Lisa Lutoff-Perlo talks to Bill Becken about her new role as president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises
This article first appeared in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read other articles, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats
In late 2014, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo—who began her career at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) as a district sales manager in her native New England – ascended to the role of president and CEO of the corporation’s premium Celebrity Cruises brand.
Prior to her appointment – while she was EVP of operations, RCCL, and before that, as its EVP, hotel operations – Lutoff-Perlo worked to reinvent and develop the cruise experience aboard both Royal Caribbean International’s and Celebrity’s ships. She was instrumental in the successful launch of the former’s Quantum of the Seas – the first in the company’s newest class – and intimately oversaw the launch of its Voyager and Radiance ship classes.
But she is perhaps best known for her role, impact and influence in rolling out Celebrity’s five Solstice-class ships, beginning with the Celebrity Solstice in 2008 and culminating with the Celebrity Reflection in 2012. She otherwise fostered the rapid, dramatic development of Celebrity as a cool, modern luxury competitor amid a lively and contentious premium marketplace.
All the more so now, she says, thanks to Celebrity’s recently announced Edge-class ships, the brand will continue to keenly distinguish itself among, if not lead, its competitors. “Creating ships is one of the most exciting and fulfilling parts of my role,” says Lutoff-Perlo. “Edge will take the Celebrity brand to the next level, just as our five Solstice-class ships did when I launched them in 2008.
“With two new Edge vessels added to our fleet, we can deliver on our long-term strategic plan of moderate capacity growth and continue the positive momentum that our brand has achieved in the premium market. This year, we’re celebrating 25 years of delivering incredible cruise vacations. Leading up to Edge, we will continue to focus on brand innovation and keeping our guests, trade and press partners engaged and excited about Celebrity.”
By extension, members of Celebrity’s other ship classes will receive enhancements and refurbishment. Notable among them for 2015: Celebrity Eclipse, the third Solstice-class vessel, launched in 2010. “Our guests love Celebrity Eclipse, it is a fabulous ship, and with the drydock, we will be introducing more new concepts aboard Celebrity Eclipse currently only available on Celebrity Equinox – for example, the poolside frozen drinks bar, Slush. Our new Suite Class restaurant, Luminae, will be an exciting addition to the ship – we think our guests will love this exclusive, self-indulgent venue. Indeed, Luminae is just one result of always looking for new ways to surprise and delight vacationers,” says Lutoff-Perlo.
Part of Celebrity’s, and any growing cruise line’s, successful evolution involves transferring certain vessels. In Celebrity’s case, most recently it was the well-loved and intensively refurbished Celebrity Century, which will join the fleet of SkySea Cruises, the new joint venture between RCCL and Ctrip in China. “The transfer of Celebrity Century is an excellent business opportunity for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and SkySea Cruises,” says Lutoff-Perlo. “It is great that we as a corporation have the flexibility to create such strategic partnerships.
“Celebrity Century has created many wonderful memories for our guests and we expect this record of success to continue as she transitions to SkySea Cruises. With Celebrity Century’s departure, we will continue to offer our guests sailings around the world an expansive choice of vacations, including our new Celebrity Explorations river- and ocean-cruise packages, richer pre-cruise City Stay packages, and our programme of Signature Event Sailings.”
The latter in particular have lived up to the line’s expectations, according to Lutoff-Perlo. “Our guests want to be part of the world’s most renowned, in-demand events, enjoying the occasion in style and having a front-row seat, so to speak. Sailing to all seven continents already gives us an incredible opportunity to deliver one-of-a-kind modern luxury experiences both on land and sea.
“Guests can choose to participate in specially curated shore excursions that give them a VIP’s vantage point or otherwise place them in the middle of the action at an iconic event. In 2015-2016, we’re providing vacationers with comfort, luxury and access to events and celebrations such as the Cannes Film Festival, The British Open, and Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
“The excitement these sailings have generated among our guests and the travel community has been so great that we revealed more such itineraries in our 2016-2017 deployment,” says Lutoff-Perlo. “This included an evening of incredible fireworks in Abu Dhabi for the New Year and a celebration stateside with our first-ever Mardi Gras sailing.”
The 2016-2017 deployment programme includes more double overnights and not just fireworks in Abu Dhabi, but the industry’s only roundtrip sailing from that place. Generally, introducing such vacations and itineraries has been as much a priority as building new vessels. “In the past year we have created truly unique vacation experiences that have expanded the number of ways our guests can see the world with us. Vacationers want more overnight stays, double-overnight stays and new destinations, and we are most definitely giving these to them.
“We’ll be sailing to 48 different overnight ports – more than we have ever featured, including new double overnights in incredible cities like Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, New Orleans and St. Petersburg. The new Indian and Arabian Peninsula roundtrip from Abu Dhabi will certainly be a new and exciting itinerary for our guests to enjoy. Overnight stays in port have allowed us to create our Signature Event Sailings, which, again, have been so very well received and enjoyed. So we’ve designed new itineraries as a result of feedback, and there are many more to come.”
The future of Celebrity Cruises signals more destinations, leading ships and the continuing evolution of modern luxury, says Lutoff-Perlo. “Our guests have come to expect an experience on Celebrity that is sophisticated, stylish, upscale, while fresh and updated, in keeping with how they live their lives today. With three years between now and the introduction of our first Edge ship, we’ll look at ways to evolve an already wonderful guest experience to make Celebrity vacations even better. Stay tuned for more!”