Infinity review July 23-30

[bonbon663]

Let me start off by saying this was my first cruise, and I was VERY worried after reading all the recent horror stories about Infinity. In fact I was "this close" to cancelling. Well, I didn't, and boy what an experience.

 

It all started on a flight to Vancouver. We met with Celebrity reps waiting for us right at the departure gate. They loaded our luggage on a cart, and I loaded my Mom into a wheelchair. It was quite a long walk from the airport to the transfer bus, so, the rep pushed the luggage, and I pushed Mom.

 

The bus ride was pleasant enough except for the complaining had started. People were complaining that the wait for the bus was too long. I was happy to be going to the pier. We got to the pier......customs, and WOW, tons of people there. There were frantic people directing us to stand in a customs line that seem to snake back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth....you get it. It was long. Except when we got there....another big long line...I was getting really anxious to get on the ship at this point. But, there was another long line, but moving quickly. After all this, Celebrity thought it was a good opportunity to take our picture. At this point I felt like a prisoner, not a tourist, not a good picture.

 

It all changed when we got on the ship, and had our first glass of champagne. Then a young man took our carry on, and escorted us to our cabin. It was very small, but very nice. The balcony was pleasant, I'm very glad we had it for the glorious scenery.

 

We started to explore the ship, and it was beautiful!! Very clean despite all the problems from the previous weeks. There were hand sanitizers everywhere, and we hit the buffet right away, and there were employees there tellling people to use them. That was the case for most of the week. People seemed pretty cooperative overall. I have to say, I was pretty grossed out when I saw NUMEROUS women not wash their hands after using the public restrooms. I saw another one changing her babies' diaper on the counter of the washroom. So, I was a little obsessive compulsive about hand washing. My mom and I didn't get sick, and I didn't meet anyone who did.

 

After a late lunch, it was hang out time by the pool, and people watching at the pier. Wonderful!! A band was playing, as we left the pier, the weather was beautiful and warm. I should have savoured that, because it was the only time I'd be dry and warm for the rest of the week.

 

Dinner time!! We had dinner in the dining room, and our luggage hadn't arrived yet, so, I was feeling a little skanky, but a lot of other people looked pretty disheveled also. Wow wonderful food. Our waiter was ok, but or assistant waiter was exemplary. My Mom ordered decaf coffee with her meal, and he remembered for the week. The sommalier was excellent too. I thought it was really cool that we ordered a bottle of wine one night, didn't finish it, and he recorked it, and finished it the next night. Cool!!!

 

I don't want to bore you will all the details, feel free to ask me what you want. Let me tell you about formal night. I was worried about this for months, I had 2 full length gowns, jewellry, the whole bit. There were some people dressed like that, but most were dressed as though they were going to a wedding. Only about 10% tuxedoes for men. I can't believe I spent so much time worrying. They were not dressed formal throughout the ship. There were some people in my opinion very messy under any circumstances. There was a guy with shorts, short sleeved shirt, and a camo hat sitting in the theatre. There were a few outfits like that that bothered me.

 

Oh well, not a big deal. I wrote you the night of the pod problems.....(the first night). It was a short delay, again, no big deal. I was scared at first, but things worked out ok. We woke up the next morning on our way. It was when we read the daily we saw the itinerary had changed. I'm still not sure why that happened.

 

I learned one thing....Bonine is the best. There was one night/day when the ship was really rocking. We had a hard time wallking. No seasickness after the Bonine, and sea band combo.

 

The only thing I really didn't like was the constant push for you to buy diamonds in the ports. It was later I found out that the stores are owned by the cruise ships.

 

Overall, everything was fantastic, the food was exceptional, the entertainment was great every night. Much more professional than I was expecting.

 

I would love to go on another one some day. Again, if there's anything you want to know, ask, I don't want to bore you with my whole story.

 

The only minor glitches I saw were passengers who wouldn't listen and/or follow instructions. I was at guest services, and a man came down, and started yelling because nobody had picked up his guest questionnaire, he was standing beside the box we were supposed to put it in. The muster drill was slower than it had to be because people wouldn't shut up, and just listen to instructions.

 

Me and my Mom had a great time!! Two big thumbs up for Celebrity! The staff went out of their way to help us out at every turn. :) Unfortunately, I don't think people want to hear good news about someone's cruise. I just thought I'd share.

 

Donna

[KeyDoctor]

Donna,

Don't know if you saw my post to you in response to your first post. Just wanted to thank you for keeping us up to date on your cruise. We are scheduled to sail on the 13th so naturally I am interested to hear how things are going on the Infinity prior to our sailing. Our May cruise on the Summit was cancelled due to "pod problems" so you might say that I am more concerned than usual.

So glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise as your post made me aware of your concerns being a first time cruiser. This cruise will be my 12th, our third with Celebrity. I could understand your concerns after reading some of the negative comments on the board. Your posts made me less concerned about the possibility of another cancellation because of "pod problems". THANKS for taking the time to keep us future passangers informed with a more ballanced report. KeyDoctor

[Welshlady]

Glad you enjoyed your first cruise and weren't ill at all. I'm glad to hear they were using the hand sanitizers more - that's one of our criticisms of the ship. Perhaps they could have prvented so many people being ill previously and yes, I cringed too when I saw people (women) not washing their hands in the washrooms. Shame your weather wasn't too good but the scenery is still pretty. I don't like being negative on here bit I was just trying to make people aware and if I did that with you then that's a positive as far as i'm concerned. I just hope Celebrity will sit up and listen too!

[bonbon663]

You're welcome for my mini review. I can have fun starting to plan my next cruise.:)

[Sheik]

I looked the whole week at the cruisecam, just to check if everything was oke with the ship. I'm glad you've had a great time and Celebrity did a good job to solve the POD problems for this (and hopefully future) cruise.

 

Thanks for updating during your cruise and thanks for your review.

[Sheik]

sorry, doublepost

[excitedofharpenden]

Donna, I remember your concerned posts with all the talk of Infinity delays and problems. I'm really pleased you enjoyed yourself on your first cruise and that this one is sure not to be your last:) Thanks for your review.

 

Phil

[bonbon663]

It definitely will not be my last cruise, and not my last with Celebrity. You're right, I was very apprehensive about the whole thing, but in the end, it was fantastic, and everything worked out fine. My mother had a great time too.

[Steppin Out]

I found getting there quite easy, but that is because we arrived quite early and didn't deal with the big lines. Debarking wasn't nearly as smooth, they started late, there was confusion loading people on the busses correctly, and many people missed their planes and had to pay extra to get on flights home. A really lousy way to end a vacation. My mother, father and I just made our flight ~ 5 min to takeoff ~ only because we made a fuss at the airport (as did at least 6 others on our plane). My brother, sister-in-law, and niece missed their flight and had a 6 hour delay plus extra expenses ($150) to get home.

 

Our trip had a number of incidents that affected our cruise negatively. First, they reversed the direction of the cruise without warning which caused many people to lose their excursions - some of which had been booked months in advance because they were so limited, like the bears and dog-sledding in Ketchikan. Very disappointing. Second, the pod malfunctioned again just a few hours into the cruise which only delayed us a few hours, but again caused excursions to be missed; they did push the morning excursions back to accommodate our late arrival, but didn't do the same for the afternoon packages because there was another ship in port, so we lost our afternoon excursions because of time conflicts.

 

My excursion bus driver in Ketchikan took us to the wrong place, so we had a very long bus ride (about an hour) to our adventure. This meant we arrived back later than expected and I wasn't able to do any shopping in that port.

 

My brother and sister-in-law were lucky enough to find a taxi driver in Ketchikan who took them to see bears (since their bear excursion was cancelled and all others were booked because of the schedule change).

 

It was wonderful to go to the Mendenhall glacier, but I found that the helicopter tour company rushed us a bit. We had 20 minutes on the glacier. They didn't even give us enough time to stop and take a picture beside the helicopter, and they didn't take us over the town. On the other hand, the weather had been so bad that we were the first group that even got to take the excursion that day at 3:30 pm, so rushed was definitely better than not flying out.

 

Our weather wasn't great, so we didn't have much to look at through the Inside Passage, but the captain did a beautiful job getting us in close to see the Hubbard Glacier. It is quite spectacular and we saw at least 6 calvings.

 

Our whale watching garnered us a view of about 12 humpbacks, 3 bubble feeds, and one giant breach. We also saw a couple of lion seals hanging out on a buoy. There were no other spottings of cetacians during the cruise except for one brief encounter with three porpoises jumping in the wake.

 

The norwalk precautions did cause delays in the buffets for the first few days because the staff were required to serve everything, rather than allowing people to serve themselves along the line, but there really isn't much that could have been done about that. Its just that those staff aren't trained in that kind of service, so they did it slowly and compounded the problem. The CDC precautions were lifted by the end of the cruise, so this fixed itself.

 

The service in the main dining room - The Trellis - was fantastic, particularly because our Maitre'd Johanne is superb at his job. The rest of the staff on the ship was always friendly, but not always efficient or capable. The very expensive gift packages that my sister-in-law had purchased in advance for all of us ALL got messed up. Some didn't come at all, some had pieces missing, some were incorrectly marked, ...

 

The food in the main dining room was quite good, some nights better than others, but overall really nice. Breakfast was good there as well, although the runniness of the eggs in the Benedict was unpredictable ~ sometimes perfect, other times not. I found the buffet mediocre. Things were presented nicely, but everything was very ordinary. The fresh sandwiches made to order in the lunch buffet were great as were the french fries (which surprised me), the salads and garlic bread in the pasta buffet were also great. My niece enjoyed the pizza much more than either her mother or I. The ice cream was nothing special. There were lots of fresh fruits and berries. The blueberry-watermelon smoothies from room service rocked!

 

The sushi bar was the biggest dissappointment for me - I was really looking forward to the wonderful Alaskan salmon, which was not available fresh on the ship. All the fish was fresh frozen, and the salmon, because of health regulations was never served raw. My shopping in Juno included a stop at the sushi bar to buy some salmon sashimi. There was a limited selection of fish (eel served cold, tuna, salmon that had been either smoked or lightly cured in alcohol, yellow tail). They also served cooked shrimp and a number of crab meat and vegetable rolls. For someone who eats sushi, it was a real let down.

 

The specialty restaurant - S S United States - really was lovely with their simultaneous service and attention. It was worth the extra $30 per person for my mother's birthday party. The cake we bought wasn't worth it, though; their desserts were much nicer.

 

I thought the shows were ok, but not great. I was expecting higher production values. I wouldn't say anything was bad, it just wasn't to the level I had been led to believe I'd see and a lot of it was quite cheesy. The orchestra for the shows was really good. The choreography, except for the circus duo, was really lame. The costuming was supposed to be Vegas, but didn't make it - the pink and orange suits on the men were ugly and some of the outfits that the women wore were better meant for pole dancers. The singing was usually pleasant, sometimes off key, but nobody wowed me. Perhaps I've been spoiled by living in a city with a thriving theatre community (Toronto). My parents enjoyed them all. The particularly liked the one man show (because he knew how to work the room) and the ventriloquist act.

 

I can't say much about the other entertainment, but the Karaoke DJ was really bad. He didn't have any engaging patter with the crowd, didn't sing himself, and they did nothing to accommodate the singers (like changing keys). The microphones were set to speaking standards and not singing. The last night there were many people who wanted to sing and he decided that since he couldn't get everyone a second chance because of time contstraints that no one would get to sing again. Instead, he closed down the Karaoke 1/2 hour early in the name of "fairness." There is no excuse for this ... why didn't he just work the extra half hour it would have taken to accommodate everyone? (The servers worked 14 hour days)

 

The tv programming was horrid. They played one movie for the entire week on one channel. They played a montage of tv shows on 2 or 3 stations, but re-ran it continously for more than 24 hours. I didn't go to watch tv, but I like to when I go to bed.

 

The most unhappy part of my trip was that someone stole my camera on the second last day. They took it from a table at the end of the final elegant buffet (with the ice sculptures). It had all the pictures my neice had taken of the friends she'd made at the Teen program, our zipline adventure, Ketchikan. my mother's 75th birthday party, and a few scattered other memories. It isn't the end of the world, but it was very upseting.

 

Finally, I was disappointed in the on board programming. They always had a lot of things to do, but not varied enough to cover the age range of the passengers. They offered bridge and canasta but not hearts or euchre. They did not even have one meet and greet for singles on board, which they should have know were there given the number of families that were travelling with them. On the other hand, my niece was thrilled with the Teen program and made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun - but we learned later in the week that not all teens knew it was available - which should never happen. I think that they should have an invitation to an event appropriate for age or other variables (like singles or seniors) on everyone's bed when we arrive -- they know exactly who is on the ship, it shouldn't be difficult to do.

 

We were in the late sitting for dinner, and I don't recommend it. While it is true that the shows run so that both seatings can see them, the other programming doesn't - so many of my opportunities to meet up with others were lost because they ran from 8 or 9 o'clock. I'd rather have to rush to dinner from a shore excursion a couple of times rather than miss the opportunity to engage in social activities next time.

 

A lot of lessons learned. Overall I still rate the cruise as lovely. I would consider doing it again, but I will be much more demanding in advance of the things I think I need to have available to me to increase the probability that my trip is completely successful.

[bonbon663]

I liked the staff serving at the buffet. It did slow things down a little, but, made me feel better about not touching the same utensils a thousand people did before me.

[Sheik]

I liked the staff serving at the buffet. It did slow things down a little, but, made me feel better about not touching the same utensils a thousand people did before me.

 

Jups, we too.

 

A lot of negative experiences can be occured by booking tours through the ship. I take more risks on a land vacation than on a cruise. Just to avoid the negatives.

[Allis154]

Thanks for posting your balance review, bonbon663. I board Infinity on September 23 and had become concerned about the issues she was having. Glad to hear you had a great time!

[mii]

BonBon thanks for your review. I am sure glad that everything worked out for you. I truly hope that you can cruise again. It is a wonderful vacation and just do not let the things like what to war on formal nite bother you. If there are two formal nites I take just one outfit for both. No one ever remembers what you wore so it eliminates taking two outfits. Glad you had a great cruise.

 

Marilyn

[soooo excited!]

Wow, what a reflief BonBon - I'm so happy everything went well for you - and you kept a good attitude through any little rough spots - maybe it helps to be a first time cruiser ? ! We are really looking forward to our first cruise next year - and we are getting dressed up - my DH is taking his tux !! Did you meet up with any fellow posters from CC - wasn't 'minniemom' on your cruise ? Did you only take the Bonine (sp?) on the days you felt sick or every day 'just in case' ? did you enjoy the ports - any special notes you want to pass on - any shop in particular that I should look for ? happy planning - get started on that 2nd cruise !!!!!

[C 2 C]

It was wonderful to read the difference in "satisfaction level" experienced by two posters on the same cruise. It demonstrates well how perceptions are based on expectations as much as fact.

 

Bonbon: it was nice to follow your posts from beginning as a cruise critic newbie to a satisfied cruiser. I think your spirit showed an optimism throughout all the negative posts on Infinity. I think your observations are greatly appreciated by those of us who have sailed on Infinity and could not understand all the complaints by a dedicated bunch of "guerillas" about a wonderful ship suffering some real problems.

[Steppin Out]

I think my review was very balanced. I don't hold the line accountable for things beyond their control, but there is still a lot more they can do to increase their level of service and ensure that all passengers recieve the best experience possible.

 

Some of the things that happened were really inappropriate - the packages my sister-in-law bought, for example, were expensive "special service" optioins that did not materialize and were not compensated. They were responsible for arranging air and transfers, so there is no excuse for people not making their flights.

 

As it turns out, they knew 5 days in advance of departure that they were changing the route, but made no attempt to inform passengers so that we might have had a chance to re-arrange our excursions. I think that the communication could be improved, because they already have the systems in place to do it - a mass email to each passenger or their travel agent would have at least minimized the impact of this particular situation.

 

If the company wants to be regarded as a "five star" they need to know where they are missing the mark, so they can improve. Nothing that happened was devastating, but the sheer number of little annoyances can add up quickly to really spoil a vacation, especially if you have to deal with something different every day. It is clearly not their intention to provide bad service, so it is my responsibility as a passenger to identify areas of which they might not be aware and to make suggestions they clearly have not yet considered that will work to our mutual benefit.

 

I also made sure to point out those areas in which they excelled, and there were many.

[Susan-M]

A lot of lessons learned. Overall I still rate the cruise as lovely. I would consider doing it again, but I will be much more demanding in advance of the things I think I need to have available to me to increase the probability that my trip is completely successful.

 

With every trip, we learn something (or many things) to help with planning the next one. My idea of a completely successful trip is if I've had a wonderful time, made the most of what there is to enjoy, have been able to overlook the minor problems, and have had no major problems (although minor and major are subjective terms:) ) The lost package, missed flights and lack of info re itinery change would put a damper on my cruise as well.

 

Donna - so glad to hear how much you and your mom enjoyed the trip.... I was a little anxious for you when I read your pre-cruise posts. Thanks for sharing!

[bbro]

BonBon - I'm soooo glad you had a great time!!! We're leaving in just 11 days and I can't wait! It's our first time on Celebrity as well. I've been waiting for you to get back to get a review and I'm beyond relieved that all went well (minus the port changes). Our cruise has been re-arranged too, but I don't mind. I'm still getting to see Alaska!! Too bad the weather didn't cooperate. I'm so stinkin' hot (isn't the whole country) that being cold seems like a dream. Oh well, I've got my jacket and my rain gear and my shorts...I'm ready for for it all! What was your favorite port?

[bbro]

Donna,

Don't know if you saw my post to you in response to your first post. Just wanted to thank you for keeping us up to date on your cruise. We are scheduled to sail on the 13th so naturally I am interested to hear how things are going on the Infinity prior to our sailing. Our May cruise on the Summit was cancelled due to "pod problems" so you might say that I am more concerned than usual.

So glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise as your post made me aware of your concerns being a first time cruiser. This cruise will be my 12th, our third with Celebrity. I could understand your concerns after reading some of the negative comments on the board. Your posts made me less concerned about the possibility of another cancellation because of "pod problems". THANKS for taking the time to keep us future passangers informed with a more ballanced report. KeyDoctor

Key Doctor - You should join our Roll Coll for the Aug 13th sailing! Also the CC party, so far we have 19 people. See you on the ship!

[The Bush]

All in all, we were very impressed with Infinity. The changing of the schedule caused us to miss whale watching in Sitka, as we had booked an independent rather than go thru Celebrity. The independent tour operators are very upset with Celebrity because the ship missed Sitka the previous two weeks plus last weeks schedule change.

 

The highlights were fly out fly fishing in Juneau where we caught a lot of Salmon, plus two brown bears that wanted our fishing spot. Also, the float plane through Misty Fjord with Seawind Aviation was unforgettable. Lesley and Steve Kamm are independent operators and you can save a lot of $ booking through them. They are wonderful people.

 

Our cabin was outstanding SS8125 and Ezio, our butler, was always at our beck and call. Our table mates were from Canada, California, and New Jersey, plus us from Georgia. We got along super and enjoyed telling tales of our days in port and at sea. The entertainment was OK especially Minerva.

 

The specialty restaurant is worth the extra money-outstanding ambience,service, and food.

 

We will book C again as we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and this was our 4th cruise, first with C.

 

Wyman Pilcher

Marietta, Ga.

[DaisyGirl55]

I sail on the Infinity Sep 13, and like you, I have been following all of the posts regarding every aspect of this ship and of the cruise itself. I read your comments and concerns, and I am SO GLAD that you kept in touch with all of us as long as you did. Like so many others who read your prior posts, I kept watch on the webcams. You stated that the weather wasn't great...did you mean that you hit rain, or was it cold? I have read that September is the start of the rainy season, so I know we will hit some rain (one of the risks of sailing this late in the season). Don't really care though because I am bound and determined to have a great time! :p

 

While I have read and heard some negative comments, and some downright scary comments, I have also heard a lot of great ones too. No trip, vacation, or cruise is ever perfect. I believe that one's attitude has much to do with the success of the trip. And yours is tops!

 

Thanks for sharing your comments, and I do have a question: you said the ship was rocking and rolling. What cabin were you in, and was it felt in your cabin? Throughout the ship? Any specific day (cruising inside passage, hubbard glacier, or where).

 

Glad you had a great time...I've been looking for your post since your cruise ended!

[Welshlady]

I have had 2 previous cruise and they have both been perfect - no faults found at all so you can have a perfect cruise!

[bububr]

Welcome home!:)

 

And.....start planning your next adventure....it just gets better, and better, and better......

 

Dave:eek:

[rebeccalouise]

bonbon663. Nice review

I want to second that about "Bonine". It desolves in your mouth and it works within about 10 minutes for motion sickness. It works so well, I just went around to strangers on my last cruise (on the Constellation) and handed it out. All of them said the same thing- better and not motion sick the rest of the trip.

On the ships it is sold in the liquor store.

[Steppin Out]

You definitely know you are on a ship, always. I found it very comforting and am trying to figure out how to make my house rock ... None of our group of 6 ever found the need for meds, it was mostly gentle, but every now and then there was a steeper dip. Whee!

 

The weather temperature wise was fantastic ... double so given that I am now sitting in sweltering 36° C heatwave! The rain was mostly light. I only wore my long johns, earmuffs, and mitts when we were at the Hubbard Glacier, but I was really glad I had them! Temperature control was difficult because there are so many places to be inside and outside on the ship - layering is the best. Bring a shawl or wrap for your formal. The rest of the time it is just a matter of either wearing the extra layer or two or carrying it (tied around the waist works, too!) You don't need a coat, just go from t-shirt to turtle neck to sweater to hoody/sweatshirt and a light weatherproof windbreaker would be good. Only you know how you feel about the need for hats and gloves.

 

The biggest imposition of the weather is the mist ... it obscures visibility.