President of Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean Group
Celebrity Cruises president promises 'same level of innovation' on river as ocean
'We think the top deck is an area ripe for innovation on a river ship' Celebrity Cruises will bring 'more innovation' to its new ocean ...
About Laura Bethge
Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises, has emphasized the company's focus on innovation across both its ocean and river cruise products. In May 2025, she stated that the top decks of river ships are "ripe for innovation" and that guests should expect the "same level of innovation on the river as on the ocean." She also discussed the brand's investment in "next generation connectivity and more immersive destination experiences," which she said aim to blur the line between ship and shore. Bethge noted that the company signed for a sixth Edge-class ship, Excel 2, after a slot became available, and that it carries over seven new places and spaces from the previous ship. She described the brand campaign "Nothing Comes Close" as being inspired by feedback from agents and crew. Bethge has also highlighted the importance of the UK market, calling it "fundamentally our core market" and "our absolutely number one largest international market." She said the company is receiving "a ton of support" from UK travel agents and that Celebrity Apex in Southampton is "doing exceptionally well." She noted that the company is "dreaming about what comes next" as its Millennium class ships approach 30 years old and that it is planning to modernize its Solstice class ships during dry docks. Bethge also discussed the company's sustainability efforts, stating that Celebrity is "on the path to Net Zero" and that a new ship will be equipped with a tri-fuel engine capable of burning green methanol, though she noted the supply of that fuel is not yet sufficient for the entire fleet.
Transcript (86 segments)
I
Interviewer0:00
Well hello again everyone and welcome to our latest webcast that we're bringing you from Travel Weekly. I'm thrilled to be in London at the Natural History Museum, and I'm here with Laura Bethge and Jars Hawk from Celebrity Cruises. So tell us, Laura, why are you in London? Why are you here?
L
Laura Bethge0:18
So I'm going to get on Celebrity Apex tomorrow for our President's Cruise, so really excited. We decided since we're in London and who doesn't love a good gala, we brought all of our loyalty members together, those that were coming in early, to join us at the Natural History Museum to kick off the President's Cruise. So yes, you've got an amazing venue. I've just had a little sneak peek. It's going to be a wonderful gala evening tonight.
I
Interviewer0:37
You look fantastic, both of you, by the way. So tell us, what's in store for your guests on the President's Cruise? Is that a closely guarded secret?
L
Laura Bethge0:44
No, well they don't know yet, so we won't want to tell them, but they'll tell you exactly. So we always do really exciting things on the President's Cruise. It's a wonderful time for us to say thank you for being such loyal members of Celebrity Cruises and loyal guests. So we have lots of really cool entertainment. We've got a Broadway singer, her name is Shoshana Bean, she's going to be with us. Daniel Boulud, our global culinary ambassador, he's going to be there. He's going to be doing a special chef's table, a cooking competition with us, a book signing, and a fireside chat. It's going to be really fun. We also have Celia Garland, a wonderful naturalist, and she's going to tell us all the wonderful things we're going to see as we're sailing through the fjords. So gorgeous landscapes, great food, great entertainment.
I
Interviewer1:28
The first time you've done a President's Cruise to the fjords, though, is that right? Very first time. And you wanted to do that because I remember talking to you when you first got the job, and that was your top bucket list where you wanted to go.
L
Laura Bethge1:38
Yes, I've never done it myself, so I'm so excited to get to share it for the first time with guests. It's going to be so fun.
I
Interviewer1:44
And what do they do? They fight to be on a table with you at dinner?
L
Laura Bethge1:47
Well, we're actually doing a lot of hosted shore excursions. So every single place that we're in port, I'll be hosting shore excursions. And so those guests that have been interested in those things or want to spend some quality time together, we'll get to do that. So when we're in Bruges, we're going to do a beer tasting. To know me is to know I love my wine, so this is going to be interesting. So do you love your beer? We'll find out. And then we're doing a rib boat safari in Alesund. We're doing a special complimentary excursion for our Elite Plus and Zenith members when we're in Stavanger. So just so many wonderful things. And obviously there's some special things happening because it's a President's Cruise, but these would be some of the excursions you would do on an ordinary Celebrity cruise.
I
Interviewer2:25
Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, fantastic. And you don't get to go, Jars?
J
Jars Hawk2:28
No, unfortunately not this year. I'm hoping to go next year.
I
Interviewer2:31
Okay, all right. Well, we need you at the Clear Conference anyway, so we will be seeing you there. Let's move on from the President's Cruise and just talk about Celebrity in general. I would like to start with how things are going this year. We're now in May, so we're moving into the late market. How is business for you globally, and then you can perhaps pick up on the local market?
L
Laura Bethge2:50
So I think overall, we recently announced our earnings and things are very good. We raised the top end of our guidance. We continue to see guests wanting to spend on wonderful experiences, and cruise is a great value in that place. So we don't see anything slowing down in terms of how our consumers, just in general, but our guests are spending on experiences, and so we're the beneficiaries of that.
I
Interviewer3:14
All right, that's good. And when we last spoke, you were talking about people booking much earlier this year, so there was a little bit less around. Is that still the case, and you still got capacity for this year?
L
Laura Bethge3:26
We're ahead year on year of where we were last year by a reasonable amount, actually. We're still seeing demand. You have the odd softer week, but overall we're year on year ahead every week trading as we go through the year.
I
Interviewer3:40
And did they book earlier because you went on sale earlier?
L
Laura Bethge3:43
I think it was a combination of us going on sale earlier and some guests not getting on the cruises they wanted last year, so booking early to get on them. And I think agents are doing a really good job of explaining to customers, if you want to get on, book now, don't wait for a late deal. Certainly on something like Celebrity Apex, we are so well sold that it's actually hard to get on. So again, for 2026, we're seeing bookings coming in early.
I
Interviewer4:07
And what's the clientele on Apex? Because I imagine it would have been a lot of Americans coming to sail ex-UK. We just saw Expedia came out saying that their business from the States was down, also Brits going to the States as well as coming this way. How is that impacting your business?
L
Laura Bethge4:30
We're seeing the mix we expected of Americans coming on Apex, a greater proportion than we had last year. We're not seeing cancellations, so we're still seeing them traveling, still seeing demand hold really strong. So the mix is roughly 50% North Americans and 50% Brits, Australians, and other nationalities as well. So it's a really nice mix on board because you get that international flavor.
I
Interviewer4:55
Well, of course, lots of Brits do like sailing ex-UK, so we do love having Apex here. But what about other trends for our market, Jars? What has stood out this year? What are people booking in terms of durations or destinations?
J
Jars Hawk5:05
So Europe remains really strong. It remains for us here our number one focus, our number one destination. We've just done a big campaign on Caribbean, our Destination Unknown campaign, and we've seen Caribbean bookings shoot up as a result of that. So really great. For us, for Virgin Atlantic, and for Royal Caribbean, we've all seen a big benefit from that. We've seen that raising the awareness, and agents really keen to win their place on the Destination Unknown competition, which we'll be talking about in a week or so to announce winners. Asia is doing really well, and from the UK, we're a big proportion of the Asia business for Celebrity Cruises.
I
Interviewer5:40
And why do you think that is?
J
Jars Hawk5:42
I think the itineraries are really, really appealing. I think there are some agents who do a great job of creating exclusive itineraries, unique itineraries. They're packaging pre and post stays and hotels and tours and other excursions. And I think the combination of the amazing Celebrity product, the destinations we go to on our cruises, and then the pre and post that the agents create seems to just generate huge demand.
I
Interviewer6:06
Great, okay. And just before we move on from general trading, prices been holding up for you guys this year? People have been saying it's been pretty good.
L
Laura Bethge6:14
We have been just in general very pleased with everything that we're seeing. So as Giles said, people are booking earlier, which means less inventory. Supply and demand, we like that.
I
Interviewer6:26
Well, you did say that, Jars, because people were moaning in the UK that they couldn't get some of the capacity that they were used to in previous years. But you were saying actually this is what we want.
J
Jars Hawk6:35
Yeah, you want to book earlier because then it works for agents because they have the higher prices, the security of the money coming in, they know they got the bookings. It works for us as cruise lines because we've got that security again knowing people are booking and we can maintain prices. And actually it works for customers because they know what they're going to get, they can plan ahead. There's research that says the bit between booking your holiday and traveling is a massive proportion of the enjoyment of the holiday, so it gives the customers that chance to really plan and think about and be excited about it for a longer period of time.
I
Interviewer7:10
Yeah, okay, good stuff. Let's move on because we all want to talk about your new ship that's coming in. Last time we spoke, you were teasing us, Laura, because you were saying, 'Oh, there's going to be seven new things.' And you've now announced a few of them.
L
Laura Bethge7:22
We've announced two.
I
Interviewer7:23
Okay, so I think we know this is the Bazaar, and we think this is date night all day long. Have I got any more?
L
Laura Bethge7:29
Well, yeah. So we monikered when we announced Bora Bora in the Garden, which is going to be our new restaurant, as date night all day long because it starts out with a boozy brunch which is just going to be so amazing. So the Bazaar, we're really excited about it. For those agents and advisors that know our Edge series, it is the space that was Eden, will now be called the Bazaar. It starts with an immersive tunnel, really kind of engaging your senses with smell and sight. As you're going through, you start getting engaged for now because it'll start in the Caribbean, very Caribbean-esque colors. And then as you enter the marketplace, which is the space right outside of the actual Bazaar space, it's this wonderful marketplace where there's going to be food tastings and drink tastings and local artisans, and you're going to get to experience everything, live music. And then as you enter the space, then there's real experiential activities, great shows, things that you could sign up for, and two amazing restaurants.
I
Interviewer8:24
Because you did say when I said what were your priorities when you first started, you did want to talk about culinary and entertainment. So it feels like you've fused those together for this.
L
Laura Bethge8:32
Exactly right. They're all coming together in the Bazaar. Our guests tell us constantly the number one reason they choose to go on vacation is the destination they're going. And then on a cruise ship, as we leave port, we wanted to bring that destination on board so guests can continue that.
I
Interviewer8:46
Can you switch this then? So if when she moves out of the Caribbean, that space could be different flavors from a different region?
L
Laura Bethge8:53
Absolutely. So we're using different technology that'll be able to change the look and feel of the space. So we have four Caribbean festivals when we're in the Caribbean, and when she transitions to Europe, she'll go into four different Mediterranean festivals.
I
Interviewer9:05
That's amazing, that's good. Okay, so do you want to tell us about the other five?
L
Laura Bethge9:08
Oh my goodness. Maybe one soon. Maybe give us one?
I
Interviewer9:11
Just give us one.
L
Laura Bethge9:13
Well, what I can tell you is that we're only going to announce six of the seven because the seventh is going to remain our little secret for the actual launch.
I
Interviewer9:20
Okay, I'm very excited about that. All right, so when will we hear the next reveal?
L
Laura Bethge9:25
In the next couple of weeks, actually. So yeah, we're going to be feeding it because we've got until November, so we've got a space a little bit at a time.
I
Interviewer9:33
Okay, all right. Let's just talk about that you've signed for a sixth Edge-class ship, which probably was not in the plan certainly it wasn't back with your predecessor that I talked about. So you've clearly gone, 'I want another one.'
L
Laura Bethge9:44
Yes. And right when I started, I started beating that drum. I'm like, 'We're going to need another one, we're going to need another one.' And there was no way to really shoehorn it in at the yard. And then magic happened.
I
Interviewer9:56
How does that magic happen? Somebody else cancelled a slot, became available, and you were first on their list?
L
Laura Bethge10:00
Because I've been begging for 18 months. So they gave us a call and we were able to shoehorn it in. We're calling it an Edge Six, but we're calling her Xcel 2 because the seven new places and spaces on Xcel will then carry over to her.
I
Interviewer10:15
So will she then be identical to Xcel, or will you do something else again?
L
Laura Bethge10:19
A few things. You know, we try, and we have a few years to dream about it, so we'll do that. But she'll come in the fall of 2028.
I
Interviewer10:26
And you did also say that you're already imagining another sort of series, something different. And why is that? Because you want to service a different type of customer or a different destination?
L
Laura Bethge10:38
We're definitely not changing our customer. Our customers are North Star, and that is the segment that we're in, this premium segment, and we're going to continue in that vein. We do have some ships that are getting a bit older, and they do tend to retire when they get to be between 30 and 40 years old. So we're planning for the future in terms of, as those ships retire, being ready to have additional capacity for our guests.
I
Interviewer11:01
Okay, all right. Let me ask you about something else you said. I love picking up what you've said and then you've got to explain it. But you've said, 'We're investing in next-generation connectivity and more immersive destination experiences.' So can you explain a little bit more about what you mean by that?
L
Laura Bethge11:15
So I think the Bazaar is definitely one of those places and spaces indicative of that, really blurring the line between ship and shore, almost erasing it completely, so that guests are really immersed in the destination. Another way that we're going to bring that to light is with our river cruise product. Part of the reason that we wanted to get into river cruises is half of our guests are already taking river cruises. They've told us they want to do that with us, they love it. But that immersiveness of the destination that you can do in small groups when you're on a smaller river ship is just really special.
I
Interviewer11:48
Okay, well, you know I gave Jars a hard time at the River Cruise Conference because you wouldn't tell us anything. You had a big advert saying, 'Oh, we're going to do it really differently. This is how Celebrity Rivers.' And you made a verb of it, which is brilliant: 'This is how we river.' And I was saying, 'Well, how?' Because obviously many river ships are very similar in size, you can only take certain size vessels. So I was really pushing him on how you were going to do it. And you said, 'Don't say the same again.' But we're a couple of months on, perhaps you can tell us. I know you're talking about immersion, but all the river cruise lines will say they really immerse themselves in the destination. So what are you doing that no other river line has done?
L
Laura Bethge12:30
I can't give too much away just yet because we will be talking about this in the next couple of months when we open for sale. What I can say is there are different areas on the river ships that are ripe for innovation, and we think that top deck is ripe for innovation. For those that have taken river cruises and sell river cruises, you know that that top deck has to close down at times when you're going under bridges and through locks and things of that nature. We want to find a way to really exploit that top deck in a way that no one else has. And being part of the Royal Caribbean Group, you know that the ships that we bring out consistently on the ocean are exceptionally innovative, so folks should expect that same level of innovation on the river, even though the envelope of those river ships are the size that they are.
I
Interviewer13:12
But you like a challenge, so you suddenly got really into river cruising now. Okay, I love that. All right, so it goes on sale in a couple of months?
L
Laura Bethge13:22
A couple of months time.
I
Interviewer13:23
Okay, all right, very exciting. And then the other kinds of innovation, if we can just finish on that. Obviously we just heard about Perfect Day in Mexico, that was the big announcement this week. And you were the one that was pushing to get your guests to go into the original Perfect Day. Will you also be calling it Mexico?
L
Laura Bethge13:39
Absolutely.
I
Interviewer13:40
And then also Giles was talking about Australia, New Zealand, and those kind of immersive itineraries in Asia, etc. Also what the Royal Caribbean team announced was Leepa, which will be a beach club in Vanuatu, which is a beautiful stretch of beach. In my prior life, I had been traveling back and forth there quite often, and it is absolutely spectacular. So I look forward to our Celebrity guests also getting to visit Leepa Beach.
L
Laura Bethge14:05
And how has it gone down with Celebrity guests, just being able to have the Perfect Day number one destination in the Caribbean? As soon as they visited, it became our number one destination.
I
Interviewer14:15
And you don't have separate Celebrity areas, do you?
L
Laura Bethge14:17
We don't have separate Celebrity areas, correct. But the way it was designed is that there's something kind of for everyone. So our guests tend to gravitate towards the adults-only area, they gravitate to the beach club, they gravitate where there's a little bit more relaxation. Not many of our guests are in the water park, and that's okay because there's other places and spaces for them.
I
Interviewer14:39
Yes, and I actually do know. And then there's stuff they're saying about the Mexico one with the tallest water slide. I mean, it's all crazy, with a little bit of section of crazy. It's going to be really fun. I know you've got to get to your garden dinner, so I'm going to rattle through the last things. I just want to talk about marketing. Obviously you had that big campaign about 'Nothing Comes Close,' which we loved. For people who don't know Celebrity, what is it that gives you the confidence to say nothing comes close to what you do?
L
Laura Bethge15:10
It's the fusion of all the things, but if I had to pick one thing, it's our consistent elevated hospitality. We internally call it the Celebrity Way. We go above and beyond in the way we make you feel. And our goal of that brand campaign was to really put on steroids the way in which we make people feel when they're on board. And that comes through what our crew members affectionately call 'plus one moments.' So they're always looking for some way to make your experience extra special. A great example: we have one crew member who is an amazing singer, he sounds like Andrea Bocelli, he's so amazing. But he's a waiter in our main dining room. So once a cruise on Celebrity Silhouette, while he's there, all of a sudden in the main dining room you hear him start singing, and it's absolutely spectacular. So it's the things that you don't expect, and the way that our crew members work really diligently to make you feel amazing on this elevated premium product.
I
Interviewer16:07
And that will remain your sort of brand message, will it? Or have you got other things coming out?
L
Laura Bethge16:13
'Nothing Comes Close' is truly the essence of who we are, and that will remain. How we express that in different fashions, music may change, things of that nature, but the true essence and foundation of who we are is that, and we use that as a North Star.
I
Interviewer16:28
Because obviously previously it was all about inclusion and diversity, that was your big pillar, that was your big marketing push. And it feels like that's taken a back seat perhaps to other things that you're really passionate about.
L
Laura Bethge16:41
Those things are very, very important and they're not going to change. That said, we wanted to put our customer at the center and how we show up in the marketplace. And we've done that with 'Nothing Comes Close,' and the way that we've tested it and what consumers are saying about it is that it's really resonating.
I
Interviewer16:57
Yeah, all right. Let's let Jars say something. Give you a rest. What do you want to say? We haven't spoken to you since you got your new role properly. I mean, I've spoken to you a lot, but you now looking after lots of markets. I just wanted to know, is the UK still your most favorite market?
J
Jars Hawk17:15
No, but in all seriousness, you know which ones are growing fastest. It's quite interesting to see what else you're looking at. So I've been doing a bit of my world tour. I've been down to Australia, I've been down to Mexico last week actually. So I've got Latin America, I've got APAC, and then I've got EMIA. So when we look at the scale, EMIA by far is our biggest market. So it's really important to me to keep focusing with CLA, working with CLA and her team to make sure that we continue to deliver everything we need to deliver. And then I've got a great GM in Australia, great GM down in Mexico. So the team that I work with, I'm really lucky, I'm working with fantastic people. The key for me is to say, how can we learn from what we're doing in different areas? How can we be more efficient, more effective? How can we understand that this works really well here, if we translate this to this market, we could be even better in how we work with our trade partners, we deliver even better experience to our customers. So that's what I'm working on. When it comes down to which markets are growing, the UK is going to remain fundamentally our core. But is it still growing? It's not going to be growing as fast as some of your emerging markets, of course. But in terms of absolute volume and volume growth, it will be our number one focus.
I
Interviewer18:33
Yeah, okay. I know when you're doing your visits because I follow Jars on Strava, and you're running in different places all around the world. So I know when you're literally running, I know where you're visiting your different offices. Okay, all right. Let's finish on agents. That's very important, that's who's going to be watching this video. I know that you're really passionate about it. You've launched your second year of Celebrity for Beginners. You're getting over 150 agents on every single webinar, and they're new to Celebrity. What difference is that making to your business, and how are you then working with your trade partners because you're getting so many new ones in who don't know you as well as your loyal ones?
J
Jars Hawk19:10
Well, I think doing something like Celebrity for Beginners allows us to talk to people who otherwise we might never get to see. It allows them to be hand-raised and select and say, 'We want to be part of Celebrity, we want to sell you.' That then allows us to identify those who do the training and then start selling. Once we've identified them, we're actually working on some great stuff for the future where we're going to do it in a much more automated way so we can give them really good support but do that in an online, automated way. We then have a big sales team, we've got a field sales team out there visiting partners, and we'll continue to do that.
I
Interviewer19:45
What aspects will you automate? Just so to be clear, what will the sort of communication they get?
J
Jars Hawk19:49
So we're actually communicating to our agent partners in a way that works for them. We changed how we're doing it. So we're using CRM technology to talk to partners. So we're talking to different partners, whether they be regular cruise sellers, whether they be new to selling cruise, whether they sell an occasional cruise, and they're getting different messages, different types of information depending on where they are in their relationship with us. So what we're trying to do is make it easier for every agent to work with us but not treat every agent the same.
I
Interviewer20:15
Yeah, okay. And I know, Laura, when you came, the first thing you said was, 'I'm going to go out and listen.' And you probably did a lot of that at the start, and you've got other things to do now. But what were they telling you? Is there maybe one little nugget of something they told you that you've acted on?
L
Laura Bethge20:29
Well, I would say about the brand, actually. Our agents, as well as our crew members on board, inspired 'Nothing Comes Close' and inspired the Celebrity Way. Because they kept saying to us, the agents kept saying, I said, 'How would you encapsulate Celebrity?' And they said, 'You're just better.' And so that honestly translates into 'Nothing Comes Close' to who we are. And that was a nugget that their feedback really helped us figure out how we encapsulate who we are and how we share that with everyone. And it's really resonating with consumers, which is helping them. It's in our broader marketing campaign, and our guests go to our travel partners to book, and our crew members are consistently going above and beyond. So nothing comes close to them as well.
I
Interviewer21:10
Okay, perfect. Final question. Yes. What are you most concerned about and what are you most excited about in the year ahead? Because we have got some headwinds, there are geopolitical issues all around the world, etc., but there's also some really exciting stuff happening. So maybe you could answer both of those.
L
Laura Bethge21:26
I would say it's the same thing for both, and it's not concerned, just nervous. Anytime you're bringing out a new vessel, so it'll be Celebrity Xcel, I'm the most excited about her. But anytime you're bringing out a new vessel and you've got new products and experiences that you've never taken to market before, it makes you a little nervous. But that fire in our belly is what encourages us to create great things for our guests.
I
Interviewer21:47
And Jars, you get the same question. You can have the final word.
J
Jars Hawk21:50
I guess for me, one of the biggest focuses is making sure we hit our numbers, and our agent partners do too, and we all benefit from that because everyone earns money and we get guests going on fantastic holidays. What am I most excited about? We've got Xcel coming, both the inaugural, but then Xcel is coming over to Europe next summer, and I think that's going to be really exciting for agent partners.
I
Interviewer22:12
And can she call in?
J
Jars Hawk22:14
Unfortunately not, but we've got a plan.
I
Interviewer22:18
Do you want to tell us any? Apex coming back again next summer to Southampton, so there's lots to be excited about. And maybe we could have another ship at some point in Southampton?
L
Laura Bethge22:30
Yeah, maybe. Absolutely. We're constantly looking. We were just in a deployment meeting last week, so constantly. And I guess it depends on how well the UK is selling, how much demand is there, and also the destinations that our guests want to visit, and where's the easiest place to homeport to do that. Because we always want to have the newest tonnage.
I
Interviewer22:52
Okay, all right. I can hear them setting up. If you've heard that noise, it's because they're putting a hundred odd chairs in or whatever they're doing. I'm so grateful for your time because I know you're busy. So have a wonderful President's Cruise, it's going to be amazing, and I'll see you next week at Clear.
L
Laura Bethge23:03
See you at Clear.
I
Interviewer23:04
All right, thank you so much.
L
Laura Bethge23:05
Thank you, Lucy. Thank you.