Onboard Infinity South America/Panama Canal

[avalon1025]

Hi all,

 

We are all settled in on the Infinity having just left Valpariso for Ft Lauderdale. Here are some highlights: Ship is in realtively good shape. Food has been very good as is 90% of the crew, we love our waitress! The entertainment has been good in the various lounges. Great Martinis!

 

Our suite is looks pretty shabby with old saggy bedding and stained bedspreads, etc. Why, oh why do they insist on fadded plastic flowers everywhere. Ours in our suite are so filthy I ran them under the faucet to clean off the dust. For the prices of these suites is it so much to request a fresh flower. I have to say the suite life on HAL with the Neptune lounge is a better deal (in the Sky Suite category), the butler is essentially useless (our told me I'd have beeter luck getting United State reservations if I did it myself). Its tough when the front desk suggest that we should have stayed in a CC cabin as they were more recently refreshed (and handed a card for some 800 number in Miami as the brush off for any other issues). The personalized stationary is nice, but ours is for someone elses suite....

 

We have a large group of Germans onboard adding to a nice international flavor. Nickle and diming is present everywhere on the pool deck (when did they install a Red Bull bar?)

 

Seas have been dead calm and the weather has been cloudy, but we are hoping for some sun when we get further north.

 

Overall a nice cruise, but I hate to say that Celebrity has become Royal Caribbean over the years. More to come as the days sail by...

[Germancruiser]

Hi

thank you for your info about the Infnity, as I will be sailing her in April to Hawaii. I still cross fingers that they will get their new bedding in Ft. Lauderdale. I agree for the price of a suite they should provide fresh flowers and if plastic ones---- then clean and not dusty ones, did you report it to your " butler" . I always wonder what those butlers are for- I mean what are they doing better than a good stateroom attendant???

Great to hear from the Infinity LIVE!

Greetings to the germans.....LOL!

Michael

[Spot]

Avalon1025

 

Thank you for your report on the Infinity.

We will be aboard next month to Hawaii with GermanCruiser and we are very anxious to hear your impressions about the ship, it's crew, the food, and entertainment.

 

We look forward to you posting again.

[Germancruiser]

HI again

I am also curious about the name of the Captain and Cruise Director....... Thx. :)

 

Hello Deb:) I can´t wait to board... but we don´t hve to wait to long anymore..!

greetings

Michael

[florisdekort]

The new beds are wonderful. I expect Infinity to get the new beds during her dry dock late May.

 

Weird that they have fake flowers; we had fresh flowers in our CC cabin on Millennium 3 weeks ago. Maybe it has something to do with not being able to get fresh flowers in South Amercia or something?

 

Floris

[Andy]

The new beds are wonderful. I expect Infinity to get the new beds during her dry dock late May.

 

Weird that they have fake flowers; we had fresh flowers in our CC cabin on Millennium 3 weeks ago. Maybe it has something to do with not being able to get fresh flowers in South Amercia or something?

 

Floris

 

Hi Floris !

 

I was wondering the same thing, as we always had fresh flowers in our Cabins on our past Cruises. Perhaps it is a regional issue.

[c-legs]

:( Or perhaps just another cost cutting measure ??....If so, well.....==X==:: Welcome to RCL !!!

 

Cheers

:confused:

[cabo de hornos]

At least we can count on having fresh Floris!!!

 

Cabo

[mocro]

Thanks, Avalon, for taking the time from all the fun-having to give us a report. We're on the Infinity in a Royal Suite (if it opens, fingers crossed) to Alaska in August and I too, am lighting votive candles in the hopes for new bedding. Hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful and look forward to your report when you return.

[dgg4]

We're sailing on Infinity right after you! Don't drink all the martinis! :D

[c-legs]

At least we can count on having fresh Floris!!!

 

Cabo

:D Love it !!! Good ol'Southern humour....:cool: :D :D

Cheers

[florisdekort]

At least we can count on having fresh Floris!!!

 

Cabo

 

LOL :D

I'm always fresh and cheerleading all over the place!

[Cruisenouvelle]

Since a huge amount of floral product (roses, alstroemeria, lilies, daisies, iris, etc.) comes out of South America - especially Ecuador and Colombia - it would appear that X could easily obtain them for the suites. I have to agree w/ opinion that they're doing a little cost-cutting...hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful!!

[judyfssw]

We were in a Royal Suite on the Summit and a Celebrity Suite on the Constellation. Both just had fake flowers. Disappointing. In CC we always have fresh flowers.

[avalon1025]

Hi Everyone from off the coast of Peru. Yesterday we had our first port of call in Arica, great weather and an interesting desert location.

 

The crew has continued to be wonderful, we love our waitress and she can not do enough. We had a wonderful dinner in the United States and the food has been just fine.

 

After being dismissed by the front desk, I went to enquire about our suite with the head of housekeeping who agreed to do a walk through of the cabin. What we pointed out:

 

All the fake flowers

The split seam in the carpet held together by clear packing tape

The tiles that fell off in the bathroom and that were on the floor

The dirty balcony with rust stains on the metal

No toiletries except the before mentioned bar of soap and two dispensers on the wall.

The filthy bedspread, torn and threadbear

Our hangers being wire from random drycleaners

The oldest luppiest cot mattress at sea

 

He was very appoligetic and began working on fixes immediately. He asked what we really wanted and I told him in a suite, we should have at least everything that is in a CC cabin...which I found funny that the suites do not.

 

We now have fresh flowers, we had the bedspread removed, the tiles have been fixed.

 

I had a thought while dealing with all this. I truely believe that the crew wants to give a superior product, they really do, but are not given the hardware and software to do so. Our poor cabin steward has 15 suites and cabins to clean, he is beaten...Our butler is fine if you want a cup of tea, but I can not figure out what else to use him for. The ship is showing wear and tear and not just old furniture but chipped paint, worn off varnish on railings etc. From afar the ship looks fine and maybe that's what RCI thinks is OK.

 

Again, I think HAL gives a better suite deal. Celebrity offers no inviations to suite events or parties, no access to anything in the spa like Princess, not really anything. Thank goodness for Arica, we were able to visit a pharmacy and buy bath gel which is only available to purchase in the gift shop on this ship.

 

I hate to be the bearing of this news, but I would say this ship is only worth it up to a Concierge Class cabin.

 

PS: The PODs are good only up to 20 knots...so far we have been sailing slowly north and making all ports...

 

Thanks!

[Spot]

Avalon1025

 

Thank you for the update.

I guess the pods are more of an issue than they are informing you about as "X" has already made itinerary changes to the Infinity's Hawaii on April 8 and April 22 sailings.

Right now we are crossing our fingers that our cruise on April 22 will still be on after you finish your cruise and any subsequent cruises before ours.

 

I hope all the issues with your suite find remedy and you are able to enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Keep us all informed and thank you for posting.

[avalon1025]

Hi all,

 

We are at sea today, tomorrow is the Panama Canal. We arrived Manta on time yesterday and I got some photos of the dive team in the back of the ship who I suppose were inspecting the Pods. We have been traveling very slowly but I don't think the distances we are traveling require great speed.

 

We are enjoying the crew and food. The crew are very friendly and our dinning room experience has been the highlight of the cruise. We love our waitress Ronelle...hse is great.

 

Only issue would be the continuing lack of maintenance on the ship, unvarnished railings, unkept for teak and steps, stained cabin carpets and all. The crew appoligizes and say they will all be fixed in dry dock in May. For a ship that in voluntary and involuntary dry dock all the time why so worn? Not rediculously worn, but the shine and sparkle has definately worn off the Infinity. I've been on other ships much older than this one and they are always painting and polishing...nothing here except the poor woman how is constantly vacuuming the worn carpet in the Oceanview...

 

Thants all for now!

[avalon1025]

We have returned from the Infinity, all is in we had a lovely time due to the great staff. Food was more hit than miss with only 1 or two bad meals out of 14 (not so bad)...Still disapointments with the suites and overall condition of the ship will keep us from running back to Celebrity. I did plan a Mercury cruise in October to see if we prefer the smaller ship that has the new beds etc.

[lizinindy]

We were on the same cruise and agree with the rust problem. After a dewy morning and a wind, the canvas roof of our balcony would flap against the rusted (on top) white pipes that hold up the canvas and the result was a rust shower all over the balcony. We had a small spot in the corner close to the sliding glass door where our cabin steward set up breakfast where it wasn't raining rust droplets! I would have thought that the steward would have had it attended to immediately but we had to ask later in the evening to have our balcony cleaned. That night, before bedtime, we put duct tape on the top part of the pipes to cover the rust so we wouldn't have to deal with it again.

[terumim]

I am sorry to say this ... but was your cruise so boring that you have nothing to report but rust...fake flowers ...split seam in a carpet... and when you go on a cruise is this what you look at or for... for as many trips these ships make and the amount of people come and go...don't your feel your could give them a somewhat break....i feel they do a great job... if a meal is not up to par then order something esle ...i understand we all work hard for our money and pay good money for our cruises... but to go on and on about rust on a balcony... or fake flowers .. unvarnished rails.....unkept teak ..gezzzzzzz....have a glass of wine or soft drink and be grateful that we are healthy and able to enjoy we have the chance to enjoy such beautiful sites and someone esle is driving...

 

just make your cruise with another company ... keep trying till you find the one that is prefect to your taste...

 

 

i am sure there are things in your own homes that need to be fixed...

i am sorry your felt your cruise was so bad...comfort wise....

[avalon1025]

No the cruise was not boring but paying thousands and thousands per person to be in a suite on a ship that was rated so highly there are certain expectations, like any fine hotel. If I had paid $999 for my 14 night cruise cruise, I would have overlooked the issues we experienced. (lets remember Celebrity does not give deep discounts on their suites) If I were staying in a Hyatt or Hilton I would expect a clean maintained room, I would expect the same from a cruise line. I sailed on the Prinsendam in December and the ship is significantly older than the Infinity and was pristine in comparison. I have several photos for anyone interested in the condition of this top rated ship (please let me know your e-mail address).

 

Please remember we had a wonderful time, but I think others should be prepared if plastic flowers are not what you consider high class at the suite level...

[Captain Cosmo]

Hi Avalon - thanks for your honest review of your cruise. Unlike some others I did not get the impression that you didn't enjoy your cruise, but rather you were noting some things that need attention, particularly in view of what you paid for your cruise. I'm set to do this same cruise in March of 2008 so I'm hoping to see new bedding, fresh carpet and fresh flowers (this shift to plastic seems recent, as we had fresh flowers on our December 2006 cruise on Infinity). We'll be staying in a CC stateroom and by the time we do tips, bar tab (ouch!), shore excursions and on-board shopping I estimate we'll drop about $9,000 on our cruise. Like you, I do think that entitles me to a well maintained cabin.

 

Did you do a shore excursion at the Panama Canal or did you stay on board? Also, what shore excursions did you do in the other ports? Thanks for posting!

[C 2 C]

We were on this cruise from Buenos Aires to FLL, a total of 28 days.

I did not like Infinity as well as Century in which we have already cruised four times this year.

We were originally booked for an inside but were able to upgrade to CC class at a great price in Valparaiso.

Our complaint: Celebrity will not admit that upgrades are available in advance. We asked the Hotel Director, Connie, about possible upgrades for the second leg of our B2B but she gave the traditional Celebrity line.. "the sailing is full" :rolleyes:.

In Valparaiso we found out that there were quite a few CC cabins available but had to leave the ship for the terminal... a real pain... just to inform the people on shore to tell the people on board that we wanted an upgrade...

We had fresh flowers in our cabin as well as a rose in our bathroom.

We noticed a few blemishes but no real concern about worn out stuff.

We are so bored with the regular menu in the dining room that we changed to casual dining for 13 out of the 14 nights and loved it!

We are booked to cruise this itinerary again in 2008 BUT next year's cruise is two weeks later than this year. The captain was great, the cruise director was fine but I did not get a feeling of crew contentment.

I enjoyed my cruise around S America but I no longer have a feeling that Celebrity is my cruise line of choice. I am getting closer to switching brands because ?? I'm jaded??, there is nothing new??

In 28 days I gained two pounds!! The desserts are no longer appealing? The food is .. well .. food.. the menu no longer has appeal?

Entertainment.. same people doing the same shows??

Booking on board?? no longer worth it.

Promised improvements of elite perks?? How old is that message??

Celebrity is still a great experience but for repeat cruisers... I'm ready to jump ship just for the sake of novelty.

(this was our 55th week of cruising on Celebrity ships over the years)

I have no complaints about our Infinity experience in South America but I do have lots of issues with Celebrity

[avalon1025]

I think you hit the nail on the head with our suite issue as did our firend who prevously had a CC class cabin in the past. CC class get better ammenties than a sky suite, so why bother unless the room size is worth the lower standard of bedding and cabin amenities. (PS: CC get real flowers, suites get fake, and not just fake but faded dirty and falling apart) The Bulter was nice, but did nothing more than a good cabin steward

 

Also, I looked to book the Mercury onboard and was told by the Future Cruise consultant that I was not worth it for $100 shipboard credit and that I could do better through my travel agent, honest or just lazy?

[C 2 C]

 

Also, I looked to book the Mercury onboard and was told by the Future Cruise consultant that I was not worth it for $100 shipboard credit and that I could do better through my travel agent, honest or just lazy?

 

I think that Celebrity really messed up their future booking program. Different agencies are now offering to pay for insurance, spa credits, prepaid tips etc.. and you can book last minute deals if you are patient... or while on board you can pay a $900 deposit to get back $50 to $100 a year from now. What a deal!!:rolleyes:

AND: you can no longer change the ship or sailing date of on board bookings...just further X-improvements in the Celebrity Experience.

I find another irritant with X every time I sail. New cruisers don't notice but repeat cruisers continue to see a deterioration from previous experiences in the X product.:(