Just Back from Celebrity Infinity Alaska (Vancouver RT)

Hi -

If you have any questions about Infinity's Alaska cruise let me know. Overall the trip was good. I have taken 4 other cruises (Carnival, RCI x 2, and Disney) and this was our first on Celebrity and first in Alaska. We have two boys ages 10 and 6. They really enjoyed the kids club on this cruise and the staff was wonderful. I liked the ship but I found the quality of the food to be very hit or miss both in the main dining room and buffet and the service in the MDR (second seating) was very slow and at times not at all attentive. For example, on a couple of nights we never saw the sommelier for wine orders until well into the dinner (meaning 45 minutes or more after we had been seated). The drink ordering was strict - the head waiter would not take a drink order. Cocktails had to be ordered through his assistant, who we seldom saw, and all wine/champagne from the sommelier. It was considerably faster to get up and walk to the rendezvous lounge right behind the Trellis (MDR) and get a drink there. We had the premium package. Our server was friendly enough but he often did not take our order until close to 9 p.m. and we were not getting entrees until close to 10 p.m. (after 10 on the first night). We had to skip dessert to make our 10:30 show time. Some of the food was pretty good but much of it was very mediocre. Standouts were the lobster plate (second formal night) and the Branzino, and French Onion Soup (available every day).

Aside from food everything was good. Great itinerary with afternoon ports (all day in Juneau), stunning Hubbard Glacier "drive by" (10 a.m. to noon, plenty of time for everyone to see from all angles) and 2 days in the inside passage. Sail away from Vancouver is so beautiful.

Not to be missed on the ship was Milos, the naturalist/science guy. His talks were really funny and extremely informative, like a college class that you could not wait to attend every week. High level information that he made accessible to everyone. The broadway-style shows (2 of them) were good quality.

I bought the unlimited photo package CD - $250 (which is $50 off the normal $300 if you bought on the first few days) and I paid an extra $100 for all of the prints. I must have left the ship with at least 50 photos of our group (12 in all and they put all of the group shots on my CD even though a few were smaller shots of others in the party, not one of my immediate family of 4 in every one). I more than got my money's worth on this. The photographers were out everywhere and not just on formal nights. It was a treasure trove of family photo opportunities if you took advantage.

We bought the unlimited internet package for $299. It worked OK. I was very disappointed that there was no option to add a second device, like on Royal Caribbean. A huge draw of the packages should be that two adults in the same party can text each other on the ship via wifi. It is ridiculous to pay $299 and have to log the other person out each time (we paid it because we needed the access every day but thought it was too expensive for just one device). By contrast on Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas we have paid $229 for two devices unlimited.

We upgraded our "free" drink package to the premium, mostly because of the outstanding martini bar. That was my favorite place on the ship, just lovely place to sit and look out and get drinks, and it was always lively but not too packed. Great drinks and fast service. Definitely would upgrade again on this ship, also to get the good quality wines.

Formal nights were nights 2 and 6.

So many questions I have!

How were the seas? Was it fairly calm?

Did you do any excursions at ISP?

Are the deck chairs really full during cruising? We are staying in an inside cabin and will want to hang out by a window during the day.

Julie

So many questions I have!

 

How were the seas? Was it fairly calm?

 

Did you do any excursions at ISP?

 

Are the deck chairs really full during cruising? We are staying in an inside cabin and will want to hang out by a window during the day.

 

Julie

Hi Julie -

Seas were very gentle. Sailing the Inside Passage you are protected, and much of the waters in Southeast Alaska are similar in terms of the protection from the open ocean.

At Icy Strait Point we booked a private whale watching tour which was fantastic. We used Alaska Galore Tours. We had a private boat (for 4) and saw tons of orcas and some humpbacks. Good experience. About 3 hours in length. The Infinity is only in port at Icy Strait from 2:45 to 8:30 or so but there was plenty of time for this excursion. In Juneau we took the bus to Mendenhall Glacier and hiked to Nugget Falls which was really nice. In Ketchikan we shopped in the town and took a seaplane tour to Misty Fjords through Island Wings. Spectacular and definitely worth the money.

We did not find the deck chairs to be hard to get. Probably harder in the solarium since it is covered then out on deck. On deck it is pretty chilly on Hubbard Glacier day. But on the Infinity there are TONS of places to sit and have wonderful views, including the Martini Bar on deck 4, the Rendez Vous lounge on Deck 4, and the wine bar on Deck 5. So many places on the ship have nice views so I don't think you will have an issue.

Thank you for the great response! The excursions you did are the type of excursions we want to do - so I will for sure look into those.

I am also happy to hear the seas are calm on the inside passage, and that chairs are available.

I cannot wait for this cruise! I should have booked it for this year, but the timing wasn't right. I will have to live vicariously through others until then. :):D:cool:

Thank you!

Julie

I ask this nearly every time because I just cannot remember. What options are there for pillows on the Infinity. I do remember the beds were definitely ok but should I bring my own pillow? We are also in an inside cabin so probably won't get the pillow menu.

Are there any soft or feather pillows that you know of? Just haven't sailed on the Infinity in the last few years.... thanks in advance

I ask this nearly every time because I just cannot remember. What options are there for pillows on the Infinity. I do remember the beds were definitely ok but should I bring my own pillow? We are also in an inside cabin so probably won't get the pillow menu.

 

Are there any soft or feather pillows that you know of? Just haven't sailed on the Infinity in the last few years.... thanks in advance

Hi - I don't recall being offered options for pillows but I did not ask. We got two pillows each. One was softer than the other so then may have given us two different kinds. One felt like foam and one was softer. I used only the softer one and it was ok.

We have never been on a Celebrity cruise. We are doing Alaska next May, from Vancouver RT. And I have so many questions. I apologize in advance for all the questions! LOL!!

-Can you tell me the approx. prices of the Martinis, and if you had any frozen cocktails too. We have the standard drink pkg. included but we were debating weather or not to upgrade to the Premium pkg. Was it worth it?

-Did you try any of the specialty coffees at Café al Bacio & Gelateria?

-It seems like most of the restaurants have an extra charge. Are the MDR, buffet and room service the only free restaurants? And can you get food other than room service later on at night?

-Are there shops on board where you can purchase Celebrity merchandise and duty free alcohol?

-do they have a drink of the day, and do they have souvenir glasses?

-it says that the drink pkgs. can be used in all restaurants. Do they have someone coming around in the buffet to take drink orders?

That's it for now. LOL!!! Again, sorry to bombard you with questions, but it's nice to hear of someone from the same ship and places we are going!:)

Hi - I don't recall being offered options for pillows but I did not ask. We got two pillows each. One was softer than the other so then may have given us two different kinds. One felt like foam and one was softer. I used only the softer one and it was ok.

Wonderful...thanks for your quick response. :)

I just got back and will hopefully get around to writing a review later, but wanted to echo a lot of what the OP stated. My 2 nephews really loved the Fun Factory (my now-18 year old participated 10 years ago and still have fond memories), and I would definitely recommend it.

That drink order thing is VERY weird indeed. Our 2 regular servers were actually very good (we told the sommelier in the beginning that we don't drink, so of course he never returned); however, I noticed none of the assistant waiters ever asked for drink orders. Since we've cruised many times, when we sat down for our first dinner, we told them what we wanted, BUT it was awkward. Of course they asked us if we wanted the same thing every night (we changed this around), but every meal in the dining room for breakfast and lunch (and dinner 1 night because they only had 1 show... during our late dining seating), we were never asked about drinks but had to remember to ask the assistant waiter. If we asked the waiter (by accident or because we forgot who the assistant waiter was), he'd tell us to tell his assistant waiter OR they would make it look like such a chore.

Milos was great; my 8 year old nephew attended every talk and repeated his jokes throughout the trip.

Can you give me any information about Concierge Cabins? We are looking at 8076. The pictures that I'm seeing for this room are quite dated, such as blue & yellow bedspreads. I know when the ship went through the renovation process, aqua class cabins were added. They look great, but since they are located on deck 9, directly underneath the pool & activity deck, I'm leery of taking those. I know there are also Aqua cabins in the back of the ship on deck 11 as well.

Do you know if the concierge cabins have been redone as well?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

We have never been on a Celebrity cruise. We are doing Alaska next May, from Vancouver RT. And I have so many questions. I apologize in advance for all the questions! LOL!!

-Can you tell me the approx. prices of the Martinis, and if you had any frozen cocktails too. We have the standard drink pkg. included but we were debating weather or not to upgrade to the Premium pkg. Was it worth it?

-Did you try any of the specialty coffees at Café al Bacio & Gelateria?

-It seems like most of the restaurants have an extra charge. Are the MDR, buffet and room service the only free restaurants? And can you get food other than room service later on at night?

-Are there shops on board where you can purchase Celebrity merchandise and duty free alcohol?

-do they have a drink of the day, and do they have souvenir glasses?

-it says that the drink pkgs. can be used in all restaurants. Do they have someone coming around in the buffet to take drink orders?

That's it for now. LOL!!! Again, sorry to bombard you with questions, but it's nice to hear of someone from the same ship and places we are going!:)

Hi - sorry it took me so long to respond, been on the road for work this past week.

So the martinis were really a highlight of the cruise and I loved the all-martini menu at the Martini Bar which is located on Deck 4 right in the middle between the Rendezvous lounge and the casino. We spent a lot of time there. The bartenders were very attentive and they put on a show with tons of bottle flipping tricks, pouring 3 drinks at once, etc. The martinis on that menu are all $13 I think, and they have a lot of top shelf alcohol at that bar, things like Grey Goose La Poire, Effen Black Cherry vodka, etc. that I love. Seeing that menu and bar on the first day is what convinced me to upgrade my drink package to the premium. For only an extra $7 per day that was well worth it for us because you could not get any of the martinis on the regular package. At dinner there also were several nice wines by the glass that were around $10 or $11 per glass that I would not have been able to get with the standard package. Generally I think if you are just going to order standard well drinks or inexpensive wine you are fine with the regular package, otherwise definitely upgrade!

My other favorite place on the ship was Cafe al Bacio. There were a lot of tables where you could get coffee or tea service with pastries, or you could get it to go. There was never a long line when I went and the coffees were excellent. All of the speciality stuff was included in my premium drink package and non-alcoholic coffees seemed to be included in the regular package. I did not have the gelato. It looked good but there was free gelato all day in the buffet.

In terms of late night food, after midnight I think it is just room service. Yes, the MDR, room service and buffet are the only included options. The other options are SS United States ($45 charge) QSine ($40) and the crepe place which was $10 and had a really interesting menu. We ate at Qsine and had a wonderful meal, very long (about 3 hours for a big group with tons of courses).

***TIP - wait until you board the ship to make your speciality restaurant reservation. The first and second days they were offering 20% off all of the upcharges and they also had a deal where it was $85 to get SS United States, QSine and the Crepe place which was a good deal if you wanted to eat at all 3. There also offered lunches on sea days with lower upcharges.

Re Celebrity merchandise and duty free alcohol, YES, there are many shops located on Deck 4 midship that have jewelry, watches, Celebrity merchandise, makeup, purses and duty free goods including alcohol. The usual cruise ship items. On the last day there was the typical fire sale with tons of stuff offered at big discounts.

Yes, there are drinks of the day each day advertised on the cruise compass but I did not see them really being pushed. Occasionally on deck I saw waiters with souvenir glasses and on Hubbard Glacier day they were offering hot chocolate with Baileys shots in souvenir coffee mugs. But souvenir glasses on deck did not seem to be as big of a thing on this ship as on my prior Caribbean cruises, probably because it is chilly on deck and not that many people are out drinking and at the pool.

In the buffet they do have servers who will take drink orders but they don't come around that often. You can use your drink package for sure, anywhere you can order alcohol they will take your drink package, including all restaurants. if we were going to the buffet I often stopped and got a martini first and then took the elevator right up there.

Ask any other questions you have, happy to respond. Hope you have a great trip!

Can you give me any information about Concierge Cabins? We are looking at 8076. The pictures that I'm seeing for this room are quite dated, such as blue & yellow bedspreads. I know when the ship went through the renovation process, aqua class cabins were added. They look great, but since they are located on deck 9, directly underneath the pool & activity deck, I'm leery of taking those. I know there are also Aqua cabins in the back of the ship on deck 11 as well.

 

Do you know if the concierge cabins have been redone as well?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Hi, it is my understanding that ALL of the cabins were redone on Infinity. We had a regular balcony cabin on Deck 7 and it was very nice. My sister in law had an Aqua Class cabin aft on Deck 11 and liked it very much, it was updated. That was very convenient to the buffet and our Deck 7 cabins by the forward stairs could not have been more convenient to just about everything because Deck 7 was so easy to take the stairs everywhere on the ship, never too far up or down.

Thanks so much for answering my questions jenninlaca. We have the standard pkg. included with our cruise pkg. so I think we will upgrade to the premium pkg. We have never cruised with Celebrity before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but your answers definitely helped!

If I think of any other questions I'll be sure to send you another note. Thanks again!! :D

How was the embarkation process? Did they have many separate lines depending on cabin and Captain club level?

Did you feel rushed on the 2nd formal night seeing that it is a late arrival to Ketchikan? We have a tour booked, but we very much enjoy our formal 'date' nights....

I guess I (wrongly) assumed it would be Day 5 since it was a full port day and the next day's arrival was late.

I am so glad that you posted. This is our first Alaska cruise and you have heightened my anticipation!:D

Thanks for your review. I hope you mentioned all this on your post cruise survey. We found many of the same problems you had in the MDR on our Summit cruise to Bermuda. Celebrity is really letting down the MDR Traditional diner.