New Celebrity Ascent follows sister ships taking on Florida cruise duties

PORT EVERGLADES — Celebrity Cruises is well beyond any growing pains with what has become its signature ship design as the line welcomed to Florida the fourth vessel in its groundbreaking Edge class — Celebrity Ascent.

Celebrity Edge debuted in 2018 followed by Apex in 2019 and a slightly larger sister with Celebrity Beyond in 2022. All four ships have made their debuts from the line’s hub in Port Everglades, which this year is hosting seven Celebrity ships over the winter sailing season.

Executives with the line and its parent company Royal Caribbean Group were on hand Friday for the ship’s official naming ceremony.

“With each new ship, our ambition is to debut the ultimate vacation experience and Celebrity Ascent achieves this by raising the bar for premium travel,” said Royal Caribbean Group President and CEO Jason Liberty. “Her elevated design and new onboard experiences set her apart from competitors and serve as a new benchmark for the travel industry.”

The evening send-off ceremony featured the symbolic champagne bottle smash into the hull of the ship, shown on video as the traditional christening blessings were said by its pair of godmothers, reality TV show star Capt. Sandy Yawn from Bravo’s “Below Deck,” and her sister Michelle Dunham, who founded the Jacksonville School for Autism.

The ship then sailed on a two-night media preview but has since settled into its normal seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries that will run through April 2024.

Coming in at 140,600 gross tons, the standout feature for it just like its sister ships is the Magic Carpet, an exterior elevator platform that acts primarily as an innovative way for passengers to disembark and reboard the ship when it tenders at ports of call, but also doubles as an entertainment and dining venue.

Ascent is a near mirror image to Beyond structurally, both about 60 feet longer than Edge and both with a 3,260-passenger capacity based on double occupancy. All four vessels that were built at Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France feature the popular Infinite Verandah staterooms in which the balcony is part of the cabin.

The top deck features the Rooftop Garden space with infinity pools and al fresco dining at its grill along with the signature pool deck with a pair of hot tubs shaped like martini glasses.

The main Grand Plaza and Martini Bar in the atrium features an interactive chandelier and bartender shows. Its large spa has more than 120 treatment options, and it once again features an adults-only section called The Solarium with its own pool, hot tub and lounge space.

The beauty of the ship is in its details like the cavernous mirror pathway that leads passengers into a section of the ship called Eden, the arsenal of unusual chair and lounge choices, and the army of sculptures that surprise around every corner on the ship. It’s once again one of the most Instagram-worthy vessels at sea.

While visually stunning, the ship’s character also has a heartbeat, as a whole new array of entertainment eats up the theatrical spaces with vigor.

“One of the things that we’ve done very quickly over the last year is really be focused on our entertainment and our activities on board,” said Celebrity Cruises President Laura Hodges Bethge. “It’s one of our guests’ passion points. It’s what our customers tell us they want us to continue to innovate and push further.”

That includes three new shows on the main stage but also three more intimate shows performed in the visually stunning three-deck space Eden at the aft of the ship. Debuting on the line is a crowd-pleasing show called “Smoke & Ivories” during which dancers get up close and personal weaving in and out of the tightly packed crowd within the ship’s small venue The Club.

It combines rockabilly, 50s-era standards and newer songs mixing swing, tap and a frenetic pace that has performers whipping by from all directions.

“You sit really close to the stage. You will get some sweat on your from the dancers because they move really close to you,” Hodges Bethge said. “So it is a full immersive experience and is absolutely amazing.”

In all, two casts including seven acrobats and dozens of dancers with more than 500 costumes along for the ride. A core set of vocalists perform 82 songs across the spate of shows that also includes a new resort deck party that calls on guests to wear metallic and sparkly attire.

Other new entertainment offerings include an interactive projection game experience with The Club called “Game On,” a singalong party called Guilty Pleasures and a tabletop teamwork mystery challenge game experience called “Sands of Time.”

The ample choices for dining include the second version of Chef Daniel Boulud’s Le Voyage, an intimate world cuisine offering with a mostly new menu that makes it distinct from the version that debuted on Celebrity Beyond.

“I thought it was very appropriate to bring the name Le Voyage and to sort of put the cuisine, flavor of the world as well, but my interpretation,” Boulud said, noting it was the name of one of his special menus for his New York restaurant Café Boulud that opened 25 years ago.

Other options unique to Ascent include Eden Restaurant’s new plant-based tasting menu and the updated menu and the 3D, animated, interactive Le Petit Chef dining experience at Le Grand Bistro.

Of 32 food and beverage venues, there are eight specialty restaurants and four complimentary main restaurants with 730 crew members working among them, which is more than half of the total crew on board.

“We look at everything we do every single day about how do we elevate, how do we take that to the next level, so that it’s just a notch above, that it’s simply just better,” said Hodges Bethge. “We put that filter on to make sure that anything we create, whether it’s the show in the theater or the food that you’re getting on your plate, that it’s just elevated.”