''Celebrity Edge'' is an operated by

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...

, a subsidiary of

Royal Caribbean Group Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a global cruise holding company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival ...

. After the new vessel was ordered with French shipbuilder STX France in December 2014, her keel was laid in June 2017 and she was floated out in January 2018. Upon delivery in October 2018, at , she became the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the ''Edge'' class and the largest ship by

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

to have joined the Celebrity fleet.

Construction

On 4 December 2014, Celebrity Cruises' parent company,

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a global cruise holding company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival C ...

, announced that they had finalized an order with French shipbuilder STX France for two new ships that would compose a new class of vessels for the Celebrity fleet. Classified as "Project EDGE" during development, the two new ships were planned to be at approximately each, with a guest capacity of 2,900 passengers. Deliveries were planned for fall 2018 and early-2020 for the two vessels, respectively. Each ship was reported to come at a cost of . STX France began preparing construction for the first new ''Edge'' class vessel with the steel-cutting ceremony on 21 November 2016 at its shipyard in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On the same day, Celebrity announced the name of the first newbuild as ''Celebrity Edge'', and her sister ship as ''Celebrity Beyond'', which was later changed to ''Celebrity Apex'' in July 2018. Six months after the steel-cutting, ''Celebrity Edge'' had her

keel laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

and

coin ceremony The coin ceremony is an event which takes place at the keel laying, in the early stages of a ship's construction. In it, the shipbuilders place one or two coins under the keelblock of the new ship to bless the ship and as a symbol of good fortune ...

at STX France on 21 June 2017. She was officially launched on 23 January 2018, marking her

float-out Float-out is the process in shipbuilding that follows the keel laying and precedes the fitting-out process. It is analogous to launching a ship, a specific process that has largely been discontinued in modern shipbuilding. Both floating-out and ...

from the shipyard. On 27 July 2018, she began her first round of

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...

and completed them four days later, on 1 August. Her second and final round of sea trials were performed in September 2018. ''Celebrity Edge'' was delivered on 31 October 2018.

Service history

Following her delivery, ''Celebrity Edge'' jumpstarted her inaugural season on 6 November 2018 with a

transatlantic crossing Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

from France to

Port Everglades Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2019, Port Eve ...

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. As a result of construction progressing faster than expected, Celebrity released four three-day preview cruises for sale upon the ship's arrival in Florida: 21 November, 24 November, 1 December, and 6 December. Celebrity named 2014

Nobel Peace laureate The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pak ...

as the godmother to ''Celebrity Edge'' in April 2017 and Yousafzai christened the ship in a ceremony on 4 December 2018. The ship's official maiden voyage sailed on 9 December 2018, calling in the ports of

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles ( ...

, and

Costa Maya Costa Maya is a small tourist region in the Othón P. Blanco, Quintana Roo, municipality of Othón P. Blanco in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, the only state bounded by the Caribbean Sea to its east. This municipality is close to Chetumal (capit ...

. Since December 2018, ''Celebrity Edge'' has been homeported at Port Everglades, operating weekly Eastern and Western

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

sailings during the winter season, and sailing in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

during the summer season. On 15 November 2022, Celebrity opened the 2023 Alaskan Cruising Season and announced the Celebrity Edge would be on the Alaskan cruises. Then Celebrity Edge moved to service the 2023/2024 Australia/New Zealand circuit, and will return to the Alaskan circuit in May 2024.

Design

''Celebrity Edge'' was the first Celebrity ship to be equipped with what the cruise line dubs the "Magic Carpet," a tangerine glass-sheltered platform that protrudes and is suspended from the starboard side of the vessel. It was designed to facilitate more accessible tender embarkation and disembarkation. When not in use as a tender platform, it can rise or descend alongside the ship on its track and otherwise hosts additional dining and lounge space. Most balcony staterooms on the ship also incorporate the outward patio of the balcony into the stateroom by moving the steel superstructure of the ship inward. Royal Caribbean Group CEO Richard Fain explained the motive behind the design as intending to provide passengers more living area while also allowing passengers to be closer to the edge of the ship while on their patios. The ship's bow is designed to maximize

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, wh ...

by having a parabolic shape that vertically rises towards the decks. It provides extra sheathing for the bulbous bow and the propellers to reduce drag.

References

{{Celebrity Ships 2018 ships

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...