Celebrity Infinity
February 5th, 2006
Caribbean: Fort Lauderdale; San Juan, Antigua, St Martin
David & Joy Robinson
We have sailed on 18 previous cruises on many cruise lines, mainly RCCL and Celebrity, plus a few of the smaller companies such as Fred Olson and MSC. But Celebrity is the cruise line we keep going back to, mainly because we like the level of service offered, and the style of cruise.
This is not a technical review, but just our opinion of this short cruise to the Caribbean. Firstly, as other reviews have said, the Infinity is a magnificent vessel. At 91,000 tons she big and beautiful and very much to our liking. We like the space and we like the service! I could go on at this point and look for the negatives of the cruise (you can always find some) as some reviews do, but I will concentrate on the positives.
1. Four sea days. Ee decided on this itinerary, because it had 4 sea days as we love to soak up the sun (we are from England and need the tan!) The weather was more or less perfect (only a little drizzle on one of the sea days). On the first sea day we were involved in an active rescue, when the ship attended a 75 foot luxury motor cruiser that had sung (10% above water) with a life raft close by. As Infinity got closer (only 50 yards away) we say a US coastguard floatplane approach the vassal, and after some time we moved away, only to be told by the Captain that the people on board had been picked up 1 hour earlier, good news, and good entertainment, you don’t get that on other cruise lines sea days!
2. Three Islands visited. All very nice (I will not review them, as there are better travel reviewers out there than me). But I will say, good ports, late leaving times 1800, 2000. 0100 and good shore excursions.
3. Entertainment on this ship was just perfect, from the shows to the poolside activities; the Cruise Director was active all day, and a good entertainer, and great manager. All his entertainment staff were very professional, and looked like they enjoyed what they were doing.
The food was good as was the restaurant; our waiter was one of the best we have ever had. Five-star service there when needed him, left us alone at other times.
OK, some negatives:
1. The trend to sell as much as possible was very evident. On the first night in the restaurant we were asked still or sparkling? If we did not know better, we would have been supplied bottled water for the rest of the week at $5 per bottle. Needless to say we asked for iced water, many did not! People selling bottled water at breakfast (going around with cart) shouting out water, water how many you want?
2. Cabin needed some loving care, toilet seat loose, and bedspread (day cover) marked and dirty in places. As you may know that do not clean these covers each cruise, so be warned. Get it changed if it looks dirty.
3. Bar prices! Big increase in prices since last year, over $10 for two bottles of beer! Two gin and tonics over $16!
OK only small negatives on what was otherwise a fantastic cruise, I would rate this cruise 8 out of 10 on meeting our expectations, 9 out of 10 on overall experiences. The ship was on the whole spotless, the staff were attentive, and the itinerary was great. Would we recommend it? Yes we would! We had one of our best cruises ever.
But come on Celebrity watch out for the small details, they make all the difference.
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