Edge-class cruise ship

The Edge class is a class of cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The class is constructed by Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France. At present, there are four active Edge-class ships: the lead vessel of the class Celebrity Edge,  Celebrity Apex,  Celebrity Beyond, and  Celebrity Ascent. Celebrity Apex was scheduled to begin operations in April 2020, but entry into service was delayed until June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Celebrity Ascent is the newest ship to debut and welcomed its first guests in November 2023. A fifth ship, Celebrity Xcel is currently under construction.

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 m, bringing the length of the ship to 327 m, and an increased gross tonnage to 140,600 GT. Ships in this class are reported to cost US$1 billion each.

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. In June 2015, the letter was converted into a formal order for the first two ships.

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. These two vessels comprise the third and fourth in the class, originally scheduled for delivery in fall 2021 and 2022, respectively.

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, since revised to 2025.

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. On the same day, the lead vessel's name was announced as Celebrity Edge. She was delivered on 31 October 2018.

Celebrity initially named the second vessel of the Edge class as Celebrity Beyond, but she was renamed Celebrity Apex on the day of her steel-cutting on 23 July 2018. She was delivered on 27 March 2020.

Celebrity celebrated the steel-cutting of the third ship, named Celebrity Beyond, on 28 January 2020. She is the first of three vessels in the class to evolve in design and expand in gross tonnage. 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. The ship entered service with Celebrity on 22 November 2023 on a "preview" sailing out of Port Everglades, Florida.