Celebrity Sostile sets sail for first time

The world’s most eagerly anticipated ship, Celebrity Solstice, departed Meyer Werft shipyard yesterday in Papenburgh, Germany. Celebrity Solstice is the largest ship ever to be built by the shipyard and in a milestone event marked as ‘The Conveyance’, the 2,850 guest ship made its way down the River Eems, with tens of thousands of cheering residents watching its progress.

"This is a very momentous occasion for Celebrity Cruises," said the brand's President and CEO Dan Hanrahan. "Celebrity Solstice is the perfect manifestation of what the Celebrity brand is all about: extraordinary service, spectacular dining, and fabulous style and design. And as the first in a series of five Solstice-class ships, it’s a vivid example of the growth and momentum of the Celebrity brand, and our commitment to meet our guests' and travel agent partners’ demands for more vacation options with Celebrity."

"There also is the intangible attribute which is consistent across the Celebrity fleet, and that's the extraordinary, anticipatory service our phenomenal staff offer our guests every day," said Hanrahan.

Celebrity Solstice will feature a wealth of fabulous amenities, including:

• The first Lawn Club at sea, a lush, half-acre recreation area with real grass

• Hot Glass show, demonstrating live glassblowing sessions

• Larger staterooms, with design inspirations offered by a panel of five women, hand-picked for their unique travel and hospitality insights.

• 10 restaurants, ranging from the dramatic, two-level “Grand Epernay” main dining room with a sweeping wine tower, to four exquisite specialty restaurants, to several stylish, casual venues

• A new category of staterooms, AquaClass, designed to offer a spa vacation experience at sea

Celebrity Solstice will be berthed in Eemshaven, Netherlands, from 29 September to 24 October, with two separate sea trials set to occur in the period. The crew will also be arriving during this time and there will be trainng, provisioning and finishing work taking place. Set to depart from Eemshaven on 24 October on a transatlantic voyage, Celebrity Solstice will arrive in Fort Lauderdale early November.

There will be a number of promotional cruises for invited travel agents, press and other dignitaries. The formal naming ceremony will take place on the 14 November and the ship will begin its official maiden season 23 November, with a series of alternating 7 night Caribbean cruises.