Celebrity Cruises has said an Edge-class ship could be based in Southampton for a full season in the future following a positive start to 2020.
Celebrity Apex, the line’s second Edge-series ship, will be named in Southampton in March and will offer a mini season of ex-UK sailings before moving to the Mediterranean in May.
But Celebrity Cruises’ president and chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said an Edge-series ship could offer more ex-UK voyages now the UK market is “rebounding nicely” after a “funky” 2019.
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Speaking on a tour of Apex in the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France this week, Lutoff-Perlo said: “Everybody is moving on and I think we’re seeing that in our business. It is a good start for the UK.”
“We will see about an Edge [ship] in Southampton. It is a combination of how strong the UK market is – would we get the per diems that we need for the ship and how that itinerary is performing with other guests from around the world. We source from everywhere.
“Could we have a longer season? Sure. Could we have a full season? Maybe. It really depends on how we build the brand, the business, the average per diems, the luxury travel market between now and when we consider [deployment] again.”
Lutoff-Perlo said the ship would likely operate more northern European cruises out of Southampton rather than sailing to the Mediterranean.
“We’re much better off going to northern Europe out of the UK rather than to the Mediterranean,” she said. “Those [ex-UK Med] cruises have never been really stellar for us.”
The line unveiled new features on board Apex during a shipyard visit with 12 trade partners this week .
Jo Rzymowska, vice president and managing director for the UK, Ireland and EMEA, said the line had focused on inviting “high-value trade partners”, such as Abercrombie & Kent and B Away Travel.
“It is really important to spread our word to more travel partners,” she said.
Lutoff-Perlo added: “We need to build our business here [in Europe] and we need [agents] to understand our Edge-series more than they already do.”