Following more than four years of planning and 23 months of construction by skilled teams of engineers, architects, artisans, designers, contractors, shipyard employees, and Celebrity Cruises specialists, the Celebrity Edge as finally set sail.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain and Celebrity’s president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo hosted a ceremony aboard Celebrity Edge, while docked in the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The Celebrity executive team joined shipyard officials, including General Manager Laurent Castaing, and 1,377 crew members from 72 different countries.
“Today is a very special day for all of us as we have been eagerly anticipating this moment for more than four years,” said Lutoff-Perlo. “There are so many aspects of Celebrity Edge that are more groundbreaking than we could have ever imagined, and it is all a testament to the hard work, creativity and talent of everyone who helped bring this magnificent ship to life.”
Following the check-signing and delivery ceremony, attendees made their way across the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard for the ceremonial keel laying of Celebrity Apex, where a 762-ton block was lifted in the air and a lucky coin was placed on the dock before the block was lowered into position.
Celebrity Edge will home port at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Bookings are now open for her inaugural season of alternating seven-night eastern and western Caribbean cruise itineraries. Then, in spring, 2019, Celebrity Edge crosses the Atlantic again to offer a range of seven- to 11-night Mediterranean sailings from Barcelona and Rome.
Celebrity Edge will be joined by Celebrity Apex, in 2020, and two additional ships in the Edge Series will follow in 2021 and 2022.
