South America Holiday on Infinity

[NobHill]

We are considering this cruise, but here aren't many reviews and not much activity on the roll call. The reviews that are posted seem mixed. We have been on several M class ships, but not the Infinity. Some reviews say it is in poor repair. Others say that the holiday cruise was not good because of 500+ children not well supervised by their parents. Any one have experience and recommendations? We love Celebrity and would almost certainly book Aquaclass -- our favorite. But we are wary of spending a lot of money (it's a very expensive cruise, plus the airfare will also be high) if it's going to be unpleasant. All opinions welcome! Thanks!

Edited February 12, 2015 by NobHill

[Phxazzcruisers]

We loved our South American holiday on Infinity. It was a while ago, but we have never been on a Celebrity ship that was in such poor repair that it made the cruise unenjoyable. South America is during winter in North America so if you go over the holiday time, there will be more children than usual. We have not had any problems with children not being well supervised. Once, when we did, the Hotel Manager addressed it immediately and it was taken care of.

[NobHill]

Thank you! Was celebrating the holidays a good experience on ship? We have never done a holiday cruise.

[Balloon Man]

We were on Infinity from FL to Valparaiso in December 2014 before making the mistake of changing ships to Golden Princess. This was because GP was going to Rio and Fini terminated in Buenos Aires. Mistake because Infinity was better in almost every aspect, particularly when it came to the buffet.

 

Can't say I noticed the age of the ship.

[Rob the Cruiser]

We were on Infinity eastbound Panama Canal November of last year. She was in fine condition.

 

DW and I will do the South America itinerary this coming December.

[timetravellers]

We sailed to Antarctica on Infinity 2 years ago and we had a second cruise on her through Panama Canal in the same year.

We prefer Infinity over the Solstice class ships. She is the ideal size medium size ship and we like the layout.

OK she's not new but we didn't really notice.

BTW, the Antarctica cruise was amazing! :)

[travlr21]

We are also booked on the Dec 5 & Dec 20 2015 cruises on the Infinity. I had previously commented on how the two roll calls are the quietest I have ever seen on CC. Most talk on the Dec 5 cruise these days is for tours on the last day.

 

I was a bit disheartened by the reviews about uncontrolled children on the last holiday cruise. I guess it is to be expected that there would be a fair number of kids, being at holiday time, but it would be nice if parents did their job and monitored them properly. There was also talk about dress codes not being enforced, which I think Celebrity should maintain some standards in the main dining rooms.

 

This will be our first holiday cruise, we don't have kids and it will be the first for us where we will not spend Christmas with parents and siblings and their families. I may be the weepy one in the corner.

 

Anyway, we are committed to the cruise, and hope it will be fine.

[Texed]

We are considering this cruise, Others say that the holiday cruise was not good because of 500+ children not well supervised by their parents. Any one have experience and recommendations.

 

We are looking at this cruise also. We have sailed over the holidays for the last 10 years. Of course there are more children, it is the holidays. But, we have never run into any real problems with wild kids/teenagers on Celebrity ships. :)

[NobHill]

Thanks again everyone. I read somewhere on the boards that Infinity may be in dryadic in 2015 (well before Christmas). We love the M Class ships, so I'm happy to hear that Infinity is really fine! It sounds like the holidays are a more "relaxed" cruise than is usual on Celebrity. We'll need to figure out the flights if we do this: expensive and complicated!

[alcpa1]

We have been on the Infinity twice in the last 22 months. One of the cruises was from Valparaiso to Ft. Lauderdale so we have some experience with sailing via South America.

The ship was in fine shape considering its age. We had no complaints. Our cabin was much cleaner than on several other lines we have cruised...much much cleaner to be truthful.

One thing you should appreciate is the number of Spanish/Portuguese speaking passengers on your cruise. The Cruise Director will be giving announcements in both English and Spanish for example. The Captain's daily briefing will be in English followed by a Spanish translation.

Because your sailing is over the holidays I could only guess that the majority of the children will be South American's. We had a mere handful of children on our sailing in March.

The staff and crew will make the most dramatic difference. We had two different captains, cruise directors etc. The service staff who speak Spanish as their first language were very happy and they spread their joy to everyone.

Blu was above par on the Infinity on both sailings if that matters. As Aqua class passengers we never had more than a 15 minute wait and that was partially due to the numbers in our group. I'd imagine when the suite passengers choose to dine in their allotted restaurant, Michael's Club, any wait should be even further mitigated.

Don't fret about the Roll Call. Don't forget that this will be a holiday sailing and your fellow passengers might be more inclined to think of this as a "family" trip more than an exciting adventure. The Roll Call will pick up.

[benjoon]

We are on the Infinity this December and will change ships to the Star Princess. Do you think we are making a mistake? Doing the princess cruise means we can to the extended itinerary over the Christmas break for half the cost of staying on the Infinity and it goes further to Rio.

[BC Eddie]

We just were on the Infinity two weeks ago for the SA cruise and had a fantastic time. However this was our first ocean cruise so, other than a Viking river cruise (Fantastic!) had nothing to compare it too. However the ship was obviously not new but for the most part was in good repair with only a few signs of wear. We found the service excellent ( Joaquim & Kadak in the MDR were superb)and the food to be more than acceptable.

 

The itinerary was the highlight though (we also took the Machu Picchu and Iguazu falls pre/post tours) and we will have great memories of all locations.

 

There were only a handful of children on-board our sailing (Jan 18- Feb 1).

 

HTH