My wife and I took the 15-day cruise on December 9 from Fort Lauderdale to Cartagena, Colombia; the Panama Canal; Manta, Ecuador; Lima, Peru; and Arica, Chile. It concluded December 24 in Valparaiso, Chile. We have traveled other Celebrity vessels, but the Infinity proved a comparative disappointment.

To begin with, there were necessarily nine days at sea. Many travelers filled the time with daily bingo and trivia contests, sun bathing, and the casino. The Infinity's library is easily the poorest I have encountered on more than a dozen cruises with several major cruise lines. On the fifth deck concessionaires worked over time to sell customers 'pre-owned' Rolexes and expensive perfumes. On the positive side, Infinity did have some excellent lectures on the Panama Canal and aspects of the history and culture of South America. And, its physical fitness center had top-quality equipment for those seeking to shed pounds gained elsewhere on the ship.

As others have noted, Infinity zealously promotes its premium restaurants ($25 per person at lunch and $45 per person in the evening), and expensive drink packages. In fact, during the early days of the cruise one we were besieged by crew members doing extra duty, promoting the specialty restaurants. Read more