Both Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Apex were built with a gross tonnage (GT) of 130,818. Subsequent new builds have a hull extended by 20 metres (66 ft), bringing the length of the ship to 327 metres (1,072 ft 10 in), and an increased gross tonnage to 140,600 GT.[2] Ships in this class are reported to cost US$1 billion each.[6]
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.[7] In June 2015, the letter was converted into a formal order for the first two ships.[8]
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.[9] These two vessels comprise the third and fourth in the class, originally scheduled for delivery in fall 2021 and 2022, respectively.[9]
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,[10] since revised to 2025.[11]
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.[12] On the same day, the lead vessel's name was announced as Celebrity Edge.[13] She was delivered on 31 October 2018.[14]
Celebrity initially named the second vessel of the Edge class as Celebrity Beyond,[12] but she was renamed Celebrity Apex on the day of her steel-cutting on 23 July 2018.[15] She was delivered on 27 March 2020.[16]
Celebrity celebrated the steel-cutting of the third ship, named Celebrity Beyond, on 28 January 2020.[17] She is the first of three vessels in the class to evolve in design and expand in gross tonnage.[2] She entered into service on 27 April 2022 with a sailing from Southampton, United Kingdom.
The steel cutting for Celebrity's fourth Edge-class vessel, Celebrity Ascent, occurred on 17 November 2021.[18] The ship entered service with Celebrity on 22 November 2023 on a "preview" sailing out of Port Everglades, Florida.
Construction started 7 November 2023. Technology group Wärtsilä will supply the flex fuel engines, enabling the ship to run on methanol.[11] Keel laid on 13 June 2024.[30][31]