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Malala Yousafzai named as godmother of new Celebrity ship

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Nobel Laureate and UN Messenger of Peace, Malala Yousafzai, has been named as the godmother of Celebrity Cruises new ship Celebrity Edge as part of a two-year partnership between the line and the Malala Fund.

The 19-year-old, whose mission is to secure 12 years of safe, free, quality education for every girl, will christen the ship in Fort Lauderdale on December 18.

Celebrity president and chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said the association with Malala Fund and choice of Malala as godmother for Edge “felt so right” for the brand, which shares a commitment to diversity, inclusion, gender equality and education.

Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly, Lutoff-Perlo said: “The tradition of Godmother is one of the purest in a commercial world.

“Who do you believe embodies what you want the ship to carry as its karma and who should be its guiding light. You get one chance to truly choose someone that epitomises what a ship stands for. Malala represents hope, gender equality, education and is a great equalizer. I am humbled by her own personal story and what she has done to raise awareness. As Richard [Fain], our chairman says, Malala is an honest-to-God hero, who will be an inspiration to our crew and to our guests.”

Malala began her life as an activist at 11 years old, writing a secret blog about life under the Taliban, who would not permit girls to go to school.

She was targeted for her advocacy and, at 15, was shot on her school bus. Malala survived the attack and continued her campaign for girls’ education around the world.

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In 2014, Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize recipient, donating her entire prize earnings to finance a secondary school for girls in Pakistan. With Malala Fund, she continues to fight for every girl’s right to education.

Lutoff-Perlo said that Malala’s dedication to girls’ education sets an example worth following.

“Partnering with Malala Fund was a natural fit as we share the same passion and commitment to an incredible cause,” she said. “We believe in opportunities for all, especially as our crew on-board represent more than 50 different cultures – and amazing stories of achievement, education and economic advancement.”

Lutoff-Perlo said Celebrity had been working on the partnership, which sees the line commit an undisclosed amount of money to the Malala Fund for two years, for some time.

“When we started this journey, we had a 50:50 chance that they would agree to partner with us and Malala be Edge’s Godmother, so we couldn’t be more honoured or thrilled that she has accepted.”

Lutoff-Perlo explained there would be many ways for crew and guests to get more involved in the partnership.

“There will be specially-commissioned Malala Fund/Celebrity merchandise which guests and crew will be able to buy on board, with all proceeds going to the fund. A documentary about Malala will be played on the in-cabin TV channels, and Malala’s book ‘I am Malala’ will also be on sale,” said Lutoff-Perlo.

And she confirmed that UK agents would also play a part.

“They will absolutely be invited to Florida next December to witness Malala naming Celebrity Edge,” he said.

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Richard Fain, chairman and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, said: “This young woman is on a powerful mission, and we support it 100 percent. We are deeply honoured to name Malala the Godmother of Celebrity Edge, and we’re excited to team up with her and the Malala Fund to champion the global right to education.”

Fain added: “Malala Fund also advances one of our company’s key philosophies: that education is a great equalizer, providing opportunities to people who need it most.”

Malala Fund interim chief executive Philippa Lei said: “We cannot get 130 million out-of-school girls into classrooms on our own. We are grateful to generous partners like Celebrity Cruises who support our work to help every girl learn and lead without fear.”

Celebrity previously partnered with breast cancer charities for its Solstice Class ships, inviting breast cancer survivors, who had done extraordinary things, to be the Godmothers.

From Celebrity, wind of change

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The Celebrity Edge Stateroom Concept.
I suppose a 90-ton platform that hangs over the side of a ship and moves over the span of 14 decks is impressive, but there’s another marvel of technology on Celebrity Cruises’ new Edge-class ships that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The Edge-class cabins will have hair dryers in the bathroom.

What’s the big deal, you ask?  Isn’t just about every hotel room in the civilized world so-equipped?

Exactly the point.

I’m not 100% positive that Edge is the first with this cutting, er, edge equipment, but I can say that to the best of my memory, none of the ocean ships I’ve been on recently have had them.

Instead, there’s usually a dryer in the drawer of a bureau, or in a cloth bag sitting on a cabinet shelf, for use in the cabin itself. A few older ships have low-powered dryers fastened to the wall.

I don’t know exactly why wiring cruise cabins for hair dryers has been such a difficult challenge. I do know that the problem goes back a long time.

Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and services at Royal Caribbean International, once looked back on how the industry has changed and recalled that when she worked at Carnival Cruise Line in the 1970s, she couldn’t plug in a hair dryer in any outlet in her cabin.

Carnival solved the problem by designating a cabin on each deck as a blow-dry suite and wiring it specially so that the appliances wouldn’t blow all of the circuit breakers that they normally would have.

Cruise lines eventually figured out how to wire the cabin for portable hair dryers, but not the bathrooms.

Most of the appliances that are going to be plugged into a cruise ship cabin outlet don’t draw as much wattage as a hair dryer, which can pull as much as 2,500 watts. That’s more than a coffee maker or a toaster (not that they’re allowed) and way more than a laptop computer, which only draws about 100 watts.

That much power consumption can use up a lot of the capacity of a typical household electrical circuit.

Most cruise ship bathrooms don’t have any outlets at all, except for one that is limited to electric shavers, which consume about 20 watts. Lighting is about the only electrical application in the bath.

That has left cruise passengers perched on an upholstered stool, their knees shoved into a little cubby space beneath the desk, in a posture that may or may not be comfortable, at the mirror above the desk in their cabin trying to dry their hair before a gala night out at some specialty restaurant.

So three cheers for the bright engineer at Celebrity or STX France that has figured out the age-old hair dryer in the bathroom problem. That’s progress we can all believe in.

Fincantieri to buy stake in STX France shipyard

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STX France shipyard

An agreement has been reached for the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to acquire 48% of the French shipyard in St. Nazaire that is one of a handful of yards that builds large cruise ships.

The French yard is majority-owned by Korean conglomerate STX with the French government a minority 33% partner. The French government would continue to hold its one-third stake, plus veto power over decision-making, the French daily Ouest France reported.

A navy shipbuilder in France, DCNS, would get a 12% stake and a nonprofit called Fondation CRTrieste would be a 7% partner, the paper said.

The agreement, according to Ouest France, includes “commitments, particularly regarding the sustainability of the site and its activities, as well as investment and the maintenance and development of employment.”

Fincantieri emerged as the only bidder for the STX stake in the French yard, which has been for sale for several years due to financial pressures at STX.

STX France built the Harmony of the Seas for Royal Caribbean International and has contracts for a fourth Oasis-class ship, plus two Edge-class ships for Celebrity Cruises, due in 2018 and 2020.

With the deal, Fincantieri and Germany’s Meyer Werft will be the two major suppliers of big ships to the cruise industry, following Meyer’s acquisition of yards in Finland and Fincantieri’s investment in the STX France facility.