Infinity 4-night AMA!

[floridaag]

22 minutes ago, wrp96 said:

 

I was glad to see it, but my friend in the regular line got through faster than we did in the GE line, as the GE line didn't move for over 10 minutes and when it did start moving they were alternating with the line next to us.  It looked like maybe the computer went down in that line.

 

 

Must have just been timing - we were off and through in 30 seconds.   

[publicpersona]

Please don't be misled by the wine "menus". They do not have all those wines on the Infinity (though they do have some of them). And the Infinity does not have a bar specializing in wines. There is a "Cellar Masters" but it is just a regular bar. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by publicpersona

[Philomath]

On 11/30/2018 at 6:44 PM, filamino said:

 We’ll be in our first sky suite on her soon and I’m curious about the Butler situation. Was it the person who escorted you to your suite? If not, did someone stop by, offer to help with anything or have you asked for anything of them? Do you expect to see them occasionally or expect you’ll need them for anything? 

The lady who escorted us from MC to our room was not our Butler, but I believe she was part of the butler staff as she wore a similar uniform and I saw her at other times in our hallway (deck 6 aft is nearly all suites). Our Butler came by right away to introduce himself and was really nice. We generally don't need much but asked if he could keep us supplied with water and tea, and we had several large bottles of Evian and cans of Arizona iced tea in our room throughout the cruise. He would have been happy to do anything else but we don't generally eat in our room or do laundry on ships. Our stateroom attendant was also excellent and we were very happy to tip both of them extra at the end of the cruise.

On 12/3/2018 at 12:59 PM, tkabrk said:

We are boarding on Saturday and also in a Sky Suite.  Can you tell me if Michael's Club has outdoor seating?   Thanks for your updates - keep them coming!

MC does not have outdoor seating but does have one window near the bar. Service was very friendly but for some reason it was almost always empty. The bartender knew my drink order after one visit and I always stopped in before/after the shows as it's right between the casino and the theater.

[Philomath]

On 12/3/2018 at 2:19 PM, dkjretired said:

 

I thought it was an American Medical Association cruise but it's been interesting so far.  

I'm actually a member of the American Medical Association so I should have known better! Haven't heard of AMA Waterways though. Happy I introduced a little millenial vernacular to the forum 

[Philomath]

On 12/3/2018 at 4:42 PM, floridaag said:

Not trying to steal thread but another comment I had is that another thing I was surprised about was the amount of live music - we had bemoaned what seemed to be the cut back amount of live music on the S class ships and the increasing reliance on DJs- we were very pleased at the amount of musical acts and their performing frequency.

 

I recall the solo guitarist -who was very talented; the singer/guitarist duet, string duet, piano player/singer, the full 5 or 6 piece band and the 3-4 person band.  Simultaneous acts playing in  - Bacio, Cellar Masters, Ocean View/Sunset (not sure of its name) Bar, Rendez-Vous and Constellation or pool deck - was very surprising and they generally did a good job.

I agree! We have mostly sailed S-class lately and saw much less live music. There was essentially nothing on Oasis OTS. I thought the guitarist was particularly talented - not many can sing an Adele song with their own accompaniment and sound good! I do wish they moved her to venues other than Sunset Bar though - it was so busy there at sunset that it was difficult to hear her sometime. She would have been lovely in the Cafe where the strings duo often was.

[Philomath]

On 12/5/2018 at 3:00 PM, muffydawg said:

We board Infinity on December 14th and this is our first Celebrity voyage ever. What time can we expect our suite to be ready (for dropping off roll aboard luggage) and what dining venues are open for lunch on embarkation day? Many thanks !

We boarded at 12 and brought our luggage to MC, where we left it so we could have lunch at Luminae. The room was ready by the time we returned to MC around 1, which was before the general announcement. MC had cleared out by then so I suspect they let the suite passengers in quite a bit early!

Edited December 7, 2018 by Philomath

[Philomath]

Just wanted to wrap up here that we had a great time overall on the Infinity. The suite experience was lovely and worth what we paid for it (about 1.5x of the higher end of balconies). I see on future sailings it's nearly 3x more - I can't say we'd pay that high a differential necessarily given that we were quite happy with the MDR items we ordered in Luminae and that service felt personal in most places due to the smaller ship size. Our cabin 6131 was excellent when it comes to Sky Suites and should be jumped on if ever available! The room and balcony are both larger than neighboring S1s without the "tunnel vision" aspect of 6143. Our butler also serviced the neighboring CS's and let us see one at debarkation - ours seriously felt not much smaller. The food and service in Luminae were wonderful! Portions are small, and we generally had an entree as a starter followed by another entree most evenings, which our waiter was more than happy to accommodate. Suite disembarkation was super speedy - escorted to front of line to get off ship, and a separate line at immigration (shorter than the global entry line!)

 

Service on the ship was top notch and felt more personal than our recent S-class trips. The production shows have finally been updated and feature at least some songs from the last decade with new dance routines - I really enjoyed these! The guest entertainer shows were mediocre in our opinion (a comedian and a solo singer) but I'll go to any show on a ship. Music around the ship was plentiful and good quality. The crowd in general was younger with lots of groups in their 30s/40s so dancing at the bars was more festive than on other trips, although everything wound down completely by 11ish and there were nearly no children. We don't use the regular pool but love the T-pool which was never overcrowded. Our one Celebrity shore excursion was a kayak tour which was excellent and priced appropriately.

 

Minor drawbacks: the aggressive pushing about surveys at the end. Being told repeatedly by multiple people that 9 is the lowest and 10 is the highest got a bit old. Celebrity Life Activities were often lackluster, with the exception of the game shows which were well attended and quite funny. Wifi was not great on personal devices but quite reasonable in the iLounge, so I suggest you use the hardwired computers there if you actually need to accomplish anything.

 

Can't wait for our next voyage! Happy to answer any other questions if they come up. Happy cruising 

[karena1]

We like all cruises, but have to say we were "bored" on Infinity.  No live music at the pool at all, and most of the time no music at all.  Loungers were empty!  Only place with a lot of people before dinner was the Martini bar and so it took forever to get a drink.  We found it odd that the Martini Bar had 1 or 2 bartenders and if you went into the lounge that basically was empty, you had bar servers and 3 or 4 bartenders.  So staff was not right for the business.

 

Our itin was Key West and Nassau.  So other than a couple hours in Key West, we did not leave the ship.  I think after being on Mariner for our short cruises, we were under just "underwelmed" by this ship.  We had a Aqua Class and really don't understand the draw to that.  Blu was okay, but we only went there one night and did the buffet the other 3 nights.  Cabin was not any bigger than a regular balcony.  So it was nothing special for us.  We only upgraded b/c the price was the same as the balcony I originally paid for

 

Staff was great, food was great, shows were great.  But for people like us that either sit at the pool all day or go to the beach, there just was nothing going on up by the pool and it was boring.  We like music, games, etc.  

 

We love Celebrity but will only do the Solstice Class or above next time we book Celebrity

[Philomath]

@karena1 I can certainly see how with your interests, the fit might not be good! We're nearly the opposite - we never use the pool on the ship, fill up our day with activities, and go on active shore excursions in every port (in Nassau we went to Albany on the south side of the island to see the PGA tournament being played - we walked six miles along with Tiger and the other top 17 players in the world, it was amazing!). I only drink wine so didn't visit the Martini Bar other than dancing a bit to the DJ, and got my glasses of wine quickly at whichever bar I stopped at. Interesting to hear Blu was only okay - we didn't make it there on this trip.

 

I think it's a great point to look carefully at what you need out of a ship based on your preferences. The Oasis OTS had way more wow factor as a ship but didn't hit as many of the points I personally like best. Happy cruising and hope to see you on an S-class sometime 

[karena1]

1 minute ago, Philomath said:

@karena1 I can certainly see how with your interests, the fit might not be good! We're nearly the opposite - we never use the pool on the ship, fill up our day with activities, and go on active shore excursions in every port (in Nassau we went to Albany on the south side of the island to see the PGA tournament being played - we walked six miles along with Tiger and the other top 17 players in the world, it was amazing!). I only drink wine so didn't visit the Martini Bar other than dancing a bit to the DJ, and got my glasses of wine quickly at whichever bar I stopped at. Interesting to hear Blu was only okay - we didn't make it there on this trip.

 

I think it's a great point to look carefully at what you need out of a ship based on your preferences. The Oasis OTS had way more wow factor as a ship but didn't hit as many of the points I personally like best. Happy cruising and hope to see you on an S-class sometime 

We for sure will do Celebrity again, but for now, we are trying to make Pinnacle on Royal, so only doing Royal until we make Pinnacle.  Once we do, we will again branch out on Celebrity and Princess as we like both lines a lot.  

[cltnccruisers]

We were on this same Infinity itinerary over Halloween.  Very enjoyable ship with the exception of the casino which was way too cramped.  MDR was very good.  We were bumped a concierge cabin at no additional cost.  Nice little touches, especially the embarkation day lunch in the MDR.  DW hates buffets so this was a nice way to start.  Loved Key West - "eclectic" is a good word for KW.  

[2flacruisers]

On 11/29/2018 at 2:21 PM, Philomath said:

Hi everyone - we’re just setting out on a 4 night on Infinity and I know there have been a lot of questions on the board about them. Feel free to ask me anything and I’ll try to find out! This is our first time in a Sky suite so happy to answer anything re: suit level that I’m able to as well.  We had a traffic free drive down from Orlando while listening to an audiobook and parked easily in the midport garage. Embarkation was a breeze with almost no lines in any section at 11:30. We boarded right away and got to visit Michael’s Club for the first time with just lovely staff. After a drink, we left our bags there and had a wonderful embarkation lunch at Luminae with a butternut squash risotto starter and lamb chop entree. We were escorted from Michaels to our room well before the general announcement by a very sweet woman who is about a foot shorter and older than either of us so we felt a bit awkward with her pulling our rolling suitcase, but I guess that’s how the suite life goes! DH went directly to take a pre muster nap while I explored the ship and picked up cheese, olives, and breadsticks from the buffet.

 

A few initial thoughts: the reports of the M class demise are greatly exaggerated. We find the ship to be lovingly and very well maintained. Certain aspects of the decor/design are outdated as an older ship, but our first impression is that she is in great shape and quite beautiful overall. Public spaces are ample and even the buffet had plenty of seating. The library is nonexistent so do bring your own books! As a bonus, here is a view of our neighbor the Edge! 

Leaving tomorrow and have one last question...Does the Infinity have a USB charging station in the room for tablet, etc., or should I bring the outlet connectors for my cords?  I know some of the ships have them, just unsure about this one... thanks in advance...

Edited December 12, 2018 by 2flacruisers

[Philomath]

@2flacruisers I don't remember seeing any USB charging stations. We brought our chargers with the connectors for the outlets. Have a wonderful time!

[hcat]

On 12/3/2018 at 2:19 PM, dkjretired said:

 

I thought it was an American Medical Association cruise but it's been interesting so far.  

Me too...

Guess we have to get in the groove!

[jt1120]

What terminal does the ship leave from? Did they have a Chef's Table dinner? Is the Qsine the old version or did they update it with Le Petit Chef?

[floridaag]

13 minutes ago, jt1120 said:

What terminal does the ship leave from? Did they have a Chef's Table dinner? Is the Qsine the old version or did they update it with Le Petit Chef?

 

Pretty sure were were at 19 a couple weeks ago.  QSine has been changed to LPC