Celebrity Infinity Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,666 reviews

Great Panama Canal trip

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Celebrity Infinity
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mobie
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Oct 2018
Cabin: Concierge Class 2

We chose this cruise because of the Panama Canal transit and pretty much for no other reason or ports, as well as prior, good experiences with Celebrity. Overall, the experience and ship were very good. The Infinity is a nice size without feeling overwhelmed or overcrowded. We were a little concerned as the ship is getting older and is scheduled to be redone in 2020, but it was well-maintained and there were no overt signs of age or lack of maintenance (our balcony door was a little hard to slide and the sink was looking a little old, but no big deal). The canal transit day was absolutely amazing; they had a destination expert, Bill Fall, giving presentations the days leading up to the canal and he narrated throughout the canal day from the bridge. He was very informative, well-paced and knew when to speak and when to be quiet! Costa Rica stop was good and especially liked Cartagena, Columbia - felt very safe and the old town was beautiful, mostly restored and well kept up with friendly people. Antigua, Guatemala was beautiful but a lot of poverty between the port and the old city. Had been to Puerto Vallarta before but it was good as was the beach in Cabo. Service on the ship was mostly excellent across the board. The only downgrade is that they kept trying to shift us around to a different area in the dining room with different waiters, even though we were dining at the same time pretty much every night. Once we got to a good area with a good service team, it was much better. In the past on Celebrity, we got to a good table with great staff and they left us there throughout the cruise. Food was generally very good in the main dining room as well as the cafe (a lot of variety every day and loved the pizza as well as healthy selections).

Cabin Review

Concierge Class 2

Cabin C2

Nice balcony cabin, with enough closet and storage space. Very quiet - could not hear anything from the adjoining rooms and very little sound from the hall. Bed was comfortable and AC worked well. The Deck 10 overhang two decks above us gave a little extra shade and screening when it did rain. Bathroom functioned well and the shower was a little bigger than other ships we have been on.

In the end, we are not sure the Concierge class was worth the extra expense, other than the nicer bathrobes that actually fit you and are not as thin as a rag. The stateroom seemed to be the same as any other balcony room. They brought savory snacks each afternoon - we obviously were not going hungry and some of them were weird or perhaps sushi. Sometimes brought one pita chip with some hummus or one shrimp - kind of hard for 2 to share! We did however get to go on a complimentary backstage tour, a galley tour and go out on the bow/heliport during arrival in Puerto Vallarta, so there were a few extra perks. Did not use the actual concierge for anything.

Port Reviews

Cabo San Lucas

Had to tender and not a lot of time in port. Just took a water taxi to Medano Beach and had great, professional 90 minute massages at Justintime massage - tents on far east end of the beach. $20 + tip so hard to beat the quality for the price.

Puerto Quetzal (Antigua)

We booked an excursion to a coffee plantation and the old City of Antigua. Finca Columbia coffee plantation was excellent - family run, a good tour and coffee and cookies afterward. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Antigua was neat and historic but unfortunately felt very rushed. We only had 20 minutes on our own to explore, but the jade museum was decent and not an overt sales pitch. Buffet lunch at the restaurant was excellent and in a nice courtyard. Wish we would have had a least an hour on our own to explore the sights and shops. Driving past the Fuego volcano on the way (still belching smoke) was cool. Outside of the stops, the roads were pretty rough and there is a lot of poverty.

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