Arrivals & Departures Royal Caribbean Cruises on a roll with Celebrity revamp and Azamara addition

It's been a busy few weeks for Royal Caribbean Cruises — which owns Celebrity, Azamara and the Royal Caribbean cruise lines — with a series of announcements of big-money improvements and additions.

The company has annouced it will spend $400 million modernising the entire Celebrity Cruises fleet.

Its improvement program has already begun with the introduction of new ship Celebrity Edge and will continue from 2019 through to 2023 with a complete refurbishment of its Millennium and Solstice class ships.

Celebrity Cruises president and chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said the staterooms wouldn’t just be redesigned, but torn down and rebuilt.

Each room will be reimagined to maximise storage and efficiency, while 11,579 new cashmere mattresses will be added.

Suite guests will enjoy a new retreat sundeck and access to a revitalised lounge.

Celebrity Constellation, Infinity, Millenium and Summit will get a new OceanView Cafe with “globally influenced menus and a sleeker, more whimsical ambience”.

Meanwhile, Azamara Club Cruises has announced it will buy a sister ship to Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest, to be delivered in March next year.

Azamara Pursuit will be similar in size to its sister ships and be able to access the same smaller ports.

The ship’s decor will be updated to match the renovations recently completed aboard Journey and Quest.

(At top: Celebrity Solstice. Picture by Richard Birch.)

Fact File

• Information about deployment and itineraries for Azamara Pursuit is expected to be released this month. For more information visit azamara.com/pursuit.  
• Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises are offering up to $US100 bonus onboard credit and a range of deals for bookings before October 28.
• Book a Royal Caribbean cruise through a travel agent to receive up to $US100 onboard credit per stateroom on top of savings of up to 40 per cent on a range of international and local itineraries.
• Celebrity Cruises is offering a bonus $US100 on board credit per stateroom on most Europe 2018 sailings, as well as an extra $US300 onboard credit and free drinks on oceanview bookings and above.
• Azamara Club Cruises has $US100 onboard credit for oceanview and veranda staterooms on selected sailings, and is offering a veranda stateroom for the price of an interior as part of its Europe earlybird deal.