SOUTHAMPTON may become the home of even more ships from the Royal Caribbean fleet, senior figures in the cruise company have hinted.

Following from the successful inauguration of Celebrity Eclipse from Royal Caribbean’s parent company Celebrity Cruises in the port last month, the company has confirmed that no new ships are in the pipeline at present.

But, Jo Rzymowska, acting managing director, UK, of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruise, told the Daily Echo the company had not ruled out moving more ships from the existing fleet to sail from Southampton as their home port.

“Just because we have no new ship launches doesn’t mean we will not have any new ships in Southampton. All I’m saying is it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be new. The British and Irish market is growing.”

And Rzymowska confirmed that Celebrity Eclipse will definitely be returning to sail from Southampton for the 2011 spring to autumn season.

Royal Caribbean already have Independence of the Seas sailing from Southampton and for the first time she will continue to be based in the port over the winter season sailing to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.

But Rzymowska admitted the company faces the challenge of keeping the momentum going after several years of new ship launches in the UK.

“I think we need to look at what we can do. We have had a Southampton ship launch for the last five years so that has been fabulous. So now the real job starts. We haven’t got ship launches to ride on the back of and we need to see what we can do to keep the momentum going.

“Eclipse will be back for 2011 – that decision has been made. And absolutely the plan is that we continue to support Southampton for the UK and Ireland market.

Rzymowska confirmed that the latest Solstice class Celebrity ship Celebrity Silhouette would go straight to the European market, sailing from Rome, when she is delivered next spring.

“Next year we will have ten Royal and all Solstice ships for Celebrity ships in Europe. It is about the growth of the other European markets.

Speaking of the Solstice class vessels Rzymowska added: “I think they are wonderful, wonderful ships. Eclipse is the best sold ship in the fleet. We are very pleased considering the newness of the ship and considering awareness of the brand is not as high as for the Royal brand. We would always like the prices to be higher but relatively it is a good change.

“On reflection we could have set the prices higher. It is always a learning curve and this is the first time we have had a Celebrity ship out of the UK and we look to see what the competition are doing. But considering what the ship has to offer we are getting a premium for it, but, yes, we would like to get more of a premium for it. That will happen I think once it has had its first season and people will come on board and enjoy what they will experience. I think that for a large ship category there is nothing quite like it out there.”

Addressing the possibility of Royal Caribbean sailing from other UK ports such as Liverpool in the future, Rzymowska did not completely rule this out.

“We are constantly being asked to look at other ports – Liverpool as a case in point. I would never say never, you can’t. We do get incredible numbers of passengers from north of Watford Gap, especially on Royal. Never say never. Potentially there could be attractive deals.”