Celebrity Cruises is a cut above your average cruise line with its classy ships that offer elegant cruising with a contemporary twist. Its newer Millennium Class ships have become larger and more striking with impressive atriums, outside glass lifts, and large spas. The line is proud of its special touches, from the ‘welcome aboard’ drink to greet new passengers to afternoon tea, or poolside massages and the chilled towels that await you after a tour ashore. As a sister company to Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises is like the more refined older sister, though it claims to have the youngest fleet sailing in the world today. Its older ships, known as Century Class, are called Century, Galaxy and Mercury while its Millennium Class ships are named Constellation, Infinity, Millennium and Summit.

Celebrity Cruise holidays tend to appeal to a slightly older more refined clientele, but the line also finds favour with families for its Celebrity X-Club youth programme which includes family events such as karaoke, discos and bingo. Families and baby-boomers will find the best facilities for their Celebrity Cruise holidays on the newer Millennium Class ships. With one staff member to every two guests, service standards are high on a Celebrity cruise. There is also a wide choice of entertainment ranging from fascinating art auctions, Broadway shows and musical reviews in the main theatre to film screenings in the on-board cinema. As you might expect, the dining options are varied and high-quality as is the Aquaspa – dubbed the largest and most luxurious spa afloat. Celebrity holidays are offered to all the world’s main cruising spots, from the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Bermuda to Alaska, the Panama Canal and South America.

Celebrity’s fleet will see another change when the new Celebrity Solstice is launched, ushering in another style of Celebrity holidays with Solstice Class ships. This first one promises a refined level of elegance with extensive amenities – the most novel of which is the Lawn Club. This will comprise half an acre of real grass lawn on the top deck where passengers will be able to stride the greens for putting, enjoying a picnic, playing croquet and trying bocce ball – the American equivalent of boules. The ship will also have its own glass-blowing studio, complete with resident glass-blowers and a kiln.