EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION: I recently sailed on a pre-inaugural voyage of Celebrity’s newest ship, Celebrity Ascent, and brought my skeptical husband along. He had long dismissed cruising, imagining crowded pools and cramped staterooms. Experiencing the ship in person changed that perspective.
Celebrity Ascent is the latest addition to Celebrity’s Edge Series, joining Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Beyond. Celebrity plans to add one more ship, Celebrity Xcel, in 2025, making five ships in the series.
Arriving at Port Everglades in Florida, the ship’s scale was striking — far more impressive live than in photos. Finding our way around the ship took some time; its size and layout are expansive. Clear signage outside the elevators made it easy to tell which direction was forward or aft, and helped us navigate the public spaces and corridors until we became familiar with the layout.
PHOTO: © TRACEY CULLEN
GUEST QUARTERS: We stayed in a Sky Suite, a comfortable 319-square-foot accommodation with a private veranda furnished with two chairs and a table. The suite included a king-sized bed, a small desk and chair, and a seating area with a couch and coffee table. The bathroom was well designed, featuring a long sink with dual faucets at each end that made shared getting-ready time convenient. The shower was roomy, and the toilet had its own enclosed space for privacy. This layout was a pleasant surprise compared with the compact bathrooms my husband had imagined; the stateroom felt as spacious and comfortable as many upscale hotel rooms.
SERVICES/AMENITIES: Entertainment and amenities on Celebrity Ascent cover a wide range of tastes. Evening offerings include Broadway-quality performances, an interactive mini-golf experience, a lively game show, and a speakeasy-style jazz club. The Rooftop Garden is a standout area, featuring float pools that cantilever over the ocean and glass-sided spaces that extend beyond the ship’s edge for dramatic views.
For dinner we dined at one of the ship’s eight specialty restaurants, Le Petit Chef at Le Grand Bistro. This was more than a meal — it was an immersive dining experience. Visual projections are cast directly onto the table’s white cloth, transforming it into a stage for animated scenes created by renowned visual artists. The tiny animated chef appears to prepare each course, guiding guests through a playful presentation from soup to fish to beef Wellington. Shortly after the animated demonstration, waitstaff served the corresponding real dishes. The show is imaginative and engaging — especially fun for families, though adults will enjoy the creativity just as much.
TOP TAKEAWAYS:
- Be sure to catch the bartenders’ Flash Flair Fusion performance at night in the Grand Plaza — it’s an energetic, skillful show that draws a crowd.
- A signature element of Celebrity’s Edge Series is the Magic Carpet, a cantilevered, floating platform painted bright orange and roughly the size of a tennis court. The Magic Carpet can travel up and down the ship’s exterior to different deck levels, serving a variety of functions while offering spectacular ocean views from as high as 13 stories above sea level.
Overall, Celebrity Ascent delivers an upscale, modern cruise experience with thoughtfully designed staterooms, varied entertainment, and distinctive features that set the Edge Series apart. For first-time skeptics like my husband, the combination of spacious accommodations and imaginative onboard experiences made a convincing case for cruising.