Live from infinity TA - October 13-27

[Pacificlander]

Just curious, is there any Wii sports competitions offered like Wii bowling or golf tournaments?

Edited October 20, 2014 by Pacificlander

[ghstudio]

I can say with some certainty that one’s viewpoint changes in calmer seas..and today is as we have experienced on previous TA’s, very very smooth with blue skies amid the clouds. The earlier part of this cruise was colored by the weather, but more because of disappointed expectations in having one of the “prized” A1’s and finding the problems with the doors and drawers not having anything to keep them closed, the door to the balcony that irrespective of handle position slams open or closed and the inability to be outside with the door closed unless someone was in the cabin and locked you out. Then there were the long waits for blu the first few nights, the difficulty finding any seats at the elite cocktail party….well, it all adds up. Admittedly, I miss the variation of having an a’cappela group and a string treo and I am not a fan of DJ music…but the performers on board are good. The Martini bar is generally empty….and loud music is not a problem…in fact more music would be welcome. The crew has been wonderfully friendly and positive throughout…the officers participating in events but otherwise missing in action which is just an observation, not a complaint. When they mix with the passengers, I think everyone has a more positive vibe…I recall Thomas, the staff captain on last year’s TA who was everywhere.

Lunches at the specialty restaurants are $25…not sure if they are being discounted on this cruise as we only paid $25 for dinner at US United States and $22.50 at qsine last night. The ship, by the way is in very good condition….other than the cabins on 11 (which I won’t book again), I think the infinity is in very good shape. If you are going to be unhappy if you see any rust or see some lights out on the elevator but those are little things that occur on any ship. As far as food….I actually think the lunch items offered at the buffet have improved significantly. Since we generally eat in Blu, we haven’t seen much change other than my previous comments…and the long waits, which have not happened to us before. David (maître d) claims that he is not letting suite guests dine in blu during the busy times….no way to tell, but this cruise is different, so maybe it’s just when the aqua passengers want to dine.

One comment though…we get excellent cappuccino in blu (elite plus so n/c), but we have joined our friends in the elite breakfast and the cappuccino there is not the same….Since the first time we ordered it, the coffee appeared in under a minute, it strongly suggests that they are just foaming regular coffee or maybe preparing some other type of expresso in bulk…the taste is completely different than blu or café bacio.

Looking forward to my first hamburger of the cruise today and maybe enjoying it on our balcony with a glass of wine….

 

GH

[flyingv4me]

I am having a truly wonderful time reading your review. Thank you! A TA is on my to-do list and, even with the weather, your review is making we want to book now! Thanks, again. :)

[ghstudio]

For those that think I’ve been negative, we just booked a TA on the equinox next spring. The deal was a) $100pp deposit, b) $100 OBC; c) free gratuities. We elected to have celebrity hold the booking so we can shop TA’s when we get home (required us to sign a form so our current TA couldn’t claim celebrity poached the reservation, I guess)….and we held the OBC for next year’s TA so the cruise is fully refundable. We also grabbed a hump 1A starboard (for sun) paying the 1b price (captain’s club).. We’re skipping aqua/blu…premium seems to be very high for the same size cabin….$550pp. As much as we like the atmosphere of blu, there is a sanity limit….right

 

My wife tried a cappuccino at the elite lounge this AM, after one sip, she left it…got a take out at café bacio on her way back to the cabin and it was far different and better coffee. Not sure what they are trying to do with the coffee in the elite breakfast,, but it’s not working.

 

GH

[Turtles06]

For those that think I’ve been negative, we just booked a TA on the equinox next spring. The deal was a) $100pp deposit, b) $100 OBC; c) free gratuities.

 

GH

 

Free gratuities for a TA? That's a pretty great deal (since Celebrity hasn't been doing the 123Go on TAs for a while now). I wonder if it's just for that TA, perhaps it's not selling as well as they'd like... At any rate, nice deal!

[Xcruiser]

Hi GH,

 

I'm enjoying your live from review so far as I always do. I don't think you are being to negative and not everyone onboard has the same experience, nor should that be expected. I think with the rough seas and all those cabin issues I'd have a hard time enjoying things as well.

 

Sounds like the entertainment is about the same as on our last TA on Solstice, lots of shop till you drop and pay extra offers. Looks like they did add more "go play with yourself":eek: ones to fill in the dailies better. I guess this is going to be the norm these days.

 

Hope you have continued good seas and enjoyment along the way to Port Everglades. I'll be joining Infinity after the end of your TA and looking forward that and the balance of reporting, thanks again for taking the time out of your cruise.

 

Joel

[Celebrity Cruises]

 

My wife tried a cappuccino at the elite lounge this AM, after one sip, she left it…got a take out at café bacio on her way back to the cabin and it was far different and better coffee. Not sure what they are trying to do with the coffee in the elite breakfast,, but it’s not working.

 

GH

 

Hi there,

 

We have passed on your feedback regarding the cappuccino, and this will be fixed soon. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

[Holly2]

Thanks GH and Celebrity. Look forward to sampling it on Infinity in January.

[2552phxcrzr]

Hi there,

 

We have passed on your feedback regarding the cappuccino, and this will be fixed soon. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

 

Thanks Celebrity Cruises ... we will be on Infinity for a month in December, and look forward to tasty cappuccinos.

[Shaden1982]

Hi there,

 

We have passed on your feedback regarding the cappuccino, and this will be fixed soon. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

 

Thanks! I'll be on the 27th....looking forward to it! :D

[ghstudio]

I am pleased to say they stepped up to the maintenance tasks….we now have a large wooden door stop to hold the balcony door open, our end tables are propped up in the front with towels and the missing mouldings on the shower door have been replaced. Perhaps celebrity could get out front on the deck 11 issues and design some more permanent way to tilt the end tables back (to keep the drawers closed) and instead of the door stop, just provide a bungee cord on the balcony doors…or something that hangs from the locking peg in the middle and hooks around the outside of the door. Simple fixes to what must be a problem across the m-class deck 11 upgrades.

 

Great lectures today and extremely funny and standing room only “liars game” in the theater…in fact it ran over into bingo and they cancelled the bingo because there were not enough players (they were all in the theater.

 

Excellent hamburger and hot dog for lunch from the pool grill (I would have had a beer but $8.50 stopped me). I think the pre-paid gratuities is a buy-on-the-ship only offer for transatlantics. Back to Blu tonight….

 

We’ve had some strange waiters at the elite cocktail hour…I suspect new folks who sort of understand how the function should work. One night, one in our party ordered sparkling water and got Perrier. The next night a different waiter said, Perrier is not included. I had a bloody mary one night..last night another in our party ordered a bloody mary and was told it’s not one of the items on the menu (it actually is not on the menu). So we just flagged down another waiter and no problem getting a bloody mary. There are definitely more hors d’oevers being passed around and tables are being cleared at the same time orders are being taken….so things have improved.

 

A word on internet on board….it’s terrific….far better availability and better speed than on other cruises. It must be part of the new system where you can sign up for internet using your computer in your cabin. One issue I’ve reported…they offer free access to RCL sites including choice air…but the choice air link points to the agent access page (requires userid/password), not the choice air site for passengers. That’s just someone either not understanding choice air or not checking their work. I shouldn’t have to pay to access choice air to see about flights to a cruise just booked on board. It’s a silly error.

[ColNan]

Thank You for getting the repairs done....we are booked in an Aqua class aft cabin (which might be ours) for the Nov.4th. sailing......your efforts are much appreciated!.....and we are enjoying your most insightful posts. Looking forward to reading your continuing reviews to Bermuda and onwards!

 

Nancy

[Miamigurl0791]

That crossed my mind too...

 

Along with the idea that perhaps NEW Contracts / Performers would start here in NA for the Winter Season.

 

But GHSTUDIO is far from the first to report a decrease in activities / entertainment across the fleet

 

I am anxious to see what is in place on Connie when we sail in December and compare it to our past Celebrity cruises in 2012 & 2013

 

Cheers!

 

Hello there!

 

I will be sailing the TA on Connie in April and am extremely interested in your viewpoints on her condition come December. If you happen to do a review, I would love to read it!

 

Much obliged!

Edited October 22, 2014 by Miamigurl0791

[cormike1]

Hi GH....I think you were on the March SA trip with us on the Infinity were you not? I read on an earlier post that Alexandro and Rachel were onboard. Are they the same crazy Alexandro and the "lovely Rachel" that were on the Infinity with us? Is he just as crazy as ever? I am enjoying reading your adventures. Keep up the great posts!

[ComeOnLetsGo]

Your vessel will be the first to visit Bermuda since Hurricane Gonzalo so welcome. We're glad you're coming. Have a good time with us.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Hi GHSTUDIO,

 

Keep em coming... Enjoying the LIVE Blog very much.

 

Happy to hear that the Maintenance Crew have been seeing to the issues you have been having with the A1

 

And BONUS in that Celebrity Corp is reading along & listening too as well (as witnessed by CC Member CELEBRITY CRUISES post). Awesome.

 

 

Hello there!

 

I will be sailing the TA on Connie in April and am extremely interested in your viewpoints on her condition come December. If you happen to do a review, I would love to read it!

 

Much obliged!

 

Hi MIAMIGURL0791,

 

Will do.

 

Cheers!

[ghstudio]

Hi GH....I think you were on the March SA trip with us on the Infinity were you not? I read on an earlier post that Alexandro and Rachel were onboard. Are they the same crazy Alexandro and the "lovely Rachel" that were on the Infinity with us? Is he just as crazy as ever? I am enjoying reading your adventures. Keep up the great posts!

 

Both are onboard...excellent folks

[BecciBoo]

Hi there,

 

We have passed on your feedback regarding the cappuccino, and this will be fixed soon. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

 

I hope so, this is one of our perks on RCCL that we enjoy as Diamonds and look forward to our first ever Celebrity cruise coming up in 2 weeks. Love my Cappuccino!

[ghstudio]

Seas are calm, a bit cloudy but in the low 80’s (F), balcony door propped open with that large wedge so I can write this without hearing a thud, shower door only dripped a little, closet door stayed closed all night….life is good  We’re arriving in Bermuda a little early…no one knows how the public transportation system was effected by the hurricane. Breakfast today on 10…the dreaded buffet, but I had this hankering for poached eggs on corned beef hash..it was excellent. I’m not sure that all that many have discovered that all the way in the back, the sandwich station makes poached eggs (e.g. eggs benedict) and fresh waffles to order. It’s the go to place for breakfast…skip all that pre-made stuff. Then we went to café bacio for some good coffee (I’m sure the coffee will get better in the elite breakfast, but it’s unreasonable to think it happened overnight). On this cruise, we have café bacio chair hogs….I think those folks take the four window tables with the nice high backs and spend the entire day there….they don’t even have coffee. I’m not sure what to do about that, but it sure would be nice for those who are actually getting coffee and want to enjoy the ocean for a few minutes get to do so. Those folks just sit and read…alternating getting up. This is more a comment on passenger courtesy than something celebrity can fix.

 

I can’t say enough positive about the internet experience on this cruise. Granted, we have 480 minutes between my DW and I, but we’ve only used about 280 of those….and you can see how many posts I’ve made to cruise critic which isn’t designed for fast access….it used to take about 10 minutes to make one post on CC…now it’s probably less than 3 and I’m downloading mail and updating quicken at the same time. Thank you celebrity….

 

Thanks to our cabin steward, we have seemingly endless water…he leaves two bottles per day and we drink some but not all. I am looking at 8 bottles on our desk…we’ll take two on our Bermuda visit this PM.

 

Last night, I asked if it was possible to get the prime rib that they were serving in the MDR…we eat in Blu. I was expecting a no and I told them to just say no if it was a bother, but they surprised me and actually got me a prime rib. In fairness, it sounded much better on the MDR menu than it was…but it was a huge piece. I was very appreciative. The wine sommelier (female) is just outstanding in Blu….best we’ve ever had. I also noticed that they use riedel or equivalent glasses in blu, irrespective of the wine you order. Our experience in the MDR is that you only get those nice glasses if you order a bottle over $80, but that was a long time ago….maybe that’s changed. But I am enjoying drinking wine out of good glasses.

 

I do wish that celebrity would alter the crudites on the table at blu….there is a limit to how many times you can sit down to the exact same number of carrot sticks, celery sticks, a ½ cherry tomato, some humus dip and some other dip. Come on celebrity…surprise us one night with an olive or almost anything else.

 

Did I mention that they no longer set salt and pepper shakers in Qsine 

 

Also not sure if I mentioned or stressed that the only ship’s managers/officers I’ve found at the elite cocktails to be the bar manager and the art sales person. Wouldn’t you think the hotel director, staff captain, housekeeping head, etc would drop by to shake some hands….nada. Seems like a missed opportunity to build relationships with customers….kind of marketing 101 stuff.

 

After so many days at sea, it’s funny when the captain gets on the PA at 9:50 and says…..this is the captain talking to you from the navigational bridge. I always wonder if he ever gives the talk from his cabin or if there is some other bridge on the ship. Maybe he will surprise us one day and say this is the captain talking to you from the engine room…one can only hope. I like this type of humor…I suppose others would be horrified with the change.

 

It really is a beautiful day….the type you dream about when you are sitting in traffic at home. Wish you were here.

 

GH

[emcee207]

"After so many days at sea, it’s funny when the captain gets on the PA at 9:50 and says…..this is the captain talking to you from the navigational bridge. I always wonder if he ever gives the talk from his cabin or if there is some other bridge on the ship. Maybe he will surprise us one day and say this is the captain talking to you from the engine room…one can only hope. I like this type of humor…I suppose others would be horrified with the change."

 

LOL,

GH, my wife and I laugh about this all the time. Where else would he be? Martini Bar? Lawn Club Grill? Shuffleboard area?

 

And the Greek accent makes it perfect!:D

[HLN500]

Have you ever sailed with Captain Speaking? He's very popular and sails on many lines.

[LF2C]

Does the house band (or anyone else) play music for dancing in the Grand Foyer before dinner?

[chief190]

GH

Nice to hear from you on this trip. I had been wondering about the life boat good to hear number 2 is back. We followed you on our panama canal trip to San Diego in April. We are sailing her in may to Alaska from San Francisco. If you can who is the Michaels club concierge I know its not Kimberley as we have kept in touch. Just so you know just an observation from our April trip more of the senior officers seemed to hang out in Michaels than elite cocktail we tried both. Don't know if that is right or not as way more people in elite than Michaels. We had several 1\2 hour or more conversations with all the senior staff HD director, staff captain, chief engineer, captain, exec chef, safety officer. We got pictures with all. This is not good for all elites who deserve and should expect at least equal access. Hope to hear more.

[ghstudio]

GH

Nice to hear from you on this trip. I had been wondering about the life boat good to hear number 2 is back. We followed you on our panama canal trip to San Diego in April. We are sailing her in may to Alaska from San Francisco. If you can who is the Michaels club concierge I know its not Kimberley as we have kept in touch. Just so you know just an observation from our April trip more of the senior officers seemed to hang out in Michaels than elite cocktail we tried both. Don't know if that is right or not as way more people in elite than Michaels. We had several 1\2 hour or more conversations with all the senior staff HD director, staff captain, chief engineer, captain, exec chef, safety officer. We got pictures with all. This is not good for all elites who deserve and should expect at least equal access. Hope to hear more.

 

 

This is the new celebrity that has lost track of 500+ elites who are no longer important. Someone should remind the captain and officers that we still exist and our ongoing revenue is pretty important too.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[floridatravelersforlife]

Thank you for this informative thread

 

Did you have any heavy wind? How wasthe side to side roll, did you feel the list to the side? Whn we were on the Antarctic cruise in 2010, we hit a Drake Passage storm with 28-30 ft seas and 75 knot winds. Even on deck 7 the roll was exaggerated by a constant list to the port side as we were broadsided by the heavy wind. Plus the wind blast made the sliders hum. We were impressed by ocean worthiness of the Infinity

 

We are booked in an A1 for the Valpariso/Panama Canal/FLL cruise on her next spring. Looking forward to it

 

Did you usethe deck 12 above your cabin?