The new Celebrity Xcel made its first visit to PortMiami earlier this month while getting ready to welcome its first paying guests.

After being delivered to Celebrity Cruises in October, the latest Edge-class ship called in the port during a pre-inaugural cruise that departed from Fort Lauderdale.

The unique port call took place on November 7, 2025, and included a plaque exchange ceremony onboard.

According to PortMiami, the ceremony was attended by Celebrity Cruises’ President Laura Hodges Bethge and Xcel’s Captain Kyriakos Matragkas.

As part of the event, PortMiami Deputy Director Fred Wong presented a special plaque to the 140,600-ton vessel.

Sailing from Port Everglades, the Celebrity Xcel is set to embark on its official maiden voyage on Nov. 18, 2025.

The five-night cruise features visits to ports of call in Mexico and the Bahamas, including Bimini and Cozumel.

The 3,260-guest ship is then scheduled to kick off a series of weeklong cruises to the Western and Eastern Caribbean.

The schedule includes regular seven-night itineraries out of Fort Lauderdale that sail to a wide range of destinations, including George Town in the Cayman Islands, Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Upon completing its maiden season in the Caribbean, the Celebrity Xcel repositions to Europe for a summer deployment in the Mediterranean.

As the fifth ship in the Edge series, the vessel was built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France.

The ship was delivered to Celebrity Cruises on Oct. 23, 2025, and started a trans-Atlantic crossing to Florida with no guests onboard a few days later.

In addition to its pre-inaugural sailing that sailed to Miami, the Xcel is also offering a three-night preview cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. The short cruise departed from Port Everglades on Nov. 9, 2025.