Celebrity Cruises took delivery of its newest, Galapagos-bound ship, Celebrity Flora. The vessel, specially designed for sailing in the Galapagos Islands, will begin a transatlantic crossing to her new home.
Celebrity parent company Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard D.Fain hosted a ceremony aboard the newbuild while it was docked in Rotterdam, joined by the company and shipyard executives, and more than 70 crew members.
The 100-passenger Galapagos cruise ship Celebrity Flora is the first top-luxury newbuild vessel designed for operations in the Galapagos Islands. The ship has environmentally-friendly systems, such as anchorless technology (Dynamic Positioning) maintaining the ship's position while protecting the sea floor. The ship is energy-efficient with fewer air emissions and a 15% reduction of fuel consumption due to its unique hull configuration, specially designed marine diesel engines and advanced propulsion system. The vessel converts air-conditioning condensation and sea water into fresh water and also provides in-cabin water filtration stations for further purification.
Launched in 2019 as fleet's newest vessel, Celebrity Flora became the first Galapagos Islands-based ship equipped with an Oceanscope - latest technology oceanographic research equipment. The program builds on the over 20-year relationship with University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science which benefits from the ship's consistent itinerary to create a cost-effective way for scientists to measure ocean circulation dynamics. The system is expected to track and map the area while measuring sea-surface temperatures and gathering data that is critical to research prediction of El Nino and La Nina. All findings gathered by Flora will become open source data, a first for scientists around the globe and anyone with a passion for the information.
Celebrity Flora will sail out of Baltra year-round, making her first cruise on June 30.