Celebrity Beyond to be biggest and most luxurious Edge-class ship

Celebrity Cruises has revealed the new Celebrity Beyond will be longer and taller than its other Edge-class ships and will feature multiple expanded and reimagined spaces, 179 additional staterooms and suites, a new speciality restaurant, the brand’s first AquaClass SkySuites and much more when she debuts in the UK in April 2022.

The design details were unveiled during a virtual event featuring interviews with the brand’s president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, several executives from the brand’s parent company Royal Caribbean Group, as well as many of the designers involved in creating the spaces onboard the ship. Insights from all interviewees indicated that brand has taken signature elements introduced on sister ships Celebrity Edge (launched in 2018) and Celebrity Apex (debuted in 2020) and made them larger and more luxurious for Celebrity Beyond.

“With Celebrity Beyond, we saw an opportunity to take the extraordinary features of Celebrity Edge – like the focus on the connection with the ocean and the grand spaces - and really amplify them,” said Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Group, parent company of Celebrity Cruises. “We focused on providing more openness, height and spaciousness throughout the ship’s most popular spaces. The end result is a next generation ship that embodies the intersection of architecture and design.”

Celebrity Cruises has expanded outdoor spaces onboard Celebrity Beyond with the help of Tom Wright, lead architect of WKK, whose designs lengthened the ship by 20 metres and increased the height to 17 decks.

“There is something about being at sea and looking for the destination that is coming up that is really quite special and is the reason I sail,” said Wright. “The design of the ship is what provides that window to the world – the vantage point. More space on Beyond created a bigger 'window' and enabled us to add elements that I had always dreamed of for Celebrity's Edge Series like the float pools hanging off the ship. It all adds to the perspective that will be unmatched in the travel experience it offers."

Reimagined by British designer Kelly Hoppen CBE, the Rooftop Garden is 40 per cent larger than on Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Apex, allowing space for additional seating, new private nooks, and the extended Rooftop Grill. The highlight of this area will be two ‘floating pools’ cantilevered six-and-a-half feet over the side of the ship, which were created by Wright.

Meanwhile, Hoppen has transformed the Resort Deck into an asymmetrical space featuring a 25-yard lap pool surrounded by a terraced pool deck and new sunken seating areas.

Hoppen has also redesigned aspects of The Retreat, the exclusive resort space for suite guests. Highlights include reimagined two-storey Edge Villas with outdoor plunge pools, fresh colour palettes and design details in other suites, an updated Retreat Lounge and a new two-storey Retreat Sundeck with secluded cabanas, seating areas, additional water features and the exclusive Retreat Bar.

In addition, Hoppen has updated private restaurant Luminae, which is now at the front of the ship.

Celebrity Beyond will also feature the first space at sea designed by Nate Berkus, design ambassador for the Edge Series. Sunset Bar, which will be almost twice as large as previous iterations, will feature a Moroccan-inspired design scheme, which includes a pergola-covered entrance, covered enclaves and cascading terraces with ocean views at the aft of the ship.

"I took inspiration from some of my favourite places in the world – the best parts of Mexico, the best parts of Greece, the best parts of Uruguay with the best parts of California,” said Berkus. “I wanted this space to represent aspiration. I wanted it to represent relaxation, in an upmarket way."

Indoor spaces have also been transformed for Celebrity Beyond. The Grand Plaza, which spans three decks at the centre of the ship, will be larger than on the first two Edge-class vessels. This has allowed design firm Jouin Manku to place a full, circular Martini Bar in the middle of the space, include additional seating and recreate the chandelier centrepiece to feature hundreds of individual LED lights.

Jouin Manku has also created a new 50-seat speciality restaurant named Le Voyage, which will be outfitted with ”intimate seating cocoons”, luminous portals highlighting the themes of journey and travel, and graphically lit “glass flutes”. The venue will be French chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud’s first-ever restaurant at sea.

Another onboard highlight will be the AquaClass SkySuites, which will boast floor-to-ceiling windows, private verandas, luxurious bedding and other wellness amenities.

During the event, Lutoff-Perlo revealed the Celebrity Cruises has appointed actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow as its new well-being advisor. Paltrow and the team at her lifestyle brand goop will work with the cruise line to curate onboard wellness programming, participate in Celebrity Cruises’ new Women in Wellness initiative and provide wellness and fits kits to Aqua-class guests sailing on Celebrity Beyond and other ships in the fleet (excluding those on Galapagos itineraries).

Celebrity Beyond will sail her maiden voyage from the Port of Southampton in the UK on 27 April 2022. She will sail a 10-night Western Europe cruise to destinations including Bordeaux, France; Lisbon, Portugal; and Seville, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona, Spain.

Celebrity Beyond will then embark on a series of Mediterranean journeys from Barcelona, including nine-night Italian Riviera and France itineraries and 10-night Greek Isles voyages until early October. After repositioning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the ship will sail seven-night Caribbean cruises.

“Celebrity Cruises has always been an innovator at sea, and now we have challenged the status quo with a vessel that goes beyond expectations, beyond imagination,” said Lutoff-Perlo. “Celebrity Beyond shatters any and every preconceived notion of the cruising experience. This exquisite ship offers a journey at the intersection of elegance and approachability filled with what’s important to our guests today: forward-thinking design, culinary excellence, unparalleled well-being and incomparable service.”