Celebrity Cruises, the premium market unit in the Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd (RCCL) group, will base Celebrity Edge, the lead ships of the new Edge class, in Europe for the summer of 2019 and one of the later ships of the projected five strong series to Southampton in the UK, Travel Weekly reports,

Celebrity Edge, which will be introduced in October 2018 and spend its first season in the Caribbean, will be showcased to the UK travel trade from 13-15 May in Southampton before setting off on a 10-night Iberian Peninsular cruise to Rome.

From there, it will offer seven, nine, 10 or 11-night sailings from Rome and Barcelona. Customers wanting to sail for 14 nights can book the two full cruises back-to-back and will call at only one repeat port during the fortnight, the report said.

Regarding the prospect of an Edge class ships being based in the UK, Lutoff-Perlo was quoted as saying: “It’s in your hands. Sell the hell out of Celebrity Edge and you will leave me no choice but to bring a future one to Southampton.” She referred to travel agents in her audience

Jo Rzymowska, vice-president and managing director, UK & Ireland and Asia, was quoted assaying: “The fact that our president and chief executive is coming to London to make the announcement about Edge’s European deployment speaks volumes for how she views the UK cruise market. It’s hugely important to Celebrity Cruises.”

Celebrity Silhouette is due to replace Celebrity Eclipse in the UK next year. Both ships are units of the Solstice class.