Review: Celebrity Cruises - Infinity - [November 20 , 2005]

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Celebrity Infinity 14 Day Hawaii
November 20, 2005

Summary: This was our first trip to Hawaii and we enjoyed it greatly.
We visited five ports on four islands which provided a good
introduction to the different islands. The pacing of the cruise is
similar to an extended Caribbean cruise with four days at sea, five
consecutive port days and the four more days at sea.

Background: Mary and I are a mid 50s couple, white collar
professional types with no kids. This is our 22nd cruise, mostly
Holland America and Celebrity with a few Princess and NCL thrown in.
We booked this cruise about a year in advance and got one of the last
Sky Suites. Had we booked a few months earlier, there would have been
more choices and lower prices. Hawaii cruises do seem to sell out
quickly.

The Ship: The Infinity is a Millennium class ship which is 91,000
Gross Register Tons and holds about 2,000 passengers. Much has been written
elsewhere about the M-class ships so suffice it to say that we enjoy
them since we have cruised on three of them (Millennium, Constellation
and Infinity).

Pre-cruise: We arranged air separately using JetBlue direct from JFK
to SAN. Celebrity uses American, United and Delta and their
connections were not convenient. JetBlue has good seat pitch and LCD
displays for in-flight entertainment. While they provide drinks and
snacks, you have to provide your own meals on board or beforehand
which can be done once you clear security at JFK and SAN. SAN is a
nice airport and the taxi stand is just across the drop-off/arrival
roadway from the baggage area. Taxi fare to the port is about $10-12
with tip. We arrived two days early to tour the city and avoid last
minute baggage hassles.

We also booked hotel separately since Celebrity will book the airport
hotels on Harbor Court which are far away from downtown San Diego and
the port. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Bay on North Harbor
Drive which is right across from the cruise port. The HI on the Bay
is about a mile walk from downtown and about 3 miles from Balboa Park.
A free shuttle service is provided to both areas four times daily. We
had dinner in Old Town which is the precursor to modern San Diego. On
Saturday evening, we met with six other couples we met through Cruise
critics. Thanks to the advise of several San Diego residents (thanks
Cauvet and LuAnn) who were also on the cruise, we had a great time and
we will certainly consider another cruise out of San Diego in the
future (Aloha anyone?)

If your hotel is either the HI or the BW behind it on Ash Street, you
can walk your luggage to the port as we did. There is a Rite Aid
drugstore two blocks away on Ash Street and they sell liquor as well.
While we did not use it, there is a cyber café in the Horton Plaza
development on Broadway. San Diego has a trolley system that runs
behind the HI on the Bay and connects to Tijuana, Mexico. We used it
to go to Old Town which is fast and convenient.

The Cabin: We booked a sky suite which is about 260 sq feet with a 60
sq foot veranda. This is about a third larger than the Concierge
cabins on the M-class ships and comes with a butler (extra tip).
Cabin has a king-size bed with TV/VCR (no DVD), a mini-fridge and bar,
love seat, coffee table, desk and two chairs. There is a walk in
closet but the layout was not that efficient. There is no tie rack in
the closet and the metal pants holders take up too much space that
could be used for hanging clothes. The closet in the penthouse suites
on the Norwegian Dawn were better set up with access from both sides.
The bathroom has a bathtub/shower combo and several storage shelves.
It also has a small window into the bed area with electrically
closable blinds (great for watching TV from the throne but little
else). The cabin stewardess quickly cued into our morning schedule
and had our cabin cleaned up by 9 am on most days.

Our butler was efficient and provided tea service between 3 and 4 PM
(leaving tea sandwiches and cookies if we were out) and canapés at 5
PM which was overkill since we had main seating (6 PM). The offering
of the canapés became a source of amusement for both of us as he
offered with a wink and a smile and we declined also with a smile. He
also made sure we got our formal clothes pressed (for a fee) and back
in time for formal night. He also helped set up our cabin for an
impromptu "house tour" we set up on cruise critic. The additional
canapés required an extra charge (36 cold canapés for $28 with
service). Having a butler is nice and the extra space in the sky
suite was definitely worthwhile. We would do a suite in the future if
the price spread above the Concierge class cabin is small enough (not
hardly likely, but you never know).

The Itinerary: The Infinity sailed roundtrip from San Diego to
Nawiliwili, Kauai (Friday); Honolulu, Oahu; Hilo, Hawaii (the big
Island); Kailua Kona, Hawaii and Lahiana, Maui. Kailua Kona and
Lahaina required tendering into the ports; the ship was docked at the
other ports. Time in port varied from about 14 hours for Honolulu to
about 6 hours for Lahaina. Most times ran about 8-10 hours in port.
The Pacific crossing took four days each way (2,300 nautical miles)
and the first two and last two days, the water temperatures were in
the 60s. For information on water temperatures and sea conditions,
see the following URL Oceanweather Inc: Current Marine Data.

We pre-booked two tours, the helicopter tour of Kauai and the Mauna
Kea summit tour. The other ports, we did on our own with mixed
results. The helo tour on Kauai included Waimea canyon which is a
scaled down version of the Grand Canyon but just a spectacular
looking. We overflew the waterfall that you see at the beginning of
Jurassic Park as well. We also flew above the Na Pali coast on the
north shore of Kauai, another spectacular vista on top of what we had
already seen. This is well worth the cost. We also had lunch at
Duke's at the Marriot Hotel which is a nice if pricy hangout, and it
had a great view of the harbor and the low mountains beyond. There
are shuttle buses to the local Hilo Hattie's (Hawaiian themed goods)
and to Wal-mart. There are two small strip malls about a half mile
outside the port for odds and ends. There are sidewalks so it is easy
to get there and to Duke's. There are shuttle buses available to Hilo
Hattie's and some other shopping venues was well.

For Honolulu, we took the local bus to the Arizona memorial, but the
line was so long that we fell back to plan B which was the swap meet
at Aloha Stadium a few blocks away. We got some souvenirs and got a
good walk as well with occasional rain bursts. The swap meet has a
lot of the usual tourist stuff at more reasonable prices. We took a
bus back to Honolulu's Chinatown for dim sum at Legends in the Chinese
Cultural Center. It is highly recommended if you like dim sum. We
would have gone down to Waikiki but it was raining on and off so we
hung out near the port in the afternoon.

We docked at Hilo on Sunday and took the tour to the top of Mauna Kea
which is 13,700 feet high and has about 12 different telescopes
(optical, infrared and radio). There is a visitor information center
at the 9,200 foot level where we stopped for lunch (and also to
acclimate to the reduced O2 level, 60% of normal). Hint, bring some
mayo or mustard as the sandwiches they provide are dry. The visitor
center has interesting presentation and books on the astronomical
observatories atop Mauna Kea. The tour to the top was great once we
broke through the rain clouds and got into clear dry air. The
observatories cluster atop Mauna Kea since most of the moisture in the
air (and clouds as well) is well below the summit which enhances star
viewing. This tour is good for those who are interested in science
and are healthy enough to tolerate reduced levels of oxygen. This
tour takes most of the time we were in Hilo so we did not go
elsewhere. For more information on the visitor center and the
observatories, go to Visitor Information Station -- Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. That night
as we sailed around to Kona, we saw the lava flows from Kilauea. The
Monday after we sailed past, a large chunk of cooled lava fell into
the sea and the lava flows were much larger as a result. If your
schedule has you going from Hilo to Kona, book a starboard cabin so
you can see the lava flows as you sail by.

We did not plan any tours in Kona or Lahaina so we just hung out in
town, walked around and had lunch. Both ports require tendering in
from the ship. Lahaina has a shuttle bus to Whalers Village that
turned out to be a modern shopping area located near several hotels
north of town. Not very interesting. The people in Hawaii are very
friendly and laid back and the concept of island time applies here as
well. For information on Hawaiian ports, go to
Hawaii Port Reviews.

Since any ship sailing to Hawaii from the west coast has to transit
the Pacific at high speed (26 mph), you will likely get cold breezes
the first two and last two days at sea. You will likely also get some
sea spray on your veranda, particularly if you are towards the aft of
the ship. A veranda is certainly desirable when you are in the
islands, but you will not always be able to use it during the Pacific
crossing. The same is true of Atlantic crossings as well.

Ship Services. The Infinity is a modern ship with a wide variety of
services and activities available for passengers. While we used only a
fraction of the services available, those we used were by and large
were well presented.

The fitness center had treadmills and stationary bikes as well as an
aerobics area. The top deck had a walking track that is about five
laps to the mile. There is also a large enclosed spa area available
to all passengers. This included a food service area serving light spa-type
cuisine, two Jacuzzis and the Thallasotherapy pool which is a large
aerated seawater pool similar to a Jacuzzi but at a lower temperature.
We opted for the Persian Garden which has 2 steam baths, a low
temperature sauna and a private lounge. It cost $175pp for the two
week cruise which we found worthwhile.

Food. The Trellis restaurant is the main dining venue for the ship.
Dinners were served at 6 and 8:30 PM, breakfast and lunch were open
seating. Meals there were well prepared and presented but are
leisurely in pacing (just right for a sea day). The dinners offered a
variety of appetizers, two hot soups and a one cold soup, three types
of salads, five entrees plus several desserts. The entrees included
two red meats (beef and lamb or pork), chicken, fish and a
pasta/vegetation entrée. We had asked for a table of six but got a
table for four with nobody else. After speaking to the assistant
maitre d', we were joined by a pleasant couple from Glens Falls, New
York. The Oceanview Café is the self service buffet aft of the pool
area. There are four buffet serving lines with three special purpose
areas at the back end of the café. At breakfast, the special purpose
areas provide either cooked to order omelets, pancakes and waffles.
At lunch the special purpose areas provide cooked to order pasta,
pizza or sandwiches. The pizzas were only OK, but then, there are no
high temperature gas-fired ovens on-board to make the pizza crisp.
Burgers (overdone) and hot dogs were available near the pool. We
alternated between the dining room and the buffet for breakfast and
lunch depending on what was offered. While it was available, we did
not have breakfast in-suite. We used the spa buffet for breakfast on
several days which was quieter and less crowded than Oceanview. We
did not use the extra tariff specialty restaurant, the SS United
States for dinner though we were invited to afternoon tea on two sea
days. We had tried the specialty restaurants on the Millennium and
while they were good, the pacing was much slower. Worth a try if you
like a leisurely meal with enhanced service for a fee.

For lounges, we preferred the Martini Bar which is stacked above the
Rendezvous Lounge and connected to it by a circular opening above the
Rendezvous' dance floor. This allowed us to hear the music at a
reasonable volume. The Cova Cafe is the ship's coffee bar where one
can get cappuccino, espresso, excellent pastries and also cocktails.
Pastries were available during the late morning and drinks including
coffees were reasonably priced. Drink price now equal shore side
prices. The Martini Bar has specialty drinks at high prices. I found
I could handle only one Mathematician's Martini (add ice to a shaker,
pour 5 oz of vodka in, chant "Somewhere in the bar, the vermouth
exists", shake and pour into a chilled martini glass with a twist of
lemon). A 15% service charge is added for drinks and wine service.
We still tipped our regular bartender.

We did not partake much of the entertainment on board. I did like the
poolside band, Centerfold, which is a great blues rock band. The hula
show in Honolulu was worthwhile and some of the lounge bands were OK,
but the production shows did not do anything for us. Just a matter of
taste I guess.

General thoughts. If you link up with shipmates on the cruise critics
site (they have roll calls for most cruises), you will have a
readymade group of people to meet and mingle with. Our group arranged
for a pre-cruise dinner and a "house tour" of several different cabins
in addition to the usual cruise critic meet and greet party on-board.
It is a nice way to meet like-minded people. We very much enjoyed the
company of the people we met through cruise critics.

Some tours are worth pre-booking such as the helo flights and the
Mauna Kea tour which took a total of 24 people. When we tried to book
tours in Kona, the ones we wanted were closed out. The M-ship sky
suite is slightly larger than the veranda suites on Holland America
but smaller than the penthouse suites on the Norwegian Dawn. The
Dawn's penthouse suites were larger at 290 sq feet and the closet was
accessible from both the dressing area and the cabin hallway. They
also had a full table that could be used for in-suite meals. For that
matter, HAL veranda suites had a coffee table that could be raised to
dining table height. The sky suite coffee table was OK for tea
service only.

Do plan on spending some time in San Diego as it is a lovely city that
is quite walkable with several interesting areas. We walked through
the Gaslamp district which appears to be a budding Soho (as in lower
Manhattan art district) and had an excellent lunch and also stopped
off at their new Hilo Hattie's store. Balboa Park is definitely worth
a look as well. The Mexican food in the Old Town area is definitely
worth trying as well.

This is a cruise you will definitely enjoy and should try. A Hui
Aloha.