RCCL sells Celebrity ship to Chinese OTA Ctrip
Royal Caribbean Cruises, parent of the Celebrity cruise line, will offload the Celebrity Century ship to an affiliate of China’s largest online travel firm Ctrip.com.
In a deal that RCCL Chairman Richard Fain called "an excellent business opportunity for both Royal Caribbean and Ctrip," the two companies will form a joint venture to operate the ship.
"Since its inaugural sailing, Celebrity Century has created many wonderful memories for hundreds of thousands of guests, and we expect this successful history to continue as she transitions to the Chinese cruise market," Fain added.
The 1,815-passenger Century ship will remain on scheduled cruise itineraries for Celebrity until April 2015.
It will then undergo a renovation to appeal to the Chinese market before entering service as a Ctrip-owned vessel.
RCCL said it will take a non-cash loss of around $20 million by offloading the ship and is currently the oldest ship in Celebrity’s fleet.
The 71,545-ton ship first entered service in December 1995.
"Ctrip will capitalize on our strong brand, large customer base as well as our partner’s extensive cruise operating experience, to generate great value to our customers," Ctrip president Min Fan said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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