FORT LAUDERDALE -- Travel agents aboard the Celebrity Edge
for a preview cruise of the new $875 million ship said Celebrity Cruises has
delivered on the concepts it talked up during an 18-month pre-inaugural build-up.
"Everything they said about its glass and about looking outward is true," said Cheryl Scavron, a CruiseOne/Dream Vacations
franchise owner in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Scavron said she was impressed with the Infinite Veranda,
Celebrity's name for an innovative cabin design that incorporates the balcony
space within the cabin, using an automated sliding window to convert it to
balcony use. "You feel like you're on the ocean," Scavron said.
Eden is a multilevel restaurant, bar, lounge and entertainment space with tall window views at the aft of the Celebrity Edge. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
In designing the Edge, the first new class of ship for
Celebrity in a decade, executives emphasized views outward toward the sea,
rather than keeping the ship's activities enclosed. Several decks have full
floor-to-ceiling windows in key public spaces, and the lounge around the pool
turns its back on the pool itself to look outward.
Vanessa Cohen, an agent for Protravel International in Miami,
said after touring the ship the description that came to mind was "spa at
sea."
She said the Retreat area was a favorite and that "Retreat
is a good label for the whole ship. It's so elegant and spa-like."
The corridors of the Celebrity Edge are trimmed in a
soothing gray that suggest a bleached wood. Carpets are gray with a cross-hatch
pattern in cranberry. The ship makes great use of neutral colors, with
occasional splashes of jewel tones for accents.
"Everything blends together so nicely," said Marni
Becker, senior director of cruise sales for Travel Leaders Luxury brands, which
include Protravel and Tzell. Becker said the features make the ship "an
easy sell."
In particular, she said the six duplex Edge Suites were "gorgeous.
I could sit out on that balcony all day long."
The Edge's signature feature, the 93-ton moving platform
called the Magic Carpet, which hangs over the side and can move to several
different decks, was lit up with LED lights prior to leaving Fort Lauderdale.
Celebrity plans a two-night cruise with a technical call in
Nassau, Bahamas, where guests can board new luxury
tenders designed for the Edge from the Magic Carpet's position on Deck 3.
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Correction: The Magic Carpet is 93 tons.