“LIVE” from the Infinity, MAY 15-24 Portugal & Spain from a first timer on the Celebrity board 🤗

[niksmom630]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

[hcat]

you did it.. we will book a cruise heavy on Portugal!

[theopup]

Lisbon looks lovely, definitely on my bucket list

[Ciaranaman]

DH and I spent 2 and bit weeks touring Portugal, last fall - ending in Lisbon for a few days.  Your wonderful pics took me back - Thank YOU!   Enjoy your cruise!  I'll be following along 😊

[niksmom630]

I’m going to attempt a few post and photos on Wi-Fi. Fingers crossed 🤞

 

we attempted to take a taxi from the port to the shopping area. The first driver in line said “no! I could take  your money , but it’s a 15 minute walk . 😂😩 For who? Someone who does a 15 minute mile? Yes, that would have been me 10 years ago on smooth pavement with no incline, close to jogging and no speeding vehicles to dodge. It took us almost 45 with stops. Including one stop at the CBD  shop for back cream 🏃‍♀️

 

Backtracking to boarding day dining photos in the MDR. 
 

service has been

nothing short of excellent. 
 

mushroom soup, as good as Chops 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by niksmom630

[debsjc]

Thanks for the great info &  photos. 
We are stopping at Lisbon & Porto on the Silhouette next month. Could you please let us know if any shuttles into town were provided, and if taxis were plentiful at both ports? 
It sounds like the taxi in Lisbon was not too keen to take you. 

 

[superduper123]

Thanks for the live review. I am following along. I will be on Infinity in December, and have been hearing less than favorable reports about the ship. I, too, booked for the itinerary, so not too concerned. But rather curious what to expect.

[niksmom630]

8 hours ago, debsjc said:

Thanks for the great info &  photos. 
We are stopping at Lisbon & Porto on the Silhouette next month. Could you please let us know if any shuttles into town were provided, and if taxis were plentiful at both ports? 
It sounds like the taxi in Lisbon was not too keen to take you. 

 

TUK TUKS  are everywhere when you get off the ship, but they want to sell you the tours.

we were in port with a Disney ship that disembarked all their ship tours at the same time that we were walking off, so it was kind of chaotic. From the shopping area Rossio, we found a taxi pick up spot nearby, and had no issues getting a cab back to the ship. I’ll let you know the situation after we get off in Porto today, as we need to grab a taxi to Marina do Freixo for our excursion! 

[niksmom630]

8 hours ago, debsjc said:

Thanks for the great info &  photos. 
We are stopping at Lisbon & Porto on the Silhouette next month. Could you please let us know if any shuttles into town were provided, and if taxis were plentiful at both ports? 
It sounds like the taxi in Lisbon was not too keen to take you. 

 

saw this in the  Celebrity app this morning 

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

10 hours ago, debsjc said:

Thanks for the great info &  photos. 
We are stopping at Lisbon & Porto on the Silhouette next month. Could you please let us know if any shuttles into town were provided, and if taxis were plentiful at both ports? 
It sounds like the taxi in Lisbon was not too keen to take you. 

 

Hi

I was in Porto last week on Silhouette,,just to let you know the shuttle Ito Porto now drops yo off across the other side of the river than the usual place.

This is due to construction work ongoing in the centre down to the river.

From the drop off point (by the Port distilleries) you can walk over the high level bridge or as a few did get a taxi into the city,,,it’s about a 2km walk.

 

[niksmom630]

We are unable to port in Porto due to high winds 😟 the captain is hoping conditions will change and we may get to port by 12. If we can port, our departure will be pushed out until 8. 
 

we had an independent tour booked thru Trip Advisor, hoping we will be able to schedule for later. If not, we will get off anyway and come up with a new plan! 

[JeanieC,Aston]

11 hours ago, debsjc said:

Thanks for the great info &  photos. 
We are stopping at Lisbon & Porto on the Silhouette next month. Could you please let us know if any shuttles into town were provided, and if taxis were plentiful at both ports? 
It sounds like the taxi in Lisbon was not too keen to take you. 

 

Hi

I was in Porto last week on Silhouette,,just to let you know the shuttle Ito Porto now drops yo off across the other side of the river than the usual place.

This is due to construction work ongoing in the centre down to the river.

From the drop off point (by the Port distilleries) you can walk over the high level bridge or as a few did get a taxi into the city,,,it’s about a 2km walk.

The Porto HoHo bus also has stops in Masachino,,the beach area outside the port.

Its 20 min to Porto on shuttle bus.

[niksmom630]

Since I have some time to kill, I’ll catch up on day 1 and day 2 observations and tips!

 

- the Oceanview cafe is FAR superior to the RC windjammer in terms of food options and quality. Although primarily I have been sailing on Oasis class ships of late, where IMO the put little effort into that dining venue in favor of promoting speciality restaurants. These photos are not great, but at least you get an idea of food options for breakfast and lunch. 
 

 

My only complaint ( if I had to find one) is that they repeat some options in multiple stations (fruits, salads’ eggs , etc) but slightly varied. So you can find breads and croissants in several places, but Jam at only one. Salads in a few locations, but different toppings/dressings  in each. So you can make a couple loops around before you find everything you want. 
 

tip - more people congregate around the stations in front. Walk to the back to  start…. Most stations around there, including made to order omelets are empty. 
 

there’s also a nice seating area outside 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

Food quality in the MDR as well as the service has been excellent. Didn’t really see anything on the menu last night for a main entree that looked good. So I ordered the grilled chicken breast. I was prepared to be disappointed since the few times I’ve ordered on Royal is was usually dry, over cooked and almost inedible. 
 

it was perfectly cooked and the entire meal was fabulous. 
 

 

escargot was also very good. Last few times on Royal, it was cold or room temperature at best. 

 

. 

the sommelier repeatedly fills our glasses, is super friendly.
 

we have the classic beverage package included, so I’ve not missed my free D+ beverages. But drinks are weak. I’ve had to ask for additional rum in most of my frozen drinks. Nod to Royal in this category. 

 

Dining room service is quick, but we’ve not felt rushed. BIG  nod to Celebrity here 
 

Tonight we are dining at Petit Chef 

[niksmom630]

A glimpse of the sunrise this morning…

 

 

looks like we are getting into port  after all. 
 

all the celebrity excursions were cancelled and refunded this morning. 
 

looks like our excursion has decided to wait for us, so we heading out!  More later! 

[Texed]

Great pictures and information.  Thanks for posting.  😊

[GonzoWCS]

Following along.  Great pictures and comments!

 

Cheers

[niksmom630]

We had this  tour booked yesterday in Porto. Followed by some shopping on Santa Catarina 

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g189180-d20270479-Private_tasting_in_the_Douro_1_to_6_people_on_a_Yacht_just_for_you-Porto_Porto_Dis.html

 

 

[niksmom630]

We really enjoyed it. A great father and son team. They served snacks and a wonderful homemade wine while we cruised along the Duoro river. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

We communicated with them thru the app when

our arrival was delayed, and they were able to accommodate the time change. 
 

When you exit the port terminal , there are busses to take you to the entrance  of the port. From there you can get taxis or Uber. We opted for Uber because the man working at the entrance said the only way to get a taxi was to physically call for one. 
 

I was using my AT&T international day pass, and the Uber locator worked well. 
 

[niksmom630]

Last nights dinner was at Petit Chef. I expected it to be kind of gimmicky and more about the “experience”  I went in with low expectations since the menu looked odd to me (coming from a pretty  basic “meat and potatoes” gal). 
 

I believe this is normally around $60+ per person, but on boarding day they offered a 30 % discount for booking. 
 

It was so fun and entertaining! The animation follows the regular menu. But you can choose the alternates. And any combination of both menus, which you’ll see in my photos. 
 

apologies in advance if this has been covered in MANY reviews here. But, remember I’m a newbie 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

 

 

 

tomato tart

 

 

 

 

shrimp

 

beets

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

 

 

branzino

 

 

beef short rib

 

 

desserts

 

 

 

 

[niksmom630]

 

and the “finale”

 

 

 

we really enjoyed this ♥️ unlike some of the other “experience” dining venues (Wonderland on RCI as an example) that to me are a “once and done”  experience,  I would do this one again!