Turf's Up on Celebrity Cruises

When Celebrity Solstice launches in December, the ship will present an industry first -- real, growing grass, set in an innovative new country club environment known as “The Lawn Club” on the top deck.

The half-acre Lawn Club will invite guests to enjoy bocce ball and croquet, practice their putting, picnic with a basket of wine and cheese, or simply feel the grass between their toes, while sailing the oceans of the world.

The area will also feature the Hot Glass Show, another first in the industry, developed in collaboration with The Corning Museum of Glass; the Patio on the Lawn; the Lawn Club Shop, and the Sunset Bar.

Celebrity worked with design firm Wilson Butler Architects to design the entire club area, then engaged a team of landscape architects and irrigation specialists along with turf and soil scientists at the University of Florida. Together, they conducted extensive research and tested a variety of grasses to determine which can withstand the winds, sun, shade and temperature variations that will affect the grass and soil as the ship sails in the Caribbean this winter. Other considerations included the ability of the grass to tolerate foot traffic, irrigation and day-to-day care and maintenance of the grass. Even the weight of the grass and soil had to be considered, as well as the water they absorb from the atmosphere and from irrigation.

The Lawn Club is over three times larger than New York’s Rockefeller Center ice skating rink (668 square metres); 1.7 times larger than an Olympic-size swimming pool; the equivalent of 8.2 tennis courts; 2.4 times the size of Centre Court at England’s Wimbledon Lawn & Tennis Club; and one-third the size of a regulation soccer field.