Celebrity Cruises' newly launched program, Celebrity Life, aims to put a new spin on the onboard experience. But first, the line has some explaining to do.
At an event in Bayonne, N.J., onboard the Celebrity Constellation, which launches Celebrity Life Nov. 6, the cruise line went to lengths to try to explain what separates this program from the standard onboard enrichment program. It is not an easy task.
Celebrity Life is a series of onboard programs that are divided into three categories: food and beverage (Savor), intellectual discovery (Discover) and health and wellness (Renew).
Each category features onboard programming that is different from the line's traditional offerings. They include Beyond the Podium, a speaker series with experts from the Smithsonian Institution; Chilates, a Pilates class with a twist; and a whiskey-tasting workshop.
Many lines offer speaker series, liquor tastings and health-and-wellness programs. So what makes this different?
Every Celebrity ship will eventually have three leaders onboard that will guide passengers interested in the different categories of the program: a "guru" will lead the Renew program, a "foodie" will lead the Savor program and a "cosmopolitan" will head up the Discover program.
In each ship's daily newsletter, Celebrity Today, Celebrity Life programs will be marked with a star.
Carl Pucl, the "guru" on the Constellation, explained that within the Renew program, every Celebrity Life activity is either a new take on an existing activity, like Chilates, or a more immersed way of doing something, so that people "take the experience with them."
Joshua Riffe, the Constellation's cruise director, explained that with the Discover series of programming, Celebrity "took all the pieces off the chessboard and then put them back on."
"We are crossing the line from activities and events to making it an experience," he said.
An example is the "Let's Dance" program, which has the performers out dancing among the passengers to both give them a show and also let them participate if they want to.
Got it? If you don't, you're not alone.
"Nobody gets it entirely," said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, the recently appointed senior vice president of hotel operations for Celebrity and sister brand Azamara Cruises, during lunch in the ship's specialty restaurant.
Lutoff-Perlo wants to change that and make Celebrity Life not only understandable but a reason people book Celebrity.
"You have to say it enough so that people hear it and get it," she said. "The messaging has to be part of the purchase decision or when people are looking for information.
"So when they get onboard, they will say, 'I want to find the foodie.'"