Future refurbishment of Infinity?

[latjr]

I've read some negative reviews of the current condition of the Infinity, and I've seen the attached showing the next renovation of the Infinity in January, 2024.  Does anyone know if this is still scheduled and the extent of the renovation?

12030112_CEL_FleetGuide.pdf

[Algebralovr]

We were told it is still on, when we were on Constellation for the Feb 3 cruise.  Many of the staff are looking forward to the 2024 updates to IN an CS in 2024.  They believe these two ships will receive the full Revolution treatment.  THAT part has not been announced, but as of right now, the last two M Class ships are definitely scheduled for 2024

 

[Stupot74]

Infinity has no sailings from 1st Jan 2024 to 2nd Feb 2024. Presumably this is when the ship will be renovated. This tallies with the info in that fleet guide

 

I'm not sure if that one month is enough time for a full 'revolution' which is a lot of work, or just a renovation which is more maintenance of the exiting fitout.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Stupot74

[Jim_Iain]

I may be the contrarian but honestly believe RCL will continue the Revolution within the foreseeable future.   The gating factor is them returning to profitability and retiring some of their massive debt.

 

Contrary to the report above Infinity has a 11 night cruise on Jan 2, 2024

[Stupot74]

Ah right you are, I must have missed that cruise.

 

That leaves two weeks in the second half of January, which is surely not long enough for a revolutionising.

[volk904]

At some point RCL Corp will need to chart a path as far as starting back the Major upgrades program for both Royal and Celebrity. I know they committed 5=years ago to keeping the 4 m class with upgrades but with the 4th E Class coming in service next year it would not shock me to see them decide not to upgrade the other 2 M class and instead work on the S class.  

[Jim_Iain]

While I know nothing more than what is published but I'm guessing at some point they will start selling off some of the M-Class ships.  Might make more sense to sell than to Revolutionize.

 

A number of them have been seen on the market in the past.  In 2021 there were rumors they were selling 2 ships to Pullmantur (a sister line that has at least on Centruy class) but later put an end to the discussions. ;

 

'While we fully support the reorganization efforts of Pullmantur and continue to work productively with Pullmantur as it develops its new business plan, it is important to clarify that we have not agreed to lease or sell any of our ships, including any Celebrity Millennium class ships, to Pullmantur.'

[Ex-Airbalancer]

11 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

While I know nothing more than what is published but I'm guessing at some point they will start selling off some of the M-Class ships.  Might make more sense to sell than to Revolutionize.

 

A number of them have been seen on the market in the past.  In 2021 there were rumors they were selling 2 ships to Pullmantur (a sister line that has at least on Centruy class) but later put an end to the discussions. ;

 

'While we fully support the reorganization efforts of Pullmantur and continue to work productively with Pullmantur as it develops its new business plan, it is important to clarify that we have not agreed to lease or sell any of our ships, including any Celebrity Millennium class ships, to Pullmantur.'

If you go by what Celebrity has done in the past

it was was 6 years between The last M class and the first S class ship and the same amount of time between the last S-class and first E class 

you would think the next class will be out in 8 years ,

will it fit RCL business plan to keep the smaller m class ships 🤔

[latjr]

On 2/21/2023 at 8:12 PM, Algebralovr said:

We were told it is still on, when we were on Constellation for the Feb 3 cruise.  Many of the staff are looking forward to the 2024 updates to IN an CS in 2024.  They believe these two ships will receive the full Revolution treatment.  THAT part has not been announced, but as of right now, the last two M Class ships are definitely scheduled for 2024

 

 

[sweetp0618]

My TA told me this week that Infinity is supposed to get a retrofit Q3/4 2023.

 

We spent 2 weeks on Infinity in February and the ship is in sad shape. Normally, things don't both us, but the first cabin (6095) we were in didn't have heat (we were headed to Antarctica) and we were sleeping with 4 layers of clothes. I finally called maintenance at 7 pm one night. Engineering came and worked on our heat using a panel in the hallway. Around 11 pm, I was in bed when the smoke detector in our cabin started alarming and there was a burning smell. I called the emergency number - the person who answered was rude because (supposedly) the emergency number was for medical emergencies. I guess a potential fire in a passenger cabin isn't an emergency? Someone came and took down the smoke detector and left. After many conversations, we were moved to another cabin (9032). We had to move our own stuff at 1 am.

 

 The "new" cabin didn't have a cover on the thermostat. We went out on the balcony and shut the door. It took us 10 minutes to open the door to get back into the cabin.The door was partially off the track. It was never fixed. The refrigerator didn't work. As we moved closer to warmer weather we realized the air conditioning in our "new" cabin didn't work, which is probably why the people originally in that cabin moved to a different one. The roof over the balcony was rusted and falling down. 

 

We are not complainers, but that ship is in ridiculous shape and is in extreme need of a retrofit. 

[TeeRick]

Big difference from a cosmetic type upgrade during a scheduled maintenance situation vs the full Revolution.  No evidence that that is happening any more or any time soon.

[AstoriaPreppy]

Just wanted to hop on this thread and share my opinions on the Infinity. We recently disembarked, and were shocked at the poor condition of the ship. Many of the lounges and public spaces are banged up from 20+ years of use, with lightbulbs and fixtures out or non-functional in many public spaces. We did notice that the line updated the seating in many spaces, but this was also sporadic. There’s still 1/4 of the buffet that has the old wooden chairs, which was somewhat emblematic of the shabby/piecemeal nature of the entire ship at this point. 

 

The staterooms are in poor condition. Outside of the design issues from a different era of cruising (only two shelves, and the closet drawers are 2 inches deep??), there were multiple problems that cropped up during the week. Cosmetic issues were abundant, but we also had mechanical issues too: some mornings we had no hot water, toilets took several flushes to empty, etc. Anecdotally, we talked to more than one passenger who was forced to sleeping in layers of clothing after their heat failed. 

 

Additionally, the Wi-Fi was spectacularly poor. I say Wi-Fi, because once connected, the internet was fast and reliable… but getting on the Wi-Fi and staying connected was a running joke amongst the passengers. I can only guess it’s infrastructure on the ship that hasn’t been updated. Any space with more than 50 passengers would result in a Wi-Fi freak out, dropping users and delivering weird error messages suggesting we restart the ship’s router (ha!). This meant that attending an event in the theater or sitting poolside would render the Wi-Fi inoperable, with the only recourse to try and reconnect to the network 30-40 times before getting back online. 

 

While these issues didn’t ruin our trip in any sense and some of the crew were excellent, I couldn’t realistically recommend the Infinity to anyone. 

[GonzoWCS]

Great information here.  Thanks

 

Cheers

[terrydtx]

I was told by a senior officer on the Reflection last year that the Revolutionizing program was on indefinite hold, and he doubted that it would start back up anytime in the next 4 or 5 years if ever. It takes 5-6 weeks to fully do the Revolution of any ship, which when needing revenue, is a long time to be offline. Any dry docking scheduled for less than 4 weeks is mainly for mandated routine maintenance and some miner interior refreshening. IMO, the money needed to update the M class ships, if available, would be better spent on the remaining S class ships.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I was told by a senior officer on the Reflection last year that the Revolutionizing program was on indefinite hold, and he doubted that it would start back up anytime in the next 4 or 5 years if ever. It takes 5-6 weeks to fully do the Revolution of any ship, which when needing revenue, is a long time to be offline. Any dry docking scheduled for less than 4 weeks is mainly for mandated routine maintenance and some miner interior refreshening. IMO, the money needed to update the M class ships, if available, would be better spent on the remaining S class ships.

Also by time RCL has money  to continue Revolutionizing program , the next class of ship will be ready to be built , and the m-class will be sold off 

[moanddi]

i just finished the Infinity RT Athens Sept 23 and it is old and worn.  I was on it last Sept 2022 as well and it has dramatically gotten worse.  We were told Q1 of next year.  I hope so since we are on it again in November of 2024 RT BCN.

[di T]

11 minutes ago, moanddi said:

i just finished the Infinity RT Athens Sept 23 and it is old and worn.  I was on it last Sept 2022 as well and it has dramatically gotten worse.  We were told Q1 of next year.  I hope so since we are on it again in November of 2024 RT BCN.

So would that be March 2024?

[moanddi]

when we asked the crew they didnt say specifically other than Q1.  Some have said January 2024.  All i know is, if it is not update I will be cancelling my November 2024 sailing.  It was that bad.  Clean just old, rusty, and dingy.  The crew member said it is going to be awesome similiar to an Edge class ship albeit smaller.  I have sailed Edge 2 times and it would be an improvement over the current status.

[NutsAboutGolf]

This was from June 1st

 

[mahdnc]

 

[hcat]

Conversions to suite status is an update to generate revenue.

 

Inf needs sewage system, and  AC system overhauls..  New shower enclosures should replace "mildewy" shower curtains. Bigger TVs., and de-rusting balcs.

Edited October 4, 2023 by hcat

[FizzyBlue]

I'm currently on Infinity and the captain mentioned that the upcoming drydock is for maintenance not  furnishings/decor.

[terrydtx]

A normal drydocking for routine required and mandated maintenance, usually 2 weeks in length, should not be confused with a major Revolutionizing dry docking that takes 4-6 weeks to accomplish.  As has been said many times, by Celebrity, the Revolutionizing of the remaining non-E Class ships is on indefinite hold. The Edge for example, is currently in a 14 day drydocking in France for its 5 year mandated routine maintenance. Some carpeting and furniture replacement plus adding a full service bar in her Retreat Lounge are also being done during this drydocking.

[warf]

Pity, the infinity and constellation and other ships in that class were so nice.  Not overwelhming in size, more intimate.  I would be sad  to see them go.

 

[moanddi]

I was on the Infinity in September RT Athens and it was very very old, rusty, dirty and bad.   The shower curtains are nasty, towels with big holes in them which has nothing to do with the ship being old.  Lots of rust all in the cabins, etc.  I am on it again in November RT BCN hope it is improved.