August 3, 2009. By Dave Beers.

I attended the Celebrity Equinox naming ceremony at Southampton last week. It was a ceremony that was beautiful for it’s elegant simplicity.

The ceremony opened with a bugle call from the boxes above the stage. Then the air filled with the sounds of bagpipes as a Royal Air Force Pipe & Drum Corps marched into the theater. Equinox Cruise Director Nick Weir opened the ceremony followed by a wonderful piano rendition of the Beatles’ classic “Here Comes the Sun.” Richard D. Fain of parent company Royal Caribbean delivered the ceremony address. Fain praised the ship’s Godmother Nina Barough, CBE (Commander of the British Empire), and founder of the breast cancer charity “Walk the Walk.” Celebrity selected Barough in recognition of her fervent devotion to raising awareness of breast cancer and her tremendous success in raising funds for the cause - $85 million to date - through her organization’s “SunWalks” and “MoonWalks.” The four annual marathon walks in London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Newcastle attract thousands of people typically clad in decorated bras - the signature apparel for most participants.

“As with our Godmother of Celebrity Solstice, we knew that for Celebrity Equinox, too, nothing less than someone genuinely devoted to the cause would do. And Nina exemplifies that exceptionally,” said Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan. “Her tireless efforts have benefited countless women battling breast cancer, and her personal triumph over it has inspired thousands of women, men and families in the UK and beyond.” “Her story, her outspoken devotion to breast cancer causes, and her day-to-day life is a compelling example of the need to take our health and well-being seriously,” said Fain. “And all this paints a lovely picture of why we are so honored to have her as our Godmother.”

In addition to defeating breast cancer herself, Barough’s numerous other life achievements include receiving a CBE for her contributions to health care through the British “New Year Honours” in December 2006. More recently, she was recognized at the “Pride of Britain Awards” (September 2008), where she was named “Fundraiser of the Year.” And in October 2008, Barough was honored once again; this time, with the “Woman of the Year - Outstanding Achievement Award” in recognition of her willpower, spirit and courage.

When Equinox Godmother Nina Barough gave her speech she made a surprise deviation from the script when she asked the audience to stand and hold hands. She then asked us to think of something good or funny because it would embue the ship with good vibes for all time. The crowd enthusiastically obliged. In another surprise, in what is believed to be an industry first, Celebrity invited sister ship Celebrity Solstice’s Godmother Sharon Smith to participate. Smith took to the stage carrying the ceremonial scissors on a pink pillow, joining Ms. Barough and Mr. Fain to cut the ribbon - which was also pink in recognition of breast cancer causes. The ribbon threaded through the ship as we watched it’s journey on the big screen, ultimately releasing a large bottle of champagne that crashed against the stack atop the ship, signifying the official naming of the vessel. The bottle, too, was symbolic, as it was created by The Corning Museum of Glass, with whom Celebrity struck an alliance in 2008 to create the industry’s first glassblowing show and demonstration at sea. Celebrity Equinox now joins Celebrity Solstice in presenting the typically standing-room-only Hot Glass Show onboard.

My mission was to find something different about Equinox as compared to the Solstice. This was a difficult task because other than decor, the wandering eye will not note any differences. However at the press conference with Celebrity President Dan Hanrahan I finally learned of the subtle changes.

Cruise line officials said that since the original design of Solstice met such a high standard they really couldn’t find much that needed to be changed on Equinox. However there is one thing which may prove popular with the sun worshipers. There have been comments about Solstice not having enough deck chairs, this being exacerbated by the lack of deck space - primarily because of “The Lawn” taking up so much room - a trade-off for the uniqueness of having the lawn. Mr. Hanrahan stated the Solstice Deck on Equinox and subsequent ships in the series are larger and will hold up to 100 more deck chairs. It was also noted that having picnics on blankets laid out on the lawn has helped address the issue on Solstice. The larger deck will be installed on Solstice some time in the future.

Much was made about the art collection aboard Equinox. It contains many pieces from the Galaxy, which was moved to another cruise line but not before it’s artwork was removed. From it’s inception, Celebrity Cruises has prided itself on filling their ships with high end art pieces. Christina Chandris had personally selected each item when her family owned the company. Happily, when Royal Caribbean bought Celebrity the tradition continued. It adds so much to the ambience of the cruise, yet in a subtle way. Nothing gaudy.

Celebrity Equinox entered revenue service on July 31 from Southampton with an eight-night Norwegian Fjords cruise, then returns to Southampton to embark on the ship’s official maiden voyage departing August 8 for the Mediterranean. I found it odd that the official maiden voyage will be second, not the first one. The ship will present a series of Mediterranean sailings from Rome (Civitavecchia) through the fall and will offer Caribbean sailings from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., beginning this winter.

You can see photos of the ship and ceremony here

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