Celebrity Xperience
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Celebrity Xperience
Celebrity Xperience is an expedition cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises, focused on itineraries in the Galápagos Islands. The content describes a small-ship luxury cruise experience emphasizing intimacy, ecological travel, and wildlife observation. Activities include snorkeling, diving, and guided excursions. The vessel features ocean-view cabins, modern comfort, onboard jacuzzi facilities, and locally inspired cuisine. The content targets search intent related to Galápagos expedition cruises, nature exploration, and all-inclusive wildlife-focused travel.
Itineraries of the Celebrity Xperience
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 5
Sun
Deck - 4
Boat
Deck - 3
Weather
Deck - 2
Main
Technical specifications
- Classe: Xpedition Class
- Tonnage: 1610
- Speed: 11.0 knots
- Passengers: 48
- Decks: 5
- Length: 64 m
- Width: 13 m
History
- 2017-03: Date d'inauguration
Frequently Asked Questions
She measured 1,610 gross tons, ran 64 metres by 13 metres and carried 5 decks, 4 open to guests and only 2 holding cabins. Her 24 cabins were all outside and none had a balcony. She took 48 guests at double occupancy, up to 58 at maximum, with 32 crew. Service speed topped out at 11 knots, which forced island transfers to happen overnight.
Because both figures are correct and describe two different things. Forty-eight is double occupancy, two people in each of 24 cabins. Fifty-eight is maximum capacity using extra berths, a number the Ecuadorian permit made hard to reach inside the national park. Her space ratio ran around 28 tons per guest at full load, respectable for an expedition yacht and modest for a cruise.
She sat in the middle of the trio, larger than the 16-guest catamaran Xploration, smaller than Xpedition and her 2,842 tons. She was also the most basic of the three: balconies absent, one dining room, and a laundry guests operated themselves. She also came from the Vigo yard in Spain, while Xploration was built in Ecuador and Xpedition in Germany. She is the only one of the three to have left the Galápagos for good.
Only three to four years, depending on the source. Celebrity bought Ecuadorian operator Ocean Adventures in 2016 and took over the ship, until then named Eclipse, as Celebrity Xperience. Wikipedia puts her service years at 2017-2019, CruiseMapper runs them from January 2016 to March 2020. Both agree on the substance: she is the Galápagos ship that spent the least time under the Celebrity badge.
Twenty-four outside cabins, every one with a sea view, spread over two decks only, with no verandas anywhere. The choice was really between a high deck and a low deck rather than between genuinely different categories. Low cabins moved less in swell, high cabins gave a better view for wildlife watching from the passageway. A 2017 refurbishment was her last under the Celebrity badge.
At 1,610 tons, yes, even more than on Xpedition. She moved between islands overnight at 11 knots, which stretched crossings and prolonged discomfort when the sea got up. The dry season, July to December, brings the strongest swell to the archipelago. Sensitive passengers should now look at Celebrity Flora, whose 5,922 tons and zero-speed stabilisers change the experience entirely.
Very little, and that was the point. One dining room, a small lounge, open decks, snorkelling gear and tenders for landings: life aboard came down to meals, lectures and outings. She carried park-certified naturalist guides, as Ecuadorian regulation requires of every vessel operating in the archipelago. She also had a self-service laundry, a rare detail travellers appreciated over seven nights in a humid climate.
The complete absence of balconies, on a product sold at premium expedition rates, drew the first complaint. Public rooms were thin, with few places to shelter in the rain, and the 1998 cabins showed their age despite the 2017 refurbishment. Her 11-knot speed meant early mornings and nights under way. Nothing onboard recalled the service level associated with the Celebrity name on its large ships.
No, not with Celebrity, not under that name, and no longer in the Galápagos at all. She left Celebrity service around 2019-2020 and was sold in December 2020. The hull still sails, but on the other side of the world and for an operator with no link to Royal Caribbean Group. A client who wants the Galápagos with Celebrity has one option, Celebrity Flora.
She was sold in December 2020 to Emerald Blue Cruises, a Panamanian company, which renamed her Emerald Dream. She changed hands again in May 2021, this time to Elixir Cruises of Athens, which renamed her Elysium and then Elixir Elysium. The ship therefore crossed the Atlantic to end up in the eastern Mediterranean. Her configuration has barely changed: still 24 outside cabins and around fifty guests.
Elixir Elysium. The confusion comes from the name Eclipse: Wikipedia mentions it in connection with Ocean Adventures, which reads as if she returned to that name after Celebrity, whereas Eclipse was her earlier name, up to the 2016 acquisition. CruiseMapper documents the full sequence, Celebrity Xperience, MS Xperience, Emerald Dream, then Elysium. She is the worst-documented ship of the group, and saying so beats inventing certainty.
Elixir Cruises, a small Athens-based company that positions her as a cruise yacht rather than an expedition ship. The crew is Greek, the clientele European, and the ship also takes private charters for weddings and conferences. Emerald Blue Cruises, the Panamanian owner between December 2020 and May 2021, operated her only briefly. Royal Caribbean Group has no remaining connection to this hull.
The Aegean, on 7-day round-trips from Lavrio, south of Athens, with a Corinth Canal transit on the programme. Calls are Greek: Cyclades and Dodecanese islands depending on the departure. The contrast with her previous life is total, from Galápagos marine iguanas to whitewashed Aegean villages. Bookings go through the Greek operator, outside Celebrity's networks.
Celebrity Flora takes over her function exactly, with the same islands, the same certified guides and a fare covering excursions, drinks and park fees, but in 50 suites instead of 24 balcony-free cabins. For a client attached to the small format without needing Ecuador, Celebrity Constellation offers the mid-scale Millennium class on tightly spaced Mediterranean routes. Celebrity Equinox shows the exact opposite, the Solstice generation and its multiplied spaces. No current Celebrity ship comes down to Xperience's level of simplicity.
Because Ecuador caps the seat count attached to each national park operating permit and Royal Caribbean Group had reached its total. Bringing Celebrity Flora and her 100 seats into service in June 2019 meant freeing capacity: Xperience left service that year, Celebrity Xpedition's capacity fell from 100 to 48 guests, and Silversea sold off Silver Galapagos. The group chose to concentrate on one new hull rather than three old ones. The logic finished in 2025 with the sale of the last two small ships to Lindblad.
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