Celebrity Cruises ships from newest to oldest — a complete list

2 weeks ago 11

What's the newest Celebrity Cruises ship? If you're thinking about booking a trip with Celebrity, it's a good thing to find out.

The newest Celebrity ship is typically also the Celebrity ship with the most bells and whistles and the most up-to-date venues, including cabins, restaurants, bars and attractions. It's what you want if you desire the very latest and greatest in a vessel for your Celebrity Cruises vacation.

Right now, the newest Celebrity cruise ship is Celebrity Ascent. It just debuted in December 2023.

Although Celebrity Ascent isn't even a year old, it'll soon be supplanted as the newest Celebrity Cruises vessel by Celebrity Xcel — a very similar vessel in the same Edge Class series of ships as Celebrity Ascent. Celebrity Xcel is scheduled to begin sailing in November 2025.

Other relatively new Celebrity cruise ships include Celebrity Beyond, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Flora and Celebrity Edge. All began sailing in the last six years.

In all, Celebrity Cruises operates 16 vessels. On average, the line comes out with a new ship every two years, and it typically keeps vessels in its fleet for around 20 to 30 years before retiring them from the fleet. The oldest Celebrity ship, Celebrity Millennium, is 24 years old.

In general, Celebrity's newest ships are bigger and packed with more venues than its older ships. If you are looking for Celebrity ships with the most restaurants, bars, lounges and other amenities, you'll want to stick to vessels built in the last few years.

That said, the above is a generalization that comes with an asterisk. One of Celebrity's newest ships, Celebrity Flora, is also one of its smallest ships.

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With room for just 100 passengers, Celebrity Flora is one of three very small vessels in the Celebrity fleet that operate year-round tours in the Galapagos. It's essentially an entirely different business for Celebrity than the mainstream, big-ship cruising that is at the core of the company.

Celebrity is, in a sense, two cruise lines in one: a big-ship brand with 13 vessels that carry 2,000 to 3,000 passengers and sail around the world and a Galapagos cruise tour operator with three tiny vessels that carry just 16 to 100 people. We include all of the vessels in this guide.

Note that Celebrity's two smallest Galapagos vessels will leave its fleet in 2025 as it downsizes its Galapagos operation.

Here, every Celebrity Cruises ship currently in operation is ranked from newest to oldest:

1. Celebrity Ascent

Maiden voyage: 2023
Size: 141,420 tons
Passenger capacity: 3,260

2. Celebrity Beyond

Maiden voyage: 2022
Size: 141,420 tons
Passenger capacity: 3,260

3. Celebrity Apex

Maiden voyage: 2020
Size: 130,818 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,910

4. Celebrity Flora

Maiden voyage: 2019
Size: 5,739 tons
Passenger capacity: 100

5. Celebrity Edge

Maiden voyage: 2018
Size: 130,818 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,908

6. Celebrity Reflection

Maiden voyage: 2012
Size: 135,366 tons
Passenger capacity: 3,046

7. Celebrity Silhouette

Maiden voyage: 2011
Size: 122,210 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,886

8. Celebrity Eclipse

Maiden voyage: 2010
Size: 121,878 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,850

9. Celebrity Equinox

Maiden voyage: 2009
Size: 121,878 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,850

10. Celebrity Solstice

Maiden voyage: 2008
Size: 121,878 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,850

11. Celebrity Xploration

Maiden voyage: 2007
Size: 320 tons
Passenger capacity: 16

12. Celebrity Constellation

Maiden voyage: 2002
Size: 91,000 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,170

13. Celebrity Summit

Maiden voyage: 2001
Size: 91,000 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,158

14. Celebrity Infinity

Maiden voyage: 2001
Size: 91,000 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,170

15. Celebrity Xpedition

Maiden voyage: 2001
Size: 2,842 tons
Passenger capacity: 48

16. Celebrity Millennium

Maiden voyage: 2000
Size: 91,000 tons
Passenger capacity: 2,137

What is the newest Celebrity Cruises ship?

The newest Celebrity cruise ship is Celebrity Ascent. As noted above, it debuted in December 2023. Measuring 141,420 gross tons, it's also the biggest cruise ship in the Celebrity fleet (tied with the slightly older, 141,420-ton Celebrity Beyond).

What is the oldest Celebrity Cruises ship?

The oldest Celebrity cruise ship is Celebrity Millennium. It was unveiled in 2000, right at the turn of the millennium (hence its name). Celebrity Millennium was the first of four Millennium Class vessels to debut in the early 2000s that currently are the oldest vessels in the line's big-ship fleet.

What new Celebrity Cruises ships are coming?

Celebrity Cruises currently has one new cruise ship on order: the 3,260-passenger Celebrity Xcel. It's currently scheduled to debut in November 2025.

Measuring 141,420 tons, Celebrity Xcel will be the fifth ship in Celebrity's Edge Class series of vessels that began debuting in 2018. The first four ships in the series are Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Ascent.

The Edge Class vessels are being built at the giant Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

What is the newest Celebrity Cruises ship available for booking?

Celebrity Xcel is the newest Celebrity Cruises ship that you can book right now. While Celebrity Xcel isn't yet sailing, its initial sailings scheduled for November 2025 are already on sale, as are future sailings through April 2026.

Celebrity Xcel is scheduled to spend its first winter sailing to the Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades.

What is the newest class of Celebrity Cruises ships?

The Edge Class is the newest class of Celebrity Cruises ships. Currently in the midst of rolling out, it'll be made up of at least five vessels.

The first Edge Class vessel, Celebrity Edge, debuted in 2018. Three more ships in the series — Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Ascent — began sailing in 2020, 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The last ship in the series currently on order, Celebrity Xcel, is due in November 2025.

The Edge Class vessels aren't just the newest ships in the Celebrity fleet but are also the most advanced vessels in the Celebrity fleet. Designed to carry 2,908 to 3,260 passengers apiece at double occupancy, they each have such innovative new features as Infinite Veranda cabins with outward-facing walls that are entirely made of glass.

Another innovative feature of the Edge Class ships is the 90-ton platform along the side of each of the vessels called the Magic Carpet. As big as a tennis court, the platforms are cantilevered over the side of the vessels and can be raised and lowered to serve different functions — from a waterside bar to a water shuttle boarding area.

What's the difference between newer and older Celebrity Cruises ships?

Newer Celebrity Cruises ships generally are bigger than older Celebrity ships — in some cases, by as much as 35% bigger. As a result, they have room for more onboard venues and attractions than the line's older vessels.

On Celebrity's newest and biggest Edge Class vessels, Celebrity Ascent and Celebrity Beyond, for instance, you'll find expanded resort-within-a-resort areas for suite passengers called The Retreat that aren't on the smaller vessels in the Edge Class series or on other older ships in the Celebrity fleet. These suite areas offer two-story sundecks with hot tubs, lounge chairs and private cabanas that are open exclusively to passengers staying in suites.

Celebrity Ascent and Celebrity Beyond also have 179 more cabins than their sister vessels in the Edge Class series, each of which has 1,467 cabins. As a result, they hold 3,260 passengers at double occupancy. That's up from a 2,910-passenger capacity at double occupancy for Celebrity Apex and a 2,908-passenger capacity at double occupancy for Celebrity Edge.

Celebrity's oldest Millennium Class ships, by contrast, only carry about 2,100 passengers at double occupancy. As a result, they have a more intimate feel, at least in the pantheon of relatively big, mass-market ships.

That makes them a good choice for someone who wants to try Celebrity but isn't eager to travel with big crowds. The oldest ships in the Celebrity fleet thus appeal to a subset of Celebrity fans who prefer more intimacy in a cruise vessel and don't mind giving up some onboard amenities to get it. They are also often less expensive per day to sail on.

Celebrity's three very small Galapagos-based vessels have the most intimate feel of all. They are like tiny boutique hotels that float.

Note that all Celebrity ships are renovated and upgraded on a regular schedule every few years, so even the oldest Celebrity cruise vessels have newer carpeting, updated furniture, modern decor in cabins and other updates. In many cases, they also have had entire eateries and bars renovated over the years with concepts that first debuted on newer vessels.

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Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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