Celebrity Cruises announced that the cruise line’s newest ship, Celebrity Ascent, completed a major milestone this past week. She successfully completed her first open ocean sailing and successfully tested her propulsion, braking, turns, maneuvering, and emergency systems.
Celebrity Ascent completed her sea trials in the Bay of Biscay near the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France. Celebrity Ascent’s brother co-captains, Demetrios and Tasos Kafetzies, oversaw the testing along with nearly 200 crew members who were aboard testing the ship from bow to stern. These sea trials are the last major milestone in the construction of a ship and it is expected that Celebrity Ascent will be ready for her November 2023 debut.
Celebrity Ascent is the fourth ship in the cruise line’s Edge-class series of ships. The ship includes all the features guests enjoyed on the first three Edge-class ships and then some. She has newly designed restaurants, culinary experiences, entertainment venues and more.
Celebrity Ascent will join her sister ships, Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Beyond, when she sails from Port Everglades, Florida. Her first voyage from her new home port will be a special 4-night Western Caribbean preview sailing on November 22, 2023. She will sail a second preview voyage, a 3-night Bahamas getaway, on November 26, 2023. Her official maiden voyage will be a 7-night Eastern Caribbean sailing on December 3, 2023. The Eastern Caribbean voyage will visit St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Amber Cove.
Celebrity Ascent’s inaugural season will feature 7-day itineraries to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Ports of call will include the Bahamas, Mexico, San Juan, Tortola and St. Kitts. Celebrity Ascent will complete a transatlantic voyage in April 2024 when she sails a 13-night repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona. She will spend the 2024 summer season in the Mediterranean before returning to Port Everglades in late October 2024.