Originally scheduled to be named the very week the pandemic shut down cruising in 2020, the Celebrity Apex made up for lost time 02NOV, with a naming ceremony in Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale that made up for the months of lost time.
Lynn Elmhirst was at the christening, where ecstatic travel advisors gave standing ovation after standing ovation, showing their appreciation for the support and leadership of Celebrity Cruise's President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, as well as Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO, Richard Fain.
Perlo may have summed up the spirit of the moment when she told the crowd - to another standing ovation - that cruising's "come-back will be stronger than the set-back."
It was as much love-in for finally returning to cruising, as naming ceremony for the second, Edge-class ship for Celebrity Cruises, which continued its own tradition of supporting diversity and empowering women by naming Reshma Saujani, the founder of groundbreaking non-profit Girls Who Code and author of bestseller, “Brave, Not Perfect,” as the godmother of the newest ship in the fleet.