Celebrity Cruises Named First Cruise Line to Earn Forbes Travel Guide Award

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Celebrity Ships Recognized as “Resorts at Sea,” in a New Forbes Travel Guide Ocean Cruise Ratings Category

Celebrity Cruises revolutionized the cruising industry with its fleet of Relaxed Luxury resorts at sea. Now it is the first ocean cruise line to ever earn the prestigious Forbes Travel Guide (“FTG”) Star Awards. 

With this award, Celebrity’s ships join an elite and exclusive group. There are less than 20 land-based properties with over 1,000 rooms worldwide to ever receive the coveted recognition.

Celebrity Cruises First Cruise Line in Forbes Travel Guide 

Forbes Travel Guide is the global authority on luxury hospitality. It provides the only global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, spas and now, the ocean cruise category.

Their professional inspectors travel the world to anonymously evaluate the finest hotels, restaurants, spas, and ocean cruise ships based on hundreds of exacting standards that determine their annual Star Ratings.

The five inaugural resorts at sea Star-Rated ships are Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Flora, Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Summit. The remainder of the line’s 15-ship fleet will be evaluated in the year ahead. Excluded are the ships that sail to the Galapagos.

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“We always reach for the stars at Celebrity Cruises, whether it’s in our exceptional level of service, our innovative ship design, or the highest quality of relaxed luxury experiences we provide onboard”, said Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo.

“To now be Star-rated multiple times over is such an incredible honor from the Forbes Travel Guide team. It’s confirmation that with our resorts at sea, our guests truly sail on the world’s best places to the world’s best places,” .

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo continued, “I’d like to congratulate the entire Celebrity family, both at sea and shoreside, for this special recognition. I celebrate each and every one of you and thank you for your dedication and commitment to delivering the best vacations at sea.”  

“Forbes Travel Guide is thrilled to announce Celebrity ships as the world’s first Star-Rated resorts at sea in the new ocean cruise category,” said Hermann Elger, CEO of Forbes Travel Guide.

“Celebrity has delivered on Forbes Travel Guide’s standards time and time again during meticulous incognito inspections – offering guests experiences that rival those at the very best land-based properties. We congratulate Celebrity Cruises on this spectacular and historic accomplishment.”

What Class of Celebrity Ships Received the Forbes Award

The newly Star-rated Celebrity ships represent three of the line’s class of ships, including:

• Edge Series– As avant-garde as the name implies, these ships have been hailed as architectural masterpieces. Beginning with Celebrity Edge, the cruise line introduced a variety of industry firsts on a cruise ship. 

These innovations include the world’s first cantilevered floating bar, the The Magic Carpet.  and spacious new state rooms like the two-story Edge Villas with their own private plunge pools. Celebrity Apex (2021) and Celebrity Edge (2018) remain among the most highly awarded ships at sea, even being named to TIME Magazine’s “World’s Greatest Places.

• Millennium Series – Offering a more intimate cruising experience with just over 1,000 staterooms each, both Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Summit were part of the line’s biggest fleet-wide modernization in 2019, with more than $500 million in luxurious upgrades made.
• Mega-Yacht– Celebrity Flora is an exclusive 100-passenger luxury mega-yacht designed specifically and purposefully for expeditions in the Galapagos and built to merge with its surroundings.

With all-natural materials, Celebrity Flora introduced a state-of-the-art positioning system. This enables the ship to remain stationary without dropping anchors onto the fragile seabed. Solar panels make it one of the most eco-friendly ships sailing anywhere. All itineraries are led by certified naturalists from the Galapagos Natural Park.