Review: Infinity To Alaska: July 16-23. 2006

[many cruises]

The folllowing is my review of the INFINITY to Alaska: July 16-23. 2006. I am also posting it in the review section of these boards.

 

We spent embarkation day in the Vancouver Convention Hall & we were "stuck" there for 8 hours. After you checked in your bags & went to the convention Hall, then they told you that you could tour Vancouver. Unfortunately, many people weren't dressed for that, nor did they have their walking shoes because "X" took their bags without saying a word about the delay. We didn't know about the delay until we reached the Convention exhibit hall & then we were told we wouldn't be getting on the ship until 7 PM & we wouldn't be sailing until 4 PM on Monday. They needed that time to repair the propulsion pod. It was a mob scene in the exhibit hall...there was no operational PA system (you couldn't hear it) and people pushed & shoved out the doors when they called for the first group to board. I saw elderly & handicapped people caught in the mob of people trying to get on the ship. Many of the seapass cards also weren't working properly & this created more angry passengers. But, believe or not, "X" had their photographers in the hall ready to take embarkation pictures. This was hard to believe. All around us people were shouting & complaining. We hadn't even stepped foot on the ship yet!

 

It was so frustrating that after 10 cruises we chose to sail on the Infinity because if its high ratings & it turned out to be our only cruise disaster. Not only did we not go to Sitka...we also didn't sail through the inside passage when we left Vancouver...basically we were at sea. On the return trip, we did get to see the inside passage briefly. Our port day in Juneau was delayed by 2 1/2 hours & we missed our 8:30 private excursion with Captain Larry. Luckily, they moved us to the 11:30 whale watching trip, but we had limited time to walk around town after that because we had to get back for dinner. Our port day in Ketchikan originally was from 7-4 PM, but it changed to 2-10 PM. In actuality, we had to leave for the ship by 6 PM because of dinner & also because many of the shops were closing at 6 PM. Things looked good on paper, but in reality weren't what they seemed. We were advised NOT to eat off the ship in any port because of the Norovirus situation, so we had to return to the ship in enough time to get ready for dinner. We also weren't told anything about the Norovirus situation at all from Celebrity, nor did we have to fill out a questionnaire indicating if we had any recent intestinal problems as we did on our previous cruises. On Monday, all passengers had to leave "our floating hotel" and go through U.S Customs in Vancouver...this process took us almost 3 hours and after we finished the ship was again delayed for a few more hours because about 30 stateroom passengers never showed up for customs. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, and things seemed to domino after day #1.

 

Except for Martina & Julia, the staff at Guest Relations and Shore Excursions was rude & we spent the week watching & listening to angry passengers trying to fix many of the problems that Celebrity caused. The Captain's Club desk had its hours posted, but frequently there was no one there. I never received my invitation to the Cruise Critic get together. The Captain's Club cocktail party was held on the last night of the cruise. The Captain made a prepared speech, along with the CD & they both departed immediately. No pictures with the Captain on this cruise. (I wonder why?) Very few people showed up for the Captain's Club cocktail party (probably because they never received an invitation) ...it was only listed in the newsletter. Celebrity made the last night the 2nd formal night and that infuriated more people. Imagine being asked to have your bags out in the hall when you had your formal clothes on. Celebrity never did anything to make things better. They never opened up the bars for a few hours to serve free drinks or wine. They never served hot chocolate or soup at Hubbard Glacier, unless you wanted to pay $9.95 for hot chocolate in a special "X" cup. The naturalist on the PA system at Hubbard Glacier could not be understood...no one knew what he was saying. This was unfortunate, because he was excellent when we heard his lecture in the theater. Celebrity brought in two executive reps. from customer service to hear complaints from passengers. Passengers were sent to a private conference room to vent their concerns. Notes were taken on a lap top. It appeared that people were sent to see them when no one else knew what to do with them.

 

We did have a few pluses: the food and the service in the dining room was very good, our stateroom attendant was excellent, and the shows were also good. Our excursion with Captain Larry (whale watching) was wonderful & our flight to Misty Fjords was also great. If you visit Alaska I highly recommend these two excursions. Our travelling companions were great...friends that we met on our Century Cruise 2 years ago. These were the highlights of our week. Other than these positive items...everything else was pretty much a disaster. I have never seen so many unhappy passengers on a cruise ship.

 

[CelebrityCruiser13]

Julia is very helpful....she was the only person that got things done on our trip...(7/9-16)

[DaisyGirl55]

Considering all of the problems the ship has had, maybe they should have cancelled the cruise since the pod problems really started the cruise prior to yours. But then, I suppose this would have brought on a whole new set of angry people and problems.

 

I sail my first cruise to Alaska on the Infinity in about 7 weeks, and for my sake, I hope all is well by then. Either way, I am determined to try and have a good time, and keep my attitude from going sour - and it sounds like this is what you did too. We chose Celebrity mainly because of the intinerary, and because Celebrity is touted to be a little bit more than some of the lines we have previously cruised.

 

I have also been on some cruises that did not go as planned, despite all of my planning ahead of time. Ports were missed, seas were rough due to a hurricane, sometimes it rained and there was very little pool time. But I have always had a super time, because I figure that if I can't control something - then I can't change it - so why let it destroy my vacation? Either way, I was on a cruise, eating food I would not eat at home, and seeing some fantastic shows. I met some wonderful people, and always brought home some awesome memories.

 

My question to you is this: In spite of all of the problems that occured on your cruise, would you cruise with Celebrity again? Would you cruise on the Infinity again? Are you willing to give them another chance, or will you go with another cruise line next time.

 

Thanks so much for your review. It stated the facts without slinging dirt, and it gave both good and bad with an honest outlook. I enjoyed reading it because it reported what happened without slamming the entire trip as a waste of time and money.

[Andipanda1]

Thank you for your review. We've recently returned from the Mercury to Alaska, and had a wonderful time. Sure, there were a couple of annoying things (the pushing of the hot chocolate in the special cups was irritating, particularly when you could just hike down to the cafe and make your own, which we did) and we encountered one surly beverage waiter, but overall, we had a great time and a beautiful cruise.

 

I hope your future sailings turn out better.

[Jimsgirl]

Daisygirl55

Are you on the Sept 13 sailing? I am on that for 25 days (B2) So you know that I am hoping that the pod problems are all fixed and the "unhappy " staff have been rotated.

 

Reply to rafex1@earthlink,.net

[many cruises]

Daisygirl55: Thank you for your response & I hope you have a terrific cruise on the Infinity. As you can see in my signature, we will not be cruising with Celebrity next time, but our next two cruises were planned before the Infinity fiasco. I doubt that we will cruise on the Infinity again or Celebrity again.

 

 

Wishing you a wonderful cruise!

 

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[many cruises]

I'm surprised that other cruisers from the July 9 & July 16 Infinity cruises aren't posting their experiences. Would love to hear from you!

[Welshlady]

A few of us have posted under other headings - look for all my posts and that will show you the headings to look at. There were quite a few for both dates.

Judith

[Welshlady]

Hi,

Just wondering if you have heard anything from Celebrity since you came home? Have you written to them at all? If you'd rather email then my email is jjones147@hotmail.com.

Cheers,

Judith

[CelebrityCruiser13]

I have posted my experiences on the July 9-16 cruise under other titles. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=382018

Even though I was violently ill and there were pod problems and we didn't get to see Sitka...I have to say that I would cruise on the Infinity again....I just wouldn't pay for it.

I want to experience the nice cruise that I paid for without any problems.

[Welshlady]

Well said! Although I'd be reluctant to go on any M class ship as they all seem to have 'pod' problems. Perhaps I'd try another class ship instead.....but what are the chances of a free cruise?!!!!! I'm not holding my breath for a reply even!

[BROOKSYL]

Hi Many Cruises and every one else

 

I was also on the Infinity on the 16th!!! well what can I say but repeat your every word!!

 

I was suffering with what I thought was sea sickness (as I do get it really bad and still think it was) eventually I went to see Dr about 8 oclock one night when the boat was really moving about! they took my vitals then shoved me on a bed stuck a drip in me? then put an injection straight into the drip bag? then put one straight into the IV??????? (remember at this time feeling really weak) was told to get up go to reception straight away! got up put shoes on thought I was going to either pass out of be sick room spinning!!!! held onto the door frame!! staggered to the reception bit told nurse sorry took so long but think I am going to pass out! got told thats it and shut and locked door behind me! didnt even offer to help me back to my room!!!!!!!!

Next I got lost thought I was going to be sick staggering all over the coridoors from one side to another looked really drunk! found room which was 7187 an hour later fell over on way in and just layed on bed till I found enough strength to get undressed and into bed!! :mad:

 

Lisa

[BROOKSYL]

Many Cruises I forgot to mention we were also on the 11.30 whale watching tour you might have been on the same one!!!!

[klingoncruiser]

Hi brooksyl! Glad to see you made it home safe and sound. I am glad that Cpt. Larry worked out well. They are very good. qtmouser and lizalex also had a great time with him as well. I also posted a poor review of the Infinity. I will second guess going on her again. I will do Celebrity in the future, but having been twice burned it is getting harder and harder. It will be interesting to see if the current cruise gets bettter reviews. I wish I had know about those extra people on board. I would have talked to them. Time to move on I guess, there are more great cruises out there waiting for us.

 

Enjoyed talking to you at the CC meeting on the ship. Hope to meet you again one day.

[many cruises]

Brooksyl: We were on the 11:30 Whale Watching excursion with Captain Larry. Were you on the same one? That was one of the few highlights of our cruise. Sorry we didn't get to meet everyone...I never got my invitation to the CC party. I have just mailed my letter to Celebrity & I'm hoping others are doing the same.

[Welshlady]

I wrote to Celebrity last week but spoke to the travel agent yesterday and they said that I should have written via them and they would take up the complaints for us. I'm posting a copy of my letter to them today so i hope they have a bit more clout with Celebrity as they are one of the big UK agents. I'm a bit more hopeful now!

[many cruises]

Welshlady: A copy of my letter to Celebrity also went to my travel agent at her request. I hope others are writing too!

[Kruizefan]

Welshlady: A copy of my letter to Celebrity also went to my travel agent at her request. I hope others are writing too!

 

Regarding the Infinity cruise July 7/16 I wrote my complaints addressed to the ship officers and the Miami headquarter on the ship already.

I never got an answer or never heard about the two extra persons from Miami onboard.

But I was rather surprised getting that extra money from Celebrity on Saturday.

I think, $ 1300 is a good compensation for missing Sitka and the Inside passage.

 

Yes, we will do Celebrity next year again on another ship.

 

Peter

[many cruises]

Peter: We got $500.00 in compensation plus $200.00 towards another Celebrity cruise. What category room did you have? We met people who were in suites that got $700.00 in compensation plus the amount to use on another Celebrity cruise. Was your $1,300.00 compensation in addition to the amount they gave us onboard? If so, what was your total amount of compensation & amount towards a future booking? Thanks for the information.

[Welshlady]

I've just posted a reply on another thread to PeterGrebe. Interesting to see what comes out!

[Kruizefan]

Peter: We got $500.00 in compensation plus $200.00 towards another Celebrity cruise. What category room did you have? We met people who were in suites that got $700.00 in compensation plus the amount to use on another Celebrity cruise. Was your $1,300.00 compensation in addition to the amount they gave us onboard? If so, what was your total amount of compensation & amount towards a future booking? Thanks for the information.

 

many cruises,

 

in my Roll Call for our cruise I wrote my cabin # 8080 and that was Concierge Class.

The day before end of the cruise, on Saturday they topped their compensation from $ 900 to $ 1300.

 

Peter

[Welshlady]

Which week's cruise were you on? July 9th ??

[Kruizefan]

Which week's cruise were you on? July 9th ??

Welshlady,

we embarked on July 16th.

Peter