Infinity Alaska June 12-19 review

[bdabob]

First, I would like to thank all contributors to these Boards; your advice, opinions and experiences have been invaluable to us while planning our cruises; thanks for sharing!

I will keep this review short and will gladly answer any further questions.

This was our fifth cruise and our second on Celebrity (we were on the Summit last summer for 12 night cruise in the Med.).

My wife and I are both mid 50's and we travelled with our 14 year old son. We stayed in a Celebrity Suite which was perfect for the 3 of us.

We spent 2 days in Seattle prior to the cruise and enjoyed great weather as we toured the city. We took the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus on it's one hour, 7 stop circuit. The views from the Space Needle were spectacular and that helped dull the pain of paying $21 for a hamburger!

We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront which is directly across the street from Pier 66 where the Infinity docks. The Bellman collected our luggage from our room and then walked them over to the ship's check-in; brilliant!!

Embarkation was a breeze. We boarded about 11:45 AM and enjoyed a buffet lunch until our cabin was ready at 1:00 PM.

We toured the ship to acquaint our son with the layout and she certainly passed muster on first glance; nothing glaring and no obvious wear and tear.

The cruise was great and we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. Our son spent quite some time participating in the teens activities and he made lot's of new friends.

The Hubbard Glacier was the highlight of the trip. The Captain got us within one third of a mile from the glacier which we understand to be a rarity. The naturalist on board, Brant Nixon (I think I have that right) was nothing short of brilliant. He narrated on the PA system as we approached the glacier and was incredibly entertaining. His lectures on various animals (Orca, Humpback, Eagles etc) are not to be missed.

In Ketchikan we took a float-plane to the Misty Fjords where we landed on a lake and spotted a bear with her cubs and some bald eagles: awesome.

In Juneau we took a ship excursion that included a boat ride to view Orca and Humpbacks, a salmon bake lunch, and a drive to the Mendenhall Glacier. Sadly we only saw a speck in the distance that the Captain claimed was a Humpback but we were entertained by a pod of Orca's for the 30 minutes we are allowed to track them.

There was one disappointment about the cruise and that was the staff. Perhaps we were spoiled last summer in the Med. but we just didn't get the welcoming feeling we expected. This view was shared by several others cruisers we spoke with.

I believe the new Celebrity policy on gratuities is partly to blame. In the past we were given vouchers on the last night to personally hand out. I would always top that up with cash for those that deserved it and it gave me an opportunity to thank them one on one with a handshake. It was a bit of a joke how they were always so close at hand the last night.

The Assistant Maitre'D stopped by our table once.

On this cruise only one out of the seven of the tipped staff came to thank me.....one! (our cabin attendant). At the end of dinner on the last night the waiter and his assistant disappeared never to be seen or receive the extra we had planned for them. The other guests at our table were also flabbergasted as they too planned to top up the grats!...amazing.

Our suite came with a butler whom we saw twice in 7 days! On day one he introduced himself and told us that he would stop by with a tea trolley each afternoon and leave sandwiches and canapes. We told him to cancel the sandwiches and canapes but could he substitute a small chesse plate instead to nibble on before our 8:30 dinner; no problem, he said. Every day we returned to find sandwiches and canapes. If I had seen him I could remind him but......not to be.

I'm told that the staff learn up front whom has prepaid and perhaps that has had an effect on performance.

The bar staff were excellent; very friendly and talkative.

The food in the MDR was good but we felt it lacked the "wow" factor we experienced last year. The specialty dining restaurant was excellent.

We will choose Celebrity again and hope that they can iron out their gratuity system....it isn't working.

[Breezey]

I just wanted to put my two cents in so others about to sail are offered differing opinions re the service.

 

We were on the 11-day May 11th Alaskan Infiinity sailing and had the totally opposite service experience from our incredible butler, excellent waiter, bus 'person" to the the Maitre D on 5 who would stop by and chat with us regularly. This was our 7th cruise (2nd with Celebrity) and we personally felt the service was the best we ever experienced.

 

I do agree that the food in the MDR was just "good" and far from "wow" and the specialty dining room was a wonderful experience.

 

Alaska is incredible!

[nauticalnancy]

THANKS to both of you. My college girlfriends and I are taking the 7-day Infinity cruise in August, and every bit of info is helpful. Glad you both enjoyed your cruises, I'll post a cruise review when I get back.

[bdabob]

Breezy,

Glad to hear of your cruise experience. Out of curiosity, did you participate in the pre-paid gratuities?

[Breezey]

Breezy,

Glad to hear of your cruise experience. Out of curiosity, did you participate in the pre-paid gratuities?

 

Out of 7 cruises we have taken, I think 6 were pre-paid gratuities. I think everyone is a participant unless you choose to opt out at the beginning.

So to answer your question yes we participated in the pre-paid gratuities plus we thought our butler and waiter were so fantastic we gave them each an extra gratuity at the end.

 

It is too bad that you had the service levels you did as it does impact the overall cruise experience. Now if they could only improve the food and keep consistent service from trip to trip.

[Solstice23]

Glad you had a great cruise,

 

We disagree with the tipping being the issue. In fact we were on the Summit with automated tipping this past March, and it was some of the best service we have ever had. I think it just depends on the Hotel Manager and the team in place and moral, just like one land based store etc versus the same in another area

[djh]

We were on the cruise and had an absolutely fantastic time. We were curious about the pre-paid tipping thing and asked our waiter about the change since it was still an option when we were on Millie six months ago. He said that it was fairly new fleet-wide but a good thing for them, since the last night of the cruise is spent in Victoria and dinner attendance was rather low. I always worried about these hard working employees getting stiffed by some "less than generous" passengers so I think that its a great idea. BTW, our waiter was there the last night until we left the dining room, and did receive extra tips from several at our table. Also, our butler was awesome, never forgetting any request or detail, so I'm sorry yours was not up to par. Food in the MDR was okay, but not as good as in years past. United States speciality dining was excellent. The cellar master Heinrich? was great and extremely knowledgeable about pairings and our personal taste in wines. I agree about the naturalist, and the glacier. We were lucky enough to be on the bridge for part of the glaicer visit and that made the glacier even more special. All in all, a great trip on a great ship!

[Toothfairy754]

bdabob

I am curious who your butler was on the Infinity.

[C 2 C]

If you still have any of the dailies, would you be able to post the following names:

 

Who’s On Board?

 

SHIP……Infinity……………

Sailing Date………June 12 2009…………

Captain: ……………

Hotel Director…………

Cruise Director…………

CC Host(ess)……………

 

Entertainers:

 

Party Band………………

Rendezvous Lounge: ….

String Quartet……………

Michael's Club……………

Acapella Group……………

Guitarist……………………

[Shirley C]

Thanks for your review. We were on the Infinity last year with Brent Nixon and you are right, he is awesome. I hope he is onboard next year when we will be on the Infinity once again.

[pspercy]

our waiter was there . . . and did receive extra tips from several . .

 

What would a typical "extra" be in cases like this, expressed as $/day ?

[bdabob]

Toothfairy754; his name was Edele.

I have no problem with the pre-paid grats; in fact I think it works well for the guest and the staff. The difference now is that there are no vouchers to hand out on the last day/night and, in our case, we were disappointed that we only saw or received a thank you from one of the seven tipped staff. We have always "topped up" the envelope of those that deserved it as we appreciate they live off of their tips.

I'm not great with writing and expressing myself but we thought there was far less "pampering" than we experienced on the Summit a year ago.

[djh]

our waiter was there . . . and did receive extra tips from several . .

 

What would a typical "extra" be in cases like this, expressed as $/day ?

 

WE gave our waiter an extra $20, as did several others at our table, and he appeared to be thrilled with that.

[GRBlizz]

Hi, we just got back from the July 19-26 Infinity sailing, and I have just one burning question:

 

Did they tell you that you got closer to the Hubbard Glacier than any other cruise ship had gotten this year? They told us that, and we thought, "That's probably what they tell every group".

 

I don't recall how close they sais we were, I remember 3/10 of a nautical mile, and then I think we kept going. Not sure.

 

We absolutely loved seeing Hubbard, and it was a highlight of the trip for us as well (although there were several other sights battling for top honors on that wonderful itinerary). I just wondered what they had told you.

 

By the way, we stayed on our aft balcony the whole time as DH is in a wheelchair and we didn't think we'd do well battling the throngs up front. We thoroughly enjoyed the sights cruising into the bay, and were awed when he turned the boat around for a full-glacier view. My pictures are posted here if anyone's interested. http://lachances.com/Alaska/Alaska_Cruise/Alaska_Photos/Pages/Hubbard_Glacier.html

[Indogal]

Who’s On Board?

 

SHIP……Infinity……………

Sailing Date………June 12 2009…………

Captain: ……………

Hotel Director…………

Cruise Director…………

CC Host(ess)……………

 

Entertainers:

 

Party Band………………

Rendezvous Lounge: ….

String Quartet……………

Michael's Club……………

Acapella Group……………

Guitarist……………………

 

I just returned from the 19-26th cruise to Alaska on Infinity. Although I do not have the dailies, based on memory:

 

Captian: Theo Mitropolous (I think he may be relatively new based on a story the cruise director told)

 

Cruise Director: Artie Anderson (be prepared to hear "Hakuna Matata" a lot!)

 

Party Band: Top Notch

Acapella: Soundwaves

Guitarist: Cesario

 

I know the strings group was a 3 piece ensemble, and Michael's Club had a man who was a pianist/singer. Hope you find the information helpful. Maybe someone else can fill in the other blanks!

[vamosrafa]

I just returned from the June 19-26 Infinity cruise -- to celebrate my 50th birthday. I had the same impression of the service -- adequate but far from spectacular. I had to laugh about the canapes (which were disgusting). We kept asking for cookies instead, and we finally got them in the end. But not for the reason we wanted.

 

My BF has alllergies and asthma. He was having some trouble breathing, so we went to the ship's doctor on Wednesday morning. His lungs were clear, but they did a flu test snd he tested positive for Influenza A. I tested negative, but they isolated us both in our cabin for the rest of the trip.

 

I understand why they did it. What I don't understand is the way they handled it. The service level did not improve, even though we couldn't leave our room. And even though they posted a 24/7 security guard outside our room to make sure we didn't leave. I had to repeatedly call to request information and items -- even food. We often didn't get what we ordered, and it was a huge hassle to try to get them to remove costs from our bill. For example, we were not supposed to be charged for soft drinks since I had a soda pass. The soda pass does not work with room service. Try explaining that to people who don't listen. In the end, they credited my soda pass and sent some complimentary cans of soda. But it was a huge hassle.

 

The compensation for all this hassle, and the spoiling of our vacation? A two-day credit on a future Celebrity cruise -- as long as we go within a year. I have no intention of cruising against with Celebrity, so I'm going to request a refund. I don't think they could pay me to go on another cruise. The experience was okay - if not spectacular - before then, but being confined to our cabin with a security guard right outside our door ruined it for us. If they had expended the same amount of resources trying to make our isolation more comfortable, and to adequately compensate us for the loss of a significant part of our vacation, I would have a whole different view.

[GRBlizz]

Vamosrafa, I am so sorry your BF got sick; that is no fun at all. I guess the good news is, if it happened on Wednesday, you only missed about two days of the cruise. Hopefully you had a great time the rest of the cruise. I think that the offer of two free days was a fair one. After all, it was not their fault that your BF came on sick, and they do have an obligation to protect the other 2000+ passengers.

 

Out of curiosity, what did you expect them to do for you to make it easier for you to be cooped up in a cabin? And what special obligation did they have, since they didn't cause the problem in the first place?

[C 2 C]

Who’s On Board?

 

SHIP……Infinity……………

Sailing Date………June 12 2009…………

Captain: ……………Theo Mitropolous

Hotel Director…………

Cruise Director…………Artie Anderson (be prepared to hear "Hakuna Matata" a lot!)

CC Host(ess)……………

 

Entertainers:

 

Party Band………………Top Notch

Rendezvous Lounge: ….

String Quartet……………

Michael's Club……………

Acapella Group……………Soundwaves

Guitarist…………………… Cesario

 

I just returned from the 19-26th cruise to Alaska on Infinity. Although I do not have the dailies, based on memory:

 

I know the strings group was a 3 piece ensemble, and Michael's Club had a man who was a pianist/singer. Hope you find the information helpful. Maybe someone else can fill in the other blanks!

 

Thanks for posting. I will add this to the Who's Onboard thread,

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=20145640#post20145640

 

The Cruise Director is much newer to Celebrity than the Captain. We sailed with the Captain on Century two years ago and he recently was Master of Azamara Journey. Artie Anderson started his Celebrity contract in April I believe.

[Breezey]

Toothfairy754; his name was Edele.

 

Not that's something. We also had Edele as our butler on our May 11th sailing. Perhaps its because we had never had a butler before but we thought he was terrific. Go figure.

 

And after experienced many really obnoxious over the top Cruise Directors, we thought Artie was great. However we thought the activities lead (or whatever they are called) was obnoxious.

 

So many people, so many opinions. Makes life interesting.

[bdabob]

GRBlizz,

Yes they gave us the "closest to the glacier" line but I believe we were the second cruise of the season so perhaps technically they were right. Either way, the Hubbard is one of natures marvels and the highlight of the cruise.

Breezey,

Glad to hear Edele was so superb for you on your cruise. Sadly for us he was a ghost and the one minor daily request we made, a cheese plate instead of canapes etc., was ignored. My DW has reminded me of our Summit cruise last summer when we hardly ever had to use our room key as our Butler and/or Room Attendant were always in the hallway and kindly opened our door for us before we had to fumble to find our card.

[vamosrafa]

Vamosrafa, I am so sorry your BF got sick; that is no fun at all. I guess the good news is, if it happened on Wednesday, you only missed about two days of the cruise. Hopefully you had a great time the rest of the cruise. I think that the offer of two free days was a fair one. After all, it was not their fault that your BF came on sick, and they do have an obligation to protect the other 2000+ passengers.

 

Out of curiosity, what did you expect them to do for you to make it easier for you to be cooped up in a cabin? And what special obligation did they have, since they didn't cause the problem in the first place?

 

Well, it is very likely that if he got the virus, he got it on board. He felt fine when we boarded on Friday.

 

I think they had an obligation to provide full information regarding the isolation, to explain what would (and would not) occur, and to provide good (if not excellent) service to us in our cabin. We were left in the dark regarding many aspects of what was going on (especially regarding whether we would be allowed to get off the ship and go directly to the airport). I had to fight for dribs and drabs of information and to get things delivered to our room.

 

They did not offer us two free days. They offered us a credit toward another cruise. I consider them very different.

 

Again, I think it could have been handled a lot better from a customer relations perspective. We were treated like a dispensible commodity, and not a valued customer who just happened to get sick on one of their ships.

[cruiser-sue]

First, I would like to thank all contributors to these Boards; your advice, opinions and experiences have been invaluable to us while planning our cruises; thanks for sharing!

I will keep this review short and will gladly answer any further questions.

This was our fifth cruise and our second on Celebrity (we were on the Summit last summer for 12 night cruise in the Med.).

My wife and I are both mid 50's and we travelled with our 14 year old son. We stayed in a Celebrity Suite which was perfect for the 3 of us.

We spent 2 days in Seattle prior to the cruise and enjoyed great weather as we toured the city. We took the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus on it's one hour, 7 stop circuit. The views from the Space Needle were spectacular and that helped dull the pain of paying $21 for a hamburger!

We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront which is directly across the street from Pier 66 where the Infinity docks. The Bellman collected our luggage from our room and then walked them over to the ship's check-in; brilliant!!

Embarkation was a breeze. We boarded about 11:45 AM and enjoyed a buffet lunch until our cabin was ready at 1:00 PM.

We toured the ship to acquaint our son with the layout and she certainly passed muster on first glance; nothing glaring and no obvious wear and tear.

The cruise was great and we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. Our son spent quite some time participating in the teens activities and he made lot's of new friends.

The Hubbard Glacier was the highlight of the trip. The Captain got us within one third of a mile from the glacier which we understand to be a rarity. The naturalist on board, Brant Nixon (I think I have that right) was nothing short of brilliant. He narrated on the PA system as we approached the glacier and was incredibly entertaining. His lectures on various animals (Orca, Humpback, Eagles etc) are not to be missed.

In Ketchikan we took a float-plane to the Misty Fjords where we landed on a lake and spotted a bear with her cubs and some bald eagles: awesome.

In Juneau we took a ship excursion that included a boat ride to view Orca and Humpbacks, a salmon bake lunch, and a drive to the Mendenhall Glacier. Sadly we only saw a speck in the distance that the Captain claimed was a Humpback but we were entertained by a pod of Orca's for the 30 minutes we are allowed to track them.

There was one disappointment about the cruise and that was the staff. Perhaps we were spoiled last summer in the Med. but we just didn't get the welcoming feeling we expected. This view was shared by several others cruisers we spoke with.

I believe the new Celebrity policy on gratuities is partly to blame. In the past we were given vouchers on the last night to personally hand out. I would always top that up with cash for those that deserved it and it gave me an opportunity to thank them one on one with a handshake. It was a bit of a joke how they were always so close at hand the last night.

The Assistant Maitre'D stopped by our table once.

On this cruise only one out of the seven of the tipped staff came to thank me.....one! (our cabin attendant). At the end of dinner on the last night the waiter and his assistant disappeared never to be seen or receive the extra we had planned for them. The other guests at our table were also flabbergasted as they too planned to top up the grats!...amazing.

Our suite came with a butler whom we saw twice in 7 days! On day one he introduced himself and told us that he would stop by with a tea trolley each afternoon and leave sandwiches and canapes. We told him to cancel the sandwiches and canapes but could he substitute a small chesse plate instead to nibble on before our 8:30 dinner; no problem, he said. Every day we returned to find sandwiches and canapes. If I had seen him I could remind him but......not to be.

I'm told that the staff learn up front whom has prepaid and perhaps that has had an effect on performance.

The bar staff were excellent; very friendly and talkative.

The food in the MDR was good but we felt it lacked the "wow" factor we experienced last year. The specialty dining restaurant was excellent.

We will choose Celebrity again and hope that they can iron out their gratuity system....it isn't working.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info as we will be on the Infinity on July 17th and in a suite with our son also. Any other good advise will be appreciated. We also were on the Summit last summer (July 10)to the Mediterraean for 12 days. We must be on the same wavelength.

Susan

[bdabob]

Cruiser-Sue,

We were on the Barcelona to Venice sailing June 28/08.

Have a great time and enjoy the Hubbard Glacier, do not miss any of Brent Nixon's lectures/entertainment, try and dine at the specialty restaurant one night, and queue early for the waffles each morning!

Cheers,

Bob

[GRBlizz]

My mother has Eggs Benedict every morning while cruising, but this time she tried having them put the Eggs Benedict stuff on a waffle. She loved it and now has a new favorite cruise breakfast!

 

Personally, I was a big fan of the poached egg station, and tried several different varieties.

[UKDG]

 

And after experienced many really obnoxious over the top Cruise Directors, we thought Artie was great. However we thought the activities lead (or whatever they are called) was obnoxious.

 

So many people, so many opinions. Makes life interesting.

 

Definitely! We were also on the June 19th sailing and thought the "Hakuna Matata" thing odd at best. Between that and the obvious rip-off of Epcot's Reflections of Earth show at the last performance by the dancers & singers, we wondered if we were on a Disney cruise.

 

We enjoyed the other activities staff more than Artie. The guy who emceed the Newlywed Game came through with a nice little extra for the winners, the honeymooning couple, and we were pretty impressed by that.