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Celebrity Xploration

Loved the cruise but the ship needs updating

About us: I'm in my early 60s and my GF is in her late 50s.  I've cruised over 20 times, mostly on Celebrity & MSC.

Full Thread/Blog: I did a day-by-day write-up called "We board Infinity in about an hour.  Let me know if you have any questions".  It goes into considerably more detail.

Overview: This was a 7 day cruise out of Ravenna, which is about 3 hours from Venice.  It stopped in Dubrovnik, Santorini, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Nafpilo, and ended up in Athens.

Our Cabin: Ocean View cabin, which had the double-sized window.  Check YouTube for my recent video cabin tour.

Pre-Cruise/Post-Cruise: We spent 3 nights in Venice pre-cruise & 3 nights in Athens post-cruise.  Both are highly recommended.

Pre-Flight: We used Flights by Celebrity and it was an utter disaster and exercise in frustration.  See my thread on the Celebrity forum entitled, "A Flights by Celebrity Error that Worked to my Favor" (hint: it didn't).

Transportation: We took Celebrity's paid shuttle from Venice to Ravenna.  It was efficient and inexpensive.

The Passengers: Mostly American, an eclectic mix of all ages.  Just about everyone was well-behaved.

Embarkation: Relatively smooth, fast and efficient.  

The Ship: It's old but in relatively good condition.  I wouldn't hesitate to book it, but there were a few problems to follow.

The Food: I ate every bite, but it's gone downhill for sure.  Celebrity has no business mentioning their Michelin-Starred Chef.  It's just not in that league.  Mostly enjoyable, yet at the same time, disappointing given our prior experiences.

The Service: Generally very good, but we did have a few problems.

Problems: I booked this cruise over a year ago.  We selected a set late dining at 8:30 pm and this was confirmed.  The first night, there was a huge line for set dining, only after waiting at least 20 minutes, they had to work hard to find us a table.  The next night, they told us we didn't have a set dining time (they'd moved us, for reasons unknown) and another 20 minutes to find us a table, which they said was our table for the remainder of the cruise.  Night 3, someone else was in our table and they handed me a pager (30 mins before closing) and said it would be a 30-40 minute wait to find us a table.  This made my GF cry, giving me a hard time for choosing Celebrity.  She asked, "Why can't we just sit down and enjoy a nice dinner?"  I asked for a supervisor and eventually on night 4 things were straightened out.

Shower was cold to lukewarm, at best, when others were apparently showering.

Food quality hit and miss.  Many steps down from our prior experiences.  Thin, low-quality sirloin steaks were offered w/a lot of fat and gristle.  Not a lot of variety.  I did enjoy the Prime Rib and Leg of Lamb, but overall disappointing.  The buffet was also hit and miss, ranging from excellent (Greek Lunch) to very good (French Lunch), to pretty good or okay.  We only did dinner once in the buffet and it was just okay.

We also had a problem w/our excursions.  In terms of our Rhodes excursion, they moved it from morning to afternoon, then back to morning w/only a slip of paper to tell us that was in with the receipt.  I could have easily missed this, and thus, missed our excursion.

They also cancelled our Santorini excursion, which I had booked during a Flash Sale at 35%.  They said I could book a replacement at full price and then, after I visited the Shore Excursions desk, only begrudgingly offered a 10% discount.  I pretty much demanded 35% off, since it wasn't my fault that they cancelled, and it took a lot of arguing to get them to offer a similar discount, including discussion w/staff, 2 excursions supervisors and Guest Services.  I didn't take this cruise to argue w/them.

Also, our tickets and excursions were not on our door when we arrived.  Had to go to Guest Services to get keys.  Then, they brought us new keys and cancelled the old ones.  The cabin steward said he didn't recognize the name, but I don't know why, as the name was correct.

Entertainment: Seemed fine.  We didn't do any shows this time, but we normally do.

Ports: 

Dubrovnik: Very clean, nice and interesting.  We did a Celebrity Land & Sea tour that included a boat ride over and a tour of downtown.  However, too much emphasis on the show, "Game of Thrones" (it's filmed there), imo.

Santorini: We did a Celebrity tour that didn't involve the cable car, which I wanted to avoid.  It stopped at some ruins (boring, hot & disappointing), a winery for a tasting (excellent location, nice wines), a traditional Greek lunch buffet w/music and dancing (also excellent), a visit to Oia (brief, but excellent), and an opportunity to visit Fira, but on your own if you wanted to take the cable car down (we didn't).  This was a very good tour, overall.

Rhodes: A big surprise, actually.  Lush.  Really beautiful.  Lots of nice shops & great Greek food.

Kusadesi: Did the trip to Virgin Mary's home (worthwhile), Ephesus (worthwhile, but super hot & somewhat uncomfortable), a trip to a 5 star hotel for a Turkish buffet lunch (excellent), and a carpet weaving demonstration (pretty bad.  Wolf in sheep's clothing attempt to get you to buy a $10k to $20k carpet).  While we enjoyed Kusadesi, their sales people are extremely aggressive and pushy.

Nafpilo: Quaint.  Lots of cute little shops and good restaurants.  Go right as you get off the tender.

Overall: We had a nice time and recommend this itinerary.  There were some issues, but the experience was more good than bad.  Don't hesitate to reach out privately or in one of the aforementioned threads if you have any questions.

Great itinerary.  Older ship in pretty good shape.  Room for improvement.

We chose this Celebrity cruise because it seemed to have some interesting and exotic ports. The cruise line was an important choice, but the ship didn't seem to be that important. But we were pleasantly surprised. The Infinity is about 20 years old, and to be honest, it could stand to be freshened up. The decor seemed dated, but clean and in good shape. The Infinity can hold a little over 2,000 passengers. Far from the mega-shipps that are popular these days.

There were no waterslides, not too much chrome, no flashy LED displays. but there were also no long lines for the dining room , elevators or other amenities. The cabins were clean, comfortable, and with plenty of storage space.

In the end, we felt the Infinity was not too big - not too small- it was just right. (Santorini was crowded enough. I would hate to go there on a mega-ship.)

The cruise ports were very interesting. As Captain's club members we were invited onto the heli-pad on the bow of the ship for the cruise-in to Dubrovnik, Croatia. What an absolute treat. If you ever get a chance to visit Dubrovnik - just do it. A fantastic stop. Santorini was a tender port. There were 3 cruise ships that day and the island seemed very crowded. Yes, it was as beautiful as the pictures. But the crowds and the wait for the cable car were trying. Rhodes and Ephesus were also fantastic. We were sort of worn out by the time we got to Naftoli. We disemparked in Athens, Greece.

The food on Infinity I would rate as very good. My only complaint was that there was not much variety in the menu throughout the week. We also tried Le Petit Chef and that was outstanding. The entertainment we saw was very enjoyable.

But I'm saving the best for last. The service on Infinity can be second to none. Everyone from the restaurant staff to Consierge staff went way above and beyond to ensure our satisfaction.

Celebrity Infinity is the "Goldilocks" of Cruise Ships

Tortola

We enjoyed the itinerary and cabin, but had a lot of issues on this ship compared with our last cruise, which was on Princess. A few issues

- Last minute update to a shore excursion that led us to cancel it (self driving tour- would have to share a car with strangers given group size of 2 - should have been included in description) 

- Food in main dining room was very hit or miss. Buffett food quality was disappointing overall. 

- Many bars not well stocked, many of our waters served at room temp, out of wine on menus etc

- Several bathrooms without soap

- Some night dining room service was VERY slow (30+ minutes with no drink or water). We felt we had trouble ordering drinks while dining as nobody every came around to ask 

- Ship felt understaffed, nobody waiting on us in lounge areas.

- The system for ordering drinks felt inefficient and dated compared to celebrity medallion system. The act of swiping your card often took longer than making the drink

- Lackluster entertainment

- Little emphasis on handwashing. We both tested positive for Covid after the cruise

After considering our entire experience, we did not feel that our cruise represented a good value and will likely not be sailing again with Celebrity.

Probably won't be back to celebrity

We chose this ship because I have always traveled with Royal Caribbean but was told that Celebrity was a step up. I was aware that the ship was older but had been refurbished. Cleanliness: The sink in bathroom had to be removed after each time we used it because it was clogged and pretty gross. The shower curtain was not clean, the hallways smelled of mold and several of my companions wound up with neuro virus and spent several days in their cabin, the other 3 came down with bacteria infection in sinuses. The main dining area's menu was limited and the quality of the food was poor. I had a shrimp cocktail that was presented with several very small shrimp and they were warm not chilled. 

The pools were very warm and did not look that clean so I stayed away.

We had negotiated prior to our trip a package that included wi-fi and drink package and this was not honored once aboard. The Celebrity contact was no help other than to tell us by the end of the cruise it would be resolved. NOT! we all got bills and charges to our credit cards. The Guest services personnel would  not even address the issue just we cannot help. I tipped individually and was charged in addition $18.50 a day which I should not be automatically be charged for since service was mediocre. We also were supposed to get Aqua class but last minute change to Concierge but told that we would get a credit, which to date has not been resolved or addressed.

I am still trying to reach a representative from Celebrity to resolve issue but after 30 minutes still on hold.

I loved the itinerary but would recommend using another ship or another cruise line.

Disappointment

We chose this Celebrity cruise based on the reputation of the cruise line and on the Venice to Athens itinerary.  Our experience was below that on four previous cruises, two cruises with Royal Caribbean and two with Holland America.

-The website was cumbersome and difficult to navigate.  Customer service was non-responsive.  The one thing Celebrity did well was to take your money; anything else in the planning phase was sketchy at best. The other two cruise lines were far better in this area.

-The boarding process went very smoothly; on par with the other cruise lines.

-The stateroom was adequate but well below the quality of the other ships we've been on. Housekeeping was excellent.

-The food in the cafe was excellent; much better than the food in the main dining hall.  On the other ships, the main dining room food was superior.  (All cruise ship food, in our opinion, has been very good or better.)  The dining room wait staff was excellent.

-The organization/execution of the shore excursions was done well; on par with the other ships.

-This is the first ship I've felt nickel and dimed on.  If you did not get the beverage package, you had to pay extra for coffee in the dining room when it was included in the cafe. They tried to give you water when departing the ship, but then asked for payment.  Everything seemed to be an upcharge.

-Finally, Celebrity asked for a review, but gave you only 7 days to respond before the review site was closed.  We were still out and about and did not get back until after the 7-day window.

All in all, a decent trip but not what we had expected.  We will not be sailing with Celebrity in the future.

Below Average Cruise Experience

We have just returned from a week aboard Celebrity Infinity.

We have cruised many times before with P&O, Princess, Royal Caribbean and MSC - This was our first cruise with Celebrity.

We travelled as a family with two teenagers during 6 weeks holidays. There was not very many kids on board which suited us fine.

Yes - Infinity is showing her age and is due a refurb, but she still has a timeless elegance about her that you can help but love. The theatre and main restaurant are timeless and beautiful. The ship doesn't have all the razz-ma-tazz of the new ships - no fancy robot waiters or flow riders. However, the service and various classy touches more than make up for the lack of fanfare.

On sea days the staff were walking around the sunbeds handing out iced towels and pots of sorbets. There was never a shortage of sunbeds or seats and you could always get served at the bar.

Infinity only carries a little over 2000 guests, but had 1000 staff and that really shows. The staff are friendly (although you will need to say Good Morning 50 times before you make it to breakfast!) and nothing is too much trouble.

Little touches

- There is an evening turn down service. As someone partial to an afternoon nap there is something lovely about having your bed remade with a pillow chocolate and fresh towels waiting when you come back on an evening.

- Beach towels are delivered to your room the night before a beach stop for you to pack and take ashore. Our helpful cabin attendant changed these for clean ones upon request which was great.

- Fruit juices and ice-cream are included and available all day.

- The entertainment was varied and well put together, Andrew Lee was spectacular.

We would certainly travel with Celebrity again and would be interested to see what some of their newer ships have to offer.

Showing her age, but still fabulous!

Ship is older but clean and in good working order.  It’s an older ship and smaller than some of the newer ones but easy to navigate.  Staff is pretty good for the most part.  Our room steward and our dining room staff were great.  The others were OK except for the bar staff.  In general the bars and bar staff are the weakest.  Food is actually pretty good.  We have been on more than a handful of cruises and food is on par or better than the others we have taken.  The steakhouse was our least favorite although others said the loved it.  We’ve gotten used to shops with a promenade type shopping and food court and it was sorely missed on this ship.  Standard WiFi was great.  The excursions were generally good with only one clinker.  The biggest complaint we had was for ports where we had to take tender vessel off ship.  Complete disaster with very long waits.  I could have done without the city of Athens and the two Greek islands.  Montegro is just beautiful and people are way nicer in Croatia.

Not bad overall.  Good value. 

Overall, we had a nice vacation and trip on the Celebrity Infinity.  This ship is definitely older and a pretty standard, mid sized cruise ship.  Do not expect any special bells or whistles on this ship. I would like to point out a few things to be aware of:

1. Age of Ship: I have seen some note that the ship was recently refurbished, but if it did, I did not see it. There was lots of visible rusting around the windows and railings, the bathrooms looked very dated, and overall you could tell the room was at least 20 years old.  It did not have the modern, clean decor one might expect.  Another example is around outlets- more modern cruises have USB plugs and universal outlets that do not require converters.  This ship did not have that.

2. Food:  Food was okay, nothing memorable.  The buffet (Oceanview Dining Room) felt very much just like mass produced food without any special touches.  The main dining room had nice food, pretty standard cruise ship food.  Other than these two options, and the specialty paid restaurants, there was almost no other food options on the ship. 

3. Sales pitches:  as with most cruises (this is not celebrity specific), everything quickly turns into a sales pitch.  I understand their need to make a profit (i really do!), but nothing really felt like a special experience, it really just felt like they wanted you to buy more.

4. Pool:  Pool deck was almost always packed at peak hours and impossible to find a shaded chair.  I wish staff would do more to remove towels of people who are reserving chairs the entire day but are not even on the pool deck.

5. End of cruise:  Beware that Celebrity pitches this as a cruise to Venice, but read the fine print- it ends in Ravenna, which is a 3 hour bus ride from Venice.  You will need to pay ~$99/pp for a transfer at the end of your trip.  Make sure to account for this cost. 

The positives:

1. Great staff:  in particular, our housekeeper was excellent and refreshed our room at least 2x a day.  She was always smiling and made our trip memorable.  

2. Entertainment:  Great selections on the main stage each night and music around the ship.  

3. The ports of call:  if you're looking to get a taste of Greece and Croatia, this is a great option.

Great staff, but ship needs an overhaul

We chose this cruise due to all the Greek ports that we wanted to visit. 

Embarkation was ok, miss the medallion of princess. 

Food is not the greatest. The aqua and retreat guest get a much better menu.  Menu in the main dining room is less than 2 stars. Fish includes Cajun Spiced Drum, Tilapia of which is mostly farmed and you don’t want to know what they feed farmed raised Tilapia.  As I said before the food was below par.  Princess wins in the food category. 

The ship I would call an old rust bucket in need of a refurb job bad.  Rust in many areas of the ship especially on the balcony.  My bathroom had a terrible smell the entire time.  Banged my leg on the foot of the bed because the beds weren’t put together right. Happen several times. 

The refrigerated bar in the room was missing 4 items and never heard a response or refill of any of the missing. The refrigerated bar was barely cold to make drinks refreshing.  The safe in the room did not work. 

The staff were pleasant and helpful. 

I sent laundry out Sunday and I had to call for it twice to be delivered by Wednesday evening. 

So. This will be my last Celebrity cruise.  I’ll take Princess any day.

Celebrity Infinity vs Princess

This was our first Celebrity cruise and was chosen to accommodate other companions’ time issues and by virtue of an interesting itinerary. 

First some good things:  Main dining dinners were all good and service there was good. Vast majority of staff were very friendly and accommodating. Our party included one six-year-old and the ship had a great “camp at sea” program run by an exceptional crew member. We liked the variety of lounge spaces and found comfortable spots for various times and situations. The itinerary was very good. If you have a chance to cruise into Kotor Bay in Montenegro you will be stunned by the beauty. 

Now some negatives. We’ve done about 10 cruises and this was, by far, the most expensive; influenced by the season and ports as well as the line. We bought an inclusive fare that bundled tips, wi-fi and a “classic” drink package. In short the wi-fi was extremely spotty so as to be of marginal value. They’d like you to use their app while on board but it requires connectivity. We quickly found that the classic drink package covered a very limited list of things and that we’d constantly have to check on coverage any time we ordered anything. So, we bit the bullet and paid a fee to upgrade to the premium package. 

Additionally I would say the Infinity was not quite ready for prime time. They seem to have not graduated from the pandemic period of partial occupancy and reduced crews. Customer facing staff seemed adequate. But, there were things that seemed to lack maintenance. I could go around the entire buffet area to find only one stocked and working ice machine on several mornings. Juice machines saw similar problems. The cabin shower was a bit long in the tooth. When we first arrived, admittedly a chaotic time, bar staff was bringing out trays of cleaned glasses about 10% of which still had garnishes in them from previous use. This didn’t seem to bother the staff including a supervisor hanging out there. 

Finally, the app and website are very poor at providing useful info for planning. They are just tools to sell you more product and upgrades. This resulted in a few unpleasant surprises which I won’t detail. If you have important questions before you go, call them and suffer the slow response times. 

In summary we’re unlikely to do another Celebrity cruise. While not really bad we’ve just had much better experiences and values on other lines.

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