Celebrity’s local drive

ROYAL Caribbean Cruises has named Cameron Mannix as its first bdm dedicated solely to Celebrity Cruises for Australia and New Zealand.

Previously tri-branding reps in the local market, he has instead been tasked with elevating the profile of Celebrity in Australia.

“My role is to get the Celebrity name out there, to increase awareness as to what Celebrity means to clients and to show how we differ from everyone else,” Mannix told CW at the launch of the Edge class in Sydney on Tue.

He will work to open cruising to a new market and build demand for the brand down under.

“Ideally we would love to get another ship down but my dream is to have an Edge class down in Australia,” Mannix said.

The response from the local market to the unveiling of the new class on Tue has been “incredible”, with the first Aussie res coming through in the first half hour of bookings opening.

Mannix said Celebrity Edge would open cruising to a whole new demographic who previously might have thought cruising was not for them and who enjoyed high-end resort holidays.

Celebrity Edge will be deployed in the Caribbean from Dec 2018 and seven-night voyages are available for less than $2,000ppts.

“You’re not selling an arm and a leg to get on one of these ships, it’s accessible to everyone,” he said.

As for getting another ship or the Edge class to Australia, the market will have to prove itself.

“Hopefully sometime in the very near future we may have another Celebrity ship here, whether it’s a Solstice class or Edge class, only time will tell,” Peter McCormack, head of sales ANZ, RCL Australia told Cruise Weekly.