Celebrity Cruises’ latest ship Celebrity Equinox is the line’s eighth ship to return to service in less than two months.
The company restarted North American sailings on June 5 with Celebrity Millennium sailing the Caribbean from St Maarten followed on June 26 by Celebrity Edge as the first ship to sail from a US port in more than a year.
Eight of the 14 ships within the fleet have now resumed operations in the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska and the Galapagos, including Celebrity Silhouettefrom Southampton around the UK coast.
Revamped Celebrity Equinox is running a seven-night western Caribbean itinerary from Fort Lauderdale.
Meanwhile, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line returned to sailing in Alaska with departures from Seattle over the weekend.
Each Carnival Corporation line will run ten cruises out of the US port over the summer until September.
Celebrity Cruises president and chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo “With each new ship that goes in the water, I’m overwhelmed by the palpable sense of reconnection on board for both our guests and our crew – with each other, their families and the world.
“Being together, again, and absorbing the beauty around us is what we’ve all dreamt about for over a year, and now it’s really wonderful to be a part of our guests’ aspirations to travel again.”
Brian Abel, Celebrity’s senior vice president of hotel operations, added: “Bringing a large cruise ship back into service isn’t as easy as turning the ignition key. It’s a multi-dimensional process that involves moving and training crew, large-scale procurement, mechanical adjustments, destination outreach, port availability, sales and marketing and so much more.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the Celebrity team’s accomplishments. We were ready and we successfully executed this herculean effort with finesse to welcome our guests back on board.”