Fairsky84

Carnival Corp has a long history of developing a single ship design and using it across multiple brands. It saves a lot of money. Their new LNG ships currently slated for Aida, Costa, P&O, and Carnival share many, many features. But there are some differences.

For example, while the basic hull designs are the same the bows and sterns of the Aida and Costa ships appear identical, as do the bows and sterns of the Carnival and P&O ships. The upper decks (pool areas, domes, etc.) have been adapted to each brand. Carnival will likely deploy this ship in warm climates like the Caribbean so no dome is needed, while P&O and Aida will have more Northern European itineraries where weather is an issue.

Overall, I’d expect many interior arrangments like stairwell/elevator locations, restaurants, showrooms, etc to be the same across all the ships with only decor being changed for each brand.

Here you see the difference between the stern design on the P&O/Carnvial ships and the Aida/Costa ships.

Something I hadn’t noticed before. Why is the front of the funnel white and the aft of the funnel blue? The white makes the X clearer and more distinct. Is there some reason it’s different on the garden side?

In real life the MC does protrude more than I thought it would in relation to Edge's size, but I think I will enjoy the venues on the MC and learn to appreciate it, if it works as planned. I agree that the port side is gorgeous - the Edge certainly has multiple personalities and hopefully will please a variety of people. :D

 

I totally agree. It doesn't fit the upscale style of the ship—especially being orange it appears like construction scaffolding. A few predictions:

1. Before the final Edge-class ship is launched the Magic Carpets will no longer be orange. The bold color draws attention to the new feature, but in time Celebrity will want to make the ships appear less gimmicky and more upscale again. (Much like when the M-class debuted with red and yellow hull paint accents. Eventually the ships were repainted in more elegant blue and white to match Celebrity's upscale branding.)

2. Within 10 years we'll see the Magic Carpet removed. I'm guessing the maintenance on the systems to keep a platform that large operating smoothly in sea conditions will be expensive... more expensive than the revenues produced by the feature.

I’m grateful to see that these new Princess ships appear to be a new design (based on size and capacity) and not a copy of the LNG ships currently being built for Carnival Corps other brands (Aida, P&O, Costa, and Carnival). So far Princess is managed to remain separate and design ships for their own brand rather than adapt existing shared designs from their sister brands. For all of those complaining- at least these new builds won’t be clones of CCL ships with a princess funnel.

That funnel and the illuminated X is one of the best, most innovative ship designs since Carnival introduced its whale tale in 1982. If Celebrity has any branding intelligence they’ll keep this design on every future ship. It could become as iconic as Carnival’s. Beautiful.

It is directly at the overhang. And the overhang has public spaces with huge glass panels. So that´s it. You will see similar rails on other ships too.

Exactly. These rails are found on every ship either for a cleaning gondola to easily move around the exterior or for window washers to attach their safety harnesses.

Fascinating to compare Iona with Costa Smerelda and AidaNova, the other LNG ships ordered by Carnival Corp and also being built by Meyer Werft. While many features are identical between all the ships, like the bridge, superstructure, and top deck dome, the bow and stern are completely different.

Carnival Corp has a long history of sharing ship designs across different brands. Just consider the Vista-Class ships sailing for Carnival, HAL, Cunard, P&O, and Costa. It’s nice to see Carnival Corp differentiating these LNG ships a bit, although the Aida and Costa ships will be identical, and we have yet to see the Carnival version.

Any chance they’d reuse Canberra? Probably not. She was the most famous P&O liner in the later half of the 20th century, but I don’t think P&O are much about tradition these days.

Then again, maybe Victoria?

Under construction:

#5 Viking Orion

#6 Viking Jupiter

A few possibilities for later ships:

#7 Viking Pegasus

#8 Viking Saturn

#9 Viking Mercury

#10 Viking Venus

#11 Viking Neptune

#12 Viking Hercules

#13 Viking Perseus

#14 Viking Apollo

Well, since this thread began we’ve learned that Viking is moving away from S-names for their ocean ships. The first 4 ships were given names to honor the original Royal Viking Line fleet:

Viking Star

Viking Sky

Viking Sea

Viking Sun

However, the fifth ship that was originally to be named Viking Spirit was changed to Viking Orion, and the sixth ship will be Viking Jupiter. It seems the line is now using celestial objects (or Greek/Roman mythology) for the ships’ names. With a total of 16 nearly identical ships ordered by 2027, there are a lot of names to choose. Any more guesses?

I appreciate how Disney preserves the relevance of their older ships by keeping the new ships’ designs timeles and in-line with the DCL brand. The causal observer would never know that Magic & Wonder are 25 years older than these newer ships. That’s a smart move for brand relevancy and pricing.

Any speculation about names? Here are my suggestions:

Disney Magic (1998)

Disney Wonder (1999)

Disney Dream (2011)

Disney Fantasy (2012)

Disney Wish (2021)

Disney Imagination (2022)

Disney Enchantment (2023)

Here’s another new image of the ship’s final livery.

:D:D:D

 

I agree with you that when on a ship, how the exterior looks is less important than what is inside. Unless we can somehow bungee jump off the decks in a horizontal trajectory, we won't see the ship from the outside very often.

 

But, it can be argued that for people NOT on the ship, the asymmetrical look may not appeal. I would bet that almost every cruiser will look at other cruise ships while in port or passing on the open seas. How a ship looks from the outside may affect the observer's interest in that ship, resulting in a pass on future cruises or desire to give it a try, based on that first look.

 

For instance, I clearly remember seeing for the first time the NCL Epic, with it's awful "uni-brow" look. This is a ship I have low interest in sailing on since it looks so odd. Other people may think the same about the Edge class.

 

The positive is that we will have even more ships to select from when this ship, and her sisters, come online. More choices is a good thing.

For the passenger, yes, the interior design matters more than the exterior appearance of the ship. However, for the cruise line the exterior of the ship is incredibly important. It’s how they communicate their brand to the world and potential customers. For example, when Royal Caribbean first launched back in the 70’s they advertised their ships with the slogan “Sail a Skyscraper” and images of the original Viking Crown lounge on the funnel. At the time RCI was branding themselves as ultra-modern and not a stodgy old liner.

Likewise, Carnival’s “Fun Ships” branding was captured by Joe Farcus’ design of the first whale tale funnel on the Tropicale. Carnival ships ever since have tried to project a “fun” image in their exterior design language.

Cunard’s brand is one of elegance and heritage...so their ships have black hulls. Could you imagine a Carnival ship with a black hull? Or a Cunard ship with a whale tale funnel? Exterior ship design matters because it sends a message to potential customers about the cruise line and its product.

I think Celebrity Edge mostly fits well with the brand Celebrity has been creating for itself—modern sophistication. The vertical bow, glass stern, X-shaped funnel... it looks very modern and very sophisticated. And that’s also why I think the Flying Carpet (particularly its obnoxious orange coloring) is a misfit. It looks gimmicky...like something NCL or Carnival would do. It’s “off-brand” as marketing people say.

If the Flying Carpet proves to be popular with guest, AND if it doesn’t cost too much to maintain mechanically, AND if it doesn’t lower revenues on cabins along it’s path, I suspect eventually we’ll see the structure repainted to better fit Celebrity’s sophisticated branding. If those things don’t prove to be true, I wouldn’t be surprised to find the feature removed from future Edge-class ships.

Not the most attractive looking ship, but definitely original unlike the assembly line of ships churned out by Carnival Corp's brands for the last 20 years. I do love the funnel design. I wonder if this could become an iconic design incorporated into all future Celebrity ships not unlike Carnival's whale tales or Costa's yellow dustbins.

Well, she's no beauty on the outside. That bow...my goodness. Reminds me of a car-carrier ship. Let's hope her interiors are stunning.

That very original funnel may be the only aspect of Edge’s exterior design I really like.

I have to confess, I'm a little disappointed. There was so much hype from Virgin about their ship being unlike anything else in the industry, and Branson himself bragged about the vertical bow shape (inspired by mega-yachts) as distinguishing the ship as different. By the time these ships debut in 2020, however, there will be a dozen others that look like this from MSC, Carnival, Celebrity, Aida, NCL, P&O, and Costa. And the aft shape does look a lot like MSC Seaside and NCL Leonardo...both also built by Fincantieri. Maybe this Virgin design was innovative when they first sketched it out 3 years ago, but the competition has already caught up with them.

So, it looks like Virgin will need to distinguish itself with innovative interior designs, facilities, and entertainment. Being adult only is a good start. I wish them luck. The industry needs more diverse offerings.

That is the strangest looking bridge I have ever seen. Instead of wall to wall windows giving a panoramic view, it seems to be individual window openings, with none at the ends at all, creating serious obstructed views. Or am I seeing something else?

 

I have been on bridge tours on several ships and all have panoramic views forward along the entire width, at the ends, and even towards the aft. Nothing like this.

I don't believe the bridge is finished. They have yet to cut the steal openings for the other windows. When finished the bridge will have panoramic views as shown in the concept art of the finished ship.

How about:

Celebrity Apex

Celebrity Horizon

Years ago "Apex" was registered as a trademark by Celebrity back when the Millennium class was being built. So, that name could be used for the Edge-class. I also like the idea of using "Horizon" and "Zenith" in recognition of the lines original ships.

Someone said that Celebrity has pattended a name for the bow. The bow is different but it looks has it different shades, color and even something that looks glass. What’s the secret ?

They've registered the name "parabolic ultrabow." We don't know why Celebrity would want to copyright that name when almost every major cruise line, and even some smaller expedition lines, are building ships with this vertical bow design. In a few years there won't be anything special about the Edge's bow. Ships from Aida already have it, and soon ships from Costa, P&O, Carnival, NCL, Virgin, and MSC will also. And I'm guessing the new Icon-class ships from Royal Caribbean will, but those images have not yet been released.

I wonder why everyone is moving away from a clipper bow with the underwater bulb. That hull design has been established for 60+ years as the most efficient. The vertical bow and no bulb is a very old style dating back 100+ years.

AIDA

COSTA

P&O

NCL

MSC

CARNIVAL (leaked image of a model of their new LNG ship...same hull as Aida, Costa, and P&O ships)

I looks like they're hiding the bow under a large tarp. Is that really necessary? What on earth is so special about the front of the ship that they feel the need to keep it hidden even in the shipyard?

I'd like to see some of the old names re-used. Apparently they have no issues recycling an off Broadway show. ;)

I agree. I'm surprised they've never paid tribute to their first ship, Song of Norway, by naming a ship Song of the Seas.

A search of the government's trademark database has turned up a number of new ship names registered to Royal Caribbean. Although they may not use all of these names, the fact that RCI has trademarked them means some may be used for upcoming ships. Here's what is currently on order for Royal Caribbean:

Symphony of the Seas (Oasis-class) 2018

Spectrum of the Seas (Quantum-class) 2019

Unnamed (Quantum-class) 2020

Unnamed (Oasis-class) 2021

Unnamed (Icon-class) 2022

Unnamed (Icon-class) 2024

Here are the trademarked names:

Emblem of the Seas

Passion of the Seas

Pulse of the Seas

Apex of the Seas

Joy of the Seas

Icon of the Seas

Valhalla of the Seas

Sunrise of the Seas

Wonderful photos.

You may be interested to know that Celebrity has trademarked the name "parabolic ultrabow." What that means or how Celebrity will use the design of the bow in marketing is uncertain, but it's clear they have something special in mind for the forward part of Edge.

Solstice has been one of my favorite classes of modern ships. Elegant, classy, sophisticated, and modern. I have to say I've been very disappointed with what we've seen of Edge so far. Flying Carpet is a gimmick (and hideous) that would be more fitting on NCL, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean. Eden could be a beautiful space, but I have a feeling the decor is going to feel very dated in 5 years. The food/entertainment in Eden has ZERO appeal to me...and I'm a young Gen Xer. I hope the rest of the reveals of Edge change my opinion.