By
Alex Smith |
Celebrity Cruises has revealed several new features onboard Celebrity Apex during a tour of the ship at Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard ahead of her delivery on 20 March.
Guests were taken around the vessel by executives including Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, and Celebrity Cruises’ president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo and senior vice president of hotel operations Brian Abel.
Celebrity Apex is the second of the Edge-class ships, following the launch of Celebrity Edge in 2018. A number of the her sister ship’s features will also appear onboard the new vessel, including the Magic Carpet venue, which can move up and down the side of the ship using a system of hydraulics to add outdoor space to various decks at different times of the day.
However, Celebrity Apex will also include several new culinary, entertainment and wellness offerings. Among the new venues will be the Craft Social Bar, which will offer draft cocktails, wine on tap and over 50 rare craft beers from around the world. A new digitally animated menu by Le Petit Chef will also appear at Le Grand Bistro, telling the story of the life of a chef as he makes the dishes which diners will then be served.
The ship will also debut a new entertainment line-up, presented at a redesigned theatre that will include a 23-foot-tall 4K LED screen and 20-foot tall ‘Tree of Life’ that holds over 3,000 LED leaves. The new shows to appear onboard include ‘Rockumentary’, a celebration of moments in the history of rock music that will allow guests to vote on the final song through the Celebrity Cruises app. ‘Tree of Life’ will take the audience through a series of life moments set to pop-rock music, while ‘Crystallize’ will make use of light, laser projections and acrobatics for a performance led by a violinist.
The multipurpose Eden space will also see change in its new iteration onboard Celebrity Apex, with a dining experience designed by Celerity Cruises’ Michelin-starred chef Cornelius Gallagher. Eden will now feature different experiences each evening to cater to guests’ varied tastes, ranging from a relaxed ‘Chill at Eden’ to the energetic ‘Adrenaline at Eden’
New wellness programming on the ship will include the first F45 workouts at sea in a larger fitness centre, as well as more than 120 spa treatments and an updated set of treatment tables. Celebrity Cruises has partnered with OneSpaWorld for spa management services in a venue by interior designer Kelly Hoppen, who also designed the cabins onboard the ship.
"Celebrity Edge changed the cruise industry and raised the standard for modern luxury vacations," said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. "Celebrity Apex – the second ship in our revolutionary Edge Series – goes even further. It takes every onboard experience to the very peak of what's possible at sea."
Following the tour of Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Cruises cut the first piece of steel for the third ship of the Edge class, Celebrity Beyond, with Lutoff-Perlo and Fain both attending the event alongside Laurent Castaing, general manager of Chantiers de l’Atalantique. She is currently scheduled for delivery in autumn 2021 and will be joined by two more ships in the class by 2024.
“It takes a great shipyard, a great owner and a great partnership to bring a ship like this together,” said Fain.