Celebrity Xcel: Inside the Stunning New Edge Series Ship
Contributor Jackie Sheckler Finch takes a two-day cruise aboard the new Celebrity Xcel and offers an inside look at the traditional ship christening celebration.
Celebrity’s newest spectacular ship has the perfect name. Xcel. Meaning superior, surpassing, exceeding, exceptional – the Celebrity Xcel is all this and more.
I boarded Xcel for a two-day cruise for the ship’s official naming ceremony. Departing Fort Lauderdale, we didn’t have any destination or shore excursions coming up, just cruising the beautiful blue ocean and discovering what the surprising Xcel offers.
In fact, with the help of a global community known as Dream Makers, Xcel is introducing seven brand new spaces and experiences, which I will share after we enjoy the traditional naming ceremony.
As the sun was beginning to edge into the ocean, we met on Xcel’s top decks where godmother Janaína Torres christened the ship with a bottle of champagne in the maritime tradition to bring good luck to the vessel.
“May God bless her and all who sail on her,” Torres said, pushing a button to smash the bottle of champagne against the ship’s hull.
Voted “Best Female Chef in the World” in 2024 for her Brazilian cuisine, Torres “shares our passion for celebrating culture through cuisine and our commitment to culinary excellence,” said Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises.
Celebrity Xcel: The Fifth Edge Class Ship
The fifth ship in Celebrity Cruises’ Edge Class, the 16-deck Celebrity Xcel can accommodate 3,260 guests across a wide array of stateroom categories. The ship also has 1,400 crew members.
“With each new ship, we raise the bar for the ultimate vacation experience,” said Jason Liberty, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group. A premium cruise line, Celebrity Cruises is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group.
“And Celebrity Xcel stands in a class of her own,” Liberty said.
While previous Edge Class ships introduced industry firsts like the Magic Carpet, Celebrity Xcel pushes the industry-first concept even further, as those seven new spaces and experiences attest. Plus, Xcel has its own beloved Magic Carpet.
Positioned on the side of the ship, the vibrant tangerine-colored Magic Carpet structure, about the size of a tennis court, is one of the world’s first cantilevered floating platforms.
When the ship is not cruising, the apparatus moves up and down the exterior of the ship, serving different functions as it travels the starboard side of the ship. Accommodating 90 guests, the Magic Carpet features comfortable seating, a full-service bar and a stage for musical performances – all with panoramic ocean views and a fresh sea breeze.
Depending on the deck, the Magic Carpet can be a dining spot, music performance venue or tender platform making shore transfers on Xcel’s tenders a much more pleasant trip to and from shore.
Xcel’s ‘Captain Kirk’
The Xcel ship captain’s name is Kyriakos Matragkas but everyone calls him “Captain Kirk.” He adopted that nickname himself early in his maritime career when he saw his Greek name was challenging to pronounce.
Born in Piraeus, Greece, Matragkas grew up on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea with seafaring in his heritage. His father was a ship captain and the young boy would often accompany his dad on a sailing journey. Later, the young man graduated from the marine academy in Hydra.
Now in his 25th year with Celebrity Cruises, Matragkas is an avid snowboarder, reader, guitarist and drummer. He travels with his guitar and might sit in with an Xcel band when he has time.
My Xcel Stateroom 12169
Seeing my stateroom for the first time is always fun. Opening the door, my two-night accommodations on Deck 12 were even more beautiful than I expected. What I loved the most was the awesome Infinite Balcony.
My balcony had a floor-to-ceiling window that dropped down at the touch of a button to let in sea air and ocean sounds, making my whole cabin feel like a balcony.
The balcony also had French doors that I could close, and some blinds that would lower with a push of a button. The balcony had two chairs and a table.
The stateroom décor was stylish but not overdone so my room seemed peaceful and airy. Storage spots were plentiful with a wide closet, drawers and built-in shelves. Plush robes were hanging in the closet.
Charging options were abundant, including a box on the dresser with two standard American outlets, two USB ports and a European outlet. Beside one side of the large bed were two more USB ports and an American outlet. I was a solo traveler on this cruise but it would be handy for two travelers to have outlets on both sides of the bed.
The room also had a large wall TV, safe, sofa, desk, and chair and a wonderful bathroom with a glass-enclosed shower offering an abundance of hot water, great water pressure and Bigelow toiletries.
Stateroom attendant Wayan kept my room spotless and left a chocolate candy and a six-page Celebrity Today newsletter with ship activities on my pillow at nightly turndown. The ship also has an app to keep track of activities but I liked having the paper one, too.
Numerous Dining Choices
So many dining places on Xcel that I couldn’t even see them all on my two-day cruise. For breakfast and lunch, I ate in the Oceanview Café on Deck 14, which was certainly not like most other cruise ship buffets.
I had time to sample only a small bit of what was offered, but I loved the fresh seafood, including the shrimp cocktail, along with the fruit, salads, and multitude of meat choices. The ship’s pizza was quite tasty as was the ice cream in Scoops.
For dinner the first night, I dined at Raw on 5 where the server just kept bringing out one delicious seafood dish after another.
The second night, I sat at a table for one by the window at Luminae at the Retreat on Deck 16. My choice was onion soup for appetizer, grilled New York strip steak with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables for entrée and crème brulee for dessert. All were excellent.
My server recommended the Bourbon and Peach cocktail and she was right. It was quite good.
Xcel Onboard Entertainment
Celebrity Xcel has three new theater productions, two interactive shows at The Club and other live music and dance experiences around the ship.
The first night I saw part of the 254 West show at The Club. 254 West is said to be a salute to the infamous 1970s disco Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street in New York. Studio 54 was frequented by such icons as Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Mick Jagger, Liza Minelli, Calvin Klein and many more.
The second night show was Chapters in the ship theatre where I sat in the front row to take photos and was handed a red rose by one of the male singers as he crooned. The round stage is fantastic. Performers were talented and the ending of one song had the lead vocalist riding a gigantic sparkling panther-shaped disco ball to the top of the stage. Awesome.\
Seven New Spaces and Entertainment on Celebrity Xcel
- The Bazaar replaces Eden on Celebrity Cruises. I’ll share more information on that fantastic change in a minute.
- Bora, the alfresco restaurant at the top of the ship, has amazing sea views and an over-the-top Bloody Mary bar.
- Attic at The Club features an all-day, all-night adult game room with pool, darts, foosball and shuffleboard, plus nostalgic retro games like Pac-Man, NBA Showtime, Golden Tee and more.
- Celebrity Pool Club has sunbeds, private cabanas and a pool valet offering poolside chilled towels, card games, sunscreen and more.
- Celebrity Flagship Store is the first-ever store with souvenirs of the happy place cruise and one-of-a-kind Celebrity products only available on Celebrity Xcel plus an interactive exhibit celebrating all things Celebrity.
- The Spa features Celebrity’s first Hydra Room, where guests can indulge in a water-focused wellness experience, along with a new outdoor Vitamin D Deck where spa goers can soak up their daily dose of sunshine.
The Bazaar
A three-story venue, the Bazaar is a destination itself, sort of like a favorite port of call on shore brought to the ship. I’ve never seen anything like it on a cruise ship. When you walk through the LED archways into the Bazaar, you can tell you’re in for a different experience.
“It’s intended to bring the destination on board,” Hodges Bethge said, adding that passengers often say they wish they had more time to experience a destination. “This way you can. You can do it on the ship.”
The Bazaar celebrates one of four festivals, all themed around the ship’s destination. On Caribbean sailings, the festivals are Carnival, Aqua, Viva and Flora.
The festival being celebrated is featured on the colorful arches and in the unique scent of each festival you smell as you walk down the walkway into the Market at the Bazaar. Local artisans create more than 80 percent of the items featured in the market.
Some of the artisans come on board to share their work and keep the money they earn, plus they offer samples and even teach passengers how to make some mementos. On my visit, I learned how to make Bahamian Salt Scrub, which the local provider said has been used for centuries by Bahamians for its skin-healing power. Then I was given a container filled with what I had created.
The Bazaar also features pop-up musical performances and offers two dining spots – the casual Spice Café and the destination-inspired Mosaic.
In addition, the Bazaar has a Chef’s Studio cooking class where guests can learn to make traditional Caribbean dishes. The Bazaar restaurants and cooking class allow passengers to get the taste of a destination without even stepping off the ship.
IYKYK
Did I say that Xcel has seven new spaces and entertainment? Yep, there are and I didn’t forget the seventh one. The letters IYKYK stand for what officials say is Xcel’s best-kept secret with the initials for “If you know you know.”
I don’t want to give away too much of the surprise, but I will say that I stepped into a photo booth in The Club, inserted my room key in a slot, and had three photos snapped. Suddenly, a lighted walkway opened up, along with a secret door that led into a special room.
No photos or videos are allowed in that room. Anyway, it is more fun to discover for yourself what’s inside that special hideaway. So, go ahead, and book a Celebrity Xcel cruise to delight in all the wonders on this marvelous new ship that definitely lives up to that excellent name.
For more information about Celebrity Xcel
Visit the Celebrity Cruises website
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