CELEBRITY CRUISES

In 1989, Celebrity Cruises was founded by the Chandris Group as an upscale line to establish a new level of "premium" cruising offered at an intelligent price. Celebrity identified its potential customers as quality buyers who are well-informed about products and services, who consider their purchasing decisions carefully, and who regard quality and value as the essential criteria for their vacation choices.

Celebrity Cruises promised and then delivered a level of exceptional service and cuisine unmatched in the industry, except at the highest prices. Recognition of Celebrity's onboard program excellence throughout the industry and among the cruising public refocused the industry's emphasis on "software sensitivity" rather than hardware superiority.

Understanding the importance of excellence, Celebrity custom built kitchens to turn out the finest gourmet cuisine, created from scratch and produced with the freshest ingredients; created the technology necessary to deliver sophisticated entertainment; and made tremendous investments to ensure the optimum safety standards of its vessels.

Celebrity established and still maintains today a relationship with London-based, three-star Guide Michelin master chef and culinary consultant Michel Roux, who was engaged to design food service and train the fleet's executive restaurant staff. His award-winning culinary contributions quickly established Celebrity as preeminent in offering outstanding shipboard cuisine.

In 1995, we created another industry "first" -- a new type of fleetwide spa program that introduced a unique vacation choice on board all Celebrity ships. The custom-branded AquaSpaSM program was the first commissionable spa and fitness package to be sold as part of a cruise vacation.

In 1997, Celebrity Cruises merged with Royal Caribbean International, bringing together two outstanding cruise line brands under one corporate name -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The company now has more than 20 custom-designed cruise ships sailing the globe, with several additional ships under construction or on firm order.
We continue to lead the industry in fleet innovations. Our Millennium features a truly unique specialty restaurant, The Olympic, that recreates the elegance of early 20th-century ships. Millennium is also one of the first cruise ships equipped with smokeless GE gas-turbine engines, representing the cruise industry's newest technology for protecting the environment.

In 2001, Royal Celebrity Tours was launched, building on the strengths of both the Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises brands. Offering seamless vacation experiences through integrated land-and-sea packages, Royal Celebrity Tours is the newest embodiment of our commitment to peerless vacation offerings.