Celebrity Cruises has appointed Brazilian chef Janaína Torres as the godmother of its latest Edge-class vessel, Celebrity Xcel, underscoring a shift in maritime tradition where culinary distinction intersects with cultural engagement at sea. Torres, recognised in 2024 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants as the world’s best female chef and noted for her innovative and sustainability-minded approach to cuisine, was selected for the ceremonial role ahead of the ship’s naming in Fort Lauderdale on November 16th, 2025. Her association with the ship highlights the company’s emphasis on integrating destination-inspired foodways into the cruise experience, extending the historic maritime custom of ship sponsorship to reflect broader themes in travel and cultural exploration.
The choice of a chef as godmother departs from the traditional practice of selecting royalty or public figures, aligning instead with a trend observed in contemporary cruising where culinary programming and cultural immersion are increasingly central to passenger expectations. Celebrity Xcel incorporates a venue known as The Bazaar, designed to connect onboard life with the cultural and gastronomic identity of ports of call through a rotating mix of regional food offerings, artisan markets and interactive experiences that blur the boundary between shipboard amenities and destination heritage.
Commissioned into service following its delivery in late 2025, Celebrity Xcel is scheduled to embark on an inaugural season from Fort Lauderdale with 7-night voyages in the Caribbean, later repositioning to Mediterranean waters for summer 2026 sailings from Barcelona and Athens. These deployments emphasise regions with distinct culinary traditions shaped by geography and history, reinforcing the vessel’s operational role in linking maritime passage with experiential engagement ashore.
In this context, food functions not merely as an onboard amenity but as an element of cultural interpretation and connection, intended to supplement the sequential pattern of port visits with a continuous narrative of place through taste, tradition and local foodways. This alignment of ship programming with broader global tourism strategies reflects the growing recognition of culinary travel as a means to deepen engagement with destinations, support local economies and integrate sustainable sourcing into maritime tourism practices.