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Celebrity Infinity

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Brisbane

We decided to take this cruise because of the Itinerary... The check in was quick although since we were returning a rental car in Vancouver, they had us going up and down couple of times until we got on the ship.

We were in cabin 7111 and our steward was great. No complains there.... The cabin was smaller than what we are used to based on their other ships, but it was OK... Bed - it was extremely hard and uncomfortable. I have back problems and there were nights when both of us couldn't sleep. Wanted to use the couch but it was too small and we couldn't. Not being able to sleep really put us in bad mood during the days. I sleep really well on the ships and was looking forward to it. Needless to say didn't happen. The friends we traveled with is a massage therapist and thank God she was able to help me so I can walk and move.

Specialty Restaurants - Qsine was a cute experience... Tuscan Grill - we love this place, this time not so much. A dinner of 4 took 2.5 hrs all together, ordering a drink took 25 min to  get it and if you want a refill it is another 25 min, on couple of occasions we had to fill our water glasses from the bottle they left beside the table.

Buffet - the food was OK, not many choices, but OK... Getting a drink - we gave up on this one... no one ever walked around us and we ended up getting it ourselves.

We liked the Martini Bar where we met other people with the same experiences of the beds and service. We are usually not high maintenance travelers and were really looking forward to this vacation.

In summary, the bad bed, nonexistent service made us quiet disappointed with this ship, as we still paid premium price for the cruise. It wasn't cheap.

This ship was Refurbished in 2015 and it doesn't look like it already.

We did enjoy the tour of the ship, this was probably the only good thing on the ship that we experienced.

We will be not taking this ship again.....

1st ship we are disappointed with Celebrity

Cruise Review: Celebrity Infinity - Pacific Coastal Sept 2nd 2018: concierge class stateroom 8120 and 8118. This was my second cruise in recent years and I booked with my Mom, but, with concerns of privacy and having our own space, we booked adjoining cabins at the solo fare for each, we had thought my dad or one of my friends might join in, but, their schedules did not allow it this time. 

Why did you choose this itinerary? 

We had a prior cruise booked through Celebrity to the Caribbean for this past fall, however as a result of the major hurricane the itinerary was shortened and changed. They gave us the option of a refund or to move the reservation if we wished. My parents and I had been to Vancouver and Seattle before and really liked the area but I had not been further south, so, it was good chance to see the west coast and California. So my mom and I moved the reservations and received a nice amount of onboard credit as well as a beverage package as our perks / incentive for staying. Good part on Celebrity for this. 

Embarkation process? 

Knowing we had a lot of luggage, we walked through the Canada Place terminal the day before to get our bearings. On embarkation day, at 10am we headed off with our luggage, down to where the signs directed us, however, we needed to really be a level lower for our checked bags drop off. Once that confusion was settled, it took about 20 minutes to clear customs and made our way to the cruise check in for our 10:30 embarkation time. When embarking, we came in the doorways on deck four in between the rendezvous lounge and the main foyer. The welcome champagne was a nice touch and we had about 30 minutes to kill before the lunch in the main dining room reserved for the concierge cabins. We lucked out in the solarium area in that the staff from the spa were doing 10 minute complimentary chair massages as part of the sales pitch to book a treatment. The concierge lunch afterwards was nice, they had a separate area where we could drop off our carryon luggage. The staterooms were ready about 2:00 and muster drill was around 3:00 with sail away at 4:00. The muster drill was quite a mess, we were in the rendezvous lounge with not enough seats and what could have been a 15 minute process was 45 minutes. It was stuffy and passengers were getting quite grumpy. My mom is nearing hip replacement and there were no available seats, so, she sat on a coffee table versus standing. We headed to our muster station as soon as the announcement was made, however there was only seating for about a third of the guests. This left a negative impression most certainly. The last cruise with Celebrity, we had the theater as our muster station and it was much better. 

First impression of the ship? 

I had cruised a sister ship three years before so the Infinity felt much like the Millennium but with different art and color choices in certain areas. Overall she was clean and in good condition. I noticed the outdoor wood hand railings were showing their age, sun bleached and not as new looking as the Holland ship that was also in port. Also, the glass partition of the balcony was dirty with salt spray and needed to be washed. I noticed this was cleaned on my balcony on the second day of the cruise, so, I think they stagger this each day. The interior of the ship seemed immaculate though from the start. Overall the ship was great, easy to get around and only feeling crowded on occasion. I enjoyed use of the solarium pool, the pool side bars, and watching a movie on the rooftop terrace. I think they have a tasteful offering of onboard amenities which fit their target audience. With only 20 kids on board, there wasn’t a need foe water slides or go-karts. This ship is about relaxation, music, imbibing adult beverages, and enjoying tasty food with new scenery every day. 

What type of state rooms? 

I booked a concierge class stateroom and my mom was planning on doing the same, so, we selected adjoining staterooms which had an interior door between the two rooms. The adjoining door was located next to the TV and swung into my stateroom (8120) so that the door would block the TV view. So we kept it closed mostly until we were about to leave to go out, however, that was really nice to have and made coordinating schedules easier. The balcony had a small table and two chairs, the cabin had a sofa which could be a fold out bed, a coffee table, dressing table and mirror, the beds joined together as one. They gave us a lot of hangers and two plush bathrobes per cabin for going to down to the pool or spa. The wall next to the dressing table had two hooks which could be used to hang your clothes for the day on which I thought was convenient. The bathroom had a rectangular shaped shower with a curtain and was big enough but did feel tight on either side. The shower had an adjustable shower head on a wand which could be turned to a massage type mode. Overall the bathroom was clean but could stand to be updated with tile and granite or marble, if they are going for the luxury line marketing. The concierge level meant we had a gentleman available to us in the Library just outside of our staterooms who could take care of guest relations type of concerns and worked to remedy some of our issues. Also as part of concierge we received a bottle of the Celebrity Brut Champagne per stateroom, afternoon canapés which were four little appetizer bites that changed each day and also there was fresh fruit of pears and green apples. The canapés were one of our favorite perks. Additionally we had an expanded room service menu for breakfast, a nice heavy duty zipper tote, the traditional celebrity tote and also use of umbrellas and binoculars. This sailing we did not have towel animals like our previous sailing, but, there were chocolates with turn down service. Our attendant Singh was very good, prompt and courteous when resolving some minor issues (my TV kept cutting out and loosing signal, and in my mom’s stateroom the safe did not work). Both issues were resolved before dinner the first night. There was twice a day service for the room where the bed was made in the morning, and folded down in the evening. Each time, empty drinks and dishes were taken away and the bathroom was cleaned and towels refreshed if needed. I felt our stateroom attendant did an excellent job, so, we left him an envelope with a nice note saying our appreciation and a bit of cash, this was on top of the cruise lines assigned gratuities. 

Thoughts on dining options? 

My mom and I each had signed up for a three meal specialty dining package on embarkation. Onboard there where three specialty up-charge restaurants offered: Q’Sine, Tuscan Grill, and Sushi in Five. Being that my mom doesn’t care for sushi, we skipped that and did one meal at Q’Sine and two meals at the Tuscan Grille. The Q’Sine was great, it had a fixed menu but that was because the table turned into a screen and projectors broadcast down onto the plates and table, a cute Pixar / Disney type animated show of the Petite Chef catching and preparing the ingredients for each course. After the animation stopped, the waiters would bring out the physical course portrayed in the animation. Tuscan Grill was the Italian steakhouse with pasta. The food and service there was exceptional. It is nice that they offer half sizes in the pasta, so you can order a steak and also a half size of your favorite pasta as well. The quality of the food in the main dining room was very good, the temperature was a touch cooler than in specialty dining but all the meals arrived warm. We ate in the main dining room 3 times, twice at a shared table and once by ourselves so we could sit by a window and watch sail away under the Golden Gate Bridge. Each time, the service was very lacking, drinks were never refilled before sitting empty for extended periods of time and we had to wait on the waiters. I’m more harsh on this as I eat all meals out at restaurants back home and have my usual waiters who know me by name. However, I think the servers onboard were running short staffed compared to my last sailing with Celebrity. I think we had just a waiter and an assistant, and it seems to me, a few years ago there was a waiter and two assistants. I could be wrong on this, but, regardless, they had too many tables to cover to properly address the customers. At the later seating, some of the wait staff were busy in their close down process and could have been helping with the guests. This area of service was a disappointment. Also, the maître d’ on our prior sailing would allow the any time dining guests to book reservations out for the length of the cruise. This sailing we were told we could only book one night at a time, so, we had to continually make reservations. The maître d’ was actually very short and rude to us on embarkation day, so, we did go down to guest relations to make a formal complaint. Next trip we will try and book the late seating and see if our issues are better with consistent wait staff and also to not have to deal with a rude staff member regarding reservations. Our final night to make the most of time with having to pack, we went to the lido buffet which was good. The pasta station was tasty and some other good choices on the buffet line and overall a much faster dining process than the main dining room. We chose select dining which was flexible, and in that we tried dinner before the shows a few times and also after shows as well. Going forward I will choose a fixed time late seating. I enjoyed seeing the show first and then having a leisurely dinner afterwards. Going to dinner first was stressful in regards to that I wasn’t sure that we would be through with the meal in time to get to the theatre and find a good seat. 

How was the entertainment? 

The entrainment on-board was outstanding! It was made a point that we were going to the show every night and we really enjoyed each show. There were two nights which were comedians during the 7:00 / 9:00 theatre show, but, they each came a second evening for a 10:45 follow up show. I made sure to attend all of these and it was great. Even the later night “adult” performances by the comedians were fun and were not vulgar or offensive. The musicians in the public spaces were out standing but the real shining stars for me were the lighthouse string duo. They had an electronic cello and violin I think, which they performed some pop and other well known songs and it was a great unique twist that I have not seen before. On the second formal night, there was a performer who climbed stacked chairs and combined it with balancing and headstands on top of the chairs which was on the upper landing of the grand staircase. That was really impressive while also nerve wracking! Celebrity does an outstanding job of putting together excellent shows that are just the right length. The shows run about 45 to 50 minutes and leave you pumped and wanting more. A critique of the late night club, it would be listed in the daily times of starting at 11:00 and going until late. Apparently late is deemed as midnight and so bar service at the constellation lounge shut down about midnight religiously and so the guests had to wander to find another bar that was open, typically, only the casino bar was open later than midnight. If the hours were to be 11:00 to 12:00, that is fine, my only request would be that they should have been printed in the paper that way is all. There were several of us who felt the party ended too soon on those evenings. The entertainers were spread out well between the various venues and they rotated venues so if you preferred to stay in one place each evening you would get a variety of shows or if you preferred a certain group, you had the variety of lounges and bar spaces to try out. 

Itinerary of ports? 

(Vancouver, Seattle, Astoria, sea day, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, & San Diego) 

These were all outstanding exceptional places to visit. It was a great sampling of the west coast with each having a unique feel! I would happily visit any of these cities again. We booked shore excursions in all of the ports with Celebrity and also the full behind the scenes ship tour on sea day. This is where we used our onboard credit and only had to pay a little extra for all. Giving the tours the caveat that they only do this twice a year, the excursions were very good however not a polished or organized as excursions that are repeated regularly. If this itinerary was repeated regularly and had the tour providers offered these weekly I would be more harsh in my criticisms. For instance the Mission in Santa Barbara made us wait 30 minutes to verify the tour operator had purchased tickets, and we had a bus driver get lost as well. Overall we saw a lot and had a ton of fun with some great info provided by the tour guides. 

Debarkation? 

We were staying extra in San Diego and so we requested the 10am disembark time slot to get us closer to the hotel check in time for dropping of our luggage. The concierge class stateroom meant we could use the constellation lounge for our debark waiting area. They provided coffee, juice, water and pastries in the lounge and we had a good view of San Diego. This was a pleasant experience and I’m glad we made use of it. I had time to relax and transfer photos off the camera and make some Facebook posts for friends and family. Once our time arrived, we grabbed our bags and headed to our Uber and were off to the hotel, much easier than expected. 

Wrap-up: 

My final thoughts, it was a wonderful vacation and I made memories that I will cherish forever. The other guests were all wonderful to visit with and I would gladly do it again. While there were some issues, Celebrity worked to improve and recovered in some areas. I would consider a suite next time so that I would have access to the suite restaurant Luminae or if not, then a fixed seating time to hopefully have better service in the main dining room. Despite issues, I have a lot of photos of my Mom and I smiling, so that’s what really matters, we had fun!

Great time, but not endeared to sailing with Celebrity next time

We are Diamond cruisers on Royal Caribbean.  Therefore we were able to join Celebrity as Elite Captain Club members.  So we wanted to try Celebrity to see how it compares to Royal Caribbean.  We were extremely disappointed.  The Celebrity Infinity has the potential to be a beautiful ship.  Unfortunately it has not been properly maintained since it was launched in 2001.  The ship looked drab and it never smelled fresh.  The service in the dining room was the worst we have ever experienced, partly because there were not enough waiters to properly serve the guests.  The food was bland, the selection was limited, especially the breads, and dinner took almost two hours every night - a real endurance contest.  The buffet options were dismal - don't even think about eating any breads, pastries or donuts. We experienced raw sewer smells in our cabin on three nights which woke us from a deep sleep.  Our cabin steward was one of the nicest stewards we have encountered.  Our cabin was very nice, though dated and in dire need of a refurbish.  We will not cruise on Celebrity again.

Wait for the 2020 Refurbish

Ilulissat

We picked this cruise for 2 reasons.  First, we really enjoyed our first Celebrity Cruise on the Solstice (Alaska-Tracy Arm Fjord) in 2017, after 4 prior cruises on different lines.   Second, we liked the itinerary with 10 nights and only 2 days at sea.  

Ship:  We were apprehensive that this older Infinity might be disappointing.  However, we found this "Solsticized" ship to actually be nicer than the Solstice (other than the Persian Garden).  

Embarkation:  Crazy easy; we got to SD cruise terminal at 11a, earlier than the official 11:30 "start" time. SD port terminal very efficient.  Security took 5 minutes. 0 wait time to check in with Celebrity in our AquaClass section, and the other levels looked like no more than 15-20 minutes at worst.  Bottom line, we were sitting on deck 12 about 20 minutes after the Uber dropped us off at the ship terminal.  (Note, we were the only ship at the SD cruise port on our departure date.)     

Food:  Very good; Blu was excellent for both food and service.  We bought a package for 4 specialty dinners which were great. Qsine had their first Le Petit Chef experience (including video on your table!), so not the tapas-like menu we expected.  But the video was fun and the food was the best meal of the trip, esp the 2 (!) lobster tails which were very tender and generous, and a filet on top of that.  The entertainment and enrichment talks were surprisingly good (better than our Solstice cruise which was just OK).  Service:  Other than a few surly bartenders and one MDR server, was top notch.  

Excursions:  Only took one (Monterey Aquarium & Carmel Mission tour) which was very good.  Other stops in this itinerary were super convenient for on-your-own exploring via Uber, walking tours, local shuttles.  Disembarkation:  Vancouver couldn't have been better.  We chose self-assist because we had an 11:20 flight and were paranoid about crowds from the ship to the airport, customs, etc.  We had a 7:30 disembark meet time, walked off the ship at 7:35 and after cab/bag check/security/customs were sitting in an airport lounge at 8:30.  Crazy efficient.  Of course, your results may vary depending upon # of ships disembarking, time of day, etc.  But I travel for work a LOT and this was smoother than most of my regular domestic experiences.  

Bottom line:  Take this cruise if it meets your budget, calendar and personal interests!!!  We are looking specifically at the Millenium-class ships for other destinations.

Great Itinerary, Ship and Service

Chose primarily based on itinerary . Embarkation in San Diego was the worst and longest of any cruise taken. From what we heard ,this is a Port of San Diego issue ,not Celebrity. In general ,no real complaints. First cruise on Celebrity ,and seemed there were a large number of passengers who had multiple cruises and had status. There were more "elite/suite" areas and events than I have ever experienced. Ship was easy to navigate around. Elevators were prompt. All meals were very good. The buffet was very clean, well organized,and extensive (milk could have been colder). We enjoyed the Spa Cafe for healthy lunches. We did celebrity Select dinner seating and never had an issue. The only port /excursion complaint was that trip to Muir Woods was cancelled with no prior notification. Exercise ares was great ,although TV could have been better. Service overall great. Entertainment average but enjoyable

San Diego to Vancouver 10 day

Overall solid cruise. Friendly staff. Luigi (Cruise Director) Lauren and Chico (Activities) were all great and extremely personable.

Dining room was great — I tried a lot of the fish, lamb, pork. Didn’t go for any of the up-charge dining rooms, although they pushed them a lot. Dining staff worked their tails off as usual to accommodate people. 

Ship is easy to navigate -- it's a good size, not a 'mega ship'. 

Cabin 3049 (inside) was small and a bit smelly and showed wear, but was very quiet and dark, so easy to sleep. The location was very convenient, near the gangways and not far from the main atrium and show theater. 

The thelassotherapy mineral pool near the spa is free and a real bonus! My favorite thing to do in the late afternoon was go and relax in the this mineral pool and then the sauna in the locker room, which has a large round window that looks out on the waves. 

Disappointing there wasn’t a formal tea (unless you are one of the more elite passengers). They do however put out tea items in the buffet restaurant in the late afternoon.

Good itinerary—mostly did our own thing. Tendered twice, which went smoothly with the use of a ticket system.

Lots of Americans, Canadians and Brits on board, several Europeans. 

I felt there could have been more daytime activities. It seemed like they had few activities, but they were very crowded because there weren't a lot of choices. My favorite thing was the 'silent disco'.

Evening shows could have been more varied --  lots of singers --  but they were all excellent entertainers. The show theatre was never packed, which was nice. Easy to get a seat.

The ‘show after the show’ in the Constellation Lounge is where Celebrity really shines! 

Embarkation in San Diego was long — 2 hours on your feet! Everyone complained about it.

Disembarkation was easy. We stored our luggage at the port in Vancouver, spent the day there and then flew home later that day.

An Overall Solid (Repositioning) Cruise San Diego to Vancouver.

The itinerary of the cruise up the pacific coast to Vancouver was exactly what we wanted and in spite of  a disaster on another cruise on the sister ship (Summit) we booked.  From the embarkation at the port of San Diego, which was almost like a third world country port, to the embarkation in Vancouver was a tribute to total ineptitude.  We had a dining room table for 11 but  from the first night till the 5th nite on a10 day cruise one other couple and ourselves where the only one to actually dine.  We asked repeatedly to have us moved to another smaller table but they refused..  Finally on the 8th day they moved us to another table and had another gentleman from open dining join us for the remainder of the cruise.    We had booked over $1000 in excursions throughout the cruise.  Each and Every one was a disaster.  Misinformation, misdirection to meeting places etc..  They took us to Solvang California at 9:30 AM and the stores didn't open until 10:00AM.  One excursion was scheduled for 9:30 AM and we received notice at 8: AM the same day that the cruise had been moved to 2:30PM  after we had gotten up at 6:30AM in order to make the original departure time.  We received so much credit back for complaints that we had enough to buy a new iPad and pay for a medical visit to the ships Dr.  The Summit and the Infinity had noted they were refurbished recently but the Summit had spots and stains all over the upholstery in the Dining room and rust everywhere on both ships.  They did update the area they added for the Blu Restaurant and the Aquaclass rooms but the rest were sorely neglected. Us plebians deserve some perks too!!!!! When we had to "tender"in several ports, I was almost afraid to get on the tender because of their  poor condition and filthy windows and rust everywhere.    I know this must sound lik esour grapes but we are faithful Celebrity cruisers and enjoy their cruises. We are booked on the new Edge in February and will be taking it again on a transatlantic in 2019 with a transatlantic in the fall of 2019, so we do love Celebrity. We hope that these heralded renovations of the older ships include these two ships or they should take them our of service!!!!!

You Got Us Twice BUT NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary, we had never visited any of these ports before and were looking forward to new places to see. After a long 10.5 hr flight we cleared US customs in record time and as we had booked the Celebrity package were taken to our hotel.  As scheduled we were collected from our hotel and transferred to the port again this was part of our package. we then had to stand in line for a very long 2.5 hours to check in this is a totally unacceptable length of time to stand in line. As Elite Captain Club members we have never waited more than 20 mins to check in. The long wait at check in meant that by the time we had put our hand luggage in the stateroom and freshened up lunch was nearly over. we were in Stateroom 7015, not  a location I would choose again. The stateroom itself was fine with amply hangers and drawers but the cut backs were very noticeable.

 No shower cap

No vanity kit

No pen

No paper

No envelopes 

yes some of us till communicate by pen and paper and although these were provided on request I expect them as standard on a 5* cruise.

Once again we chose the select dining option, which suits our needs however we were unable to make reservations for the time we wanted 7.30, and had to turn up and wait.

this brings me to my other main complaint DRESS CODE or lack of it Since doing away with "FORMAL NIGHTS" and introducing "ELEGANT CHIC" the dress code on these nights is none existent, with guests in the main dining room in shorts & t shirts and although I did complain to the MD who met me on the second of these nights to assure me the dress code would be followed it wasn't.

The food in the main dinning room was as good as it always has been with a varied choice and the staff were always friendly and helpful.

I really loved the fact that the pool was heated this was a real plus as the weather was cooler than I expected. The shows we went to were very enjoyable and the public areas as usual were spotlessly clean we enjoyed spending sea day in the constellationlounge spotting whales and food the rendezvous lounge very relaxing. Once again our favourite place was the cafe on 5 this is always a the best place on the ship.

I left my heart in San Fran

Hong Kong

The wife and I live on the West coast, and as such are as we say "cruise starved".  We found this cruise 1.5 years ago and jumped on it, anytime we can go on a cruise and not involve an airport we're in.  Being mostly Princess customers, but having sailed RCI and Carnival until now, decided to give Celebrity a try and also went for aqua class.  As I had heard we were met with a glass of champagne, and proceeded  into our ship.  I was a different style of build than we were used to,  but quite elegant...the artwork was unusual I will say.  Overall the condition of the ship is OK considering it's 16 years old, though much of it's furniture should be replaced.  Our cabin was just what we had been accustomed to, the bed was comfy, nice linens, though honestly if you can see your hand through a washcloth I'ts pretty thin.  Loved the shower,  we had an extended balcony due to cabin location and we loved it.  Our cabin steward we had yet to meet after two days, then we passed her in the hall, her name was Lin and she works tirelessly throughout the day...I really think they might require too many cabins to maintain, each time we saw her she seemed really tired and frantic, we tipped her extra I felt badly for her.  

Now on to food.....we were happy to have the Blu option, we liked most of the food and only had one morning breakfast incident to report.  It just took forever to get my food the second morning.  My head was exploding, while my wife was eating her meal.  I got my plate and finished way later than my wife.  Other than that time, service was very good, most seemed very happy and friendly. We found food in the buffet was quite typical of what we've seen on other lines.  The gelato bar seems to be a complete waste of space in our opinions.  The ice cream is so good in the buffet nobody was getting any, the girl had nothing to do anytime we looked....we tried one time and it was OK but nothing to go back for.  Speaking of wasted spaces.....what about that "Sushi on five"...?  We never got to go try it however it was on our "to do" list all week.  Never many people there the many times we went by.  Loved the salmon in the Spa cafe, it was right above our room so it was easy and healthier if we ate there.  A few things I wish....I wish they'd put ice in the smoothies did not like warm, I wish there were an ice machine no way to ice down drinks. We used the Persian gardens three times enjoying the experience but it is a "cave" in there.  Entertainment was great overall, we found a newly formed band called the Brian James band and thought they were the best band on board, each time we heard them crowds were large and their music for us had the best sound.  Speaking of which, if you have a chance to get to a "silent party" by all means do.  They pass out headphones each of which has three channels to listen to your style of music, each channel has a different color ear lights so it's a room full of folks dancing with no sound, the looks you'd see by folks walking into it was great.  We had a conga line, this is in the martini bar...it was a hoot.  Movies up on terrace we watched only one all week, they had lots of sci-fy stuff did not interest us.  I was able to smoke my cigars up on deck 11 port side, the space on 10 portside had sitting areas with furniture so low it was hard to get out of your seat, heard many complaints.  Luigi our CD did a good job, the theater shows are good.  Overall we figure we'd sail Celebrity again, but not Infinity class.  We'd like to sail the Solstice class and if we can group our status with RCI and get a good deal might.  Blu is nice having more personal service for sure, Fernando the wine guy is great, we had lunch twice in the dining room it was OK and the noise and chaos we'd hear going past made us happy to have our quiet.  Having the drink package was great, I did upgrade to premium but most likely would not again, I had two martinis and better liquor but in my case I don't really need to.  My wife did not upgrade so we took it as an experiment to see it's value.  Traveling up the California coast we enjoyed unbelievable weather, no marine layers anywhere, San Francisco was warm and clear sailing under the Golden Gate, sea day woke up to bright sunshine, the only clouds we had were in Ensenada in the morning.

Hopefully we can get more cruises to come out here to the West coast, we heard on board the Infinity had not been here since 2013.  One little thing I noticed that Celebrity does I've not seen until now, there are linen hand towels in the public restrooms that was a nice touch.

Celebrity first timers aqua review

This “California Coast” cruise was our 23rd on Celebrity among more than fifty overall for my wife and me.  We are now “Elite Plus” which added some additional perks like the 240 minutes of internet and multiple laundry options.  We very much enjoyed this cruise as the very good food and great service from the staff and crew members continues to be top notch.  This was the first of our B2B cruises so we continued onboard on our way down the Mexican Riviera and through the Panama Canal. 

Cabin 3104 was comfortable and quiet, even though it was very near the Grand Foyer atrium and the Guest Relations desk.  Our housekeeper, Edi, did a great job keeping our cabin neat and clean while being “invisible” while we were relaxing there. 

The Guest Relations staff members were very professional and helpful.  We were pleased to see GR Officer Garmen Zhang whom we met on our B2B2B cruises in Asia a year ago.  Our OBC from Celebrity and CruCon, our travel agent, was immediately posted on our account which helped us to plan how to spend it.  On other cruises, it took four or five days so this was the fastest ever. 

Our Captain’s Club Hostess, Paulina Ugalda, was very welcoming at the Elite and Elite Plus events.  She also personally escorted us down to the tenders in all three ports.  It was the most well done priority assistance we’ve ever had. 

It was great to see Assistant Chief Housekeeper, Gabriela, again who was so helpful when my wife fell ill on our B2B2B in Australia and New Zealand six months ago.  We were able to chat with her several times and catch up on where she’s been and what’s she’s done since then.  We also appreciated that we received a beautiful flower arrangement and a nice bottle of wine in our cabin from her. 

We were in “Select Dining” this time and were seated quickly each evening at a table for two.  We appreciate that Celebrity has many of these tables, but most of them are so close together that you might as well be sharing a table.  We talk to many other guests during the day and later in the evening, but we prefer to have some “down time” from these conversations at dinner.  Also, my wife has trouble hearing which can make these interactions difficult.  So, we opted to switch to the fixed seating at 6:00 with a more private table on the second of our B2B cruises. 

The food in the “Trellis” MDR was excellent as usual.  We usually order our favorite dishes from each menu, but we tried some new ones this time and they were also very good.  The Oceanview Café provided many options during the day and late into the night.  We also enjoyed the drinks and desserts in Café al Baccio.  The bartenders in the lounges were efficient even when they were very busy.  DeJean in the Rendez-Vous were particularly helpful and made the best Grasshoppers we’d ever had. 

We continue to support “Evening Chic” with my wife in her dresses and me in my suit or tuxedo.  We understand that other guests aren’t as interested in doing this as we are, but it’s nice to see some still like it as much as we do. 

The production shows were very good as usual and the singers and dancers were quite talented.  We really enjoyed the “Swing@Sky” show in the Constellation Lounge and the entire cast kept up the high level of energy for a very long time.  It was definitely the very best of that type of event on all of our cruises.  On the final night, the “Duo Destiny” show with the acrobats Goncalo and Kinga was unbelievable. 

We were very lucky on this cruise as both bands were excellent.  We saw Take 5 on our B2B2B cruises in Asia a year ago year so we were happy to see them again.  They were great then and are even better now.  Their female singer and their other members are very friendly and approachable.  The Bryan James Band was terrific, especially since they were billed on this cruise as a “dance band” rather than “house band” or “party band”.  Bryan has a great sense to humor and his band can play a wide range of music depending on the audience and the venue.  We hope that Celebrity keeps both of them under contract for as long as they can. 

We did two ship’s excursions and four on our own. 

Santa Barbara:  Rented a car to see the wine country, the SB Mission and the Reagan Center

San Francisco (overnight) – First Day:  Took my nephew and his girlfriend to dinner at the Crab House

San Francisco – Second Day:  Took ship’s SF03 excursion to Muir Woods and took ferry back from Sausalito on our own

Monterey:  Rented a convertible and drove around 17-Mile Drive and Carmel

Catalina Island:  Went to the Catalina Island Museum to see the Dale Chihuly glass exhibit and took a bus to Botanic Gardens

Ensenada, Mexico:  Took ship’s EN04 excursion to two wineries in Calafia Valley wine country    

One area which could use some improvement was the B2B process.  At other B2B meetings, someone from the MDR was there to allow guests to select their tables for the next cruise, but that didn’t happen.  As part of these past meetings, there have been drawings for prizes, offers of complimentary specialty restaurants, discounted excursions and/or coupons with codes for additional internet minutes in order to fill out the survey from the first cruise.  The only “perks” this time were a 30% off a restaurant (for only the embarkation evening) and a card to get into the “Trellis” MDR 15 minutes before the newly boarding guests. 

We were also given the impression that this process wouldn’t take too long.  We were told to gather at 9:40, but we not able to disembark until everyone else did at about 10:40.  We then exited the ship and had to wait almost another hour to get back onboard at 11:30.  We suspect that due to regulations, there was no chance for anyone to board before that time.  It would have been better to know ahead of time that the local authorities require this timing so we could have planned for these delays.  We and most of the other guests have done quite a few B2Bs so all of us were surprised that it was much more inconvenient it this time. 

Almost everything else on this cruise was great except one thing.  While not a major problem or a “deal breaker”, we have been a bit disappointed at the recent trend of having more public areas unavailable to everyone.  The Celebrity ships have very few inside venues for music and relaxation compared to other cruise lines.  So, when one of them is taken out of circulation, the options are limited.  We used to love to go to the piano bar in Michael’s Club (especially when Perry Grant was still with Celebrity and packed it every night), but it’s been “privatized” for many years. 

We’ve also seen “Private Parties” in “Quasar” on the “Solstice” class ships and in the “Constellation” type Sky Lounges on the “Millennium” class ships.  On one of our cruises last year, Park West took control of the Sky Lounge for several days for private art sales.  The most recent example was the Latina/o “Private Party” from 10:00 – 12:00 on the final night of this cruise which meant that most guests couldn’t enjoy that area as they had on other nights.  We are well aware that Celebrity celebrates the diversity of their crew and their guests so segregating and/or excluding groups seems to be counter to that goal. 

We appreciate the “Elite” cocktail hours in the upper lounge, but not at the expense of access for others.  In some cases, the guests who are not yet at “Elite” have been excluded from taking in the view, particularly during sail-aways.  The exception was when we were on the “Infinity” for a B2B in South America and Antarctica in 2015 where we were pleased to see that there were areas roped off from the “Elite” section so everyone had a chance to see the scenery.  We would certainly endorse sharing that lounge and all other venue as often as possible on every cruise. 

Overall, we always have a great time on Celebrity.  After the Panama Canal, we have twelve more cruises booked in the Mediterranean, Middle East, India, Caribbean, Northern Europe and Transatlantic in the next year.  So, we’ll look forward to having 135 more days to enjoy Celebrity’s welcoming hospitality and excellent service!

Very Nice Pacific Coastal Cruise

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