NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai officially named new 2,900-passenger ship Celebrity Edge in Fort Lauderdale. Lucy Huxley reports
Celebrity Edge, and inset, Malala Yousafzai, with
Celebrity’s Lisa Lutoff-Perlo
Young activist urges world to ‘step up’ for all women
Governments, companies and individuals must “step up” to effect change and not leave it to activists, according to the godmother of Celebrity Edge.
Speaking at the naming
ceremony for the vessel, Pakistani activist, student, UN Messenger of Peace and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, said: “Millions of girls aiming to be doctors, CEOs and ship captains are stuck in situations they did not create. I am proud to dedicate my life to the goal that girls everywhere have a right to basic and safe education.”
“For a special ship we wanted a very special godmother. Malala is rousing a generation”
But Malala, who named Edge
by smashing a massive bottle of sparkling water instead of champagne, warned: “Too often the world sits back and relies on activists to deliver solutions. Activists can’t do it alone. It requires governments, companies and individuals to step up and create opportunities for women, just as Celebrity Cruises has done.” More than 30% of Celebrity
Edge’s entire crew, who come from 70 nationalities, are women, almost twice that of the rest of the industry. Celebrity president and chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said this rose to 37% among guest- facing crew, but drops to 20% on the bridge. “I wanted to bring gender balance,” she said. “This ship needed a godmother who would be more heroic than the ship itself.”
12
travelweekly.co.uk13 December 2018 Edge’s naming ceremony
marked the end of Celebrity’s two- year partnership with the Malala Fund, but discussions are under way to continue the relationship. Richard Fain, chairman and
chief executive of Celebrity parent Royal Caribbean Cruises, said: “For a special ship we wanted a very special godmother. Malala is rousing a generation.” Fain fought back tears as he
reminded guests at the ceremony that when Malala was 15 she was viciously attacked on her way home from school after standing up to the Taliban for her right to an education. “We hope her message extends to our company, our crew and our guests,” he said. Malala said: “I have never been on a ship like this before but unexpected and extraordinary partnerships can create good. We must use these opportunities to create a more equal world.”
Watch our videos on board Celebrity Edge
at
travelweekly.co.uk
Cruise industry’s uniqueness is its greatest strength
The cruise industry is successful because it doesn’t just adopt the concept of best practice, according to Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and chief executive Richard Fain. He said other industries
adopted best practice “to their detriment” because they ended up with many similar products. “We offer highly individualised brand characteristics. We are not a one size fits all,” said Fain. “Each of our brands stands for a different type of cruise. None of us wants to be clones of each other.”
He said while some best
practice was welcome around safety and the environment, in general the cruise industry was good at being distinctive.
Richard Fain and Malala Yousafzai
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