solstice-class, will likely also debut on board Xcite.
The restaurant is one of three fresh concepts being worked on for the next Edge-class ship, Hodges Bethge revealed. MS
Celebrity’s President is pictured sharing a panel with Royal Caribbean Group Chair & Chief Executive Officer Jason Liberty.
