Celebrity, Cirque Repackage Partnership in Bigger Venue

Celebrity Cruises will be rolling out a soft launch on November 20 of its Cirque du Soleil collaboration by moving its Cirque-themed concepts out of a lounge-style environment and into a theater.

The cruise line and the production company teamed up in 2004. Celebrity would sponsor Cirque productions and Cirque would create onboard entertainment for Celebrity.

But the first attempt to put a Cirque-themed event on Celebrity´s ships, which paired passengers with roaming Cirque characters in one of the public rooms on the Constellation and Summit, was shelved last month after agents and passengers failed to warm to the concept.

The new 30-minute show, created exclusively for the line, is called “A Taste of Cirque du Soleil” and will play in the Celebrity Theater.

Unlike the original Celebrity/Cirque concept, where Cirque characters interacted with passengers in a bar setting, the Taste of Cirque show will be a bonafide “show,” with three acrobatic acts and animators.

Elizabeth Jakeway, a Celebrity spokeswoman, said that the new concept is “presenting what our guests and trade partners told us they expect when they hear ´Cirque,´ which is artistic and acrobatic performances.”

Like regular cruise-ship shows, the Taste of Cirque will run twice a week to accommodate passengers in the ships´ early and late seatings. There will be no charge for the performance.