THE GEN X WANDERER / Is Celebrity Aqua Class Worth It? My Honest Take After Sailing on the Celebrity Beyond

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pre and Post Cruise Stays

This is a definite must and if you haven’t read my post about Cruising for First Timers, please do! And the whole reason for this blog is the points hacking. I will shout it from the rooftops until my voice is hoarse to everyone who wants to hear. POINTS = FREE STAYS!

We booked our pre and post-cruise stays for free (that’s 4 whole days free!) using Marriott Bonvoy and American Express Platinum points. If you want to learn how to do this for free, look no further. I’m not selling a course, nor trying to get any money from you, this is entirely a free PDF. Learn how to get free stays using credit card points here!

Pre Cruise: We stayed at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami | Read my Review here | Watch my video here
Post Cruise: We stayed at the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach | Watch my video here

I Booked this Celebrity Because of this One Captain

Somehow, I missed the memo that Celebrity Cruises is owned by Royal Caribbean Group. For years I had “Celebrity” and “Royal Caribbean” filed away as two completely separate companies (Royal Caribbean also owns Silver Sea, their ultra-luxury 5 star cruise line).

You’d think after this many decades of cruising I’d have figured that one out on my own, but no, I learned it the way I learn most things now: accidentally, while going down a rabbit hole about a ship’s captain. Ahem, Captain Kate.

The Betrayal (Affectionately Speaking)

About 6 months before our sailing (yeah, I booked early), I found out Captain Kate was moving over to Four Seasons Yachts. 😭

Four Seasons. As in the hotel brand. As in, apparently, they’re launching yacht style cruising now and apparently poaching beloved cruise captains to make it happen.

I felt, comically betrayed. Of course she has no idea I even exist, and she owes me nothing. And honestly I’m so happy for her, and that’s a heck of a promotion!

What the Edge Class Actually Is

A few things set these ships apart from the rest of Celebrity’s fleet.

• The Infinite Veranda
  The “balcony” is not treated like a separate area tacked onto the room. It is built into the cabin itself, and a glass wall slides open at the touch of a button, letting the ocean air in without you ever stepping outside a doorway. It really changes how the whole room feels and adds in a little more real estate
• The Magic Carpet
  This is probably the most talked about feature in the entire class. It’s a large giant orange platform jutting out from the side of the ship that physically moves up and down between decks to become a bar, a restaurant, or a walkway. It offers breathtaking views of the ocean and the surrounding glass makes it feel like you are floating on water.
• Then There’s Eden
  Throw in a massive, greenhouse-style lounge called Eden that feels like a luxury resort, and it’s easy to see why these ships feel so different from standard cruise lines. I could not get enough of Eden, the winding perimeter was never full of people and you can take a book there and read for hours. Eden is located in the AFT (back) of the ship and we had our Afternoon Tea. At night, it transforms into a lounge for entertainment and all 3 floors are filled with guests. Usually these performances are on the more intimate side, solo guitarist, piano, and aerialists.
• The Retreat
  For guests booked into the higher tier suites, there is also the Retreat, a private area of the ship set apart from the main crowds, complete with its own pool, lounge, and dining options.

Beyond those signature features, Edge Class ships lean hard into the idea that the ship itself is part of the destination, packed with distinct restaurants, bars, and standout spaces like Rooftop Garden, which we spent plenty of time in during our own trip.

The Ships in Celebrity’s Edge Class
As of 2026 there are five Edge Class ships sailing, listed in the order they launched.

• Celebrity Edge came first in 2018 and started the whole class.
• Celebrity Apex followed in 2020.
• Celebrity Beyond, the ship we sailed for our anniversary, launched in 2022.
• Celebrity Ascent came next in 2023.
• Celebrity Xcel is the newest of the group, launched in 2025.
• A sixth ship, Celebrity Xcite, is already planned for 2028, so the class keeps expanding.

Balcony Stateroom Aqua Class
Check out the stateroom we stayed in on this Edge-Class ship with the Infinite Balcony view. So much storage!

High Tea on Celebrity Cruises
Book this excursion because it sells out fast! This is something you don’t want to miss! Definitely a highlight of our trip!

The Whole Reason We Booked This Cruise

Let me back up. We wanted to do something significant for our 20th milestone anniversary back in 2020, but guess what, the world had shut down. Fast forward 5 years later, and although the Grand Cayman was on our top of the list (we could have gotten a completely free trip using our Marriott Bonvoy points), we decided to go on a cruise again.

Our friends were planning their own cruise, mentioned they were sailing on the Celebrity Beyond into the Caribbean, and somewhere in that conversation someone brought up Captain Kate. If you’ve spent any real time in cruise circles (social media, forums, that one cousin who is “really into ships”) you’ve probably heard of her. She’s basically a minor celebrity within Celebrity’s fleet, known for her personality, her transparency with guests, and the fact that she’s a woman commanding one of the largest cruise ships in the world.

That was the hook for me. I wasn’t picking a destination first, or an itinerary, or even a deal. I was picking a captain. Which, sure, is a slightly unhinged way for a grown adult to plan a vacation. But I contain multitudes.

So my husband and I booked the cruise and we also upgraded to their AquaClass for a steal. So, our 25th anniversary trip was in the works. 25 years. And somehow, despite two and a half decades of marriage, this was only the first time in almost 14 years the two of us had gone anywhere without the kids in tow. I’ll have to write another post on how we spent our 14th anniversary in Alcatraz 😂.

Celebrity Beyond Magic Carpet

Moves up and down between decks to become a bar, a restaurant, or a walkway.

Celebrity Beyond Thermal Suites

Guests in the AquaClass get access to the Thermal Suites for their entire stay.

Okay, But this Ship Seriously Blew Us Away

I’ll be honest, I did not expect to be this impressed. We’ve cruised before, years ago, and I walked onto the Celebrity Beyond with the kind of low, generic expectations you’d bring to any mainstream cruise: nice enough, buffet, deck chairs, the usual. That is not what this was.

The hospitality alone recalibrated what I thought a mainstream cruise line could pull off. Staff remembered small details after one conversation, which at our age feels like a magic trick. Service felt anticipatory instead of reactive, like someone was always a step ahead of what we needed rather than scrambling to catch up after the fact. And the ship itself felt considerably more elevated than anything either of us had experienced before, the kind of design where you keep quietly noticing details: the materials, the lighting, the way public spaces were laid out to feel spacious instead of like a mall that happens to float.

Is Celebrity AquaClass Worth It? Here’s Our Actual Answer

We ended up booking AquaClass almost by accident. It came up as a genuinely good deal, and neither of us fully understood what we were getting until we were living it. Short answer, since that’s the whole reason you’re reading this: YES. Long answer below.

Access to Thermal Suites

The thermal suite alone justified the upgrade for us: heated loungers, steam rooms, a quiet almost spa hotel atmosphere that felt completely disconnected from the rest of the ship’s energy. If you are the type of person who needs a break from your own vacation, this is where you go. I believe the going day rate for access to the Thermal Suites is between $70-90 a day.

Dining at Blu

Then there’s Blu, the AquaClass specialty restaurant, which ended up being one of our favorite parts of the entire trip. Infact, we ate nowhere else for dinner, other than the one with our friends. Lighter, cleaner dishes than typical cruise fare, and a dining room with an actual calm to it instead of the usual dinner rush chaos. It was like fine dining. If you’re weighing whether AquaClass is worth the upgrade cost on your own sailing, our vote is a pretty enthusiastic yes, assuming you can catch a similar rate.

AquaClass guests get automatic, unlimited access to Blu, as it serves as their official, complimentary main dining room for breakfast and dinner. On the other hand, The Retreat (suite) guests have their own dedicated luxury restaurant called Luminae. However, Celebrity does allow suite guests to dine at Blu for free if there happens to be an open table. Because AquaClass passengers always get seating priority, suite guests might face a wait or be turned away during peak dinner hours if the restaurant is completely full.

We made friends with the Maitre D’ and most likely spent 30-45 min each night conversing with him 😂.

Other Perks of AquaClass

Spa Concierge

• Whether you want a customized spa treatment schedule, salon services or a reservation for a massage, their Spa Concierge will take care of everything.
• Unlimited access to the Adults-Only Sea Thermal Suite
• Dedicated Spa Concierge: Personal Consultation
• Priority Spa Reservations
• Complimentary fitness classes (Offering varies by cruise length. Learn more)
• Exclusive spa treatment package discounts*

In-Room

• Yoga mats, and bathrobes, complimentary water.
• 2 Bottled waters in-room: daily
• 2 Yoga mats
• Eco-friendly natural ingredients shower amenities
• 100% Cotton bathrobes, slippers, towels
• Welcome bottle of sparkling wine (upon request)
• Pillow selection upon request

Each ship has different perks, make sure to check which ship you are on.

The Real Surprise: My Husband Was Impressed

Here’s the part that might actually be the most telling review of this whole ship, and it has nothing to do with me.

My husband has worked as a technical producer for live events for almost thirty years. He’s spent the better past of the last decade inside the guts of one of the largest arenas in Canada, running technical installations for concerts, sports broadcasts, conventions, basically the full spectrum of “things normal people see as magic and he sees as a rigging plan.” The man DOES. NOT. GET. IMPRESSED. easily. It takes a lot for him to walk into a space and go, “okay wait, that’s actually well done,” and even when he does, you question if he was being sarcastic or not… because Gen X.

He was truly impressed by this ship’s technical installation. In fact, he had annoying pulled me over in one of my zen states of exploring the ship without a kid behind my heels, to point out how the speaker was meticulously hung overhead in the Eden restaurant. Multiple times. Even the nightly entertainment production in the theatre.

He kept pointing out things I would have walked right past: how systems were integrated, how the AV and lighting in different venues onboard were designed, the sheer scale of coordinating that much technical infrastructure inside a moving vessel etc etc until my ears were dead. Watching someone who does this professionally at the highest level nod approvingly at a cruise ship was, unexpectedly, one of my favorite and most annoying moments of the whole entire trip 🙄.

And Guess what was Birthed After this Trip?

No…. not a new baby, I’m too old for that. THIS BLOG! I genuinely love writing about my experiences related to travel (and I’ve had several blogs in the pas). And hopefully this blog will be a whole lot more.

So, Was It Worth It Without Captain Kate in the End?

Completely, unreservedly, yes.

A real 25th anniversary trip, not a placeholder version of one. We didn’t get to meet the captain but we did get a week of actual, uninterrupted time together, spent an amazing time with our friends, experienced hospitality that reset our expectations for what a mainstream cruise can be, and scored an excellent deal on the cabin category.

Would I still like to sail with Captain Kate someday? Absolutely, when I can figure out how to make enough money to be a guest on the Four Season Yacht.