u/TwistPositive7306

Recently disembarked from a 7-night Celebrity Xcel sailing — Barcelona to Athens, with stops in Malta, Kusadasi/Ephesus, Mykonos, and Santorini. This was actually our second time on the Xcel — we did the preview sailing back in November, so it was interesting seeing how things have settled in since then.

Also our first time booking a Sky Suite outright (previously won one through a Move Up bid on the Apex), so happy to compare that too.

Some quick hits: ate way too much at Fine Cut Steakhouse (liked it more this time compared with a year ago on the apex), Bora for both brunch and dinner was great, visited IYKYK way more this time than we did on the preview sailing & enjoyed it more too, and have “opinions” on all the ports, including a somewhat bummer of a visit to Malta, though it was partially colored by the excursion we took.

Also happy to talk Retreat perks, excursions, ports, embarkation logistics, preview vs. now comparisons, or just answer whatever.

Ask away!

>Ending the “live” part of the AMA but will still answer any questions folks have, though maybe a bit more slowly. Thanks for all the questions!!!!

I just noticed for next week’s Xcel sailing, they’ve got 60% discounts on moveup bids. For example, if you’re in a sky suite and would like the spa benefits and Blu, minimum bid to move up to an aqua sky suite is $365pp. $920pp to move to Celebrity Suite. Those are pretty good deals if the bids succeed considering the price difference if you book those rooms outright.

Curious about the min bid from infinite veranda to sky suite.

In November, 2025 we boarded the Celebrity Xcel for her preview sailing from Fort Lauderdale, a 4-night journey with a stop in Cozumel sandwiched between two sea days. There’s been questions on the Xcel Facebook group about whether Bora for brunch is good and worth it. I’d written up two trip reports for the entire sailing on our little XperiencedTravel blog, but had the Bora brunch experience tucked into the first report rather than as a standalone creature. So, I figured I’d share the Bora brunch snippet, minus all the trip report’s food, drink and menu photos right here for those interested.

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Bora brunch was our sole specialty dining reservation and was set for 11:30 AM on the first sea days. though a little card at our door advised us we could show up at 11 AM and enjoy the unlimited Bloody Mary bar in the garden.

After losing at General Knowledge Trivia back in the Club, we headed up to deck 15 for our Bora reservation, arriving at 11 AM as suggested for an 11:30 AM reservation. The host handed us some wooden Bora tokens and redirected us to the little stand-alone Bloody Mary station in the garden, advising us to have a seat in the garden with our drinks until it was time for our reservation.

It turns out that anyone with an appropriate drink package (or the token) could also take advantage of the Bloody Mary bar. You get to choose from a couple of vodka’s, gin’s and tequilas and a wide variety of toppings, including many different olives, tomato and mozzarella skewers, antipasto skewers, bacon, shrimp, and more. The only down side for us is that I don’t drink Bloody Marys.

We took Rona’s drink and the bottle of water I’d brought to one of the cushioned seats in the garden. It was windy up on top of the ship, and despite being in a somewhat sheltered spot, the wind spent its time proving that the giant umbrellas were made of tougher stuff and quite stable. We chatted with a lovely couple from Texas for a while, and when 11:30 AM arrived, I went back to the host stand, and about 5-10 minutes later we were seated at a table for two.

Bora is essentially outside, but with enough shelter overhead to make it comfortable in a light rain, which was fortunate because right after we were seated there was a brief rain shower. It features a breezy and vibrant Mediterranean-inspired decor with panoramic ocean views (though no ocean view where we were seated), accented with elements like Santorini-inspired blue-and-white decor.

The menu looked excellent, and I ordered a Paloma to go with Rona’s second Bloody Mary. The server told us we could order whatever food we wanted, however much we wanted with the only limit being the two-hour seating. There were four seafood items that were an extra charge, including oysters, crab claws, a seafood tower, and jumbo shrimp dish.

So for starters, we ordered all three of the included seafood items: a smoked salmon platter, shrimp with oil, paprika and sherry vinegar, and lobster medallions in a lemon beurre-blanc. Five good-sized and super fresh pieces of rolled smoked salmon came out with capers, chopped onions, tomatoes and eggs. The shrimp tapas dish came out with a couple pieces of bread for dipping and it was absolutely delicious.  The lobster medallions were sizable and delicious as well.

For entrees, Rona ordered the shakshuka with a side of chicken sausage and I ordered the eggs benedict, prepared “the Bora way”, meaning it was supposed to be on a croissant, with gravlax, ricotta along with a poached egg. The shakshuka was tasty, though the egg wasn’t very warm, but Rona would get it again. The chicken sausages weren’t Rona’s favorite, and I wasn’t particularly impressed with them either. The eggs benedict wound up being served on a more traditional English muffin rather than the croissant, but everything else about it was “the Bora way” and it was delightful. They know how to poach an egg up here.

Along the way, they brought around trays of pastries, including plain, pistachio, and white chocolate croissants, which we sadly declined given the amount of food we had in front of us and what was already stretching our stomachs. Others who had those croissants gave them a thumbs-up. 

While we were seated, we had our second encounter with a cruise-vlogging Youtuber. Seated right at the next table was Jared, one half of J.J. Cruise. We struck up a conversation with him and he could not have been nicer. He was recording material for their Celebrity Xcel first impressions video (Easter Egg at the ~50 second mark) on Youtube, while his partner Jordan was on the Star Princess. 

Overall, we really enjoyed brunch at Bora, and for $42 per person including gratuities ($35 price + $7 gratuity), it was well worth it for the service and what we ate. We got lucky with the weather as well. We were in a sheltered spot so did not notice any wind, and for the most part the sun was out during our meal. This is definitely on our list when we’re back on board the Xcel in 2026.

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Happy to answer any questions!

We sailed the Celebrity Apex on a repositioning cruise from Barcelona to Southampton last April and bid the minimum ($630pp) on a Sky Suite upgrade. Our bid was accepted five days before sailing. Move Up questions come up here and elsewhere on social media somewhat frequently, and so wanted to share what we learned.

The availability check trick most people skip

Before deciding how much to bid, go through Celebrity’s booking process anonymously as if you were a new customer and check how many suites (or whichever stateroom category you’re after) are actually available in your target category. If suites are plentiful, minimum bid is worth trying. If they’re scarce, minimum bids are likely to fail and the minimum itself will be higher. This single step changes how you approach the entire decision.

In our case there were a lot of Sky Suites available — we think because Edge class ships have more suites than older Celebrity ships, it was a repositioning cruise with lower demand, and it was the first sailing post dry dock. All signs pointed to low suite occupancy so we bid minimum.

What you get — and what you don’t

This is the part most people don’t realize until after they’ve won. When you win a Move Up bid you get the suite cabin, butler, larger veranda, Luminae, and Retreat Lounge access. What you do NOT automatically get is the suite’s included premium drinks and Wi-Fi packages — those only come with a suite booked outright. If you’ve already locked in a good package deal separately that’s fine, but if you’re in a base cabin with no packages, factor that cost into your true upgrade price.

The Captain’s Club points gotcha

You earn points at your original cabin rate, not the suite rate. We sailed in a Sky Suite but earned Concierge points — 5 per night instead of 8. On a 7-night sailing that’s 21 lost points, which matters if you’re working toward a higher tier.

The honest financial breakdown

Our all-in cost: $4,786 for Concierge Infinite Veranda with premium drinks and Wi-Fi, plus $1,260 Move Up bid = $6,046 total. A Sky Suite booked outright on the same sailing would have been approximately $6,700. We saved around $420 and got the suite — but only because we already had packages covered.

When we chose NOT to bid

On the Celebrity Xcel Preview Cruise in November the minimum bid to move to a Sky Suite was $800pp — $1,600 total. We ran the same availability check and found very few suites available. Higher minimum, lower odds, stronger demand on a brand new ship. We passed. Right call.

For our upcoming 7-night Mediterranean cruise on the Celebrity Xcel in June we booked the Sky Suite directly. On a 7-night sailing premium drinks and Wi-Fi for two easily exceed $1,000 — so the difference between an Infinite Veranda and a Sky Suite booked outright effectively became just north of $1,000 for Luminae, the Retreat Lounge, the butler, the real veranda, getting on the ship early, and off to the tenders first. Plus we earn suite-rate Captain’s Club points rather than Concierge rate. Sometimes Move Up is the smart play, sometimes booking direct makes more sense.

Happy to discuss in the comments — curious whether others have tried the availability check approach or had different Move Up experiences.

We’re a Gen X couple boarding the Celebrity Xcel in June for a Mediterranean sailing out of Barcelona, stopping in Malta, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Mykonos, and Santorini, ending in Athens. We also sailed on the 4-night Preview Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale last November so we have some firsthand experience with the ship itself.

Happy to answer anything about the Xcel — the Infinite Veranda staterooms, dining, the Speakeasy, or embarkation. Also happy to talk Barcelona if anyone has questions about the city — we’ve spent time there before. And if anyone has tips on any of our ports we’d love to hear them too!

We just finished a 4-night Disney Wish sailing hitting Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay. Third DCL sailing for us, first on the Wish. We’re a Gen X couple who cruises without kids — happy to answer anything about the ship, the cabins, dining, the private islands, or the adult experience on a DCL sailing.

We stayed in stateroom 8176, a Deluxe Family Oceanview on Deck 8, if anyone has cabin questions.