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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
Below is my attempt at a comparison between our recent B2B cruises. I
will warn you in advance, it is lengthy. Background: Myself 50 years old, husband 46. Experienced cruisers on various lines (Carnival x 8, Royal Caribbean x 3, NCL x 1, Princess x 3 and first time on Celebrity). We boarded the Celebrity Infinity with a group of friends on February 5, after spending a few precruise days in Ft. Lauderdale (stayed at our favorite hotel, Marriott Marina, which will be no longer after Feb. 24 as it's been sold to a Private Equity firm and will be converted to a high end yacht center). We originally were booked on just the Celebrity Infinity, but when my parents and sister and BIL and their kids booked the Liberty on Feb. 12, our plans worked out beautifully to debark the Infinity and join them on the Liberty. We met up with some friends for the Sunset Special Dinner (i.e., Early Bird) at 15th Street Fisheries the night before sailing. It's a great bargain for a 5 course meal for $18.95 pp. EMBARKATION: Celebrity Infinity "A+" - As we had never sailed Celebrity before, we had no idea what to expect. It was perhaps the easiest embarkation we've ever experienced. We had filled out our preboarding paperwork online. Marriott shuttled us over to the terminal (literally across the street) at 10:15 a.m. We entered the terminal, chatted for about 10 minutes with a few friends from previous group cruises, and then were called to board. The process took approximately 5 minutes at the desk. We were on the ship in no time, greeted by white gloved attendants and handed a glass of champagne. Since we were so early, they apologized that they could not escort us to our cabin as it wasn't ready yet, but that was fine. We went to our cabin, dropped our bags off, and wandered around the ship exploring. Carnival Liberty "C" - Lines, lines, lines....that was the theme of this ship. When we arrived at the port, it was wrapped around the building and moving very slow. And did I mention it was about 45 degrees in Ft. Lauderdale that morning? People were freezing standing outside in line. We arrived around 11:45, thinking that the crowds would have died down by noon time. Wrong! Then I remembered my sister was eligible for the Skipper's Club since they had booked a suite and we were able to move into that line which moved just as slowly, but wasn't nearly as long. I'd say we stood in line for approx. 1 hour before we boarded. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't time spent outside in the cold, windy weather. Of course, I knew Carnival doesn't greet you when you board. You are handed a map of the ship and again, we were told our cabins weren't yet ready (surprisingly, since it was almost 1 p.m. by now). But no big deal, we went to our cabins and dropped off our stuff. Met our cabin stewards who were a bit unsettled that we arrived before the cabins were completely finished, but we told them we understood, and we'd be out of their way momentarily. We really just wanted to drop off our bags. We met up with my parents and began exploring the ship. SHIP DÉCOR: Celebrity Infinity "A+": Loved the décor of this ship. Elegant and soothing come to mind when describing it. The lobby area lacks the "ahhhh" of the atriums of Carnival that rise approximately 7 stories high, but was so tastefully done that it makes up for the fact that it doesn't have that "wow" factor of a Carnival atrium. An elegant two story grand staircase in white marble-like stone with two story pillars of billowy ivory drapes is reminiscent of old time ocean liners. Lots of artwork all over the ship, some very quirky and some very stately. Fresh floral arrangements would have been nicer, but the silk arrangements were nice just the same. Lots of glass and woodtones dominate the ship. The lounges were also very elegant. We especially liked the Martini and Champagne Bars. Lots of choices for martinis! The Goose Kiss martini got my nod! The Constellation Lounge was lovely and that's where Celebrity held the Super Bowl party (which took place the day we boarded, and being huge football fans, we weren't about to miss it). They had a large projection screen set up near the stage, and a few more flat screen TV's scattered around the lounge. We found an area to our liking and soon we had a large crowd of friends who joined us. Efficient bar service and a "football buffet" was set up in the room (hoagies, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, nachos, a carving station, etc.) And in the middle was an ice sculpture of a football with "Super Bowl XL" carved into it. The pool areas were okay, with the exception of the Aqua Spa area, which was absolutely stunning. We didn't spend much time at the Aqua Spa because with the solarium roof, we found it got too warm in there. But we did try out the Thalossotherapy pool (very relaxing) and they have lovely wooden and padded chairs around the area. Some nice areas off to the sides of the Aqua Spa pool with padded loungers with excellent views of the ocean. The Aqua Spa also had healthy food fare offered that was very tasty. I was a bit underimpressed with the actual Lido pool areas. I think Princess has the prettiest pool areas, so this wasn't outstanding on Celebrity's part. Typical, but nothing that stood out. We didn't have a problem getting a lounge chair, unless you wanted a primo area. Since it was an older crowd, most passengers weren't sun worshippers, so finding a lounge chair in the sun wasn't an issue. The public bathrooms were lovely and always fresh smelling, with glass vases filled with water and fresh rose petals. In addition to regular paper towels in the bathrooms, small, rolled up, terry cloth "wash clothes" were also offered. Pool towels were plentiful. Attendants were constantly bringing out lots of fresh towels, which were rolled up and placed in areas around the pool. Rolling them was a nice touch. It amazed me, though, that some people would grab 6-8 towels at a time. This seemed very wasteful and created a lot of work on the part of the staff to keep replenishing them...but replenish they did. Towels were never lacking. Carnival Liberty "A": While not as subtly decorated as the Infinity, I really did like the décor of the Liberty. It wasn't as "over-the-top" as some of Joe Farcus' other Carnival creations. It was a little "out there" in places, but overall I thought the ship was lovely. I didn't expect it to look like the Infinity, and probably would have been disappointed if it had. I've come to expect "different" with Carnival, and this delivered that, but was a little easier on the eyes than some of Carnival's other ships. It had a definite Mediterranean look to it and overall I found the ship to be very attractive. Of course, the chair hogs abounded, which I've come to expect on a Carnival ship. The first sunny day was almost impossible to find a lounge chair. My sister and I scoured the entire ship, top to bottom, near and far from the pools, and couldn't even find a place to put a lounge chair. We finally gave up. The next couple of days we were in port, so with most people getting off the ship (we didn't), chairs weren't as much of a problem. However, the last sea day everybody came out of the woodwork. I do not believe in leaving towels on chairs to save them, unless you are stepping away for a few minutes. We went to breakfast and afterward by 9:15 there was not a lounge chair to be found near any of the pools. My sister and BIL had their 5-year-old twins with them, so finding a chair near the aft pool was important to them so it was easier to keep a watch on them. Oh, which brings me to another point. Why, oh why, do people ignore the signs that request no diapered children to be in the pools? At one point I counted 6 children in the aft pool in either swim diapers, regular diapers, or no diapers at all (these children were all under the age of 2, so I am assuming none were toilet trained). We did take a peek at the Children's Pool area up by Camp Carnival, and while the Camp Counselors were wonderful and very attentive to the children (my sister used the Camp sparingly, but was impressed), the pool was downright disgusting. I wouldn't allow an animal to get into that pool. The water was murky and cloudy, and the pool walls were filthy. There was one child splashing around in there, and I had to bite my tongue not to ask the mother what in the world was she thinking allowing her child in that water. Anyway, back to the chair hogs. When we arrived at the aft pool on our last morning approx. 9:15 a.m., almost every chair had a towel on it. Mind you, there were only about 6 people actually at the pool, but flip-flops, books, beach bags, towels, all left behind on chairs to save them. We didn't touch them and found a place a little further from the pool, but still in view of the kids who were delighted with the aft pool. Well, one hour later, nobody showed up. Two hours later, still nobody showed up. After 3 hours, we asksed two security guards what was the deal with people leaving stuff on chairs just to save them. They said they weren't supposed to do it. My sister asked if he would remove some of the stuff that had been left on a row of approximately 10 lounge chairs for over 3 hours, and he said he couldn't. Huh? If he couldn't, who could? He said we could! Okay, so we did, but only because we got tired of seeing people trying to find a spot in the sun only to be forced to go elsewhere because chairs were being saved. So after that, whenever somebody came looking for a chair and had a disappointed look on their face that there weren't any, we told them these chairs have been vacant all day and they should feel free to move the stuff to another chair so they could use it. Finally, around 1 p.m., some of the chair hogs showed up and were furious that their stuff had all been piled onto one chair. Hello!!! Their stuff had been left there untouched for almost 4 hours and they were po'd that they had been moved? They didn't have much of an argument so they left in a huff. FOOD: Celebrity Infinity "A" - There pretty much wasn't anything I didn't like all week. The pasta station became my favorite place (open until 1 a.m.). My husband said the pizza was great. The breakfast buffet was outstanding and I became addicted to the freshly made waffles with whipped cream and blueberries. The fresh fruit on the buffet abounded, as did the smoked salmon. We were going to do lunch in the dining room at least once, but found the food on the buffet so much to our liking that we never made it there. The dining room was elegant and comfortable, and we had perhaps the best waiter in all our years of cruising. Her name is "Carla from Portugal" and she was outstanding. Personable and knowledgeable. She went over every dish on the menu and how it was made and gave her recommendation. She asked if we had any objection to her selecting our dessert each evening, and then bringing one of each of the other desserts for the table to share. That was fine by us and she was right on the money with her recommendations. The room service menu was the most extensive I've ever seen, and since we had a Concierge Class cabin, the room service menu for breakfast was outstanding. We ordered a full breakfast almost every morning and ate it on our balcony. I'm not quite sure how they were able to keep the fried eggs warm and the toasted English muffin crisp, but they did. And the coffee was steaming hot. It was really nice having such an extensive breakfast room service menu and we made full use of it. There were yogurt parfaits and eggs made any way you want (egg beaters, egg whites,any type omelets), lots of different breakfast meats, etc. We had reservations at the Supper Club one evening, and although I thought the food was very good and the service top notch (ever hear of a thing called the "Royal Drop"?), some in our group had a hard time picking something they thought they might like. The food was a little out of the norm, and people who aren't as adventurous might find it a bit intimidating. I had grilled lamb chops that were probably the best I've ever tasted. And the goat cheese soufflé is not to be missed. I'm glad we did it, but I probably wouldn't be inspired to do it again. A really nice touch is that the buffet area has different seating areas, each one slightly different in décor but all equally comfortable. And there was outside dining as well. All trays were made up with linen place mats and carried to your table by a waiter. While eating breakfast in the buffet, servers come around and ask if you would like juice or coffee, etc. A nice touch. On a few afternoons, the "sorbet parade" begins. Waiters dressed in white jackets parade down the Lido stairs carrying trays of tropical sorbets and hand them out. Again, a nice touch. Carnival Liberty "D" - I have been a fan of Carnival for some years now. In the past, I've considered their food to be among the best. Probably almost equal to Princess and far better than Royal Caribbean. This was the worst food I've had on any cruise on any line. First of all, the lines at the buffets were ridiculous. We tried to go on "off times" to beat the crowds, but forget it. I waited for the grill line to go down so I could get a hot dog one day from 12 noon until 2:45 and the line was still at least 25-30 people long. After the first day attempting the buffet, we gave up and had all our meals (except for the occasional snack) in the dining rooms. The service was inept and at times downright surly. No bread kept on the table at dinner time. Okay, I can live with that, so long as they offer it to you. I can't tell you how many times we had to ask for bread. And it was next to impossible to get them to pour water at breakfast or lunch. We always got it without asking at dinner, but never at breakfast or lunch. And if one person asked, one person got it. They never asked anybody else at the table if they would like some. Same thing with the Danish and croissants in the morning. I can't tell you how many times my sister had to ask if they had any. The last morning my Mom was told they had no bananas and they were out of Fruit Loops for the kids. Not a big deal, but just something that I thought was odd to run out of bananas. Oh, and the popcorn machines at the pool. They charge $1/bag. It's a bargain for that price, but why charge at all? Are they really making that much money at a buck a bag? Anyway, by the 5th day, they said they ran out of butter for the popcorn so they couldn't make any more. Okay, I'll have it without butter. Nope, they couldn't do that either. We've come to notice that breakfast on the last morning is usually met with unsmiling faces by overworked waiters who are just looking to get this gang off the ship. Carnival held true to this. They were actually cranky. Now I have to preface this by saying we are not demanding people when it comes to service on a cruise. We are happy to be fortunate enough to take these kinds of vacations, so it takes somebody being really rude for me to get upset. The point is, if I am treating a staff member with respect and courtesy, I expect at least the same in return. I'm not saying they have to go over the top, but just simple courtesy would be nice. A "good morning" in return would be nice. Anyway, it would be an understatement to say how thoroughly disappointed I was with the food and service on this ship. Now there were a few exceptions here and there, but overall, the ship gets very low marks from me in this area. CABIN: Celebrity Infinity "A" - Very nice Concierge Class cabin. 191 sq. ft. and the balcony was 41 sq. ft. The balcony seemed smaller than the dimensions, but it worked fine for having breakfast. I liked that it had a regular height table and two padded chairs so you could eat breakfast out there, which we did on a regular basis. The room was nicely appointed and kept spotlessly clean. We asked the cabin steward to unlock the mini-bar, which he did. I asked for extra pillows (made my selection from the pillow menu) and these were brought in promptly. There were fresh flowers in the cabin and a long stem rose in the bathroom, which was changed mid-week. Fresh fruit was delivered daily to the cabin. A bottle of champagne awaits your arrival in Concierge Class cabins. Every day the linens in the bathroom are switched with alternating colors: one day pink, the next day mint green. The bathroom, while on the small side, was more than adequate. It had plenty of storage space and the shower was probably the largest standard shower we've ever had on a ship. There were two dryers; one mounted to the wall and one hand-held, both very powerful. Excellent water pressure and always hot water. Hors doerves were served to our cabin every day around 4 p.m. We were on Deck 9, which has a very large overhang, and at first I didn't think I'd like that. But actually, it turned out to be very nice and I would probably request the same floor again. We didn't mind the overhang and it was a good location. The bed, while a little hard, had comfortable linens that made up for it. There was a comfortable sofa and small table in the sitting area. There was personalized stationery. A leather keyholder. A leather writing pad. There were bathrobes, binoculars, a golf umbrella and several other amenities in the cabin for your use. One nice touch is a very large tote bag that Celebrity leaves for you at the end of the cruise. There is a smaller, less sturdy one in the cabin when you arrive that is good for the beach. But the other one, delivered I believe on our last night, was great for storing last minute items and clothes after your luggage is put out the night before the end of the cruise. All in all, no complaints at all with this cabin. Carnival Liberty "A" - Carnival shines in this respect. Their standard balcony cabins are spacious and well appointed. There is a mini-bar, which your waiter will empty upon request. I had no problem getting extra pillows. The new bedding is fabulous. Of course, the ship is new, so one would expect the cabin to be in good shape and it was. However, upon entering the cabin for the first time, the smell of stale cigarette smoke was overwhelming. When I saw our cabin steward, I mentioned it to him and he said he had been trying to get rid of the odor for several hours. He said he would once again try to do it (they use some sort of machine that looks like a vacuum cleaner in reverse). After that next attempt, it got better, but never improved completely. I prefer the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony on Celebrity, but the window and glass door on Carnival is just fine. The bathroom, again, is on the small side, but the shower area is very spacious and the storage space more than adequate. Plenty of closet space and lots of hangers. SERVICE: Celebrity Infinity "A+" - Okay, here is where Celebrity shines. When they say they will treat you famously, they aren't lying. The service was outstanding. Everybody smiling, happy, eager to please. It's one thing to see happy staff members attending to passengers, but it's quite another to see happy staff members interacting with each other. These were among the happiest cruise staffers I've seen on any ship. They truly seemed to be enjoying their jobs. The Captain, at age 38, is probably the most handsome and definitely the youngest Master at Sea. He is Greek and has the best personality of any Captain I've ever come across. His announcements, while few, were always littered with funny statements, such as "the weather today is...well, let me look out my left window...yes, it's sunny. My right window looks sunny, too. Ladies and gentleman, the weather today will be sunny." Also, when announcing the depth of the water in which we were currently sailing, after announcing it to be a depth of 18,000 feet, he announced, "no diving, please." The entire staff seemed to eminent the same light-hearted, but professional attitude handed down from Captain Demetrios (sp?). I could go on and on about the wonderful service, but it would just be redundant. Suffice it to say it was the best service we've ever experienced in 18 cruises. Carnival Liberty "D" - Terrible service. Sometimes inept, sometimes downright rude and surly. I won't go into every little detail, but it was the little things that added up to a week of dealing with some very overworked and understaffed crew. The maitre de in the Golden Olympian Dining Room was difficult to understand and got quite indignant with me one time when I asked him to repeat what he had said. DEMOGRAPHICS: Celebrity Infinity - I won't give this a grade, because this is quite subjective. Just suffice it to say that the clientele on Celebrity had much better manners than those we encountered on Carnival. Celebrity cruisers were nicely attired any time of the day and/or night. They were polite. They spoke using correct grammar. They held doors. They weren't running up and down the halls and yelling and cursing at 3 a.m. They didn't speak to their significant other/wife/husband/child in a derogatory manner. They didn't sport lots of tattoos. They didn't show up to the dining room in jeans and cut-offs, low-risers with thongs showing, baseball caps worn backwards throughout dinner, etc. However, on Carnival they did. Enough said. MISC: Some things to note. I never noticed how much public announcements can be a nuisance, until I boarded Carnival. They were almost non-existent on Celebrity, but continuous on Celebrity. While I appreciate John Heald's talents as a Cruise Director, I don't appreciate listening to him hawk the "two for one" special on ladies rings and the $49.95 special on men's watches during dinner. The dining room on Celebrity played soothing music; Carnival's dining room was like sound on steroids. Loud and frenetic. The cigarette smoke in the casino on Carnival was untolerable. I'm a former smoker and I can tolerate being around smoke to a degree, but this was unbelievable. One night, just walking through the casino to get to the elevator, our clothes wreaked of cigarette smoke. I tried to play the slots one night, but had to leave because the smoke was choking. Another nice Celebrity touch is that upon reboarding the ship after spending time in port, there are attendants handing out cold towels to the passengers to cool off with after a hot day. I liked that the bottom level where passengers debarked the ship for a port was nicely appointed with floral arrangements and made to look in order with the rest of the ship, rather than a "basement" type look most ships have. I won't go into such things as weather and ports. I'm sure I've left some things out, so if one would like to ask any questions, please feel free. I tried to be as objective as possible. One thing I would like to point out is that any vacation is fun for us. But having done a B2B, the differences between these two cruises were very apparent. We had a great time on Carnival because we were with family, in spite of what the ship was lacking. And we're experienced enough with cruising now to know what we like. Did we pay more for the Celebrity cruise? You betcha. But as my mother always says, "you get what you pay for." It's taken me 50 years, but I'm finally getting it. |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
Wow... if I had said even half the things you did, they'd be jumping all
over me. Celebrity food "A". Carnival food "D". Celebrity Service "A+". Carnival Service "D". Issues with demographics on Carnival... cursing, degrading... (where have I heard that before???) Yikes. Seems you differ a bit from the MOAGCr's who keep insisting Celebrity food isn't as good as Carnival food. And... you missed the Celebrity of 10 years ago when they had the REALLY good food. Like palm heart salad, etc. Celebrity food today is a shell of what it used to be before Royal Caribbean bought them and the bean counters cut the food budgets. Though perhaps in fairness... people who like Carnival food may be more of the meat and potatoes gang, and not as interested in the more gourmet type things like goat cheese soufflés on Celebrity. PS... If anyone wants the goat cheese soufflé recipe, I have it and can post it. It came out of one of the old Captain's Club magazines, so it's the exact recipe. I've made it a few times and it's easy to make at home... though a bit time consuming - it's baked twice, but can be refrigerated between bakings. --Tom wrote in message ups.com... Below is my attempt at a comparison between our recent B2B cruises. I will warn you in advance, it is lengthy. Background: Myself 50 years old, husband 46. Experienced cruisers on various lines (Carnival x 8, Royal Caribbean x 3, NCL x 1, Princess x 3 and first time on Celebrity). We boarded the Celebrity Infinity with a group of friends on February 5, after spending a few precruise days in Ft. Lauderdale (stayed at our favorite hotel, Marriott Marina, which will be no longer after Feb. 24 as it's been sold to a Private Equity firm and will be converted to a high end yacht center). We originally were booked on just the Celebrity Infinity, but when my parents and sister and BIL and their kids booked the Liberty on Feb. 12, our plans worked out beautifully to debark the Infinity and join them on the Liberty. We met up with some friends for the Sunset Special Dinner (i.e., Early Bird) at 15th Street Fisheries the night before sailing. It's a great bargain for a 5 course meal for $18.95 pp. EMBARKATION: Celebrity Infinity "A+" - As we had never sailed Celebrity before, we had no idea what to expect. It was perhaps the easiest embarkation we've ever experienced. We had filled out our preboarding paperwork online. Marriott shuttled us over to the terminal (literally across the street) at 10:15 a.m. We entered the terminal, chatted for about 10 minutes with a few friends from previous group cruises, and then were called to board. The process took approximately 5 minutes at the desk. We were on the ship in no time, greeted by white gloved attendants and handed a glass of champagne. Since we were so early, they apologized that they could not escort us to our cabin as it wasn't ready yet, but that was fine. We went to our cabin, dropped our bags off, and wandered around the ship exploring. Carnival Liberty "C" - Lines, lines, lines....that was the theme of this ship. When we arrived at the port, it was wrapped around the building and moving very slow. And did I mention it was about 45 degrees in Ft. Lauderdale that morning? People were freezing standing outside in line. We arrived around 11:45, thinking that the crowds would have died down by noon time. Wrong! Then I remembered my sister was eligible for the Skipper's Club since they had booked a suite and we were able to move into that line which moved just as slowly, but wasn't nearly as long. I'd say we stood in line for approx. 1 hour before we boarded. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't time spent outside in the cold, windy weather. Of course, I knew Carnival doesn't greet you when you board. You are handed a map of the ship and again, we were told our cabins weren't yet ready (surprisingly, since it was almost 1 p.m. by now). But no big deal, we went to our cabins and dropped off our stuff. Met our cabin stewards who were a bit unsettled that we arrived before the cabins were completely finished, but we told them we understood, and we'd be out of their way momentarily. We really just wanted to drop off our bags. We met up with my parents and began exploring the ship. SHIP DÉCOR: Celebrity Infinity "A+": Loved the décor of this ship. Elegant and soothing come to mind when describing it. The lobby area lacks the "ahhhh" of the atriums of Carnival that rise approximately 7 stories high, but was so tastefully done that it makes up for the fact that it doesn't have that "wow" factor of a Carnival atrium. An elegant two story grand staircase in white marble-like stone with two story pillars of billowy ivory drapes is reminiscent of old time ocean liners. Lots of artwork all over the ship, some very quirky and some very stately. Fresh floral arrangements would have been nicer, but the silk arrangements were nice just the same. Lots of glass and woodtones dominate the ship. The lounges were also very elegant. We especially liked the Martini and Champagne Bars. Lots of choices for martinis! The Goose Kiss martini got my nod! The Constellation Lounge was lovely and that's where Celebrity held the Super Bowl party (which took place the day we boarded, and being huge football fans, we weren't about to miss it). They had a large projection screen set up near the stage, and a few more flat screen TV's scattered around the lounge. We found an area to our liking and soon we had a large crowd of friends who joined us. Efficient bar service and a "football buffet" was set up in the room (hoagies, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, nachos, a carving station, etc.) And in the middle was an ice sculpture of a football with "Super Bowl XL" carved into it. The pool areas were okay, with the exception of the Aqua Spa area, which was absolutely stunning. We didn't spend much time at the Aqua Spa because with the solarium roof, we found it got too warm in there. But we did try out the Thalossotherapy pool (very relaxing) and they have lovely wooden and padded chairs around the area. Some nice areas off to the sides of the Aqua Spa pool with padded loungers with excellent views of the ocean. The Aqua Spa also had healthy food fare offered that was very tasty. I was a bit underimpressed with the actual Lido pool areas. I think Princess has the prettiest pool areas, so this wasn't outstanding on Celebrity's part. Typical, but nothing that stood out. We didn't have a problem getting a lounge chair, unless you wanted a primo area. Since it was an older crowd, most passengers weren't sun worshippers, so finding a lounge chair in the sun wasn't an issue. The public bathrooms were lovely and always fresh smelling, with glass vases filled with water and fresh rose petals. In addition to regular paper towels in the bathrooms, small, rolled up, terry cloth "wash clothes" were also offered. Pool towels were plentiful. Attendants were constantly bringing out lots of fresh towels, which were rolled up and placed in areas around the pool. Rolling them was a nice touch. It amazed me, though, that some people would grab 6-8 towels at a time. This seemed very wasteful and created a lot of work on the part of the staff to keep replenishing them...but replenish they did. Towels were never lacking. Carnival Liberty "A": While not as subtly decorated as the Infinity, I really did like the décor of the Liberty. It wasn't as "over-the-top" as some of Joe Farcus' other Carnival creations. It was a little "out there" in places, but overall I thought the ship was lovely. I didn't expect it to look like the Infinity, and probably would have been disappointed if it had. I've come to expect "different" with Carnival, and this delivered that, but was a little easier on the eyes than some of Carnival's other ships. It had a definite Mediterranean look to it and overall I found the ship to be very attractive. Of course, the chair hogs abounded, which I've come to expect on a Carnival ship. The first sunny day was almost impossible to find a lounge chair. My sister and I scoured the entire ship, top to bottom, near and far from the pools, and couldn't even find a place to put a lounge chair. We finally gave up. The next couple of days we were in port, so with most people getting off the ship (we didn't), chairs weren't as much of a problem. However, the last sea day everybody came out of the woodwork. I do not believe in leaving towels on chairs to save them, unless you are stepping away for a few minutes. We went to breakfast and afterward by 9:15 there was not a lounge chair to be found near any of the pools. My sister and BIL had their 5-year-old twins with them, so finding a chair near the aft pool was important to them so it was easier to keep a watch on them. Oh, which brings me to another point. Why, oh why, do people ignore the signs that request no diapered children to be in the pools? At one point I counted 6 children in the aft pool in either swim diapers, regular diapers, or no diapers at all (these children were all under the age of 2, so I am assuming none were toilet trained). We did take a peek at the Children's Pool area up by Camp Carnival, and while the Camp Counselors were wonderful and very attentive to the children (my sister used the Camp sparingly, but was impressed), the pool was downright disgusting. I wouldn't allow an animal to get into that pool. The water was murky and cloudy, and the pool walls were filthy. There was one child splashing around in there, and I had to bite my tongue not to ask the mother what in the world was she thinking allowing her child in that water. Anyway, back to the chair hogs. When we arrived at the aft pool on our last morning approx. 9:15 a.m., almost every chair had a towel on it. Mind you, there were only about 6 people actually at the pool, but flip-flops, books, beach bags, towels, all left behind on chairs to save them. We didn't touch them and found a place a little further from the pool, but still in view of the kids who were delighted with the aft pool. Well, one hour later, nobody showed up. Two hours later, still nobody showed up. After 3 hours, we asksed two security guards what was the deal with people leaving stuff on chairs just to save them. They said they weren't supposed to do it. My sister asked if he would remove some of the stuff that had been left on a row of approximately 10 lounge chairs for over 3 hours, and he said he couldn't. Huh? If he couldn't, who could? He said we could! Okay, so we did, but only because we got tired of seeing people trying to find a spot in the sun only to be forced to go elsewhere because chairs were being saved. So after that, whenever somebody came looking for a chair and had a disappointed look on their face that there weren't any, we told them these chairs have been vacant all day and they should feel free to move the stuff to another chair so they could use it. Finally, around 1 p.m., some of the chair hogs showed up and were furious that their stuff had all been piled onto one chair. Hello!!! Their stuff had been left there untouched for almost 4 hours and they were po'd that they had been moved? They didn't have much of an argument so they left in a huff. FOOD: Celebrity Infinity "A" - There pretty much wasn't anything I didn't like all week. The pasta station became my favorite place (open until 1 a.m.). My husband said the pizza was great. The breakfast buffet was outstanding and I became addicted to the freshly made waffles with whipped cream and blueberries. The fresh fruit on the buffet abounded, as did the smoked salmon. We were going to do lunch in the dining room at least once, but found the food on the buffet so much to our liking that we never made it there. The dining room was elegant and comfortable, and we had perhaps the best waiter in all our years of cruising. Her name is "Carla from Portugal" and she was outstanding. Personable and knowledgeable. She went over every dish on the menu and how it was made and gave her recommendation. She asked if we had any objection to her selecting our dessert each evening, and then bringing one of each of the other desserts for the table to share. That was fine by us and she was right on the money with her recommendations. The room service menu was the most extensive I've ever seen, and since we had a Concierge Class cabin, the room service menu for breakfast was outstanding. We ordered a full breakfast almost every morning and ate it on our balcony. I'm not quite sure how they were able to keep the fried eggs warm and the toasted English muffin crisp, but they did. And the coffee was steaming hot. It was really nice having such an extensive breakfast room service menu and we made full use of it. There were yogurt parfaits and eggs made any way you want (egg beaters, egg whites,any type omelets), lots of different breakfast meats, etc. We had reservations at the Supper Club one evening, and although I thought the food was very good and the service top notch (ever hear of a thing called the "Royal Drop"?), some in our group had a hard time picking something they thought they might like. The food was a little out of the norm, and people who aren't as adventurous might find it a bit intimidating. I had grilled lamb chops that were probably the best I've ever tasted. And the goat cheese soufflé is not to be missed. I'm glad we did it, but I probably wouldn't be inspired to do it again. A really nice touch is that the buffet area has different seating areas, each one slightly different in décor but all equally comfortable. And there was outside dining as well. All trays were made up with linen place mats and carried to your table by a waiter. While eating breakfast in the buffet, servers come around and ask if you would like juice or coffee, etc. A nice touch. On a few afternoons, the "sorbet parade" begins. Waiters dressed in white jackets parade down the Lido stairs carrying trays of tropical sorbets and hand them out. Again, a nice touch. Carnival Liberty "D" - I have been a fan of Carnival for some years now. In the past, I've considered their food to be among the best. Probably almost equal to Princess and far better than Royal Caribbean. This was the worst food I've had on any cruise on any line. First of all, the lines at the buffets were ridiculous. We tried to go on "off times" to beat the crowds, but forget it. I waited for the grill line to go down so I could get a hot dog one day from 12 noon until 2:45 and the line was still at least 25-30 people long. After the first day attempting the buffet, we gave up and had all our meals (except for the occasional snack) in the dining rooms. The service was inept and at times downright surly. No bread kept on the table at dinner time. Okay, I can live with that, so long as they offer it to you. I can't tell you how many times we had to ask for bread. And it was next to impossible to get them to pour water at breakfast or lunch. We always got it without asking at dinner, but never at breakfast or lunch. And if one person asked, one person got it. They never asked anybody else at the table if they would like some. Same thing with the Danish and croissants in the morning. I can't tell you how many times my sister had to ask if they had any. The last morning my Mom was told they had no bananas and they were out of Fruit Loops for the kids. Not a big deal, but just something that I thought was odd to run out of bananas. Oh, and the popcorn machines at the pool. They charge $1/bag. It's a bargain for that price, but why charge at all? Are they really making that much money at a buck a bag? Anyway, by the 5th day, they said they ran out of butter for the popcorn so they couldn't make any more. Okay, I'll have it without butter. Nope, they couldn't do that either. We've come to notice that breakfast on the last morning is usually met with unsmiling faces by overworked waiters who are just looking to get this gang off the ship. Carnival held true to this. They were actually cranky. Now I have to preface this by saying we are not demanding people when it comes to service on a cruise. We are happy to be fortunate enough to take these kinds of vacations, so it takes somebody being really rude for me to get upset. The point is, if I am treating a staff member with respect and courtesy, I expect at least the same in return. I'm not saying they have to go over the top, but just simple courtesy would be nice. A "good morning" in return would be nice. Anyway, it would be an understatement to say how thoroughly disappointed I was with the food and service on this ship. Now there were a few exceptions here and there, but overall, the ship gets very low marks from me in this area. CABIN: Celebrity Infinity "A" - Very nice Concierge Class cabin. 191 sq. ft. and the balcony was 41 sq. ft. The balcony seemed smaller than the dimensions, but it worked fine for having breakfast. I liked that it had a regular height table and two padded chairs so you could eat breakfast out there, which we did on a regular basis. The room was nicely appointed and kept spotlessly clean. We asked the cabin steward to unlock the mini-bar, which he did. I asked for extra pillows (made my selection from the pillow menu) and these were brought in promptly. There were fresh flowers in the cabin and a long stem rose in the bathroom, which was changed mid-week. Fresh fruit was delivered daily to the cabin. A bottle of champagne awaits your arrival in Concierge Class cabins. Every day the linens in the bathroom are switched with alternating colors: one day pink, the next day mint green. The bathroom, while on the small side, was more than adequate. It had plenty of storage space and the shower was probably the largest standard shower we've ever had on a ship. There were two dryers; one mounted to the wall and one hand-held, both very powerful. Excellent water pressure and always hot water. Hors doerves were served to our cabin every day around 4 p.m. We were on Deck 9, which has a very large overhang, and at first I didn't think I'd like that. But actually, it turned out to be very nice and I would probably request the same floor again. We didn't mind the overhang and it was a good location. The bed, while a little hard, had comfortable linens that made up for it. There was a comfortable sofa and small table in the sitting area. There was personalized stationery. A leather keyholder. A leather writing pad. There were bathrobes, binoculars, a golf umbrella and several other amenities in the cabin for your use. One nice touch is a very large tote bag that Celebrity leaves for you at the end of the cruise. There is a smaller, less sturdy one in the cabin when you arrive that is good for the beach. But the other one, delivered I believe on our last night, was great for storing last minute items and clothes after your luggage is put out the night before the end of the cruise. All in all, no complaints at all with this cabin. Carnival Liberty "A" - Carnival shines in this respect. Their standard balcony cabins are spacious and well appointed. There is a mini-bar, which your waiter will empty upon request. I had no problem getting extra pillows. The new bedding is fabulous. Of course, the ship is new, so one would expect the cabin to be in good shape and it was. However, upon entering the cabin for the first time, the smell of stale cigarette smoke was overwhelming. When I saw our cabin steward, I mentioned it to him and he said he had been trying to get rid of the odor for several hours. He said he would once again try to do it (they use some sort of machine that looks like a vacuum cleaner in reverse). After that next attempt, it got better, but never improved completely. I prefer the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony on Celebrity, but the window and glass door on Carnival is just fine. The bathroom, again, is on the small side, but the shower area is very spacious and the storage space more than adequate. Plenty of closet space and lots of hangers. SERVICE: Celebrity Infinity "A+" - Okay, here is where Celebrity shines. When they say they will treat you famously, they aren't lying. The service was outstanding. Everybody smiling, happy, eager to please. It's one thing to see happy staff members attending to passengers, but it's quite another to see happy staff members interacting with each other. These were among the happiest cruise staffers I've seen on any ship. They truly seemed to be enjoying their jobs. The Captain, at age 38, is probably the most handsome and definitely the youngest Master at Sea. He is Greek and has the best personality of any Captain I've ever come across. His announcements, while few, were always littered with funny statements, such as "the weather today is...well, let me look out my left window...yes, it's sunny. My right window looks sunny, too. Ladies and gentleman, the weather today will be sunny." Also, when announcing the depth of the water in which we were currently sailing, after announcing it to be a depth of 18,000 feet, he announced, "no diving, please." The entire staff seemed to eminent the same light-hearted, but professional attitude handed down from Captain Demetrios (sp?). I could go on and on about the wonderful service, but it would just be redundant. Suffice it to say it was the best service we've ever experienced in 18 cruises. Carnival Liberty "D" - Terrible service. Sometimes inept, sometimes downright rude and surly. I won't go into every little detail, but it was the little things that added up to a week of dealing with some very overworked and understaffed crew. The maitre de in the Golden Olympian Dining Room was difficult to understand and got quite indignant with me one time when I asked him to repeat what he had said. DEMOGRAPHICS: Celebrity Infinity - I won't give this a grade, because this is quite subjective. Just suffice it to say that the clientele on Celebrity had much better manners than those we encountered on Carnival. Celebrity cruisers were nicely attired any time of the day and/or night. They were polite. They spoke using correct grammar. They held doors. They weren't running up and down the halls and yelling and cursing at 3 a.m. They didn't speak to their significant other/wife/husband/child in a derogatory manner. They didn't sport lots of tattoos. They didn't show up to the dining room in jeans and cut-offs, low-risers with thongs showing, baseball caps worn backwards throughout dinner, etc. However, on Carnival they did. Enough said. MISC: Some things to note. I never noticed how much public announcements can be a nuisance, until I boarded Carnival. They were almost non-existent on Celebrity, but continuous on Celebrity. While I appreciate John Heald's talents as a Cruise Director, I don't appreciate listening to him hawk the "two for one" special on ladies rings and the $49.95 special on men's watches during dinner. The dining room on Celebrity played soothing music; Carnival's dining room was like sound on steroids. Loud and frenetic. The cigarette smoke in the casino on Carnival was untolerable. I'm a former smoker and I can tolerate being around smoke to a degree, but this was unbelievable. One night, just walking through the casino to get to the elevator, our clothes wreaked of cigarette smoke. I tried to play the slots one night, but had to leave because the smoke was choking. Another nice Celebrity touch is that upon reboarding the ship after spending time in port, there are attendants handing out cold towels to the passengers to cool off with after a hot day. I liked that the bottom level where passengers debarked the ship for a port was nicely appointed with floral arrangements and made to look in order with the rest of the ship, rather than a "basement" type look most ships have. I won't go into such things as weather and ports. I'm sure I've left some things out, so if one would like to ask any questions, please feel free. I tried to be as objective as possible. One thing I would like to point out is that any vacation is fun for us. But having done a B2B, the differences between these two cruises were very apparent. We had a great time on Carnival because we were with family, in spite of what the ship was lacking. And we're experienced enough with cruising now to know what we like. Did we pay more for the Celebrity cruise? You betcha. But as my mother always says, "you get what you pay for." It's taken me 50 years, but I'm finally getting it. |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
wrote in message
ups.com... We had a great time on Carnival because we were with family, in spite of what the ship was lacking. And we're experienced enough with cruising now to know what we like. Did we pay more for the Celebrity cruise? You betcha. But as my mother always says, "you get what you pay for." It's taken me 50 years, but I'm finally getting it. I very much enjoyed this "dual" review. Thanks for sharing. It really shows the blaring differences between Celebrity and Carnival. I've had some really great cruises on Carnival (all Spirit Class), but also some very bad experiences. The worst was on CARNIVAL CONQUEST, a sister ship to the CARNIVAL LIBERTY. I will NEVER sail on this class of ship again if I can help it. It was almost like being on a completely different line when compared to Carnival's Spirit Class ships. Everything you experienced (lines, rude people, chair hogs, drunks, more lines, dirty pools, shouting down corridors, more lines, etc.) I experienced as well. It almost turned me off to Carnival for good but then I sailed on CARNIVAL SPIRIT and it was just fantastic. I've also sailed on INFINITY to Hawaii and it was a superb experience. I can't say enough positive things about the ship or Celebrity Cruises. Ernie |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
"E.k.R." wrote in message ... wrote in message ups.com... We had a great time on Carnival because we were with family, in spite of what the ship was lacking. And we're experienced enough with cruising now to know what we like. Did we pay more for the Celebrity cruise? You betcha. But as my mother always says, "you get what you pay for." It's taken me 50 years, but I'm finally getting it. I very much enjoyed this "dual" review. Thanks for sharing. It really shows the blaring differences between Celebrity and Carnival. I've had some really great cruises on Carnival (all Spirit Class), but also some very bad experiences. The worst was on CARNIVAL CONQUEST, a sister ship to the CARNIVAL LIBERTY. I will NEVER sail on this class of ship again if I can help it. It was almost like being on a completely different line when compared to Carnival's Spirit Class ships. Why such a major difference between Spirit Class and the other classes of ships? --Tom |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
Caribbean Queen, what a terrific review format. That took a lot of work--but
it your side-by-side comparison is very enlightening and particularly helpful to prospective cruisers of either ship. "Tom K" asked: Why such a major difference between Spirit Class and the other classes of ships? I want to know the answer to this question, too. It seems most people are very careful to qualify their good time on Carnival by saying, "It was a Spirit class ship." We sailed on the Miracle--a Spirit class--and, in fact, had a top notch experience. The food was exceptional, and not just the meat and potatoes. That was our one and only Carnival experience, but because it was so good, we've been thinking we'll take the Conquest some time soon because it's now a "drive-to" ship for us. Now, with both CQ & Ernie coming down so hard on Liberty & Conquest, I'm thinking WHOA put the brakes on that idea. Diana Ball near Houston, TX |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
I agree with your review on the Liberty, for the exception of the
food. We found the food in the dining room to be good, but the buffets weren't as good as we have had on past Carnival cruises. Surfer was on the Liberty the same time we were, and I think she will agree with your review as well. The service was terrible, not only in the dining room but on the Lido aft as well. Our room steward was good, but a lot of our group (50) really complained about theirs. I feel that the automatic tipping has something to do with the service problem. Although we've been on the Glory and Valor and the service was excellent. I definitely agree with you about the children in the aft pools and hot tubs. The parents are to blame for this problem as there are big signs that say "Adults Only", funny thing is: most of this generation can't read and have absolutely no consideration of others. Linda |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
"Tom K" wrote Though perhaps in fairness... people who like Carnival food may be more of the meat and potatoes gang, and not as interested in the more gourmet type things like goat cheese soufflés on Celebrity. Yes, I can see where it would take a sophisticated gourmet to appreciate a steak that is so tough that it can't be cut with a knife. A certain sophistication is required to fully appreciate the gastronomical delight in a bowl of glop that is passed off as French Onion Soup. A poor Country Goober like me doesn't have the necessary gustatory skills to appreciate the subtle nuances of Rice Krispy Treats covered with glorified Chocolate Cool Whip. I'm not going to get overly enthused about a kitchen that can make Goat Cheese Soufflé in a restaurant that charges $30 pp... but can't prepare a simple steak for the Hoi Polloi eating in the main dining room. For the most part, I thought the food on the Infinity was very good but some things were just not good at all. The quality was uneven.... prime rib one night was very tough yet on another night, it was very tender.... but as I wrote, there were some very, very good dishes during the week. Other things I liked.... fresh berries on the breakfast buffet. Very nice. The meat at the lunch carving stations was all good, whether it was turkey, roast beef, pork or ham. It was odd that the turkey on the lunch buffet was MUCH better (tender and moist) than the turkey served in the dining room. I like the way Celebrity has servers on the buffets dishing out the food rather than letting every passenger handle the serving equipment. Pasta dishes in the dining room were very good. It got so that a friend and I would order a pasta dish and split it with our dinners. I liked that bread baskets were placed on the table and refilled as necessary and that the butter was not the pre-wrapped pats. One day on the lunch buffet they had some of the best brownies that I have ever had on a cruise ship. I liked their home made ice cream and even better, there was no charge for this. Things I didn't like... The Spa dishes tried to be too cute without being flavorful. Artistic presentations don't mean much when the food doesn't taste very good. Chicken breast was prepared with different marinades or spices every day... but if it is overcooked and dry, all the dressing or marinades in the world aren't going to help. One of the only chilled soups that I like is chilled cucumber soup and the stuff they served at the Spa was similar to their onion soup... an amorphous mass of glop with little flavor. The coffee on this ship was in my opinion, truly bad. I am not a coffee snob by any means and you won't catch me paying $3 to $5 at Starbucks for some Jamocha Frappachino Cinnamon Latte.... but sheesh, a simple cup of coffee shouldn't be difficult. It got so that I took to drinking iced tea most of the time instead. I really do not like that Celebrity does not have a casual dining buffet. They do have a "dining alternative" which is still waiter service in the buffet area and you have to make reservations to dine there. FWIW, I think that most people would be served there even without reservations but the nights I went up to take a look, the place was almost empty. Ironically, Royal Caribbean ships have one of the better dinner buffets. As usual, YMMV. -- George Leppla http://www.countryside-travel.com Cruise Specials BLOG http://www.countryside-travel.com/3834677_6105.htm May 20, 2006, Caribbean Princess - http://cruisemaster.com/caribprin.htm October 29, 2006 - SLEAZY 4! http://cruisemaster.com/sleazy4.htm |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
wrote in message ups.com... Below is my attempt at a comparison between our recent B2B cruises. I will warn you in advance, it is lengthy. YIKES! Jo-Ann, if anyone else but you had written this, I would have thought it to be a gross exaggeration! It seems consistant with other Liberty reports...I thought that Len C. might just have been a bit unhappy with his on her because it was a 5 dayer....But no one seems to have very nice things to say about her that I can remember. Sorry you had such a bad time...maybe you should have gone on her before the Infinity and the shock would not have been so drastic! Too bad the ship had to be a lovelier one of Farcus' designs...(that sounds impossible for Farcus!) The rest seems like a cruise from Hades! I hope that you put your comment card power to use! --Jean |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
I agree with every thing you posted about carnival liberty,and i even
add the dancing,and singing of the waiters,and other help would be nice for once or even twicw,but every night! Always done just after ordering dessert,and by the time the show was done,all the pie ala mode had melted ice cream.never saw the maitre de,and yet they left an envelope for a tip in our cabin,and do not like having to use towels left in cabin for the pool,other ships you can get all you need from pool area,and we do not like the sun,and still hada hard time finding lounge chairs in the shade on promenade deck. (.a cruise lover.) |
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Review B2B Celebrity Infinity and Carnival Liberty
And I hope Carnival reads our comment cards! Linda
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