This is the second part of my Celebrity Infinity blog.  You can read about my on-board experience by reading my previous blog HERE.

  I have already said on my previous blog that I loved the dining experience on the Celebrity Infinity, in my opinion everything was at or above the standards I expected.

 

  On any of my pictures posted you click to enlarge them if you would like to see a bigger picture or need more detail.

  I would like to do a short run down of most of the ships dining areas.  There are some that I didn’t manage to experience whilst I was on-board but I will try to cover as much as I can.  I really did eat a lot during my time on board, with all of this good quality food it is easy to see why people put on a few lb’s on their cruise, it is too tempting to miss.

  Also at the bottom of the blog I am going to write a small piece on the Classic drinks package and my experience with it.

  The Ocean view café is the Infinity’ s large buffet restaurant and where most passengers, including myself, would go to eat breakfast and lunch.

 

  The café is high up on the ship with section on both the port and starboard sides.  As the name suggests the café has panoramic sea views all the way round.  One thing that I really liked it that there is an al fresco dining section though the rear doors where you can sit on the rear of the ship and admire the views  out in the fresh sea air, there is also a bar in this section too.

 

  The food is of a good quality and a lot of it is actually served to you over the counter from the staff rather than helping yourself, I think that this helps to keep things in better order and ultimately promotes better hygiene which can’t be a bad thing.

 

  For breakfast there is a massive selection of hot and cold dishes from smoked salmon to bacon to muffins.  One thing that I did like is that there are extra stations setup where you can get a chef to cook an omelette, poached eggs or fried eggs for you.  I loved the eggs Benedict with béarnaise sauce !

Here is a video tour of the Ocean view café at breakfast time.

  The selection of food on the lunchtime menu changes daily.  There are always things like pasta, pizza and other hot dishes available as well as salads.  One day they were making freshly made tortilla wraps to order, I sat and ate it on the rear open ear section of the ship in the sun, magic.

  I didn’t eat dinner in the Ocean view café as I like something a bit more fancy in the evening when it comes to dinner, although if you wanted a casual bite to eat dinner is available .

 

  One thing I would like to mention is that often around mid-afternoon there would be a sushi bar setup in the Ocean view café.  I really love sushi and there was a good selection on offer, so if you are sushi lover like me don’t forget to give this a try.

  The Ocean view cafe also has lots of drink stations with tea, coffee, water, juice and carbonated soft drinks, all of which are complimentary.

  The Trellis Restaurant is the Infinity’s main dining room.  The restaurant is situated on the rear of the ship and has large ocean views to the rear.  The restaurant is split level, we were seated on the lower level near a window. I believe that the upper section is mostly used for Select (open) dining.

  This is where the dining experience needs to shine on a cruise ship as far as I am concerned, I really look forward to the fine dining experience on a cruise ship and dinner in the main restaurant can really make or break the whole experience I think.

  The first night that I ate in the Trellis restaurant everything was very pleasant but I wasn’t bowled over by the steak I had for my main course, it wasn’t bad at all but I didn’t get that “wow factor” that I was hoping for.

 

  I am really pleased to say that every night and each dish I ate from that point onwards was top notch and the “wow factor” kicked in on many occasions.

 

  The food was well presented, tasted great and was cooked to perfection.  I have to say that I thought the portions were very generous as well.

  The menu each evening would be split into two sections with the Classic Favourites on the left and the daily specials on the right.  I thought that the selection was good and varied, it certainly kept me interested and wanting to eat more.

  As well as the food, the surroundings, ambience and service in the main dining room on a ship play a very important factor to the overall feel.  All of the above were just right, the restaurant oozed with quality and as stated on my previous blog the service provided by Marlo our waiter and Estrella his assistant was faultless. 

   Qzine is a speciality restaurant on the Infinity that can also be found on other ships on Celebrity’s fleet.  The cover charge per person to dine in Qzine is $45 which is the upper limit of what I would like to pay as a supplement for speciality dining.  The thing is with speciality dining is that I feel it is an extra treat and I don’t mind spending a little extra if it means heightening my overall experience. 

 

  This restaurant is as much a form of entertainment as it is a dining experience.  Food is ordered on an ipad from your table and a large selection of food (to share) is brought to your table, one dish after another, a little like a Greek Meze.  I thought that this was a great idea.

  I am purposely not going to post pictures of the food that I ate in Qzine as I think that it would possibly spoil the experience for people who will want to dine there as I think the element of surprise adds to the experience.

  For me one of the great things about Qzine was the presentation of the food and the anticipation of what they would bring to the table next.  The food was all of a good standard, some was to my taste, some wasn’t.  I did try some things that I have never eaten before and I that I won’t again but it was fun to try something new.

  One word of warning about Qzine is the sheer volume of food that you are potentially going to eat there.  I did skip lunch in preparation but I don’t think anything could have prepared me to eat that much food.  I haven’t felt like that after a meal since the Mirage buffet in Las Vegas.  We had to eventually surrender and ask our waiter to stop bringing food to us.

  I would definitely recommend that people try at least one night in Qzine if you have the opportunity as I feel it is a very unique experience that you are not likely to experience elsewhere on land or at sea.

  I certainly was happy that I had chosen to try the experience of Qzine for $45, I am not sure if I would go back again, certainly not for more than once on a cruise, although it is something that people must try at least once I feel.

  Ever wondered what ordering food from an ipad is like ?  Well have a look at this.

 

  This is the Infinity’s fine dining speciality restaurant.  The cover charge is $45 per person.

   I didn’t eat in this restaurant on my cruise so I can’t really comment on the experience.

 

  I did however manage to get a photo of the menu so I thought I would post it to give you an idea of what is served.

  The Aqua spa Café is located in the Aqua spa Solarium area.  I would not normally have tried this sort of thing but in the end I was really glad that I did. 

 

The food served in the Aqua spa café is included with your cruise although some things like yogurt salads and smoothies have an extra charge.

 

  The smoothies are normally $6 but I found out that they were included in my Classic drinks package which was a bonus, I tried the ones called “detox” and  “energise” and they were very refreshing.   

  If I remember correctly the yogurt salads were just over $7 and these were not included with my Classic drinks package although I was informed that they were included with the Premium package.

   I decided to have a lunch in the Aqua spa Café one day as I wanted to try it and I thought it would make a change from the Ocean view cafe.  The surroundings are very relaxed and calm and a change from the hustle and bustle of the Ocean view café.

  The cold dishes are collected from the counter and there is a large selection of healthy eating dishes and salads available.  There are also some hot dishes like the salmon that I ordered and these are freshly cooked and delivered to your table.

  The reasons I enjoyed my Aqua spa café lunch are that it was very relaxed and the food was really light and fresh.  After eating so much rich food on the cruise it was a nice change.

 

  Blu is the ship’s speciality restaurant exclusively for guests staying in Aqua class staterooms, although suite guests may dine in Blu subject to availability for a $5 surcharge.

 

 Blu is a small a la carte restaurant with an emphasis on healthy dining options.  There are lots of tables for two and there is an Open dining policy.  It is also worth mentioning that the dress code in Blu is always smart-casual, even on formal dress nights in the main dining room.

 I unfortunately didn’t have the option to dine in Blu but I did get a copy of the menu so you can see what type of things are on offer.

  The selection of coffees from this cafe is amazing and as I mentioned on my previous blog I especially liked the cocktail coffees.  The speciality teas, coffees and cocktail coffees were included on my Classic drinks package so there was no reason to try whatever I liked.

  There are a selection of pastys, cakes and tarts available in Cafe al Bacio.  I only tried a couple but they we lovely.

  While I was on board the Infinity I had chance to do a galley tour of the kitchens.  It was really interesting to go behind the scenes and was it nice to be reassured by seeing how clean and well run everything was.

 

  I did see this sign on the wall which I thought was interesting stating the laws on dumping certain types of waste into the Ocean.

 

  This year Celebrity cruises have been actively promoting their Classic drinks package, with many cruises I have booked for my passengers this year and next year having this included in the price of their cruise.  If this is not included in the price of your cruise it can be pre-purchased from Celebrity cruises or on board the ship (it is around £30 per day depending on the current exchange rate).  The 15% service charge is added as a one off to the price of the package, not each drink you have on board.

 

  As I like to experience as much as I can whilst I am on a ship I thought that I must try the Classic drinks package so that I could pass my knowledge and experiences to you.  It’s a difficult job folks but someone’s got to do it !

  I can’t really advise to people whether it is really worth paying extra for the package, that would really depend on how much you want drink I guess.

  As far as I am concerned the Classic drinks package really added to my overall experience and made the cruise feel more all-inclusive. 

 

  I like to get good value (as all of us do) but I also like the mentality of having pre-paid for something, then knowing that I can then have whatever I like.  I personally don’t like that nagging feeling in the back of my mind every time I order a drink about my on board bill going up.  I am on a holiday, I just want to treat myself to what I want, when I want it.

 

  One thing that I noticed about the drinks package is that you get a sticker on your card showing to the crew that you have it.  This means that rather than having to sign a receipt for each and every time you have a drink they just swipe your card and hand it back to you with your drink which is a lot more convenient.

  You probably would have a few things if you had the package that you wouldn’t normally if you had to pay separately for it, you could go to the Ocean view café and get a free coffee for example but on the package you could go to Café al Bacio and get a higher quality speciality coffee or cocktail coffee.  This makes the experience better in my opinion.

  I’m not going to list every single thing that was included in the Classic package but here is a general idea.  Soft drinks, speciality teas and coffees including cocktail coffees, wine by the glass up to $9.25, cocktails and branded spirits up to $9.25 and beers up to $5.75 were included.  As mentioned earlier I was pleasantly surprised that smoothies, normally $6 a time at the Aquaspa cafe are included in the Classic package.

  Celebrity Cruises also offer a Premium drinks package, you can upgrade to this on the ship if you already have a Classic package.  If you are a wine lover you will probably want to upgrade to the Premium package, I was very happy with the selection of wine on my Classic package but the Premium package does mean that there is a lot more choice made available to you.

  I would also like to point out another difference between the Classic and Premium packages in the way that they work.  If you buy a drink on the Classic package that is not included you will be charged the full amount to your on board account.  If however you buy a drink on the Premium package that is not included then you will only be charged for the extra amount rather than the full amount to your account.

  Some passengers ask me about wine with dinner saying that they like to order a bottle and the fact that glasses are included in the package and not bottles.  From my experience this is not an issue the sommeliers in the restaurant are very attentive and will happily top up your glass as and when you need it.

  As I said earlier in my blog the dining experience to me on a cruise ship is a very important factor indeed.  Celebrity Cruises delivered a true Modern Luxury 5* dining experience to me whilst I was on the Infinity, I really loved the whole dining experience.

 

  Of course I ate far more than I should have done, but I can’t really blame Celebrity for that can I ?  It is to Celebrity’s credit that I wanted to eat that much to begin with and really enjoyed doing so.  I must say that I ate a lot less once I got home, I think its probably for the best.