Two Celebrity Cruises ships, head to head — specs, amenities, and what each one is genuinely better at.
Celebrity Xcel (2025) is the newer ship by 3 years versus Celebrity Beyond (2022). Celebrity Xcel is the larger hull at 141,420 GT (~1% bigger).
| Spec | Celebrity Beyond | Celebrity Xcel |
|---|---|---|
| Year built | 2022 | 2025 |
| Tonnage | 140,600 GT | 141,420 GT |
| Guests (double occupancy) | 3,260 | 3,260 |
| Guests (max) | 3,873 | 3,873 |
Trophy marks the ship that wins each row. Smaller capacity = more space per guest.
Celebrity Xcel leaves Fort Lauderdale on April 26 for a 15-night crossing to Barcelona — and the per-night math is doing something unusual.
Most autumn cruise sales inflate Guest 1 fares. We audited 10 live campaigns to find the 5 deals from $69/night that actually save money.
Celebrity added two new loyalty tiers above Zenith. Reaching the top one would cost roughly $7M in suite fares to unlock a cruise worth $12K.