The Greek Isles and Turkey on Celebrity Infinity June 15, 2024

PurpleTraveller · July 21

Saturday June 22 - Disembarkation

I don't know when we arrived in Athens but we were due at 4.00am. At 6.45am was the announcement that the ship and been cleared and disembarkation could commence. We had breakfast in the Oceanview Cafe at 7.30am and then self disembarked at 8.15am.

We walked out of the port and bought two 90 minute bus tickets for €1.20 each at the machine at the port gate. At 8.40am we got on the #040 bus to Syntagma Square. We arrived at 9.30am and walked the short distance to the hotel where we had stayed a week ago. They had kindly offered to store our luggage for a few hours before we had to head to the airport.

We walked the short distance to the Botanic Gardens where it was very pleasant in the shady, cool and quiet gardens. We came across a number of tortoises in the gardens.

At one point as walked along a path near a road we saw guards marching to the Changing of the Guards ceremony.

At the far end of the park we walked out of a gate and the short distance to the Panathenaic Stadium which was built for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

We then walked back to the area near our hotel and got some lunch from a bakery. We walked past this interesting cafe which had old fashioned lamps and silk flowers decorating the outside.

After we collected our luggage we walked to the Syntagma Train station and got the 12.30pm train to the airport. Our train arrived at 1.15pm so we checked in to our flight and then flew to Rome.

This is the end of my Celebrity Infinity cruise review however this is a link to my Celebrity Constellation review in case anyone would like to continue the journey with me.

PurpleTraveller · July 21

Conclusion

We had a wonderful cruise and these are my opinions only.

Embarkation and Disembarkation

Embarkation took a short while but it was well organised and we were on the ship in 40 minutes.

We self disembarked which was quick and easy.

Ship

We found Celebrity Infinity in great condition, particularly considering her age. All public areas were fresh after her dry dock earlier in the year. We liked her size and it was very quick and easy to move around the ship. We would happily sail on Infinity again.

Cabin

We loved our cabin! It was very spacious, clean and comfortable. It was great to have very new carpet and a large couch as well as two tub chairs. The view from the porthole was good and the room was very bright and sunny. The shower could do with a refresh but the shower curtain was clean and a none issue for us. The only issue is that you do get noise from the anchors when anchoring and vibration from the thrusters when docking. Sometimes when the ship is reversing the noise and vibration can go for quite a long time. This didn't worry us but may disturb others. We didn't hear any noise from our neighbours or the hallway as there was no passing foot traffic as there was only one more cabin after ours in the hall.

Food

Food is very subjective but we thought the food overall was good. In the Trellis Restaurant we enjoyed our meals though DH thought that sometimes the portions were a bit small. The selection and quality of food in the Oceanview Cafe was good and we liked the layout. DH thought the pancakes at breakfast were the best he has had on any ship. We loved the lemon tarts from Cafe Al Bacio. Yum!

Service

The service we received throughout the cruise was wonderful. The dining team we had were fabulous and our steward was very good. All crew we encountered throughout the cruise were friendly, polite and very helpful. We did not have a single instance of poor service.

Packages

We didn't purchase a package as we drink little alcohol, don't drink coffee and don't need daily internet. We had OBC and used it to pay for our shore excursion and our drinks during the cruise and left the cruise not owing anything. I had a European Sim card with Data for my phone so used it when on land to check emails. The Sim card didn't work in Turkey so fortunately our last port was in Greece so I could check in for our flights after the cruise.

Weather

As expected the weather was very warm. Fortunately it wasn't unbearably hot and we could still walk around to sightsee. We always left the ship early each morning to avoid the worst heat of the day and then would return to the ship for a late lunch. A byproduct of this was that most places were a lot quieter with less crowds early in the day. Often when we returned to the ship in the afternoon it was too hot to sit outside near the pool or at the Sunset Bar. However the temperature was wonderful to spend the evenings out on deck.

Ports

We enjoyed all our ports even though we had been to three of them before. While we booked the cruise having visited all ports previously to have a relaxing cruise between busy touring we ended up with the last two ports being new to us. It was disappointing to miss Mykonos and Bodrum was a good replacement rather than having a Sea Day. Nafplio was a delightful surprise and we really enjoyed our day there. Nafplio was a great replacement for Hydra.

Tenders

We had to use tenders in Santorini and Nafplio. In Santorini we didn't have to worry about tendering as we were on a shore excursion. The tenders at Nafplio were well organised and we had no issue getting to shore or back to the ship. We did notice that although times were given for tender tickets to start being given out, that they started giving them out earlier than stated.

Shore Excursions

We only did one shore excursion in Santorini and really enjoyed it. It was great to not have to deal with getting tender tickets or getting up the cable car at the old port. I felt we had sufficient time at each stop and Pyrgos was so quiet it was a wonderful change to the crowds at Oia and Fira.

Presentations

DH enjoyed the "Secrets of Sea with Captain Ioannis" Presentation that he went to on the Sea Day. As there was only one sea day there wasn't time for any other presentations for us to go to.

Entertainment

We only went to the Theatre once to see "Star Factory" which we really enjoyed. We thought the acrobat aerialists were outstanding. We enjoyed the live music at the Sunset Bar but the live music at the Rendezvous Lounge was too loud in the venue to enjoy. We really enjoyed having the Euro 2024 matches played on the big screen at the Rooftop Bar each night. It was lovely to sit back after a busy day sightseeing under a perfect evening sky and watch a game.

Passengers

The ship was almost full and most passengers we encountered were great. We met some lovely people throughout the cruise. There was a wide range of ages from babies to older passengers. There were quite a few children and teenagers on board and the ones we saw were well behaved. There was a large number of passengers from the United States and United Kingdom with a fair few Australians.

Overall

We had a wonderful cruise and enjoyed visiting Greece and Turkey again. Celebrity Infinity is a lovely ship and we were pleased to cruise on her. We would be happy to sail on Celebrity Infinity again in the future.

Well this is the end of my review. Where are we off to next? Our next booked cruise is a 14 day cruise on Emerald Princess to Iceland and the British Isles in September 2025, though I wouldn't be at all surprised if I book another one before then.

Thank you for reading my review.

Until next time Bon Voyage! 🛳️

Edited July 21 by PurpleTraveller

Boycey · July 21

Thanks @PurpleTraveller for the excellent and very enjoyable review. We board Infinity next weekend for a b2b with one of the weeks having the same itinerary you’ve enjoyed, so it’s been really useful reading for us.

Hope we enjoy it as much as you clearly have.

MikeMary4449 · July 21

Thank you @PurpleTraveller for taking the time to write such a wonderful and detailed review. Your photos are outstanding! We have taken many notes and hope to use your valuable information in the future. Continued safe travels!

Coolcruise02 · July 21

Thank you for your review and great photos. We will do this trip in October.

Stem to Stern · July 22

Loving your review. I will have to go through it again spending more time admiring your photography. All those balloons!!!😲

Some of your stops on your Santorini excursion stirred fond memories while others gave me ideas for if I ever go back. I love that you lost the crowds.

PurpleTraveller · July 22

12 hours ago, Boycey said:

Thanks @PurpleTraveller for the excellent and very enjoyable review. We board Infinity next weekend for a b2b with one of the weeks having the same itinerary you’ve enjoyed, so it’s been really useful reading for us.

Hope we enjoy it as much as you clearly have.

Thank you! I'm glad the review has been of some use for you.

A B2B will be fantastic! We had a wonderful cruise and hope you do too. 🛳️

PurpleTraveller · July 22

10 hours ago, MikeMary4449 said:

Thank you @PurpleTraveller for taking the time to write such a wonderful and detailed review. Your photos are outstanding! We have taken many notes and hope to use your valuable information in the future. Continued safe travels!

Thank you so much! I'm really pleased that you enjoyed the review. 😊

PurpleTraveller · July 22

4 hours ago, Coolcruise02 said:

Thank you for your review and great photos. We will do this trip in October.

Thanks! Hope you have as great a time on your cruise as we did. 🛳️

PurpleTraveller · July 22

3 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Loving your review. I will have to go through it again spending more time admiring your photography. All those balloons!!!😲

Some of your stops on your Santorini excursion stirred fond memories while others gave me ideas for if I ever go back. I love that you lost the crowds.

Thank you!

I counted the balloons in one of my photos and there were 54! And of course that was only in one direction. Apparently there were around 200 in the air that morning!

Our time in Santorini was fabulous being away from the crowds for most of our time there. Sometimes it's good to not stick with the most popular places. 😊

Nettie11 · July 22

On 7/17/2024 at 9:39 PM, PurpleTraveller said:

Saturday June 15 - Embarkation Day Continued

We then headed inside for more exploration.

Cafe Al Bacio

Trellis Restaurant

Blu

Rendezvous Lounge

Tuscan Grille

Grand Foyer

Theatre

Library