Considering Infinity

[room with a view]

We are considering the Infinity for Christmas/New Year 2023/24 - our first time with Celebrity .

 

Just concerned about the negative reviews - mainly the age and condition of the ship and cabins.

 

The Retreat is out of our price range ..even though the private restaurant/lounge/ sundeck looks amazing. Aqua Class with Blu - looks amazing too .

 

Has any refurbishment gone into these high class staterooms and the other balcony staterooms been left without any upgrades ?

 

We have been on NCL/RCL/P&O/ Holland America ships ..so are not newbies just new to Celebrity .

 

Are these higher class restaurants open to guests in standard balcony cabins with an upcharge ?

 

thanks

 

 

 

 

[cruisestitch]

Luminae (suite restaurant) and Blu (Aqua Class) are specific to those stateroom categories.

 

suite passengers can bring guests for meals for a charge but you must be invited by a suite guest.  You can’t book Luminae on your own.

 

Aqua passengers cannot bring guests (except that a single passenger paying double for the stateroom can bring one other single non-Aqua passenger as their guest)

 

So the general answer is, these two dining rooms are not available to you, even for an up-charge.

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, room with a view said:

We are considering the Infinity for Christmas/New Year 2023/24 - our first time with Celebrity .

 

Just concerned about the negative reviews - mainly the age and condition of the ship and cabins.

 

The Retreat is out of our price range ..even though the private restaurant/lounge/ sundeck looks amazing. Aqua Class with Blu - looks amazing too .

 

Has any refurbishment gone into these high class staterooms and the other balcony staterooms been left without any upgrades ?

 

We have been on NCL/RCL/P&O/ Holland America ships ..so are not newbies just new to Celebrity .

 

Are these higher class restaurants open to guests in standard balcony cabins with an upcharge ?

 

thanks

 

 

 

 

The ship is older and has not had the major renovations called the Revolution.  Consequence of the pandemic and lack of funds due to the extended cruise shutdown.   I do not believe that any staterooms on Infinity including suites have had upgrades.

[room with a view]

Thanks to you both, I will see what cruises are available around the Canaries over Christmas/ New Year .

Maybe go back to NCL .

[Saab4444]

20 minutes ago, room with a view said:

Thanks to you both, I will see what cruises are available around the Canaries over Christmas/ New Year .

Maybe go back to NCL .

Infinity is for sure in better shape and nicer than Norwegian Dawn or similar NCL ships and not as crowded and packed as Norwegian Breakaway and similar.

[ymncruise]

The ship is well maintained and the crew is great. I loved my Infinity cruise and knew it wouldn’t have the modern tech, like USB ports in the cabins. Brand new is always nice, but I wouldn’t think twice about booking an older Celebrity ship. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

1 minute ago, ymncruise said:

The ship is well maintained and the crew is great. I loved my Infinity cruise and knew it wouldn’t have the modern tech, like USB ports in the cabins. Brand new is always nice, but I wouldn’t think twice about booking an older Celebrity ship. 

 

Based on our experience last week, I would disagree that the Infinity is "well maintained," especially in the staterooms and many of the public spaces. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to book the Summit or Millennium. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

Infiniti is showing a bit of wear but is in better condition than most NCL and Princess ships.  Remember that Celebrity was pitched as Modern Luxury.  Compared to the other mass market brands it still is.  Seems pretty much everything has taken a step down. 

I would take many reviews on CC as a complaint and not a real review.  

CC has had posters change from positive and helpful to way to much negativity. 

Would happily sail Infinity if they had an itinerary we liked.  That and price should be your decision maker.

[wrk2cruise]

I'm also just of Infinity last week.  We were in a deck 11 Aqua cabin which was added about 10 years ago and I'll say the room was in much better shape than I expected.  Yes some rust on the balcony.  The public spaces were all very well maintained.  I don't think I saw any soft goods showing excessive wear.  These can be the first things to show.   I wouldn't hesitate to book it again.   That said the WiFi had serious troubles I've not had on any other Celebrity ship.  Not the internet as they now have StarLink so IF you could get connected to the WiFi infrastructure I was able to stream TV with only the occasional very short buffer.  I had the premium package.

[tomcruiser1234]

We were on for 23 days in December.  

 

Some cabins have been upgraded but I wouldn’t count on it. 

 

Public areas are nice 

 

you’ll enjoy

 

 

[AstoriaPreppy]

16 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Infiniti is showing a bit of wear but is in better condition than most NCL and Princess ships.  Remember that Celebrity was pitched as Modern Luxury.  Compared to the other mass market brands it still is.  Seems pretty much everything has taken a step down. 

I would take many reviews on CC as a complaint and not a real review.  

CC has had posters change from positive and helpful to way to much negativity. 

Would happily sail Infinity if they had an itinerary we liked.  That and price should be your decision maker.

 

To be clear, we loved the trip: the staff was amongst the best we've had in years, and spent exactly zero time at guest services complaining about the ship issues. We probably could have scored a future cruise credit, but that's not our vibe.  

 

However, it's really important that anyone booking the Infinity knows what they're getting. We've sailed on Summit, Millennium, and Solstice since the restart (and on Royal, Carnival, and Princess as well), and Infinity was absolutely the worst condition of any of those trips. I had to take exactly zero cold sponge baths on those ships when my room lost hot water, but that happened on the Infinity.

 

I'd much rather give realistic feedback on what we experienced... you may call that negative, but I call that helpful in making a decision on what ship to sail on. 

[sherylc]

Just off the Infinity a few days ago in a Concierge balcony aft deck 6. The ship is definitely showing wear compared with other Celebrity ships we have been on lately. Biggest problems for us were sewer like smells from bathroom on and off over 12 day trip (other passengers mentioned same from different locations on the ship). Also had to use one of my magnetic hooks just to keep my nightstand drawer from opening and closing all night. Stains on cabin carpets were plentiful. Other than the smell (which the stewards were well aware of and seemed common) nothing was “that bad” but definitely showing her age. 

[room with a view]

Thanks everyone for your comments. The alternative to booking the Infinity is The NCL Epic .

 

If we booked the Infinity it would have to be a balcony cabin ...not aqua class or higher .

 

We are platinum with NCL - this would be the first time with Celebrity .

 

It's a dilemma going bigger with NCL plus drinks package and a choice of speciality restaurants (part of a package) ...or going smaller with the Infinity with one restaurant plus buffet. 

[MISTER 67]

7 hours ago, room with a view said:

We are considering the Infinity for Christmas/New Year 2023/24 - our first time with Celebrity .

 

Just concerned about the negative reviews - mainly the age and condition of the ship and cabins.

 

The Retreat is out of our price range ..even though the private restaurant/lounge/ sundeck looks amazing. Aqua Class with Blu - looks amazing too .

 

Has any refurbishment gone into these high class staterooms and the other balcony staterooms been left without any upgrades ?

 

We have been on NCL/RCL/P&O/ Holland America ships ..so are not newbies just new to Celebrity .

 

Are these higher class restaurants open to guests in standard balcony cabins with an upcharge ?

 

thanks

 

 

 

 

 

We just returned from a cruise on the Reflection this morning and have sailed on the Equinox many times, we sailed on the Infinity last October and as veterans of 70 cruises we found the Infinity to be in great shape and as good as the Reflection and the Equinox. We loved that it had the older type promenade deck with deck chairs away from the crowds and sometimes loud music heard in other parts of the ships in the cruise industry, great place to read a good book as you experience the sights and sounds of the ocean.

I we had one thing to complain about it would be the buffet is not as large as the bigger ships in the fleet and thus lacked the variety of those ships, not enough of a complaint as there was still plenty to eat and would not stop us from sailing on the Infinity again. 

[kathynorth]

We’ve taken 2 cruises on the Infinity within the past 6 months. Both were in standard veranda cabins (deck 6 forward and deck 7 aft). The decor of the rooms seem tired but not so bad as others have experienced. We’ve been on NCL in the past and our MDR experience on these cruises were substantially better than on NCL. As an FYI, any passenger can book for $ at one of the specialty restaurants on the Infinity: Tuscan, Raw on Five, and LePetit.

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

To be clear, we loved the trip: the staff was amongst the best we've had in years, and spent exactly zero time at guest services complaining about the ship issues. We probably could have scored a future cruise credit, but that's not our vibe.  

 

However, it's really important that anyone booking the Infinity knows what they're getting. We've sailed on Summit, Millennium, and Solstice since the restart (and on Royal, Carnival, and Princess as well), and Infinity was absolutely the worst condition of any of those trips. I had to take exactly zero cold sponge baths on those ships when my room lost hot water, but that happened on the Infinity.

 

I'd much rather give realistic feedback on what we experienced... you may call that negative, but I call that helpful in making a decision on what ship to sail on. 

My comment was not directed toward you.  Doing a search I found some 50 posts of people saying negative things about Infiniti.  Many of those multiple posts by several posters.  Also a similar number with only positives.

Am glad you had hot water on Princess - we did not on multiple mornings.  I thus took my showers in the evening.  Problem solved. 

As well as dining issues that took 3 nights to sort out when their app failed and tendering at Cabo that took 2 hours in line to get a ticket followed by a 2 hour wait for the tender.  The Emerald Princess looked tired.  Crew worked hard but were very understaffed.   Hope all lines working through that issue.

My point is on Princess after giving up on dinner in the MDR and missing our shore excursion followed by no hot water we could have let it ruin our cruise.  Instead we figured out solutions to make things better.

[cl.klink]

4 hours ago, ymncruise said:

The ship is well maintained and the crew is great. I loved my Infinity cruise and knew it wouldn’t have the modern tech, like USB ports in the cabins. Brand new is always nice, but I wouldn’t think twice about booking an older Celebrity ship. 

completely agree

 

- Joel

[sweetp0618]

If booking on Infinity, be careful which cabin you book. We sailed for 14 days in Feb/March. Started in balcony cabin 6095 -  no heat. After they fixed it, our smoke alarm went off due to smoke in the cabin. After reporting the emergency, we were moved to a concierge cabin (9032), which had no air conditioning, - the cover was off the thermostat, and the balcony ceiling was rusted and hanging down when we moved in.

 

I read before we left there were these issues with some cabins. Guest services compensated us with future cruise credit. We had a great trip! We didn't let these issues affect our trip. That said, I wouldn't cruise on Infinity until it's been in dry dock.

[Poconolady]

We were on in January for the Antartica cruise. We had a deck 11 Aqua cabin, the room seemed fine and was well tended. The only problem was the shower, which leaked water all over the floor. We had multiple service calls, but they never fixed the problem with doors not sealing enough to keep the water in its place. (No extra obc or future credit for our inconvenience, either). Also, satellite tv stopped working early on and was never restored, very little choice for tv, thank goodness for the spotty wifi to keep connected with the world.

[Iriel]

I hated the Infinity, I don't care if you think I'm bringing negativity. I spent a lot of money on a cruise and expected good service. Also, I don't understand how people get extra onboard credit by complaining. I was practically crying at Guest Services because they pretended me to sleep on a tiny sofa, and no one even apologized for the awful night I had spent. I don't think I'll ever sail Celebrity again because they really messed up, they don't even know the kind of sofas they have in their cabins.

[AstoriaPreppy]

On 4/9/2023 at 10:03 AM, ymncruise said:

The ship is well maintained and the crew is great. I loved my Infinity cruise and knew it wouldn’t have the modern tech, like USB ports in the cabins. Brand new is always nice, but I wouldn’t think twice about booking an older Celebrity ship. 

In comparison to every other cruise ship we’ve sailed on since the restart, the Infinity is *not* well maintained. I’m not griping about a USB-A port by the bed (these are largely ridiculous and we never use them). The Wi-Fi network is unusable. The heating and cooling are often non-functional. The lighting is broken in many public spaces on the ship. Hot water would just… not work. 

I would have no hesitation booking Summit or Millennium again, but the Infinity is in poor condition in comparison, and I absolutely would not recommend. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by AstoriaPreppy

[C4HCG]

On 4/9/2023 at 3:40 PM, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

To be clear, we loved the trip: the staff was amongst the best we've had in years, and spent exactly zero time at guest services complaining about the ship issues. We probably could have scored a future cruise credit, but that's not our vibe.  

 

However, it's really important that anyone booking the Infinity knows what they're getting. We've sailed on Summit, Millennium, and Solstice since the restart (and on Royal, Carnival, and Princess as well), and Infinity was absolutely the worst condition of any of those trips. I had to take exactly zero cold sponge baths on those ships when my room lost hot water, but that happened on the Infinity.

 

I'd much rather give realistic feedback on what we experienced... you may call that negative, but I call that helpful in making a decision on what ship to sail on. 

But your original post didn’t have that context, your follow up and very helpful post did 👍

[superduper123]

I am booked on Infinity over Christmas / New Year. I have only been on one Celebrity cruise so far, the Summit, and loved it! I am prepared that the Infinity might not be as nice, but I booked for the itinerary, rather than the ship. We will make the best of what it is. 

[C4HCG]

On 4/10/2023 at 3:50 PM, Iriel said:

I hated the Infinity, I don't care if you think I'm bringing negativity. I spent a lot of money on a cruise and expected good service. Also, I don't understand how people get extra onboard credit by complaining. I was practically crying at Guest Services because they pretended me to sleep on a tiny sofa, and no one even apologized for the awful night I had spent. I don't think I'll ever sail Celebrity again because they really messed up, they don't even know the kind of sofas they have in their cabins.

You slept on a tiny sofa?

[C4HCG]

5 minutes ago, superduper123 said:

I am booked on Infinity over Christmas / New Year. I have only been on one Celebrity cruise so far, the Summit, and loved it! I am prepared that the Infinity might not be as nice, but I booked for the itinerary, rather than the ship. We will make the best of what it is. 

Great attitude. Make your own experience.