Infinity Oct 28th Panama Canal Pre-Solticisizing Review

[ORV]

Since no one else has posted a review on our Oct 28th Infinity Panama Canal sailing I’ll post a few observations and thoughts on it. First a little background, I don’t take any notes or keep a journal so basically it’s all from memory a few weeks out. This was our second cruise with Celebrity, our first being on Millennium, so cruising on Infinity was like slipping on an old pair of shoes, no learning curve. We booked this cruise while on Millennium because we enjoyed the Celebrity experience so well. This was the first cruise line we have done this on.

 

Embarkation: San Diego is a wonderful city to embark from. If you haven’t been there, or even if you have, go a couple of days early. Best weather of any place I’ve ever been. Lots of things to do, great places to eat, etc. We stayed one night in the Gaslamp area at the Andaz, a very nice boutique hotel. We showed up at the port around 11:30 hoping to get on a little early, unfortunately the cruise before us had a customs hold up and the passengers had only started getting off the ship around 10:30 or so, there was still a line of people getting off around 12:30 and we finally started to board around 1 pm. Due to this our departure was delayed by 2 hours. We left port around 6 instead of 4, no biggie in the grand scheme of things. From that point on embarkation was very smooth.

 

We got right on the ship, got the obligatory Mimosas/sparkling wine and went right to our room to see if it was ready. For this cruise we opted for an Oceanview which was on the 3rd floor right down the hall from guest relations, where the embarkation reception was, very convenient. We usually book a balcony but decided to try an OV due to not really using the balcony that much on the last couple of cruises. The room was ready and waiting for us. We were able to unpack the carryons and get a little settled. The room location was extremely convenient for the whole cruise. It was right down the hall and up a floor to the theater, right down the hall and up a floor to the casino and up 2 floors to Martinis(where my wife enjoyed her Martini Flights) and the dining room. The only time we needed to take the elevators was when we were headed up to deck 10 or 11 for the buffet or Oceanview bar. Our room steward, Nyoman, did an excellent job keeping everything clean and our ice and glasses supplied. We mentioned him on our comments card. He was very visible and accessible most of time.

 

Food: We had select dining which we prefer, there was only night we had to wait for a table. The first couple of nights we dined with a group but on the third night we got a table for two which we found to be much more convenient as far as speed of service and getting in and out. Lindsay, the hostess called us by name after the first couple of nights and knew our preferences. We found this pretty amazing considering how many people they see each night. The service was very good, with a couple of glitches. Service was a little slow when seated with a group but was much better when dining alone. Alexander, the assistant maitre de, does a fantastic job running the Select area. He’s very personable and on top of everything. He’s definitely an asset to Celebrity. As has been said here many times the food experience is subjective. For the most part the food for us was excellent to very good. The desserts were also very enjoyable. The meals we had in the buffet, breakfast, some lunches and one or two dinners were also good. The best tip I could give on the buffet is to not immediately get in line at the front but work the edges where the various stations are. The Waffle station, the Eggs Benedict station, the Omelette station all have good choices. The only complaint I could have would be the choices in the evening. They could be better. Of special note would be the snacks there in the afternoon. The little sandwiches, cheese croissants and the cookies were great. We didn’t eat in the specialty restaurant so don’t have any opinion there.

 

Dress: For the most part most folks followed the guidelines, there were a few standouts, I did see one man in shorts turned away and a couple of guys given sports coats on formal nights, which they promptly put over their arms and walked into the dining room. I tend to think the reports of abuse of the dress code tend to be over exaggerated, people see what their bias wants them to see. No matter, none of it impacted our enjoyment of the cruise.

 

Shows: We enjoyed the production shows, they had some of the same performers that were on Millennium from the cruise we were on from the previous year. The only complaint I had was some of their shows were the same ones we saw on Millennium. The band was excellent. The Cruise Director was Steve Gayda who was also the same one that was on Millennium when we were on it. I’m not one to put too much stock in my cruise enjoyment due to the CD one way or the other. The only comment I could make concerning him is that I think the volume of his daily announcements was a little loud. We didn’t catch all the other acts but they did have a good comedian and ventriloquist act. We did leave early on one female singer that wasn’t really to our taste.

 

Other entertainment: The pool band was good, the performers in the lounges, female jazz guitarist, male jazz guitarist, another band with a female singer, 3 piece string quartet, I don’t remember any names but all were all very enjoyable.

 

Activities: There was always something to do, if you so wanted to. We enjoy trivia and were fortunate to be on some good teams where we were able to take home some fun little souvenirs, luggage tags, visor, golf balls and tees, lots of ink pens etc. For the most part, the staff putting on trivia do a good job. Since it was a long cruise there were some repeats. We didn’t use any of the spa offerings so have no opinion on this. We also didn’t go to any of the special events in the nightclub as we are early birds. We did have good luck in the casino, primarily playing blackjack. This cruise seemed to not have near as much activity in the casino as the previous Celebrity one we had been on. We were very happy with our luck there. There were some very good enrichment speakers on board, while we didn’t attend any of the sessions we did enjoy some of the presentations via the recording on the TV. They also showed the final game of the World Series, with the Cardinals winning #11, in the Cinema the first night of the cruise, which couldn’t have been a better start to a great cruise.

 

Ports: I won’t go into too many details on the ports, we did a mix of getting off and walking around, ships tours, and a private tour. Getting on and off the ship seemed to be a breeze everywhere. I love the cold towels and water when coming back on. The weather was good for the most part with the exception of Colon, which had a torrential downpour. The passing through the Canal is something everyone should do if they have the chance. The Panama Canal speaker on board, Uncle Marty (sorry can’t remember his last name) was on the public address system pointing out items of interest during the passing, which added an excellent dimension to the experience.

 

Cruise Critic Connections Meeting: We had a well attended meeting for our Connections party. It was attended by the Hotel Manager, The F & B director, The Cruise Director and maybe one or two other officers. Each attendee had a turn at the mic telling a little about themselves and where they were from. It was very nice to meet the folks we had been interacting with online. We had a nice gift exchange with the participants bringing something that represents the area they’re from. Our thanks go out to one of our members, FranklinPA (Larry) for organizing things from the roll call end. After the party we had a cabin crawl which was very enjoyable. We got to see various categories of cabins, including CC, Family Veranda, Royal Suite, & Celebrity Suite. I’ve probably forgot one or two. It was nice to actually see the accommodations of different rooms for future reference.

 

Odds & Ends: There seemed to be a very international mix of passengers on this cruise. From my perception it would seem US & English speakers were in the minority. There was a lot of activity preparing for the Solsticization of the ship. There were quite a few workers on board, there also appeared to be home office Celebrity staff on board. In the Oceanview Café each night they were working on drink service areas, they would tarp off an area, remove all the chairs, do whatever they were doing and have it ready the next day. The video game area was cleared out, the kids area was boarded off. The top front section of deck 12 was also blocked off, with the exception of the day we went through the canal. Once again none of this impacted our enjoyment of the cruise.

 

Overall: Once again we had a great cruise on Celebrity, we liked it so well we booked another one for next year while on board. We felt Infinity was in excellent condition, better than Millennium which we had no issues with. The food, service and experience are all an excellent value for the money spent. One thing I feel would be good is if they would post a sign in the port aft area on deck 10 at the Oceanview bar that this is a smoking area. This is right outside of the café area and many people bring their meal out there not knowing they are sitting in the middle of a smoking area, and the one area of the ship where cigar & pipe smokers are allowed to smoke. This was the only issue I saw concerning smoking the whole 15 days. Not all non smokers are aware of this and it would be good if they were given this notice. The drink of the day and the Mixologist’ recommendation tended to be repetitive. We think a little more thought could go into this. We did enjoy using the walking track and hate to see it go with the new changes. I’m sure the folks on the next and future cruises will enjoy most of the new enhancements. I did notice a much increased push for the Bingo games compared to a year ago on Millennium. Since we don't play it really didn't bother us, just an observation. Overall there is nothing negative I could say about Celebrity or this cruise. Keep up the good work Celebrity, we are looking forward to our next cruise aboard an S class ship. I’d be happy to answer any questions I can. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[Christine Frances]

Thank you for the review! We are very much looking forward to boarding her in February:D

[Azulann]

ORV,

 

Thanks for posting your review . Can you tell more about your port excursions?

 

i will be doing a full transit of Panama Canal on the Century in late 2012.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write and to post this review.

 

Keith

[FrankinPA]

ORV,

 

Excellent summary of our cruise. We are of the same opinion that Celebrity did a great job in keeping the early construction work from affecting the quality of our cruise experience. Hope to cruise with you two again.

 

All the best, Larry

[ORV]

ORV,

 

Thanks for posting your review . Can you tell more about your port excursions?

 

i will be doing a full transit of Panama Canal on the Century in late 2012.

 

I'll do even better than post about my excursions. I'll post the link to another CC member multi-page review with descriptions and pictures of the whole cruise and ports and excursions. Enjoy

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1319973&highlight=panama+canal

 

Thanks to all for the kind words.

[Hawaiidan]

Nice review ,but I am confused...what is this solticeizing to the ship?

 

What does that mean? I know that in years ago they stretch ships like put in a 60 to 100 ft section.

 

The reason I ask, is that I picked the Infinnity because it offered a heck of a price for Antarctic Cruise, It was however a much larger ship than I care for At 1900 people and 900 ft its as large as I would care to go,

( the last ship I was on that size had a flight deck and 3 airwings operating from it)

I saw one of the solstice ships in Turkey last month and it , they said 3000 passengers. I saw too this 5000-6000 passenger ships and am still laughing.

There is no way I would want to be on something that huge. I prefer ships inder 600 to 800 tops. that are not floating resorts.

 

So, those of you out there, what do you see happening to the smaller ships is it the intent to ake them resorts or what ???

 

Any insight would be appreciated

[ORV]

Nice review ,but I am confused...what is this solticeizing to the ship?

 

What does that mean? I know that in years ago they stretch ships like put in a 60 to 100 ft section.

 

The reason I ask, is that I picked the Infinnity because it offered a heck of a price for Antarctic Cruise, It was however a much larger ship than I care for At 1900 people and 900 ft its as large as I would care to go,

( the last ship I was on that size had a flight deck and 3 airwings operating from it)

I saw one of the solstice ships in Turkey last month and it , they said 3000 passengers. I saw too this 5000-6000 passenger ships and am still laughing.

There is no way I would want to be on something that huge. I prefer ships inder 600 to 800 tops. that are not floating resorts.

 

So, those of you out there, what do you see happening to the smaller ships is it the intent to ake them resorts or what ???

 

Any insight would be appreciated

 

They are adding some of the amenities to the M class that the Solstice class ships have. Mainly Aqua class room and extra specialty restaurants. There's a couple of threads on the main page about it.

[Azulann]

ORV,

Thank you for the link to the wonderful review with great pictures of the Panama Canal cruise. Exactly what I was looking for for my own research. I really am excited about this cruise.