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Just returned from Norweign Fjords on Infinity

Wirral

By Wirral,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Wirral

Wirral

Posted
Posted

Hi

 

Just a few lines on my return. Will try to write a longer review on the reviews page in a short while.

 

Infinity was lovely, staff and food excellent. Sat in the buffet and overheard a conversation in which a lady said that the food was dreadful, rooms tiny (she was in concierge) and she expected the restaurant to be open longer for breakfast as she didn't expect to eat in the buffet. She'd never travel with Celebrity again. My DH and I wondered if we were on the same planet as she was, never mind the same ship. Have to say the two people she was speaking to were as shocked as we were and said it was their 15 cruise on Celebrity because they loved the line.

 

We had room 7144 and we couldn't fault it. Starboard just past the stairs and across from the lifts on the port side. My legs are not so good so this was a really convenient spot for us. Very little noise even of a night and we were earlier to bed than many. Chairs on veranda VERY comfortable as we spent many hours there watching the fantastic scenery.

 

Had select dinning which I had pre-booked for 7:30pm each evening. Nice time to eat but it did mean we missed the shows most times as they are geared round the early (9pm show) and late (7pm show) sittings. We ate too early for the 7pm and only once were we out in time for the 9pm. However that was our choice and there are swings and roundabouts with every decision.

 

Had a different waiter every evening despite eating at the same time every night and sat in a wide variety of locations. Select is really busy as it is obviously very popular. Had one night when waiter was ok but brought me the wrong meal selection twice in the evening. Every other night they were brilliant, friendly, helpful and always polite and EXTREMELY hardworking with smiles at all times. Food was of a good to high standard in the restaurant. Food in the buffet was fantastic, the variety and availability was unbelievable. DH and I could not fault it.

 

The ship looked lovely the staff did an excellent job and we had a good time. The fjords are outstandingly beautiful and we had only one drizzly day though needless to say not high temperatures. We were blessed with a good number of evenings when the sky cleared and we sailed under clear blue skies with the sun shinning till 11pm at night. Sunrise was about 4am!

 

Took eye masks with us as recommended on here but despite the light early mornings and the light nights we found the cabin curtains dark enough and slept well without having to resort to wearing the masks.

 

Any questions you may have I will try to answer. Would I recommend this cruise? YES, YES, YES. Would I recommend Infinity? Again a resounding YES!

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Alexam

Alexam

Posted
Posted

Sounds good. We did the Celebrity Serenity a year ago and it was the best cruise we have had, Superb staff, accommodation and food. Everything was top rate although expensive.

 

We are just about ready to try a small ship, the Seabourn Odyessy, only 5430 passengers and hope that it is not a mistake as we are celebrating this year as 'special' as its our 50th anniversary year.

 

Thought about the Norweign Fjords, but like warm weather.

 

Malcolm

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

Posted
Posted
Hi

 

Just a few lines on my return. Will try to write a longer review on the reviews page in a short while.

 

Infinity was lovely, staff and food excellent. Sat in the buffet and overheard a conversation in which a lady said that the food was dreadful, rooms tiny (she was in concierge) and she expected the restaurant to be open longer for breakfast as she didn't expect to eat in the buffet. She'd never travel with Celebrity again. My DH and I wondered if we were on the same planet as she was, never mind the same ship. Have to say the two people she was speaking to were as shocked as we were and said it was their 15 cruise on Celebrity because they loved the line.

 

We had room 7144 and we couldn't fault it. Starboard just past the stairs and across from the lifts on the port side. My legs are not so good so this was a really convenient spot for us. Very little noise even of a night and we were earlier to bed than many. Chairs on veranda VERY comfortable as we spent many hours there watching the fantastic scenery.

 

Had select dinning which I had pre-booked for 7:30pm each evening. Nice time to eat but it did mean we missed the shows most times as they are geared round the early (9pm show) and late (7pm show) sittings. We ate too early for the 7pm and only once were we out in time for the 9pm. However that was our choice and there are swings and roundabouts with every decision.

 

Had a different waiter every evening despite eating at the same time every night and sat in a wide variety of locations. Select is really busy as it is obviously very popular. Had one night when waiter was ok but brought me the wrong meal selection twice in the evening. Every other night they were brilliant, friendly, helpful and always polite and EXTREMELY hardworking with smiles at all times. Food was of a good to high standard in the restaurant. Food in the buffet was fantastic, the variety and availability was unbelievable. DH and I could not fault it.

 

The ship looked lovely the staff did an excellent job and we had a good time. The fjords are outstandingly beautiful and we had only one drizzly day though needless to say not high temperatures. We were blessed with a good number of evenings when the sky cleared and we sailed under clear blue skies with the sun shinning till 11pm at night. Sunrise was about 4am!

 

Took eye masks with us as recommended on here but despite the light early mornings and the light nights we found the cabin curtains dark enough and slept well without having to resort to wearing the masks.

 

Any questions you may have I will try to answer. Would I recommend this cruise? YES, YES, YES. Would I recommend Infinity? Again a resounding YES!

Thanks for a great review. I am glad you enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing the fjiords in the future.:D

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cluso

cluso

Posted
Posted

Thank you for your input. What sailing date and where did you sail out of? I've been checking the reviews, but no one has posted a Celebrity Norwegian fjord one yet this year--although the roll calls were busy. Would like some short personal comments (not tourist info) about the ports, so if you write a review, please consider this. Weather wise, we are trying to decide on either a May or June sailing. I bet you have some great pictures!

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hopiko

hopiko

Posted
Posted
Hi

 

Just a few lines on my return. Will try to write a longer review on the reviews page in a short while.

 

Infinity was lovely, staff and food excellent. Sat in the buffet and overheard a conversation in which a lady said that the food was dreadful, rooms tiny (she was in concierge) and she expected the restaurant to be open longer for breakfast as she didn't expect to eat in the buffet. She'd never travel with Celebrity again. My DH and I wondered if we were on the same planet as she was, never mind the same ship. Have to say the two people she was speaking to were as shocked as we were and said it was their 15 cruise on Celebrity because they loved the line.

 

We had room 7144 and we couldn't fault it. Starboard just past the stairs and across from the lifts on the port side. My legs are not so good so this was a really convenient spot for us. Very little noise even of a night and we were earlier to bed than many. Chairs on veranda VERY comfortable as we spent many hours there watching the fantastic scenery.

 

Had select dinning which I had pre-booked for 7:30pm each evening. Nice time to eat but it did mean we missed the shows most times as they are geared round the early (9pm show) and late (7pm show) sittings. We ate too early for the 7pm and only once were we out in time for the 9pm. However that was our choice and there are swings and roundabouts with every decision.

 

Had a different waiter every evening despite eating at the same time every night and sat in a wide variety of locations. Select is really busy as it is obviously very popular. Had one night when waiter was ok but brought me the wrong meal selection twice in the evening. Every other night they were brilliant, friendly, helpful and always polite and EXTREMELY hardworking with smiles at all times. Food was of a good to high standard in the restaurant. Food in the buffet was fantastic, the variety and availability was unbelievable. DH and I could not fault it.

 

The ship looked lovely the staff did an excellent job and we had a good time. The fjords are outstandingly beautiful and we had only one drizzly day though needless to say not high temperatures. We were blessed with a good number of evenings when the sky cleared and we sailed under clear blue skies with the sun shinning till 11pm at night. Sunrise was about 4am!

 

Took eye masks with us as recommended on here but despite the light early mornings and the light nights we found the cabin curtains dark enough and slept well without having to resort to wearing the masks.

 

Any questions you may have I will try to answer. Would I recommend this cruise? YES, YES, YES. Would I recommend Infinity? Again a resounding YES!

 

Thanks so much for posting! Sounds wonderful! I am so glad to read such a terrific and positive review as we are booked on the same for 8/16 sailing! I look forward to reading your full review!

 

:)

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cruisinsusin

cruisinsusin

Posted
Posted

Thanks for posting- We are booked on a fjords trip next year and have been eagerly waiting to hear returnees' experiences. The pictures on line are gorgeous so can't wait to see the scenery in person - would love to hear what you did in your ports of call!

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Alexam

Alexam

Posted
Posted
Alexam wrote:

 

"Sounds good. We did the Celebrity Serenity a year ago"

 

Ummm......are you thinking of some other line or some other ship? Celebrity has no ship called Serenity. There's a Crystal ship by that name.

 

..................... Sorry, my silly mistake, it was Crystal Serenity and superb.

 

Malcolm

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latindancer62

latindancer62

Posted
Posted
Thank you for your input. What sailing date and where did you sail out of? I've been checking the reviews, but no one has posted a Celebrity Norwegian fjord one yet this year--although the roll calls were busy. Would like some short personal comments (not tourist info) about the ports, so if you write a review, please consider this. Weather wise, we are trying to decide on either a May or June sailing. I bet you have some great pictures!

 

Am just finishing my rather long review of this cruise. What "personal comments" are you looking for?

 

Regards,

 

Latindancer62

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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Am just finishing my rather long review of this cruise. What "personal comments" are you looking for?

 

Regards,

 

Latindancer62

Perhaps comments that are 'personal' should not be posted in this forum. :D

The bar staff member had 'BO':eek:

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cluso

cluso

Posted
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Personal observations such as: if a town is too touristy, good for walking and exploring, scenic, if you had enough time in port, weather on port days (what to wear)--stuff like that. Also, if you went on a June sailing, where there many children on the ship?

Thank you

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

Posted
Posted
Personal observations such as: if a town is too touristy, good for walking and exploring, scenic, if you had enough time in port, weather on port days (what to wear)--stuff like that. Also, if you went on a June sailing, where there many children on the ship?

Thank you

Sorry, it was tongue in cheek stuff.

On a more serious note, have you looked at the 'Ports of call' forums http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192 they may have something there of interest.:D

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oceanqueen571

oceanqueen571

Posted
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Am just finishing my rather long review of this cruise. What "personal comments" are you looking for?

 

Regards,

 

Latindancer62

 

Please tell me what transfers you used and if you know the time of the first Celebrity transfer from Harwich to LHR.

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milamber

milamber

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Some people have asked about the ports. We were on the Infinity on the 24 May cruise and hope this might help.

 

We tend not to take ship's tours unless the timing means there is no alternative. I think we have taken one in the last 69 days cruising. All the ports on the Infinity itinerary are easy to do DIY

 

Oslo: There are two 'hop on - hop off' bus companies which will be after your business at the terminal. Be careful - they are both red double deckers and look almost identical. City Sightseeing are the international company and are cheaper than the other one. Their tickets will get you a decent discount in many of the museums/attractions and if you keep it, will give you a discount if you use them again anywhere in the world. Plenty of people were caught out - especially when trying to get on the 'wrong' bus to come back! If you just want to explore the city centre/castle/opera house it's an easy 5 minute walk from the dock so no transport needed. The statue park is walkable, but the Viking ship museum/folk museum are not really. Both hop on/off companies go there. If it's sunny take sunglasses if you want to walk on the opera house roof without being snow-blinded!

 

Stavanger: Ship docks right in the centre and the whole town is reachable within a few minutes. If you want to cruise up the Lysefjord and don't have an advance ticket then you will need to be off the ship and at the tourist information office before it opens at 9am. We were there at 8.30am and had no problem getting a ticket, but they were all gone within minutes. Also available at the boat dock, but be prepared for a scrum! Hard to recommend that trip or not. If the weather is poor I wouldn't bother. It was lovely when we were there, but even with the great weather if we had known the weather would also be great at Geiranger/Flam we wouldn't have done it. It was lovely, but not on a par with the other two.

 

Alesund: Just a few minutes walk anywhere in town. Worth a walk up the 444 steps to the viewpoint on a good day, but you can also get a hop on/off bus that stops there. A lovely further hike of around 3km if you head back from the viewpoint and want to walk a bit. Not really worth getting that bus in our opinion as everywhere is so close, but plenty of people did. Old town lovely and worth a stroll around. Amazing location and scenery if the snow is still on the mountains. Some of the best views of the old town from the ship so relax with a cup of tea and enjoy.

 

Geiranger: Fantastic sail in and out. Not a lot there, but you can get tickets for a variety of tours on a local bus from the tourist information office just next to the tender dock. Office opens around 8am and tickets sell out fairly quickly though they had some left at around 9am. Worth the trip up to Mt Dalsnibba and much cheaper than the ship tour (about £29 each)

 

Flam: Railway is the obvious choice and definitely worth it if the sun is out, though less so, perhaps, if not. I'd wait until the day and decide. If the Infinity is the only ship in that day you won't have any problems getting a ticket on the day so no need to book in advance. There were 2 ships in when we went and we didn't hear about anyone being unable to go. Plenty of walks and hikes to do of all grades and a free map available from the tourist info office.

 

Bergen: A slightly longer walk into town than the other ports, perhaps 10-15 minutes depending on fitness. Hop on/off bus available again, but we didn't feel it was necessary. Town lovely to explore. Most tourists lurk around the Bryggen area, but get up behind it in the back streets for fewer tourists and, to our mind, even prettier buildings and streets. Didn't do the funicular - couldn't even see the top of the hill for the mist!!

 

That's about it. We went to Kristiansand rather than Olden and to be honest there was very little to commend it. Olden seems better, but didn't go so can't say for sure.

 

Unless you are happy paying £6 for a coffee and taking a small mortgage out for a meal, organise your days so that you can use the ship for drinks and lunch. Easy to do in all the ports as you are never far away.

 

The only other thing I would say is be prepared for all weathers and take layers. We took a case full of sweaters/coats/hats/gloves and it was 25C plus most of the time except for Bergen. If we had taken shorts it would have been cold......Expect every type of weather and you will be o.k.

 

Second formal night for us was the penultimate day, which was Bergen.

 

Have a great time!

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