The New Celebrity Edge - "Designed to leave the future behind"

Author: Bill March 13, 2017, Updated: September 1, 2021

Today in South Florida, Celebrity Cruises Chairman Richard Fain and President & CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo shared details of the 117,000 GT Celebrity Edge. From an elevating cantilever bar to Infinite Verandahs and her own tenders, "Edge Launches", everything on this ship seems to have been designed to look out to the water. This ship looks like it will really be something special. Now, while we go book a cruise on Edge, take a look below at just some of what she'll have to offer next year (be sure to check the gallery at the bottom) and look forward to more updates soon.

celebrity edge magic carpet

Resort Deck

The new Edge features multiple amazing new options for cruisers. The Resort Deck offers a asymmetrical outward-facing pool deck, a winding jogging track, and the new Rooftop Garden which Celebrity calls a "living urban playscape". Guests can enjoy two-story martini hot tubs and high-ceilinged private cabanas with ocean views (we *love* cabanas). There aren't like an cabanas that you've seen before - they're massive and look right out to the water.

Magic Carpet

A big highlight for those wanting to enjoy the ocean and the views is the new "Magic Carpet" which cantilevers over the ocean off the starboard side and travels up and down 13 decks! Enjoy a drink at the bar and even live entertainment as you travel vertically over the sea. This promises to offer amazing new vantage points as you'll be able to see not only to the side of the ship, but forward and aft. No word on which staterooms or venues may have temporarily restricted views as the Magic Carpet "flies by".

The Destination Gateway & Edge Launches

The Destination Getaway is an area that serves as an embarkation lounge as well as a multi-purpose space when not docked. The idea of an embarkation lounge is nothing new, but has faded as we've seen ships with large atriums and other "inward-facing" spaces, where the Edge promises more views of the ocean and what awaits. What's interesting here is that Celebrity says, "When the Magic Carpet is positioned here, The Destination Gateway serves as a comfortable and welcoming environment that leads to the Edge Launches℠ for transportation ashore." This is because the Magic Carpet can be lowered all the way down to near the water line and serve as a platform of sorts for tender operations. We wonder if Magic Carpet can move quick enough to help alleviate the busy elevators found on almost all ships during peak embarkation and debarkation times.

What are Edge Launches? While we've become accustomed to ships using their lifeboats for tendering to shore (or third party boats kept in port), there was a time that one of my favorite ships, the SS Norway carried her own tenders, ensuring guests could travel in comfort. The Edge Launches will take us back to these days of the Norway's tenders, which we're excited about. They promise air conditioning, bucket seats, and large windows. This is a welcome change and helps to make every part of the experience as comfortable and luxurious.

Infinite Verandahs

There are lots of new and amazing things about staterooms on the Celebrity Edge. Some of these innovations are about size and space (king sized beds!?), others focus on decor, others technology (you'll be able to open your stateroom door with your smartphone...which hopefully means I won't lose my key card as frequently). Out of all the announced features and amenities however, one stands out above the rest, 918 staterooms with "Infinite Verandahs" (16 of them singles). These were designed in cooperation with Kelly Hoppen (of Kelly Hoppen Interiors) but with more in mind than just a modernization on existing staterooms. Celebrity aimed to build rooms with bigger beds, bigger bathrooms, more living space, and a closer connection to the ocean, and they've done it. Not just by these staterooms being 23% larger than verandah staterooms on the Solstice class, but by allowing the verandahs to be part of the stateroom with clear French doors going to the outside, and then a lowerable top section of the verandah window to create a "Florida room" sort of effect. Enjoy your verandah as inside space, or take in the fresh air.

Celebrity Edge By The Numbers

Capacity (Double Occupancy): 2,918
Crew: 1,320
Guest Decks: 14
Staterooms: 1,467
Tonnage: ~129,500
Length: 1,004 feet
Beam: 128 feet
Draught: 27 feet
Cruising Speed: 22 knots

My Take

Curiously missing were any images of the ship as a whole from the outside. We realize it's a bit early on but would have loved to have seen the ship on which we'll be traveling on soon. All in all however, this is an amazing looking vessel which hits many of my "wants".

The Celebrity Edge is the first ship from Celebrity Cruises to be designed (and revealed) in 3D, and that's helped us live the experience a bit before we're lucky enough to enjoy it in person. The promise of a "unique, outward-facing design that brings the sea closer than ever to guests" seems to be coming into fruition. The idea that Celebrity is trying to take advantage of ocean views and make that part of the experience is a welcome change from many modern ships coming from most contemporary and premium lines these days, where modern features have been welcome, but largely reminiscent of land-based hotels, compromising the vistas and "ship feeling" that many cruisers still enjoy. The Edge brings back those great views but with amazing new modern takes.

Nate Berkus, the famous designer and TV personality was also on hand for today's announcements, sharing some details of the Edge that he contributed to in yet another one of his roles, as the Celebrity Edge Design Ambassador. He seems to have brought a very different perspective to the build, and despite his experience, he's new to the world of cruising (he even called the ship a "boat" during the press event). We hope this trend of leveraging outside designers, new to this realm, will continue industry-wide, while avoiding the "hotel look" becoming standard. So far, the contemporary design with a nod to the classic views has left us wanting more, but we'll have to wait until her first sailing. Celebrity Edge will homeport in Fort Lauderdale, FL., making her first sailing December 16, 2018.

What do you think about this new design? Let us know in the comments below, or reach out on Facebook or Twitter!

Six spacious cabanas line the starboard side of the deck and provide another cool hot spot for incredible outward-facing views. These rentable relaxation spaces offer a private getaway and highlight Celebrity’s design DNA. At night, ambient lighting enhances the intimacy of the spaces even more.

Perched on the starboard side of the ship, the Magic Carpet makes Celebrity Edge’s distinctive, sleek profile recognizable from miles away. With its stunning, open-air panoramic, outward-facing ocean views, Magic Carpet is designed with a yacht-like, breezy, and casual vibe, with comfortable seating, a full bar, and space for live music performances, making it the place to see and be seen. The size of a tennis court, this incredible engineering feat is the world’s first cantilevered venue that travels 13 st

The Retreat Lounge, located just below The Retreat Sundeck and open around the clock, touches the sea on both the port- and starboard sides, offering seemingly endless ocean views. Inside, designer Kelly Hoppen has created a warm and inviting space that has the air of a sophisticated sunroom.

The chic atmosphere of The Retreat Sundeck rivals any high-end resort. This spacious outdoor lounge area, which includes The Retreat Pool and The Retreat Pool Bar, makes it easy to unplug with plush, stylish furniture, a full-sized pool, and a hot tub. Guests can relax in hanging chairs while the water laps beneath their feet or lay back in the shaded resort-style cabanas and soak up the nearly 240-degree panoramic views on the forward end of the ship.

The Rooftop Garden, tended to daily by a resident horticulturist, is the perfect place for guests to enjoy interactive games and activities throughout the day, or enjoy the not-to-be-missed evening entertainment where food and film merge during "A Taste of Film," and pop-up live music performances from the unexpected treetop sculptures.

The most transformational aspect of the new stateroom design is the introduction of the Edge Stateroom with Infinite VerandaSM. These revolutionary rooms take the standard veranda stateroom and, with the touch of a button, blur – even erase – the boundaries between inside and outside. The entire living space becomes the veranda, letting guests walk right out to the water’s edge.

Not only do the Edge Staterooms with Infinite Verandas feature the latest in design and technology, they’re 23% larger than the award-winning Celebrity Solstice® Class veranda staterooms. The added space made it possible to include a luxurious king-sized bed from Celebrity’s new Cashmere Bedding CollectionSM in every standard-sized stateroom.

Also on the expansive Resort Deck, which stretches from bow to stern of the ship, is one of the most popular spaces on any Celebrity ship – the adults-only Solarium. Celebrity Edge continues the tradition of offering a covered pool area where adults can unwind in modern luxury style.

Because the Edge was rendered in 3D, the Innovation Lab was opened up to the press to get a first-person 3D experience of the new Celebrity Edge

With two stories of windows in the two-level atrium stairway that look out over the terrace, featuring a three-foot-deep plunge pool and inviting lounge furniture, to the incredible ocean views from even the bathroom, it’s an open and airy environment that truly invites the outside in, and vice versa.

Destination Gateway is a modern, multi-purpose area that brings the destination to life. When the Magic Carpet is positioned here, Destination Gateway serves as a comfortable and welcoming environment that leads to the Edge Launches for easy and effortless transportation ashore.

Featuring bucket seats, air conditioning, large windows for stunning sea-level views, and more space, Edge Launches are designed to get you to your destination in modern luxury style. Just like Celebrity Edge.