An X-tra Special Welcome Home

In this video, Celebrity Edge's captain, Kate McCue, explains the planning that went into the special welcome for the new Celebrity Apex when it arrived at the anchorage earlier this month in the Bahamas with its sister ships. After weeks of planning, the ships did a special dance, a series of complex nautical maneuvers that could only be accomplished (safely) with the technology aboard today's modern ships.

RCCL Orders another Edge for Celebrity

If you liked Celebrity Edge when it debuted last fall, there are going to be five of the technologically advanced ships five years from now, because today, Chantiers de l'Alantique said Royal Caribbean ordered a fifth Edge-class ship for Celebrity.

The French yard said the vessel is scheduled for delivery in the fall of 2024.

The complete story appeared in the April 11 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Infinite Veranda Right on the Edge

Celebrity Edge has many new designs and features but that one that will be utilized by most passengers most of the time is the Infinite Veranda. Each “standard balcony stateroom” features one.

The complete story appears in the January 3 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Video imagages courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved.

Celebrity Edge Named in Ft. Lauderdale

Celebrity Edge officially became part of the Celebrity fleet tonight when it was named at Port Everglades by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai.

Tonight Celebrity's first new ship in six years is sailing to the Bahamas with probably the cleanest bow of any new ship, because Celebrity broke a custom-made 18-liter bottle of Badoit French mineral water against Edge's “Parabolic Ultra Bow” rather than the traditional champagne.

The complete story appeared in the December 4 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Dinner and a Show Right on Your Table

Celebrity Edge is about to enter service, and it's full of technology and wonderful things to eat. The two are combined in Le Petite Chef, who appears nightly in the Grand Bistro, in one of the more innovative restaurant offerings. (Le Grand Bistro is also open for breakfast and lunch in a more “take out” format, while the little chef sleeps in.)

The show takes place right on your tabletop between courses thanks to a partnership with TableMation Studios. It's like nothing you've ever seen before at sea.

This story appeared in the November 26 issue of Cruise News Daily.

Fresh from the Factory

Celebrity Edge arrived at Port Everglades on Sunday, with 1,400 crew members aboard, directly from Saint-Nazaire, France and the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, 4000 miles away.

During the 15-day crossing, with only the crew, the ship made calls in the Azores and the Bahamas.

Details appeared in the November 19 issue of Cruise News Daily.

“Edging” Toward Florida

Celebrity Cruises reports that Celebrity Edge left the Chantiers yard at Saint-Nazaire, France on Sunday en route to her new home port at Terminal 25 at Port Everglades, near Ft. Lauderdale.

The new ship is expected to arrive on Monday, November 19.

Details appeared in the November 6 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photos courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Double Event at Chantiers for Celebrity

Chantiers de l'Atlantique delivered Celebrity Edge to Celebrity Cruises at their Saint-Nazaire (France) yard today following a 23-month construction process of the prototype vessel.

What could make the event bigger and better? The start of construction of the next ship, so Chantiers laid the keel for Celebrity Apex there in the yard's dry dock. The lucky coin was placed in the dry dock before the 762-ton block was lowered into place. (Lucky for everyone except the coin.)

The complete story appeared in the October 31 issue of Cruise News Daily.

Photos courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Celebrity Reveals Edge's Grand Plaza

It's less than three months before Celebrity's “transformational” Edge enters service, and the line is continuing to reveal aspects of the ship. At the end of last week, it was The Grand Plaza, the “heart and soul” of the ship, designed by Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku.

The complete story appears in the September 17 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

The Theatre and Other Places to be Entertained

Celebrity Cruises has released the first details of The Theatre, the main entertainment venue aboard Celebrity Edge. This is noteworthy because The Theatre is so different from the conventional theater, and also with its state-of-the-art equipment, “sets the stage” for some very unusual productions.

Celebrity says the goal in The Theatre is to blur the line between the audience and the performance and immerse the audience in the experience.

The complete story appeared in the August 14 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

The Theatre aboard Celebrity Edge

Rendering courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

And Away She Goes

Celebrity Edge left Chantiers de l'Atlantique Thursday evening on its first sea trials with 470 people aboard.

Details appeared in the July 27 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photo courtesy of Chantiers de l'Atlantic. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - July 26, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Lindblad completing the elimination of all single-use plastics from their ships. 
• Celebrity Edge ready to leave on its first sea trials

Details appeared in the July 26 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photo courtesy of Chantiers de l'Atlantique. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Watch Celebrity Edge Make Her Debut

Celebrity Edge made her debut Monday afternoon at the STX France yard in Saint-Nazaire when the yard floated the ship out of the dry dock to the finishing dock. The event was preceded by one of equal importance, when the dry dock was flooded and the ship made its first contact with water.

Details appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Video courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved.

Closer to the Edge than We Thought

The shipbuilding process has become so precise and exacting, that the builders and their customers can tell very quite accurately if they are falling behind or are running ahead of schedule and how much. This has been so perfected that they can now quite confidently tell almost a year before delivery that they will be able to deliver the ship early.

That has enabled STX France to notify Celebrity of Celebrity Edge's early delivery, and the line has now moved the ship's first sailing back from December 16 (2018) to November 21.

The complete story appeared in the January 8 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Europe on Edge

Celebrity made an announcement today about Europe in the summer of 2019. No, that's not next summer. It's the summer after that. You may not have been thinking about two years from now, but cruise lines have - and well beyond.

Oh, yes. Celebrity's news. After Celebrity Edge debuts in the Caribbean during the winter 2018/2019 season, it will reposition to the Mediterranean for the summer 2019 season.

Details appeared in the October 17 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - June 14, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• STX France laying the keel for Celebrity Edge
• Adventure of the Seas rescuing two men who had been adrift in the Caribbean for 23 days. 

Details appeared in the June 14 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

The first block of Celebrity Edge is placed in the dry dock.

Photo courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

On the Edge

I've always thought it would a lot of fun for a cruise line to launch a ship with absolutely no advance publicity at all. The first passengers to board on the first sailing would be the first people to know anything about the clever new designs and features. Although the mystery would probably create an enormous amount of buzz, it would probably never work.

But that's almost what Celebrity would like to do with Celebrity Edge. The ship doesn't sail until December 18, 2018 - a year and nine months away - but they have to open it for sale, so they have to release some of the information.

Today they told the world about some of the concepts, and a few of the major features, but they're holding out and there will still be a lot to reveal over the next 21 months.

The complete story appeared in the March 13 edition of Cruise News Daily.

The Magic Carpet aboard Celebrity Edge

The Infinite Veranda aboard Celebrity Edge

Renderings courtesy of Celebrity Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Get Ready to Be on the Edge

It used to be cruise lines would announce a new ship and then reveal all its wonders. As the ships became larger, cruise lines began to split the announcements up and began to have a series of reveals. That device has begun to lose its luster, and now Celebrity Cruises has a new way to breathe some life back into the series of reveals: the Design Ambassador.

The complete story appeared in the February 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Work Begins on Celebrity Edge

The first steel was cut today for another new ship, but not just any new ship. This will be the fist of the new Edge class for Celebrity, named Celebrity Edge, scheduled for delivery in the fall of 2018.

The event took place at the STX France yard at Saint- Nazaire. At today's steel cutting it was revealed that the second ship in the Edge class will be named Celebrity Beyond. It will enter service in the spring of 2020.

The complete story appeared in the November 21 edition of Cruise News Daily.

 Shown from left to right: Jean-Yves Jaouen, Operations Senior Vice President, STX France; Harri Kulovaara, Executive Vice President Newbuild and Innovation, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.; Richard D. Fain, Chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.; Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises; Laurent Castaing, General Manager, STX France

Photo courtesy of Celerity Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.