Infinity Review - Dec 4-20 - Repositioning Cruise

[jkgourmet]

This actually was a repositioning cruise through the Panama Canal to South America, ending in Valparaiso, Chile. Two well traveled American couples, ages 58-73. Third cruise for one couple, seventeenth for the other couple (us). All have traveled on Celebrity before. (We have also sailed on HAL, X, MSC, RCCL, NCL, Carnival and Princess.) This was a 3rd cruise this in 2014, on 3 different lines, all in similar cabin categories. We have quite a bit of room to compare.

 

I'll get the disappointing stuff out of the way first. The Infinity is showing her age. We quickly observed paint chipping and rust, and later in the cruise discovered dust bunnies in the corner of a lounge. The ship just doesn't sparkle and shine anymore. Our standard balcony cabin (both couples received a free upgrade from our ocean view) were spotless, but also looking a bit worn. Great linens and mattresses.

 

One of the reasons Celebrity has remained our favorite cruise line was the quality and flavor of the food. I'm very unhappy to say that the buffet didn't meet the high bar that was delivered on our last Celebrity cruise (Dec 2013). The food tasted fine, but nothing special. The worst part was the management of the buffet. No discernible queuing lines, regularly running out of dishes, silverware and food. The food arrangement was ridiculous - if you want to stop self-service, bring enough staff on board to serve the food. Instead, Celebrity has moved food behind a glass shield, just far enough away that passengers have to reach and strain to get at it, often without using tongs (because they weren't there). Dirty dishes were left on tables for far too long, though that problem was eliminated after the first few days of the cruise (presumably because of passenger complaints, which were loud and vocal).

 

A couple of good items at the buffet: Caesar salad. The hamburgers and hot dogs at the grill (if you can get one freshly cooked). The pasta and omelet stations (if the lines are short. The pasta station is far too small for the number of passengers). Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (extra cost, unless you have a package).

 

Dinner in the MDR (as well as the service) was outstanding. Rarely did we receive a dish that was not to our liking, though sometimes the temperatures were cooler than they should be. Several of the dishes were truly standouts. Wine steward kept our glasses filled (we all had the classic alcohol package as the one item we received for free in the 123Go package) and offered choices from higher categories when they had run out of certain wines we enjoyed.

 

We did not do breakfast or lunch in the MDR very often. The service was slow, the food turned up cold and was no better than the buffet.

 

First formal night we saw about 20% of the passengers in tuxedo and women dressed in elegant formal wear. Second formal night, down to 2%, the rest going to suits and sport coats. Prior to the 3rd formal night, the maitre de informed the men that ties were not required. And yes, they did allow a few men in shorts to enter the MDR on non formal nights.

 

Entertainment in the bars was mixed. Some were quite good, while others were marginal. For example, I do not consider a bongo player to be a music act in a lounge (pool side - maybe). Celebrity has clearly made some cut backs on this score. However, the guest entertainers were universally excellent. While their acts might not have been to all of our taste, every one of them was professional and talented. Sadly, the Celebrity band and the Celebrity singers/dancers were worse than a well funded high school arts program. Embarrassing to watch. The Cruise Director was exceptional.

 

There was quite a bit of grumbling on the ship about a couple of things. One: This itinerary included 2 days and one night in Lima, Peru. However, at check in, we were notified that berth space had become unavailable, so we would not arrive until 7PM, losing an entire day in Lima. There was another port stop added, which turned out to be a rather unsavory small town. Many were unhappy with this substitution and lost money on non-refundable excursions. Two: After the first week, it was clear that many passengers had come down with an upper respiratory infection. I do not blame this on the ship. However, the store was not stocked with adequate medication and ran out quickly, with a less than helpful response from ship store personnel.

 

Officers were visible, friendly and engaged with the passengers - a nice change from our earlier trip on Celebrity. There were frequent lectures scheduled, and two of the guest lecturers were very good. None of us enjoyed Mikey Live. (Which was a shame because the information he offered about the ports was valuable if he would have just concentrated on that instead of the jokes that fell flat, poor visual aids, and digital photo contests.) We had occasional problems finding seating on deck (chair hoggers), and getting drinks on deck; however, the bar service at other venues was great. (and yes, we were able to get regular martinis and cosmos without any hassle at the Martini Bar.)

 

Overall, it was a very good cruise and we still keep Celebrity at the top of our list, but not as highly rated as before. The staff cutbacks were noticeable, and the buffet truly a disappointment. With the 123Go classic alcohol package included, we'd absolutely return to Celebrity again.

 

Happy to answer any specific questions.

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

Great. Maybe I won't gain so much weight by eating at the buffet.

 

Still, we have to look forward to our upcoming deployment on Infinity.

[miched]

Interesting review. many of the things that the OP mentioned are the same that I have experienced on the Eclipse.

 

I have a cruise booked on the Infinity for Oct 2016 and hopefully it won't be I tatters.

 

A happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[Turtles06]

OP: thank you for taking the time to post, and for your objective comments. I'd love to know your thoughts on the Panama Canal transit and the ports.

 

We've sailed on the Infinity, and while we enjoyed our cruise (it was a TA), we found the buffet to be a big negative on this ship. The obsolete "single line" design -- a high school cafeteria without the trays -- always made it feel crowded and unwelcoming. There are many things I like about the M-class ships, but the buffet is not one of them.

[jkgourmet]

Hi

OP: thank you for taking the time to post, and for your objective comments. I'd love to know your thoughts on the Panama Canal transit and the ports.

 

We've sailed on the Infinity, and while we enjoyed our cruise (it was a TA), we found the buffet to be a big negative on this ship. The obsolete "single line" design -- a high school cafeteria without the trays -- always made it feel crowded and unwelcoming. There are many things I like about the M-class ships, but the buffet is not one of them.

 

Turtles, my pleasure to answer - but as this was a repositioning cruise, our port stops were not standard. And it was our second canal crossing.

 

We did a city tour of Cartagena on a ship excursion years ago on our first crossing, when Columbia was still quite a dangerous place. I unsuccessfully encouraged our friends to do an organized tour if the city so that they could see it and its history. In the end, we all just grabbed a cab to the old town and walked around, looking for a nice place to have a drink, do a bit of shopping, have lunch. BIG mistake. Sadly Cartagena has lost its old city charm, now rift with street vendors selling the same stuff, over and over. When we stopped for drinks, and again at lunch, the restaurants tried to rip us off (big time) on the exchange rate. (They all take USD but use Panamanian dollars on the menu.). Ultimately, we all agreed our friends should have taken an organized tour and we should have remained on the ship and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

 

BTW, the Palace of Inquisition is NOT free (though many websites say it is). The cost for adults was $16. We expressed shock at this, and were quickly told about a senior rate of (I think?) $6 pp. Which was still overpriced.

 

The canal crossing is a bucket list item that any experienced traveler should complete. Not a partial transit - a full transit. Sadly, the Infinity does not have as many outdoor deck areas for viewing as our prior transit (HAL Amsterdam). Crowding was a problem, and people dangerously crowded staircases to get good photos. The canal enrichment lecturers were BOTH excellent. But if one is doing this trip PRIMARILY for the canal transit and has the interest of an engineer, there are ships that allow better viewing areas. Our crossing in early December was hot, but not unbearable, and had the welcome relief of a short, to be expected, burst of rain. ( and a great rainbow)

 

Colon, Panama. We did an excursion with a company called Robtads to an Emberra Indian Village. Outstanding and HIGHLY recommended. (However, if one is looking for a truly authentic village visit, Anne Gordon's tours would probably be a better choice. But they are several hours longer and quite a bit more expensive. We wanted a shorter length tour and were pleased with Robtads). We ALL totally enjoyed this trip!

 

Our other port stops are not standard in canal crossings. Let me know if you have specific questions.

Edited January 14, 2015 by jkgourmet

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[cruise47]

Thanks for sharing your experiences on this cruise.

[TeaBag]

We booked this cruise (the other way, ending in Ft Lauderdale) on the Silhouette TA, but cancelled it after talking to more than one group who said it was their very worst cruise. They mentioned the ports as being uninteresting and the food, just plain bad. Thank you for your balanced review. Maybe we should take another look at it since DH really wants to see South America. We have done the Panama Canal full transit.

[jkgourmet]

A few additional thoughts about our cruise.

 

Our group of four requested a table for 8. We really enjoy meeting new people during our meals in the MDR. We were a bit disappointed To be seated at a six top with the remaining two seats never filled.

 

We ALWAYS saw lines of people waiting for select dining. We definitely have the impression that celebrity is still working out the kinks.

 

We did not eat in any speciality restaurants. Food and service was so good in the MDR that we felt no need.

 

We could easily have done with less sales pitches from the shops abd speciality restaurants. They were pretty relentless.

 

Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth. (Although the Port in Valparaiso is a zoo - no fault of celebrity).

 

Ship needs more Purel machines (that work) and staff should do a better job of encouraging passengers to use them.

 

We know that Cellar Masters is being changed out to more of a brewery theme. We sincerely hope it remains quiet and classy instead of becoming a sports bar.

 

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[GranthamMommy]

Thank you for posting. We are doing this cruise in December 2015. Primarily for the Panama Canal and an intro to South America.

 

We splurged (from our point of view) on a C-1 Aft facing cabin. Do you think this is beneficial for going through the canal?

 

Any shore excursion details/contacts appreciated.

[jkgourmet]

Thank you for posting. We are doing this cruise in December 2015. Primarily for the Panama Canal and an intro to South America.

 

We splurged (from our point of view) on a C-1 Aft facing cabin. Do you think this is beneficial for going through the canal?

 

Any shore excursion details/contacts appreciated.

 

In regard to the aft cabin for the canal crossing: NO! Actually, I think that is a mistake. If you are like 90% of the other passengers, you will be spending your time on the deck or watching the sides of the ship - NOT THE AFT.

 

Why watch the side of the ship? 1. If you are super lucky, you will go thru the licks at about the same time as another ship. That gives you an entirely different view. 2. If you are marginally lucky, The side views allow you to see wildlife like alligators, turtles, parrots, other birds. You won't see those from the aft.

 

!

[tnfcruise]

GMommy, I disagree with the OP on the aft balcony question...we did the Infinity full transit and LOVED our aft balcony. Since the transit itself is anywhere between 7-9 hours, to have that terrific, private, interesting view (while sitting on your private deck) is just plain wonderful... there's plenty of time to move to the front of the ship or to a lower outside deck when lock views warrant. We had room service breakfast on our deck, kept the slider open so we could hear the commentary and watch the ship's front view on the cabin TV. Once or twice during the day we saw (or heard) something coming up that we wanted to see from a different vantage point and had plenty of time to move. But, the majority of the time we were on our balcony, loving the extraordinary, 180+ degree view.

 

 

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[Lobbylin]

Jk Gourmet, thanks for taking the time to post here. Your review was much as I expected for our upcoming b2b2b in the Infinity departing Feb 15th.

 

Do you recall who the CD and Activities manager are currently on board?

 

Also what kind of meds are you referring to for the upper respiratory illness, as we like to bring our own, and I am not sure what meds you are referring to here.

 

Interestingly, my SIL disembarked on Dec 4th, and she caught and still has a terrible chest cough! Maybe that is what you are referring to? All info helps! :)

 

We're there any speciality dining offers on board?

 

Thanks

Linda

[hypercafe]

Thanks for taking the time to post your great review. We are taking the Infinity SF to FL in September, we want to see some of the west coast along with the full transit as we have just done a partial. Happy to hear all is well onboard!!!!

[jkgourmet]

N

Jk Gourmet, thanks for taking the time to post here. Your review was much as I expected for our upcoming b2b2b in the Infinity departing Feb 15th.

 

Do you recall who the CD and Activities manager are currently on board?

 

Also what kind of meds are you referring to for the upper respiratory illness, as we like to bring our own, and I am not sure what meds you are referring to here.

 

Interestingly, my SIL disembarked on Dec 4th, and she caught and still has a terrible chest cough! Maybe that is what you are referring to? All info helps! :)

 

We're there any speciality dining offers on board?

 

Thanks

Linda

 

The CD was Esperanza. We thought she was terrific. We are not activities people, but There were two activities staff - a blonde woman who's name I don't remember. English. She worked hard and was friendly. The other was a young guy, Italian?, who pranced around the ship acting like a childish fourteen year old. But there were MANY scheduled activities.

 

Meds - the store ran out of Dayquil and similar OTC stuff. We all purchased OTC stuff in Ecuador and Chile - didn't help much. In the end, we all required antibiotics, in my case two rounds of them. Antibiotics were purchased once we were back in the states. Yes, the chest cough is the ongoing and very bad part of this URI.

 

Yes, speciality dining offers were made. Towards the end, One of our party pretended to be interested and discovered that the 30% off easily became 40% off with a little negotiating. Had we been seriously interested, he was quite sure he could have gotten it for 50% off.

 

We rarely saw anyone in Bistro on Five or Michael's Club. Both are wasted spaces on the ship and need rescue.

 

How long is your b2b2b, Linda?

Edited January 15, 2015 by jkgourmet

[Turtles06]

OP: thanks very much for coming back to answer questions!

[Lobbylin]

JKgourmet,

 

Thanks for all the info. Will definitely bring some cough syrup as we are from the UK and not great in airconditioning, let alone if there is a bug going around.

 

We embark in Buenos Aires and will be on for 42 nights, down to Antarctica, then round to Valparaiso and then back through the canal to Ft Lauderdale. All these ports and this part of the world will be new to us, so I can't wait!

 

Just need to make sure I can think of everything I need for 42 nights!

Thanks Linda :)

Edited January 15, 2015 by Lobbylin

[jkgourmet]

Linda, laundry is expensive even on the fill up your bag promo - $45 per bag (we've found $25 to be standard on other lines, or the availability of self service laundries). That specific annoyance is one reason we would hesitate booking a long cruise on celebrity.

 

Highly recommend you look into Emberra Indian Village tour in Colon, Panama. Highlight experience of the trip for several of us. We all lived the culinary tour we got in Lima. Tons of Spectacular, fresh food, great tour, fun. We even had guinea pig (which was very tasty, BTW) Lovely city. We did not do ship excursions.

 

Regarding medicine, if you can get your doctor to give you antibiotics before you sail, that would be the best. Along with the OTC cough medicine of your choice.

Edited January 15, 2015 by jkgourmet

[Lobbylin]

just had a look at the DayQuil and will pick up something similar so we don't get caught out!

 

I also bring a hanging hook that fits over the balcony dividers and holds 5 metal hangers which I also bring, along with pegs, detergent and fabric conditioner to help with the laundry costs! We do get some free bags of laundry as we are Elite Plus, but I let hubby use those as I hate the ships laundry! If my clothes don't drop dry without ironing, I don't bring them!!:D

 

In Colon I have already booked the ships tour to Panama City, but in all the other ports it is private group excursions, which I am very much looking forward to!

 

Thanks! :)

[jkgourmet]

In Colon I have already booked the ships tour to Panama City, but in all the other ports it is private group excursions, which I am very much looking forward to!

 

Thanks! :)

 

Read a bit about the Emberra Indian tours. You might want to reconsider. Panama City doesn't have much to offer than nearly as unique and special.

[Balloon Man]

We were on the same cruise as jkgourmet and agree with her general view. Bistro on 5 was almost empty every time we looked (we ate there once) but of course Michael's Club looks empty because it is reserved for the top 40 or so suite guests.

 

Got completely fed-up with the ship's photographers. The bathroom was the only place you could avoid them ... I hope.

 

However we thought the buffet offered great choices and never had to queue for more than two minutes though finding a table wasn't always easy.

 

We left Infinity in Valparaiso to join Golden Princess as we wanted to go to Rio, not end the cruise in Buenos Aires on Fini. Mistake. Food, entertainment and general ambience much better on Infinity.

 

As for excursions, if you want to really see the Panama Canal take the tour to the Gatun locks. That way you see both views: from the shore while ships transit and the next day from the ship while you transit. Brilliant.

 

And I have to say we enjoyed Mickey Live and his presentations. Very dry sense of humour. Perfect!

[hcat]

Thanks for the review and all interesting comments that have been posted

 

We have never been on the Infinity but have booked an AQ cabin on her for an ABC Island cruise in Oct 2016, mostly because of the itin. We hope she will be spiffed up somewhat by then if there are neg reviews.

 

Not expecting a new ship but keeping it clean and modern looking is certainly not an unreasonable expectation from Celebrity.

 

We had a bongo banger on Silhouette...utterly awful. I wonder why they continue that act, unless locked into a contract. Hopefully, bongo will be gone by the time we cruise.

 

We are looking forward to AQ and Blu, Bistro on 5 and Cafe Baccio. ..we avoid the buffet as much as possible on all cruises!

 

Hope to hear updates in Infinity through 2015, 2016.

[SPacificbound]

Thank you for posting. We are doing this cruise in December 2015. Primarily for the Panama Canal and an intro to South America.

 

We splurged (from our point of view) on a C-1 Aft facing cabin. Do you think this is beneficial for going through the canal?

 

Any shore excursion details/contacts appreciated.

 

We did a full transit Panama Canal cruise last April in a rear facing aft, and it was a great choice of cabin! :)

[davwen81]

Thanks for a great review as we do this in reverse later too. Appreciate the port excursion recommendations too. The Culinary tour in Lima sounds fun, who was that with??

 

Many thanks Wendy and David

 

 

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[cruise47]

Read a bit about the Emberra Indian tours. You might want to reconsider. Panama City doesn't have much to offer than nearly as unique and special.

 

Thanks for this tip.