Celebrity Xcel – Cozumel – Peaceful Excitement
The Celebrity Xcel is Celebrity’s brand new Edge class ship, whose maiden voyage was scheduled for November 18, 2025. Perhaps because the ship’s construction was ahead of schedule, or because this was the secret plan all the time, Celebrity added a 4-night preview sailing on November 9th, round trip from Fort Lauderdale with a single stop in Cozumel, Mexico.
In early May we booked an Infinite Veranda guaranteed rate, meaning the cruise line would assign our state room as it got closer to the sailing. This cost us $2,367, not including gratuities, drink package, or wi-fi, which we would add later. This is the second of two trip reports, and covers the Celebrity Xcel – Cozumel, final day at sea, and disembarkation. We close with our overall thoughts on the ship, Premium Access and a little bonus feature. For embarkation, days one and two, check out Celebrity Xcel – Revealing Preview Cruise Embarkation and a Blissful Day at Sea.
Celebrity Xcel – Cozumel
The ship rock n’ rolled a bit last night through a rough Caribbean Sea caused by a cold front passing through. We’ve definitely had far worse — Disney Magic sailing from Bermuda to NYC in late October, I’m looking at you! Usually the movement is conducive to a good night’s sleep, but not so last night. What had been a gentle whisper the night before became a loud creaking that absolutely consumed stateroom 6272. We weren’t the only passengers to notice it.
The good news is we had docked at the International Pier in Cozumel very early this morning. The Norwegian Prima was the only other ship at the pier, even though there were supposed to be five ships docked. We’d later find out that the rough seas and winds had caused the other three ships to skip Cozumel. But here we were.
Since we’d never been to Cozumel, we wound up booking a shore excursion with Celebrity called Destination Highlight: The Best of Cozumel. This included a bus pick up at the pier, shopping at a store in town, a visit to the Mayan Bee Sanctuary, a scenic drive along the coast, a visit to the Mayan Cacao Company, wrapping up with learning about and tasting Tequila.
Since we had some time before the excursion, we had a leisurely buffet breakfast at the Oceanview Cafe. All the usual edibles were available, though I must say be careful which sausage you choose. I purposely bypassed the vegan sausage area, but have a feeling I either wound up with a non-meat sausage or that something went dreadfully wrong in the cooking process.
Disembarkation later that morning was quick via Destination Gateway on deck 2. It was windy but comfortable on the pier, and we snapped a couple of ship photos, one of the Xcel and one of the NCL Prima.
There was still time before we needed to check in for the excursion, so we wandered around the cruise terminal for a while. You walk around outside, and step inside to the various stores, and in our case we popped into one of the Pharmacias to pick up a hair tie for Rona, in order to resist the wind. All the stores seemed to take US dollars. There’s a big duty free shop, random other shops, as well as a Señor Frogs, Tequila a GoGo, and Margaritaville.
There was some level of desperation for customers in some of the stores, given Cozumel is almost entirely built on tourism, and 60% of today’s cruise ships were a no-show. We had a little taste of tequila in one store, and while the guy was a little pushy, it wasn’t too bad. We easily found the tour meet-up point right beside Margaritaville, and so checked in and waited for the departure time.
Most of the Cozumel excursions from Celebrity or third parties were all inclusive beach resorts, snorkeling, dolphin/manatee/sea creature encounters, booze, or Mayan ruins. We’ve never snorkeled and the cruise that we paid for is already an all inclusive resort with good food and drink. Given the cold front that had passed through, it was only in the low 70’s Fahrenheit, and quite cloudy, resulting in some buyers’ remorse for those beach excursions.
Mayan ruins were appealing to us, and the San Gervasio Ruins sit on the island of Cozumel, with the larger Tulum Ruins on the mainland. The former is about a 15-20 minute ride, whereas Tulum is 2+ hours each way, including a ferry and bus once on the mainland. All told, Tulum would have been a 7-8 hour excursion, and passengers reported the ferry ride being pretty rough given the weather. San Gervasio, a worship site to a Mayan Goddess, gets mixed reviews in terms of excursion value. We had originally booked that excursion, but wound up canceling in favor of the one we did experience.
Our tour operators had us line up right on time to follow them out of the cruise terminal like we were on a school trip. The bus pulled up just past the gates and we climbed aboard. Our tour guide, Enrique, a native of Cozumel, told us our first stop was at a store to which he brings his friends that visit, Los Cinco Soles, which is right in the main town of San Miguel de Cozumel.
The large, colorful Mexican artisan shop offers a wide variety of handicrafts, clothing, jewelry, pottery, textiles, gourmet foods, and premium tequilas in a hacienda setting. There were a large number of friendly employees there to help. Our primary goal here was to buy Mexican Vanilla both for ourselves and the kids, though we thoroughly enjoyed looking around. I’m particularly fond of all the Day of the Dead decorations.
Next up was a visit to the Mayan Bee Sanctuary, halfway across the island from west to east along the Transversal Road. The Mayan Bee Sanctuary exists to preserve the endangered, stingless Melipona bees that were sacred to the Maya and vital to their agriculture, medicine, and culture.
The sanctuary features guided tours through lush gardens, traditional Mayan structures, and working hives where visitors learn about the bees’ history, honey production, and conservation.
Enrique (on the right in the photo) actually gave us most of the tour, starting off by explaining the traditional Mayan blessing ceremony to honor the bees and the natural setting, though the ceremony itself was conducted by a guide of Mayan descent.
Enrique brought us to the bee hives, and explained everything about them. He also showed us some locally crafted traditional Mayan items (the artisan was there) and dropped us off at the honey tasting tent. We learned all about the benefits of honey, and what lay in wait at the gift shop. We did buy Melipona bee honey throat drops and honey lip balm.
When we were done with the bees, we climbed back aboard the bus for a scenic 35-40 minute ride taking us south along Quintana Roo Coastal Road on Cozumel’s wild east coast, with sweeping views of turquoise Caribbean waves crashing against a rugged limestone shoreline. We passed open stretches of untouched beaches, wind-bent palms, and small roadside stops before cutting back inland toward the island’s developed western side where the Mayan Cacao company is located.
At the Mayan Cacao Company, Enrique guided us through exhibits that show how the ancient Maya cultivated cacao and transformed it into ceremonial chocolate. We tasted a cacao paste that they made in front of us via the traditional grinding process. They have a little cafe offering chocolate drinks and a small shop where you can taste many of the chocolate they sell in bars. Under the ruse of buying Rachel chocolate from every country, we did get some here.
Like much of the island, this location and our next stop were quite tourist driven. Here, they took our picture on the way in with a young woman dressed presumably in traditional Mayan garb, and tried to sell the photo to us on the way out. Enrique had advised us on the bus ride over that this would happen, and asked that we only be polite to them if we weren’t interested in the photo.
Ten minutes down the road from the Mayan Cacao Company is a place called Barriecito, which seems to offer a variety of recreational activities, including Lucha Libre, Mexican wrestling characterized by colorful masks, high-flying acrobatics, and a theatrical, story-driven approach to the sport. There are excursions that feature Lucha Libre, however we were here for the Tequila. On the way into the building we had more photos taken by people wearing the same tour company shirts as was worn by the photographers at the Mayan Cacao Company.
Enrique delivered us into a separate room and introduced us to the host who taught us all about the different types tequila, how they’re made, the difference between good and not so good tequila, and how to drink it without the kind of regret many people suffer when drinking the subpar stuff or too much of any of it. We tasted two kinds of tequila, blanco (minimally aged) and espresso tequila liquor. The first sip did burn, but the second sip, as promised, did not.
After the tasting, we went through the store, which naturally sells all sorts of tequila and a wide variety of local gifts. There is a sheltered outdoor courtyard with a taco stand, which Enrique had called to verify would be open for us. Given that our tour started before lunchtime and it was now 4:30 PM, we ordered three street tacos, one each of chicken, pork and beef. The tacos come on soft corn tortillas, on which you can add a few toppings. The meat, which was sitting in sterno chafing kits, was a bit dry. They were relatively inexpensive ($10) and tasty though, and the taco stand accepts US dollars.
On our way back out to the bus, we once again politely declined the offer to purchase the photos they’d taken on the way in, and as before, they did not exert much pressure to do so.
The ride back to the cruise port took all of three minutes. Once we stepped off the bus for the last time, we slipped Enrique and the bus driver gratuities and our thanks. We paid $48 per person for this five hour excursion plus the gratuities, and we were happy with it, in particular for our extremely knowledgeable and entertaining guide Enrique.
Back on board, we took a little rest in our cabin before getting dressed for dinner. It was still windy outside, but the seas had calmed a bit.
That night we had dinner in Tuscan Grille. For starters, Rona ordered an appetizer-sized portion of the Strozzapreti Carbonara, while I had the Pasta Fagioli. The carbonara was tasty, but the sauce was cream-based rather than the more authentic egg-based one she’d hoped for. The soup was also tasty, though a bit thin.
For entrees, Rona went with the Seared Branzino and I had the Grilled New York Sirloin Steak. The fish had a crisp skin and Rona quite liked the combination of the flaky filet with the parsnip puree, lentils and spinach. Sirloin is certainly a less expensive cut, but this was tender and juicy and cooked perfectly.
Rona skipped dessert, but I ordered the chocolate cake, and made it a la mode. It was warm and rich, and with vanilla ice cream, how can you go wrong?
We were planning to skip the theater show in favor of drinks somewhere and the rock show in the Club. After browsing some of the shops we decided to try to get into the speakeasy (#IYKYK), obtained our pager and waited on one of the couches in the Club. We passed the time chatting with some folks who had just arrived from the early theater show seating, and said the show had been really good. Given how long the wait was for the speakeasy, we altered our plans, returned the pager and headed for a quick drink elswhere on the way to the theater.
We stopped off at Craft Social, grabbing a table close to Le Grand Bistro and within listening distance of the entertainment in the Grand Plaza. Craft Social has a build-your-own old fashioned menu, where you can select your preferred bourbon, bitters, syrup and garnishes. Our server, Tiara came and took our orders with a smile, somehow committing our pair of custom old-fashioneds to memory.
Properly lubricated, off to the theater we sashayed, where we once again took advantage of the Premium Access seating for the 9:30 PM show. Tonight, the show was Chapters, a visually immersive journey told through dance, aerial artistry, and massive LED visuals, depicting life’s stages of growth, change, and self-discovery in a dream-like, cinematic style. The giant screens behind the stage of the Edge-class ships really make a difference for shows like this.
The show ran for about 45 minutes, which allowed us to briskly make our way back to The Club for Rebel – A Classic Rock Experience, only a few minutes late. These three tenors, who previously headlined in Las Vegas and tour all over the world put on a great show, singing a variety of familiar high energy classic rock songs. We stood off to the side of the bar, more drinks in hand and had just an absolute blast.
When the show was over, it felt like there was time for one more cocktail, a nightcap if you will in a quieter locale (we were fully taking advantage of the premium drinks package today). So we went up to deck 5 midship to the World Class Bar, which is Celebrity’s “fine drinking” establishment, a.k.a. the fancy bar.
The bartender was super friendly and let’s just say we are rooting for his girlfriend, who works on another Celebrity ship, to join him on the Xcel for her next rotation! Rona had her standard Condesa Gin and Diet Tonic, but I had the American Pie Cocktail (bourbon & apple cider), one of their signature cocktails. I love bourbon and apple concoctions, and this was great. We’d be back to World Class tomorrow for Mixology 101.
Day 4 – Not our Poolest Day Ever
The next morning began our final full day on the Xcel, and fortunately the seas were much calmer overnight. The ship’s creaking from the previous night had subsided. First up was to finally try the Spice Cafe for breakfast, followed by some arts and crafts in the Bazaar.
The Bazaar had transformed into a tropical carnival dreamscape, with many surfaces and the digital murals exploding in super saturated color and jungle motifs.
The Spice menu menu had also transformed with tropical themed items available. We bellied up to one of the counters in Spice and each of us ordered a carnival breakfast sandwich on an English muffin, which was made with bacon, egg, cheese and guava jam. Rona also ordered a breakfast tortilla, essentially a Spanish Omelette, while I added a piece of French Toast with caramelized pineapple and whipped cream (or was it Chantilly?) This was all under heaters behind glass, but they had just brought forward a fresh collection of the sandwiches from the kitchen, so we had high hopes.
I took in the view from a table in the glass-enclosed seating area while Rona ordered us some coffee from the beverage counter.
A bit more than five minutes later when she got to the table, drinks in hand, the food had gone mostly room temperature to cold. Temperature aside, the breakfast sandwiches were standard fare and solid, with the guava jam adding a sweetness to the salty breakfast meat and cheese. The tortilla was just okay, but the French toast was outstanding.
With breakfast out of the way we watched some of the Carnival entertainment before wandering around the related activity carts that had been stationed around the Bazaar, acting like mini craft stations.
All but one activity cost extra, so we chose the included-in-your-fare craft. Back on day 2 – Aqua Day – we had decorated bookmarks with metallic gel pens, stickers and a tassel. Unsurprisingly, Rona produced the pretty one and yours truly created a monstrosity. For Carnival, the included craft was origami. We gave it a whirl, and in spite of, or maybe because of the explicit directions, this was an epic fail, of which we won’t speak, other than to say we aren’t good at following directions.
Since it was technically still morning somewhere, I felt like additional caffeine was required, so we returned once more to Café al Bacio. This time Rona had a very snazzy iced tea situation with hot tea in a glass pot resting precisely atop a small pitcher of ice. This year I began to branch out my coffee intake beyond brewed coffee and Café Americanos, so I tried out a Macchiato for the first time ever. Sadly, it wasn’t for me.
While sitting in a comfy chair in the Grand Plaza, it occurred to us this was the final day aboard this sailing, which meant one thing! Well, it generally means a lot of things, but certainly aboard Celebrity it means one very important lunchtime food-related thing! Super bougie lunch buffet!
We rushed up to the Oceanview Cafe, arriving a few minutes before noon to find access to all the food still cordoned off, with many crew members taking photos of glorious amounts and varieties of seafood, and in particular shrimp. Mounds of peel & eat shrimp. Great big bowls of cooked shrimp. Shrimp as far as the eye can see! It was all about the shrimp (no lobster). You’ll just have to imagine it as I was too busy drooling to take a photo.
On this sailing there would be no lobster, not for lunch or for dinner in the main dining rooms or in the buffet. Well, unless you call langostinos real lobster, but we don’t because they’re not. But there was plenty of salmon, little clams, crab, and more. There was also quite the display of desserts, with cakes, pastries, and a chocolate fountain with fruit, marshmallows and more for dipping.
We took our first helping of food and sat at one of the long tables that face out the windows to the sea. We chatted with another couple and dug in. We devoured loads of shrimp, clams, and untold piles of other hot and cold foods. It was all fresh and flavorful, except maybe the langostino, which was essentially thawed from frozen and was mostly tasteless. I did try some but left most of it over.
After a short digestion break, it was time for our Mixology 101 ship excursion back at the World Class Bar, and it was led by the same bartender from the evening before. We were a small group seated at the bar, set up with all the tools of the trade. You learn about the different preparations from stirring to shaking and then create three different cocktail, with the mixologist demonstrating each first.
For this sailing, the three were the Martinez De La Frontera, a La Chica Loca, and a Mediterranean Cobbler, the ingredients of each growing progressively sweeter as we went along. We crafted full-sized cocktails, all of which were ours to fully consume. Some of us were far more successful in doing so, though the cobbler had raspberries, and for those who’ve followed along on our journeys, that is not my thing (devil’s berry). Overall, this was an educational and fun time, and for $48 per person was completely worth it.
Right after mixology, we went back to the Bazaar hoping to nab a spot to watch the Carnival show. And though we’d arrived an hour before the 4:30 PM showtime, there was not a seat to be had anywhere, including where you most definitely cannot see the show. A side effect of looking for a seat was that we got some steps, doing the full walking tour of every possible spot on deck 5, along the giant aft windows, and overlooking the Bazaar from deck 6.
Later on we once again tried for a pre-dinner cocktail at the speakeasy (#IYKYK), so shortly before 5:30 PM we obtained our pager and took a seat in our favorite waiting room: a stool at The Club bar. Rona ordered her now traditional and most favorite Hibiscus Collins with diet tonic, while I went for the always traditional Old Fashioned.
It wasn’t long before we’d finished our drinks and our pager went off, and we were admitted to the photo booth and speakeasy that lurked beyond. Pro tip: show up for the speakeasy as close to 5pm as possible. The line gets longer from there. Also, check out our first trip report for more details on #IYKYK. The entertainment within was similar in style to last time, but different in detail, and the drinks once again sublime.
Rounding out the main dining rooms, dinner tonight was at Normandie, the contemporary French restaurant. For starters, Rona went with the Coquilles (scallops) Saint-Jacques from the Normandie Exclusives menu, while I had the mushroom soup. The scallops were served with a delicious mix of cream, cheese and breadcrumbs, while the mushroom soup was warm and earthy.
For mains, Rona went with the night’s special, what was purportedly Shrimp Scampi, and I ordered the Prime Rib. Again, though this was the final day on this sailing, Celebrity was not offering lobster. Perhaps this was due to this being a shorter sailing.
Anyway, the prime rib was tender and cooked perfectly. The shrimp scampi was neither garlicky nor buttery, instead the shrimp sat atop a pasta in a thick cream sauce. Rona didn’t enjoy it very much. I ordered dessert, which tonight was Chocolate Pots de Crème, though it mostly resembled a garden variety chocolate mousse. It was good, though.
Comedian Ralph Harris was the headliner in the theater for the final night of the sailing. This was a mix of stand-up and funny storytelling, while he imitates his grandfather. Earlier this year, he was voted to be the first headliner on the Celebrity Xcel by participants in the Celebrity Dreammakers global community.
Because we planned to disembark with our own luggage the next morning, we had to be up quite early, so after skipping out on the Poolest Day Ever, we also skipped the Shine the Night party up on the pool dec. Instead, these party poopers headed back to the cabin to pack (sniff), and prepare for the next morning.
Disembarkation Day
The next morning, we were up early and watching from our cabin as the ship sailed into Port Everglades around 6:30 AM. Our flight was scheduled out of Fort Lauderdale at 11:15 AM, so to ensure we had no issues getting to the airport in time, we decided to carry all our own luggage off the ship starting at 7:30 AM, before any of the other groups. We ate a quick buffet breakfast at Oceanview Cafe, which was open early with a full selection.
At 7:30 AM, we lined up for disembarkation, and after a short wait, the queue moved and we quickly made our way off the ship, stopping to thank Luigi De La Cruz, one of the fantastic cruise directors. Shawna Hachey was the other, though we did not see her during disembarkation. The awesome Captain Kirk was also in the terminal shaking hands, and thanking everyone for sailing.
We were outside the cruise terminal, ordering a Lyft (that morning, Lyft was cheaper than Uber) to the airport by 8AM. Our Lyft picked us up in the rideshare area along the main road in front of the terminal 15 minutes later, and we arrived at Fort Lauderdale Airport 15 minutes after that. The trip cost $31 + gratuity, and was 100% worth it. If we had gotten off the ship later, there likely would have been a longer rideshare wait, though reserving a rideshare ahead is always an option.
Premium Access Review
At the time we booked the Premium Access package, it cost $15.99 per day per person, and at the time of booking, it included:
- Concierge lunch in a main dining room
- Reserved theater seating
- Premium Wi-Fi for 2 Devices
- Unlimited Room Service (waived service fees & gratuities)
- Priority Embarkation & Luggage Delivery
- Priority Disembarkation & Express Luggage Service
- Priority Tender Service (Priority departure from the ship to shore when tender service is required)
The package is not worth it for everyone, such as Retreat guests who already receive many of these benefits. Also, a few months after we booked the package, Celebrity announced that it was dropping the first two package benefits above – concierge lunch and reserved theater seating – for all sailings beginning August 1, 2026 for guests that had already booked the package. If you try to book the package now for a sailing before August, those two benefits are not listed.
The same day we booked the package for this sailing, we also booked it for the same daily price ($15.99) on a 7 night Mediterranean sailing aboard the Xcel in June, 2026. Yet this package, which now offers fewer benefits than it did when we booked it, has continually increased in price, and as of this writing the daily price for that June cruise is $40.99 per person per day.
Did we take advantage of the package and was it worth the $15.99 for us for this sailing? As noted, we did take advantage of the Concierge lunch. The buffet tends to be really busy at lunch time on embarkation day, so being able to avoid that madness and sit in one of the main dining rooms was a nice perk for us.
We took advantage of the reserved theater seating each night of the cruise, though that benefit mostly allows you to arrive closer to show time for the more popular shows. That is especially handy if you are going to the early show in the theater (7:30 PM) as well as a later show (9:30 PM or later) in The Club or the Bazaar, and want to eat in one of the main dining rooms without feeling rushed, or don’t want to eat at a time that seems like they should be offering the early bird special.
We tend to stay plugged in and use the Wi-Fi on multiple devices. The higher speed of premium Wi-FI is noticeable. As for room service, a limited menu is already included with your cruise fare, but this package gives you access to the full menu, and we took advantage of that once.
Because we checked in via the Celebrity app as soon as check-in became available, our boarding time was 11:30AM, but priority embarkation allowed us to board the ship whenever we wanted, which in this case was shortly before 11AM. We definitely appreciated that embarkation was a breeze and we got to start our vacation sooner. It was also nice that our luggage was delivered to the stateroom promptly.
On disembarkation day, a.k.a. “The day of sadness”, because this was a short and warm-destination cruise for which we packed less, we chose to carry all our own bags off the ship, which meant we were part of a group that disembarked before anyone else. So, we didn’t take advantage of priority disembarkation. Lastly, this sailing had no tender port, so that benefit went unused.
For $15.99 per person per day, $128 in total, we got our money’s worth. $40.99 per day, which would have meant $328 in total feels pretty steep, and even more so with the loss of the first two benefits.
Conclusion
This was our third sailing with Celebrity Cruises, and we are big fans. Overall we had a great experience and loved the service. Shout outs to Luigi and Shawna, the cruise directors, for all their energy, and huge kudos to all the crew who made this ship’s very first sailing special.
As for the food, we loved Bora for brunch. The food in the main dining rooms was good, not great. We aren’t huge buffet fans in general, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Oceanview Cafe is quite good, with a huge selection, with most everything fresh and appealing looking. Spice Cafe is a step up from the Eden Cafe on the other Edge-class ships, though we wish the food stayed a bit warmer. Café al Bacio remains our go to coffee place, and all the bars we visited were top notch.
The entertainment on this sailing was the best entertainment we’ve had on three Celebrity cruises, spanning the Celebrity Solstice, Apex, and now the Xcel. The shows in the theater were good to great, but the shows in the Club were amazing. We can’t comment on the shows in the Bazaar, because we were unable to see them due to the venue not really set up to handle the crowd.
The infinity veranda stateroom was shiny and new, had (just) enough room for our belongings, and was generally comfortable, except for the hard mattress. The bathroom was functional, with plenty of storage, nice new soft towels, and a shower with good water pressure. Hopefully the mattress softens up a bit over time and Celebrity fixes whatever caused the creaking in rougher seas.
Thanks for following along, and now let’s close this trip report with some of our favorite art aboard the Celebrity Xcel.
