Live from infinity TA - October 13-27

This will be third cruise in Aqua on the infinity in the past year..last years TA, Antarctica in Feb, and now this TA. As usual, I'll try to give a balanced view of the ship and the cruise using our some of our free elite + minutes. We are in a rear facing A1 cabin on deck 11 for the first time. On the previous cruises we were in 9108 and 9110 so we will be able to compare the cabins and balconies.

Our flight from Miami to the uk was booked through choice air on AA, nonstop...$385 pp. when we checked in AA offered us an upgrade to business class for $410 pp....which we jumped on...and we slept on the plane on the almost flat seats. Great way to start the trip. We've acquired a few things during our few days prior to the cruise...some China in Stoke on Trent, some antiques at the Newark antique fair and a stainless steel service for 8 not sold in the US. Our bags are now a bit heavier. We have two bottles of wine to enjoy on our large balcony and a bottle of single malt that we will either enjoy on the ship or check with them...who knows. We rented our car through national and will drop it right at the terminal in Harwich as we did last year. National and europcar are essentially the same company, but if you rent through national and are a member of their free emerald club, an additional driver (DW) drives for free.

This is more or less a placeholder so I can bookmark the thread...we sail tomorrow.

GH

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Hi GH

I hope you get better weather than we did last year out of Bilbo ( will never forget those 40 ft waves & sliding up and down the bed in FV 9156)

It was still a great cruise though!:)

Maybe we will be lucky on our BA flight. We leave tonight (Sunday Oct 12th). See you on board. Ontario Cruiser

Aboard the Infinity at last.

1) Remember the lifeboat left in the Falkands during the Infinity's second Antartica cruise (that we were on) due to a fuel tender striking one of the lifeboat davits….well, I am glad to report that it has rejoined the infinity…in fact, it was loaded today.

2) Heavy rain in Harwich and bags got quite wet between giving them to the porter and finding them outside our room. How can Celebrity and the Harwich port not be prepared for rain?

3) Very quick checkin with priority pass thru security (elite plus or aqua??) and then on board.

4) No scan of carry on bags at all….Mine could have been full of scotch and vodka and no one cared.

5) Welcome mimosa, champagne or orange juice is always appreciated.

6) Lunch in Bistro on 5 was very good….spicy steak/onion/pepper/jalapeno and a grand marnier crepe for desert…$7

7) Cabin ready at 1pm

8) We are in one of the new rear facing aqua cabins….storage over the beds is gone…has not been replaced by anything else, so less storage space.

9) Shower door has no slip on plastic moulding at all on the bottom so there is about a ¾” gap….I expect a very wet bathroom floor.

10) No flowers but we do have the three apples and bottle of blanc de blancs which we will try to exchange for red or white in blu.

11) Two small bottles of water…but also a large Evian with a sign, enjoy for $6 and a metal tray filled with “snacks” also with a label…enjoy at a price. Seems like they are doing everything possible to increase what you spend.

12) Wish the weather was nicer so we could go out on our larger balcony….

13) Officers:

a. Master: Nikolaos Fantzis

b. Staff Captain: Matthaios Karandreas

c. Hotel: Christos Karavos

d. CD: Alejandro Tortorelli

e. F&B: Zafer Colak

f. Ex Chef: Paul Carroll

14) Combined Sail Away and cruise critic get together….at an outside bar…and it’s raining. They moved it into the back of the buffet area. Served champagne and mimosas. Alesandro (CD) was there.

15) Deck 11 seems to have one cabin steward….not easy to find….but we did request a pillow and someone to fix the A/C.

16) I guess this is considered a UK cruise. Drink prices (which are up) include the tip.

17) No elite coupons…they are having the elite cocktails in the Constellation Lounge

18) We showed up for dinner at 6:30PM at blu (as assigned)….1/2 hour wait…huh??? Not as bad as it sounds…they now have pagers so you can wander around the ship or have a drink at the martini bar and they will page you when table is ready. Even better…if you get a pager for a wait, they will arrange for a ½ price specialty restaurant dinner that night, if you prefer.

19) Dinner at blue was good…although my wife’s filet was inedible…sent back and replaced with a wonderful filet and mucho apologies. Maitre d’ looked at the steak and agreed that it never should have been served.

20) Music level at martini bar is great….enough to hear, but not loud.

21) Sign up for internet from your room and your elite certificate is automatically applied….great improvement.

Looking forward to an excellent cruise.

so looking forward to your honest review of the ship, food and entertainment

have a great cruise

carol

Sounds great. Enjoy. I seem to forget they had storage over the bed in M class. We had one of the newer AQ cabins on the back on Millennium. I really do prefer the bedside tables on M class rather than those minimal shelves they have on S class.

Mr. Studio,

Thanks for posting. :)

Fantastic upgrade opportunity on AA. Wow!

Like the pager/50% alternate restaurant "arrangement".

Thanks for posting -- looking forward to following your journey across the pond.

"We are in one of the new rear facing aqua cabins….storage over the beds is gone…has not been replaced by anything else, so less storage space."

You're on the Infinity, right? The M class ships have never had storage over the beds. They do have plenty of other storage in the cabin, though. In my view, storage in M class cabins is far superior to that of S class cabins.

Will be interested to hear how your room steward is. We had the worst room steward ever on the Infinity in an Aqua Class cabin on deck 11.

Aboard the Infinity at last.

 

1) Remember the lifeboat left in the Falkands during the Infinity's second Antartica cruise (that we were on) due to a fuel tender striking one of the lifeboat davits….well, I am glad to report that it has rejoined the infinity…in fact, it was loaded today.

2) Heavy rain in Harwich and bags got quite wet between giving them to the porter and finding them outside our room. How can Celebrity and the Harwich port not be prepared for rain?

3) Very quick checkin with priority pass thru security (elite plus or aqua??) and then on board.

4) No scan of carry on bags at all….Mine could have been full of scotch and vodka and no one cared.

5) Welcome mimosa, champagne or orange juice is always appreciated.

6) Lunch in Bistro on 5 was very good….spicy steak/onion/pepper/jalapeno and a grand marnier crepe for desert…$7

7) Cabin ready at 1pm

8) We are in one of the new rear facing aqua cabins….storage over the beds is gone…has not been replaced by anything else, so less storage space.

9) Shower door has no slip on plastic moulding at all on the bottom so there is about a ¾” gap….I expect a very wet bathroom floor.

10) No flowers but we do have the three apples and bottle of blanc de blancs which we will try to exchange for red or white in blu.

11) Two small bottles of water…but also a large Evian with a sign, enjoy for $6 and a metal tray filled with “snacks” also with a label…enjoy at a price. Seems like they are doing everything possible to increase what you spend.

12) Wish the weather was nicer so we could go out on our larger balcony….

13) Officers:

a. Master: Nikolaos Fantzis

b. Staff Captain: Matthaios Karandreas

c. Hotel: Christos Karavos

d. CD: Alejandro Tortorelli

e. F&B: Zafer Colak

f. Ex Chef: Paul Carroll

14) Combined Sail Away and cruise critic get together….at an outside bar…and it’s raining. They moved it into the back of the buffet area. Served champagne and mimosas. Alesandro (CD) was there.

15) Deck 11 seems to have one cabin steward….not easy to find….but we did request a pillow and someone to fix the A/C.

16) I guess this is considered a UK cruise. Drink prices (which are up) include the tip.

17) No elite coupons…they are having the elite cocktails in the Constellation Lounge

18) We showed up for dinner at 6:30PM at blu (as assigned)….1/2 hour wait…huh??? Not as bad as it sounds…they now have pagers so you can wander around the ship or have a drink at the martini bar and they will page you when table is ready. Even better…if you get a pager for a wait, they will arrange for a ½ price specialty restaurant dinner that night, if you prefer.

19) Dinner at blue was good…although my wife’s filet was inedible…sent back and replaced with a wonderful filet and mucho apologies. Maitre d’ looked at the steak and agreed that it never should have been served.

20) Music level at martini bar is great….enough to hear, but not loud.

21) Sign up for internet from your room and your elite certificate is automatically applied….great improvement.

 

Looking forward to an excellent cruise.

Great report... How I love reading LIVE reports.

I agree with HAPPY CRUISER 6143, regular M-Class Cabins don't have over the bed storage, so you are not missing anything (although I do seem to be one the few that liked that feature on S-Class ships)

Anxious to read your Shower Reports... But anything has to be at least an improvement over the Shower Curtain which are the norm on M-Class Ships

Cheers!

Want to post a big thanks for your always fair and thorough threads and responses!! Thank you!!

8AM: Overcast, about 61F but no rain…in the English Channel.

Continuing….

22) Casino was quite empty…not surprising the first night as most were tired. There are $6 blackjack tables, etc.

23) 500 elites on board….should be interesting in the constellation lounge tonight for drinks.

24) elite breakfast in the Trellis (main) restaurant on the 5th deck (select dining area). Normal buffet style (none of the rumored individual platters). A bit disorganized trying to get a capaccino waiters seem to wander around with no assigned area…I ultimately got two…the gentleman next to us gave up trying to get a hot chocolate after asking twice. .

25) I believe they have changed smoked salmon suppliers….today’s was a bit saltier and grainier than I recall. Bagels have not changed…they are still rolls with holes in the middle. Bread and breadsticks, however are outstanding as usual.

26) normal breakfast in blu…no surprises. I didn’t ask if they do eggs benedict…they do on some ships as an off menu item.

27) Captain’s remarks at 10AM….told a couple of jokes.

28) The ship is in very good condition…in fact it looks fresher than we remember from February. As always a very positive, friendly crew.

29) Iced Tea appeared this AM with ice (we asked for ice every day). We still have the three green apples. I’m going to ask for something besides apples. We’ve already told our cabin steward no canapes…we may have sushi on our balcony and go to the elite drinks at 6.

30) Select dining opens at 5:45…I think it used to be 6.

31) Breakfast in blu and the MDR is from 7:30-9AM…elite breakfast is 8-9:30 on port days and 8-10 on sea days.

32) Very comfortable bed…cabin has its moans and groans but nothing that kept us awake.

A note about the passengers on this sailing….we are old (note, I said we)….while I’m not a great age estimator, my guess is that 95% of the passengers are over 60 with many in their 80’s and 90’s. I have yet to see anyone I’d judge to be less than 50 (excluding celebrity staff), even at the martini bar. I’ll keep an eye out, just in case someone young or relatively young appears..

33) 23 of 59 daytime activities today are events run by the concessions on board or by the excursion or specialty restaurant areas…..so while the activity page looks like it has rich content, there really seem to be less real events. 6 of the 23 are casino related; 7 are emporium or shopping, 7 are spa/fitness center sales oriented events and 3 are shore excursion/shopping guide events. I don’t consider “unhosted bridge tables reserved in the MDR” as an activity.

34) We apparently have four guest lecturers on board…One talking today about Treasures and the Tower (of London); the other speaking about geology in long term real estate investing. We enjoy the lectures but see item 36 below.

Noon: Blue sky…I am typing this sitting on our balcony looking at the long white wake from the ship…which looks like we’re just driving on a superhighway in the sea…very relaxing. Enjoying a glass of the wine we brought on board with cheese and crackers and fresh fruit from the buffet one deck below..

35) We actually have three cabin stewards on 11…I was wrong on that….also on the storage over the beds missing…we’ve been on too many celebrity ships.

36) Apparently the meat freezer has broken and they have decided to store the meat in the Theater….that’s the only possible explanation for needing a down jacket and gloves to sit there for lectures. Hopefully, they will figure out how to make the room warmer before tonight’s show.

37) Alesandro (CD) and his assistant Rachael have a box with forms on the counter of the gelateria so you can have your special event or funny story as part of channel 12 Entertainment Television. If you’ve always wanted to wish your loved one happy anniversary on TV, I guess this is your chance.

38) It’s cool out, so finding a seat at café B’accio is impossible….folks sit by the window (camp out and read, they take tables and play cards…pretty much makes it impossible to actually sit and have a cup of good coffee or tea unless you sit at one of the tables in the walking area.

39) If you have the classic drink package, they will serve you a choice of three martini’s (cosmo and two others) at the martini bar….in the smaller glass of course.

40) We had no trouble at all signing up for internet from our cabin on an ipad. Apparently many have had problems or can’t follow simple directions because there is a mob in line at the ilounge trying to get their accounts activated. I can’t explain. Internet service has been fine, but of course we are between the UK and France, not in the middle of the Atlantic.

41)Park West is having their first auction in the rendezvous lounge…and it’s packed. I am a bit speechless, but I guess we have folks who want to believe they are getting a bargain. I could wax on about this, but I guess everyone can choose how to spend their money….

42) As part of our coupons for being elite, we received four coupons for the aquaspa by Elemis. I wonder what cruise line we can use them on  How long ago did they make the change….is it hard to reprint coupons and look professional?

Good morning….must have rained last night, the balcony is very wet. Some rougher motion during the night…creaking in our cabin got worse….still can’t cool the cabin unless we turn up the fan but turning up the fan makes it very noisy. Location of cabin is outstanding….A1, deck 11 rear facing, but the creaking I beginning to get to me and it’s structural, in the walls.

43) Lunch is offered today in Blu….no idea of the price, but I’ve never seen lunch in blu offered before.

44) They are promoting the ulitimate specialty dining package for $29 a day…..

45) How about a slot package…$100 buys you $110 and yu can charge to your seapass card without the 5% charge. ($200 buys $225 credit..and there are higher levels….

46) Last night was formal night. I only noticed one gentleman in blu without a jacket of some sort.

47) The elite cocktail hour was almost OK…we arrived at 5:45 and had to wait at least 10 minutes to find a seat. As expected, at 6PM, lots of folks got up and left (for early seating). There were a few canapes passed. No problem finding a waiter. I think vouchers would have been better…apparently the ship decides what they want to do.

48) Another wait at Blu at 7PM…..about 20 minutes for our table of 4. Again, they gave us the buzzer and the opportunity for 50% off if we wanted to dine in a specialty restaurant. I asked and they are not allowing suite guests to dine in blu…it’s just aqua passengers all wanting to eat early.

49) Onion soup was as usual great. Caesar salad with anchovies was excellent, my crab/morel mushroom risotto was tasteless, apple crumb for dessert was good with after eight ice cream. Everyone else had the rack of lamb (lamb chops) which lacked seasoning…it was ok.

50) Shore excursion booking is offered on the TV, but it hasn’t worked….I guess it’s like celebrity’s web site….it shows no excursions available at any of our stops. No, they aren’t all full.

51) Note in Celebrity Today about deck chairs: “Personal items will be removed from chairs after half an hour and taken to the Kiosk on Deck 10 for your collection”

52) For the art auction folks, today is the Destino art auction….who is Destino??

53) We also have the Tag Heuer Seminar and sale;$10 madness at the boutique; Skincare Lecture series- Exfoliate- should you exfoliate and with what?; Spa seminar-Correct appetite with acupuncture; Tanzanite unveiling; smokey eyes seminar; phantasya sale; Le Vian-Amethyst collection showcase.

54) These are also listed as activities:Sports: table tennis (create your own competition); Sports: soccer (create your own competition); Sports: Basketball (create your own completion); unhosted bridge game

I know I probably sound harsh about the activities, but celebrity has eliminated some of the activities staff so they have inserted these…”amuse yourself” events….and they have many more events by the spa staff and the stores. They do still have a number of what I’d call real activities on the schedule…today there are over 60 events listed before 6PM.

On the other hand, tonights activities include guess the weight of Tanzanite; Tanzanite power hour; and the south sea pearls exhmbition

55) I am used to a 15% tip on Celebrity ships. Noticed this morning that the new spa says “for your convenience an 18% service charge will be added to the cost of all treatments automatically.”

Off to the first round of the blackjack tournament….

Here's hoping your cruise is outstanding and the noise issue is handled so you sleep well. I adore live threads and thank you for posting.

There are some nice suprises in your thread.

Number 51.

Lunch in Blu, for AQ only? I am glad to see them utilizing the resturants this way, assuming it doesn't overwork the staff.

Sad to hear the beloved risotto was tasteless!

Sloop..I also like the overbed storage on S class, why not, what else can the put up there?

Love it, please keep up the good work. Love this ship.

Norma

The seas have built up and we are now off Porto rocking and rolling quite a bit…This is going to be very hard to believe…..but the doors and drawers in our cabin have no rails, closer or stops to keep them closed when the ship rolls or pitches. The drawers in my nightstand have some overflow toiletries and some short sleeved shirts….and they just open themselves completely with a bang….and then close themselves with a bang..no way to latch them.. The six drawers in the closet have clothes in them and they open and push the door open. Did Celebrity hire a completely inept designer?. This isn’t that serous a sea…but the cabin design can’t handle it. I’ve called and asked for tape because you can’t sleep with that type of noise. I’m equally concerned about the lamp on top of the nightstand that is loose and shaking with its glass lampshade.

We are watching the hurricane that’s bearing down on Bermuda, wondering if we will be able to stop there. We have a container ship just behind us so we are able to watch it pitch back and forth….The very large MSC letters on the side keep dipping into and out of the water. I see why containers fall off.

This should be an “interesting” night as the seas continue to build. No announcement from the captain, so maybe this is the worst we’ll feel.

This should be an “interesting” night as the seas continue to build. No announcement from the captain, so maybe this is the worst we’ll feel.

Maybe it's just usual for the Bay of Biscay!

Remember we had 3 bad nights last year, but the one out of Bilbao was definitely the worst. However, the only damage was when I opened the 'fridge' where I was keeping some milk. The poor steward had to mop it up from the floor.

Maybe it's just usual for the Bay of Biscay!

Remember we had 3 bad nights last year, but the one out of Bilbao was definitely the worst. However, the only damage was when I opened the 'fridge' where I was keeping some milk. The poor steward had to mop it up from the floor.

Hi Jackie, not sure what you might be remembering, but our TA on the Infinity last year did not call at Bilbao. :) (Harwich, La Rochelle, Gijon, Vigo, Lisbon, Nassau, Miami....)

But we did indeed have some interesting weather in the Bay of Biscay!

The seas have built up and we are now off Porto rocking and rolling quite a bit…This is going to be very hard to believe…..but the doors and drawers in our cabin have no rails, closer or stops to keep them closed when the ship rolls or pitches. The drawers in my nightstand have some overflow toiletries and some short sleeved shirts….and they just open themselves completely with a bang….and then close themselves with a bang..no way to latch them.. The six drawers in the closet have clothes in them and they open and push the door open. Did Celebrity hire a completely inept designer?. This isn’t that serous a sea…but the cabin design can’t handle it. I’ve called and asked for tape because you can’t sleep with that type of noise.

That does sound like a bad design in those cabins. Another reason to travel with a small roll of duct tape. :)

Seriously, I hope you get all your noise issues resolved. Enjoy the crossing!

PORT CHANGE: We are not stopping in Lisbon (presumably because of weather). They are trying to decide where we are going instead….or if we are just heading towards Bermuda which has a category 4 hurricane bearing down. Net…we have no clue where the ship will stop next; we have no idea what provisions they were planning to load in Lisbon, etc. On the positive side, we are rocking and rolling less now, presumably due to a change in course to avoid weather.

Good show tonight..comedian. Went to Blu immediately after the 7pm show and just avoided the rush, so no waiting tonight. Good dinner. We will exchange our welcome on-board champagne tomorrow in Blu (sommelier said OK). Our friends asked the cabin steward and he changed the champagne to wine for them.

We do have some mysteries. Last night we found chocolate covered oreos on our pillows; tonight nothing. Our friends who are elite received a fresh rose for their room….we are elite plus and just four doors down from them and received nothing. We had a cruise critic cabin crawl and some cabins had towel animals, and some (including ours) have none.

The captain’s club event worked tonight because of the weather….some apparently skipped although it’s amazing how many appear for a free drink. More hors d’0evers were passed tonight than last night.

I had a sushi snack…they had mostly rolls or handrolls..tuna and eel as well as vegetarian and fake crab for California rolls. It was OK, but the selection on the solstice class ships is much better.

We’ve had a couple of maintenance problems in our cabin but they were taken care of almost immediately….well done.

PORT CHANGE: We are not stopping in Lisbon (presumably because of weather). They are trying to decide where we are going instead….or if we are just heading towards Bermuda which has a category 4 hurricane bearing down. Net…we have no clue where the ship will stop next; we have no idea what provisions they were planning to load in Lisbon, etc. On the positive side, we are rocking and rolling less now, presumably due to a change in course to avoid weather.

 

Good show tonight..comedian. Went to Blu immediately after the 7pm show and just avoided the rush, so no waiting tonight. Good dinner. We will exchange our welcome on-board champagne tomorrow in Blu (sommelier said OK). Our friends asked the cabin steward and he changed the champagne to wine for them.

 

We do have some mysteries. Last night we found chocolate covered oreos on our pillows; tonight nothing. Our friends who are elite received a fresh rose for their room….we are elite plus and just four doors down from them and received nothing. We had a cruise critic cabin crawl and some cabins had towel animals, and some (including ours) have none.

 

The captain’s club event worked tonight because of the weather….some apparently skipped although it’s amazing how many appear for a free drink. More hors d’0evers were passed tonight than last night.

 

I had a sushi snack…they had mostly rolls or handrolls..tuna and eel as well as vegetarian and fake crab for California rolls. It was OK, but the selection on the solstice class ships is much better.

 

We’ve had a couple of maintenance problems in our cabin but they were taken care of almost immediately….well done.

Wow your posts have been amazing, can almost feel the rock and rolling!!! We will be on the ship 10/27 -- hope it stays in good shape. Thanks for some wonderful reading.

Jan & Frank

Dear G H,

We will be boarding when you get off. Do they still have those great salt and pepper shakers in the specialty restaurant on deck 11 ?

Harcin

P.S. I know what G H stands for.

Hi Jackie, not sure what you might be remembering, but our TA on the Infinity last year did not call at Bilbao. (Harwich, La Rochelle, Gijon, Vigo, Lisbon, Nassau, Miami....)

Turtles,

It was Gijon!:eek:

GH

Sounds interesting-more high level meetings.

Hope they have sufficient supplies for you.:(

Perhaps this was not the cruise to try a deck 11 cabin facing aft. Last night’s sleep was punctuated with shower doors knocking (until I tied them together with the belt from my robe), glasses shifting, doors being hit by the drawers behind them in the closet, groans, shakes, pitches and rolls. This morning continues all of that fun as we are moving directly west away from Lisbon where we were supposed to stop today. One hopes they weren’t planning on refueling or provisioning in Lisbon. While we started the trip seeing a highway in the sea behind us from the props, this morning we have a much shorter and very disorganized, angry wake behind us. I think we’ll be spending a fair amount of time in our cabin, at least this AM because walking in the halls would be very difficult….we may go a bit lower in the ship and see if it’s better.

We just learned that we will spend today at sea and stop at Punta Delgado tomorrow.

Roughly 50 passengers were supposed to board in Lisbon….and 50 crew members were supposed to leave (and be replaced) as well. The ship was supposed to take on a large load of fruits and vegetables and meat as well as fuel. Now that we are going to Ponta Delgado, no one knows how (or if) those people or provisions will reach the ship.

We are in 17-20 foot swells and are moving at 16mph towards the Azores….trying to get away from this weather. I can tell you that there is far less movement on deck 5 than on deck 11….which is of course expected. As I was walking down our hall on 11, I overheard a gentleman asking a cabin steward if there was some secret to keeping the doors from flying open and drawers from flying out  Sounds familiar……Obviously a minor (ha) design oversight.