Celebrity Cruises review

About Celebrity Cruises review

By the ULTIMATE Cruises Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Celebrity Cruises builds big ships with a grown-up, design-led feel, turning rooms, restaurants and pools outwards to face the sea. Its Retreat gives suite guests a ship within a ship, and in the Galápagos it sails a 100-guest all-suites ship. Here is who it suits and how to book well.

Celebrity has sailed since 1988 and grew into the premium brand of Royal Caribbean Group. Its signature is design: ships that turn their staterooms, restaurants and pools outwards to face the sea, with interiors by names such as Kelly Hoppen, and a calmer, more grown-up mood than the big resort lines.

Fifteen ocean ships sail today, from the Edge Series to Celebrity Flora, the 100-guest all-suites ship built for the Galápagos, and five river ships join from 2027 (celebritycruises.com, Oct 2026). Here is how they fit together.

On an Edge Series ship, almost everything faces the water.

Who Celebrity suits

Celebrity suits couples and friends who want the choice of a big ship without its noise: good restaurants, a spa with a thermal suite, sunset drinks over the water and a sense of style. It suits first-timers who want a grown-up feel, and travellers who would like luxury-line service in a suite while keeping the restaurants and entertainment of a large ship. Families are welcome, with Camp at Sea for children, though the atmosphere stays calm.

If you want waterparks and thrill rides, Royal Caribbean or Norwegian will suit you better; if you want a ship of a few hundred guests, look at the luxury lines.

The Edge Series

On an Edge Series ship, almost everything faces the water. The Infinite Veranda turns the whole stateroom into a balcony at the touch of a button. The Magic Carpet, a cantilevered platform with a full bar on the starboard side, which in Celebrity’s words makes the ship’s profile recognisable from miles away, reaches 13 storeys above the sea on Celebrity Beyond. Eden rises through three storeys of glass and changes through the day, from a quiet place to watch the wake to an evening of dinner and performance.

Celebrity Edge carries 2,918 guests and Celebrity Apex 2,910; Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Ascent carry 3,260. On Beyond, the Rooftop Garden was redesigned by Kelly Hoppen and the architect Tom Wright, with float pools cantilevered over the ocean. Celebrity Xcel is the fifth of the series, and Celebrity Xcite is listed as coming in 2028.

Solstice and Millennium

The five Solstice Series ships carry up to about 3,000 guests; Celebrity Reflection, the largest, carries 3,046, and a renewed Reflection returns to the Caribbean in March 2027. Selected Solstice ships keep the Lawn Club, with outdoor games from bocce to croquet. The four Millennium Series ships carry around 2,200 guests; Celebrity Millennium sails with Starlink internet, and the series suits port-intensive itineraries and longer voyages.

The Retreat

The Retreat is Celebrity’s answer to the luxury lines: a ship within a ship for suite guests. Every suite in it comes with a butler; Luminae, the suites-only restaurant, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with dishes by Celebrity’s Global Culinary Ambassador, Daniel Boulud; and a private lounge serves coffee and drinks at any hour, with Retreat Attendants at the sundeck pool and hot tub. Celebrity notes that the Retreat Sundeck is currently not available on Celebrity Solstice, Eclipse, Reflection, Constellation or Infinity, so check your ship.

At the top sit the Iconic Suites, high above the bridge, with 1,892 sq ft inside and a 689 sq ft terrace with a hot tub and double daybed, plus a private butler’s pantry. The Edge Villas are two-storey residences, with 739 sq ft inside and a 211 sq ft terrace with a plunge pool, for up to four guests; your butler is a message away through Butler Chat.

AquaClass and Concierge Class

Between a standard stateroom and The Retreat sit two useful steps. AquaClass brings the Blu restaurant, spa-concierge service, a fitness pass and unlimited access to the SEA Thermal Suite (the Persian Garden on older ships). Concierge Class is the other step up on the Edge Series.

Dining

Across the Edge Series there are, in Celebrity’s count, up to 32 places to eat and drink, cooked daily by more than 200 chefs. Le Voyage by Daniel Boulud, the chef’s first signature restaurant at sea, opened on Celebrity Beyond with a menu inspired by his travels; book it ahead in the Celebrity app. Specialty dining is charged separately or through a dining package, while Blu is part of AquaClass and Luminae part of The Retreat. For a sunset drink, the Magic Carpet is a destination in itself.

The spa

The SEA Thermal Suite is an adults-only evolution of the Persian Garden on the older ships; AquaClass guests have unlimited access, and others can buy a pass. On the Edge Series the salon is run with Kérastase, and The Barber was designed by Kelly Hoppen. The Solarium has its own pool and hot tubs, a calm alternative to the main pool deck.

Celebrity Flora and the Galápagos

Far from the big ships, Celebrity Flora sails the Galápagos all year from Baltra with 100 guests, every one in a suite. Celebrity calls her the first all-suites ship designed exclusively for these islands; dynamic positioning lets her hold station without dropping anchor, protecting the seabed, and certified naturalists of the Galápagos National Park guide every landing. Her suites run from the Sky Suite with Veranda (330 sq ft) to the Penthouse Suites, each with a personal suite attendant. Galápagos voyages include all drinks, Wi-Fi, gratuities, park entrance and the Galápagos Tourist Card.

Where Celebrity sails

The Caribbean and Europe are Celebrity’s two great cruising grounds, with short 3- and 4-night Caribbean trips for a first taste. The ships also sail Alaska, Bermuda and Canada, Hawaii, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, South America and Antarctica, with transatlantic and transpacific crossings as they reposition each spring and autumn. Celebrity lists Danube and Rhine programmes for its river fleet, due to debut in 2027.

What’s included, and what isn’t

Celebrity sells two ways to book. The All Included rate adds the Classic Drinks Package and Basic Wi-Fi, and can only be chosen at booking, for all guests in the stateroom (celebritycruises.com, Oct 2026). Specialty restaurants are charged separately or through a dining package, the SEA Thermal Suite needs a pass outside AquaClass, and the gratuity terms for the main fleet are worth checking when you book.

How Celebrity compares

Celebrity sits between the big resort lines and the luxury lines. Against Royal Caribbean, part of the same group, it trades waterparks and thrill rides for design, a quieter mood and The Retreat. Against Norwegian, whose package offer bundles drinks, dining and Wi-Fi, Celebrity’s All Included rate covers drinks and Wi-Fi. Against the luxury lines, The Retreat brings a butler and a private restaurant at sea while keeping the choice of a large ship below.

Booking tips

Decide on the All Included rate at booking, because it cannot be added later. Choose an Edge Series ship for the Magic Carpet, Eden and the Infinite Veranda, and Celebrity Beyond or Ascent for the newest spaces. If you are tempted by The Retreat, check whether your ship has the Retreat Sundeck. Book Le Voyage and the specialty restaurants early in the app.

Our advice: on a first Celebrity cruise, choose an Edge Series ship and a veranda stateroom, add the All Included rate at booking, and take a sunset drink on the Magic Carpet. For the voyage of a lifetime, Celebrity Flora in the Galápagos is something else entirely.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Celebrity Cruises review before you go.