Help! First Time on Celebrity

[danny8826]

Hi everyone,

 

We have sailed with Royal Caribbean many times, but we haven't sailed with Celebrity so we have some questions.  

 

We are looking at a sailing on Celebrity Infinity for Dec 21, 2022 to South America.  

If you have been to South America with this ship or another ship, please share with us your experiences.  

 

--How are the day time activities like?  Are there much going on?  Any dance classes?  My travel companion loves dance classes.  It's a form of exercise for him.    

--How are the evening shows and events around the ship?

 

We heard food and service are outstanding and we are definitely foodies type of people.  

 

 

Thank you so much in advance for your input and comments,

Danny

[DCPIV]

I can't speak to cruising in South America, but I can show you a sample of what we had going on aboard Summit last week. 

 

 

It's not quite the same a what you see on RCCL, but it's not far off, and it doesn't seem terribly scaled back from before covid. 

[danny8826]

1 minute ago, DCPIV said:

I can't speak to cruising in South America, but I can show you a sample of what we had going on aboard Summit last week. 

 

 

It's not quite the same a what you see on RCCL, but it's not far off, and it doesn't seem terribly scaled back from before covid. 

 

Thank you for sharing. 🙂

This is helpful to know.

 

[Northern Aurora]

We've done a series of South American itineraries on the Infinity and also on the Eclipse.  I feel that the Infinity, the smaller ship, is a better fit for some of the South American ports.

 

On both of those B2B2Bs Celebrity had speakers who presented programs on South America, often focusing on natural history.  And while I am not into serious dancing it seems to me that there were Tango classes.

 

Others will chime in with more information.

[danny8826]

2 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

We've done a series of South American itineraries on the Infinity and also on the Eclipse.  I feel that the Infinity, the smaller ship, is a better fit for some of the South American ports.

 

On both of those B2B2Bs Celebrity had speakers who presented programs on South America, often focusing on natural history.  And while I am not into serious dancing it seems to me that there were Tango classes.

 

Others will chime in with more information.

 

Thank you for the info.  

I am not into serious dance classes either, but my travel companion is and he like to dance for exercises.  

I would definitely like the talks and presentation of the places we are heading to.  That would be good to know.  It would give me some perspectives or a different perspective.

 

 

 

[Lady Arwen]

Please go on your Infinity cruise with realistic expectations.  She is a lovely older lady with some wrinkles here and there and definitely is in need of a facelift.  We sailed the Med on Infinity in 2019 and it was obvious that work was needed to bring her up to Celebrity’s high standards.  Due to Covid lockdowns, her Revolutionizing has been postponed.  She is a perfect size for your itinerary and if you can look past these imperfections, you will have a wonderful time.   I just didn’t want you to think she is comparable to the glitzy mega ships of Royal Caribbean.  Not even close, but for lots of us that is a very good thing!

[danny8826]

35 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Please go on your Infinity cruise with realistic expectations.  She is a lovely older lady with some wrinkles here and there and definitely is in need of a facelift.  We sailed the Med on Infinity in 2019 and it was obvious that work was needed to bring her up to Celebrity’s high standards.  Due to Covid lockdowns, her Revolutionizing has been postponed.  She is a perfect size for your itinerary and if you can look past these imperfections, you will have a wonderful time.   I just didn’t want you to think she is comparable to the glitzy mega ships of Royal Caribbean.  Not even close, but for lots of us that is a very good thing!

 

Thank you.  The ship doesn't matter much to us.  On Royal Caribbean, we enjoy the smaller ship size.  We love the Radiance Class of ships.  We have been on the Serenade of the Seas 3x and Jewel 1x.  

For us, the food, service, activities, people we meet and stay friends with are the most important.  The ship is a means of transport us from place to place.  We actually haven't been on any of Royal Caribbean mega ship believe or not even though we are their Diamond member.

 

[danny8826]

 

From looking at the itinerary, does anyone know if we will see any glacier or fjords?

 

https://www.icruise.com/itineraries/12-night-argentina-and-patagonia-holiday-cruise_celebrity-infinity_12-21-2022.html?refPage=src

 

In the past, I have seen itineraries that include Chilean Fjords, but nothing is mention here or on Celebrity website. 

 

Thank you

[woneill63]

I have been on dozens of cruises with Royal.  My wife and I decided to give Celebrity a try back in summer of 2019.  We chose Celebrity because of the 10 day itinerary, Adriatic Sea out of Venice ending up in Rome, aboard the Constellation.  It is a sister ship of the Infinity.  

Yes, the Infinity will be a smaller, older ship compared to most of Royal's fleet. We thought that we would not enjoy the ship but we were dead wrong.  The service and meals were spectacular and we thought that the smaller size ship was a plus.  The entire crew could not do enough to make sure that my son, my wife, and I had a great cruise.  

My son, who was 12 at that time, really enjoyed the kid's club, and went there daily.  I have sailed on five different cruise lines and Celebrity's excursions were the best.  They all ran like clock work and were reasonably priced.  

As my wife and I get older, we are now 57, we will slowly be transitioning over to Celebrity.  We have a sailing booked on the Infinity, Oct 20, 2022, without our son this time.  This cruise was recently extended from 9 to 11 nights, and we know that it will be fantastic.  

[danny8826]

15 hours ago, woneill63 said:

I have been on dozens of cruises with Royal.  My wife and I decided to give Celebrity a try back in summer of 2019.  We chose Celebrity because of the 10 day itinerary, Adriatic Sea out of Venice ending up in Rome, aboard the Constellation.  It is a sister ship of the Infinity.  

Yes, the Infinity will be a smaller, older ship compared to most of Royal's fleet. We thought that we would not enjoy the ship but we were dead wrong.  The service and meals were spectacular and we thought that the smaller size ship was a plus.  The entire crew could not do enough to make sure that my son, my wife, and I had a great cruise.  

My son, who was 12 at that time, really enjoyed the kid's club, and went there daily.  I have sailed on five different cruise lines and Celebrity's excursions were the best.  They all ran like clock work and were reasonably priced.  

As my wife and I get older, we are now 57, we will slowly be transitioning over to Celebrity.  We have a sailing booked on the Infinity, Oct 20, 2022, without our son this time.  This cruise was recently extended from 9 to 11 nights, and we know that it will be fantastic.  

 

Thank you for the info.  Your itinerary looks really good.  I love Spain and Portugal.  

This will be our first time of being on Celebrity and hopefully it would happen. 🙂

We have just booked the cruise yesterday and been watching lots of YouTube videos.  

 

Does anyone know the answer to this question?  When watching the YouTube videos, I'm a bit confused.  Quite a number of people mentioned Café al Bacio.  With their new Always Included, are the coffee and cakes/pastries/cookies at this cafe free of charge?  

 

 

[cruisestitch]

Mostly.  The food is always free of charge. Most of the drinks are included in a classic package. There are a few which exceed the price limit of the classic.

[ChucktownSteve]

On 10/12/2021 at 7:19 PM, danny8826 said:

 

Thank you.  The ship doesn't matter much to us.  On Royal Caribbean, we enjoy the smaller ship size.  We love the Radiance Class of ships.  We have been on the Serenade of the Seas 3x and Jewel 1x.  

For us, the food, service, activities, people we meet and stay friends with are the most important.  The ship is a means of transport us from place to place.  We actually haven't been on any of Royal Caribbean mega ship believe or not even though we are their Diamond member.

 

 

If you love the R class ships and a foodie, you'll probably really like Azamara.  They're all R class ships with elevated food and service. 

[danny8826]

46 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Mostly.  The food is always free of charge. Most of the drinks are included in a classic package. There are a few which exceed the price limit of the classic.

 

Thank you.  It's more than a year away but could always dream about it and plan of course. 🙂

 

[danny8826]

2 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

If you love the R class ships and a foodie, you'll probably really like Azamara.  They're all R class ships with elevated food and service. 

 

Thank you.  I will start off with Celebrity first. 🙂

[ETHTrader]

2 hours ago, danny8826 said:

Quite a number of people mentioned Café al Bacio.  With their new Always Included, are the coffee and cakes/pastries/cookies at this cafe free of charge?  

 

 

 

Yes. Cakes/pastries/cookies are free. Most coffee drinks on the menu of Cafe al Bacio are covered under the Classic Package that comes with Always Included. Only exceptions are coffee drinks with alcohol (which are over $9)

[davwen81]

We had a B2B2B around STH America on Infinity and had a ball! Great ship, great staff and service, fabulous itinerary. Lots of people do B2B so you get to know people. Absolutely loved it. We went up to Rio during Carnivale time and the ship was jumping! Dance classes and partying was full on!  We then went down and around the south of SA and experienced the glaciers on Glacier Alley and then the Chilean Fiords. Totally stunning.

Great entertainment at night in theatre and good daytime activities too. 
hope that helps. 😊

[zitsky]

Went to SA with NCL on similar itinerary in 2018.  Loved it and may go back in 2023.  Beautiful scenery. 

[danny8826]

6 hours ago, ETHTrader said:

 

Yes. Cakes/pastries/cookies are free. Most coffee drinks on the menu of Cafe al Bacio are covered under the Classic Package that comes with Always Included. Only exceptions are coffee drinks with alcohol (which are over $9)

 

Thank you for the info.  I will have to watch my sugar intake. 🙂

[danny8826]

5 hours ago, davwen81 said:

We had a B2B2B around STH America on Infinity and had a ball! Great ship, great staff and service, fabulous itinerary. Lots of people do B2B so you get to know people. Absolutely loved it. We went up to Rio during Carnivale time and the ship was jumping! Dance classes and partying was full on!  We then went down and around the south of SA and experienced the glaciers on Glacier Alley and then the Chilean Fiords. Totally stunning.

Great entertainment at night in theatre and good daytime activities too. 
hope that helps. 😊

 

That is some great info.  Thank you so much. 🙂

[canderson]

1 minute ago, danny8826 said:

 

Thank you for the info.  I will have to watch my sugar intake. 🙂

I'd say walk up the other side of the ship as you go by, but the opposite side has the gelato station!

[danny8826]

3 hours ago, zitsky said:

Went to SA with NCL on similar itinerary in 2018.  Loved it and may go back in 2023.  Beautiful scenery. 

 

Thank you.  I did look at NCL too, but when I compare the 2 itineraries, I ran into a few conflicts such as work schedule, not sure if I want to leave the ship on New Year day in Chile.  Plus, NCL time in port is a bit short.  We have both booked though so we definitely will have to let go of one.

 

[danny8826]

3 minutes ago, canderson said:

I'd say walk up the other side of the ship as you go by, but the opposite side has the gelato station!

 

Yes, I see that.  I also heard from some people saying if you are Captain Club member, you get a free scoop.  Of course, I don't know the level you need to be in to get that scoop, but I can pay for a scoop. 🙂

[upwarduk]

12 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Most of the drinks are included in a classic package. There are a few which exceed the price limit of the classic.

As you have a number of RCCL cruises under your belt, you should transfer to Elite on Celebrity. The Elite Happy Hour has some Premium drinks on the 5-7 Happy Hour menu.

 

[zitsky]

9 hours ago, danny8826 said:

 

Yes, I see that.  I also heard from some people saying if you are Captain Club member, you get a free scoop.  Of course, I don't know the level you need to be in to get that scoop, but I can pay for a scoop. 🙂

 

We had a long thread about this.  Some people said the ice cream at the buffet is better.

 

Get your gelato.  It's free.

[Bo1953]

9 hours ago, danny8826 said:

 

Yes, I see that.  I also heard from some people saying if you are Captain Club member, you get a free scoop.  Of course, I don't know the level you need to be in to get that scoop, but I can pay for a scoop. 🙂

What???? ... and give up that valuable perk??? LOL

 

bon voyage