The Incredible Infinity!!

[Cruise Raider]

This is a really, really long review of the 9 night Pacific Coastal cruise on the Infinity. We originally booked the 14 night Alaska cruise to embark in SF on Sept 4th but this cruise was canceled and Celebrity provided a bit of compensation for booking this sailing. I am glad we stuck with it because this cruise was incredible. Here is my review.....

 

Background Information:

We are a retired couple from the San Francisco bay area -- mid-fifties & early sixties -- that cruise extensively on most major lines. This was our 46th cruise overall, our 14th on Celebrity and our 3rd time on the Infinity to celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary. Our first time on the Infinity was not to be outdone until our second time on this ship, which we also felt could not be matched and then....this cruise, which exceeded all expectations and was our favorite of all times.

 

Boarding Process:

We were given a ride directly to the pier by our neighbor, which was a treat as we planned on taking the BART train and walking to the pier (about 1 mile from the Embarcadero station). We packed in carry on luggage only to make that transfer to the ship a bit easier. We arrived at Pier 27 around 11:15 and went through security and then off to check in. We were booked in a concierge cabin and are elite on Celebrity so pretty much walked right up to the check in, although the lines were short everywhere. The check in clerk was having a lot of trouble getting it to accept our passport numbers with our credit card. I finally motioned a supervisor to come over to help as it was taking a long time and still without any success. The supervisor got it done pronto and we were guided right over to the line for boarding. Along the deck on which we boarded, there were tables set up for booking any dining or beverage packages for the cruise. We took care of our dining needs and were on our way to be greeted with our glass of champagne.

Our staterooms were not yet ready so we took a seat up by the martini bar to relax and enjoy our champagne. Since we still had our carry on luggage, I went down to guest relations and was able to change my stateroom to a wonderful aft cabin which had been placed on hold the previous evening. What a fabulous way to begin our most wonderful trip. I kept this little surprise from my spouse until we received notification that our staterooms were ready. In the meanwhile, we went up to deck 10 and found a nice day bed to enjoy the sunshine and fabulous O and O duo. We also ordered a bucket of ice cold beer from Darron from the mast grill. Since I couldn't spring out our new stateroom key card in front of my spouse, I went up to order the beers and Darron promised to keep my secret and deliver them to us. So nice of him to help me with my surprise.

 

Stateroom Information:

We heard the announcement for our stateroom and made it down to deck 8. For once, my spouse surprisingly knew our stateroom number so had to do a little maneuvering to get him to the starboard side. When I pulled out the new keys, he knew immediately that I made a major score! The cabin door, which has a doorbell, opens into a long hallway, the end of which has another unlocked door into the stateroom. The stateroom had 3 full closets, one of which housed a small safe, a couple of shelves and 6 drawers. I needed no extra hangers for the first time ever. Across from the closets was the bathroom -- which I believe is standard for that ship. The shower may have been a bit larger but everything else seemed to be what we found on other cabins on this ship. The bathroom was surface clean but could have used some retiling or re-grouting at the least. There were hooks on the bathroom door for the provided bathrobes. There did not seem to be any wall hooks available in this room other than those in the bathroom. The showerhead was a hose fastened to a long pole and water pressure was decent but there were constant temperature fluctuations throughout each and every shower we took. It really wasn't too bothersome, though and I am sure all staterooms were effected much the same.

From the wall with the closets, there was a long desk extending the length of the bedroom area, with a small flat screen tv and a small refrigerator / mini bar, which our room steward emptied for us to store beverages. Along this long desk were many areas of shelving and an inlet for a desk chair. The mirror also extended the length of the long desk but there was no full length mirror in the room. This was a non-issue.

The bed was extremely comfortable with nice linens and 4 pillows. I requested a feather pillow and our room steward found one for me along with an extra blanket. Each side of the bed has a 2 drawer dresser as well as a table lamp.

On the far side of the bed was a frosted windowed wall / door that led into the living area (extra sleeping area) which contained two full sized pull out sofas and a coffee table. There were also 6 more drawers, table lamp and tv in this area, which could be cordoned off from the bedroom area by the middle sliding door. Opposite this side of the room was the sliding door out onto the huge balcony which housed a dining table with 4 chairs and a smaller table with two cushioned loungers. Most of the balcony was half covered and enclosed with steel walls but the outside section had some railing which left nice ocean breezes onto the balcony. We lived out on our balcony -- only going to the indoor pool area once during the cruise. We had many of our meals out there and got some amazing sunset pictures. This was by far the best stateroom we've ever had in our 46 cruises. It made our cruise very special indeed.

Our room stewards did a pretty good job with a couple of misses but all in all, most of our major needs were met. We aren't super demanding after our boarding requests (extra pillows and blanket, extra box of tissue, emptying of the mini bar, wine glasses) but did have dirty dishes in our room almost daily and we rearranged the balcony furniture a lot to dodge the direct sun.

 

Ship information:

I had seen many comments about the state of disrepair on this ship and I just didn't see it except in the indoor pool. They should note that resurfacing here would spruce things up immensely. The Constellation Lounge, MDR, the Theater and Q-Sine were all in great shape as was the Rendezvous Lounge. SS United states was lovely although you can see a bit of disrepair of the shutters which, in theory, add quite a sophisticated look to the room. For us, this was also a non-issue. The carpeting in some areas does need to be replaced (especially on the stairs) but overall, the Infinity is in good shape for her age. We did not see any stained or ripped upholstery on the furniture. All elevators seemed to be in working condition.

 

Activities and Entertainment:

The cruise director, Patti Honoki, is incredible at arranging everything and brings a spark to everything onboard. We've sailed with her before and are amazed at her energy level. She is a great talent and set up everything without flaw on this cruise. We enjoyed the bands onboard (O and O were fantastic) as well as the dancers. They all seemed to go out of their way to be friendly and chat with the staff whether they were performing or out to get a bite to eat. The Reigning show was so much fun as well. The production staff made sure everyone that wanted to be involved were welcomed.

Milos was also incredible. Although we didn't make it to any of his presentations, we could watch them on tv after the fact and always enjoyed them.

We spent much of our sailing time in the casino. Dimi, the casino host, as well as Gianna and Christina, who worked in the cashier cage, were all just outstanding. Always a smile and a friendly greeting for us! They made losing money not quite such a bad thing. The machines in the casinos were paying off for some and a very little bit for us on the last day. Many machines did have buttons that stick, though, so those need a bit of work. I loved the raffles and tournaments they organized in the casino, even though we didn't win. I must also note that I truly appreciate the mlife relationship with Celebrity as we did receive some freebies through that.

We didn't see all of the entertainers as we always seemed to be enjoying the elite captains lounge or dinner during the shows. We did see the comedian, who was just ok and the newlywed game, which was fall down on the floor funny. I do miss the hypnotists onboard as of late. Not sure why these no longer seem to be arranged. The captain's club events are outstanding. A huge shout out to the entire guest relations staff, with the Captain's Circle Host, Alexandra, being the best we've ever met with that position. She was incredible in making each and everyone feel quite special. She sure enriched our cruise experience many times over. We were invited to sail away at the helipad -- which was a most memorable experience. We also were invited to dine at the Captain's table (first time ever) and when we explained that we hadn't packed formal attire due to our transportation issues, Alexandra sent a perfectly fitting jacket to our stateroom so we could attend. Unbelievable and that topped it off to make it a number one cruise. Dinner with Captain Theo and Environmental Officer Maria was just beyond incredible. Our table mates were so nice -- they could tell we were newbies to this experience.

 

Staff and Crew:

A very special thanks to Rodrigo, Elena and Marija from the guest relations staff was earned. What an incredibly wonderful and cohesive group to ensure we had the most impressive cruise experience.

Besides the casino staff, the guest relations staff, the cruise director and the Captain's Club Hostess as mentioned above, others that made our cruise extra special were:

Andrew and Trevor from the oceanview café

Imade, Aneka and Wilfredo in the elite lounge

Tari and Marta in the morning coffee house

Mario, Marko, Milan, Milos, Oleg and Savo in the SS United States and QSine

Marija at the main dining room

 

I know there are others whose names escape me -- but feel like everyone worked so well together to make everything extra special for their passengers.

 

Dining:

We dined in the MDR 5 times, including the one captain's table dinner and 2 breakfasts. All dinners there were great with fabulous service, with extra special food, wine and service at the captains table. One breakfast was also great in both service and food while the 2nd one was on disembarkation day. That meal was a fail but to be expected as it was chaotic at best and certainly not representative of the entire cruise prior to that.

We ate one meal at Q-Sine and the service was phenomenal as were a couple of the dishes we ordered. The Chinese food was way too salty but the lava crab was a huge winner.

We had two dinners at the SS United States and both had a superior menu and outstanding service. We also enjoyed the buffet at the coffee house in the morning and never got a meal didn't just love at the oceanview cafe, mast grill or aqua spa cafe. On a cruise, we like to eat light and only when we are hungry. The buffet lends itself to this very well. They would sauté up some veggies for me at the Stir Fry or Pasta stations and I wouldn't have to add the heavy pastas to it. I also tried to stay away from that awesome bread that they bake onboard as well as those world's best fries. Between that and taking the stairs instead of the elevator, I think we warded off any extra pounds that could have easily been added.

 

Port and shore excursions:

This itinerary was unusually hot and humid for the coast of California. We absolutely love sailing out of and returning to our home port of San Francisco. We are so disappointed that Celebrity does not have any future sailings out of this port after this week. :(

San Francisco did not have its typical weather -- it was sunny and warm, even when we sailed under the Golden Gate bridge on 9/5, it was windy but warm. What a delightful experience. We were going to hike up to the top of Coit Tower but toured the Hyde Street Pier on our own and it was quite interesting. We were tired from all the heat and walking by the time back onboard so didn't head back out again.

By the time we got to Monterey, it was getting hot but the warmest weather was yet to come. We booked a walking tour ahead of time through a discounter. We walked into town on that beautiful walking trail that Monterey put in and met by Cannery row in town. The tour was ok, we had a hard time hearing the guide due to the larger number of people included. Much of the tour had us stopping in the hot sun so we left the tour a bit early and caught the free shuttle back to the ship. Since it was a holiday weekend, the town of Monterey just exploded in numbers so the shuttle was standing room only by the time they made a pick up at the Aquarium.

Ensenada was our next port of call. We only went into the little shops at the pier, the ones by the Carnival ship being a little better than where we docked. I was able to find just the right little piece of silver jewelry that I was looking for at a vendor that I have purchased from previously. We also purchased some bottled water for our stateroom as we didn't have the beverage package. We've visited Ensenada many times in the past so had no desire to go any further into town. There was a most horrible odor at this port which we had never experienced before. Otherwise, the grounds were manicured quite nicely...just don't know about that smell. Their was a brief downpour we noticed on our balcony shortly after sail away, complete with thunder, lightening and a rainbow. I got some fabulous pictures of the rainbow.

Our next stop was San Diego where we planned to go to the zoo. One step outside told us that would not happen. Not only was it unusually humid, the temperature was over 100 degrees. We caught the free shuttle down to Seaport Village but made only about 30 minutes before we stopped in a nice bayside restaurant for an ice cold beer. There was at least one convention taking place nearby so the shops were empty but the restaurants down there were packed to the gills. We walked back to the ship from there so enjoy some of our stateroom air conditioning and a shower. At sail away, we enjoyed the most gorgeous sunset from our balcony. It cooled down a little bit by sundown -- so was doable to sit out there with the nice but warm breeze.

The next day we were anchored out near Catalina Island but decided to stay onboard by the indoor pool as it was again very hot and humid. We have visited Catalina Island many times before and were going to go play miniature golf only. We figured we would save our tolerance for the heat in our next port. This is the one and only day we went to the indoor pool -- it was amazing. We had some of the best views of Catalina from our little spot by the pool and enjoyed our day immensely.

Our final port was Santa Barbara, again, a hot and humid day. We booked the 11 AM trolley tour from the ship. The trolley seats were so uncomfortable and they jammed an additional couple onboard which made it really tight. There was a metal bar poking me in the back the entire tour...plus, no air conditioning. The tour guide extended the tour by an additional hour thinking he was doing us a favor when I believe that everybody just wanted to go back to the ship. The highlight of the tour for us was Mission Santa Barbara, which allowed us to get off the trolley for a short while. The heat and crowded conditions on the tour most inevitably effected our enjoyment (lack of it) on this tour. We actually learned of places we would like to visit in deeper depth next time we visit that lovely city.

Ah....finally a gorgeous sea day which was taken up by packing and some time at the casino. We visited some newly made friends up in the elite lounge to say our good byes and then our final fabulous dinner at the SS United States to celebrate our anniversary.

 

Disembarkation:

We were sent a questionnaire in our stateroom with check off disembarkation times listed. We requested to disembark at 9 AM and we were walking down the ramp into the terminal at exactly 9 AM. Since we went through customs as we arrived in San Diego (the immigrations officer was a grump -- noticeably not a Celebrity employee), we grabbed our luggage that we checked in the night before and were outside waiting for our ride to BART by 9:05. Score!! We did take the train back home which was a breeze. Plus, the weather was more typical for our beautiful city and today it is just a perfect 67 degrees and I am loving it!!

 

Summary:

Aside from the heat, this was the most amazing cruise where we met some of the most amazing fellow passengers. Most of all though, the staff and crew made this cruise so very special for us. I would go again on the Infinity in a heartbeat although I don't think this cruise can be outdone. Five plus stars awarded!! We just wish Celebrity would reconsider dropping SF as one of their embarkation ports.

[themutis]

Thanks for the review! Glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

What category of stateroom were you in? I thought only suites had doorbells, but you had no mention of the suite dining room.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts!

[BEAV]

Thanks for a great review. It sounds like you were in a corner category FV, right? We've enjoyed these same cabins many times now, and agree, they are wonderful. And how great you were able to upgrade at the last minute. Must have been a late cancellation since you were able to pick it up the night before sailing.

[Cruise Raider]

Thanks for a great review. It sounds like you were in a corner category FV, right? We've enjoyed these same cabins many times now, and agree, they are wonderful. And how great you were able to upgrade at the last minute. Must have been a late cancellation since you were able to pick it up the night before sailing.

 

Yes, it was a corner family sized veranda cabin....not considered to be a suite but much nicer than any mini-suite we've had in the past. I am sure there was a last minute cancellation or we'd have never gotten it as a couple. It definitely contributed to being the best cruise we've had. I see that these are only released at the very last minute.

[Cruise Raider]

Thanks for the review! Glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

What category of stateroom were you in? I thought only suites had doorbells, but you had no mention of the suite dining room.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts!

 

I think all the FV rooms also had doorbells. We'd have never heard the knocks from the room stewards with that long hallway in between.

[BEAV]

Yes, it was a corner family sized veranda cabin....not considered to be a suite but much nicer than any mini-suite we've had in the past. I am sure there was a last minute cancellation or we'd have never gotten it as a couple. It definitely contributed to being the best cruise we've had. I see that these are only released at the very last minute.

 

I'm not sure of Celebrity's exact criteria when they open cat FV to double occupancy, because I've seen them available on a few occasions before final payment time, but more often well after final payment. We were fortunate to grab corner 7199 on Infinity earlier this year to Alaska, but after final payment time (we switched from an aft C1). You just have to keep a watchful eye out like you did. Score! ;)

[BBsails]

The beautiful Infinity is docked in San Francisco at this very minute. It's serving as a hotel for a big SF convention.

 

http://travelskills.com/2015/04/01/san-franciscos-new-floating-hotel/

 

Betsy

[pandj24]

Cruise Raider, thanks for the awesome review! Happy Anniversary and I'm glad you had such a memorable trip!

 

My family will be boarding Infinity in a few weeks. We, too, are MLife members and also enjoy trips to Vegas :-) Can you expand on the MLife freebies you received and what you had to do to connect the two accounts?

 

Thank you - and welcome home!

[wendyatpml]

I was really happy to read your review. We are going on the Infinity on Oct. 29 and to be honest I didn't know what to think as I have read some reviews that said it is really old and is badly in the need of repairs. We usually go on newer ships but this cruise had an itinerary that we hadn't done in years.

 

Thanks again.

[DiamondDiva]

Infinity is scheduled for dry dock right before the Oct 29th cruise, so she should be in excellent shape for this cruise. We are also on then and looking forward to the experience!

[wwcruisers]

We were also on this cruise (Sept 4th), but it gets mixed reviews from us. We had the worst experience in Select Dining that we'd ever encountered. There was a clear shortage of assistants, and the waiters were having to pick up the slack -- filling water glasses, handing out menus, flipping tables, etc. We were told that they were trying a new system -- and that the assistant waiters were all in the kitchen "expediting". If that was the case, it didn't appear to be working very well. Cold food was coming out room temperature, and hot entrees were delivered stone cold. :mad: The last formal night, they even had to draft staff from Qsine (recognizable by their unique jackets) to help out in the Select area of the MDR!

 

The food around the rest of the ship was good. We had a great stir-fry meal in the buffet, a good pool-side burger, and a couple of nice plates from the Aqua Spa Cafe. Both of the soup selections in Bistro were terribly over-salted, but the entree crepes were good. The food in Qsine was hit-or miss. The Painter's Mignon was fantastic, but my DH commented that someone must have forgotten to put garlic in the escargot. The SS United States was, hands-down, the best meal (both food and service) that we had on the ship. I was horrified to hear that it will be replaced with a Tuscan Grille at the next dry dock. :(

 

Overall, the morale of the ship seemed to be "off". We heard that there had recently been a major personnel shake-up, in the hotel staff. That would explain why, for the first time on X, we did not have a "who's onboard" sheet (with pix and bios) in our first daily bulletin. There was one printed later -- but you had to pick it up at the GR desk. :confused:

 

On a more positive note, we did have a great room staff. Our "Sweet Sixteen" cabin was cleaner (and better maintained) than some of the suites we've had on X. The Elite lounge was always a pleasant place to spend some time, before dinner. The Captain's Club Hostess, Alexandra, did a great job with both the cocktail hour in Constellation,and the Elite breakfast in SS US. Rodrigo, the Assistant GR Manager, was very responsive to the problems we encountered, and worked very hard to resolve them.

 

Overall, it was a very good cruise. We had beautiful (but hot) weather, in all of the ports. In our experience, this was the smoothest tendering operation that we've ever seen on an X ship. No crushing, endless lines, waiting to get off the ship. Everyone received a tender ticket, and waited in the comfort of a designated lounge, to board. Disembarkation went smoothly, as well -- due, in part, to the fact that we had already cleared Customs/Immigration in San Diego. :cool:

Edited September 15, 2015 by wwcruisers

[WEGL81]

Thanks so much for the positive review, Cruise Raider. We are headed out on the Infinity this Friday for a Panama Canal transit. I sure hope they clean up after the Dreamforce conventioneers.

 

Interesting counterpoint from you, wwcruisers. I think it points out in just these two reviews how different peoples' experiences can be on the same exact cruise.

[Cruise Raider]

Cruise Raider, thanks for the awesome review! Happy Anniversary and I'm glad you had such a memorable trip!

 

My family will be boarding Infinity in a few weeks. We, too, are MLife members and also enjoy trips to Vegas :-) Can you expand on the MLife freebies you received and what you had to do to connect the two accounts?

 

Thank you - and welcome home!

 

Perfect timing as they say it does take a few days to a week to send the notification over to the ship. Although, I called the day before our cruise when I first found out about it and got everything I was entitled to -- maybe more.

 

The number to call is: 855-227-2537 at Celebrity where you will provide them with your mlife card number. We are gold status so got the following:

 

-Welcome amenity: Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries in our room (ours was later in the cruise as we signed up so late)

-Complimentary drink coupons: for use in the casino (if you don't drink, you can always use them for bottles of water I suppose) - we were supposed to get 10 but got a few extra; we didn't have the beverage package so those coupons came out to be just the right number for one drink per day

-Free specialty dinner for 2: here is the big perk (besides the drinks) - but if you are in a larger suite, this is already offered to you but for us, it was $100 perk and even our corkage was covered but we spent a lot of time in the casino. You can pick the SS United States ($100), QSine ($90)or the Bistro on Five ($20)

-Priority embarkation and departure lounge access: if you are elite on Celebrity, this is already provided

-Exclusive Onboard Booking Perk: Wish I would have remembered this one as I did book onboard -- darn! Next time I will check into this

-5% fee for taking money out in the casino waived: we had a lot of onboard credit so this saved us a bit of money

 

 

 

Since we added our number so late, we met up with the captain's circle hostess (Alexandra) and she added this info to our account. She also suggested meeting up with the casino host (Dimi) who was already notified that we would be introducing ourselves. Both Alex and Dimi were great and took very good care of us. Regardless, I think you will need to meet up with at least Dimi to make sure your perks are added even if you sign up earlier than we did. We took our mlife cards with us just in case.

There was no voucher for the restaurant, just a notification at the restaurant that is was covered. Also, when taking money out, be sure to tell the cashier that the fee should be waived -- each time just in case.

 

 

 

There are more or less perks depending on your mlife status. If you are a blue chip member on the cruiselines, I believe those perks are better than these. We play quite a bit on a cruise but not large denominations so this perk was perfect for us! Also, your points earned on the ship are applied to your mlife account.

At the end of your cruise, you can turn your points into play money -- so don't leave that on the books as you cannot take it out for cash or roll it over onto another cruise.

 

Have fun and good luck. We saw many winners on this cruise ... well over $1000 for several.

[Cruise Raider]

We were also on this cruise (Sept 4th), but it gets mixed reviews from us. We had the worst experience in Select Dining that we'd ever encountered. There was a clear shortage of assistants, and the waiters were having to pick up the slack -- filling water glasses, handing out menus, flipping tables, etc. We were told that they were trying a new system -- and that the assistant waiters were all in the kitchen "expediting". If that was the case, it didn't appear to be working very well. Cold food was coming out room temperature, and hot entrees were delivered stone cold. :mad: The last formal night, they even had to draft staff from Qsine (recognizable by their unique jackets) to help out in the Select area of the MDR!

 

The food around the rest of the ship was good. We had a great stir-fry meal in the buffet, a good pool-side burger, and a couple of nice plates from the Aqua Spa Cafe. Both of the soup selections in Bistro were terribly over-salted, but the entree crepes were good. The food in Qsine was hit-or miss. The Painter's Mignon was fantastic, but my DH commented that someone must have forgotten to put garlic in the escargot. The SS United States was, hands-down, the best meal (both food and service) that we had on the ship. I was horrified to hear that it will be replaced with a Tuscan Grille at the next dry dock. :(

 

Overall, the morale of the ship seemed to be "off". We heard that there had recently been a major personnel shake-up, in the hotel staff. That would explain why, for the first time on X, we did not have a "who's onboard" sheet (with pix and bios) in our first daily bulletin. There was one printed later -- but you had to pick it up at the GR desk. :confused:

 

On a more positive note, we did have a great room staff. Our "Sweet Sixteen" cabin was cleaner (and better maintained) than some of the suites we've had on X. The Elite lounge was always a pleasant place to spend some time, before dinner. The Captain's Club Hostess, Alexandra, did a great job with both the cocktail hour in Constellation,and the Elite breakfast in SS US. Rodrigo, the Assistant GR Manager, was very responsive to the problems we encountered, and worked very hard to resolve them.

 

Overall, it was a very good cruise. We had beautiful (but hot) weather, in all of the ports. In our experience, this was the smoothest tendering operation that we've ever seen on an X ship. No crushing, endless lines, waiting to get off the ship. Everyone received a tender ticket, and waited in the comfort of a designated lounge, to board. Disembarkation went smoothly, as well -- due, in part, to the fact that we had already cleared Customs/Immigration in San Diego. :cool:

 

I know we must have met you at one of the following:

The sail away party

The connections party

The elite lounge

The coffee house breakfast

 

I seem to think that you were also booked on the 14 night Alaska sailing before it was canceled -- is that right?

I completely agree with you regarding Alexandra and Rodrigo.

We did find the tendering in Monterey to be poorly organized but greatly improved by Santa Barbara. Not sure what it looked like in Catalina Island as we stayed onboard. Santa Barbara was the only port where we received our priority tender tickets, though. Think that might have been one of our room steward's misses?? I do not really place blame on him though as we moved rooms at the last minute so we had to ask for our coupons after not getting them for 2 days. He probably was not told we were elite. We were still getting mail from our original room on the last day of the cruise.

 

And yes, disembarkation was a breeze and the SS United States was delicious and elegant. I don't dislike the Tuscan Grill but would prefer just how it is now.

[wwcruisers]

Raider -- I think we met you at the Sail-Away Party, in the Sunset Bar. I remember that someone there asked us if we were booked on the original 14-night to Alaska (which we were not). I'm glad to hear that you had a great cruise. Getting invited to the Captain's Table is a very special event. :cool:

 

We did tender off the ship, in all three ports. Our timing must have been good, because we never had to wait very long. There were no priority tickets on the first day (Monterey), as they tried "open boarding". Apparently, things got bogged down, and they switched to issuing tender tickets, for the last two ports. I thought it worked pretty well -- but then, we were never racing to get to a tour. ;)

[Cruise Raider]

Raider -- I think we met you at the Sail-Away Party, in the Sunset Bar. I remember that someone there asked us if we were booked on the original 14-night to Alaska (which we were not). I'm glad to hear that you had a great cruise. Getting invited to the Captain's Table is a very special event. :cool:

 

We did tender off the ship, in all three ports. Our timing must have been good, because we never had to wait very long. There were no priority tickets on the first day (Monterey), as they tried "open boarding". Apparently, things got bogged down, and they switched to issuing tender tickets, for the last two ports. I thought it worked pretty well -- but then, we were never racing to get to a tour. ;)

 

I do remember that now. I know there was one couple on the original roll call that refused to book the Pacific Coastal after the Alaska cruise was canceled. Guess they stuck to their word. We just wanted to sail out of SF and actually booked the B2B with the cruise that embarks on the 18th but my DH decided he didn't want to be on a ship for that long. Funny thing is, we met a really sweet Zenith couple up in the elite lounge and heard my DH admitted to him he wished he could stay onboard ... he was having such a great time. I see they are not sold out but prices are way more than they were when we had booked it. We moved it over to a Caribbean cruise for next spring instead on the Equinox.

[Keith1010]

Great review. I enjoyed every word of it.

 

Keith

[Cruise Raider]

Great review. I enjoyed every word of it.

 

Keith

 

Thank you!

[TeanneTX]

We're in 7199 for our Dec. Canama Canal/SA cruise. Never had one of these family type cabins before. Can you give me any info on it? I've found some info online but would love to hear from someone on CC who has actually stayed in this very cabin.

 

Teanne

[Cruise Raider]

We're in 7199 for our Dec. Canama Canal/SA cruise. Never had one of these family type cabins before. Can you give me any info on it? I've found some info online but would love to hear from someone on CC who has actually stayed in this very cabin.

 

Teanne

 

You are in for a treat. I will defer to the post who mentioned he stayed in this cabin as I described it pretty extensively above. It would be identical to the one we were in but on the port side. It would only be the intricacies of that particular cabin that would be different. What I can tell you, you are going to love it!!

[GranthamMommy]

Thank you so much for posting the mLife information. I totally forgot about that. Now I have the telephone number at my fingertips.

 

Cannot wait! Dec 5 Panama Canal/South America. Teanne I think you're on the cruise??

[elena7seas]

My eight-year-old granddaughter (GD) and I, along with her other grandparents, were also on the September 4th Pacific Coastal cruise on the Infinity. We enjoyed ourselves very much and would say that, all-in-all, we had a great cruise. I would give it a B+ overall. There were a few glitches, but nothing that dampened our enthusiasm.

 

I have reviewed the different components of the cruise in order of the degree of impact each element had on our enjoyment. If my granddaughter was writing this review, she would put the Fun Factory at the very top of the list. :)

 

THE SHIP:

 

Condition of the Infinity: (B)

 

I never noticed anything run down on the Infinity. Given her age and the fact that she is coming up for a drydock next month, I was actually surprised at how good she looked. Some carpets are looking a bit tired, and if I had to be picky, the upholstery on the loveseat in our deck 8 cabin had seen better days. I have to say that I wasn’t looking specifically to see what shape she was in, so I may have missed things.

 

Our Cabins: 3132 (C-, only because of the noise issue) and 8037 (B+)

 

Cabin 3132 was a great stateroom in most respects, but I had to move cabins after two nights due to a noise issue. It sounded as if we had a large generator right under our cabin in 3132 (one of the “new” Oceanview cabins added in 2012 to the Conference corridor on Deck 3). On the first night I though perhaps the racket was coming from the pier, but on the second evening (now at sea), it was clear that the problem was immediately below our cabin, and made sleeping extremely difficult for me (8-year olds sleep through anything). The Guest Relations team was very helpful and responded very quickly, and offered us a veranda cabin on deck 8, which I accepted. My GD was really looking forward to our Oceanview cabin with the extra-large window, as she likes to sit and look out at the waves, so she was very disappointed at having to leave. However, on arriving at our new cabin (8037), we found that there was a drop-down Pullman bed and my GD was thrilled! We had this “bunk bed” left in place for the rest of the cruise, and if my GD was in the cabin, she was up in the bunk bed, and very happy to be there. It turned out to be an ideal arrangement for us, as the cabin was very convenient to the Fun Factory. However, packing up your cabin and moving on your first sea day is not my idea of a fun activity.

 

Cabin Service: (B+)

 

We had good service from both of our cabin teams, but I do feel that they were overworked. I was somewhat surprised that we never saw a towel animal even once, as we have always had towel animals when I have cruised with my granddaughter (four cruises). It’s not that I expect them, just that we have always had them, so their absence was noticeable. The cabin attendants were seasoned staff, so I’m sure it was a function of their being overworked. I was never offered ice buckets in either cabin, but did get them when I asked for them. The “fridges” did not even reach the level of “coolers” in either cabin, but I don’t rely on them, so didn’t miss this feature. I was able to get down pillows and a body pillow in my first cabin, and these were transported to my new cabin by the transfer team of two stewards who were provided to help me with the move. Beds were comfortable in both cabins. Chocolates were always on our pillows at turn-down, which pleased my GD as she likes to save them for her grandfather who was not sailing with us.

 

FOOD and BEVERAGE:

 

The Main Dining Room: (Service, A) (Food B-) (Ambiance C+)

 

Our Early dining was at 5:45 PM, which worked for my GD, but was too early for me, as it only gives you about 30 minutes in the Elite lounge. We had a WONDERFUL wait team in the MDR...one of our best ever (Oscar, Desy and Rade at table 327).

 

Our charming, professional and very personable waiter, Oscar, from Honduras, was excellent. He made reliable suggestions regarding choices at dinner, and made sure that our hot foods always arrived hot, and that cold foods were still chilled when they were served, which really matters to me. Desy, our young assistant waiter from Bali, was adorable and efficient, and took care of our every need. Rade, our sommelier, was very attentive and my glass was never empty (complimentary classic beverage package).

 

The dinner service, always excellent, was, in fact, better than the food quality itself, which was okay for the most part, and sometimes even better than okay. Fish, chicken and seafood were quite well done, but the beef, while reasonably tender and done to the correct cooking point in most cases, was always fairly tasteless. Things that should have been slow-cooked were undercooked, so dishes like the brisket were (a) tasteless and (2) tough, as a result of being underdone (judging from the comments of my GD’s other grandfather, who ordered mostly beef selections). I only had two beef dishes...one was the Tournedos (properly cooked but tasteless) and the Beef Wellington (very nicely prepared but again, the meat, while very tender, had no flavour). Lamb was hit-or-miss. I didn’t have any lamb on this cruise, but my GD’s other grandparents commented that it was sometimes tough. How can lamb be tough? Virtually every main course came with carrots and tender green beans. I never saw anything else, like broccoli etc., on any of my MDR selections, except for a woefully-overcooked ratatouille. I like carrots and green beans, and they were nicely cooked to a “tender-crispy” stage, which I prefer, but the same vegetables do get repetitive night after night. I had one dish which was served with grits. That was my first experience with that particular dish…..surely grits ought to have SOME flavour! We usually skipped dessert and had something later in Café al Bacio, which is one of my favourite places on any Celebrity ship. I never ask for specialty coffees in the MDR as it seems to be a burden for the staff at early seating. (I don't know if they had a cappuccino machine in the MDR or not. They haven't had one in the MDR on any of my other Celebrity cruises and the staff always had to run down to Café al Bacio for specialty coffees, so I gave up asking for them.) I did have the always-available chocolate cake with dulce de leche filling in the MDR….good, but not as great as on the Solstice and the Silhouette. The Cherry-Brandy ice cream was almost as good as it used to be…lots of cherries, which were missing on my past few cruises, but very little (any?) brandy. I felt that the ice cream had suffered in quality somewhat in the last couple of years, but it was pretty good on the Infinity. The ice cream coolers in the buffet were doing a better job on the Infinity than on some previous cruises, as the ice cream was always acceptably firm. Food presentation was better than it has been lately on some of my Celebrity cruises (when not sailing Aquaclass, where presentation has always been very nice). I noticed on the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas this summer that food presentation was better than it has been on recent Celebrity cruises, so I was happy to see it improved on the Infinity.

 

The main dining room was REALLY cramped, at least in the area where we sat, which was portside, at a window, just aft of the rear wall of Luminae. I had to nip through the waiters’ station several times, as there wasn’t sufficient room between the chairs when most people were seated at their tables. Wait staff were challenged to serve everyone in this cramped area, as some people just seemed beyond reach. Not at all a “modern luxury” situation. There were six tables placed along the wall on one side of the main aisle leading into the MDR, and this aisle was SO congested, as waiters with their fully-loaded trays use this aisle, as well as ALL the guests who are arriving and leaving. This main aisle provides the only entrance and exit to the MDR, now that Luminae has taken over the other entrance, and at peak times that aisle is just a zoo. Nothing modern and nothing luxurious about the experience. We had lunch once in the Select Dining area on Deck 5, behind the section taken over by BLU, and this part of the MDR was equally cramped.

 

One last comment about the Trellis dining room. The woman who was in charge of the seating plan (not the Maitre d’) was quite rude to me on embarkation day, when I went down to check on the location and setup of our table. I mentioned to her, as politely as I could, that our table for four was actually a table for two, and that the area seemed to have been fully set up and all tables had table numbers. (The reason that I was concerned was because, on the Serenade this summer, we had trouble with the allocation of our MDR tables and it took three days to straighten out the problem, as others had to be inconvenienced in order to resolve the situation. I was hoping, for everyone’s sake, that this problem in the Trellis restaurant would be handled before we came down to dinner that night.) The hostess told me rudely and with quite a bit of attitude, that “table arrangements were NOT something that I had to worry about”, that SHE was in charge, and that everything would be correctly arranged. Of course, nothing had been resolved when we arrived that night for our first MDR dinner, and an awkward little shuffling of tables had to take place before we could take our seats. I should also mention that we were never visited by the Maitre d’ at any time on this cruise, which may be the first time that has ever happened.

 

The Buffet (C+)

 

The buffet seemed to me to be quite significantly reduced in terms of selection. There were large sections of the servery that were clean and bare at all times, and I don’t remember that on other cruises, but then, I haven’t been on an M-class ship since 2012.

 

Although the selection was reduced from my memories of the past, the food itself was fine though (I am not a fan of buffets), and the fruits and vegetables were fresh for most of the cruise, which I appreciated. At breakfast, there was more bread and fewer pastries than I remember, and on two mornings there were no croissants available, which was unusual.

 

There were four of us, and we never had a problem getting a table, although I often had to clean the table off myself before seating our group. There appeared to be fewer service staff in the buffet, and very little bussing was taking place. There seemed to be much less bar service than in the past, as I was rarely asked if I wanted something from the bar.

 

Afternoon Tea (from 3:30 to 4:30 PM in the Buffet ) was a BIG disappointment, for the first time ever. All the tasty little sandwiches were gone, and there were boring open-faced selections on large slices of forgettable bread…sliced flavourless tomato with slices of flavourless deli turkey, and thin wedges of avocado on mayo were the only two I tried. There were four selections daily, but I only tried the two mentioned, both of which were not worth the calories, so I did not finish them. The sweets were equally appalling…two of the six selections were two kinds of full-sized donuts! Really, donuts at Afternoon Tea? Yuck. The scones were dry and tasteless. Someone had clearly changed the recipe that Celebrity used to serve, which were actually fairly good. I felt that the Afternoon Tea has definitely fallen victim to cost-cutting, and I expect that it too will disappear from lack of guest enthusiasm for the experience, if the offerings aren’t improved soon.

 

Café al Bacio: (A)

 

Excellent baristas (I didn’t have to ask for a double in order to get an acceptable cappuccino) and great table service. The selection of pastries in the morning, and cakes, tarts and cookies during the rest of the day, seemed reduced from previous cruises, but they were pretty tasty in our experience.

 

Bistro on Five (C+ for service, B- for food)

 

We didn’t go to Bo5 on embarkation as I normally would, as we had arranged to meet my GD’s other grandparents in the Buffet. They were flying in on the first day of the cruise, and coming straight to the ship, so I thought we would have more flexibility if we met in the buffet, plus I find that we have better cell phone reception (non-ship-based reception) on the pier-side of the buffet, and we were relying on cell phones to keep in touch.

 

We went to Bo5 another afternoon for lunch upon returning from shore. Service, while never timely in Bo5, was the slowest ever, and after this cruise, I am sure that Bo5 is a training facility, which I have heard before. The menu was very limited and my favourite (Buffalo Wings crepe…can’t remember the actual name) was no longer available. My GD's grandfather ordered the “Celebrity Signature Burger” which was so bad it was embarrassing. The Cobb Salad was served with sliced steak, and when GD's other grandmother and I asked if we could have this with chicken, the server seemed confused that we would request this, and had to go and ask if this could be done. Getting an answer to this question must have been complicated, as it took some time. When our salads finally arrived, they were good though. I was hoping to access a nicer beer selection for my GD’s grandfather as the Bo5 is next door to Cellar Masters, but this wasn’t possible as Cellar Masters wasn’t open until 5:00 PM.

 

QSine (N/A)

 

I had every intention of going to Qsine one night, but I never ran across anyone offering discounts to the Specialty Restaurants, probably for the first time ever. I didn’t have time to hunt down a discount, so we didn’t go to either of the specialty restaurants. I just think that the asking price is too high, and we never dine at the Specialties at full price, with the exception of Bistro on Five. There I am paying for peace and quiet. 

 

FUN FACTORY (A+)

 

My granddaughter LOVED the Fun Factory, and I take my hat off to the lovely Jimena and her excellent team. There were 21 kids on the ship and the FF provided non-stop activities from 9:00 am to noon, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. They also provided extra-charge options ($6 per hour per child) for lunch (12:00 to 2:00 pm), dinner (5:00 to 7:00 pm) and the 10:00 pm to 1:00 am “slumber party”. We let my granddaughter stay through one lunch and one dinner, on days when we spent a lot of time away from the ship. She loved receiving the Fun Factory programme for the next day in our cabin every night, and really loved receiving “mail” addressed to her personally, usually about upcoming activities. There quite a few “family activities” provided, and lots of prizes to be won. Naturalist Milos Radakovich also came to the Fun Factory and spent time with the kids, which was a great experience for them, as he is so knowledgeable and has such an engaging personality.

 

I feel that Celebrity provides a quality programme for children. In comparison, I would have rated the programme on the Golden Princess (Alaska 2014) at C+ to B- in comparison. Although my granddaughter enjoyed the Princess experience, I felt there was less programming and more baby-sitting on Princess, and the youth staff was MUCH less engaged.

 

CAPTAIN’S CLUB ACTIVITIES (N/A)

 

I am not giving a grade here as I went to very few of the offered activities, but the ones that I attended were enjoyable and seemed to be well-managed. My GD and I enjoyed the opportunity to go to the Helipad for sailaway, although the ship was late leaving, and we were not able to stay for the actual sailaway.

 

The Elite breakfast in the SS United States was very nicely done, but I only went there once, as my granddaughter preferred to have a hot breakfast in the Buffet.

 

I didn’t go to the Elite Elegant Tea, although I had intended to, but the timing conflicted with naturalist Milos Radakovich’s last presentation. As an aside, Milos was awesome, as usual. He came up to the Fun Factory for a session with the kids one day, which they really enjoyed, and which I thought was an excellent opportunity for the kids. I came home with three of his CD’s and the last one of his books that was available on board.

ENTERTAINMENT (B)

 

Overall, I felt that the entertainment was fairly good, but my expectations for cruise ship entertainment are not that high. I thought the singers in the Theatre had good voices but I didn’t enjoy the musical arrangements much, as I found most of the attempted harmonies to be somewhat discordant. I would have to look at the Celebrity Today sheets to see exactly what was offered, but we found most of the music around the ship to be quite good, and I did appreciate that there was music provided for dancing in the Rendevous Lounge. (Frequent cruisers Arno and Joanne are a treat to watch on the dance floor!)

 

I enjoyed most of what I watched in the Theatre. My granddaughter loved the aerialists. She was often torn between activities in the Fun Factory and the evening’s entertainment in the theatre, but the Fun Factory almost always won out. The children were taken down to the Theatre one evening as a group, where they enjoyed one of the performances by the Celebrity singers and dancers, along with the aerialists.

 

Milos Radakovich, the naturalist, was excellent. There seemed to be less “Celebrity Life” activities than usual, but there did seem to be more trivia offered than on some recent Celebrity cruises.

 

GUEST RELATIONS (A)

 

The Guest Relations team was awesome. There were never any lineups at any of the times that I was there, and they were really attentive in dealing with our extremely noisy Oceanview Cabin (3132). Patricia was particularly helpful to us, and extremely pleasant to deal with.

 

SHORE EXCURSIONS (Excursions B) (Shoreside Organization D)

 

I booked four Celebrity Shore Excursions. The excursions themselves were acceptable, and onboard organization was very good, but the shore-side staff were either abysmal or non-existent. I was not impressed, and in Catalina I actually had a little steam coming out of my ears. Shore-side organization was completely lacking. There was about a 35-40% upcharge over the cost of getting those excursions directly from the tour companies, and as such, I feel that the onus is on Celebrity to give us SOMETHING for the increase in cost beyond what the tour companies charge.

 

After my issues on Catalina Island, I tried to cancel my excursion for the next day. As it was now only about 20 hours before the next excursion, I was within the 24 hour deadline, and they wouldn’t permit me to cancel the Santa Barbara Historical trolley excursion. I could probably have pressed the point and managed to get the excursions cancelled, but I wasn’t in the mood for a fight.

 

INTERNET (B)

 

The staff in the Internet lounge were very nice (this not always the case). As an Elite Plus passenger, I received 240 minutes of free internet, which worked fine when I was in the i-lounge, but I could never get my Mini-ipad to log on in my 8th deck cabin. That could be operator-difficulty in my case. I don’t use my Mini-ipad a lot.

 

LIBRARY (B-)

 

The library had more volumes than I remember on my last M-class sailing in 2012. The library was quiet and cozy and a comfortable place to read. No crossword puzzles or Sudoku available on the times that I was there. They were available in the small kiosks at Guest Relations. I didn’t notice the international news sheets that have always been available in this area, but I wasn’t looking for them either on this cruise. I give the library a B- because I don’t have great expectations of the libraries on ships anymore; I am just grateful that Celebrity still has them.

 

ONBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY ©

 

I bought quite a few photos from the ship’s photographers (it's a grandmother thing). The photos were fairly nice but one of the sales staff was exceptionally rude and unhelpful when I couldn’t find half of my granddaughters photos and asked if they had photo recognition capacity, which apparently they don’t on the Infinity. The elusive photos were found parked behind other photos, down at floor level, and were difficult for me to locate as I have back challenges and can’t bend down for sustained periods. Luckily I found another staff member who was very nice and quite helpful. The prices have gone up to $20 for the 5X7 and $25 for the 8x10 which is really ridiculous, and I asked if there wasn't some pricing structure I could take advantage of that wasn't so expensive. I was told no, and that there were only two options: 10 photos for $175 or all photos for $300 (there was a total of 11 photos available in our case), and no other discounts were available. After coming back to my cabin on that last night, having purchased the 10-photo option, I found the 20% Elite Plus coupon for photography that I didn't realize I had (I hadn’t paid attention to the photography coupon initially, as I wasn’t planning to buy photos at the start of the cruise.) I was a little ticked that this discount wasn't mentioned when I asked directly about savings opportunities, as I had all the Elite Plus coupons in my purse at the time of purchase. If I hadn't had a sleeping child in the room with me, I would have gone back down to photo sales and asked for the discount. The discount would have been $45 USD on my purchases.

 

ONBOARD SHOPS ©

 

The staff in most of the shops were not service-oriented on this cruise and a few of the clerks were actually clearly disinterested and bordering on rude. There were two items I tried to buy that were located in displays on the pool deck, and it took 3 days for me to complete the transactions. I came back, as instructed, to the shops several times, only to find that the items hadn’t been retrieved yet.

 

FUTURE CRUISE SALES (B)

 

I loved, loved, loved this itinerary, and was very happy with the ship and service, and was really sorry to learn from the Future Cruise sales staff that the Celebrity Pacific Coastals for September 2016 are only 7 nights each, with limited ports and inflated pricing. While onboard, I did book a 19-night transpacific to Australia on the Solstice. No perks, and only $50 OBC, as well as a high booking price. The Future Cruise Salesstaff were very pleasant, capable and well-informed.

 

Yes, we had a great time on the Infinity...

 

For all my little complaints, the positives far outweighed any negatives, most of which were very minor. We really had a great cruise, and I would happily sail on Infinity again. I look forward to hearing what is accomplished during her upcoming drydock. Fair winds and following seas to all who sail her.

 

I would be happy to answer any questions if I can. I have all of the Celebrity Todays as well as all of the Fun Factory daily schedules for Cadets (3-8 yrs) and can scan them if anyone is interested.

Edited September 23, 2015 by elena7seas

[Cruise Raider]

Elena7Seas,

For some reason, I thought you were not able to go on this cruise - from the roll call. Hmmmm... I must have gotten that mixed up. I would have liked to thank you for the help you've previously provided on cabin choices on the S-Class ships.

 

I enjoyed your review .... we did agree on some points and on others, not as much. This was based on our individual experiences, though ... so of course they would be different. Plus, I don't eat red meat so couldn't speak to that ...never had a bad piece of fish the entire cruise.

 

It is funny that we originally booked 3132 on this ship when it was slated to go up to Alaska -- the cruise that was canceled when it was chartered. When they first came out with this itinerary, they had not dropped the pricing at all even though it was no longer Alaska and it was shortened by 5 nights. That could have been handled much better. Anyhow, I took an inside cabin before as the pricing was almost $4000 for this 9 night coastal cruise for a cat 6 oceanview cabin. I said, you know, nobody is going to pay that price. Nonetheless, I have stayed in a very nice inside cabin on this ship previously so just took one of those and was able to upgrade when the pricing eventually came down.

 

I am with you, disappointed there are very limited options on the west coast. The future cruise sales mentioned that we might keep our eyes open as some itinerary changes might occur. Was he just saying this in jest or did he have some inside information. I said, don't send me to the Sea Witch (Princess) just to get a cruise out of SF. Actually, I don't think there is anything wrong with Princess and have 2 of them booked for the end of this year.

[Cruise Raider]

Thank you so much for posting the mLife information. I totally forgot about that. Now I have the telephone number at my fingertips.

 

 

Hope this works out as well for you as it did for us. :)

[elena7seas]

Elena7Seas,

For some reason, I thought you were not able to go on this cruise - from the roll call. Hmmmm... I must have gotten that mixed up. I would have liked to thank you for the help you've previously provided on cabin choices on the S-Class ships.

 

I enjoyed your review .... we did agree on some points and on others, not as much. This was based on our individual experiences, though ... so of course they would be different. Plus, I don't eat red meat so couldn't speak to that ...never had a bad piece of fish the entire cruise.

 

It is funny that we originally booked 3132 on this ship when it was slated to go up to Alaska -- the cruise that was canceled when it was chartered. When they first came out with this itinerary, they had not dropped the pricing at all even though it was no longer Alaska and it was shortened by 5 nights. That could have been handled much better. Anyhow, I took an inside cabin before as the pricing was almost $4000 for this 9 night coastal cruise for a cat 6 oceanview cabin. I said, you know, nobody is going to pay that price. Nonetheless, I have stayed in a very nice inside cabin on this ship previously so just took one of those and was able to upgrade when the pricing eventually came down.

 

I am with you, disappointed there are very limited options on the west coast. The future cruise sales mentioned that we might keep our eyes open as some itinerary changes might occur. Was he just saying this in jest or did he have some inside information. I said, don't send me to the Sea Witch (Princess) just to get a cruise out of SF. Actually, I don't think there is anything wrong with Princess and have 2 of them booked for the end of this year.

 

Hi Cruise Raider:

 

I disappeared from the Roll Call for a month while on a cruise in Scandinavia and Russia, followed by a land trip in Britain. I purchased full-time internet while on the Baltic cruise, and thought I could keep up with our Roll Call while away, but the internet just never worked. One day I actually tried to send an important email 100 times before going to Guest Relations and asking them to let me use their telephone. When I finally returned, Walker1313 was doing such a great job with the Roll Call list, and I was so crazy busy, that I just let him carry on. I was originally booked to cruise with my husband, but he couldn't make it so I cruised with my grand-daughter. Maybe one of those issues made you think that I had cancelled the cruise. I certainly didn't post much after I left for Europe, and there were about 500 posts for me to catch up on when I returned.

 

I am happy that I was able to help in some small way with information about cabins, and I'm sure that you did say thank you. Cruise Critic is where I learned most of what I know about cruising, beyond direct experience, of course, and I love the willingness of people here to share their knowledge. I am always happy if I can give back in some small way.

 

We had a great cruise on the Infinity too. There were a few things, like the cabin move, that were no one's fault, and Celebrity did its best to make them right for us. A few other things, like rude salespeople and a complete lack of shore-side support for the excursions, were minor, but I though worth mentioning. And I'm probably just grumpy about the Afternoon Tea, because I love a traditional Afternoon Tea, and will often skip lunch just so I can have something small but tasty at Teatime. Again, if Afternoon Tea is not your thing, I'm sure most people wouldn't even notice the changes that I mentioned, and for sure, there will be people who prefer doughnuts over scones! :) Perhaps I didn't give enough time in my review to the things that I really did enjoy, because there were many.

 

I think the issue with cabin 3132 was temporary and will be fixed at drydock if not before. When Guest Relations called to move us to a balcony cabin, they said something to the effect that "the issue couldn't be resolved on this cruise" which made me think it would be taken care of soon. Hopefully it was taken care of to the extent that the next occupants of the cabin weren't bothered on the next cruise, or indeed, during the Dreamforce occupancy.

 

I'm sorry that I didn't get to meet you. There was a great group on our Roll Call and I missed meeting so many of them, as my granddaughter's schedule often conflicted with many of the events that I would have chosen to attend.

 

The Pacific Coastal cruises have such great ports to offer, that the two 7-night itineraries that are scheduled for next fall are really disappointing, and there is no spring Pacific Coastal next year. I would love for there to be a Pacific Coastal during the summer so that I could take my daughter and son-in-law, who are teachers, to all these wonderful ports that they have never been able to visit. Watching the numbers as I do, it seems to me that Celebrity makes more money on a Pacific Coastal than on a lot of Caribbean cruises, although certainly not as much as they can make on Alaska cruises. One of the best cruises I ever sailed was a 12-night Pacific Coastal on the Millennium, and also an 11-night Pacific Coastal Wine Cruise on the Solstice was wonderful. I would have booked a back-to-back on the two 7-night cruises if they hadn't repeated the same ports on each cruise. With so many great ports to choose from, I don't understand why they couldn't have mixed the itineraries up a little bit more.

 

I do realize that we are very lucky to be able to cruise as much as we do, and I'm sorry if I sounded picky in my review. I really had a great time on this cruise and just wish I had another Pacific Coastal to look forward to.

 

Thank you for your great review, and may all your future cruises be just as wonderful or better!!