Celebrity Cruises Makes Air Travel A Breeze With New, Significantly Improved "Celebrity's ChoiceAir"

MIAMI, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Modern luxury brand Celebrity Cruises knows that today's high-end consumers desire simplicity, choice and value when planning a vacation. Celebrity is taking its modern luxury vacation experience to new heights today as it debuts a newly enhanced air travel service, "Celebrity's ChoiceAir." The launch of Celebrity's ChoiceAir introduces the cruise industry's first lowest-airfare guarantee, which complements the other premium benefits of the program:  "Assured Arrival," "Your Choice Flights" and "24/7 Support."

Celebrity's ChoiceAir's "Lowest Airfare Guarantee" not only delivers the best value in air travel by finding guests the lowest fares on available flights, but also guarantees that if Celebrity doesn't find the lowest fare, the guest will be compensated. First, the program offers the lowest available airfares. Then, should a guest find a lower, publicly available fare for the exact same travel within 24 hours of booking through Celebrity's ChoiceAir, they'll receive a credit of 110% of the difference, to spend during their cruise. This benefit reassures guests that Celebrity wants them to make the most of their precious vacation time, even before the actual cruise starts.

"Our brand is built on the concept of modern luxury, so it makes sense that we would extend that to our guests' airline arrangements," said Dondra Ritzenthaler, Senior Vice President, Sales, Celebrity Cruises. "Celebrity's ChoiceAir offers guests everything they want in an air travel service."

In addition to Lowest Airfare Guarantee, Celebrity's ChoiceAir core program elements support a premium travel experience that also offers peace of mind:

• Assured Arrival means that any delays or cancellations to air travel booked through Celebrity's ChoiceAir will not keep a guest from getting to their cruise. Celebrity's ChoiceAir team monitors guests' flights and, in case of an unexpected travel snag, works quickly with the airline to get the guest on the next available flight to the ship, even providing hotel stays and ground transfers at no additional cost when necessary – resulting in greater peace of mind for vacationers.
• Your Choice Flights allows guests the freedom and flexibility to choose their favorite airline and the best flights, while at the same time automatically filtering out flights that won't work for the guest's scheduled cruise, saving them time.
• 24/7 Support ensures that any day, any time, Celebrity's ChoiceAir agents are available to assist guests; this benefit aligns with the highly attentive onboard service Celebrity is known for. In addition to these benefits, with Celebrity's ChoiceAir, guests pay no air travel booking service fees.

"Our guests tell us that first and foremost, they want peace of mind in knowing that flight disruptions on their day of travel would not impact their cruise vacation, and they also want to know that they're getting the best value on flights," Ritzenthaler said. "With the addition of our Lowest Airfare Guarantee, we now deliver on both of those things. Just as our guests can relax onboard our ships and enjoy a modern luxury vacation, when they book travel with Celebrity's ChoiceAir, they can relax knowing that their air travel experience will be effortless."

Travel agents also can benefit from encouraging clients to use Celebrity's ChoiceAir program. Celebrity's "Five-Star Academy" agent training program will offer a ChoiceAir training module beginning today, and agents who complete the training then make one ChoiceAir booking by April 1, 2013, will be entered into a drawing for a veranda-stateroom cruise for two with business-class airfare.

Guests can book Celebrity's ChoiceAir through their favorite travel agent, who can quickly access schedules and fares through CruiseMatch online, Celebrity's cruise booking engine. Or, if guests prefer to shop on their own, they can do so directly at http://www.celebritycruises.com/celebrityschoiceair, or by calling 1-800-533-7803.

Lowest Airfare Guarantee requires that the guest or travel partner must call Celebrity's ChoiceAir support desk at 1-800-533-7803 within 24 hours of confirming or adding air travel booked through Celebrity's ChoiceAir to their Celebrity Cruises vacation. The lower fare found must match the booked Celebrity's ChoiceAir itinerary exactly (same airline, class of service, number of travelers, flight number, date, gateway), and must be found on a U.S.-based website available to the general public. Any special programs/organization membership/frequent flyer program/etc. that provides the guest with special discounted pricing is not eligible for the guarantee. Only one price guarantee claim per cruise reservation is allowed. The onboard credit is in U.S. dollars, has no cash value, is non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and will expire if not used by 10:00 PM on the last evening of the cruise to which the Celebrity's ChoiceAir air travel applies.

About Celebrity Cruises:
Celebrity Cruises' iconic "X" is the mark of modern luxury, with its cool, contemporary design and warm spaces; dining experiences where the design of the venues is as important as the cuisine; and the amazing service that only Celebrity can provide, all created to provide an unmatchable experience for vacationers' precious time. Celebrity Cruises' 11 ships offer modern luxury vacations visiting all seven continents. Celebrity also presents immersive cruisetour experiences in Alaska, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Europe and South America. Celebrity is one of five cruise brands operated by global cruise vacation company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE, OSE: RCL). For more information, dial 1-800-437-3111, visit www.celebritycruises.com, or call your travel agent.

SOURCE Celebrity Cruises