First Cruise - Celebrity Infinity Aqua - Few Questions

Hi guys,

I just booked my first ever cruise for November on Celebrity Infinity, Aqua Class. I have a couple questions, if you dont mind?

1. Is there a way to tell in advance if the room I booked (9055) is below any noisy areas? I saw some maps but only of the cabin floor and selected a room that looked like it was farther away from common areas like laundry and elevator, but I don't see a way to find out whats above me.

2. There were some perk options so I chose onboard spending and pre-paid gratuity. Can someone explain how pre-paid gratuity will work? If I order anything to my room does their tip automatically get deducted from this? Can the onboard spending be used for anything like drinks, casinos, etc?

3. I am wondering if drinks like coffee are included in cruise price or do I need to order a drink package? We don't drink a lot (maybe will have one drink a day) and mostly drink water so I didn't upgrade to a beverage package. I like REALLY strong coffee...and would love to have some delivered to my room in the mornings. Is there a way to request this or do I need to sign up for a drinks package?

4. It wouldn't let us choose a dining time because I guess we go to Blu...do we just eat at Blu whenever we want? Have you ever experienced a long wait for Blu during dinner hours?

Did you make a error in posting the cabin #. According to the Infinity deck plan cabin 9055 is an interior cabin not a Aqua Class cabin.

There is a website cruisedeckplans.com that site will let you find your cruise line, ship and cabin and see what is above and below the cabin.

If you are in Aqua Blu is your assigned dining room for Breakfast & Dinner. For both breakfast and dinner you just show up, no reservations, on occasion there can be a wait, never very long.

Lunch you can eat in the Main Dining Room, Buffet, Pool Grill, or Aqua Spa Café. You can also eat breakfast in the buffet, main dining room or Aqua Spa Café.

The pre-paid gratuities you selected cover the daily gratuities for your cabin attendant and the dining staff. I believe that is now $15 per person per day - so by selecting this perk you will not see a charge on your onboard account for the $15pp, pd. If you order room service it is common practice to tip the person who delivers the room service order. Also, fyi and beverage you purchase will have a 18% tip added.

My first comment is the same as jelayne's - 9055 is not Aqua Class so you should double check your cabin number. On the Celebrity website, on the menu in the top left corner, select "Award Winning Fleet" then your ship. If you scroll down on the Infinity's page, you'll find deck plans.

You can get room service coffee and it's part of your cruise fare. It's nice to tip a dollar or so though. Breakfast in Blu is great, don't miss it.

You don't have to worry about noise from laundry rooms. There is no self-service laundry on any Celebrity ship.

Have a great cruise. You'll love Blu.

If you have selected onboard credit as one of your perks, then purchases will be charged toward that OBC. So alcohol beverages and the premium coffees (i.e., lattes) would be charged against that credit, in addition to purchases in the onboard stores, casino and specialty restaurants.

Hopefully you have indeed booked an Aqua Class stateroom. We have very rarely experienced waits to be seated in Blu.

Oh thank you, sorry its room 9056

It looks like you are right under the transitional area from the outdoor to indoor pool (Solarium) and Aqua Spa cafe. It's hard to line up your cabin exactly with what is above. You have just cabins below you.

Maybe the non-alcoholic beverage package would work for you.

9056 is indeed an Aqua cabin.

Your cabin is located below the Spa Cafe area of the Solarium. You shouldn't have much noise, except with the crew are moving chairs around during cleaning, but that area is usually pretty quiet after dinner until breakfast time. It's possible you might hear a bit of scuffling if you have a silent disco planned during your cruise. This wouldn't keep me from booking that cabin.

The prepaid gratuities means that you won't need to worry about tips for your dining or cabin stewards, unless you feel they were exceptional and wish to leave them something extra. There is no charge for room service orders off the regular room service menu or from the MDR menu during lunch/dinner. There are some specialty items on the Aqua room service menu that has a charge listed next to that item. There is also a charge for over night room service orders. If you order something with a charge it will automatically be placed on your bill and debited from your OBC. Your OBC can be used for drinks, purchases at one of the ship stores, specialty dining, etc. You can monitor your charges and what you have left of your OBC via the TV in your stateroom.

Coffee from the restaurants, buffet, and room service are included. Coffee from Al Bacio (very good) is charged by the drink. If you're a light drinker then you'd be better off paying as you go rather than paying for a drink package. Don't forget that each cabin is allowed 2 bottles of carry on wine for personal use. Plus the Aqua room comes with a bottle of champagne that you can drink or trade in for a bottle of wine. 3 bottles of wine take us pretty far into a cruise. The cruiseline allows you to purchase drink packages pretty far into the cruise, so you can always change your mind and buy a drink package a couple of days in. They will prorate the cost of the package.

Aqua cabins used to include free bottles of water throughout the cruise. There have been reports indicating they are automatic on day 1, but you have to keep asking your cabin steward for refills. If you are physically able to you can bring a case of bottled water onboard with you. If you stick a cabin label with your name on the case it will be delivered to your room when your luggage arrives. Same goes for soda.

Blu- There is sometimes a short wait, maybe 15 mins, if you show up at the prime dining time of 7:15. If you are an early or late diner, then you probably won't have a wait time. We've eaten in Blue on the Infinity had thought it was great! We found that the best part of eating in Blu was that we could choose to go to the early or late shows based on what time we boarded on port days. We could also have a leisurely dinner or speed things up based on our preference of the day. Also, breakfast in Blu is way better than the MDR or buffet. Be sure to enjoy a breakfast or two at Blu.

Persian Gardens- You didn't mention this but I'll point out that this is an interesting perk for Aqua guests. This area is a bit dark on the Infinity, but worth visiting the hot and cold saunas for the fun of it during a cruise, especially since it's free for Aqua guests.

Thanks so much!

One quick point, Celebrity does not have laundry rooms fleetwide.

As to not changing seating times...

The assigned dining room for AQ is BLU, as you already know. Blu ist the number one reason to book AQ - more intimate, less rushed, more personal service etc.

However, you are not “stuck” to Blu! You can always try the MDR whenever you like. Either talk to the Maitre of Blu or just go the the entrance for Select Dining of the MDR. You are not bound to seating times.

Careful, you might get hooked on AQ. We did! :)

Enjoy your cruise!

We were on Reflection in Dec and had a Aqua class cabin. The best move we ever made. It was our 2nd time on Reflection and we really love the ship but this was our first time in Aqua class. Blu was the best of both worlds. We usually want around 7 every night and never had to wait more than 5 mins. I was a little concerned about the food but it was terrific . We ordered some things from the MDR which was not a problem . We are sold on Aqua and so will you once you try it. We were in Cabin 2106 which was right under the Solarium and never heard a sound the whole 10 days. Also, we were one floor below the Auqua Spa Cafe which was handy and also same deck as spa area so it was all around the best choice we made ! Have a good time ! Bob

Hi guys,

 

I just booked my first ever cruise for November on Celebrity Infinity, Aqua Class. I have a couple questions, if you dont mind?

 

1. Is there a way to tell in advance if the room I booked (9055) is below any noisy areas? I saw some maps but only of the cabin floor and selected a room that looked like it was farther away from common areas like laundry and elevator, but I don't see a way to find out whats above me.

 

2. There were some perk options so I chose onboard spending and pre-paid gratuity. Can someone explain how pre-paid gratuity will work? If I order anything to my room does their tip automatically get deducted from this? Can the onboard spending be used for anything like drinks, casinos, etc?

 

3. I am wondering if drinks like coffee are included in cruise price or do I need to order a drink package? We don't drink a lot (maybe will have one drink a day) and mostly drink water so I didn't upgrade to a beverage package. I like REALLY strong coffee...and would love to have some delivered to my room in the mornings. Is there a way to request this or do I need to sign up for a drinks package?

 

4. It wouldn't let us choose a dining time because I guess we go to Blu...do we just eat at Blu whenever we want? Have you ever experienced a long wait for Blu during dinner hours?

Hi - just a hopefully helpful comment regarding your choice of perks on your 7-night cruise. The values of your OBC and Gratuity perks are respectively $21.43 and $15 per day. Even if you are a very light drinker, the Classic Beverage package would provide somewhat more value per day than the $15 Gratuity perk

For example, just the following 3 drink items (including the 18% beverage gratuity)

one latte = $5.90

one bottled water = $2.18

one glass of wine = at least $10.62

have a total cost of $18.70 and you are likely to drink somewhat more.

If it is at all possible, I would advise you to change your perks to the Classic Beverage package and the $150 OBC

Also, I see that you are considering purchasing a beverage package. Even a non-alcoholic package will cost more than $15 per day, so it would be better to have the Classic Beverage Package as a perk.

Have a wonderful cruise

Thank you Larry / Nan, very helpful! I'll look into changing that.