Five Celebrity Cruises ships were included in the Forbes Travel Guide 2023 Star Awards, a guide typically used for ranking luxury hotels, restaurants and spas.
The inaugural ocean cruise ship ratings issued the Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Flora and Celebrity Millennium a four-star rating, the second-highest grade from Forbes. The Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Summit earned a rating of "recommended," which is the third-highest grade.
The remainder of the ship's fleet, except for two smaller Galapagos ships, will be evaluated in the year ahead, according to Celebrity. Evaluations are performed by anonymous trained inspectors for Forbes who stay on a property for least two nights.
The ranking comes as Celebrity has positioned itself as a "luxury resort at sea" and contends that the size of a ship does not discount it from being a luxury product.
Forbes Travel Guide, in its 65th year, will include a second wave of cruise ratings that will be announced later this year. Evaluations are underway for other ships "worthy of a star rating for 2024," according to Forbes.
The 2023 list awarded 360 five-star ratings, 585 four-star ratings and 433 recommended ratings.