Just Back - Celebrity Infinity - July 24th

[TarHeel1012]

I was on board the Celebrity Infinity last week with the following itinerary: Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, At Sea, and Victoria (round-trip Seattle). I thought I would write a bit about the experience to help some others out, and also just because I want to re-live it because it was so amazing!

A little summary about the ship:

Pros: boarding and disembarking went extremely smoothly, the crew was friendly and welcoming, the room was sufficiently spacious and very nice and clean, entertainment was top notch, enrichment activities were a lot of fun (my favorites were the water color classes), Brent Nixon the ship naturalist was great, our servers in the dining room Juan and Azeez (love them!)

Cons: food (not very good - the best thing I had every day was my omelette for breakfast), no towel animals in the room (until we requested them - what can I say, I'm a big kid at 22!), ship interior was boring compared to other ships with a lot of weird art (but that's just my opinion)

The cons were a minor blip on the radar compared with the overall wonderful experience though! Food may make it or break it for some people while cruising, but for me, that's not my #1 although it would have been nice if it were better (Royal Caribbean food is infinitely more delicious).

Here's what we did each day:

Inside Passage: couldn't see it at all due to thick fog - apparently it was better viewing early in the morning but I surely wasn't awake for it

Ketchikan: The Lumberjack Show (very entertaining, definitely good for kids); did a bit of the walking tour (but didn't have time for much) and browsed Creek Street; took the tram up the mountain to Cape Fox Lodge for a delicious lunch (get the seafood chowder!)

Hubbard Glacier: my favorite part of the trip - we got within 1/2 a mile of the glacier and the captain turned the ship each way so everyone got some viewing time - saw some really awesome calving too

Juneau: Orca Enterprises whale watch (saw bubble net feeding, a mom and baby humpback doing what looked like synchronized swimming waving their fins at us - very cool!, and orcas, not to mention that Auke Lake is gorgeous) - Captain Larry was great, as was our knowledgeable guide; walked around town a bit and ate lunch at the Hangar on the Wharf (decently good food with a nice view of the harbor)

Victoria: ButchartGardens was absolutely breathtaking and is not to be missed; walked around town and ate dinner at Sticky Wicket's (yummy)

Also, the weather was perfect with not a single drop of rain the whole trip, and it was extremely warm (in the mid-80s every day in port).


If anyone wants to ask questions, fire away! I'll be happy to go into more detail about anything at all. And if you have a chance to go to Alaska, you gotta do it!!! I'm missing it already.

Allison

[winddncer]

Hi Allison,

How did you do Victoria? Was it ship excursion, taxi, private tour?

Did you enjoy eating at the Sticky Wicket? I hadn't thought that far into Victoria (dinner) but their menu looks pretty good. My sister (Alison - one L) and I like all things British and I'm thinking she might like eating at the pub.

Thanks,
Nina

[TarHeel1012]

Hi Nina!

We just got a taxi right in port, which was about $55 each way. The fee for the Gardens was about $28 if I remember correctly, so it came to a total of $222 for 4 of us. They did have shuttles waiting in port that cost about $50 per person (including transportation to/from and admission to the Gardens), but you had to ride to town first and switch buses. We figured it was worth it to pay the extra 20 bucks to go straight there and be on our own schedule, without a time limit on our visit.

I really liked the Sticky Wicket - their ribs were delicious, and the food the rest of my family got was great as well. There is some very British food so it sounds like you would enjoy!

Allison

[vegs1]

Thanks for the review, Allison. We're considering the Infinity next May so I had a couple of questions for you.

If we do this cruise, we'd be taking our kids who are 24 and 27. Did you notice if there was a disco onboard that was well attended? They don't tend to LOVE cruises and want to have things to do at night other than sit and watch a show.

When you say you didn't think the food was that great, was it the taste or the choices?

Thanks for your help and glad you had a great time.

[TarHeel1012]

Yes there was a disco on board, called the Constellation. I definitely understand how your kids feel as I'm 22. I didn't make it up to the disco as much as I would have liked since my 18 year-old brother wouldn't come with me and I wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of going alone. The nights I did go, there was a fair amount of young people, not much dancing going on, but it seemed like everyone was making friends and having a good time. There were a couple of special dance party nights where I heard the disco was especially crunk.

I'm really not picky about food, and the choices for the most part sounded really good to me. The food was really bland, meat wasn't good quality (except for the filet mignon), salad was a few pieces of lettuce on a plate. But the desserts were good! This is all in the main dining room - I didn't try the SS United States. The breakfast food and fruit was delicious in the buffet, but I never ate there for lunch or dinner. I did have late-night pizza there, which was good (the pasta, not so much). They also have a Bistro restaurant which is casual dining at night, but you need to make a reservation. They keep the same menu there the whole week, but there are enough choices to switch it up. This was about on par with the main dining room in my opinion. (Please note: only an opinion! I'm sure some people disagree.)

[jakzak]

Just curious how you found the seas sailing out of Seattle. We are cruising on the Infinity next year and was wondering if we will have rough or smooth seas. I know the current weather is the determining factor, but some areas are more prone to rough seas.

Alan

[vegs1]

Originally Posted by TarHeel1012

Yes there was a disco on board, called the Constellation. I definitely understand how your kids feel as I'm 22. I didn't make it up to the disco as much as I would have liked since my 18 year-old brother wouldn't come with me and I wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of going alone. The nights I did go, there was a fair amount of young people, not much dancing going on, but it seemed like everyone was making friends and having a good time. There were a couple of special dance party nights where I heard the disco was especially crunk.

I'm really not picky about food, and the choices for the most part sounded really good to me. The food was really bland, meat wasn't good quality (except for the filet mignon), salad was a few pieces of lettuce on a plate. But the desserts were good! This is all in the main dining room - I didn't try the SS United States. The breakfast food and fruit was delicious in the buffet, but I never ate there for lunch or dinner. I did have late-night pizza there, which was good (the pasta, not so much). They also have a Bistro restaurant which is casual dining at night, but you need to make a reservation. They keep the same menu there the whole week, but there are enough choices to switch it up. This was about on par with the main dining room in my opinion. (Please note: only an opinion! I'm sure some people disagree.)

Thanks so much for the information. I'm still deciding between the Infinity and doing an all inclusive land vacation but your opinions have helped greatly.

[TarHeel1012]

Hi Alan,

This trip was strange for me as I've been on 3 cruises and never had problems with motion sickness, but on this one I actually missed the first formal night due to feeling pretty bad. For the majority of that day, we had been sailing in the Inside Passage so it doesn't make much sense that the seas would be that rough. Regardless, I ended up taking medication the rest of the trip so it wouldn't happen again.

[TarHeel1012]

Originally Posted by vegs1

Thanks so much for the information. I'm still deciding between the Infinity and doing an all inclusive land vacation but your opinions have helped greatly.

You're welcome! I hope I'm not making you count the Infinity out completely - it really was one of the best vacations I've ever taken. But whatever you decide to do, it will be awesome!