Celebrity To Add Another Ship - Celebrity Quest

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Here is the news. Celebrity to add another ship, Celebrity Quest. This is the other R-Class ship that Pullmantur owns, and is a sister ship to Journey. Celebrity Quest will begin service in October 2007, and will be sailing 12-14 night Caribbean itineraries, and some Eastbound and Westbound Panama Canal sailings as well.

 

Click on this link for the details:

http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=942274&highlight=

 

We also learned that Celebrity Journey will do South America itineraries, from October 2007 - April 2008.

[florisdekort]

Interesting to read Journey will be heading to Antartica!

[Xcruzr]

Sounds interesting, love the antartica angle and the more exotic (for Celebrity) ports. Will have to wait and see what pricing will be like.

[tom_uk]

I think this is a better way to use an R ship than what they plan for Celebrity Journey.

 

However, it's interesting that after initally being spread around following the collapse of Renaissance, the R ships are now 'clumping': Oceania have three, Celebrity now have two, and I think Princess have two. I believe the last is with an up-market german company.

[Andy]

Interesting to read Journey will be heading to Antartica!

 

Hi Floris !

 

I like the news, but I am not very surprised to see Celebrity getting the other R-Class ship from Pullmantur. I think it was a pretty safe bet that once they had swapped Zenith with Journey, that the second R-Class ship would move to Celebrity as well. For those that follow the R-Class ships, Quest is the former R7, currently sailing as Blue Moon.

 

Both Journey and Quest will fill voids for Celebrity. Quest will give us some new and longer Caribbean and Panama Canal itineraries. It will be very interesting to see what pricing looks like though. I hope we will hear about that soon !

[chessbriar]

Princess will have 3 R-ships. They are adding the 3rd as the Regal Princess.

 

Andy,

 

Didn't we suggest this would happen when the Journey was announced? No big surprise here.

[tromvest]

Will the new Celebrity Quest be sailing in the Carribean year-round or only part of the year?

[Cruise Junky]

Princess will have 3 R-ships. They are adding the 3rd as the Regal Princess.

 

Andy,

 

Didn't we suggest this would happen when the Journey was announced? No big surprise here.

 

Isn't it the Royal Princess that they're adding?

[DC2OC]

Fantastic News!! I too will be waiting to see the Panama Canal prices.It looks like more exciting choices for the future with all the new ships coming on board...................................Frank:):):)

[Andy]

Isn't it the Royal Princess that they're adding?

 

Hi Cruise Junky !

 

No it is not. According to the press release, it is the former R7, now sailing as Blue Moon for Pullmantur.

[Andy]

Will the new Celebrity Quest be sailing in the Carribean year-round or only part of the year?

 

Hi Tromvest !

 

They do not answer that question. What we do know is that Quest will be sailing 12-14 night Caribbean itineraries, beginning in October 2007. They also mention some Panama Canal sailings as well. I cant wait to see the specific itineraries, and pricing. Hopefully, Celebrity will have the new itineraries posted at their website as fast as they had the Journey information. The Journey itineraries were posted on Celebrity's website within a day or 2 of the initial Journey announcement.

 

They also do not mention the homeport for Quest. I hope it will be in South Florida, preferrably Ft Lauderdale. It would make sense for the Caribbean itineraries. I wouldnt mind Miami either, but Celebrity has to do something about the Miami terminal they are currently using. It would not be a good fit for an upscale Cruise ship.

[Cruise Junky]

Hi Cruise Junky !

 

No it is not. According to the press release, it is the former R7, now sailing as Blue Moon for Pullmantur.

 

We're talking about two different things. The previous poster said Princess was adding a third as "Regal Princess" I was pointing out that it's Royal, not Regal.

[chessbriar]

We're talking about two different things. The previous poster said Princess was adding a third as "Regal Princess" I was pointing out that it's Royal, not Regal.

 

My bad. I was doing it from memory and didn't check. I knew it was an R name they've used B4. My expertise is not Princess

[Andy]

Princess will have 3 R-ships. They are adding the 3rd as the Regal Princess.

 

Andy,

 

Didn't we suggest this would happen when the Journey was announced? No big surprise here.

 

Hi Rick !

 

Yes, we did have this part right. It was only a matter of time before Celebrity was able to acquire the 2nd R-Class ship from Pullmantur, and now we know when that will happen.

 

One has to wonder if anything will happen with Oceania now, as they have 3 more of these identical R-Class ships. Does Celebrity quit with the 2 ships they now have, or do they try to add more of this class/size ship ? The question is, does Oceania wish to sell or not. Time will tell.

[Arubalisa]

It will be very interesting to see what pricing looks like though. I hope we will hear about that soon !

I fear this may be the biggest challenge. If the Journey is $1300 pp in an oceanview cabin ($1050 pp inside) for 7 nights to Bermuda smack dab in the middle of hurricane season :eek: (September) what are the prices for the Quest going to look like?

[SheilaNC]

My guess is that they will go head to head with Oceania for the short term...seeking same market and cruisers. Response from customers will likely dictate future plans for these ships. Happy to be trying Journey next May due to having booked Zenith before all of the changes occurred. Not sure we'll be able to afford new pricing structure but will, happily, wait to see next steps. It's exciting to have changes and for some itineraries being the ones many of us have asked for over the past months. Only positive vibes from me until the kinks of the first year are ironed out.

[Ine]

If you go to this link at shipparade" ", then click on Blue Moon"", there is a photo as the ship looks now.

 

http://www.shipparade.com/indx.htm

[chessbriar]

Hi Rick !

 

Yes, we did have this part right. It was only a matter of time before Celebrity was able to acquire the 2nd R-Class ship from Pullmantur, and now we know when that will happen.

 

One has to wonder if anything will happen with Oceania now, as they have 3 more of these identical R-Class ships. Does Celebrity quit with the 2 ships they now have, or do they try to add more of this class/size ship ? The question is, does Oceania wish to sell or not. Time will tell.

 

From what I have heard, Oceania wants to expand. It'll be tough when all the R ships are spoken for. Do they try to go for the Royal Olympic ships? In other words, I don't think X would be able to grab them. It would be nice, but unlikely.

[xplrcrzn]

Oceania now has a very loyal following. To compete, Celebrity will either have to offer the same amenities at a lower price or more amenities (perhaps all-inclusive) at the same price. If they go all-inclusive with these ships, not only Oceania but also Regent and even Silversea will have to be concerned. Expedition Galapagos is already all-inclusive. Interesting turn of events......

[timbo89]

The "R" ships owned by Oceania (yes - they recently purchased them - they were being leased prior to this year) have a slightly different configuration to the two owned by Celebrity. On Deck 8, the Oceania ships have almost exclusively what they call PS suites (323 sq.ft.), while on the Celebrity ships half of Deck 8 is devoted to the SS suite (323 sq.ft.) and half is devoted to the CC class (215 sq. ft.) This means that the passenger capacity of the Celebrity ships is higher than that of the Oceania ones.

 

Oceania has long given up on trying to acquire more "R" ships, and is rumored to be in final negotiations for a new-build. This new-build is rumored to be a little larger than the "R" class, with some more modern amenities. (think the 50,000 ton class, with around 1000 passengers) While their "R" ship experience has proven to be very popular, their market research seems to indicate that some of their passengers are looking for a little more cabin space, and more room for entertainment, etc.

 

RCL was rumored to attempt to purchase Oceania earlier this year, but was rebuffed. Obviously, Celebrity wants to emulate the very successful formula that Oceania has crafted. It is interesting to note that the demise of the small ship experience has been grossly exaggerated.

 

It will be interesting to see how Celebrity pricing stacks up against Oceania, as one will be able to do an "apples to apples" comparison.

 

I, for one, am extremely happy to see more competition in this segment. The increasing size of the sea-going behemoths is directly proportional to my lack of interest in sailing on them.

[xplrcrzn]

Celebrity also seems to attempting a "mix and match" strategy within one brand (its own) rather than spinning off smaller niche brands (large ship & small ship, all-inclusive & nickle-dime, adventure cruising & leisure cruising, etc.).

[chessbriar]

Celebrity also seems to attempting a "mix and match" strategy within one brand (its own) rather than spinning off smaller niche brands (large ship & small ship, all-inclusive & nickle-dime, adventure cruising & leisure cruising, etc.).

 

They are creating a brand within the brand. You have Celebrity and then you have Celebrity Xpeditions. Depending on how things go, we could one day see an Xpeditions brand or see X selling the brand. It all depends on how it sells.

[Drew B]

They are creating a brand within the brand. You have Celebrity and then you have Celebrity Xpeditions. Depending on how things go, we could one day see an Xpeditions brand or see X selling the brand. It all depends on how it sells.

 

Xpedition, with less than 100 passengers and a true "ecotourism" itinerary seems like apples to oranges vis a vis Journey and now Quest. They may be smaller and somewhat more upscale than the M or C class, but still nothing like Xpedition.

[darrencantwait]

I'm curious about Journey's Antarctica itineraries. Will they in the style of Xpedition in that you will take Zodiacs to the shore? I'm highly doubting this. From what I've heard, vessels cannot offload more than 200 passengers.

[chessbriar]

Xpedition, with less than 100 passengers and a true "ecotourism" itinerary seems like apples to oranges vis a vis Journey and now Quest. They may be smaller and somewhat more upscale than the M or C class, but still nothing like Xpedition.

 

Regardless of ship size, X is marketing these ships as Xpedition Journey and Xpedition Quest. I know it's tought to compare these ships based on size, but they are lumping them together.