By
Rebecca Gibson |
Celebrity Cruises’ latest newbuild, Celebrity Edge, is to be completed ahead of schedule and enter service earlier than planned, enabling her to sail four preview cruises and two maiden voyages.
Part of the line’s first new ship class since 2008, Celebrity Edge was originally scheduled for delivery from French yard STX France in autumn 2018 and sail her first inaugural cruise on 16 December. However, the vessel will now depart on her first preview sailing on 21 November, which will be followed by three more on 24 November, and 3 and 6 December. These three-night Bahamas cruises will sail roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The schedule change will also allow Celebrity to offer two seven-night maiden voyages, which can be booked as back-to-back sailings for a 14-night journey. The first will be a seven-night western Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale on 9 December 2018, which will take guests to Key West, Florida; Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; and George Town, Grand Cayman. The second will be the original inaugural voyage, which will see guests depart Fort Lauderdale on 16 December and spend seven nights exploring the eastern Caribbean. Destinations will include San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.
“Thanks to the amazing work of the STX France shipyard team, the industry-changing Celebrity Edge is now scheduled to arrive much earlier than anticipated, which gave us the opportunity to offer not one, but two maiden voyages,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. “Both of these maiden voyages, plus the taste of luxury preview sailings, will have all of the festivities one would expect from the launch of such a revolutionary new ship, and now even more guests will have the chance to experience these one-of-a-kind inaugural sailings.”
Designed completely in 3D, the 2,918-guest Celebrity Edge will feature various innovations, including suites and staterooms created by designer Kelly Hoppen MBE of Kelly Hoppen Interiors, and The Rooftop Garden developed by architect Tom Wright of WKK. Another highlight will be the Magic Carpet – a ship-climbing platform the size of a tennis court that can be positioned at four different levels to provide additional space for restaurants, the pool deck and a key component to the Destination Gateway, a luxury embarkation station for guests joining tenders to get to shore.
Celebrity Edge will be christened by Malala Yousafzai,the youngest-ever Noble Peace Prize recipient and now Nobel Laureate and UN Messenger of Peace.