Celebrity Cruise Ship Classes: 5 Different Types Explained

Celebrity Cruises’ fleet is broken down into three main classes: the Edge series, Solstice series and Millennium series. Fourteen of the line’s seventeen ships are umbrellaed beneath these three classes, with the remaining three ships being smaller, individual vessels for Galapagos expeditions and river cruising. 

Here’s what you need to know if you’re planning an upcoming vacation and trying to choose the best ship for your needs.

Celebrity Edge Class

The newest ships in the Celebrity fleet, when the Edge series debuted in 2018, with lead ship Celebrity Edge, it was the cruise line’s first new vessel in about six years. 

While the Edge series ships aren’t necessarily huge by today’s standards (just compare them to mega ships like those operated by Royal Caribbean), they have introduced some cool new features both to Celebrity Cruises and the industry as a whole.

Celebrity Edge

Right at the beginning, Celebrity Edge took things to new heights.

It gave cruisers The Retreat, which is the cruise line’s VIP ship-within-a-ship area. It also brought new stateroom categories to the table, including the state-of-the-art Edge Stateroom with the Infinite Veranda. 

If you’ve yet to experience an infinite veranda stateroom for yourself, I’d highly recommend it, at least once. You basically get to enjoy an indoor-outdoor living space, thanks to the ability to lower and raise the exterior window at just the touch of a button.

It’s almost like a balcony, but better, because you don’t have to actually leave your stateroom to enjoy the outdoors. Plus, the infinite veranda staterooms on Edge-class ships are 23% larger than the normal veranda staterooms on Solstice-class ships.

Another groundbreaking feature to debut on Celebrity Edge is the Magic Carpet. These cantilevered platforms sit out over the side of the ship and are used for dining, as social areas, etc.

Then, there’s the Rooftop Garden, which is a lush public space with a restaurant, sculptures and more. 

Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Beyond

In 2020, Celebrity Apex brought further new features to the line, including the Craft Social pub. Celebrity Beyond, meanwhile, introduced the line’s Aqua Sky suites, a wellness-focused suite category with spa-associated amenities, including access to The Retreat.

Celebrity Beyond was also a jump in size, weighing in at 10,000-plus greater GT, as compared to prior ships in the class — a trend that continued on with the next two ships.

Both Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Ascent offer larger public spaces, more dining options and nearly 200   more staterooms and suites than the class’s preceding vessels.

Celebrity Xcel and Future Ships

Then, most recently, Celebrity Xcel joined the fleet in November 2025 — and it’s getting great reviews. It continued the trend of expanding the cruise experience, with new features. 

At its launch, new dining included Spice Café, replacing the cruise line’s prior Eden Café and offering rotating destination-inspired menus; Mosaic, a fine dining eatery that likewise rotates menus based on itinerary; and Bora, a Greek supper club.

Meanwhile, The Bazaar is a new indoor-outdoor space that offers an ever-evolving selection of fun, including marketplace-style shopping, live music, dining and more. There’s also the first-ever Celebrity Flagship store aboard the ship, as well as the new experiences in the spa, like a   Hydra Room and Vitamin D deck.

Celebrity’s Edge class is still ongoing, with a sixth ship expected to arrive in 2028: Celebrity Xcite. 

Celebrity Solstice Class

The Solstice class is getting up there in age, but these ships are still worth your consideration for an upcoming cruise, as they’ve been renovated and kept up to modern standards — even if they’re not quite as flashy as the most recent, Edge-class ships. 

When Celebrity Solstice entered service in 2008, it was significantly bigger than any of the other ships that the cruise line had put out before. Solstice-class vessels measure in at about 30,000 greater GT than Millennium-class ships. They can also hold about 500-plus more passengers, at least.

Celebrity Solstice introduced the Lawn Club, an outdoor space that quickly became a favorite throughout the fleet, as well as new dining, drinking and entertainment.

The Lawn Club features real grass, which felt absolutely groundbreaking at the time of the ship’s launch, and the club is even home to a glass-blowing pavilion, where you can take glass-making classes.

Celebrity Reflection made its own waves, when it introduced the cruise line’s first two-bedroom suite. The Reflection Suite measures in at more than 1,600 square feet.

All of these ships have been refurbished relatively recently, within the last five years. Some have also been outfitted with features and highlights that originally were only available on Edge-class ships, but were later added to older ships when time came up for reno.

Celebrity Millennium Class

The oldest ships in the Celebrity Cruises fleet, the Millennium series vessels, are also the smallest.

Celebrity Millennium was initially intended to be even smaller than it is, but both this ship and Celebrity Infinity arrived weighing in at 91,000 GT, and that was a size the cruise line stuck with for the rest of the vessels in this class. 

The Celebrity Millennium was the first ship to debut after Celebrity Cruises’ merging with Royal Caribbean Group.

While all of these ships are old by industry standards, they have been refurbished not once, but multiple times, with upgrades made to bring them up to par. Just as was done with the Solstice class, Millennium vessels have also been updated to include features and venues that were previously only available on newer ships.

Celebrity Flora Class

As mentioned, there are an additional three Celebrity Cruises ships beyond the 14 detailed above. 

In the Celebrity Galapagos series, there’s currently just one ship, Celebrity Flora, which debuted in June 2019 and can accommodate just 100 guests with its gross tonnage of 5,739 GT.

The ship serves expedition cruises to — where else? — the Galapagos Islands. The cruise line claims that the ship offers the largest suites out of any ship sailing to the destination.

River Cruises Class

Then, Celebrity Cruises recently announced that it would be delving into the river cruising market. It plans to introduce two river ships in 2027. Celebrity Compass and Celebrity Seeker will both be able to accommodate 172 guests.

Both will set sail on the Rhine and Danube Rivers and the ships will offer some river cruising industry firsts. For example, they’ll feature Magic Edge cantilevered dining pods that float above the water.

They’ll also feature eight restaurants and bars, with 24/7 dining. No other river cruise provider is currently offering that many dining choices or 24/7 dining. 

Which Class is Best for You?

With Celebrity Cruises sailing to destinations all across the globe — Alaska, Australia, Europe, Asia, Hawaii and beyond — when deciding which itinerary you pick, you may have your choice of multiple ships across more than one class.

So how do you pick the best fit for you? 

If you prefer the absolute height of innovation and all things new when you cruise, then you’re absolutely going to want to sail on an Edge-class ship, hands down.

If, though, you prefer a smaller size ship and a more intimate setting, you can’t go wrong with one of the older vessels in the fleet. While older ships may not have some of the fanciest features, like the Magic Carpet, they still have everything you need for a top-tier cruise, such as plenty of restaurants, spas, casinos, lounges, etc.