We're Baaack! Infinity Nov 25, 2007

[CrabbyHarper]

For me and DH this was a nearly perfect cruise! Just got in from Buenos Aires this morning. Experience in BA airport unbelieveably horrid, but otherwise it was a great vacation.

 

More later when my eyes can focus.

[re7777]

I'm glad you had such a great time. I will be sailing on Infinity on 12/22 out of Santiago. I look forward to hearing about your experiences on the ship and in the different ports!

 

Thanks,

Robin :D

[CathyK2]

Looking very forward to hearing about your cruise. Although your itenary isn't exactly like ours (we are doing Santiago to Buenos Aires), I know there are definitely similaries and interested to hear about the ship as well.

 

Sorry to hear about the airport being disaster. Guess we will find out first hand soon enough but any warnings are always appreciated. Glad you had a good time.

 

Cathy

[Ananova]

I'm happy you had a great time. We're doing Valparaiso to Rio in January and can't wait to hear about your cruise, the ports and your good experiences.:)

[Troy86]

Hi there,

 

Welcome back. We are on the 12/22 cruise as well. Can you elaborate on your airport troubles?

 

How was the tendering on each port? Any delays?

 

Thanks,

 

Noel

[CrabbyHarper]

Still trying to catch up at work, so here are a very few details.

 

We DID make it to the Falklands and this was a highlight for me. A bit of England plunked down in the South Atlantic. Wish we could have had more time there, and I wish there had not been another cruise ship in port. The population of the island was more than doubled on the day we were there. The tour of Stanley, and the short visit to the museum, was really interesting! DH saw the penguins at Sparrow Cove and saw tons of penguins and their chicks.

 

Tendering in general is really a bit of a bother, but all went as smoothly as possible.

 

Infinity is a lovely ship - I like the contemporary style and some of the decorations are really whimsical. One disappointment was the T- pool. For the first part of the trip it was cold, and the jets at the sides never worked.

 

The Rodizio dinner on Deck 10 in the Casual dining area is fantastic! The food is Patagonian, and vegetarians should avoid this experience as barbequed meats of many types are the mainstay of the menu. One has to make reservations for this dinner, but that is not hard to do. We ate there three times and loved it, even though the menu does not change.

 

It does not matter which side of the ship your cabin is on. Most of the times we were at sea we could not see the shore.

 

Airport troubles at BA were probably the result of too many cruise passengers (three ships in port) being dumped into the airport at once on a Sunday. If I had to do this again, would probably stay over and fly home on Monday.

 

More later.

[AZjohn]

The Rodizio dinner on Deck 10 in the Casual dining area is fantastic! The food is Patagonian, and vegetarians should avoid this experience as barbequed meats of many types are the mainstay of the menu. One has to make reservations for this dinner, but that is not hard to do. We ate there three times and loved it, even though the menu does not change.

Hi,

Is the Rodizio dinner a different option to casual dinning or is it what they call the casual dinning? We were planning to eat most our meals in the casual dinning room on our cruise and would like to know more of what it is like. I guess the menu stays the same but is Rodizio and the sushi additions while you dine there?

Thanks,

John

[CrabbyHarper]

The normal "Casual Dining" Option IS the Rodizio Dinner for the SA cruise.

 

In the evening, these are the options:

The Trellis Dining room - dress code applies - supposedly.

The United States Restaurant - we ate there twice, well worth the extra money - dress code applis

Casual Dining on Deck 10 - the Rodizio Dinner for the SA cruise - we ate there 3 times - dress may be casual, but dress code prevails over the rest of the public areas.

The buffet in the Oceanview Grill - pasta, pizza, salad, sushi, soup. Also ice cream.

 

In my opinion, the evening buffet offerings in the Oceanview Grill could and should be more substantial, to include at least one or two entrees. DH and I do not like eating in the dining room, although we did so 3 times on this cruise. We normally prefer the Casual Dining Option, but because this was Rodizio every night, it was harder to get reservations, and the menu did not vary. Despite this, we found that the sea air shrank our clothes to a disgraceful extent!

[Tenngal]

Hi, Crabby! It was nice to meet you on the cruise. FYI, I stayed overnight in Buenos Aires, and the airport was still a big mess. I don't think that having cruise ships in port made any difference. It's just a big, crowded mess!

For those leaving BA, be there 4 hours before your flight time! You'll need every minute of that time!

For those docking in BA--arrange a private tour or transfer to your hotel or airport. The taxi line was two hours long! There was another big jam up at the cruise terminal for disembarking, but it was apparent that people with prearranged transports got out a lot faster!

 

As Crabby says, the options for dinner outside of the main restaurant and the Rodizio dining are very limited. I overslept for dinner one night, wandered into the casual dining area, and was limited to pizza, pasta, or sushi. AZJohn, you'll be much better off dining in the main restaurant for most evening meals. Great food, too!

 

I must add my 2 cents' worth about the Falklands: the best penguin tour was at the Falklands, in my opinion. This was the only place to see the king penguins at Volunteer Point (the ship's tour is called "A Day with Royalty"). It's a rough 2-3 hours each way over peat bogs in 4-wheel drive vehicle, but boy-oh-boy, it's worth it! You'll see tons of Kings, Gentoos, and Magellenic penguins. FYI, there is a good thread about Falklands on the South America forum, started by Gixer.

[AZjohn]

AZJohn, you'll be much better off dining in the main restaurant for most evening meals. Great food, too!

Hi Tenngal,

I know the dinning experience for a lot of people is one of the many highlights on a cruise, mostly on Celebrity. I was hoping that the same option offered in the main dinning room of ordering a Cesar salad, shrimp cocktail, and a steak/chicken (regardless if it’s on the menu or not) would be available in the casual dinning room (regardless if it’s on the menu or not). Yes, I could handle those with sushi and ice cream for seven nights in a row:D . Is this possible in the casual dinning room?

Thanks,

John

[sle]

In Punta Arenas was the Infinity docked at the pier or was a tender required?We are on the Star Princess for Feb 19 which will include Ushuia and Punta Arenas and the Antarctica. It appears that in Punta Arenas a tender is required. There has been some talk that the port authority was considering larger cruise ships to dock at the pier. I believe that the Infinity and the Star Princess are about the same length. Did anyone book thru Francesca for the tour to the Seno Otway Penguin Colony and if so how was the tour?

[CathyK2]

Could we hear more about Rodizio? Is this a sit down restaurant with servers or is it buffet style? What hours is it opened? You say the food is Patagonian so I'm wondering how many choices they have on the menu or is it more served as a variety that is the same very night? Any details would be greatly appreciated.

 

I too would like to know if Punta Arenas is a tender or a docked port for Infinity. I have a tour group offering a tour to Magdalena if I can meet there at 7:30 am and the ship is to get in at 7, so if this is a tender port, I doubt I could make it in time for the tour. If you docked, how long did it take to get off the ship? Thanks again for details?

 

Cathy

[Tenngal]

AZJohn and CathyK2,

This was my 1st cruise with Celebrity. Apparently, the usual casual dining option does not apply for the South America cruise. Instead, the casual dining restaurant serves the Rodizio dinner each night, which is the Argentine beef dinner. It is a sit-down dinner, with servers. Reservations are required, and there is a $2 suggested gratuity charge for the dinner. The waiters dress up like gauchos, and it is good food. Otherwise, the only option is pizza, pasta/salad bar, or sushi, or go to main dining room.

 

sle and CathyK2,

At Punta Arenas, we were tendered to the port. However, the Norwegian Dream was docked (it is a smaller ship).

[CathyK2]

Tenngal,

 

Thank you for your response. If you were tendered in Punta Arenas, I would imagine it's going to be that way for the rest of the season while in South America. And with that, it makes it hard to book tours that will have you off the ship in such short order or you miss the tour. When they are asking for the money upfront with this situation....yep...guess I'll have to pass on that one.

 

As far as the Rodizio dinner, it sounds like a clever touch. Did you enjoy the food there? I'm sure we will eat in the dining room most of the time, but this place sounds rather cute. Is it something you need to make a reservation for days in advance or do they only do same day reservations as some lines do?

 

Great information and glad you had a good time.

 

Cathy

[CrabbyHarper]

My review on the Infinity SA cruise has been posted under member reviews.

 

There are two other dining options, the United States Restaurant. It is $30 per head, and well worth the price. We ate there twice. The food is really exquisite - too rich to eat every night, but nice for a special evening. The ambience is quiet, gracious and very relaxing - helped along by lovely live harp music.

 

You can also have room service, and during regular dining room hours can order whatever is on the menu for that night, as well as the regular room service menu.

 

The Rodizio dinner is great - a part of the Oceanview Grill is set aside for this, with linen on tables. There are waiters dressed as gauchos. There are two buffets - one is the salad and bread buffet, and the other is the empanada and hot vegetable buffet. Then the waiters come around with the barbecued meat on large skewers, and carve for you as you like it! Beef, lamb, pork and chicken legs. You can have the waiters visit you as much as you like - there is a block of wood on the table, red on one side and green on the other. As long as the green is uppermost, the waiters will keep coming around with meat. When you have had enough, turn the block over to the red side. Then there are a few dessert choices. The very best dessert on Infinity, bar none, is the walnut cake at the Rodizio! The ambience is very nice-much quieter and more relaxing than the dining room.

 

Tendering can be a problem if you have booked your shore excursions independently of Celebrity. Naturally, priority for tenders is given to the folks who have Celebrity shore excursions, so you may not be able to meet an early morning independent tour. And there is the potential problem of arriving late/clearing customs late/etc. That is why we usually book our excursions through Celebrity. It is more expensive, but much less of a worriment.

 

Just a comment on drinks: most martinis I got were quite acceptable - just gin, vermouth, ice and lemon twist, but the Manhattans varied in quality really badly. And IMHO the drink prices were a bit high.

 

One of the things I really liked is that we did not have to go through Customs and Immigration at every new country, unlike some Caribbean and Alaska tours. Our passports were collected by Celebrity at the beginning of the cruise and were returned to us the day before departure.

[CrabbyHarper]

I forgot to say that the Rodizio dinner is listed each day in the daily "poop sheet", with the notation that one has to make reservations by calling at certain times that day. However, the dinner was so popular that they DID, all unannounced, take reservations a day or two ahead.

 

We found it easy to get reservations at 6:00 pm.

[CathyK2]

CrabbyHarper,

 

Thank you so much for your detailed information both here and in the review in the other section. It sounds like a great time and I can't wait until we go! Thank you again.

 

Cathy

[Longboysfan]

Despite this, we found that the sea air shrank our clothes to a disgraceful extent!

 

Is that what does it???? I'm shocked.

 

Celebrity is totally responsible for not warning passangers about this.

There should be warnings posted ....... Well just about in every public venu about the ship.

[epiala]

Hi all,

 

I was also on this cruise. Tendering is a BIG problem for those of you on independent excursions!!! However, it did get better as time went on... A group of us around 15-20 did independent shore excursions in every port except Ushauia and we made every tour on time, although our first stop was a hassle. My advice is to 1) make friends with someone in guest relations 2) definately go to the Cruise Critic Party as Jeff, the Cruise Director and Allen, the events coordinator shows up. Both mentioned on separate occassions that cruise critic is very important to Celebrity and it helped to reassure them ,while waiting to tender, that reports on their poor organization skills would surely be posted on cruise critic as soon as we got home. After the debackle at the first port, our cruise critic group was permitted to leave the boat earlier than most X shore excursions. Also Concierge Class DOES NOT have priority disembarkation on the South American itinerary, a comment they forgot to include when people were booking so make sure to go with a large group.

 

The Rodizo was nice, it had typical Spanish sides as plantains, yucca and empanadas, as well as numerous meats.

 

We did not dock in Punta Arenas, not sure if it was due to our size or that NCL scheduled first but we did do our own excursion to Magadelena Island and was on the ferry before the X buses got there. Did I mention that the tour cost half of X and we were on the same ferry and had the same lunch?! So do not be afraid to book independently.

 

My husband and I left BA on Wednesday and the airport was empty and it literally took us 20 minutes to clear customs and get to our gate.

 

Along with Crabby Harper and Tenngal I would be happy to answer any further questions about the cruise or our tours.

[Tenngal]

Epaila--

Hello Joe and Liz! Glad you made it home. I'm also happy to hear that the airport mess had cleared up by Wednesday! I'd like to return to BA someday, but was concerned about the airport situation. I now see that there was a combination of factors: 3 ships at port, and the installation of the new president last Monday brought in a lot of visitors for that event as well.

Thanks for helping so much in getting us off the ship and to our tours in a timely fashion!

Take care...

Cynthia

[Trantor]

Crabby, thanks for the review and the answers. We'll be doing the reverse trip starting 1/6/08. Do you have any guidance re the usefulness (or necessity) of local currencies for onshore purchases, tips, etc. on this route, or should we just bring lots of greenbacks? Thanks.

[Tony UK]

Did anyone go on any of the Celebrity excursions? Grateful for any information.

 

AND what was the weather like.... I have no idea what to pack for a cruise like this. Any advice would be welcome.

Angie

[j!m]

trantor

$us is accepted everywhere on the itinery but make sure you have small bills available, sometimes 100s and 50s not so easy to spend so use credit card however, for large purchases cash is best in some of the ports(i forget which ones)because the merchants charge if you use a credit card. x will advise you about this nasty little habit in the daily newsletter so do check or you will be disappointed/annoyed.

 

tony

the sole place we used the x excursions was in the falklands.we did so because we were concerned about the prospect of actually being able to land(bad weather).we had heard that a lot of time the water is too rough for the tenders but there was no problem for our trip. by the way if i remember correctly the tender ride was 20 minutes or so to get to the dock in falklands. the ship anchors way out.

 

as for clothing, we dressed in layers. the weather is quite nasty. windy,cold on the southern part of itinery. we had hail in the falklands. it is also extremely changeable, one minute raining and wind howling, next minute sunny and almost pleasant. gloves and hat are very useful but hat without a big brim the wind gets quite strong. i wore gore tex golf rain suit, sweater,shirt, t shirt. ushuaia also has cold unpredictable weather so dress warmly. on the other hand buenos aires and montevideo were hot (shorts/golf shirt). so you need BOTH cold and hot weather clothing. oh yes, warm socks a must.

 

 

it is a very interesting and diverse itinery with lots to see and do albeit a few too many sea days for us but we had a great cruise hope you both do too

[Tony UK]

Jim

Thanks so much for your helpful reply. I have bought gifts of long silk underwear and fleece hats scarves and gloves for Christmas stocking fillers, and I thought I might be going over the top - sounds like it will be just the ticket for this trip.

We do like Sea days, and had 8 days at sea on our Hawaii trip! We set off from the UK on 11th February to BA, and then sail the 15th. Cant wait!

Tony Angie and Jane.

[j!m]

tony

 

dont know if you have ever spent time in Buenos aires, we hadnt but did spend 2 days there after cruise. its a wonderful city, lots to see and do. if you have time and can arrange it i would highly recommend time in buenos and a visit to a tango show as well. the one we saw was fabulous and i'm no tango fan. the city is beautiful. great steaks,shoppin for the girls etc. hada very nice leather jacket made to measure and it was not at all expensive.