Celebrity Cruises marked its return to Australia after 930 days away from Aussie waters and launched its revolutionised trade portal, ‘The Celebrity Commitment’.
On Saturday, Celebrity Eclipse set sail from Sydney on a 12-night itinerary exploring the wilderness of New Zealand. This voyage is the first of 17 sailings departing from Sydney and Auckland through April 2023, and the first for Celebrity Eclipse in Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific waters.
“The return Down Under has been long-awaited but someday has finally arrived!” Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises said.
“Celebrity Eclipse is the first Celebrity ship to sail this region for 930 days – a momentous occasion for the brand and our team members who have worked so hard to get to this point; and the first of many WonderFULL sailings ahead.
“Returning to this region is another significant milestone in the industry’s global recovery, as we sail forward into a bright future.”
Celebrity Cruises VP and MD of Australia and APAC, Tim Jones, said there’s been much anticipation about the arrival of Celebrity Eclipse and seeing the ship arrive in Sydney Harbour didn’t disappoint.
“We were one of the remaining major cruise markets to return to service, and we are really proud to be contributing to the tourism industries of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific once more, alongside rebuilding the economy of key coastal communities,” Jones said.
Revolutionised trade portal + agent competition
Coinciding with this week’s debut of Celebrity Eclipse in local waters, Celebrity Cruises has announced its new trade portal with an array of enhanced features to facilitate the travel industry.
Features of the upgraded portal include; new dedicated landing pages to support marketing activity, including customisable digital resources offering a one-click ‘share’ feature to communicate with clients direct from the platform; new selling guides and toolkits; and a new brand campaign, enhanced by imagery designed to inspire future holidays with Celebrity Cruises.
“We have an ongoing commitment to empower our partners with the tools they need, because when we succeed, we succeed together,” Cameron Mannix, director of sales of Celebrity Cruises Australia and New Zealand, said.
“The revolutionised portal is an agent’s gateway to everything ‘Celebrity Cruises’, making selling luxury effortless and supporting our trade partners in our comeback and beyond.”
To celebrate the arrival of Celebrity Eclipse and the launch of the trade portal, Celebrity Cruises is running a competition through their trade agent loyalty program, Celebrity Rewards. The top 10 agents to claim the most points through Celebrity Rewards until the end of the year will win a variety of prizes, with the top earner winning a luxury cruise of their choice in 2023.
