Destinations: Celebrity Solstice's Debut
by John Hawks

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This 2,850-passenger vessel wowed the thousands of agents, reporters, and special guests who boarded her during Celebrity's preview cruises last month. Though the ship is large enough to accommodate groups of all sizes, it feels very intimate, and the line spared no attention to detail in designing the decks and cabins.

Highlights of the vessel range from the "hot glass show" at the top of the ship (where skilled workers discuss the art of making glass and demonstrate their craft right in front of the passengers!) and the Lawn Club (with actual green growing grass that's carefully tended by the crew) to the Aqua Spa and the special group of cabins surrounding it (a great selling point for your clients who want a spa retreat at sea) and the numerous specialty restaurants.

Another selling point of this ship is the huge number of veranda cabins available for booking -- one of the highest percentages of verandas in the entire cruise industry.

During their preview cruise, OSSN's leaders discussed sales strategies with Cris de Souza (the key Celebrity executive who works with home-based agents) and her key managers. These sessions provided a helpful opportunity to exchange ideas with Celebrity officials for expanding cruise sales among home-based travel agents.

The ship was formally named on Nov. 14, and it's begun its inaugural season with a series of seven-night eastern Caribbean sailings roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale. Next spring, the "Solstice" will move to Rome for a series of roundtrip 10- and 11-night Mediterranean voyages.

To request a sales kit or to learn more about this amazing ship, go to www.cruisingpower.com or the ship's page on CLIA's site.

(Credits: Hema Khan; Patricia Bannister; Melody Fee; Celebrity Cruises)