Celebrity Solstice will celebrate 15 years of service in 2019.

November 23, 2008, marked Celebrity Cruises‘ first guest arrival after being floated out in August 2008.

Built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany, this vessel is the first of a series of five ships known as the Solstice Class.

The vessel was shipped to the U.S. for an inaugural season in the Caribbean after being delivered.

Cruises departing from Fort Lauderdale were part of the program.

Itineraries aboard the 2,850-guest ship included ten- to eleven-night cruises to Italy, Greece, Turkey and other destinations around the Mediterranean.

Late 2012 marked the beginning of the Solstice’s deployment to Asia, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Alaska in 2013.

A new summer program in Alaska will be added to the vessel’s winter programs in Southeast Asia and the Far East in 2024.

Several destinations in Vietnam and Thailand are visited on the 12-night itineraries that depart from Singapore and Hong Kong.

With a series of industry-first features such as the Lawn Club, the Celebrity Solstice was the prototype vessel of the Solstice class.

Located on the ship’s top deck, the space features a half-acre of growing grass and is one of the highlights of the 122,000-ton vessel.

Aside from its spa-inspired AquaClass staterooms offering exclusive access to Blu, the line’s Mediterranean-influenced specialty restaurant, the Celebrity Solstice offers ten dining venues.

There are also two retail areas, two casinos, a three-deck theater, two pool decks – including an enclosed pool deck – and several bars.