Given the tension of the current climate within the travel industry, and particularly public sentiment surrounding cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 having occurred aboard cruise ships, Celebrity Cruises has announced that it will be delaying the official naming ceremony for its new vessel, Celebrity Apex, which had originally been scheduled to take place in Southampton, U.K., on March 30, 2020.
In a letter to Cruise Critic, Celebrity Cruises' President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, wrote: "Those who know me, or even know of me, know that I'm not much of a traditionalist. One tradition I do cherish, however, is the tradition of launching a new ship with a groundbreaking naming ceremony, and a groundbreaking Godmother. I believe the karma and energy around the naming of a ship and its Godmother are important to its future, its guests and its crew."
"To that end, we believe that continuing with the naming ceremony in the current environment would be inconsistent with the spirit and intention of such an important and meaningful event. We have therefore made the difficult decision to postpone our formal naming ceremony until later this year and will name Celebrity Apex when she arrives in Fort Lauderdale to begin her Caribbean season."
Celebrity Apex, the line's second Edge-class ship, is now scheduled to be formally inaugurated in Fort Lauderdale in October 2020, with ship's Godmother Reshma Saujani, author, activist and CEO of the non-profit 'Girls Who Code', doing the honors.
Worldwide concern over the potential spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus is causing plenty of disruption within the cruise industry, forcing cruise lines to cancel various itineraries, especially in Asia. Nascent cruise line Virgin Voyages has likewise decided to cancel its New York City preview events in light of public sentiment at this time, despite the fact that there are no actual health concerns surrounding the launch of its first ship, the Scarlet Lady.
Celebrity Apex will still be embarking upon its two-night initial sailing from Southampton on March 28, followed by a brief series of voyages out of the U.K. before heading toward the Mediterranean. There, the ship will go ahead in sailing its scheduled seven-night, summer cruises out of Rome and Barcelona.
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