KandMB

We were on Infinity last month, we thought the ship was in pretty good condition considering her age and we had no issues with our cabin on deck 9 which was kept immaculately clean by our lovely room attendant. The cruise director was great and seemed to have a good relationship with the onboard naturalist and the Captain. The entertainment was great, we loved all the shows. 
Our only problem was the long wait times for a table in Blu, Cellar Masters ran out of Malbec but fortunately still a supply in Blu! The last two days there was no plain yogurt or lime juice but we managed without those! 
 It was a great cruise full of amazing memories and that’s what really mattered to us. 

We got sparkling wine on embarkation on Nfinity in March, served in Cafe Bacio. 

Yes, we always had both Blu and Main menus and ordered off both. However if we went to the main dining room (in desperation when we couldn’t get a table) they wouldn’t let us order off Blu despite the Maitre’d of Blu telling us we could. 

Maybe that’s what was happening on our cruise…..

1 hour ago, keesar said:

We usually do not have any such experiences. We are pleased with Blu.   However, on Solstice, they reserved a group of tables for 10 cruisers which started from the windows.  These 5 tables were empty until around 6:45 pm when the individuals  began to show.  Most nights, there were about 6 out of the 10 dining there.    We were told they were "reserved".  

 

That’s was our experience too, yet we were told there were no reservations allowed! 

We tried early , late and inbetween, we didn’t care when we ate, just wanted a table! 

Just returned from our second Celebrity cruise, sailing on Infinity, first time in Aqua. We were very disappointed dining in Blu with chaotic service and a long wait time for a table every night. We found it strange that we couldn’t make a reservation and yet some people appeared to have the same table each night and walked straight in.  Some nights it was up to an hour with a pager and we gave up and went to the buffet. Quite honestly it has put us off booking Aqua again and just wondered if this is usual or not? 

I didn’t escalate it, maybe I should have but it’s very awkward at the time. We did mention it in the main dining room as we ate in there a few times when we couldn’t get a table and we did have a basket of fruit delivered to our cabin as an apology from the maitre’d so they were aware of the problem. We tried early, late and in between but always had a long wait in Blu and we found it hard to plan our evenings. To add to the problem we were told to wait in Cellar Masters who ran out of Malbec on the last two nights! It has put us off booking Aqua again. 

We just got off Infinity, it was very frustrating trying to get a table in Blu every night, some nights we waited over an hour. Several tables were blocked off for a large group of about 16, when we asked about this we were told they had suites but liked to eat in Blu and although we couldn’t make a reservation they could ‘make a plan’.

Changed for our cruise February 25th, in Aqua class, disappointing really but will just use it for a quick continental breakfast on port days. 

We are booked on Infinity to go to Antarctica next February. I’m going for the itinerary, not to watch TV. Just hoping we get to all the ports! 

I asked a lady with a dog on a cruise that question, she told me she took puppy pads with her to line the shower tray and the dog was trained to go in there 😩

Thanks so far, I am following as we are in Aqua class for our next cruise and interested in the veggie options in Blu. 

Absolutely needed one when we cruised Alaska, many people were caught out thinking it wasn’t needed and were directed to computers in the cruise terminal to get one. 

I am quite fussy with with toiletries and have coloured hair but had no problem using those on board, they were replenished freely. Much prefer my own hairdryer though.

Hi Stella, completely understand the packing dilemma, I had three formal gowns and then probably six smart casuals for a two week cruise, husband had a tuxedo, lounge suit and a jacket for the other nights. All the formal wear fitted into one garment carrier. Just  a thought about the shoes though - do you intend to dance?  I really didn't need all the shoes I took as we danced every night and I ended up wearing my ballroom shoes all the time as it was easier to have dinner in them than go back to the cabin to change. 

I'm interested in booking a specific cruise but the new website is driving me nuts - just can't get the information about cabins! I have resigned myself to booking with an agent in the hope that they can access more information than I can. And I have sent for a good old fashioned brochure! 

We went in August and had very hot weather (35c in St P), seas were calm. We booked with SPB for a 2 day tour in ST P, no queues at all even in the Hermitage but we did start earlier than the ship tours, the guide was excellent and only 10 in the group which made it easier to get round everywhere. We found many places would not take credit card so had to change money on the boat which was costly.

So pleased you have pointed this out, I have been looking at both these cruises and naively though there were overnight stops in Tromso and Narvic to allow for late excursions, not sure what to do now........

when we did a Northern Lights excursion in Iceland a few years ago we didn't return to the hotel until 3am in the morning.

We both wore ours to dinner every evening, useful to have them on to have a quick dance as we passed the ballroom in between shows etc! We were on Queen Elizabeth and particularly enjoyed the sequence dancing each evening as we don't usually do this at home, and also the afternoon tea dances. We are not good dancers by any means but loved the big ballroom and dancing to a live band every night.

Southampton itself is a nice town and well worth a walk around, especially the older area. Hampton Court is way too far to visit!

We loved the afternoon tea dances in the Queen's room on our recent QE cruise, great service in a lovely setting and the band was wonderful.

All of those you mention plus conditioner, cotton balls and buds, and shower cap. They were all replenished twice a day, biscuits were very nice!

We too have just got off QE and compared to other cruise lines we thought the bars were quiet in the evenings , maybe because of the drinks prices and no 'drink packages' where people feel they have to max their outlay. It was actually very nice to be without raucous behaviour around the pool etc that we have witnessed not some voyages. We did have wine at dinner - a fairly cheap one at $46 a bottle but wasn't tempted by the very expensive cocktails pre dinner, just not value for money. Also, there were a lot of dancers and alcohol and choppy seas are not a good mix on the dance floor.

We were on PandO Arcadia several years ago and tap lessons were on the daily schedule, they were very well attended and taught by a crew member. It was hard dancing without my tap shoes and I wished I had taken them with me. I believe it still happens as my friend was on the same boat last year and actually showed Aliaz from Strictly some tap moves.