Anybody just back from Infinity?

[grummanyankee]

We're looking for info from the Infinity (maybe you are still onboard). We sail the 7th out of Seattle for the Inside Passage. Interested in a review of food, services, what isn't worth it, what not to miss, etc. Also, if you toured Seattle, what should we not miss? Thanks in advance.

[Karynanne]

I just returned from Infinity on Fri. 7/31. The ship looks great. We had wonderful weather...it was in the 80's in Juneau! But with Alaska, you never know what the weather will be. Hubbard Glacier was amazing. We been to Alaska quite a few times before, but never had been this close to the Glacier before.

 

In Seattle, visit Pike's Market. A wonderful, eclectic place. The flower stands are incredible.

[nat9511]

I just returned on the 24th from our cruise on the Infinity. The naturalist Brent Nixon was great so don't miss any of his talks. The weather was cool but not cold. We wore a light jacket and jeans most days. At Hubbard Glacier it was rainy, misty so I used a .99 poncho from Walmart which was sufficient.

 

Celebrity's service and attention is why I keep going back to them. Our room steward was great. We only saw him twice during the week. As soon as we left the room he had it cleaned immediately. Our waiter Ginada was very good also. The food was good but not outstanding. I am glad that Celebrity still has trays in the casual eating area.

 

The best part of the whole trip for me was the Luggage Valet program. We paid $20 pp and when we put our bags out on Thursday night we never saw them again until we reached our home airport on Friday night. They gave us our boarding passes on the ship so at the airport we didn't have to stand in line we were able to go directly to the gate we were departing from. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

 

We didn't have time to sightsee before the cruise so we took the Seattle Essentials Tour through Celebrity after the cruise. It was on Grey Line busses and we went to the Space Needle where we had one hour to explore, Pike Place Market where we had an hour and then some of the downtown area. The cost was $54 and dropped us off at the airport at 12:45. It was a good way to kill time and see the sights.

 

I know you will have a great time. I'm ready to go back again. Alaska is awsome.

[Lois R]

I just returned from Infinity on Fri. 7/31. The ship looks great. We had wonderful weather...it was in the 80's in Juneau! But with Alaska, you never know what the weather will be. Hubbard Glacier was amazing. We been to Alaska quite a few times before, but never had been this close to the Glacier before.

 

In Seattle, visit Pike's Market. A wonderful, eclectic place. The flower stands are incredible.

 

Hi Karyn, welcome back and glad you had another wonderful

time:), although I REALLY hope the weather cools off for me

next month:D

Did you meet Troy and Mark?:)

[harryb50]

Do you know what menu they used on the cruise? Was their an everyday menu?

[Montana]

Consider taking 1 of the savor Seattle food tours. We did the gourmet tour and our children the pikes market food tour. We both had a great time tasting great foods in Seattle and had a great walking tour. You need to be spending the day before or after to do these, but they are great. In Ketchikan we went Salmon fishing and sent more than 25 pounds of delicious wild and smoked salmon home. In Juneau we rented a limo and did our own tour. We rented from Juneau limo. savorseattle.com

[Aqua's Mom]

Just got off Infinity 7/31. Everything was wonderful.

 

Best Food: Salmon with Terriyaki glaze; coq au vin; goat cheese tart; all the "sugar free" or "no sugar added" desserts - especially the "tulip" and crepes; (didn't like the lobster "melange"). Tried room service for breakfast and it was great. Ordered burgers and hot cocoa to have on our balcony near the end of the Hubbard time - very nice. Our waiter said it was the "old" menu. There was an everyday menu with shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, grilled fish & beef.

 

Service: Always great. Only slow service was in Oceanveiw Bistro - food good, though.

 

Best siteseeing: Deadliest Catch tour in Ketchikan - very calm ride, personal attention showing bald eagles, crabs, fish, even a whale. The crew really cares about giving you a good time. Monorail to Seattle Center lets you see Space needle and a wonderful park with unique fountain. Brent Nixon's shows help you know what you are seeing with animals later in cruise. He'll also tell you when and where to meet to see whales and Hubbard Glacier the best.

 

Activities - Look at classes offered. Watercolor class was one I missed - wish I hadn't. Seemed like even those with no talent (me) learned to make something nice.

 

For those I met on ship - Aqua's blood tests came back fine. Yeah!

[Whippets]

Happy to hear that Aqua's bloodwork was normal. All young lab's are so full of themselves!

 

Enjoyed meeting everyone!

 

The suggestions that have been made are all must sees. If you are near Pike's Market in Seattle stop at Etta's for lunch or dinner. You won't be disappointed.

 

We had an interesting experience while traveling. We arrived a day early and stayed at the Mariott Waterfront (very convenient for cruisers out of Pier 66, bellhop rolls your luggage over when it is time to board). At 11:15 PM we had a fire alarm and had to evacuate the building. We were on the 4th floor. Only out of our room for about a half an hour and they were able to address a gas leak with no further problems. Upon returning to Seattle we stayed at the Hilton on 6th and University. Once again, we had a fire alarm at 5:10 AM. We were staying on the 23rd floor and had to walk down all of those stairs. Were out of the room for one hour and 50 minutes. This was on the morning that we were to fly home. We made it with time to spare, but was concerned when we didn't know what was happening.

 

As others have said, our weather was lovely on the 24th sailing. I packed way too much for rain and cold weather.

 

Happy sailing!

 

Diane

[grummanyankee]

Happy to hear that Aqua's bloodwork was normal. All young lab's are so full of themselves!

 

Enjoyed meeting everyone!

 

The suggestions that have been made are all must sees. If you are near Pike's Market in Seattle stop at Etta's for lunch or dinner. You won't be disappointed.

 

We had an interesting experience while traveling. We arrived a day early and stayed at the Mariott Waterfront (very convenient for cruisers out of Pier 66, bellhop rolls your luggage over when it is time to board). At 11:15 PM we had a fire alarm and had to evacuate the building. We were on the 4th floor. Only out of our room for about a half an hour and they were able to address a gas leak with no further problems. Upon returning to Seattle we stayed at the Hilton on 6th and University. Once again, we had a fire alarm at 5:10 AM. We were staying on the 23rd floor and had to walk down all of those stairs. Were out of the room for one hour and 50 minutes. This was on the morning that we were to fly home. We made it with time to spare, but was concerned when we didn't know what was happening.

 

As others have said, our weather was lovely on the 24th sailing. I packed way too much for rain and cold weather.

 

 

Happy sailing!

 

Diane

OMG! TWO fire alarms? I'd better wear pj's to bed!

[Mabers]

Hi Diane, KarynAnne and Cheryl!

 

What a great cruise! Glad to hear you all arrived home safely. We did too......debarkation was painless, and the day long, but otherwise no glitches.

To the OP and others, we did something that turned out better than we could have hoped........in Juneau we had a late Whale Watching Tour (awesome), and weren't going to be on time for our Main Seating dinner, so we reserved 7PM up in the Oceanview Cafe. The scenery out of Juneau is spectacular and to be able to enjoy it through floor to ceiling/wall to wall windows was great. Ask for a window table when you reserve.

 

Sheila.

[drychi]

Nat 9511 and I were on the same 7-17 to 7-24 cruise. I agree with her comments. I sent a long review of our trip to Cruise Critic two days ago, so it should be posted soon. I covered most of the items in your e-mail so I hope you will read it and find it useful. I am sure you will enjoy your cruise. The Infinity is a beautiful ship with an outstanding crew.

[Leuser1]

Consider taking 1 of the savor Seattle food tours. We did the gourmet tour and our children the pikes market food tour. We both had a great time tasting great foods in Seattle and had a great walking tour. You need to be spending the day before or after to do these, but they are great. In Ketchikan we went Salmon fishing and sent more than 25 pounds of delicious wild and smoked salmon home. In Juneau we rented a limo and did our own tour. We rented from Juneau limo. savorseattle.com

 

We did Savor Seattle's Coffee and Chocolate Tour after our Infinity cruise 2 weeks ago and it was fantastic. We're coffee-lovers so it was one of the highlights of the whole vacation for our kids ages 25, 23, and 21. Also did Seattle Food Tours (can you tell we like food???) Pike Place Market lunch tour before the cruise. It was a little more low key but we liked it too. We went back after the cruise to pick up lots of goodies we had sampled on the tour: dried fruits, gelato, crumpets, chocolates, etc. Both tours were a fun way to experience Seattle in a short time. We enjoyed walking around Seattle and can't wait to go back. One more thing - we bought a beautiful big bouquet of flowers at Pike Place market to bring on the ship. Our steward found a vase for us so we had great flowers all week.

 

Here are some links: http://www.seattlefoodtours.com/ and http://www.savorseattletours.com/