Celebrity Infinity Cruise Review by willden

Our welcome pack included details of a range of tours and attractions on offer in Buenos Aires and surrounds. On our first day in BA after sleeping in and a late breakfast, we organized a half day orientation city tour which gave us our bearings and a useful understanding of the layout of the city and location of most major attractions. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, well laid out with wide boulevards, impressive statues and historical monuments and plenty of green space for relaxing and enjoying the ambience of the environment. We followed this by an "obligatory" tango and dinner show at a very up market venue, the Carlos Gardel restaurant and theatre. Good food, plenty of quaffable local wine and a splendid tango show with very lithe, athletic dancers in beautiful costumes, showing the evolution of the dance over the past century. Very enjoyable evening.

The following day we did our own thing exploring the city on foot. After a late breakfast and some last minute shopping, we spent the balance of the last day soaking up the sunshine around the hotel pool prior to the commencement of the cruise.

EMBARKATION For some reason (we were never given a satisfactory explanation), we had been advised not to check in before 18h00 at the earliest despite the sail departure time scheduled only three hours later at 21h00. We nevertheless decided to go to the dock a bit earlier at about 16h30 only to find that we were among the last passengers to check in - many had checked in shortly after midday. We understand that certain cabin categories have priority check in privileges but we were still at a loss as to why we were asked to check in so late. We had booked and fully paid for the trip over nine months in advance, had a balcony cabin category so there did not seem to be any valid reason why we had been relegated to the back of the queue as it were! However, despite this minor glitch embarkation formalities were completed relatively smoothly and we were soon onboard enjoying a welcoming glass of bubbly.

THE SHIP Celebrity Infinity proved to be something of a disappointment. In retrospect we probably had unrealistically high expectations of the cruiseline which is marketed as a premium carrier. While our overall experience was generally as good as any of our previous cruises (Royal Caribbean, MSC, Star and Norwegian), it is not significantly better than any of our previous cruises. Indeed, many passengers who had previously traveled with Celebrity remarked that there had been a discernible downscaling in overall standards. We guess this is probably the case with most other cruiselines as well as pressures to cut costs and focus on the bottom line increase during the current global economic crisis. Despite these misgivings, Celebrity Infinity is a lovely ship, well laid out with generally very good facilities and amenities. She is however, showing signs of her age and is clearly in need of refurbishment. Notwithstanding obvious signs of wear and tear all public areas are nonetheless kept impeccably clean at all times so we had no complaints on this score.

Our balcony cabin was what one would expect on a ship of this nature. No better or worse than we have experienced on other cruise operators such as Royal Caribbean, Star, MSC and Norwegian. Somewhat cramped but with adequate space and plenty of nooks and crannies to store things. Our starboard balcony proved to be a godsend, particularly for this trip as many of the major viewing attractions could best be seen from the starboard side.

DINING We generally found the food on this cruise to be good to very good. We dined most evenings in the Trellis restaurant (main dining room) and found both the food and service to be generally of a very high order. The Maitre'D in our section of the dining room had South African connections so he took it upon himself to ensure that our table had no cause for complaint. Buffet meals in the Oceanview Café and Grill were invariably varied and well prepared, while health breakfasts in the Aquaspa Café were particularly good. In fact probably our worst meal on the entire voyage was in the specialty restaurant the SS United States, which charges USD 30 per head for the privilege to eat there. Although the ambience of the restaurant and quality of service were outstanding, I had to send my overcooked fillet steak back twice. I did not bother a third time as by now, all the other guests at our table had completed their meals and were waiting for deserts and coffee. I received an apology form the Maitre'D. However, I would have preferred that he waived the USD 30 couvert!!

ENTERTAINMENT As seems typical on cruises, entertainment ranged for the reasonably good to the appallingly mediocre. A couple of so called comedians were well past their sell by date while on the other hand, we thought one or two of the Vegas style extravaganzas performed by the ship's energetic singers and dancers were very good indeed. Bands and ensembles playing at various venues throughout the ship were generally of a high standard.

FITNESS AND RECREATION Not up to standard expected from a so called premium cruiseline. Equipment appeared to be poorly maintained - many items of equipment were inoperable and no attempt seemed to be made to repair these items notwithstanding the 15 day cruise; calibrations on e.g. the treadmills were completely inaccurate and way off acceptable limits; at times sweat towels were unavailable; while the change rooms were often left in a mess. Range of available equipment was nonetheless satisfactory.

SHORE EXCURSIONS We found these to be very expensive. Passengers were continually warned not to opt for local tours as these were likely to be unreliable. However, in most ports one could find perfectly competent local tour operators willing to offer tours almost identical to those promoted by Celebrity, at considerably reduced cost. Although we did not use any such local operator (except at our final destination in Valparaiso), fellow passengers we spoke towho did arrange local tours were all more than satisfied with what they paid for.

In the event, we only did two ship excursions and both although enjoyable, were incredibly expensive for what actually was on offer. We enjoy touring new destinations on foot wherever feasible so in most destinations, we did our own thing using the more than adequate street maps usually handed out for free as we disembarked.

SERVICE We certainly had no complaints about the general standard of service which at all times was friendly, courteous and efficient. Most operational staff were either East European, Indian, Filipino or Chinese but language was never a problem. The service we received from our cabin steward and the waiting staff in the main Trellis restaurant was particularly commendable.

THE CRUISE All in all this was a fascinating, interesting and exhilarating cruise experience. The southern reaches of South America that we toured are hauntingly beautiful. Remote, desolate, barren but with fantastic scenery. At times the scenery is quite breathtaking, particularly the Cape Horn area, the Beagle Channel glaciers and the Chilean fjords. The majestic views of the glaciers in the Beagle Channel were almost worth the cost of the trip alone! Rounding of the Cape Horn is also a spectacular and once in a lifetime experience. We had been anticipating rough stormy seas usually experienced when rounding the Horn (the wife had already taken her motion sickness pills in expectation of inclement weather), but, somewhat disappointingly, the seas were absolutely benign on the day! Apart from the truly magnificent scenery, many parts of the continent that we cruised by are pretty bleak. After the big cites of Buenos Aires and Montevideo and the Punta Del Este holiday playground, most of the ports towns we docked at are small, remote, sparsely populated and with minimal attractions other than their generally spectacular settings. Additionally, many are not yet really geared for tourism and many shops in most of the smaller ports still closed for the traditional Spanish siesta from 1 pm to 4 pm despite the fact that there were usually two cruise ships in town with hundreds of well heeled Americans anxious to find ways to spend their dollars! Not an area we would necessarily want to visit again but we are really glad we have now had the opportunity of seeing some of the major sights and attractions of this vast, beautiful continent. As one of the gust speakers on board (an expert on South America) noted in one of his knowledgeable and humorous talks, visiting the southern tips of this remote continent should really be seen as embarking on an adventure; an adventure to areas that few people have had the privilege of experiencing. Indeed, many of the parts of continent we cruised past have probably never ever been inhabited - at least not by the human species, leaving one with a feeling of awe and wonder about how the ancient explorers must have felt when first witnessing the splendour of this majestic part of the planet.

DISEMBARKATION Disembarkation proceeded smoothly. We had arranged a couple of private tours prior to returning home. Firstly a very interesting tour of Valparaiso, the old port town which now houses the Chilean parliament, and it's modern sister Vina del Mar followed by a scenic drive though the Chilean winelands on route for our overnight stay in Santiago. The following day we toured the city of Santiago and surrounds before being dropped off at our airport hotel to prepare for our long trip back to South Africa starting with 03h45 wake up call the following morning! CONCLUDING COMMENTS All in all a great trip tempered only by some slight misgivings about the quality of Celebrity which failed in some instances to live up to it's marketing promise of a premium cruise experience. A final comment on the liquor policy of most cruiselines. Liquor prices on board are horrendously expensive particularly for those like us who have to closely watch the purchasing power of our own currency against the dollar. One can fully understand the prohibition on bringing liquor on board for consumption in public bars and restaurants. However, the current practice that prevents passengers bringing limited liquor on board to enjoy in their own stateroom, is a policy cruiselines such as Celebrity really need to question and reconsider failing which they run the risk of killing the golden goose as more and more passengers transfer to cruiselines that include limited free alcohol in their pricing structures and hence ultimately offer better value for money.