Live from the infinity - Antarctica

Okay..the title isn't exactly correct...yet. Our cruise starts on Sunday from buenos aires...but for us, our vacation started on Wednesday, driving to Miami and flying to buenos aires. It didn't exactly go as planned, but I have another thread on those details...on flying in on the day of the cruise. But in summary, after a night sleeping on chairs at the Miami airport, American finally got us here last night at 2:30 am. Many are having trouble getting here due to the weather....so there are many war stories in the works as travel plans are altered.

Some notes for those taking a cruise out of buenos aires.

1) the non fixed price, honest taxi booth at eze is open all night...300 argentine pesos...cash or 38 dollars cash..no credit cards. That includes tolls and tips.

2) if you use an ATM at the airport, ATMs in Argentina seem to all charge 46.?? Pesos...so if you get $100 us you pay over $6 us. If you change cash...find the real bank which also is open all night.

3) just to clarify a confusion in our roll call...you do NOT have to bring the credit card you used to prepay the entrance fee...you just need to show them the paid receipt.

We have found some folks on our cruise and some folks doing an amazon river cruise on Saturday on seaborn. You meet interesting people when sleeping on the floor and in chairs at an airport.

We wandered around ricoleta today and found it essentially danger free...lots of police, lots of Argentinians and a fair number of tourists. I'm sure there are bad parts of town and bad people, but this area seems very safe. Our hotel told us not to hail cabs in the street...use radio cabs. Hopefully we won't have any problems.

Many places, including supermarkets that offer large selections of wine, if that's your thing...lots of drug stores for the things you forgot.

We have a guide tomorrow for the cemetery and we'll go to the Saturday market. then Sunday, it's off to the cruise port and we'll be on our cruise to penguins, penguins, penguins and more penguins. I have small group tours booked to see penguins at three of our four stops. Note, I said I...my DW has more sense than to spend hours on off road jeeps just to see penguins, as she puts it.

We were last on the infinity on last fall's transatlantic....so it will be interesting to see what's changed. We'll be in aqua class again so that will be my perspective so this thread will have little info on the mdr....we like blu.

More to come from the ship....watch this space.

So glad you are posting while onboard. We are on with you in 2 weeks. Thanks for the info about the money. Do you know where the 24-hour bank is located in the airport? Keep us posted and have fun.

Corinne and Mike

If you go there: Give our regards to the penguins at Volunteer Point - you're in for a great experience. It's unbelievable what you can do with a landrover! And Paradise Bay and Elephant Island .... getting envious ... waiting for more details of your cruise. Enjoy!

We were in Buenos Aries in January. What we learned about taxi's is pretty similar. Don't hail a cab but get one at a hotel. Ask the cab driver ahead of time about the cost. Alot of folks on our cruise for instance paid widely varying prices from similar locations to cruise port. We didnt know it in advance but Celebrity had a luggage check-in and transportation to cruise terminal from the hotel we stayed in.

I wouldnt bother to exchange alot of dollars to Argentinean Peso's. I would have some but not alot. With the state of their economy most places give better prices for dollars and there is a rather large "black market" currency conversion there. We enjoyed our stay in Buenos Aries but our experience at the cruise terminal was horrible. There were 5 ships all leaving same day and the baggage handlers were in slow down mode. People waited 5+ hrs in line for check-in.

I second the point about the reciprocity fee. You need to bring the receipt. Actually our airline wouldnt let us board the plane at departure to Argentina without showing the receipt. All of our tour guides in Buenos Aires told us up front that it is not a safe city. Dont wear any flashy jewelry at all no matter where you walk. The Rcoleta was really interesting place, but I must say that there are many post on TripAdvisor about it and people getting robed. We toured it and had no problems. If you have a few days to tour the city, there are several charming neighborhoods to walk through with unique shops and restaurants. We probably had our best meals in some of these mom and pop restaurants.

So glad you are posting while onboard. We are on with you in 2 weeks. Thanks for the info about the money. Do you know where the 24-hour bank is located in the airport? Keep us posted and have fun.

 

Corinne and Mike

When you exit customs, go right and then another right (there is a sign to bathrooms which may help)there is a bank ATM that is not working...walk by it and down a small hall just past that ATM...believe it or not, you will find the bank. It was almost weird. If that fails, ask at the taxi booth directly in front of where you exit customs.

If you are looking for a bank ATM, there are citibank ATMs just outside where you leave customs..they are as good as any, I think...they all seem to charge that very high fee, even in the city.

ghstudio, whats your other thread call re your trials and tribulations at the Miami airport?

Norma

ghstudio: Good to read that you made it to BA. Looking forward to more reports.

ghstudio, whats your other thread call re your trials and tribulations at the Miami airport?

Norma

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1989046

ghstudio, I will be following this thread closely since we will be on this same cruise next year. :)

I read the other thread and all I can say is I am very glad you finally made it to BA.

Enjoy your cruise.

Finally the first actual Live from the Infinity.

We arrived at the terminal about 11:30am and it was quite quick to get checked in. There was a special line for suite guests but no special line for elite, elite plus, aqua, concierge or anything else. In reality, it didn’t matter, there were so many agents that things went quite smoothly.

1) Elevator down to the bus to the ship was not working/no escalator…had to carry our bags down the stairs. Not in celebrity’s control, of course.

2) Sparkling wine, orange juice and samosas offered as we boarded the ship.

3) Everyone seems to immediately head for the buffet…we decided it was too early for lunch so we went on deck…pleasant surprise, the grill was open so we had hamburgers, hot dogs with sauerkraut for lunch and no problem finding a table.

4) For those that follow who’s on board…

Captain: Michael sympouras

Staff captain: matthaios karandreas

Guest relations: Mario Tavares

Hotel director: mark zeller

Cruise director: alejandro tortorelli

Food and beverage: john-paul lamb

Executive chef: andy bouchard

5) Cabins ready at 1pm

6) 50% first night discount for aqua passengers in specialty dining

7) We now seem to have a destination concierge….i don’t have a clue why or what she does vs the excursion desk, but seems like she has some special tours and private things.. I’l find out more….and who has access to her.

8) Classic beverage package is $49/day plus gratuity??

9) Sushi 5:30-9:30 and even on the first day. Excellent choice of fish and rolls.

10) Daily pour: hand shaken daiquiri $8 but that’s the regular price, so what’s the special?

11) Aqua class water: san Benedetto sodium free

12) The martini bar has “social hour” drinks from 4-5PM and 11PM-close…for $5.50 (never saw this before)

a. French martini

b. White cosmo

c. Disco lemonade

d. Gin rouge

i. Note: there is a comment at the bottom of the menu that says”social hour martinis available for premium beverage packages only”. Think about that for a minute…premium package covers these martinis anytime….so what could that comment mean? (I asked…was told to just ignore it…everyone gets the drinks for $5.50 or on their drink package.

13) Martini’s are $6 at normal bars and $8.50 for premium (e.g grey goose/elit/….)

14) Martini’s are $8 and $11 and the martini bar

15) No, I don’t know why drink prices haven’t risen on this ship or cruise…don’t ask.

16) The usual blu letter which blu doesn’t understand…but with a little change…now they ask you to arrive between 6-7 or 8:30-9:30 on the first night. As always, I asked at blu if they cared when we came and they said they don’t know why celebrity sends the letter…come when you want. By this point, sending that letter should be an embarrassment to Celebrity.

17) There is also a drink special at the indoor bars with wine $4 and beer $3…but I just don’t remember the hours…mid afternoon. Never seen this before.

18) Very international passenger set….germany, England, Canada, Australia, brazil, japan, and of course the USA. Some on their first celebrity cruise, many elite…but drinks will be in the lounge…no coupons.

19) This is a lesson on why you need to make some excursion arrangements early. I understand that all of the penguin viewing excursions are sold out and all Falkland excursions are sold out as well (note: there are more passengers and crew on this ship then the population of the falklands.) I’m OK…set up all tours private before the cruise.

20) Bags arrived at our cabin very quickly…before 4pm.

21) We reserved dinner on our anniversary at united states using the 15% elite plus discount, but the maître d said that if they offer discounts, he’ll apply it to our reservation. (we met him on our last cruise where he was maître d’ in blu.)

GH, thanks for posting. :)

Thanks for the details of the first day. See you in a couple of weeks onboard!:)

Thanks so much for the update. We've met several of the staff, including Mario (had dinner with him one night at the Captain's table several cruises ago), and Alejandro (We've done several cruises with him including one on the long departed but fondly remembered Mercury and I find him to be a hoot.). And we may have been on a ship with Andy Bouchard as the name is so familiar, but I'm not sure. Who is the maitre d' in the United States -- Darius? He was the Blu maitre d' the last time we were on Infinity.

Keep us posted. Since we will be on this itinerary in 2015 I'm following your experiences closely.

We now seem to have a destination concierge….i don’t have a clue why or what she does vs the excursion desk

Seems that the "Destination Concierge" is part of a new excursion offering that Celebrity have recently introduced.

It's called "Celebrity Exclusives" and it is selling high-end special excursion experiences, for your private use (eg. helicopter ride, speedboat, hot-air balloon, sports car, etc). The Destination Concierge will tailor the excursion experience to your requirements. But, costs seem to be thousands per person ! :eek:

Thanks for posting all the information. I'm very interested in this itinerary as I have an obsession for penguins so I'll be following this closely!

On the Constellation the destination conciegre which is located right next to the guest relations was very helpful. She was always available the mornings we passed her spot on the way to get off the ship . We got really good maps of towns, not the bluish ones given to find shopping. In Marmaris Turkey, she plotted the way to the entrance of the castle which was hard to find in the winding streets.

Thank you for taking time to share. Is Jenny still on board as Captain's Club hostess or has she already departed?

I wonder if Alejandro will still be on board for our cruise at the end of May (30th) Is it possible to find out please? :)

I'll be interested to see how you get on at SS United States, it's our first time on Infinity and I am keen to try it but friends who've been didn't enjoy it, I hope you do :)

Are you anywhere near 1116 on this cruise? We are booked in it for an Infinity sailing later this year and wondering what is on the balcony.

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

17) I feel as if I am in a bit of a time warp. Many of the changes and reported issues in the main forum have warped....for example the loud music in the martini bar…isn’t..as a matter of fact, last night there was no music at all in martini bar but the atrium was filled with wonderful live guitar music. The martini bar, by the way, had maybe three couples. I just passed it again…3:30pm and no music at all.

18) music around the pool is loud because it’s a live band. When the band breaks, the canned music is at the same volume…but….it only plays around the pool…not in the solarium, etc.

Now some surprising pluses and minuses.

19) The made to order pasta bar and stir fry are gone in the buffet….they only do that now for dinner

20) no tarts…the only desserts are puddings of sheet cakes of varying types

21) all hot dishes are served…but cold salads and trays of mixed salads are do it yourself

The only things I used to eat in the buffet were the stir fry and pasta….so not happy

22) now the cleanliness/health issues…and yes, there are issues. The only servers who wear gloves are the folks that make sandwiches. Everyone else behind the counters aren’t wearing gloves.

23) no one is at the doors suggesting (strongly) that you use sanitizer, in fact on one side the dispenser is standing against the wall instead of in the middle.

24) remember those trays of mixed salad that you serve yourself….the servers use the same spoons that everyone has touched to make the trays look good..then they do something else like roll napkins or put plates out. Clearly, no attempt at real hygene.

25) assorted cheese which used to have only a few common cheeses now has chunks of American cheese….that’s it.

I am not happy with the downgrade from our transatlantic just three months ago on the same ship

But….all is not lost…and this one is strange.

26) on the transatlantic, the aqua spa café had the new format with very limited cook to order and was mainly a salad bar…with the other side trying to sell expensive smoothies and yoghurt. Much to my surprise, shock and frankly glee, the aqua spa café has been converted back to what it was before the SPE debacle…and you can get custom grilled tuna/salmon/chicken or pork and they have four or five small plates of cold cuts and equivalent….and the other side now serves some free desserts including fruit tarts (the one’s that aren’t in the buffet any more).

27) The explanation from the hotel director who happened to be there when I was there was….they couldn’t get the ingredients in south America so they went back to the old format until the ship reaches Miami. Personally, I find that almost impossible to believe, but that’s what I was told.

28) so I’ve lost the buffet, but shockingly gained the aqua spa café back.

I will be following your posts closely because this is one cruise that Im interested in. Going on oceana for the first time next month and interested if the food on celebrity has gotten any better. My last time on eclipse was very dissapointing. Have a great time.

Hope you have a great time. We just got off of the same cruise. We really had good weather other than a little snow and 70 knot winds ;) but every time we got somewhere, Cape Horn, Antarctica, where ever we had good weather. Hope the same works for you!

17) I feel as if I am in a bit of a time warp. Many of the changes and reported issues in the main forum have warped....for example the loud music in the martini bar…isn’t..as a matter of fact, last night there was no music at all in martini bar but the atrium was filled with wonderful live guitar music. The martini bar, by the way, had maybe three couples. I just passed it again…3:30pm and no music at all.

18) music around the pool is loud because it’s a live band. When the band breaks, the canned music is at the same volume…but….it only plays around the pool…not in the solarium, etc.

Now some surprising pluses and minuses.

19) The made to order pasta bar and stir fry are gone in the buffet….they only do that now for dinner

20) no tarts…the only desserts are puddings of sheet cakes of varying types

21) all hot dishes are served…but cold salads and trays of mixed salads are do it yourself

The only things I used to eat in the buffet were the stir fry and pasta….so not happy

22) now the cleanliness/health issues…and yes, there are issues. The only servers who wear gloves are the folks that make sandwiches. Everyone else behind the counters aren’t wearing gloves.

23) no one is at the doors suggesting (strongly) that you use sanitizer, in fact on one side the dispenser is standing against the wall instead of in the middle.

24) remember those trays of mixed salad that you serve yourself….the servers use the same spoons that everyone has touched to make the trays look good..then they do something else like roll napkins or put plates out. Clearly, no attempt at real hygene.

25) assorted cheese which used to have only a few common cheeses now has chunks of American cheese….that’s it.

I am not happy with the downgrade from our transatlantic just three months ago on the same ship

But….all is not lost…and this one is strange.

26) on the transatlantic, the aqua spa café had the new format with very limited cook to order and was mainly a salad bar…with the other side trying to sell expensive smoothies and yoghurt. Much to my surprise, shock and frankly glee, the aqua spa café has been converted back to what it was before the SPE debacle…and you can get custom grilled tuna/salmon/chicken or pork and they have four or five small plates of cold cuts and equivalent….and the other side now serves some free desserts including fruit tarts (the one’s that aren’t in the buffet any more).

27) The explanation from the hotel director who happened to be there when I was there was….they couldn’t get the ingredients in south America so they went back to the old format until the ship reaches Miami. Personally, I find that almost impossible to believe, but that’s what I was told.

28) so I’ve lost the buffet, but shockingly gained the aqua spa café back.

I am also going to be unhappy if the pasta bar @ lunch time is gone. It is one of the favorite things I look forward to.

they always did such a great job and with a side salad perfect lunch meal for me.

on the Classic beverage package are there any Martini's you can get on the Infinity?

just wondering if I have to upgrade to get a Martini on our upcoming cruse in March.