Celebrity Apex‘s naming ceremony is being postponed, Celebrity Cruises has confirmed in a statement.

It will still, however, continue with its two-night inaugural sailing events from Southampton.

Celebrity Cruises vice president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said: “We are beyond excited about introducing Celebrity Apex at the end of March, and as it stands today, we plan to move forward with our two-night inaugural sailing events to celebrate her arrival into Southampton, the first ship Celebrity Cruises has launched in the UK in ten years.

“I believe the karma and energy around the naming of a ship and its godmother are important to its future, its guests and its crew. We have therefore made the difficult decision to postpone our formal naming ceremony until later this year and will name Celebrity Apex when she arrives in Fort Lauderdale to begin her Caribbean season.

“We continue to monitor global developments and are in constant consultation with global health authorities including the World Health Organisation to abide by all protocols.”

Earlier in the week, Royal Caribbean ltd, who owns Celebrity, urged agents not to panic. 

In a video, its CEO Richard Fain stressed that his group’s brands and agents “will get through this difficult time together”.

He said: “This is a tough time – a really tough time – and all of us know it because all of us are going through it together.

“And after enough challenging days for your business, after reading enough of the endless media reports about coronavirus, it’s really easy to think that the world is coming to an end. Well I have a spoiler alert – it’s not.

“We’re all spending time worrying, and that’s natural because we’re in a storm and when you’re in the middle of a storm, it certainly feels like it’ll never end.

“But, as with most storms, it gets worse before it gets better, but it’s hard to remember that this too shall pass. And while the virus is something to be taken seriously, it’s not a cause for panic – not in a personal sense and not in a business sense either.”

For the latest travel advice, visit gov.uk/coronavirus.