New Delhi - New cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse has cancelled the first leg of her launch celebrations - scheduled to begin on April 22 - in order to assist U.K. travelers whose return from their Easter break has been halted due to the impact of ash clouds from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland.
Celebrity Cruises is working with U.K. tour operators to collect these stranded vacationers affected by the airport closures and subsequent flight cancellations that have affected travellers in Northern Europe.
Celebrity Eclipse will arrive in Southampton as scheduled at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, and will depart that evening to Bilbao, Spain, where she is scheduled to arrive in the early hours of Thursday, April 22. Stranded travelers will join the ship throughout Thursday morning. The ship will return to Southampton, arriving late Friday evening. This sailing will replace the activities planned during the two-night, round-trip launch celebration cruise from Southampton.
On her new operation, Celebrity Eclipse will collect the delayed vacationers - some delayed by up to seven days - who were on package holidays with major U.K. tour operators. Over 2,000 travellers are currently expected to join Celebrity Eclipse in Bilbao.
"The events affecting air travel are completely unprecedented, and it is in times like these that the global travel industry needs to pull together," said Richard D. Fain, chairman of Celebrity Cruises and chairman and CEO of its parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "Collecting stranded British and Irish vacationers is a fitting first mission for new ship Celebrity Eclipse - what better way for a ship dedicated to the U.K. to mark her arrival?"
Celebrity Cruises is working with major U.K. tour operators to try to assist with their challenge to repatriate as many of their customers as possible. Plans for Celebrity Eclipse remain fluid as the situation regarding reopening air space continues to change. Celebrity Cruises will continue to make updates as circumstances evolve.
The naming celebrations for Celebrity Eclipse are planned to go ahead unchanged, and she will be named by Hampshire yachtswoman and breast cancer survivor Emma Pontin late afternoon on Saturday, April 24.
Celebrity Cruises is represented throughout India by TIRUN Travel Marketing. TIRUN Travel Marketing, headquartered in New Delhi (011-2331 1362), has a network of 5 offices throughout India including Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and New Delhi.
