Review: Celebrity Xcel’s Magic Carpet Suite (Our Honest Thoughts)
This is our review of the Magic Carpet Suite on Celebrity Xcel, sailing a 7-night Caribbean cruise.
Celebrity has plenty of beautiful suites, but this one is different. The Magic Carpet Suite is built around a balcony that sits alongside Celebrity’s moving Magic Carpet platform — meaning your outdoor space feels unlike anything on most cruise ships.
We stayed in the Magic Carpet Suite for a full week and used it properly: lounging, working, sleeping, showering, filming, and generally testing what it’s like to actually live in this cabin day-to-day.
Watch a video tour of our suite and overview of the experience here:
This post is focused only on the suite itself — if you want the full breakdown of The Retreat areas, private dining, lounge, priority boarding, drinks, Wi-Fi, and all inclusions, we’ve put that into a separate guide here:
Read: Celebrity Xcel Retreat & Suite Perks – What’s Included (Full Breakdown)
Now, let’s talk about the cabin.
What is the Magic Carpet Suite?
The Magic Carpet Suite is one of Celebrity’s most unique suite categories because of one thing: the balcony.
Instead of a standard veranda, your outdoor space sits beside the ship’s Magic Carpet — a huge platform that moves up and down the side of the ship and changes purpose depending on the day.
We’ll be honest: watching it glide past your balcony is utterly bizarre in the best way. It’s one of those cruise moments where you stop mid-sentence and just stare.
And here’s the part that still makes no sense to us: On Celebrity Xcel, this is the cheapest suite category.
We genuinely don’t understand why — because the layout and balcony are excellent.
Where is the Magic Carpet Suite located?
Our suite was mid-ship, and the corridor leading into it was comically long. The first time we walked in, we actually thought we’d opened the wrong door because it felt like there was an extra “private hallway” before you even reached the cabin.
This isn’t a negative — it just makes the entry feel a bit dramatic, like you’re walking into a tiny apartment rather than a cruise cabin.
Our cabin number was 10180.
First impressions: how does it feel?
Stepping inside, our immediate reaction was: this feels properly spacious.
It’s modern without being cold. Clean lines, calm colors, and it feels designed to be lived in — not just looked at. At first impression, it’s not as luscious looking as the Neptune Suite on Holland America Rotterdam we did this year or the Norwegian Spirit Penthouse Suite.
Most importantly (for us), it stayed nice and cool, which instantly makes a cabin feel more comfortable.
The tech: very modern, with one frustrating flaw
Celebrity leans into smart-cabin features, and overall we loved it.
Lighting, temperature and blinds are controlled by a panel
You can also control a lot of it via your phone
Streaming to the TV worked well, which is perfect for wind-down time
However… for a brand new ship, one thing made us roll our eyes:
The charging outlets by the bed were uneven.
One side had plenty. The other side basically had nothing.
It’s not the end of the world, but at suite level it shouldn’t be a thing.
Our tip: bring a long USB cable so you can reach across to the other side if needed (and avoid bringing banned power strips).
The bedroom and living space
The bed
The bed is huge and genuinely comfortable, with bedding that feels properly “suite-level” — soft, crisp, and high quality. That said, the mattress is very hard. Several people we spoke to mentioned this, although we personally liked it. Mattress comfort is always a very personal thing.
You can split it into twins, but we kept it as a king, and it felt massive.
Storage and wardrobe
Storage was excellent once we actually found it (it’s not immediately obvious at first glance).
Robes and slippers
Plenty of hangers
A safe (on the small side)
Enough space to unpack properly for a week
There’s also a full-length mirror and a decent amount of drawer space.
Other suite benefits
In the suite you’ll also find:
A stocked mini-fridge, complimentary and filled on the first day of your cruise
Two bottles of water, replenished daily
A bottle of wine on embarkation day
Surprisingly for this level of cabin, there’s no coffee machine or kettle in the suite, which feels like an odd omission.
Although the mini-fridge is officially stocked once, we were able to request different drinks on the first day, and our butler then kept the fridge topped up daily with our preferences.
The bathroom
This bathroom is one of the best parts of the suite. It’s spacious and laid out in a way that actually makes sense for two people.
You get:
A large double sink vanity with good lighting
Plenty of shelf and drawer storage
A separate toilet area (with frosted glass)
A vanity area for hair/makeup
A large shower with rainfall head
A tub
About that tub…
It’s usable, but it’s an odd shape. It doesn’t feel like a deep “luxury bath,” more like a shallow mini pool. Fine for a child, just not what you picture when you hear “suite bath.”
The balcony: the reason you book this suite
If you book the Magic Carpet Suite for any reason, it’s this.
The balcony is huge, and the view is what makes it special. You’re not just looking out at the ocean — you can also look down the side of the ship, and depending on your exact position, you get a really cool side-and-aft perspective too.
It feels private, sheltered from wind, and it’s actually usable — not just somewhere you stand for 30 seconds and go back inside.
We spent a lot of time out here:
Relaxing in the shade
Working on a laptop
Watching sailaways and sunsets
Just listening to the sea
It’s one of those balconies that makes the entire cabin feel more expensive.
And yes, we did see the Magic Carpet moving past us. You can’t be on it while it moves, but watching it glide down the ship right next to your suite is genuinely surreal.
The little things we loved
A few details that made the suite feel genuinely premium:
The cabin stayed cool and comfortable
It felt clean, modern, and well designed
Streaming to the TV was easy
Plenty of space to spread out, unpack, and live normally
Great housekeeping — and yes, we loved the evening turn-down touches
The little things that annoyed us
Nothing cruise-ruining, but worth mentioning:
Charging outlets one on one side of the bed
No coffee machine or kettle in the room
The bathtub is unusable as a tub
Some design choices feel more “modern aesthetic” than “practical,” but only slightly
Conclusion
The Magic Carpet Suite on Celebrity Xcel is one of the most unique cabins we’ve stayed in — and mainly because the balcony is genuinely special.
It’s spacious, comfortable, modern, and it feels like a great place to actually live for a week. If you enjoy balconies and you spend time outside, this suite is a standout.
We still don’t understand why it’s classed as the cheapest suite category, because the layout and outdoor space are far more interesting than many more expensive suites we’ve stayed in.
If you’re deciding between suite options on Celebrity Xcel, we’d absolutely consider this one — especially if you can get a good fare.
For everything beyond the cabin — what’s included, how The Retreat works, and whether the overall suite package is worth the money — we’ve written that up separately here:
Celebrity Xcel Retreat & Suite Perks – What’s Included (Full Breakdown)