Whence the "X"?

[LoneStar72]

What's the history/story/explanation for Celebrity's "X" logo?

 

John

[excitedofharpenden]

John

 

'X' is the letter C in the Greek alphabet, standing for Chandris (I think), the family that owned the line before it was sold as Celebrity. I believe the Chandris family still have share ownership in the line, and are involved in hotels too.

 

Phil

 

Mercury Western Caribbean November 2002

Galaxy Eastern Caribbean November 2003

 

<BR

 

Until Galaxy Panama Canal Out Of Galveston

13th November 2004

 

 

<center>

<a href="http://www.escati.com/counter98/free_time_codes.htm">

</center>

[Druke I]

Was told the same story, X Greek for Ch., and Chandris principal stockholder before buyout by Royal Caribbean.

 

Michael

[urbanian]

I think keeping the founding family's monogram is a touch of class.

 

Dan & Marlene

 

NCL Southward 04/92

Star Princess 05/95

HAL Westerdam 09/96

Norway 02/03

Constellation 04/04

[RM]

I sailed on Chandris for my honeymoon 20 years ago. We loved it! Nice to see that they had respect for the original.

 

Up next Mariner of the Seas

Then Jewel of the Seas

[nealberk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by urbanian:

I think keeping the founding family's monogram is a touch of class.

 

Dan & Marlene

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

And it let them keep all the dining room plates without having to replace everything.

[tofubeast]

Originally posted by RM:

I sailed on Chandris for my honeymoon 20 years ago. We loved it! Nice to see that they had respect for the original.

 

 

What Chandris did you sail? I was on the Victoria when I was young. We sailed out of Puerto Rico and went to the S. Carib. It was my first cruise and I will never forget it. The poor Victoria just went to the breakers in Alang. Very sad. But at least I can say I sailed on an "X" long ago!

 

Galaxy 5/23/05~~honeymoon!

Century 5/24/03

Majesty of the Seas 6/3/02

Chandris Victoria Summer 1984

SS Poseidon: New Year's Eve 1972 (haha)

 

 

 till I cruise for my honeymoon!!

 

 

[marc and jan]

The above is true regarding the Greek letter for CH, but for me..........X Marks the Spot where I want to be RIGHT NOW!

 

Jan

 

SAILING THE GALAXY IN: <img src=http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&prgb=0000CC&cdt=2005;03;21;20;0;00&timezone=GMT-0800> <Marquee direction=left width=45%>Fantasy/97~~~Mercury/98~~~Century/99~~~Splendour/00~~~Zenith/01~~~Summit/02~~~Galaxy/03~~~Galaxy/04~~~Galaxy/05</Marquee>

 

 

[dougnewmanatsea]

X is the Greek letter Chi, the first letter in the name Chandris.

 

The first large passenger ship owned by Chandris was the PATRIS, formerly Union-Castle's BLOEMFONTEIN CASTLE, bought in 1960. Chandris used her on the emigrant route between Europe and Australia, in competition with Sitmar (eventually Sitmar lost the British government's Australia emigrant contract to Chandris). In the 1970s, the emigrant contract expired, and Chandris' ships switched to cruising, for both the European and North American markets; for a time they were the largest cruise line in the world (overtaken by Carnival in the '80s). Celebrity was founded as Chandris Celebrity Cruises in 1989 as a new upmarket subsidiary of Chandris. The traditional Chandris product was renamed Chandris Fantasy Cruises (a marketing name that had been used for some time already in the US). The "Chandris" name was dropped soon after from both. Fantasy Cruises was phased out of the US market in 1994 and ceased to exist completely in the summer of 1997 when their sole remaining ship, AMERIKANIS, made her last Mediteranean cruises. Celebrity merged with Royal Caribbean that same year; Chandris is still a major Royal Caribbean shareholder and John Chandris is a member of RCCL's board of directors.

 

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[4 cruisers]

Doug, you never cease to amaze me! What a fountain of information you are! One day we'd sure love to meet you!

 

Nanette and Bruce

 

...until our August 28, 2004 Splendour of the Seas

 

 

[RM]

tofubeast I too sailed the Victoria from San Juan. August 20, 1984 to be exact. That was when the romance with the sea started for us. Things were so different in those days, sometimes I miss it.

 

Up next Mariner of the Seas

Then Jewel of the Seas

[dougnewmanatsea]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 4 cruisers:

Doug, you never cease to amaze me!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well it's certainly nice to have someone amazed at me in a positive way ...

 

For those mentioning THE VICTORIA - if you've not already seen it, be sure to take a look at this great article on her from Maritime Matters' Peter Knego. (Nanette, if you're amazed at me, I can only imagine what you'd think of a real maritime historian like Peter!)

 

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[rjg41]

It was stated why the "X" but not why it is there is the first place.

 

It is maritime tradition (maybe someone knows how it got started)for the smoke stack to bare the last name initial of the owner. I think with corporate ownership they have gotten away from it. Costa still displays a "C". You will also note on tug boats the letter on the stack. NYC harbor tugs were dominated by the Moran family, thus the "M" on those tugs.

 

Carnival Ecstasy, March 1993

Celebrity Millennium, Caribbean, Jan 2002

Coral Princess, Panama Canal Feb. 2, 2003 (Review)

Celebrity Summit, Alaska Land (Land Tour Review) & Sea (Cruise Review), Aug. 15,2003

Navigator of the Seas, Family Reunion, March 13, 2004

(Review)

Celebrity Infinity, Valparaiso(Santiago), Chile to Fort Lauderdale, via Panama Canal, Feb. 27, 2005

[dougnewmanatsea]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rjg41:

It is maritime tradition (maybe someone knows how it got started)for the smoke stack to bare the last name initial of the owner.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think it is Greek tradition, but definitely not maritime tradition in General. Actually I recall an explanation a while back as to a Greek tradition dating back to ancient Greece about the owner having some sort of identifying mark on the ship, though obviously they didn't have funnels then.

 

Cunard ships have been around since 1840 (some of the first commercial steamships in the world) and never had the owners' initials on the funnel.

 

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[rjg41]

Doug, maybe started with the Greeks but was certainly picked up by others.

 

Carnival Ecstasy, March 1993

Celebrity Millennium, Caribbean, Jan 2002

Coral Princess, Panama Canal Feb. 2, 2003 (Review)

Celebrity Summit, Alaska Land (Land Tour Review) & Sea (Cruise Review), Aug. 15,2003

Navigator of the Seas, Family Reunion, March 13, 2004

(Review)

Celebrity Infinity, Valparaiso(Santiago), Chile to Fort Lauderdale, via Panama Canal, Feb. 27, 2005

[RM]

Thanks for the Victoria website. I hardly remember my cruise on her and seeing her again was great!

 

Up next Mariner of the Seas

Then Jewel of the Seas

[dougnewmanatsea]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rjg41:

maybe started with the Greeks but was certainly picked up by others.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, let's face it, many of the customs of Western civilization were started by the Greeks and picked up by others. Heck the Romans copied an entire religion from them .

 

I'm not really sure of the origin of this tradition - though I'm sure one exists - but certainly it's not a Europe-wide one, that's for sure. Most of the earliest steamships were British and they almost always had plain, unadored funnels (Cunard's red was originally purely for functional purposes), no owner's initial to be seen.

 

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[jemingway]

We went on Chandris/Celebrity in 1989 on the Meridian when the name change was underway.

 

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.

[dougnewmanatsea]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jemingway:

We went on Chandris/Celebrity in 1989 on the Meridian when the name change was underway.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The name change of the line or the ship?

 

The line's name change was a very, very gradual thing; in 1989 everything would have been CHANDRIS Celebrity. I think the Chandris name finally disappeared in 1995 or so. My first cruise was in 1993 and at that time they were just de-emphasising the Chandris name.

 

The ship's name change should have taken place during a refit with no passengers on board so I assume you mean the company's name change.

 

I do have a poster, somewhere, with an artists' rendering of HORIZON on a sort of "futuristic" looking background (I forget what, maybe it was a night sky or...?) with the CHANDRIS Celebrity Cruises logo (emphasis on Chandris theirs) and the caption, "THE FUTURE OF CRUISING IS ON THE HORIZON".

 

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[jemingway]

When we were on the Meridian, they were telling us the name of the line was changing from Chandris to Celebrity. There was a performer who used this as a routine to act confused about where he was. I recently came across paperwork from the cruise that listed it as Chandris/Celebrity.

 

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.

[dougnewmanatsea]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jemingway:

When we were on the Meridian, they were telling us the name of the line was changing from Chandris to Celebrity.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Interesting.

 

In reality the line had never been called simply "Chandris"; Celebrity was a new division of Chandris called Chandris Celebrity right from the start. (MERIDIAN was the only Celebrity ship that was part of the Chandris/Chandris Fantasy fleet as well.)

 

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

[jemingway]

Host Doug, my card for that cruise just says Celebrity and does not mention Chandris. I remember the cruise director making references to the Chandris X and then would correct himself to say the Celebrity X in an attempt to be humorous.

 

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.