Celebrity Edge has officially joined Celebrity's fleet after a ceremony where the ship’s godmother, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, was present for the naming event, which brought together more than 3,000 guests, employees, crew members and students. It marked the debut of Celebrity’s first new ship in six years and first new ship series in more than a decade.
Yousafzai, who is now a college student at Oxford University, is the co-founder of Malala Fund, which advocates for a world where every girl can learn and lead by investing in local education activists, holding global leaders accountable and amplifying girls’ voices around the world. She discussed those issues before the ship’s crew and guests in a one-on-one interview with Celebrity’s President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo.
Celebrity is supporting the Malala fund to see the 130 million out-of-school girls around the world get the 12 years of free, safe, quality education they deserve.
At the naming event, hosted by designer Nate Berkus, recording artist Andra Day took to the stage for renditions of her Grammy-nominated single “Rise Up” and Oscar-nominated single “Stand Up For Something.” Both anthems were chosen for their statements about the power of girls’ education and its role in shaping the future.
The brand chose to forego the traditional champagne bottle at the launch, and instead smashed a custom-made 18-liter bottle of Badoit French mineral water across the ship’s Parabolic Ultra Bow. And with that, the ship’s long-awaited inaugural season will get underway, ushering in the premium cruise line’s first new ship series in more than a decade.
Celebrity Edge will begin its inaugural season sailing alternating seven-night eastern and western Caribbean itineraries before transporting guests to the vistas of the Mediterranean with a range of seven- to 11-night sailings from cities like Barcelona and Rome in 2019. Sailing round-trip from Fort Lauderdale, FL, Celebrity Edge will make its first maiden voyage on December 9, 2018.
For more information, visit www.celebritycruises.com/edge.
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