Press Release: Celebrity Cruises
July 13, 2001
MIAMI, FL -- Celebrity Cruises yesterday became the first cruise line to receive the International Standards Organization
(ISO) 9002 certificate from Lloyd's Register for the cruise line's excellence in establishing a management system
that ensures a high-quality cruise experience for guests. The ISO is an international organization that promotes
the development of standardization to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services.
The certification was achieved through extensive and ongoing internal and external auditing of Celebrity's quality
management system and its implementation of that system. Celebrity's certification efforts began in July 1999.
In December 2000, Lloyd's Register, a leading international ship classification society, completed its assessment
of the company's quality management system and recommended the issuance of Celebrity's certificate. Today the certificate
was presented to Rick Sasso, president of Celebrity Cruises.
``Our employees put tremendous amounts of time and effort into providing our guests with the best cruise experience
possible,'' Sasso said. ``We can all be very proud of this certification, it is a great accomplishment. It shows
that the quality of the cruise experience on Celebrity is among the very best in the world.''
The certificate was presented by Carlo Pacquee, Lloyd's Register vice president for Passenger Ships - Americas,
in a brief ceremony at Celebrity's corporate offices in Miami. Numerous employees who play key roles in implementing
and overseeing the company's Quality Management Systems attended the event.
The certification recognizes the efforts of Celebrity's shoreside management team and its shipboard deck, engine
and hotel departments for their work to institutionalize and consistently deliver a high-quality cruise experience
to their guests. The certification process looked at policies and procedures covering numerous areas of the company's
operations and how it approaches each area in terms of planning, training, implementation, management, evaluation
and modification.
The certification process involved audits of an entire spectrum of activities within Celebrity's shipboard and
shoreside operations, from customer relations to purchasing and contract management. Reviews were conducted in
areas as diverse as embarkation and debarkation, entertainment, food and beverage, guest relations, housekeeping,
marine and technical operations.
Routine verification visits will be conducted throughout the certification period to ensure the company's ongoing
compliance with the ISO standards.
Celebrity previously received fleet-wide certifications for its Environmental Management System through compliance
with the ISO 14001 standards. Last year, Lloyd's Register presented Celebrity with Lloyd's first-ever Environmental
Protection Certificates.
Celebrity Cruises is the highest-rated premium cruise line in the industry, with the youngest fleet of any major
cruise line. Summit is scheduled to enter service in October, and Constellation is scheduled to make its maiden
voyage in 2002, bringing the Celebrity fleet to nine ships. For more information, visit the Celebrity web site
at www.celebritycruises.com.
SOURCE: Celebrity Cruises