A
Alma
Guest
Hi Everyone!
I just have to thank everyone who posts to this board! I've been paying attention to all the wonderful tips and have taken full advantage of all of them.
I'm writing from the Infinity right now and I have to say I've had a great time! We boarded in Fort Lauderdale for a 14 day Panama Canal cruise. We stayed at the Marriot Marina hotel which has a complementary shuttle to the port. We left the hotel at 11am, dropped off our bags to the porters, and went inside the terminal. Because we had filled out our embarkation documents online, we didn't have to wait at all. We were on board by 11:15am. What took the longest time was the obligatory "welcome abord" pictures!
The rooms weren't ready until noon, so we spent some time exploring the ship. It's very modern in decor. The art work is contemporary and the ship feels like any modern hotel that you would find in a big city.
We reserved cabin 7208, one of the aft facing cabins. This was THE place to be for a Panama Canal cruise. We were able to see everything that all other passengers were struggling to see on deck. There is more motion on the back of the ship so "seasick-prone-passengers" beware. This is not where you want to be. If the ship is in the carribean, it would be smooth sailing. However, the ride on the Pacific Ocean side is a little rough. This cabin is in the middle so you will get side to side motion. Other than that, I would not book any other location.
Over the last couple months, people have posted several questions regarding costs on board. Let me say, that there are a few things that are very expensive.
1) Laundry - Average drycleaning costs in a big city ($3.00-5.50). However, if you need same day service, it's the cost plus 50% service charge. I had to have my husbands suits pressed (not cleaned), and a few evening gowns pressed ($4.50) and it totalled almost $60.00 for everything. My suggestion, just bring plenty of extra clothes so you don't have to do laundry service. Doing laundry youself is not an option because there is no self service and the bathroom is too small to do anything in! I did bring a small iron but who wants to IRON on their cruise?!
2) Internet Service - We opted to pay $200 for th 14day cruise. At first I was afraid I had paid too much, but one of my tablemates has spent at least this or more trying to send e-mails. The service isn't as "high-speed" as advertised but it's adequate. You'll get disconnected a lot so it will take longer to send e-mails. For business people, it would be worthwhile to get unlimited access. If you opt to use the ship's internet computers, it will cost 50 cents per minute, however, like I said, you do get disconnected quite often and there is no floppy drive to insert a diskett for pre-written messages.
3) Drinks - Surprisingly, alcoholic drinks were reasonable. It's what you would pay at any big city ($5-6) for a mixed drink. Sodas are expensive ($2). As for water, I'm a bottled water person. However, we didn't buy any at all on the ship. Each room is supplied with ice and filtered water daily by the room stewards. The Oceanview Cafe also has water that you can use to fill up your water bottles.
4) Pictures - $9.95 for 5x7 and $14.95 for a collage of pictures. The ship's photographers like to take the collage on formal nights. My suggestion, bring a camera. The photographers haven't been the best.
5) Aquaspa - I did have some treatments on board. For a 50 minute massage, it'll cost you $109 + 10% tip added to the bill + any costs for products you'll want to purchase. They have some spa specials for $85 between the hours of 8-11pm, but these are usually the hours when there's plenty of other things to do on the ship. The spa also had special packages available that included facials, massages, baths, etc, and these were anywhere between $200 and $500 depending on what you want done.
Other than the items above, everything has been wonderful! The food in the Trellis restaurant and the buffet have all been delicious. We're dining in the specialty restaurant tomorrow on the last formal night. I'll post again to update.
Enjoy!
I just have to thank everyone who posts to this board! I've been paying attention to all the wonderful tips and have taken full advantage of all of them.
I'm writing from the Infinity right now and I have to say I've had a great time! We boarded in Fort Lauderdale for a 14 day Panama Canal cruise. We stayed at the Marriot Marina hotel which has a complementary shuttle to the port. We left the hotel at 11am, dropped off our bags to the porters, and went inside the terminal. Because we had filled out our embarkation documents online, we didn't have to wait at all. We were on board by 11:15am. What took the longest time was the obligatory "welcome abord" pictures!
The rooms weren't ready until noon, so we spent some time exploring the ship. It's very modern in decor. The art work is contemporary and the ship feels like any modern hotel that you would find in a big city.
We reserved cabin 7208, one of the aft facing cabins. This was THE place to be for a Panama Canal cruise. We were able to see everything that all other passengers were struggling to see on deck. There is more motion on the back of the ship so "seasick-prone-passengers" beware. This is not where you want to be. If the ship is in the carribean, it would be smooth sailing. However, the ride on the Pacific Ocean side is a little rough. This cabin is in the middle so you will get side to side motion. Other than that, I would not book any other location.
Over the last couple months, people have posted several questions regarding costs on board. Let me say, that there are a few things that are very expensive.
1) Laundry - Average drycleaning costs in a big city ($3.00-5.50). However, if you need same day service, it's the cost plus 50% service charge. I had to have my husbands suits pressed (not cleaned), and a few evening gowns pressed ($4.50) and it totalled almost $60.00 for everything. My suggestion, just bring plenty of extra clothes so you don't have to do laundry service. Doing laundry youself is not an option because there is no self service and the bathroom is too small to do anything in! I did bring a small iron but who wants to IRON on their cruise?!
2) Internet Service - We opted to pay $200 for th 14day cruise. At first I was afraid I had paid too much, but one of my tablemates has spent at least this or more trying to send e-mails. The service isn't as "high-speed" as advertised but it's adequate. You'll get disconnected a lot so it will take longer to send e-mails. For business people, it would be worthwhile to get unlimited access. If you opt to use the ship's internet computers, it will cost 50 cents per minute, however, like I said, you do get disconnected quite often and there is no floppy drive to insert a diskett for pre-written messages.
3) Drinks - Surprisingly, alcoholic drinks were reasonable. It's what you would pay at any big city ($5-6) for a mixed drink. Sodas are expensive ($2). As for water, I'm a bottled water person. However, we didn't buy any at all on the ship. Each room is supplied with ice and filtered water daily by the room stewards. The Oceanview Cafe also has water that you can use to fill up your water bottles.
4) Pictures - $9.95 for 5x7 and $14.95 for a collage of pictures. The ship's photographers like to take the collage on formal nights. My suggestion, bring a camera. The photographers haven't been the best.
5) Aquaspa - I did have some treatments on board. For a 50 minute massage, it'll cost you $109 + 10% tip added to the bill + any costs for products you'll want to purchase. They have some spa specials for $85 between the hours of 8-11pm, but these are usually the hours when there's plenty of other things to do on the ship. The spa also had special packages available that included facials, massages, baths, etc, and these were anywhere between $200 and $500 depending on what you want done.
Other than the items above, everything has been wonderful! The food in the Trellis restaurant and the buffet have all been delicious. We're dining in the specialty restaurant tomorrow on the last formal night. I'll post again to update.
Enjoy!
