Giles Hawke opens up on Celebrity Cruises’ move into river
Celebrity Cruises’ long-anticipated entry into the river sector took centre stage at Seatrade Europe in Hamburg on Thursday (11 September)
Giles Hawke, vice president international for the cruise line, outlined the brand’s ambitions with the launch of 10 purpose-built ships by 2029.
Celebrity Cruises had already confirmed that the first two vessels will launch in 2027, with the remaining eight to be delivered over the following two years. The ships will initially sail on the Danube and the Rhine, with scope for further deployment once the brand gains a foothold.
“We know that our customers have told us they want to river cruise with us,” he told delegates. “Over half of our global customers already either take a river cruise or said they want to take a river cruise.
“We know they love what we offer on the ocean. We’ve had many years of experience delivering the sort of unique level of hospitality, and we plan to bring that to the rivers.”
Hawke said the line’s vision is to bring ocean-style innovation to the rivers, highlighting features such as ‘Magic Edge’ dining pods that extend over the water and a top deck that will remain open around the clock, year-round.
“We’ve got some really unique design features,” he continued. “We think we’re going to change the sector a little bit, change how ships are, how they look and feel.”
Hawke was keen to stress that the ambition is not simply to move existing passengers from ocean to river, but to help grow the wider river cruise market. “We respect the river space. There are some fantastic operators out there, and we’re looking forward to joining that space,” he said.
The company’s ambitions were also clearly displayed: “We have 10 ships on order, but we will be looking for growth. This is going to be a core part of our forward business strategy.”
Future expansion beyond Europe has not been ruled out, but Hawke emphasised that the initial focus is firmly on launching the European fleet and learning from early operations.
“I don’t think we should write off anywhere, but we need to get started first,” he said. “We have some experts from the river cruise world working with us and for us, to try to avoid early mistakes and learn quickly. We’ll start on the Danube and the Rhine, and we’ll go from there.”
