Me and my partner chose to cruise with celebrity after enjoying a fantastic cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas 2 years prior. We thought since the two are related and celebrity is more expensive that the experience should be even more fantastic. I have to say, we had a better time on the Explorer. Not sure whether this is because of the people on the ship... we are 25 but we don't drink and aren't party animals - But wow, this is a very sloooow crowd and the daily planner reflects that. There is literally nothing to do during the day other than go to talks where they try to sell you things. Other than that the daily features are bingo, glass blowing, spa talks on how to reduce lines and ease back pain + more activities that lets just say, I'd rather watch paint dry. if we hadnt booked such a great Shore activities I'm not sure how much we would have enjoyed this cruise... Cabins - we just had a regular interior cabin on level 8. We were unfortunate enough to have probably one of only three babies on board 4 cabins down and this one was definitely a screamer. I have to say I think every single time we were in the cabin, that baby was crying... including multiple nights. However I have to admit that's obviously not celebrities fault but it did impact the trip. also, the cabins on the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas are much nicer than the solstice cabins except for a smaller bed. There is way more storage on the Explorer and the rooms are just laid out a lot better. Another little thing that is sort of silly but it's one of the things makes a cruise, we didn't get any towel animals except for the first night. That was one of the most exciting things on the Explorer! Seeing which new one we got every day! A weird damp smell also lingered the whole time... Dining in the buffet - we only ate in the buffet and included restaurant the entire trip because we usually find that that's all you need... Again, the food at the buffet on the Explorer was much superior to the food on the solstice. The breakfast did not change literally every single day. Lunch varied somewhat but barely. Most of the dinner was also the same, except for a few theme nights where they basically just had maybe 10 more dishes added. Dining in the no fee restaurant - firstly I want to say that our waitress Taisiia was amazing. She was extremely prompt, friendly and informed about the food. We also found this on the Explorer with our waiter. but once again, the Explorer had much better dinner food than the solstice. we found that the menu on the solstice was very bizarre and somewhat pretentious. The entrees were pretty much just soups and salads for the entire duration of the cruise which I guess you can mass make and not really stuff up. The mains were really hit and miss...some of the steaks were really overcooked even though we ordered them all medium rare. But then again some of the food was fantastic. it's really hard to say but it's really just a game of luck every night with the menu. But I have to say it was a process of elimination of things we didn't like most of the time... another small thing to know is that the bread options are really limited on the solstice. At dinner on the Explorer we were given about 6 to 8 different options of bread but on this cruise we only had three different types of bread to choose from one of which was bread sticks. Dessert was great but honestly it's pretty hard to stuff up dessert. Shows in the theatre- the one thing that celebrity did mirror with Royal Caribbean Explorer was the fantastic shoes on board. But I have to admit that the entertainment was only really great when it was with the solstice theatre performers. All the other extra performers were pretty rubbish other than one comedian. Most nights there were plenty of seats left in the theatre when it wasn't the solstice group performing. Pools - pool areas were nice and tidy and they did have plenty of chairs for everyone in the main pool. This was not k's in the adults only area. You'd go literally at 9 a.m. and all the chairs would have towels and things on them from people dumping them on the way to the buffet. They really should have some sort of system in place to avoid this happening as we saw chairs with no one in them for hours on end... Gym and spa - we did go to the gym a couple of days and I have to say it was pretty fantastic. Loads of equipment and weights. Plenty of cold towels for anyone and a really great Fitness classroom. we also did take advantage of the Persian room for our stay. It was expensive but we really enjoyed it. The steam room was awesome and the hot pads were really relaxing. We also did have one couples massage that was pretty good but in hindsight we probably wouldn't do it again how much money it cost. that was another thing, throughout the entire ship there were the massage ladies sitting you in chairs giving you a random shoulder rub and running you through the price list. It was a bit full on and I was really over it by the end of the trip. Shore excursions - we did 3 excursions, quad biking in the sand dunes in Newcastle, Australia Zoo and also a Great Barrier Reef snorkeling Discovery. Quad biking was definitely the highlight. this was due to the fact that there was only about 10 of us considering the general demographic on the cruise wouldn't be able to physically quad bike, plus the dunes were fantastic and the guys were amazing. Australia Zoo was ok, I mean it's just a zoo and it may have been more exciting for someone who isn't an Australian but we still did have fun and we don't regret going but wouldn't do it again. we have mix feelings about the great barrier reef discovery . Unfortunately it was the best day for it it was a really rough seas - the boat the incredibly rocky the entire time and multiple people were being sick. This gets pretty full-on since it's over an hour and a half trip to the reef. I got sick too. The reef itself was ok I have to say I don't think we were taken to a particularly beautiful part. I've done snorkeling a lot of times and there are much better spots all around Australia in Thailand and as well in New Caledonia. I was happy we went but again we wouldn't do it again. The rest of the staff were ok. The guest relations staff were pretty average an abrupt but all of the buffet and public room staff were very kind and accommodating. all in all, it was a bit disappointing and I wouldn't be cruising with celebrity again. I think I'll stick to Royal Caribbean. To give you some feedback also, my partner has cruised with multiple lines and he said that celebrity is pretty hand in hand in terms of food with P&O. Save your money, go with Royal Caribbean. Read Less

This was our seventh cruise overall and second on X. We've also sailed with NCL, Princess and RCL. We'd never been to Key West or Nassau and saw this as a good chance to do so. Although Infinity is an older ship we found her to be in good shape overall. The only downside was that the casino is way too small. That it is a pass through to the shops only makes matters worse. It's a design flaw and nothing can be done about it now. We took all of our meals in the MDR and found the food quality to be the best of all our trips. In Key West we docked at the Outer Mole. This requires taking a free shuttle to Mallory Square and back. Fear not, dear cruiser. Both the Olde Town Trolley and the Conch Train are used for this and the process is very efficient. As an added bonus you get a mini-tour with running commentary from the drivers. We spent our time in KW just wandering along Duval St and the Mallory Square area. We stopped at Blue Heaven for the key lime pie and regretted not being hungry enough for their breakfast which looked great. In Nassau we intended to do something similar by following a walking tour we'd found online. We got a little crossed up getting some required shopping done and sort of did it in reverse, ending at The Queen's Staircase. There were 4 ships in port that day so it came as no surprise that the area was very congested. Walking was further complicated by the deplorable condition of the streets and sidewalks. In some cases sidewalks abruptly ended, forcing us to walk in the street. OK, it's an old town and maybe the government doesn't want to risk losing the atmosphere tourists expect, but at least maintain the place for safety sake. Most of the locals seemed friendly enough with the surprising exception of a few shopkeepers - mainly the younger ones. Special thanks, though, to the nice lady at the terminal helpdesk who helped us locate a shop with special hand painted calendars DW wanted. Overall, we are looking forward to returning Key West but if Nassau is on the itinerary we may just stay on the ship. We did do one excursion that we highly recommend - the Behind the Scenes All Access Tour. We started on the Bridge where we learned about ship control and navigation. Next came the Engine Control Room with the engineers going into detail on the propulsion systems and fuel. Third came the laundry - DW claims she will never complain about doing laundry again. After that we strolled down I-95 to the pantry, fridges and liquor cabinet. What an enormous amount of provisions - and this was just a short cruise. The tour ended in the galleys . This was a ballet in several acts. Basic preparation, hot and cold foods, bakery, pastries and cleanup all choreographed to produce thousands of excellent meals each day. If you ever have the chance to take this tour on a sea day jump at it. This was a very relaxing cruise overall, which served it's purpose as filler between longer trips. Read Less

My DH and I have been on four cruises all on RCL, and although we weren't planning on going on a cruise this fall, we found a great, relatively last minute deal on a 4 night Celebrity Infinity Bahamas cruise that we couldn't pass up. Overall we had a wonderful time and are glad we tried Celebrity! Booking- We booked directly through the Celebrity website. Right after final payment due date the price for our room dropped by $350- a huge difference for such a short cruise! I called Celebrity and managed to negotiate an additional $300 OBC to account for this price change. Very happy with this! Embarkation- We left out of terminal 4 at Port Everglades. We arrived at the port around 10:30 and pretty much walked on. Very smooth process! We got our Seapass cards during the checkin instead of having them left at the room- I prefer getting them right away to be able to use them for drinks, etc. Ship/Cabin- The ship is the smallest we've been on BY FAR (next smallest was RCL Navigator OTS) and we loved it! It is beautiful and I didn't notice its age at all. Layout was great. Plenty of bar options we quick service. Never crowded. Cabin was smallish (we had the cheapest category balcony- sweet 16 balcony room 6030) but nicely decorated but it was a little dated- lots of mirrors! We enjoyed the large-ish shower (compared with the RCL pods, which we like too!). We didn't have any issues with water leakage although we did hear the sound of water running quite often- maybe we were near some pipes or utility sink area, I'm not sure. Dining- We ate at Qsine (Le Petit Chef), Tuscan Grille and Sushi on 5. All were good, Qsine was our favorite. We thought the food was comparable to RCL and were slightly disappointed as we had expected to be wowed in this area. We also ate at MDR once for dinner which was fine- also comparable to RCL and definitely a step below the specialty dining. Buffet was great for breakfast, my DH enjoyed having lox every morning and there was a surprising variety of selections for such a small ship in my opinion. Bars- Bar service was great with minimal waits even at the busiest times. We had the premium package and never paid for a drink except upgraded wine at dinner once. We also were never asked to sign a receipt which we thought was different because usually my DH likes to tip an extra buck or two this way. Also never saw anyone tip cash. We aren't complaining but this was very different from our RCL experiences! We liked the Martini Bar but I guess we weren't there often enough to see the crazy bartender tricks that I have seen videos of from others. Pool- Pools were good- we enjoyed the deep saltwater pool. The thelasatherapy pool in the solarium also looked interesting but I never got to try it. We didn't have a problem finding chairs ever, and we even saw little Celebrity signs left on some chairs notifying people that their items were taken to Guest Services because they were unattended- great to see Celebrity trying to cut down on chair hogs! Entertainment- We loved the Silent Disco! Enjoyed the Halloweern decorations and activities as we were on the ship for that night. They even had a really fun costume contest! The live music during the day was a bit subdued and we would have liked to have a more lively option either by the pool or somewhere inside. Overall this line definitely seems more subdued with entertainment compared to RCL, but at the same time the evenings were lively at the dance club and Martini Club and there were clearly people there ready to have a good time. We didn't see any evening shows except the comedian and we enjoyed him. Overall we had a great time on this ship! Read Less

Great price and never been on celebrity Staff was great.Food was great.. Port of call where nice.Gettimg on and off the ship was fast and easy.Not a lot of people.. Was hollween More people dressed up didn't think many people would but they did They decorations for hollween we're nice.Did lot's of punkine s in cafeteria.Lots of great desert s. Every day.Did meet a lot of people and new friends..was a great time all around.love to go back again.,.....,.......,......................,.shows where good..Ship was a good size could find your way around with no problem.like that their was no line any where If needed anything staff got it with out any problem..so much food to eat tryed so many things sometimes sum new things.like I said people on the cruise where nice did meet and talked to many people from the USA and other countries.waa a great time by all.would be great if everyone got along in the world like we do on a cruise would be a better world Read Less

Ten-day southern Caribbean cruise out of Miami. Great ship; showing its age a bit, but the crew works tirelessly to keep it in tip-top condition. The crew worked very hard to make everyone feel welcome. Best entertainment by far that we’ve seen on a cruise. Rondell Sheridan (comedian) had me in tears laughing for over 45 minutes-not to miss! Two America’s Got Talent finalists performed; how they didn’t win their competitions is a mystery to me. The excellent shows continued throughout the cruise, even on the last evening. The only show we didn’t enjoy was “Life”, which was pretty depressing. The buffet was often crowded and difficult to navigate, but the food was excellent. Blu (Aqua class restaurant) was very good, with some out of this world dishes (rack of lamb, pepper steak, lobster, filet mignon) and a few average offerings (some of the vegetarian dishes). Service in Blu was uniformly excellent. The daily newsletter often had inaccurate information, especially w.r.t. Cocktail lounges. The posted times for several of the venues did not correspond to the actual opening times (especially Quasar), and Sky had a number of private parties that kept other guests out without prior notice. The Captain, the only American captain we’ve ever sailed with and the only female captain of a major cruise line ship, was very witty and funny but a little bit “all about me”. Her tagline was, “I’m Captain Kate, but you can call me “Captain,” because I’ve earned it.” I’ve never told anyone that “you can call me Colonel or Doctor”, nor has my wife, although we both earned it. Different leadership style, I suppose. We loved the ABC ports. The stop in the Caymans was a yawner. Read Less

I am a widow and a repeat passenger with Celebrity. This was my first cruise on the Equinox. I was part of a singles group on board. Celebrity staff was helpful, professional and always smiling. Captain Kate is the most awesome and hands on Captain that I have ever sailed with. It was a privilege to be a passenger on 'her' ship. Food is subjective, but for the most part, I enjoyed all of my meals. The buffet is excellent for a buffet; the Main Dining Room had excellent food and great service. Had dinner twice at the Tuscan Grille. Worth the upcharge. I had a Concierge Class Cabin which I shared with a friend from the singles group. Plenty of storage for two females. I did not go to many shows, but enjoyed the ones I attended. I took one excursion through the cruiseline - Bonaire Beach Bash and tour with l lunch. Excellent. I also took the All Access Tour. Very educational and lots of fun. I had accidentally booked duplicate tours and the Shore Excursion desk - especially Arisleidy - was helpful, smiling, professional and took care of the duplications without any negativity. She was also the tour guide for the All Access Tis our. Again, All Smiles. Captain Kate has a great sense of humor, is easy to understand on the public address system, is personable, and is seen all over the ship (always with a smile and willing to talk to passengers). Once I was at Cafe Al Bacio, and she was serving the pastries and taking coffee orders! I have never seen a Captain do that. I hope to sail with her again! Read Less

What a wonderful experience. My wife and I have cruised 7 times and this cruise was the best by far. In fact, the experience was over-the-top. The food was amazing...we did not have a bad meal. The staff in the dining rooms could not have provided better customer service. They knew exactly what our preferences were and ensured that we were pampered every step of the way. The Ocean View Buffet was outstanding. I don't think you will find any other cruise ship that provides better variety and quality with respect to a buffet. This disembarkation was incredible. We were told we could start disembarkation at 7:00 a.m. We left at 7:05, hailed a taxi and were in the Miami airport by 7:25 a.m. (did not have to go through customs as the last port of call was in Key West and we went through customs in Key West). I wish I knew how they ingrained customer service into every crew members so that I could mirror in my own business. Read Less

We choose this cruise as it was only for 4 day’s and fitted in with our kids half term holiday. However it being 4 day’s is what may have let it down? I think as it was just 4 day’s you had a different type of passenger cruising? There were very few other children in the cruise but that wasn’t really and issue and I did realise before going there wouldn’t be a lot for the kids to do. They did enjoy themselves though and the family balcony cabin they had was great. The ship it’s self is quite old but I think that is onlybrelflected in the cabins and not the other areas of the ship. The pool was good and always plenty of chairs around. We only had one sea day and did avoid the sun deck as we knew it would be crazy busy. The dinning room service was excellent. The food was good but not always great. But the waiter we had was very good. We didn’t eat in any of the speciality restaurants. The noise in the main dinning room could be quite loud to enjoy much conversation sometimes. I found the oceanview grill, in my opinion, not great, very canteen like? And quite a lot of the same food just repeated? We stopped at Key West and Nassau, Bahamas. We enjoyed Key West and did the counch tour which we booked ourselves. However we really didn’t like Nassau. We had been here about 17 years ago and feel like it has really change (which of course it would have done in that amount of time) Would definitely avoid a cruise where it took you here. I had done some research and found that all the excursion (independent) where so expensive thought we would just walk around the town, but didn’t enjoy it much and my Mother went back to the ship after 20 mins of being in the town. Overall we had a great 3 day, made use of the drinks package and the the family ocean view room my husband had with the kids was a good size. I shared a Concierge cabin with my Mum and really don’t understand what we paid the extra for? I think because it was a shorter cruise found there were quite a few groups drinking etc. Didn’t bother us they were having a good time but not really the atmosphere we wanted. Everyone was VERY casually dressed, again not a massive big deal but personal preference is to be more dressy. I really thought Celebrity would be a step up from say Royal Caribbean but I didn’t find this. Maybe because it was 4 day cruise. I really thought (wrongly) Celebrity would be “posher”. Not the cruise lines fault but obviously my perception. We were in cabin 8168 Family Ocean view and Conceirge 8162. The ratings are for familynocean view Read Less

While we are open to other cruise lines, we have had a preference for Celebrity, and its passenger-focused efforts. We find that Celebrity ships focus more on delivery of what matters, than on partying and glitz. We picked there 4 night 10/24 cruise to Key West and Nassau for that reason - we expected (and received) a comfortable extended week end vacation. This was an experiment for us - we have cruised in Aqua class for the last several cruises, and we wanted to see if we missed it. The jury is out. Embarkation was a breeze. We got to the ship around 12:30, and were to our room around 1. There were simply not problems. Debarkation was delayed, maybe 30 minutes, due (the ship reported) to Customs crowding. However, on the whole, it was very easy. DIdn't see any difference from Aqua to non-Aqua. Our room, 7172, was well laid out, but tired. The tile in the bathroom, while very clean, was stained; tile repairs were evident, and more were needed. Nice toiletries were provided. Air conditioning could not keep up with the temperature, without the drapes closed - we had the temperature set at the coldest throughout the cruise. The beds were set up in the queen bed format - we had to move one frame into position after banging legs walking buy. The mattresses were well used. The sofa had significant wear. The rail on the balcony was rusted on the bottom and had shedding finish on the top. While initially we thought storage was a problem, it turned out to be more than adequate. Our cabin steward Anthony was outstanding. Our location was excellent - a few doors off the stairway. No noise; easy to walk up to the Lido and down to the MDR. We did not miss the Aqua bathroom amenities - the toiletries were fine. While the shower did not have the extra spray, we thought it was larger than the Aqua class shower. We were not in the room enough to miss afternoon Aqua appetizers. We found plenty of drinks to replace the iced tea from Aqua. The Infinity has the interior Persian Gardens, which are not our preference - we prefer the stone beds when you can gaze out the windows, like on the Equinox and Silouhette. So we didn't miss them. We had two of the more outstanding massage experiences we have every had in the spa. We did not miss Blu. We found our experience in the main dining room excellent. Our waiter team was outstanding in every way, and the food and selection met all our needs. We did not choose to go to any of the speciality restaurants. We like the Lido deck variety, as well, and thought that it was particularly well run. We enjoyed the ship entertainment: we thought the Celebrity Theater shows were well done, and we enjoyed several lounge shows, including a guitar/soloist combo and a violin/cello combo. We picked poorly on our excursions. The first was a snorkeling - boat ride in Key West. It was not as good as other snorkeling excursions we have taken. The boat was fine and the crew was helpful, but it was delayed in starting, took an hour to get to the chosen reef, and we stayed at the reef for only 45 minutes. We were in Key West during their Fantasy Fest week. Let's just say that it was an eye-full. The second excursion was a city tour in Nassau. The staff worked very hard and was very nice, but there isn't that much to see. Nassau is a city of marked contrasts in wealth, and we spent quite a bit of time in the less wealthy side. The stops at the rum cake bakery and tea shop were really only sales opportunities, which I don't begrudge, but were not interesting. The caves could be interesting, but are really not accessible. But the beach across the street was gorgeous. We also really enjoyed the restaurant stop, for authentic Bahamian food - it was the standout element of the tour - with tamarind wings, conch fritters and fried fish, and local sour orange drinks. My experience with the guest relations desk in the last item to note. The guest relations officer was very good, although clearly a bit harried, and not well supported by her home office and facilities people. I had arranged to move 50,000 points from my Celebrity Visa account to create $500 in OBC, and somehow it got lost. I still do not have confirmation of what happened. In a first round of discussions, sadly on the last night of the cruise, I was asked to deal with the matter on my return home. In a second round of discussions, when I produced the receipt which clearly indicated a transfer into OBC, I was given a compromise - they would refund the points to my Celebrity Visa account. Not exactly what I wanted, but since I know I will be on Celebrity again, probably better than dealing with the lost credits on return. All in all, 1) I am left uncertain as to whether Aqua is worth the extra cost to me ( I do recognized opinions differ :-) ; 2) the level of service delivered by staff on the Infinity was outstanding (and frankly better than what we saw on the Silhouette); the Infinity needs an overhaul and cleanup. Read Less

We choose this cruise because we wanted a short getaway. We are Elite with Celebrity and their service has always been number one. The Infinity is an older ship and is well maintained. It does not have a very high activity level but you are able to relax and pamper yourself as well as finding activities if you desire. We had a veranda cabin that was sufficient for the two of us. It was well maintained and had all the needed amenities. Food in the buffet and the dining room was first class without it being overboard. Service was A1... We never had to ask more then once if at all. For a short getaway I would rate the entertainment 10 out of 10. We like Port Everglades as a departure port and Key West is a good port of call, Nassau is a port that could be left off my itinerary. Been there many times and has not changed for the better in many years.... Read Less