The ''Edge'' class is a class of

cruise ships Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

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 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 ...

The class is constructed by

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...

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 ...

. At present, there are three active ''Edge''-class ships: the lead vessel of the class, , and . ''Celebrity Apex'' was scheduled to begin operations in April 2020, but entry into service was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Her inaugural sailing was on June 21, 2021. A Fourth ship is currently under construction. ''Celebrity Ascent'' is tentatively debuting 4th Quarter 2023. Both ''Celebrity Edge'' and ''Celebrity Apex'' are built with a

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 ...

(GT) of 130,818. Future new builds are slated to have a hull expanded by , bringing the length of the ship to , and an increased gross tonnage to 140,600 GT. Ships in this class are reported to cost US$1 billion each.

History

Orders

On 4 December 2014, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced that it had signed a letter of intent with STX France for two new ships that would compose a new class of vessels for the Celebrity Cruises fleet. In June 2015, the letter was converted into a formal order for the first two ships. On 25 May 2016, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with STX France for two additional ships for the ''Edge'' class. These two vessels comprise the third and fourth in the class, scheduled for delivery in fall 2021 and 2022, respectively. On 11 April 2019, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ordered a fifth ''Edge''-class ship with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, with delivery scheduled for fall 2024.

Construction

Celebrity Cruises marked the beginning of construction for the first ''Edge''-class vessel with the steel-cutting ceremony on 21 November 2016 at the STX France shipyard. On the same day, the lead vessel's name was announced as ''Celebrity Edge''. She was delivered on 31 October 2018. Celebrity initially named the second vessel of the ''Edge'' class as ''Celebrity Beyond'', but she was renamed ''Celebrity Apex'' on the day of her steel-cutting on 23 July 2018. She was delivered on 27 March 2020. Celebrity celebrated the steel-cutting of the third ship, named ''Celebrity Beyond'', on 28 January 2020. She is the first of three vessels in the class to evolve in design and expand in gross tonnage. She entered into service on April 27, 2022 with a sailing from Southampton, UK. Celebrity's fourth Edge Class vessel, ''Celebrity Ascent'', steel-cutting occurred on 17 November 2021. The ship is expected to join the fleet in late 2023.

Ships

References

{{Celebrity Ships Cruise ship classes Ships of Celebrity Cruises