Celebrity Infinity Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,666 reviews

Disapponted Overall

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Celebrity Infinity
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wendiness
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Apr 2017

Having tried several other cruise lines (Disney, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean) we thought we'd give Celebrity a run. We had heard it was a step up in service and facilities. Sadly, we were disappointed. Service in the dining room was, for the most part, excellent, but the food itself was uninspired, bland and repetitive. How many times can you serve green beans and carrots as the side dish? Evidently, almost every evening meal. It seems potatoes are somewhat scarce if the size of the servings is any measure - two tablespoons of mashed potatoes was hardly enough. Guests soon caught on and by the end of week one (it was a two week Panama Canal cruise) began to order double servings in order to get enough food. One night diet soda wasn't available - it was on board but not in the dining room. Why it couldn't be obtained from any of the bars and why the dining room could not restock from the storage area wasn't explained. Speaking of sodas, the soda card was more expensive than I've experienced on other cruises (so not being able to get a soda at dinner was all the more painful). One lunch we were seated and, after a time, noted that everybody around us were finishing up their meals while we had yet to even see a menu, even though we were seated at the same time. A big no-no occurred during breakfast service. A server spilled about 1/8 cup of coffee on an upholstered chair and when I alerted him he brushed the fabric with his hand. Moments later he tried to seat a guest (who was wearing white pants, no less) but I warned her of the situation. Things weren't much better at the cafeteria: repetitive food with a few minor tweaks from day to day. For some reason, guests were not allowed to self-serve and had to wait for staff. This was bothersome as many times there was no staff present and one had to wait for someone to notice. Then, again for unknown reasons, restrictions were relaxes and guests COULD self serve, only to begin the silliiness again the next day. There was speculation that the rather dull dining room foot was the result of emphasis being put on speciality restaurant menus.

There should have been more activities on "at sea" days. The staff tried but there were just not enough of them. Celebrity really needed to spring for an additional staff member. So many missed opportunities to engage guests in activities. Prizes resulted in a bit of a revolt on the part of guests. In some cases prizes were lovely baseball hats and T-shirts, but mostly one gathered "prize cards" which could be redeemed at the end of the cruise. As you can imagine, the faithful game players expected their two-weeks worth of game cards to amount to something. My son had over 40. He had more than anybody else and was the only person able to afford the top prize - a towel. Some folks lined up to redeem their prizes only to walk away rather than stand around waiting when they realiized all they would get was a deck of playing cards. Pretty cheap, Celebrity, pretty cheap.

There was a speaker on board whose job it was, I believe, to give guests a quick rundown on what to expect at the next port. We only attended one such presentation. We were told that at our Costa Rican stop there was no sandy beach nearby. It would require a 45 minute drive. Yet, when we arrived, there was an absolutely stunning black beach right there before us, steps away, populated by locals and cruisers alike. Someone told us there had also been dire warnings that, in Columbia, one might walk to the McDonald's but would likely not make it back alive. Wow. Pretty scary stuff. Not sure he was doing the cruise any favors by scaring the guests.

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