Live (or soon to be) from the Infinity

[What A Market]

Live (or soon to be) from the Infinity

 

Greetings everyone. I hope to be posting live during our cruise on the Infinity. We board on Monday, June 3rd for a cruise around the UK. I did this cruise a few years ago on Oceania's Marina with DW. We are re-doing the cruise because the timing worked out for the group I am traveling with and the itinerary appealed to everyone.

 

As to the group: I am traveling with extended family, covering three generations for a total of eleven people. The group includes DW and I, our son and daughter and her significant other. Also my brother, his wife, and their two boys. Finally, I have my mother and mother-in-law rounding out the group. My four other brothers wished me well traveling with both my mother and mother-in-law.

 

At the moment I am sitting in British Air's lounge waiting for the flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Heathrow. This is a great flight from the standpoint that it is non-stop. This is the only non-stop from Phoenix to Europe. We will be spending one afternoon and evening in London prior to making our way to the port of Harwich to meet the ship.

 

This will be my fourth consecutive summer of making a summer cruise in Europe. Last year we had the great good fortune to cruise on Oceania's Riviera maiden voyage. Big shout out to Don and Betsy as well as Jim and Stan. Needless to say I have been blessed to make these past four trips. As with each one, I am really looking forward to the adventure. (Is cruising adventurous? Ha!)

 

DW and I have cruised with Celebrity previously, but it has been a while. Our last cruise was sometime in the 90's on the Mercury. My other sailings on what is now Celebrity goes back even further. In 1976 and 1977, I sailed on the Chandris line on the Fiorita and the Romanza. I was a tour guide for high school students during the summer while in college and did both of these cruises at that time. I'm betting our cruise on the Infinity won't be anything like those trips. :)

 

Well, time to board the plane. I hope to post frequently.

[basebare]

Live (or soon to be) from the Infinity

 

Greetings everyone. I hope to be posting live during our cruise on the Infinity. We board on Monday, June 3rd for a cruise around the UK. I did this cruise a few years ago on Oceania's Marina with DW. We are re-doing the cruise because the timing worked out for the group I am traveling with and the itinerary appealed to everyone.

 

As to the group: I am traveling with extended family, covering three generations for a total of eleven people. The group includes DW and I, our son and daughter and her significant other. Also my brother, his wife, and their two boys. Finally, I have my mother and mother-in-law rounding out the group. My four other brothers wished me well traveling with both my mother and mother-in-law.

 

At the moment I am sitting in British Air's lounge waiting for the flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Heathrow. This is a great flight from the standpoint that it is non-stop. This is the only non-stop from Phoenix to Europe. We will be spending one afternoon and evening in London prior to making our way to the port of Harwich to meet the ship.

 

This will be my fourth consecutive summer of making a summer cruise in Europe. Last year we had the great good fortune to cruise on Oceania's Riviera maiden voyage. Big shout out to Don and Betsy as well as Jim and Stan. Needless to say I have been blessed to make these past four trips. As with each one, I am really looking forward to the adventure. (Is cruising adventurous? Ha!)

 

DW and I have cruised with Celebrity previously, but it has been a while. Our last cruise was sometime in the 90's on the Mercury. My other sailings on what is now Celebrity goes back even further. In 1976 and 1977, I sailed on the Chandris line on the Fiorita and the Romanza. I was a tour guide for high school students during the summer while in college and did both of these cruises at that time. I'm betting our cruise on the Infinity won't be anything like those trips. :)

 

Well, time to board the plane. I hope to post frequently.

 

Which itinerary are you doing? We will be on the 12 day out of Harwich in Sept and can't wait to start reading other people's experiences! Keep the posts coming.

[Keith1010]

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Keith

[sddsddean]

Hope you have a great cruise. Good news is having had rubbish weather for the last year (it just seems longer!:rolleyes:), the forecast for this week is fine and dry and 'maybe' hot!!! Wonders will never cease!

 

Simon

[drarill]

Looking forward to your live report!! Have a great cruise!! :)

[Durham lad]

We are sailing on Infinity to the fjords late July so will be very interested in your review, (especially re the ship) As a brit I know the Uk and Ireland well and im sure you will enjoy your holiday whatever the weather (good weather is better):p

[cobeck]

Hope you have a great vacation. We sail Infinity to Panama Canal next spring so I too am looking forward to your reviews and any photos of the ship.

[TourDeCruise]

Looking forward to your thoughts on your cruise. We sail on the Infinity in September on the "Immersive Wine" cruise. We have cruised often with Celebrity but never before on the Infinity. Are you by chance doing AquaClass with the Blu restaurant?

 

Kathy

[DebbieMacG]

Have a great cruise :)

[basebare]

Looking forward to your thoughts on your cruise. We sail on the Infinity in September on the "Immersive Wine" cruise. We have cruised often with Celebrity but never before on the Infinity. Are you by chance doing AquaClass with the Blu restaurant?

 

Kathy

 

Kathy we are also doing the wine cruise in late september. Just started our planning this weekend. So I am very much looking forward to any and all reviews!

Patti

[TourDeCruise]

Patti: We are booked on the September 6th cruise. I don't plan to post "live" from the cruise. As you know, it is a great itinerary and we plan to be very busy and only have three sea days. But I'll post when we return, however. Kathy

[What A Market]

Day One

Day one of the cruise is here! After a year of planning it is hard to believe our cruise is finally here.

 

Arrived in London on Sunday afternoon after an uneventful flight from Phoenix. Weather is great, particularly by London standards. As noted by Sddsddean, the weather for the UK has suddenly turned nice. Bodes well for the beginning of our cruise.

 

We spent the night at the Marriott Grosvenor Square. Great location in the Mayfair district. The rooms that look into the interior courtyard are extremely quiet. Unlike some hotels with this set up, all the mechanical systems at this Marriott are located elsewhere so getting a good nights sleep is very easy.

 

I have booked private transportation to take us from London to Harwich. After investigating numerous options for getting to the ship, I went with a private transport due to the ease and cost. A private driver is economical when you are booking for eleven people. Works out quite a bit cheaper than the cruise train. I use Eddie Manning's service for private transportation. I have used Eddie's company six or seven times for private drivers. Highly recommended.

 

I think we are scheduled to arrive at the ship at 1:00PM. I will try to post my first impressions when I get to the port.

 

Cheers from London!

[What A Market]

I forgot to post our itinerary for this cruise.

 

Cruise Ports

Departing from Harwich, England; Paris (Le Havre), France; St. Peter Port, Channel Isl; Cork (Cobh), Ireland; Waterford, Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Liverpool, England; Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland; Inverness/loch Ness Scotland; Harwich, England

 

I've arranged the following private tours

 

Le Havre: Normandy Beach with Overload Tours

 

Dublin: Private City Walking tour with Sandemans

 

Liverpool: Private City Walking Tour

 

Glasgow: All day Highland tour with Discover Scotland

[TourDeCruise]

Thank you for your report so far; looking forward to your continuation. Have a wonderful cruise on this fantastic itinerary and lovely ship! Kathy

[Scotswoman]

Thank you for taking the trouble to write this report. I´ll be looking in each day to hear how you fare, especially since you will be visiting some of my childhood haunts. We will also be interested to hear how you like the Infinity. We´ll be taking our first cruise on this ship on 15th July to Iceland and Norway.

We wish all 11 of you a wonderful cruise.

Morven