shoesonfire

I understand there are taxis at the tender pier. Can anyone advise what the current hourly rate is for taxi tours around the island of St. Barts? Also, are there mini-van taxis who can accommodate 4 to 6 or 8 people? Is it best to wait to hire a taxi upon arrival at the pier or arrange in advance online? Would like good recommendations as we will be visiting in October 2014, thank you.

We have 3 sea days on an upcoming 8 day Caribbean cruise and recently learned on our roll call that X has cut back significantly on activities as well as no longer having a grand buffet. We are not into board games or trivia but hoping that there will be other options on sea days, for example destination talks, photography or electronic/computer type classes. Wonder if anyone can advise what they personally experienced on recent cruises particularly on M ships.

Question for anyone recently on Infinity or other M ships, if you have a classic beverage package, can you be served a small martini at the Martini Bar? Or specifically is a Cosmo included in the classic pkg and can it be ordered at the Martini Bar?

We've always booked direct with the cruise line and then transferred our booking within 60 days of our reservation, to a big box store membership TA to gain extra perks, obc, and better insurance rates. This TA has been very good, and available through online or telephone contact. We prefer telephone communication and they also are available throughout the weekend with a Pacific Standard time frame that gives us additional hours for contact as well. They have been very helpful with a price drop as well securing us an cabin upgrade.

We are 2 couples cruising on Infinity Aqua cabins on deck 9 under buffet 9112 and 9110, and note that the support beams are on the outer end of each balcony which would allow and not obstruct the center dividing panel adjoining our balconies to be opened. However, does anyone know if this is permitted on M class ships?

We didn't have anything planned, so we left later in the morning and got right off.

Can you tell us how you arranged to leave the ship late in the morning, as we have a early evening flight out of FLL. Obviously, you can't wait in the cabin, where did you wait? Did you self disembark and if so did it present problems. Thanks for suggestions!

Thanks for posting. We are on the July 24th Infinity sailing. :)

Hi we are sailing on the Infinity Oct. 27 and look forward to hearing comments from a "neighbor." ;)

Shoesonfire

Good to read more positive reviews about the Infinity. We sail in October and are now looking forward to having the same good comments!

Just read the most recent member review of the Infinity and hope that Celebrity management is reading as well. Usually, one can "read between the lines" when reading a review with complaints and figure out the legitimacy of the review. The reviewers comments (copied and pasted below) regarding furnishings, toilets, general maintenance, etc. appear to also be reflected in recent CC forums regarding Celebrity's older ships. These are not major fixes and certainly customers should find the décor and upkeep of the ship to be reasonably updated. Cruisers are not expecting granite countertops in the bathrooms for example on older ships, but frayed and faded upholstery, drapes, and carpet and other visible signs of wear and tear should not be a factor. It's good to read that service and staff continue to get high praise, but it's hard to overlook a stained sofa when paying for a "luxury experience."

"I blame the management for all of the oversight. Someone of authority needs to look at the stained upholstery on ALL of the seats in the Trellis dining room. The Constellation Lounge also has stained and frayed chairs.

The rooms need to be inspected by someone other than housekeeping because they are NOT doing the job.

For example: Sloppy painting on decks, power washing needed on verandas. Plexiglas should have constant care. Toilets need Clorox. Shower tiles old and moldy.

Thick dust visible under mini frig. Curtains, which only block about 80 percent of sun, need to be rehung or replaced.

Upholstered furniture is fading and looks it.

The toilets throughout the ship have black ring in them (bacteria?)

The Oceanview buffet is very negligent in cleanliness. The servers should be using disposable gloves. The salt and pepper shakers are sticky as are condiment bottles. Ugh!"

Thanks Cle-guy for sharing! We are sailing the Infinity with friends late Oct. in Aqua and would enjoy lunch in Blu on embarkation day. We more recently got spoiled on Azamara Quest & Journey, but we are looking forward to enjoying the good food and service we remembered from our cruises on Zenith and Galaxy many years ago. Keeping our fingers crossed and ignoring all the negativity on the forum recently.

Have enjoyed reading all the recent changes on the Summit (buffet baskets, embarkation lunch options, etc.) and wondering if anyone has word from Celebrity regarding how successful they have been and if and when they will be tried on other ships.

Just love being able to get good referrals on these CC boards. We won't be in FLL until the Fall and in the meantime it's fun researching and planning for our vacation. All your suggestions are greatly appreciated. :)

Your question is a good one, and I think there are many future cruisers (like DH and myself) who are interested to know the answers as well.

Hi: We're staying 1 night pre-cruise at Gallery One in late October and looking to have a nice Italian dinner. Read about the homemade pasta at Franco & Vinny's. Is this restaurant a good choice and are there reasonable and authentic Italian restaurants in the area we may have overlooked?

Would appreciate suggestions -- thanks!

It's great hearing all the favorable comments about the recent changes on the Summit. We sailed her last summer and had a good cruise.

Does anyone know if the these changes will apply to other M ships? Hope to find the same on the Infinity this fall.

We are cruising in October 2014 and have enjoyed reading these posts. Thanks to all who have reported on their recent cruises and those who are currently on board. Keep it coming as it adds to the anticipation and excitement until our time on the Infinity!

Most of the cruise ship passengers seemed to stay around the shopping area on peninisula once off the tender' date=' but we walked further around the bend to what I guess you could call the "mainland" where the buildings seemed terraced one above the other into the side of the island as it rose away from the shore. It's not all that far as Gustavia is pretty small. The restaurant we ate at was on rue Charles de Gaulle. It has changed names now, but in the same location now is Pipiri. You can google it and check out the menu and prices, though I don't know if it's the same owners. It was hard deciding where to eat as all the restaurants looked so good, but this particular spot drew us in with their daily <menu>, which featured a main course of Fondue Savoiard. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.[/quote']

 

Appreciate your response and information I'm sure others will find it helpful as well.

Off topic: Thanks for posting here and the link to your beautiful review of Azamara Quest.(have not read it all but have it marked) It has convinced us to try this line..esp with all the Celeb changes going on..Are there any reciprocals with Elite/Elite Plus? and do any points count for X?

Would like to put in our 2 cents worth regarding Azamara: We have cruised Azamara 4 times, once on the Journey and 3 on the Quest -- and loved each of these cruises. Hope you try this line.

We actually stopped at St. Barts on our Journey cruise, tendered off this smaller ship without any problems, walked around a busy port window shopping, and took a walk to Shell Beach which was ok. Since we are returning to St. Barts again on Celebrity (another of our favorite cruise lines) we were looking for reviews and information about touring the island, and haven't found anything so far to convince us to spend much more time than we did on our previous stopover. It is a beautiful island but unless you are interested in snorkeling the sightseeing tours and taxis are rather pricey.

St. Bath's is our favourite stops of all the ports we've done in the Caribbean. It's easy to walk Gustavia and just enjoy some local culture. We headed off the beaten path and found a little restaurant' date=' and seemed to be the only cruise passengers in there. The food was phenominal, and we felt like we were on the Cote d'Azure, rather than in the Caribbean! Sevice was anything but cold in the restaurant and in the shops we visited.[/quote']

 

Which direction did you head to go off the beaten path and can you advise the name of the restaurant you found, menu, and guesstimate of price? Curious!!

Enjoyed reading the responses -- St. Barts sounds beautiful but pricey and not sure having to tender will be worth the time spent going back and forth. Would love to tour the island but haven't found any reasonable tours so far and may settle to enjoy the view from the ship.

Our October 2014 Infinity cruise stops at St. Barts, however, all the posts I've read recently indicate that the locals are not very open to having cruise visitors. Can anyone explain why Celebrity has decided to make this a port on a few of their itineraries? Why would anyone visit someplace where you are not welcome??:(

Any news the lip balm and sprays have returned to Aqua class. It's the little extras that make the difference. Azamara also includes room freshner makes things pleasant in close quarters.

Aqua Spa Cafe' has some items that carry a fee and some that don't.

Mast Grill is open.

Thanks for the quick and informative replies would like a few more answers, please!

What items don't have a fee at the Aqua Spa Café?

Does the Mast Grill serve anything beside hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza?

Is there a Mast Grill menu available online?

Sailing on Infinity in October and booked an Aqua cabin and wondering:

Is Aqua Café complimentary or are there charges?

Is the pool grill open on embarkation day?

Is access to Blu for brunch currently on the Summit going to be available on all ships.

Does anyone know if there are any confirmed changes or deletions to Aqua perks on future cruises.

Thanks