GTS Celebrity Constellation
ex Constellation
© Carsten Dettmer
Steel twin Mermaid pod ‘Millenium’ class gas turbine vessel, built in 2002 by Chantiers de l’Antique, St. Nazaire, France (Yard No U31) as a Passenger (Cruise) ship for Celebrity Cruises, Monrovia
Technical Data
- Cost: $350 million
- Length on deck: 964.5m (overall)
- Breadth of hull: 32.2m (extreme)
- Draught: 8.0m (maximum)
- Tonnage: 90,280 gross/11,928 deadweight
- Propulsion Engines: 2 x General Electric LM2500 Gas Turbines of 25 MW each, 1x Fincantieri 56B steam turbine of 7.8 MW
- Main Generator Engine: 1 x Wärtsilä 38B 16V – 11.2 MW (installed 2007)
- Propulsion: 2 × Rolls-Royce/Alstom Mermaid azimuth thrusters (19 MW each)
- Speed: 24 knots
- Capacity: 2038 passengers
- Passenger decks: 11
- Crew: 999
- Navigation Officers: International
- Call Sign: 9HJB9
- IMO Number: 9192399
- MMSI Number: 249046000
- Registry: Monrovia/Liberia, Nassau/Bahamas, Valletta/Malta
- Sister Ships: Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Millennium, Celebrity Summit
Current AIS Location
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History
October 31st 2001: Launched.
© Aleksi Lindström
© Nigel Thornton
May 11th 2002: Delivered to Celebrity Cruises , Monrovia, Liberia
May 13th 2002: Maiden cruise from Barcelona. Jon Bannenberg, the famous mega-yacht designer, dreamed up the exterior featuring a royal blue and white hull, the racy lines in red, blue and gold – although it has turned out to look extremely ungainly….. This is the fourth Celebrity Cruises ship to be fitted with the “pod” propulsion system (and controllable pitch propellers) coupled with a quiet, smoke-less, energy-efficient gas turbine power plant (two GE gas turbines provide engine power while a single GE steam turbine drives the electricity generators).
2003: Changed port of registry to Nassau in the Bahamas.
2004 (end): Colour scheme alteration similar to that remainder of the fleet.
© Aleksi Lindström
© Nigel Thornton (both)
© Brian Fisher
May 2007: For improved fuel economy the 50 MW power plant provided by the two combined gas, electric and steam turbines was augmented by the installation of a single Wärtsilä 16V38 diesel engine. This engine provides 11.5 MW of electricity generation and is primarily used whilst in port instead of the expensive to run gas turbines but can be used for propulsion power at slow speed.
July 28th 2007: Renamed CELEBRITY CONSTELLATION.
© Robert Smith
January 28th 2008: Registered to Constellation Inc, Valletta, Malta, management Celebrity Cruises.
Departing Dublin, Ireland © Robbie Cox
Spring May 2010: Underwent a $50 million refit at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany to bring her facilities inline with the newly introduced ‘Solstice’ class vessels. The 2002-built ship gained new public rooms, enhanced suites and updated stateroom features. Added were a Tuscan Grille steak house, the creperie Bistro, an ice-topped Martini Bar, Café al Bacio and Gelateria, and Cellarmasters wine bar with Enomatic wine serving systems allowing passengers to select wines by the glass at the touch of a button. Celebrity Constellation also gained more sumptuous suites, with all new furniture, flat-screen televisions, upholstery, bedding and carpeting. Staterooms were restyled with new carpeting, flat-screen TVs, upholstery and bedding. All public areas now also sport the color schemes, carpeting and upholstery of the Solstice class.
Departing Piraeus, Greece © Dimitris Mentakis
May 12th-25th 2017: Underwent refit at the STX shipyard in Marseilles, France. Two new restaurants were added and a number of suites were upgraded. A technical overhaul was completed and the software on the ship which manages the turbines and propulsion systems was also upgraded.
May 25th 2017: Departed Marseilles for Barcelona to resume service. Shortly after departure from Marseilles the vessel suffered from a technical issue with her propulsion equipment which resulted in a significant decrease in the vessels speed. The vessel was scheduled to sail to Monaco, (for the Grand Prix) and Villefranche, however this cruise was delayed.
“We regret that we have had to delay the departure of Celebrity Constellation, due to depart on 26th May 2017 from Barcelona because we need to resolve an unforeseen technical challenge related to the software that manages the ship’s propulsion, boarding for the cruise will be delayed by two days. Constellation will now depart Barcelona, Spain on Sunday, the 28th May.”
Source: Celebrity Cruises
May 28th 2017: Departed Barcelona sailing direct to Genoa, Italy to resume her advertised itinerary.
All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Carsten Dettmer, Brian Fisher, Aleksi Lindström, Robbie Cox, Dimitris Mentakis and Robert Smith for their assistance in producing this feature.
Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)
