MOAGC2 (aka Celebrity Part Deux)

First, let me say, Celebrity could easily become my favorite cruise
line. I thought I would go ahead and say that, just in case anyone was
wondering. I also wanted to post this short review before the
post-cruise blues sets in.

The MOAGC2 (Mother of All Group Cruises) was on the Celebrity Infinity
2-5-06 and this was my second cruise on Celebrity, the first being the
Mercury on 12-06-98. I have cruised about 28 times in between these two
cruises, but I was not impressed with Celebrity, so I did not go back.
Ben Smith, and a few other people, told me that Celebrity had made some
changes and I am pleased to say, they were right.

We walked into the port building and there was no line for passengers
who registered online and were carrying Xpress pass. Everything is going
great so far. We entered the ship and everything looked lovely, but we
had a hard time finding our cabin. We looked on both sides of the ship
and we could not find it. An elderly couple helped us, but it would
have been nice if the ship had employees to help.

Cabin

The cabin was nice and comfy with plenty of space for storage, and I was
impressed with the bathroom trash can having a trash can liner. I never
use trash cans in ship's bathrooms when there is no liner, so I carry my
old tissues and Q-tips to a trash can in the bedroom. It just feels
tacky to throw trash into a can with no liner. I also enjoyed the rack
on the wall that held the books, the cabin looked less cluttered, this
way. When you open the cabin door, it stays open all by itself. That
helped when we carried our luggage in and out of the cabin, or when you
are waiting for someone to come out of the cabin. The bedspread had a
couple of cigarette burns and two of the pillow cases had stains from
either lipstick or nail polish. They did not have a good selection on TV
but I do not watch television when I am cruising. For someone who is
ill, I can see where this would be a problem. There were two wall
outlets by the desk... TWO! I thought that was wonderful. I forgot to
pack a clock and I go nuts without one, but one TV channel had a clock
on it. It bothered my husband because I kept the TV on all night, but
then I was going nuts without a clock.


Entertainment

The entertainment was great, except for the xylophone player. I would
have left, but I did not want to insult him. He tried hard and he was
very good, but I have no desire to listen to a xylophone for 45 minutes.
The band had 7 musicians, they also used prerecorded tracts and some
of the singers were lip synching. The singers were weak, except for one
of the male singer, he was very good. The dancers were great, so was
the couple who flew through the air. She was quite a contortionist and a
joy to watch. They only had one comic and was comic juggler, Thien Fu.
He was the same comic I saw on the Mercury in 1998. I was disappointed
that this was their only comic, although I did enjoy him. There was no
midnight comedy, either.


Buffet

Their breakfast buffet was very good, they had papaya most mornings and
they had blueberries and raspberries a few mornings during the week.
They had guava-papaya juice, which my husband liked, and their coffee
was pretty good. They also had iced tea every morning, which was a plus.
We sat in the same area every morning and Oscar Reyes would serve
fruit juices, coffee and pastries. They had pizza every day and they
had a sandwich station aft. My husband ate one of their hamburgers and
he said it tasted "funny". I had one a few days later and he was right,
it did taste funny. They had a decent salad bar, but not quite as good
as the salad bar on Princess. Other than the sandwich station and the
pizzas, their lunch buffet was quite plain. Carnival's lunch buffet is
fabulous, by comparison.


Dining Room

We had a wonderful waiter and assistant waiter, both of them were
friendly and efficient. I had dinner at two other tables on two
different nights, and those waiters were equally friendly. One waiter
let me know, that if I did not like my entree, he could have another one
on the table in a matter of minutes, and for me not to hesitate to ask.
They also gave us desserts to sample. Several of the people in our group
would eat in port and at the special restaurant, so we had a lot of
empty chairs at our tables. You could see empty chairs elsewhere in the
restaurant, too. One couple was so disappointed in the food, they ate at
the special restaurant 3 nights. I liked their vegetables and their
salmon was very good. Their prime rib was tough and their lobsters were
small and overly salty. You can laugh at Carnival, but their prime rib
is so tender you can cut it with a fork. If you order a steak off the
menu, it is tough. When you order a steak off the menu on Carnival, it
is a filet mignon. I only ordered dessert once, but I noticed that many
of their desserts were made from sponge cake.

If I was choosing a cruise line for food, it would not be Celebrity, but
they have other advantages. They had so few children, I knew all of
them by sight. They made very few announcements. The T-pool area was a
nice spot for the group to gather and there were no children there.
Outdoors by the buffet, they had wooden tables and chairs, which I liked.

The Infinity had a few rusty spots and some soiled carpeting, but I
heard the ship is soon to be refurbished. What is hard to forgive, is
how dirty the T-pool area was. On the first day of the cruise, we saw a
couple of old band-aids laying out by the pool and a couple of nicotene
patches. These old band-aids and patches were sitting on the edge of the
T-pool every day, all week, so this area was never swept or cleaned. You
can see a ring around the inside of the pool, and I assume this is from
suntan lotion. When you rubbed on it, the ring would come off, but they
never cleaned the pool all week. Someone commented, that the water at
Orient Beach was cleaner than the water in the T-pool. I looked down at
the water, and he was right. Still, it was a quiet spot with no children
and they did have nice wooden lounge chairs.

Carnival has the best food, IMO, but at my age food is not everything.
Royal Caribbean's Voyager Class ships are a lot of fun, and I enjoy
cruising on RCI, but they are not my favorite cruise line. After my
cruise on the Norwegian Sun in December, NCL is way down on the list.

It is tough to say whether Celebrity or Princess is my favorit, but
right now I choose Princess because they have Personal Choice dining.
Princess also has fresh water swimming pools and they have MUTS (Movies
Under The Stars) on some of their ships, and I enjoy that. Celebrity had
several beverages in the buffet, Princess only offers coffee, tea and
hot chocolate. Celebrity serves hand dipped ice cream all day and you
have to buy ice cream on Princess.

Would I cruise on Celebrity again? You betcha!

Becca

Terrific overview, Becca. So nice to read all about your fun.

Diana

"Becca" wrote in message

What is hard to forgive, is how dirty the T-pool area was. On the first day
of the cruise, we saw a
couple of old band-aids laying out by the pool and a couple of nicotene
patches. These old band-aids and patches were sitting on the edge of the
T-pool every day, all week, so this area was never swept or cleaned. You
can see a ring around the inside of the pool, and I assume this is from
suntan lotion. When you rubbed on it, the ring would come off, but they
never cleaned the pool all week.



Becca, you're scarin' me! I've never been on Celebrity and I'm going on
Constellation on 3/18! Now you're saying that Carnival has better food, and
the entertainment is okay, and the pool is dirty, and I'm trying to figure
out why you like Celebrity the best? Help, help, help!!!

I got a great deal on Celebrity but I'm biting my nails, here because I'll
never hear the end from my husband for switching.....

--
Shauna

)))

Shauna wrote:

Becca, you're scarin' me! I've never been on Celebrity and I'm
going on Constellation on 3/18! Now you're saying that Carnival has
better food, and the entertainment is okay, and the pool is dirty,
and I'm trying to figure out why you like Celebrity the best? Help,
help, help!!!

I got a great deal on Celebrity but I'm biting my nails, here because
I'll never hear the end from my husband for switching.....

Shauna, I had a wonderful time on the Infinity and I would go back
tomorrow, if I had the chance. I enjoyed it so much, I am looking
forward to cruising with Celebrity again. The ship was nice and clean,
except for the T-pool area. The nicotine patches and the band-aids were
sitting there all week. None of us mentioned it, and maybe we should
have. I am not sure what the problem was, maybe the staff or the
supervisor in that area were new.

When I cruised with my children on Carnival, we went to 3 adults only,
midnight comedy shows. On that cruise, they had 4 different comics. The
three of us enjoy stand-up comedy, so when we went to Las Vegas for
Christmas one year, we visited a few comedy clubs. Celebrity did not
have any midnight comedy, and they only had one comic all week. From
what I could tell, not much was happening on the ship after midnight. I
had a wonderful time on the cruise, but young people may enjoy a more
active ship. The Infinity was active enough for old folks like myself.

The entertainment on the Infinity was good, they had 4-5 singers and
dancers who danced their little hearts out. I did not walk out on any of
the shows, although I did not care to hear the xylophone for that long.
They had a couple of French adagio performers who were amazing to watch.

The breakfast buffet on the Infinity was nice. Given a choice between
breakfast on the Infinity or on Carnival, I would choose the Infinity.
They offered more fruits and berries, I also liked their pastries,
although I tried to avoid them (well, sometimes). They offered more
variety of bagels than just the plain bagel that you find on Carnival.

Carnival offers a large variety of food on their lunch buffet. The lunch
buffet on the Infinity was nothing special, but I always found something
to eat. They had a nice salad bar and I liked the sandwich area.

The food in the dining room on the Infinity was pretty good. They leave
baskets of bread on the table, which I like. They have butter, instead
of the "whipped" butter that Carnival is now using. I also liked their
vegetables. If I did not want any of the entrees on the menu, I ordered
salmon and it was very good. The steak, off the menu, was tough. The
prime rib on Celebrity was not tender, like the prime rib on Carnival.

There are things I liked about the Infinity. At 6:00 every morning, some
of us would meet and have coffee. We would sit outdoors, at wooden
tables with wooden chairs. This may not mean much to some people, but I
like wooden chairs, so it meant a lot to me. There were no
announcements, which made this cruise very relaxing. There were few
children on the ship, so it was very quiet. The cabin door would stay
open all by itself, making it easy to bring luggage in and out. They had
two electrical outlets at the desk, which I thought was great. There
were several small things that I liked, and it all adds up.

Carnival and Celebrity are different, but I like both of them. Right
now, I would not take my children on Celebrity, because they are young
and they enjoy a more active ship. I may talk to them about cruising on
the MOAGC3, it will be on the Freedom of the Seas, and I think they
would really enjoy that ship.

Shauna, I hope you enjoy the Constellation as much as I enjoyed cruising
on the Infinity. I had a great time. You will have to let us know how
you liked it, when you get back. You will be cruising in only 4 more
weeks. Wish I was going with you!

Becca

Answered inline:
"Becca" wrote in message
...
We walked into the port building and there was no line for passengers
who registered online and were carrying Xpress pass. Everything is going
great so far. We entered the ship and everything looked lovely, but we
had a hard time finding our cabin. We looked on both sides of the ship
and we could not find it. An elderly couple helped us, but it would
have been nice if the ship had employees to help.

We found the embarkation very easy and swift on both the MSC Opera and
Infinity, Becca.

Entertainment
The entertainment was great, except for the xylophone player. I would
have left, but I did not want to insult him. He tried hard and he was
very good, but I have no desire to listen to a xylophone for 45 minutes.
The band had 7 musicians, they also used prerecorded tracts and some
of the singers were lip synching. The singers were weak, except for one
of the male singer, he was very good. The dancers were great, so was
the couple who flew through the air. She was quite a contortionist and a
joy to watch. They only had one comic and was comic juggler, Thien Fu.
He was the same comic I saw on the Mercury in 1998. I was disappointed
that this was their only comic, although I did enjoy him. There was no
midnight comedy, either.

Glad that I did not go the night of the xylophone player...that would have
been too much for me to sit through!
I did enjoy the comic, Thien Fu, as I had never heard him before and he was
very good at juggling, which does not interest me much usually...you know
the expression *You've seen one, you've seen them all* Which is probably not
fair, but its like going to the circus twice in a year sort of thing. ;-)


Buffet
Their breakfast buffet was very good, they had papaya most mornings and
they had blueberries and raspberries a few mornings during the week.
They had guava-papaya juice, which my husband liked, and their coffee
was pretty good. They also had iced tea every morning, which was a plus.

I really enjoyed the papaya fruit and pineapple, but where was I the
mornings that they had they had the raspberries (my favorite) and
blueberries??? Probably late arriving or not looking around enough! ;-(


The Infinity had a few rusty spots and some soiled carpeting, but I
heard the ship is soon to be refurbished. What is hard to forgive, is
how dirty the T-pool area was. On the first day of the cruise, we saw a
couple of old band-aids laying out by the pool and a couple of nicotene
patches. These old band-aids and patches were sitting on the edge of the
T-pool every day, all week, so this area was never swept or cleaned. You
can see a ring around the inside of the pool, and I assume this is from
suntan lotion. When you rubbed on it, the ring would come off, but they
never cleaned the pool all week. Someone commented, that the water at
Orient Beach was cleaner than the water in the T-pool. I looked down at
the water, and he was right. Still, it was a quiet spot with no children
and they did have nice wooden lounge chairs.

The soiled areas and rust I saw, but I did not know that the T-pool was that
bad; but then I observed y'all from a distance..The area was so
attractive..it's too bad they neglected it..

Carnival has the best food, IMO, but at my age food is not everything.
Royal Caribbean's Voyager Class ships are a lot of fun, and I enjoy
cruising on RCI, but they are not my favorite cruise line. After my
cruise on the Norwegian Sun in December, NCL is way down on the list.

I agree, so far the last Carnival ships that we have sailed on have had the
best food. HAL, Celebrity and Princess tie for second place...that of
course, it subjective..
We'll see if Carnival has managed to keep that place when we get on the
Conquest this October!
I like Princess because of their Personal Choice Dining and I think that is
the reason that I like NCL...both their relaxed attire and their Freestyle
Dining. But then you know already, that I like the variety offered by
different cruise lines.

Would I cruise on Celebrity again? You betcha!

Me too!
Thanks for posting an interesting review...I enjoy hearing how different and
same the opinions of the passengers on the very same sailing are!

--Jean


Becca

Phewwww!, I am now letting my breath out in a sigh of relief as I value your
opinion I like Carnival too, and think their food is the best of all the
lines I have been on so far. I am sure Celebrity's will be great because I
like light dishes and fruits and it sounds like they excel in this regard.
I do know if I find that the T pool area isn't clean, I'm going to complain
right away, so that they clean it! (I'm not swimming with other peoples
band-aids all week

We are not taking our kids so quiet is fine with me.

I have had such a great time reading the tips here and on Cruise Critic, I
feel like I know the ship before I get on. We were able to get a military
discount, that I had no idea we were entitled to because my husband was out
of the service for a long time. This saved us many hundreds of dollars. I
had never thought to ask before. I feel so blessed to be going. Anyway you
are right 4 weeks to go and time to get the suitcases out (well almost!)



Shauna

--
Shauna

)))



"Becca" wrote in message
...
Shauna wrote:

Becca, you're scarin' me! I've never been on Celebrity and I'm
going on Constellation on 3/18! Now you're saying that Carnival has
better food, and the entertainment is okay, and the pool is dirty,
and I'm trying to figure out why you like Celebrity the best? Help,
help, help!!!

I got a great deal on Celebrity but I'm biting my nails, here because
I'll never hear the end from my husband for switching.....

Shauna, I had a wonderful time on the Infinity and I would go back
tomorrow, if I had the chance. I enjoyed it so much, I am looking forward
to cruising with Celebrity again. The ship was nice and clean, except for
the T-pool area. The nicotine patches and the band-aids were sitting there
all week. None of us mentioned it, and maybe we should have. I am not sure
what the problem was, maybe the staff or the supervisor in that area were
new.

When I cruised with my children on Carnival, we went to 3 adults only,
midnight comedy shows. On that cruise, they had 4 different comics. The
three of us enjoy stand-up comedy, so when we went to Las Vegas for
Christmas one year, we visited a few comedy clubs. Celebrity did not have
any midnight comedy, and they only had one comic all week. From what I
could tell, not much was happening on the ship after midnight. I had a
wonderful time on the cruise, but young people may enjoy a more active
ship. The Infinity was active enough for old folks like myself.

The entertainment on the Infinity was good, they had 4-5 singers and
dancers who danced their little hearts out. I did not walk out on any of
the shows, although I did not care to hear the xylophone for that long.
They had a couple of French adagio performers who were amazing to watch.

The breakfast buffet on the Infinity was nice. Given a choice between
breakfast on the Infinity or on Carnival, I would choose the Infinity.
They offered more fruits and berries, I also liked their pastries,
although I tried to avoid them (well, sometimes). They offered more
variety of bagels than just the plain bagel that you find on Carnival.

Carnival offers a large variety of food on their lunch buffet. The lunch
buffet on the Infinity was nothing special, but I always found something
to eat. They had a nice salad bar and I liked the sandwich area.

The food in the dining room on the Infinity was pretty good. They leave
baskets of bread on the table, which I like. They have butter, instead of
the "whipped" butter that Carnival is now using. I also liked their
vegetables. If I did not want any of the entrees on the menu, I ordered
salmon and it was very good. The steak, off the menu, was tough. The
prime rib on Celebrity was not tender, like the prime rib on Carnival.

There are things I liked about the Infinity. At 6:00 every morning, some
of us would meet and have coffee. We would sit outdoors, at wooden tables
with wooden chairs. This may not mean much to some people, but I like
wooden chairs, so it meant a lot to me. There were no announcements,
which made this cruise very relaxing. There were few children on the
ship, so it was very quiet. The cabin door would stay open all by itself,
making it easy to bring luggage in and out. They had two electrical
outlets at the desk, which I thought was great. There were several small
things that I liked, and it all adds up.

Carnival and Celebrity are different, but I like both of them. Right now,
I would not take my children on Celebrity, because they are young and they
enjoy a more active ship. I may talk to them about cruising on the
MOAGC3, it will be on the Freedom of the Seas, and I think they would
really enjoy that ship.

Shauna, I hope you enjoy the Constellation as much as I enjoyed cruising
on the Infinity. I had a great time. You will have to let us know how you
liked it, when you get back. You will be cruising in only 4 more weeks.
Wish I was going with you!

Becca

Becca wrote:

I also enjoyed the rack
on the wall that held the books, the cabin looked less cluttered, this
way.

The rack on the wall kept the books, beach towels etc out of our way.
I thought that was a very nice design feature and hope to find it on
other ships in the future.

They did not have a good selection on TV
but I do not watch television when I am cruising. For someone who is
ill, I can see where this would be a problem. There were two wall
outlets by the desk... TWO! I thought that was wonderful.

I only noticed the poor tv selection when I found out about the east
coast blizzard and wanted to find out what was happening. If someone
was ill and stuck in the cabin, there were always movies. I also LOVED
having two outlets by the deck!!

The T-pool area was a
nice spot for the group to gather and there were no children there.

The T-pool was heaven and no matter when I went, there was always
someone from our group there.

Becca, thanks for your review. Kevin is still working on ours.LOL

sue

Jean O'Boyle wrote:

We found the embarkation very easy and swift on both the MSC Opera and
Infinity, Becca.

Embarkation and debarkation on the Infinity was the best we have ever
experienced.

Their breakfast buffet was very good, they had papaya most mornings and
they had blueberries and raspberries a few mornings during the week.
They had guava-papaya juice, which my husband liked, and their coffee
was pretty good. They also had iced tea every morning, which was a plus.


I really enjoyed the papaya fruit and pineapple, but where was I the
mornings that they had they had the raspberries (my favorite) and
blueberries??? Probably late arriving or not looking around enough! ;-(

We only had breakfast at the buffet one time, but I remember them
having papaya. I don't mind that we missed the other berries at
breakfast. At dinnertime we both had blueberries, raspberries and
blackberries for dessert, for dietary reasons. After seeing our
berries day after day a couple of others at our table ordered them and
it was no problem.

I agree, so far the last Carnival ships that we have sailed on have had the
best food. HAL, Celebrity and Princess tie for second place...that of
course, it subjective..

I think the food on the Infinity was very, very good, but the Carnival
Conquest food was just a little better. The conquest lunch buffet was
wonderful and varied, the Infinity was good, but didn't have the same
variety. We never had a problem finding something good to eat and that
is what is important.

sue

Shauna wrote:

I am sure Celebrity's will be great because I
like light dishes and fruits and it sounds like they excel in this regard.

Shauna, be sure to check out the "spa cusine" that is by the T-pool.
Kevin and I didn't take advantage of it, it just didn't work with his
diabetic diet. The food they had there was very light and looked very
good. Next time I will try it without him.LOL

sue

Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:

I think the food on the Infinity was very, very good, but the
Carnival Conquest food was just a little better. The conquest lunch
buffet was wonderful and varied, the Infinity was good, but didn't
have the same variety. We never had a problem finding something good
to eat and that is what is important.

sue


Carnival has more variety on their lunch buffet, I agree with you. The
Infinity had wonderful breakfast buffet. I had grapefruit, eggs, bacon,
a pastry and 1/2 bagel with cream cheese. At lunch, I would eat a salad
to cancel out the bad stuff I ate at breakfast. Now that I think about
it, I can see why my diet is not working.g

Becca