Celebrity Ascent
The Celebrity Ascent is the fourth in the Edge Class series & debuted in December 2023. Celebrity Ascent is almost a spitting image of its slightly older beautiful sister, the Celebrity. The exception to the Beyond is that the Ascent has added a private dining room for the Le Voyage restaurant by Michelin 3 star restaurateur, Daniel Boulud, as well as a new Chandelier and some new art and decor.
I boarded the Celebrity Ascent on March 24th, 2024 for a 7 night Spring Break sailing to the Eastern Caribbean. This sailing was completely sold out of its 1646 Staterooms/Suites. This sailing embarked over 3400 people plus crew including 351 children under the age of 18.
When I arrived at the cruise terminal to board the ship, the check in process was very smooth from taxi to boarding the ship in less than 25 minutes. I stayed this week in a Sunset AFT Balcony Cabin #10297 at the rear of Deck 10 & loved it! This stateroom had an amazing 180-degree wake view in addition to a large traditional balcony, which included 2 full size lounge chairs, two regular chairs and a small table. All other Balcony Cabins, aside from the Sunset Aft Balconies or Suite Class accommodations on these edge class ships, are equipped with infinite window balconies that go partially down for a nice breeze and views.
The Ascent brings back some of the favorite specialty dining options from the other Edge Class ships including Le Voyage, Eden, Le Grand Bistro, Le Petite Chef, Raw on 5, Rooftop Garden Grill & Fine Cut Steakhouse. These are all amazing options, which I’ve tried on several other Edge class cruises! During this cruise, I tried Fine Cut Steakhouse specialty restaurant at an up charge $65 per person plus 20% Gratuity. I found the meal and atmosphere to both be very nice and well worth the minimal cost. If you would just like to enjoy the main dining room experiences you have already paid for, you have four wonderful options to do that with, as well as a buffet. The four smaller intimate main dining restaurants options are Tuscan, Normandie, Cyprus, and Cosmopolitan. All four restaurants have a standard menu, while each of the four restaurants also has a smaller personalized menu for that restaurant for that day. You also have the option of the Oceanview Café Buffet for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
Celebrity did an amazing job this sailing with their kids club “Camp at Sea” on deck 3 keeping a majority of the kids busy, to free up the parents to also have fun. The pool bars were very busy, especially the two-story high Sunset Pool bar which is a very popular meeting spot. There is also some nice meeting space areas set aside on the Celebrity Ascent for your group needs. A private Golf Simulator is tucked away in a private room that can be rented for up to ten people for 2.5 hours at a cost of around $300. That same room can also play karaoke instead of the golf simulator for that same 10 people or host a small party complete with 4 choices of food from the “BITES” Menu of appetizers. Appointments are necessary and prices for that simulator room can vary by port day or sea day but seems like a fun option for a small group.
Even though this ship was completely sold out this week, foot traffic flowed very nicely. The lines for anything were not excessive. Celebrity Cruise Lines commitment to quality service showed itself well once again this week. I found the food quality as well as shipboard entertainment this week to be decent and at a premium level.
My final take on the Celebrity Ascent:
I left my cruise at the end of the 7 days being a big fan of the Celebrity Ascent! If you choose to book your next group cruise or charter on Celebrity Ascent, my guess is that you will become a big fan too! I found nothing that I didn’t like in this large premium class ship!
Written By:
Kurt Budde 04/2024
