XCEL

[C-Dragons]

On 11/9/2023 at 7:24 PM, ROYALBOY said:

OK how many have booked the inaugural cruise for the XCEL. US👍🏼👍🏼

Waiting until the TA's are available to book. 😎

[TourDeCruise]

We just returned from the Dec. 3rd Ascent Maiden Voyage. We wanted to book the Xcel inaugural cruise b2b with the cruise that follows BUT it would require us to fly during the Thanksgiving holiday week and we are not going to do that. Instead, we booked Xcel for December 7th, 2025. I think the itinerary is Bimini, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. We really do not care what the itinerary is. We are going for the ship and cruising, not the itinerary. We have been to Bimini once and many times to the Yucatan (many cruises and 2 land trips) and Grand Cayman. Looking forward to everyone else's getting off the ship in the ports, so we can enjoy the ship with few people onboard. We love the Edge-class ships.

[daydreamer16]

On 11/10/2023 at 3:39 PM, hasentreelake said:

Coral Princess (for the old locks)

Love the Coral, great cruise!

[Salt Lifer]

On 11/9/2023 at 7:24 PM, ROYALBOY said:

OK how many have booked the inaugural cruise for the XCEL. US👍🏼👍🏼

Thought about it, but decided to hold off until they launch Word down the line ....

[563toM]

Booked for November 30th as we didn't want to book for the first two weeks.  I would rather them work out the small problems and have the crew feel more comfortable working on the new ship before we board.  We love cruising out of Fort Lauderdale so it will be fun as we have never cruised on a brand new ship.

[CunucuMom]

We enjoyed our Ascent pre- pre-cruise so much that we booked the Xcel Inaugural while on board.  Sailed Ascent with zero expectations as far as service and food while they worked out the first sailing bugs and we were pleasantly surprised at how much we didn't experience brand new ship hiccups.

[CruiseMrB]

3 hours ago, CunucuMom said:

We enjoyed our Ascent pre- pre-cruise so much that we booked the Xcel Inaugural while on board.  Sailed Ascent with zero expectations as far as service and food while they worked out the first sailing bugs and we were pleasantly surprised at how much we didn't experience brand new ship hiccups.

Glad to hear this. We waited until 7 January Ascent cruise because we wanted some of the hiccups (limited, from everything I've heard) and "new ship smell" - i.e. "outgassing" - to subside. Every report so far has been pretty positive. Here's hoping that continues!

 

Not a big fan of the name. 30+ years of experience with spreadsheets, so this is both a misspelling and brings up bad memories. It was predictable on both levels, so I'm not giving Celebrity a pass on this. Rename the ship while they still have time. This is almost the equivalent of "Boaty McBoatface"

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by CruiseMrB

[megfla]

We've booked the second sailing for Thanksgiving!  We'll let the work a few kinks out with you...😉

[miched]

The end of Nov is a bad time to roll out a new ship.   We recently got off of a cruise close to Thanksgiving.   We drove from Mi.   I swear that every licensed vehicle was on the road.  It was bumper to bumper for 1200 miles.    Hotel prices were outrageous.    We booked hotels in a year in advance as  that is the earliest you can do it.  When we were checking into the hotel we could hear the clerks telling people that they were sold out. 
 

Watching the news air travel seemed worse.  Weather delays and holiday crowds.  
 

I made a mental note not to book any cruises during that time and to stay home.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[megfla]

29 minutes ago, miched said:

The end of Nov is a bad time to roll out a new ship.   We recently got off of a cruise close to Thanksgiving.   We drove from Mi.   I swear that every licensed vehicle was on the road.  It was bumper to bumper for 1200 miles.    Hotel prices were outrageous.    We booked hotels in a year in advance as  that is the earliest you can do it.  When we were checking into the hotel we could hear the clerks telling people that they were sold out. 
 

Watching the news air travel seemed worse.  Weather delays and holiday crowds.  
 

I made a mental note not to book any cruises during that time and to stay home.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

The beauty of living in Florida!

[KeyLimeKayak]

On 12/14/2023 at 11:14 AM, megfla said:

The beauty of living in Florida!

Yes! We just had a great experience taking the new Brightline route straight to Ft. Lauderdale for a December Ascent sailing. Went so well we just booked Xcel for Thanksgiving week 2025. The train changes everything, 100% stress free.

[Cruise a holic]

E Class ships are the best.   They keep getting better!  Try it-you'll like it!

[Stem to Stern]

Not us.  But we are booked in a Sunset Verandah on the 11/30/2025 sailing.  Back in mid-November we placed a refundable deposit on a cruise only fare offered by the TA that came in less than the current fare Celebrity is offering on their website with a non-refundable deposit.  I would love to be in The Retreat, but I am not about to fork over $10K+ for a 7-night cruise in a Magic Carpet Sky Suite.  Although it appears as if a few people are more than willing.  Will be watching closely for any changes in pricing and rechecking back in with TA.

[BecciBoo]

On 11/9/2023 at 7:52 PM, Cruise till you drop said:

We booked for Jan 2026.

We're looking at it for our Jan.1, 30th anniversary but also looking at the inaugural, ain't scared o'no Hurricane!  Excited to see the next one and whatever sculpture they're gonna put on the Lido!

Edited February 4 by BecciBoo

[georgiaguy]

On 11/9/2023 at 7:57 PM, hcat said:

holding off pending reviews

Sincere question. Are you expecting it to be all that different than Ascent?

[doghog]

If we see an itinerary we like that the Xcel is cruising to we'd book it.  Not based on someone's review.  

Edited February 4 by doghog

[denby]

We booked February XCEL 2026 while we were on a December Ascent. We love E Class and will just be there to enjoy the ship not the ports.

[Lastdance]

So, TA to or from Europe plus an additional cruise for a b2b, depending on a few other factors.  2025 is all booked, so hopefully we will be ready to cruise again, then Xcel-ing at life and enjoying those lovely European ports, along with the ambiance and relaxation of TA’s. 

Edited February 5 by Lastdance

[Lastdance]

5 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

Sincere question. Are you expecting it to be all that different than Ascent?

Not that much, but once it gets over to Europe the history, culture and fun starts, although, it does depend a little on the itinerary.  Anyone have any prior knowledge about dates of TA’s, or ports in Europe?  

Edited February 5 by Lastdance

[JackE]

On 12/13/2023 at 8:00 AM, CunucuMom said:

We enjoyed our Ascent pre- pre-cruise so much that we booked the Xcel Inaugural while on board.  Sailed Ascent with zero expectations as far as service and food while they worked out the first sailing bugs and we were pleasantly surprised at how much we didn't experience brand new ship hiccups.

We did the same! We really enjoyed being on the pre-inaugural cruise of Ascent that while on board we booked the maiden voyage of Xcel. The itinerary doesn’t mean that much to us, it was a blast being on a brand new ship. 
 

Happy cruising all!

[StellaTN]

We booked the Xcel for Feb 2026. Excited to get one of the V1 cabins with a real balcony. My understanding is that there are only 4 (maybe 6?). Less than a SV, a real balcony and a better location. I don’t think the V1 category was available for the Ascent? 

[nednrom]

Booked for Christmas week 2025 for a retirement celebration and was able to get a veranda on the starboard side. Category V1, not found on any other E class.  We will see how it turns out, the IV category I booked while Edge was being built was turned into an Aqua class cabin with no extra charge. 

 

 

Edited February 5 by nednrom

[hcat]

On 12/12/2023 at 3:20 PM, TourDeCruise said:

We just returned from the Dec. 3rd Ascent Maiden Voyage. We wanted to book the Xcel inaugural cruise b2b with the cruise that follows BUT it would require us to fly during the Thanksgiving holiday week and we are not going to do that. Instead, we booked Xcel for December 7th, 2025. I think the itinerary is Bimini, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. We really do not care what the itinerary is. We are going for the ship and cruising, not the itinerary. We have been to Bimini once and many times to the Yucatan (many cruises and 2 land trips) and Grand Cayman. Looking forward to everyone else's getting off the ship in the ports, so we can enjoy the ship with few people onboard. We love the Edge-class ships.

on Ascent,  fewer people got off at San Juan so our planned day to relax at the outside pool never happened... too many were hanging out there.. til it rained. hard and long   Then many  overwhelmd the Solarium area!

 

Until X adds newer itins , more cruisers will stay on board at the "been there done that " ports .. (We saw some fresh ones listed for the new,  much smaller Oceania ship which we might try!)

 

After Ascent, we have Silhouette and APEX booked..but not Xcited about XL!  

Edited February 5 by hcat

[BecciBoo]

15 hours ago, denby said:

We booked February XCEL 2026 while we were on a December Ascent. We love E Class and will just be there to enjoy the ship not the ports.

WE're done with Caribbean ports too, been there done everything, just chill on a new ship!

[Pushkin]

Booked SV for Jan 2026 cruise.