What Does The X Mean In Celebrity X Cruises?

Ever noticed how Celebrity Cruises has a prominent X on the funnel of their ships or as a part of the logo? In fact, in some places it’s even more prominent – the entire funnel design on Celebrity Edge, for example, is a giant glass-encased X shape.

So what’s with the X, and what does it mean? Let’s take a look.

Why Is The Celebrity Cruises Logo an X?

Technically, the Celebrity Cruises logo is not actually an X, but it is the Greek letter chi, which looks like an X. This is a callback to the history of the cruise line when it was first formed by the Chandris Group, a company based in Greece.

The X formed a part of the original logo for the cruise line and it has been retained even when Celebrity Cruises was bought by the Royal Caribbean Group in 1997. It was originally included to tie the cruise line back to the main group.

Read more: Who Owns Celebrity Cruises?

Celebrity Cruises was a distinct brand originally set up to offer premium cruising so that the Chandris Group could secure lucrative contracts to sail around Bermuda. The Bermuda government had indicated that Chandris Fantasy Cruises could not be awarded the contracts as they were not premium enough.

Photo: Chandris Romanza, Wolfgang Fricke, CC BY 3.0

As such, Celebrity Cruises was created, with the X added to the logo so that the brand could remain distinctive and yet still call back to the Chandris owners.

Because of the styling of the logo, some people believe that the cruise line’s name is Celebrity X Cruises. However, it has always been known as simply Celebrity Cruises – the placement of the X in the centre of the wording is simply a design choice.

What Does the X Stand For in Celebrity Cruises?

The X in the Celebrity Cruises logo is the Greek letter Chi which stands for Chandris, the name of the Greek family that created the cruise line in 1988. It is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet and has been retained as the logo for Celebrity Cruises.

The X is still kept in use by the cruise line, with the expedition cruises arm of the cruise line adopting it as the first letter for two of its ships, the Celebrity Xpedition and Celebrity Xploration (as well as the former ship Celebrity Xperience). The cruise line is moving away from this though – the latest Expedition ship is called Celebrity Flora.

All of the ships across the fleet still tend to include the X in some manner, usually painted onto at least one of the funnels. It was originally downplayed when Celebrity Solstice launched in 2008, being missing from the traditional position on the funnel.

But the X has since been restored, and for now remains a fixture across the cruise line.

The cruise line now states that the X is a mark of luxury. Rather than acknowledging the history of Greek ownership, the Celebrity Cruises website states that it is “the mark of contemporary spaces that are at once coolly sophisticated and warmly inviting”, as well as standing for other defining characteristics of the cruise line.

You could consider the X as a symbol of what makes Celebrity Cruises different, although that’s just how a logo works really.

And it does work – if you see a cruise ship with X on it, you know it’s a Celebrity ship.

Final Word

The history behind the X in the Celebrity Cruises logo is pretty straightforward. Many experienced cruisers are happy to see the X retained in the logo to this day, with many having fond memories of the cruise line when it was owned by the Chandris family.

For that reason, expect the iconic X to still be included on Celebrity ships that launch for the foreseeable future.