Celebrity Infinity Reviews

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Two nights before the cruise, my husband and I stayed in Fort Lauderdale at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66, a really nice hotel, with a gorgeous view from the balcony overlooking the pier and our future cruise ship, which made for fun anticipation. Embarkation: so easy and so effortless, we thought we must be one of the only cruisers! No lines, no delays and no hassles whatsoever, we boarded and went immediately to our suite. The Royal Suite: worth every penny. We've had the suite on previous cruises and the redecorating was very good as everything was clean and almost new. This suite has a small dining room area open to the living room area and has a separate bedroom along with (my favorite!) a walk-in closet and a spacious bathroom with a spa tub and separate shower. One of the best features is a large veranda with a table and chairs for dining and two lounge chairs next to an outdoor spa tub that sadly, did not get used. A big surprise was on the first night, we received an invitation to dine at one of the specialty restaurants on board, Qsine. Probably one of the most unique restaurants, you order from an iPad and each course is presented in a clever and sometimes amusing manner with small portions of food from many different countries. The service was impeccable. Also on the first formal night, we got to sit at the captain's table in the dining room. Meeting the captain was nice as well as the other guests. Which leads me to review the food on the Infinity: By far, the BEST buffet ever, for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The freshest, ripest, most delicious fruit I have ever had in my life. If you think that's an exaggeration, all I can say is that I saw them load crates of pineapples, melons and bananas from some of the ports we stopped at in South and Central America where they grow these fruits! Absolutely unbelievable as I ate more fruit than I had a right to:>)) But not only the fruit, but since we are vegetarian, there were countless dishes we could have. Often, we will go on a cruise or to a restaurant, and for meat-eaters, there's a wide variety of choices, but for us, maybe some pasta. But on this ship, at the buffet, there was so much food for us, and really, really good food, that we definitely gained weight! Some stand-outs: The pasta bar at the buffet where you can choose whatever ingredients you want and they saute your pasta while you wait. Surprisingly, really excellent sushi (vegetarian sushi) that the chef prepared for us anytime we wanted. Delicious Indian food with just the right amount of spices. There's more, like vegeburgers and wonderful chocolate chip cookies. The only dud was mostly the desserts which even though they looked really good, were just average. But that didn't stop us from coming to the buffet as much as possible! The dining room: A big disappointment. The food was so mediocre and the service so average, that we only dined there twice on the entire cruise. Even though all the other restaurants and food more than made up for this lack of quality cuisine, the disappointment was in not meeting people, sharing experiences or enjoying the ambiance of the dining room which we've always done on previous cruises. One note, however, was the maitre d was very helpful when we wanted to change our dining time. The service: One of the BEST crews we have ever had on any ship. From the butler to just about ever single server, there were greetings, smiles and attentiveness. Our Stateroom butler, Jose, was SO terrific, we could give him twelve stars! He was always available, always friendly and so interesting to talk with. We wished we could take him home:>)) Our stateroom attendant, Nemia Deleon, was wonderful. Ricardo Gomez, a concierge, was so kind and so thoughtful. even sending a bottle of wine to our stateroom. Billy, in the restaurant Blu, was SO darling! Our group only wanted to sit at one of his tables every time we ate there. Also, the people at the concierge desk were so kind to help me use the ship's phone to call Verizon about our cellphones. I could go on and on if I knew every one's names like they knew ours! The spa: Some really good, some not so good. I had a hot stone massage that was really good, but a manicure and pedicure that was not so good. Not bad, just not good. And way overpriced, but one expects that on a cruise ship. The gym was well-stocked with treadmills and machines and a small exercise class area where I took one class. That was okay. Excursions: We decided to take excursions through Celebrity because of the sensitive (a euphemism for drug terrorists carrying you off into the jungle. What? You haven't seen Locked-Up Abroad?:>)))areas we were visiting. Our Cartagena city tour was okay, the bus ride was not so great and the sites were okay an our tour guide was average, but at least we can say we've been to Columbia. The highlight was passing by the hotel where the secret service scandal occurred! Costa Rica: We went ziplining and it was wonderful! This was also an excursion from Celebrity and we really lucked out because our tour guide, Abel Vargas, was absolutely terrific! In fact, we made a point of going to his boss who was there at the ziplining site to tell her how much we liked him. (abelvargasm@hotmail.com) He was so clever and so knowledgeable and really made the history and flora and fauna of Costa Rica come alive for us. Panama Canal was very interesting, not a place I'd want to come back to (once you've seen it kind of thing), but I did see some crocodiles basking on the bank! A highlight for us was Cabo San Lucas. There is a restaurant called The Office, that you HAVE to visit when you're there! You just take one of the countless water taxis across the bay and step off into the water of a beautiful sparkling beach. You walk up the sand to the bright blue umbrella-covered restaurant and sit at a table right there on the beach with your bare feet in the sand. It is glorious. Also, some of the best Mexican food you will ever have. Absolutely NO problem with the water or food here---it is fresh and clean. I think I must have consumed like twelve avocados in the guacamole! Back on board, we really loved the Infinity. We donated plenty to the casino, and really didn't like the video poker machines. We never heard or saw anyone win and we certainly didn't! Not that we would expect to win all the time, mind you, but at least be able to sit at a machine for a length of time. The Captain's Club lounge was a disappointment because on other ships, it's a separate room with a personal concierge. On this ship, it was in two different areas and we only used it a couple of times. Waving happily to R & D who we met on board and who we absolutely adore! The shopping area was fun for me---jewelery was a highlight to look at and consider buying until you realized that you already donated plenty to the casino:>)) But the sales people were really nice and helpful, so I didn't mind any sales pitch at all. I participated in a little jewelry fashion show that was fun. One sorry note: I lost a sapphire bracelet on board as it just slipped off my wrist without my knowing. We went to the lost and found several times a day, but all they did was rummage through a little cardboard box filled with lost sunglasses. This was really not so good and when we asked a few times if maybe they could make an announcement, they coldly declined. I know it was my fault for losing the bracelet, but I could have used a little more sympathy and help. Anyway, this was a really terrific cruise, and if you've actually read this entire review, I highly recommend Celebrity cruises and the Infinity.

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We left West Palm Beach, FL on 5/10/12 aboard AA and traveled to Chicago. After a 2 hr. layover we arrived in Seattle on time, got our luggage and got a taxi and headed for our hotel, the Marriott Waterfront at Pier 66 in Seattle. The room was quite expensive but thought we would splurge since it was so convenient to the port. We were given a room with a balcony on the side of the hotel where you could see the ship come in the morning of the cruise. The hotel was nice but nothing that great for what we paid. The balconies were so small that you could not even sit on them. They looked like they were added as an after thought which I thought looked quite strange. After we got to our room and checked in we set out to see the sights of Seattle. We walked to the fish market and got some food at the Hard Rock and then settled down for the night. We had been up since 4:30 am and we were very tired after our long flights. I was anxiously waiting for the ship to dock and was looking out the window from 6-8 am and still no ship. I thought Oh know what has happened to the ship. Was it delayed or what. I even called Celebrity in Miami and they said that they had not hard anything about it being late. Finally it docked at 9 am., two hours late. Needless to say it was utter chaos getting the people off the ship and the new people on board. We finally got on board at 12:30 and went to the buffet and then they announced that we could go to our cabins. Celebrity really worked hard to make up for the two hours lost by them coming in late. We did depart two hrs. late but that did not matter because we still got to out first destination on time. This was our first time on this class of ship which was smaller but once we got used to where everything was it was fine. But I still like the Solstice class ship size better with the grass on the top. We had select dining and ate pretty much at the same table every night and the service was excellent and all the food was excellent also. My husband especially liked the lobster night. Our room was located on deck eight, port side aft and located very near the stairs and elevators so it was very convenient. The room was smaller than the Solstice size ships but once we put everything away found it to have ample space. The bathroom was also smaller but was fine. The safe was also smaller but it was fine also and fit my tablet that I had brought. Our cabin stewards were excellent and I had no complaints at all with that. We did not attend any shows at all so I cannot comment on that. We found the casino amusing and used mostly the quarter, nicket and penny machines and there were enough of them to use. We are not big gamblers. I really had no complaints at all about the cruise We did the disembarkation and met in the Celebrity theater at 7:15 am with all of the other 500 people and that was a little disorganized but we were off the ship by 7:30 am and at the airport and checked into our gate by 8:30 am. Celebrity is our number one cruiseline and this was our third. This was our fourth time to Alaska and we had great weather except for Juneau it rained in the afternoon. The Tracey Arm Fjord was spectacular and the glacier at the end of it was fantastic and we got some fantastic pictures. This was the first time that it did not rain when we went to see the glacier.

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Perhaps we have been spoiled on the newer solstice class ships, but this ship had a really different feeling from the beginning. We were super excited when we booked this cruise, we were able to secure a new aqua class aft cabin next to family..ya! The cabins were nice and the storage in these compared to the regular S class is no comparison, even drawers in the night stand! The bathroom...considerably smaller and the shower doors sucked! In order to not flood the floor we had to completely turn the shower head toward the wall, and forget using the extra sprays, unless you want swim in bathroom! One good thing though the storage again is amazing! We really really liked our aft cabin, and even though we over looked the oceanview cafe outdoor eating area it was really nice, just pray that the entertainment we had on board doesnt follow you, the one young dude just could not carry a tune in a bucket nor play the guitar..it was horrible! luckily it only lasted a short time, and well in a pinch..earplugs work great! One thing that Celebrity needs to address is the attitudes of the higher ranked officers. We found them, including the Captain, most unfriendly, which is very unusual for Celebrity, we have always found everyone very friendly and helpful. At an Elite Captains club event, members of our family were honored for the most cruises, and a few officers came and spoke with them, but the Captain did not say one word...which probably explains the unfriendliness of the rest, the problem started at the top! The captains club hostess and cruise sale hostess were super helpful and friendly..thanks Tian and DJ! As for our cabin attendants they were also very friendly and did a great job keeping us in water,tea, and anything else, and even remembered to leave the bedding untucked at night! One last thing is the dining, We enjoyed Blu, the food was ok and the staff was very good to us. We did try out Qsine, which, if we ever return to this ship I would skip, our food was either burned (spring rolls) or raw... nothing like we have had on Eclipse or Silhouette. SS United States was fantastic..the lobster prepared by the table..phenomenal..don't miss it! The Oceanview cafe...AWFUL! same slop everyday...HATE..HATE..HATE..the school like buffet! Celebrity....get this fixed its terrible! Entertainment wasn't bad we really liked the comedians, the funny thing was the clientele on this particular cruise was really really old...like really old..and they did not get half of the funny things...i.e. cane in the lost and found...hilarious! Going through the Panama Canal was super interesting, and we enjoyed Columbia and our guide,,Dora the Explorerer, our favorite stop was Cabo San Lucas...all of the port were very short stops..but it is what it is!

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My Demographics My wife and myself, about 40. Cruised to Alaska with Holland America, Mexican Riviera with Disney. Pre-Cruise: You can check in your luggage with the Port Authority Concierge at 8:30am for $3 a bag. This is the Port Authority and not the cruise line, so you will have to pick up your bags again to check them in with the cruise line. This service allows you to sight-see Pikes Place Market and the surrounding area before the cruise. The Seattle Aquarium, which was within walking distance, was a nice 2 hour diversion for my wife and me. Embarkation: Entering the line at 1:00, we finally got on the boat at 3:30. There were three choke points. The first zigzag line was for the dropping the luggage off. There was only one Red Cap for tips and all passengers including Elite status and concierge class lined up for one Port Authority worker to load luggage in the x-ray machine. After that, the next line for all passengers was for a ticket verification which then split into 3 metal detectors and corresponding x-ray machines for carry-ons. After that and an escalator up, a person checks your ticket again and splits you into a general line, a concierge class and express line, and an elite status line. This line checks you in as well as asking you if you want to have a cash account or credit account. A credit account associates your room card to your credit card but this is not necessary because you can still make purchases up to $500 without doing this. Tips accumulate as the cruise goes on. Production Shows: On a cruise scale of cheesy, corny, kitsch, and tour de force, I thought they were kitsch. It was interesting to see how they frame various songs and dance routines loosely with a theme. And on top of that, each show has two aerial acrobats for their own segment. It's impressive how they can perform combinations with just a trapeze ring, drapes, and their bodies. Also one move not only had a leg split suspended by the two cloths on each ankle, but a split that supported the weight of the other acrobat. The first show framed popular Broadway songs by emulating a Broadway song category on an iPod. This was called iBroadway. The second show was Boogie Wonderland, which is the name of the main character's night club. This clips together songs from the 70's as the main character describes his journey from his dream of becoming a rock start changed to owning a night club, as well as his dilemma of choosing between two women. So, he makes a choice for one woman in one song, and two songs later, he goes with the other one. Still, to me, this was the best of the three with special kudos for the YMCA number. The facial expressions of the Village guys truly captured the tongue in cheek fun of the source material. The third show is Celebrate the World. This is a song journey of various countries across the globe. I thought it was amusing that they can combine Nessun Dorma and One Night in Bangkok in the same show. Bottom line, the shows are entertaining with above average costumes, performances, and stage effects. Food: First off, there is no escargot due to some supply issue. Although, the main dining room menu had calf sweetbreads and frog legs as appetizers. Lobster and Baked Alaska was on formal night, and various preparations of lamb were available. The Baked Alaska was the best I've tasted on the three different cruise lines I've been on and the Leche Pastry Cigar was probably the best dessert of the week. Although the main dining room menu may not be as varied or imaginative as the other cruise lines I've tried, the Infinity had generally better executed and better tasting food. Food was served hot and maybe only over-cooked a few times. I know I read some people wrote about bland issues, and I would say that a few items could be seasoned more. I would probably recommend you skip the scrambled eggs unless you get the omelet station to make it for you. The Oceanview Cafe was generally okay, and better than the cruise lines I tried. I did like the pasta station where you select you select your fixings and the pasta chef sautes it for you as well as freshen your choice of pasta. The ice cream station was pretty good-a little below Cold Stone quality, but good enough where I did not crave the extra fee gelato in Cafe Belacio. My wife and I tried the SS United States because they had a lunch special on the Tracy Arm Fjord day for $25 each. It was good, but not significantly better than the main dining room, or better than the specialty restaurants we had on the other two cruise lines. On the last night, we went to Qsine, because the night before they offered a 2 for 1 deal. It was fun, tasty, and it inspired us to eat beyond full despite being night 7 on food-filled cruise. Still, once is enough and when I sail Celebrity again, I won't have the desire to make another Qsine reservation. More comparison cruise notes, there was no late night dessert buffet, but there was a buffet brunch on the same day as the second formal. A Water, tea, lemonade and fruit punch station was available most of the time, if not 24/7. Activities: When it comes to activities, I describe cruising as summer camp for adults. I participated in the name that tune, Pictionary, and general trivia activities and managed to acquire a swag collection of luggage tags, pens, lanyards, and a t-shirt. Refreshing your memory of the Ancient Wonders of the World is not going gain any advantage because many of the questions are pretty obscure to hedge against frequent cruisers. Firsts for me, and different than my other cruises, was water coloring and scrapbooking. These had no extra charges which was surprising because you get to keep the art kits that you do your projects with. Although I was one of a few males, surrounded by passengers who could be part of my mother's community center, I thought these two activities were very relaxing and used the creative side of my brain that I hardly use in my real life. I think there's room for improvement on the food activities. Other than the Star Chef competition, they generally need to be more passenger interactive. And other than the Crepes demonstration, they need to give out samples. How can you have a cake decorating demonstration, and not give out samples? As a final note to Activities, if you attend a number of these activities, you'll probably wind up in the Cruise's DVD that the ship sells on the final night for about $35. Common Areas: I like the general clean metal, glass look as well as the Santa Fe(?) and pantone(?) color palate. The glass elevators add a nice feel as well as interesting to look through. The indoor, heated pool is definitely a plus for an Alaskan run. We spent a lot of time in the Rendezvous lounge because of the trivia. Having different live music in different areas simultaneously added to the luxurious feel of the cruise. Walking for five minutes you can go from string trio, to piano man, to Seattle-like vocalist/guitarist. Concierge Class Comments: The balcony helped a lot because I got a little seasick and claustrophobic the first sea day. It's really convenient to just open your balcony door and step out and get some wind and fresh air. The first day's bottle of sparkling wine (on top of the boarding welcome glass for everyone) was a great start for my one week of alcoholism for the year. The thicker bathrobes were really useful for our trips to the pool. Even though extra food is the last thing that's needed on a cruise, the afternoon canapes were a nice touch. I only had the desire to eat the bananas and the grapes every other day from the fresh fruit bowl. Toward the end, we requested different pillows from the pillow menu on the concierge phone number. I didn't notice a difference with the pillows, but it was the first time I used a body pillow. Dress: Right or wrong, it seemed to me that the formal night dress code was not enforced. Out of the 50 males in my side area of the main dining room of the first seating, about 3 had button-up shirts without jackets, one had a dress shirt with tie but no jacket, three including myself had suits with no tie, two had tuxedos, and the rest had either suits or sports jackets with ties. The rest of the evenings, attire included jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, light outdoor jackets, and athletic footwear. As for dressing for the weather this time in May, I had to wear long johns under my jeans, a fleece winter pullover, two layers of long-sleeved t-shirts, and winter gloves. Disembarkation: Unintentionally we went down to the Celebrity Theater a half hour after our scheduled queue time. Because of that, and the fact we weren't randomly checked by US Port Authorities, it was pretty much a direct walk-off. Overall: It's probably obvious to seasoned cruisers, but especially so with this cruise line and cruise, there are many opportunities to try something you would not normally do such as entering a gaming tournament, trying line dancing, or taking a scrapbooking class. I felt Celebrity did a lot of little things and more pampering that made me want to tip beyond the suggested gratuities that I did not feel or do for other cruise lines.

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We have been on 40 + cruises. We are 65 & 77 years old & fairly active. We had a wonderful cruise. I truly believe everyone on Celebrity from the lowest crew members to the officer's really try to please everyone. You are always greeted with a hello & a smile. We spent the night before the cruise at the Fairfield Inn. We met 4 other couples here that we have cruised with before. We all took the 10 AM shuttle to the cruise port. We were taken to Michael's Club when we embarked & were served champagne and hor-dourves. We met Ti Ann the Captain's Club Hostess here. She is the best Captain Club Hostess we have ever sailed with. After this meeting, she remembered everyone's name & room number. Our cabin was an inside room on the 2nd floor. It was adequate & had enough storage. Our room steward Anthony did a good job. We don't participate in many activities. We just relaxed & enjoyed ourselves. Dh went to several lectures on the Canal & Mexico which he enjoyed. We had been to all these ports on this same cruise last October. We didn't do any tours just went ashore and walked around. We enjoyed the craft market in Costa Rica. We also especially enjoyed Cabo San Lucas. It was hot & humid. We ate breakfast & lunch at the buffet. There was a lot of good selections here. The pizza was good and the burgers & dogs by the pool were also good. We went to the Elite Breakfast in the SS United States for latte's, bloody Mary's & mimosas. We were served here by Istvan from the Ukraine. He did a great job. We ate most of our evening meals in the dining room at 8:30. Our waiter Cedric & Asst. waiter Raoul were great. We finished by 10 every evening. We had a table for 2. The food was very good. There were a few nights we didn't like the menu but always found something that was good.Our maitre-d stopped by almost every night to check on the food. Although we never ordered wine, a young wine steward stopped by our table every night & asked if we enjoyed our day? Everyone dressed appropriately on the formal nights. Most men wore dark suits. On the 2nd formal night, I saw the maitre -d ask 2 men to step aside & gave them a jacket to wear. The last formal night there were a few men with just a shirt & tie. We ate 1 night in Qsine. It was wonderful We had a group of 12. We were given a special rate of 2 for the price of 1. We let the wait staff just select the food and bring it to us. The presentation, wait staff & food were great. It took 3 hours & there was way too much food. We ate another night in the SS United States. We were a group of 11 on this night & also received the special of 2 for the price of 1. 6 waiters served our table here and did a great job. The food here was also great. It took 3 hours and we ate too much. We attended the Elite Happy Hour each evening from 5-7. We were served by a bar waitress Iryana from the Ukraine. This was her 1st week on the cruise & she did a great job. Ti Ann(Capt. Club Hostess) was here each evening & did a great job. Patti(cruise director) visited several times along with several officers. We attended the shows at 7 each evening. The entertainment was probably the weakest part of this cruise for us. We had seen all 3 production shows before but they were great. This cast is great. They also appeared at the special functions at 10 most evenings, singing & dancing. The aerialist as usual were also great. Fred Klett-Comedian. This was our 3rd time to see him on a Celebrity ship & he was great. A very clean comedy show. We laughed throughout the show. Richard Rubin-Mediocre pianist. We did not enjoy his show at all. His attempts at comedy were not successful. He would be good doing children's shows. Joey Vann-Comedian & Impressionist-terrible.Several people walked out. He is over the hill and none of his impressions were recognizable. Kamika-Guitarist & vocalist. Very talented but we didn't like the show. They did impressions of lady Ga Ga & Jason Bieber. Not good for the age of the crowd on this cruise.Barry John -Juggler & Comedian was very good. Mark Merchant -Ventriloquist. He was a talented ventriloquist but I didn't like his show. He did a lot of political & racial jokes that were not appropriate for a cruise ship and several were offensive. I even heard some boos. Louis Johnson-Comedian. He also did some political & racial jokes that I didn't like. He was humorous but really didn't make me laugh. The Leal Quartet played in the Rendevous on most evenings and were pretty good. A-capella group These Guys were good but only did 15 minute shows. String Trio was good but had no rapport with the audience. They totallly ignored the applause and acted as if no one was there. Twist of 8 Party -Band was the best band on the ship. We enjoyed Rod Ondros, guitarist several nights in Michael's Club. The Celebrity Orchestra was new to the ship and were having a little trouble playing together at their jazz jam sessions. They were individually talented and will improve over time. Overall this is the worst entertainment on the 20 Celebrity cruises, we have done. Disembarkation went well for us. The ship arrived in Seattle about 3 hours late because of rough seas & high winds the last 2 days of the cruise. We always do the carry your own bags off. We were in the 1st group off the ship and it was around 10:00. We took Shuttle Express to the airport. We booked it at the pier for $21 each. There were 3 people on the shuttle & they missed their flight. It was a 11AM flight which is against what Celebrity recommends. It took about 30 minutes to get through security at the airport. We had a 2 PM flight and had no problems. Over-all this was a great cruise. We were happy with everything but the entertainment and some of it was very good. We will definitely sail Celebrity again. We enjoyed the Cruise Critic Slot Pull & Cabin Crawl.

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