Celebrity Cruises’ UK and Ireland chief has thanked the trade for its support amid the coronavirus pandemic and urged partners to “look forward together to sunnier times ahead”.
In a heartfelt video message, Jo Rzymowska, vice-president and managing director, EMEA, said as soon as the brand was ready to set sail again “you [agents] will be the first to know.”
Rzymowska said RCCL’s decision to suspend sailings until 11 April was “unprecedented” but “absolutely in the interests of our mutual guests, our crew and all of our staff”.
She urged agents to stay in touch with Celebrity during the break in operations, explaining the line’s sales team had introduced a live chat function to make team members more easily reachable.
"Thank you for your support - we are here to support you and let's look forward together to sunnier times ahead."@CelebrityUK chief @JoRzyCruise issues video message to agents https://t.co/Y2tKLFX0VB pic.twitter.com/BwkyTVn4Z7
— TTG (@TTGMedia) March 22, 2020
Celebrity had been due to christen and showcase its second Edge-class ship, Celebrity Apex, in Southampton on 30 March, but the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus situation.
“We were devastated to have had to postpone our Apex launch, as we were so looking forward to that, but Apex will join the fleet as soon as she can,” Rzymowska said.
She ended her message by once again thanking agents for their hard work, adding: “Thank you for your support – we are here to support you and let’s look forward together to sunnier times ahead.”