"Semi-Live" Aboard the Celebrity Infinity - Panama Canal Nov 21 - Dec 5, 2010 W/Pics

[monkeyinhat]

The NCL ship looks like it has a cute little nose and a big smile.

 

This info and pix were great. answered a lot of my questions

[Compass Rose]

Such a great travelog!! Thank you so much.

[sayvan]

I was wondering where Tracy and Reg were sitting on the ship to watch the canal passage. It looks like a prime spot! Were the chairs there or did they move them to the spot from somewhere on deck? Keep the posts coming we are waiting to see the rest of the cruise.

Thanks,

Annette

 

Tracy and Reg are our new friends we met via our dinner table and enjoyed a few shenanigans with around the ship. The location in the picture, they are at, is at the front of what I will call Deck 13 (forward sports deck). You actually have to walk outside on Deck 11 and then up some stairs on the port or starboard side and then you will see the other steps that lead to this spot. We actually stood along the stairs that lead to Deck 13. I think I may have said deck 11 previous but in fact it was the highest level you could get to. There are no chairs but rather a few stools that you can either stand or sit on and I believe that it what they were sitting on.

[sayvan]

We continued to cruise down the 12.6 km Culebra cut toward the Gatun Lake. As you cruise along this portion of the Canal you cant help but feel the amazing engineering success that this Canal represents. It is said that the materials that came from the excavation of this Cut could have erected 63 pyramids the size of the existing ones in Egypt. I personally was awestruck at this incredible man made wonder of our great world!

 

More shots as we moved along the cut toward Gatun Lake:

 

 

 

Panama Rain forest:

 

 

Train runs along the Canal:

 

[sayvan]

A few more shots of the Cut....

 

 

Cargo ship heads to the west:

 

 

 

 

Moving into Gatun Lake:

 

[sayvan]

Gatun lake is another engineering marvel of the Canal system. This lake stretches for 33km and is completely man made. It is in fact, the largest fresh water man-made lake in the world. It is 85 ft above sea level.

 

While in Gatun Lake, we dropped anchor and any of our fellow cruisers who had booked shore excursions would tender off the ship at this point. They would rejoin us in Colon.

 

Now, we did not get off the ship as we wanted to experience the full transit on ship. Those that were off the ship did watch the ship go through the final locks at Gatun and I am sure they probably had a nice perspective from the viewing stands located at the locks.

 

The Lake was like a parking lot for ships as we approached the locks. It was rather interesting to see these large ships all lined up waiting for their turn to enter the locks.

 

Below are some of the pictures as we were docked and waiting our turn to enter the Gatun Locks:

 

 

 

 

 

The Norwegian Star arrives behind us and heads for the locks:

 

[sayvan]

Gatun Locks would be the final locks on our eastbound trek through the canal. By the time we had arrived here, we had traveled over 70 km since arriving at the Miraflores Locks at 8 am. The time now was about 3 pm and we would not exit the Gatun lock system until almost 5 pm.

 

View of the Locks:

 

Heading toward the locks:

 

The Gatun Locks are a three stage set of locks that cover 1.9 km (1.2 miles). These locks would lower us to the sea level of the Atlantic or Caribbean Sea.

 

 

 

As a result of the weather improving the Captain opened up the Heli pad on Deck 5 forward. I was lucky to be heading down to Deck 4 at the very moment this was announced and was able to make a quick turn and be one of the first on the pad and as a result I was able to get a great view of our transit through these locks.

 

 

[sayvan]

The weather by this time was still overcast but it had not rained for a few hours. As a result of the rain it was extremely humid. By the time we were through the locks the sweat was rolling down my face and my shirt was drenched. I was pleasantly surprised to see that when they opened the Heli pad they also opened a bar. Needless to say, an ice cold beer never tasted so good!

 

More shots from the Gatun locks:

 

 

Panama flag drapes a building near the locks:

 

Lock doors closed:

 

Lock doors open:

 

with the water lowered:

 

[sayvan]

This shot gives a great perspective on how we are being lowered to the sea level of the Atlantic:

 

Vicki and Craig enjoy a drink on the Heli Pad:

 

Craig a bit too much!

 

Shot of how close the ship really comes to the side of the lock...

 

View of the track that the Train mule rides on. You can see the depth to the final lock on the eastbound trek:

 

[sayvan]

Guard at the Locks:

Mule:

 

Shot of the Lock filling up:

 

Entering the Caribbean Sea:

 

[sayvan]

It had been a very long day..if you recall I pulled the dummy move and got up really early. We had just finished our transit through the Canal and were now on our way to Colon. We would stop in Colon until 11 pm. We did not bother to get off the ship because we had our dinner in the MDR at 8:30 and of course wanted to enjoy the evening festivities.

 

Here are a few final shots from the Canal:

 

A view of the Gatun Locks from the Aft of the ship as we sail away from them:

 

Vanda, myself, Craig and Vicki

 

Heading to Colon:

 

 

another shot of the Gatun Locks:

 

After some sushi and pizza on Deck 10, we then headed off to clean up for the evening and try our best to make it to the 7 pm show.

 

Tonights show featured Comedian Scott Wyler. Scott was very funny and his jokes were edgy and for 45 minutes disregarded the aspect of political correctness. Once again, Celebrity scored high on the entertainment front for me.

 

After the show, we met up with almost our entire dinner table for a few drinks and then made our way to the MDR.

 

After dinner, it was up to the Constellation Lounge where we have ended almost every day so far. Tonight, the lounge featured the Newlywed, Not so Newlywed game. Four couples were randomly selected and the game began. I have to say this was rather tame compared to some of the other times I have seen this or a similar show on a cruise. Of course, it did have its moments and was entertaining.

 

After the game show the party continued into the early hours with Celebrity DJ and some dancing.

 

So our day was coming to a close. I think I had been up about 20 hours by the time we headed back to our room. The cruise through the Canal had been all I had hoped it would be. It was a bit of a downer that the sun was seldom seen on this day, however that in no way put a damper on the day (well except for how wet we got in early morning rain). As I reflected on the day and the transit across the canal, I could not help but think about those who toiled to build this incredible piece of engineering. Many lives were lost and many workers suffered disease. During the American construction over 5000 men died. If you add that to the French attempts this number would rise to over 25,000. Of course, the end result also had created enormous benefits for many as well. I found it amazing when thinking of the incredible task at hand in comparison to the equipment and technology that would have been available when this was built.

 

Tomorrow would be another sea day. I was looking forward to that. Cartagena was right around the corner as well. My plan for the next sea day was to try and get as many pictures of the many lounges and rooms on the ship. Stay tuned....

[Sheila1969]

Tracy and Reg are our new friends we met via our dinner table and enjoyed a few shenanigans with around the ship. The location in the picture, they are at, is at the front of what I will call Deck 13 (forward sports deck). You actually have to walk outside on Deck 11 and then up some stairs on the port or starboard side and then you will see the other steps that lead to this spot. We actually stood along the stairs that lead to Deck 13. I think I may have said deck 11 previous but in fact it was the highest level you could get to. There are no chairs but rather a few stools that you can either stand or sit on and I believe that it what they were sitting on.

Correct, Steve, they were little stools we were parked on and we only had to tackle ( to the ground ) 2 elderly buffet bandits to secure them , victory was ours !!

[sayvan]

Correct, Steve, they were little stools we were parked on and we only had to tackle ( to the ground ) 2 elderly buffet bandits to secure them , victory was ours !!

 

Thanks Tracy... hope you guys are doing well.... All the best for Christmas to you and Reg...

[sayvan]

After a long day cruising the Canal yesterday we would have a bit of a break with another perfectly placed sea day. I awoke around 9 am today so for me that was a long sleep in. I hate when I do this on a cruise vacation. I do not want to miss a second enjoying the ship or the view of the ocean as we sail along. I have however, concluded that I do indeed enjoy the sea days the best. The opportunity to explore the ship, relax in a chair with smooth beverage and just enjoy the view while looking at the ocean or people watching (always and exciting ordeal), is what I enjoy the most. I am not one for the spa activities although I did take a 20 minute massage on deck one day (neck and back) for $20. Huh, never realized it was a buck a minute until I wrote that!

 

After getting up and dressed (always important before you head up on deck), we made our way to the Oceanview Café for breakfast. As I was deciding what I wanted to have today, I happened upon the Eggs Benedict Stand in the aft portion of the Café. Where was this all week?

How I wish I had discovered this before. The food here was great and this became my new breakfast staple for the remainder of the cruise.

 

The weather was overcast but very warm today as we headed for breakfast. However, once we had finished our breakfast the sky had opened up and the rain was coming down. As a result, lounging on Deck 11 by the Mast Bar was not in the plans now. On the other hand, I wanted to do some ship exploring and get some pictures of the common rooms around the ship. Thus, my plan fell into place.

 

I decided to head down to the Promenade deck and begin my explorations there. My first stop would the the Celebrity Theatre.

 

The Theatre was located on Promenade and Entertainment decks (Balcony). We usually entered from the Promenade.

 

 

View from the stage:

 

 

 

View from the back on Promenade deck:

 

View from Entertainment Deck Balcony:

[sayvan]

After the theatre, I headed along the Promenade Deck toward the back of the ship. The theatre is forward on this deck by the way.

Although it was to early for the any photos to be out, this is the photo gallery. This is the first cruise I have ever been on where I did not buy at least one photograph. I found the photos not to be that good quality and frankly, I think the photographers could have done a better job. I also did not like, how on many of the photos, Celebrity would put them into some kind of a silly photographic frame which IMHO restricts how you could display these once home. It was a bit tacky I felt.

 

 

I then went into Michaels Club. We only actually made it into this locale once during our stay on Infinity. This seemed to be a nice bar with a Piano singer. The Pianist name was Valerie Bouchard.

 

 

 

 

[sayvan]

A couple more pictures from Michaels:

 

 

Moving along the Promenade I then came upon the Casino known as Fortunes. I found it interesting how each day in the 'Celebrity Today' letter, they would give you a running total of how much was won in the casino. In the end there was $147,933.25 won. I will note they never mentioned how much was lost. Interesting enough on the cruise before us the Casino had paid out $154,295.40.

 

 

The Casino seemed to have an Egyptian theme as you can see from the this shot of the Carpet.

 

 

[sayvan]

I never won a dime by the way... lost a bit... not much however!

 

 

 

 

Then I came upon the Grand Foyer. This was an interesting area. The Stair case descended from the Promenade Deck to the Plaza deck and was located mid-ship. There did not seem to be very much activity in this area at least whenever we were around it.

 

 

 

[sayvan]

 

The Staircase:

 

Internet Café:

 

 

 

Internet rates and packages: (I did not use this but heard it was very slow from some who did)

[sayvan]

I went down the steps to the Plaza Deck where I would find the Cinema and meeting rooms.

 

Steps...looking up from Plaza Deck:

 

This is the entrance to the specialty Restaurant the SS United States. We did not bother to eat in here but a few of our mates did and they enjoyed it and had nothing but positive things to say. Unfortunately I was unable to get in for more pictures.

 

 

Quiet sitting area on the Plaza deck

 

 

 

[sayvan]

The cinema seemed a good size. The seating were comfortable and very spacious. Every day there were different movies being run usually 3 to 4 times. I never sat for an entire movie but wanted to at least say I had been in there.

 

 

 

Just outside the Cinema was another quiet spot to sit and relax or read a book.

 

 

 

My next stop was back up to the Promenade deck and our favourite evening bar the Rendezvous:

 

[sayvan]

As you no doubt know if you have been following along the entire thread, the Rendezvous was the place to be for us. The bar staff were excellent and the entertainment perfect. We enjoyed many moments in this lounge throughout our cruise with all of our new friends. This particular lounge located just outside the Trellis Restaurant (MDR) was a hub of activity and dancing each and every day.

 

 

This is the exact spot where we spent most of our time for pre-dinner drinks:

 

 

 

 

[sayvan]

In my opinion, one of the key factors to a successful cruise is the dining room experience. Obviously, the food is key and as I said before the food was sensational on this cruise. No complaints at all. The other factor of course is your table mates. We always enjoy a larger table. Our table in the Trellis was 11 strong and we had great time each and every night. Every one got along and socialized both before and after the dinners. We had struck it very lucky on this cruise.

 

The Trellis Restaurant, located on Promenade and Entertainment decks was beautiful place. It can be found at the back of the ship. The Trellis is very spacious and had some beautiful floor to ceiling windows at the very back. The view of the ocean as you had your meal would have been great (we had 8:30 seating so it was obviously dark by that time). If you happened to have breakfast or lunch in the Trellis then you certainly would have experienced this view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sayvan]

The table by the window is where we were sitting:

 

Staircase in MDR:

 

Trellis from the Entertainment Deck:

 

[sayvan]

Another popular spot on the Infinity was the Champagne and Martini Bar. This is located on the aft end of the ship just outside the Trellis MDR on Deck 5 or the Entertainment deck

 

We did frequent this location a few times and it did seem to be very popular. There was a stage and dance floor and some of the music heard here was performed by the ships Vivian Clement Jazz Trio

 

 

 

 

[sayvan]

The Martini Bar was located on the other side of the Champagne Bar. They shared a dance floor.