The Celebrity Ascent Brings Vegas-Style Luxury and Entertainment to the Seas

I didn’t expect to actually ascend on the Celebrity Ascent. During a recent media preview of Celebrity’s latest Edge-class cruise ship, we were given a close-up tour of the high-tech theater that houses its Broadway-style shows. Near the center of the stage is a large circular elevator that slowly lowers to the trap room below, letting props and performers dramatically appear and disappear. We boarded the lift from the lower room, and as it brought us up to the stage, lights slowly cycled through various soft colors as smoke billowed out around us. We emerged from the smoke and darkness into the stage lights, and although there was no audience to greet us, this literal ascension was one of a number of cool moments during our brief stay on the Ascent. 

That tour highlighted the state-of-the-art tech behind the Ascent’s theater, a commitment found all throughout the Ascent and Celebrity’s other Edge class ships. The Ascent combines inspired design and top-notch technology with just the right amount of luxury, resulting in an elegant cruise where you’ll be tempted to stay onboard no matter what port you’re in. The Celebrity Ascent feels like a classy Vegas resort at sea—an aquatic Aria or a nautical NoMad—with the kind of upscale dining and exquisite decor you’d expect from those hotels.

You’ll almost immediately notice this when you first board the Ascent. The atrium—here called the Grand Plaza—stuns with a massive, multi-tiered chandelier with an ever-changing LED light display. Almost two floors tall, this chandelier is a 21st century Art Deco statement piece. It sits directly above the Martini Bar, where you’ll find classic cocktails poured by a team of bartenders who put on a short show every hour or so; the central open area around the bar has three levels of seating for when the atrium is at its busiest. Overlooking the Grand Plaza you’ll find some of the Ascent’s best dining options, from James Beard-winning chef Daniel Boulud’s ritzy Le Voyage (which totally looks like something out of a super rich planet in Star Wars), to Fine Cut Steakhouse, along with the Craft Social sports bar. The main hub for the Celebrity Ascent’s nightlife, the Grand Plaza unites the striking tech of that chandelier with a wealth of dining and drinking options, and even during a preview it was positively hopping on a Saturday night. 

The Grand Plaza is the part of the Ascent that will most make you think of Vegas, but you’ll find other echoes throughout the ship. The most stunning space on the Ascent is probably Eden, a restaurant and lounge that takes up several floors at the back of the ship, which is covered in lush greenery and colorful furnishings. To get there you have to walk through Aurora, an installation by the avant garde design artists Fredrikson Stallard; a hallway covered in mirrors with atmospheric lighting and several reflective silver sculptures, Aurora recalls Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms, and is the kind of immersive art experience you’d expect to find in a luxe Vegas resort.

Technology is also central to two of the Ascent’s entertainment options. Game On is a gameroom where your body is used as the controller; its original games include a riff on Pong where you use your body to bounce a virtual ball back towards your opponent, and other activities that recall the full-body workout of Dance Dance Revolution. Meanwhile The Annex, a new space not found on other Edge-class ships, offers full-screen golf and football simulation games, alongside private karaoke and movie nights; it can be rented out for groups in two and a half hour blocks. Given all the other options for fun and leisure on the Celebrity Ascent, I didn’t spend too much time with either, but if I was on a full week-long cruise with friends or family I could see a karaoke party or game night making my agenda.

Something definitely worth making time for if you ever sail on the Ascent: those Broadway-style shows—and not just to see that stage lift in action. Three shows are currently being performed on the Celebrity Ascent, all of them directed and choreographed by well-known dance and theater professionals whose resumes include work for the stage, screen, and TV. We saw previews of two of those shows, and they were both way more elaborate and memorable than any show we’ve ever seen on a cruise before. Awaken explores the power of dreams through dance and music, using the confusing, ever-shifting nature of dream logic as an opportunity to push that theater and its massive, multi-paneled screen to their technological limits. This occasionally surreal show stays grounded through the graceful motion of its dancers, but even their evocative moves often felt utterly unreal to somebody who can struggle to just stand up straight like I do. Bridges, the other show we saw in the theater, uses a central set-piece of a two-tiered bridge as the focus for a show about how music and dance can unite us across different cities and cultures. An opening suite set in London gives way to segments where that bridge represents the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and more, with songs and choreography that fit the spirit of those locales. Both shows, while shorter than a Broadway production, feature dancing and technology that rival the best found on the Great White Way.

Despite that, Awaken and Bridges might not be the best show on the Ascent. The ship’s nightclub (called, humbly, The Club) is home to a ‘50s-themed musical revue called Smoke & Ivories. The Club is a much smaller and more intimate room than The Theater, and the cast dances throughout the audience, essentially making them a part of the show. The two singers are both tremendous as they work their way through songs that span the last seven decades, while a cast of dancers dressed in sleek 1950s threads perform complex choreography that includes tap and acrobatics and that spreads out throughout the whole club. One of the highlights is a slow, somber take on Sia’s “Chandelier” with, yes, an acrobat twirling high above the floor in the crystal chandelier that’s one of the show’s two visual centerpieces. The other is a piano built inside a giant piano-shaped stage where much of the singing and dancing occurs. Unless you’re able to get one of the handful of seats with a clear view of the central floor, much of Smoke & Ivories will happen outside your sightline; fortunately they broadcast the show live on TVs throughout The Club, and you’re guaranteed up close and personal time with dancers throughout the show no matter where you might be sitting (or standing—this was a really popular show the night we went to it.) 

The Ascent also boasts something that’s become standard on the Edge class ships: The Magic Carpet, an elevated bar area that changes floors throughout the day. Attached to the side of the ship, it feels a little like a tender boat that’s been turned into a lounge; it can be moved up and down in the same way tender boats are, but it has a bar and tables for standing and sitting. With its glass walls and ceiling The Magic Carpet offers an enchanting floating sensation, like you’re not quite on the Ascent itself but traveling right alongside it in the sky. I don’t know if that’s the best thing to experience if you’re several drinks deep, but for an opening cocktail or two it’s sublime.

When it comes to entertainment, design, and how both can intersect with and make use of technology, the Celebrity Ascent ranks among the best that Las Vegas has to offer. (And yes, of course the Ascent has a casino.) Add in the wonderful restaurants (more on that later) and you’ll feel like you’re staying at a top Vegas resort that lets you wake up in a new town almost every day. If you’re curious about cruising and want a lot of entertainment options but don’t want to wind up on a raucous party ship, the Celebrity Ascent, and Celebrity’s other Edge-class ships, are a good, luxurious place to start.

Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, comedy, travel, theme parks, wrestling, and anything else that gets in his way. He’s also on Twitter @grmartin.