POINTE BLANCHE–Celebrity Beyond, a cruise ship owned by Celebrity Cruises, made its inaugural call to Port St. Maarten on Thursday. It is the first new cruise ship to visit the destination for the 2022-2023 cruise season and was in port with 2,778 guests and 1,376 crew.
Captain Dimitrios Kafetsiz was welcomed by Port St. Maarten Group (PSG) management, where the traditional plaques were exchanged along with the welcome greeting to the guests and crew to “The Friendly Island”.
A tour around the ship with stakeholders was not possible due to scheduling issues and will be arranged during a subsequent port call.
Celebrity Beyond is the third in the Edge class and entered service in April 2022. The other two vessels of its class are Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Edge. The vessel is 1,073 feet in length, has a gross tonnage of 140,600 and carries 3,260 passengers and approximately 1,400 crew.
The vessel started its debut to the North American/Caribbean region near the end of October and is home porting out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Celebrity Beyond winter cruise season covers the Western and Eastern Caribbean.
“We are proud to welcome the first inaugural call for the winter season, Celebrity Beyond’s guests and crew,” PSG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alexander Gumbs said on Thursday. “This vessel is considered a next-generation ship featuring many amenities. It is the newest and most luxurious ship of Celebrity Cruises.”
Celebrity Cruises has a fleet of 15 ships, which have itineraries to seven continents visiting nearly 300 destinations in more than 70 countries.
Celebrity has pioneered many industry firsts at sea, including the first use of solar panels on a cruise ship; the first to eliminate use of plastic water bottles; the first American female captain of a cruise ship; the first-ever all-female bridge and officer team sailing; the first West African women to work on the bridge of a cruise ship; and the first legal same-sex weddings performed at sea.
Celebrity Cruises is one of five cruise brands owned by global cruise company Royal Caribbean Group.