Celebrity Infinity

Theater

Celebrity's nightly theatrical performances, ranging from Broadway compilations to piano concertos, take place in the lovely three-deck Celebrity Theater and are generally well-regarded. Shows include typical Vegas-style song-and-dance revues, alongside performances given by visiting comedians and musical groups.

Daily Fun

Celebrity Life is Celebrity's enrichment and activities program for day and evening fun onboard. Activities mostly follow cruise ship standards (art auctions, bad hair day seminars, cooking demos, wine tastings, bingo and ballroom dance lessons). Some of the more unique (and entertaining) options are interactive events with officers and passengers, including Ping-Pong or water volleyball tournaments, silly game shows and an uproarious Dancing with the Officers "dance" (or is that physical comedy?) contest.

At Night

Fortunes Casino has an odd Egyptian theme for an otherwise sophisticated ship. You can lose, or possibly win, money at slots, poker, blackjack, craps, Texas Hold'em and roulette.

Celebrity Infinity Bars and Lounges

Celebrity Infinity has a nice range of bars and lounges -- enough to keep you entertained, but not too many where you feel like you're missing out.

Rendezvous Lounge (Deck 4): Lined with windows opening onto the promenade, this smaller space features art auctions during the day, and dancing or musical acts such as dueling pianos at night.

Martini Bar/Crush (Deck 4): Located on the Grand Foyer, the ice-topped Martini Bar and smaller sibling Crush provide the best people-watching. The juggling bartenders also make this a great spot for pre-dinner cocktails.

Michael's Club (Deck 4): This lounge reserved just for suite passengers has complimentary drinks, as well as nibbles.

Cellar Masters (Deck 5): This wine bar and tasting venue boasts a long table for wine education events and comfy chairs for killing time until your dinner table is ready. Taste wine on your own at any time or during a scheduled wine tasting led by a sommelier; unlike most other bars on the ship, this one carries nothing but wine (no soda, cocktails or beer).

Oceanview Bar (Deck 10): This outdoor bar abuts the buffet, but its premier location can make it a draw on its own.

Mast Bar (Deck 11): Tucked away above the pool area, the Mast Bar allows upper-deck sunbathers to gather and watch the scene below. About a dozen stools sit directly at the bar.

Constellation Lounge (Deck 11): The forward-facing lounge at the top of the ship is surrounded with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides. It's used during the day as an observation station and for various activities. At night, it's turned into a dance club. Across the hall, an arcade is available to gamers young and old.

Celebrity Infinity Outside Recreation

Pools

Infinity's main pool area, located on Deck 10 midship, features cushioned loungers, daybeds and wooden accents. The saltwater pool itself is divided into a shallow end for dipping and a deeper end for swimming; a circular lounge area sits on a raised platform in the middle. Anyone who wants to swim laps can do so early in the morning before the pools get busy. There are four hot tubs, a bar and table tennis on the port side. Additional lounge seating can be found one deck up, circling the pool area.

Continuing forward, the Solarium is an adults-only venue with a thalassotherapy pool, two additional hot tubs, padded wood loungers and some table seating for AquaSpa Cafe diners. The area is open to children for an hour in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon, though we saw kids in the pool later in the evening, as well. The Solarium is enclosed with a glass roof so it can be used in inclement weather.

Recreation

Shuffleboard can be found on Deck 11 and a basketball court on Deck 12 at the top of the ship. Ping-Pong tables are on the pool deck.

Sun Decks

Sun worshippers crowd the loungers around the pool on Decks 10 and 11. If you want to avoid the crowds, head for the forward and aft areas on Deck 12. The latter is where you'll find the Rooftop Terrace, a secluded area that has the ship's movie screen, as well as cabana-style loungers.

Celebrity Infinity Services

The Grand Foyer, a three-deck atrium, lies at the center of Celebrity Infinity; its highlight is a dramatic staircase and ceiling-to-floor drapes. At the bottom of the atrium, on Deck 3, is the main "cruise business" area -- including the shore excursion boutique, an ATM, the Captain's Club office, Future Cruise Sails and passenger relations.

The photo gallery is located on Deck 4, across from Michael's Club.

Forward of Cafe al Bacio is Infinity's enormous shopping venue, the 14,000-square-foot Emporium. Along with the usual logo shops and duty-free items, there are several jewelry, clothing and watch shops, as well as Celebrity Innovations, an Apple product retailer. Instead of cluttering the aisles with specials as on most ships, there is a circular central kiosk area for the daily discount offerings.

The Celebrity iLounge is found on Deck 9. There, Mac computers are available for web browsing, or you can sign up for a Wi-Fi account, as wireless internet access is available shipwide. Prices start per minute or you can purchase a package. Computer and technology classes, mostly focusing on Apple products, are held in the Emporium and are complimentary.

The ship's library is just below on Deck 8 and features glass walls, deep armchairs and a selection of travel guides, fiction and nonfiction books, and board games. The main concierge keeps hours there, as well.

Meeting rooms are located on Deck 3, and a medical facility is on Deck 1.

There are no self-service launderettes.

Celebrity Infinity Dining

Celebrity Infinity has a manageable number of specialty restaurants -- three as opposed to six on many of the line's other ships -- meaning you can splurge for a night out if you want without being overwhelmed. We found a lot of choice in the included dining, although not necessarily at top standards.

Many passengers on our cruise partook in Celebrity's drink packages, but we never noticed the drinking getting out of hand (perhaps because many got the package free in a booking promotion and had no incentive to get their money's worth). You can choose Premium or Classic beverage, wine, soda and bottled water packages and purchase them pre-cruise or onboard.

Trellis (Decks 4 and 5): The striking Trellis Restaurant, Celebrity Infinity's main dining room, offers formal breakfast, lunch (select days only) and dinner. It also offers brunch on one sea day. The highlight of the two-tiered restaurant is a huge, paned showcase window that extends from floor to ceiling. Tables are set for combinations of six, eight and 10. (Two-tops and four-tops are available in limited quantities.)

There are two options for dinner in the Trellis Restaurant. Passengers can go with traditional, set seating (at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.) or opt for the more flexible Celebrity Select Dining option. With Celebrity Select Dining, passengers have the option to dine any time between 5:45 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and to decide whether they want to eat with their own party or at a mixed table with other cruisers. They can also make specific dinner reservations for each day of their cruise online in advance, make reservations onboard or simply show up when ready to eat.

Cuisine at the Trellis is generally well received; the menu features a mix of traditional and imaginative fare with vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, no-sugar-added and SPE items (healthy yet tasty, as validated by SPE-Certified consultants) noted on the menu. Anytime menu items include escargot and shrimp cocktail starters, French onion soup and Caesar salad; broiled salmon and New York sirloin entrees; sides of roast potatoes and steamed vegetables; and chocolate cake, apple pie and cheesecake for dessert. Service seems to be bit harried, particularly during peak dining times.

Oceanview Cafe (Deck 10): The Oceanview Cafe is the ship's buffet restaurant, located aft on the pool deck. Coffee, tea and juices are available 24/7, and food is served from 6:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. The buffet is set up in one long U, but three stations are hidden way at the back, separate from the main buffet and easy to miss, which is unfortunate; these sections have different offerings from the regular buffet.

Breakfast, served from 7 to 10 a.m. (with early and late options on each side), features made-to-order omelets, American and English hot breakfasts, fruit, yogurt, bread, cheese and cereal, as well as stations for Asian specialties, a poached egg bar and a waffle/pancake station in the back.

The main lunch service runs from noon to 2:30 p.m., with half the stations remaining open well into the afternoon and evening. You'll find hot fare, a salad bar, a pasta bar and a carving station, with pizza, Asian and panini/fish and chips in the back. Tea sandwiches and scones are served from 4 to 5 p.m.

Dinner, 6 to 9:30 p.m., offers more hot fare and a carving station, plus a curry station and more pasta, pizza and salad. Don't miss Celebrity's homemade ice cream near the entrance to the Oceanview Cafe; it's available until 10 p.m. and quite tasty.

Pool Grill (Deck 10): The Pool Grill, just forward of the buffet, offers hamburgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers with fries from noon to 6 p.m.

AquaSpa Cafe (Deck 10): In the Solarium, the AquaSpa Cafe is a small buffet, serving light meals by the thalassotherapy pool. Breakfast (7 to 10 a.m.) includes healthy muffins, fruit and oatmeal for free and smoothies, fresh juices and yogurt parfaits for an extra fee. Lunch, from noon to 2 p.m., centers on veggies and salads.

Blu (Deck 5): Celebrity's spa dining venue is exclusively for AquaClass passengers. The restaurant is open for breakfast (7:30 to 9 a.m.), serving light meals like smoothies and muesli. Dinner (6 to 9:30 p.m.) offers a changing menu of clean and simple cuisine, such as a roasted chicken breast or blackened ahi tuna. The venue is gorgeous, done in white with bright blue accents and a row of large porthole windows along one side. Note that Blu is intended to be AquaClass passengers' main dining venue for breakfast and dinner (though they can opt for Select Dining whenever they wish), and no other passengers are allowed.

Luminae (Deck 4): Reserved exclusively for suite passengers, Luminae is a calm refuge with a grown-up culinary atmosphere. It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The service is notably better here, as is the food. Expect sophisticated meals such as artichoke soup and veal chops. The same rules apply here as for Blu -- if you're traveling with a group and some of them are not booked in suite class, they will not be able to eat with you.

Room Service: Room service is available 24/7. Continental breakfast is free and can be ordered via a door-hung card put out the night before. All other orders have a hefty $9.95 per order charge, plus an 18% gratuity.

Tuscan Grille (Deck 5); $45 per person for dinner, $35 for lunch: Celebrity's signature Italian steakhouse, Tuscan Grille focuses on chops as well as Italian favorites. The antipasti course is gorgeous and easily splitable with a group. Dinner is served nightly, while lunch is served once per cruise (same menu). For an additional fee beyond the cover charge, diners can enjoy premium cuts of meat including an 18-oz. dry-aged New York strip or a 22-oz. dry-aged porterhouse.

On sea days once per cruise, Tuscan Grille hosts the Crab Shack Lunch. For $40, you get two king crab legs, two crab cakes and crab bisque, as well as garlic bread and coleslaw.

Sushi on Five (Deck 5); a la carte. Infinity's sushi restaurant is hidden in an easy-to-miss area behind the Cellar Masters bar on Deck 5. Sushi, sashimi and Japanese favorites like gyoza and edamame are on the menu here. Special multicourse omakase meals are available. There aren't a lot of seats -- there's no sit-down sushi "bar" -- and it can get crowded at dinner; reservations are recommended.

Cafe al Bacio (Deck 5): This gorgeous cafe on the atrium serves free breakfast pastries and desserts from morning till night, but the specialty coffee and tea cost extra. (The general consensus is that the coffee here is the only coffee worth drinking onboard.) Across the atrium, the gelateria offers several flavors of gelato from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and it's definitely worth the extra fee.

Le Petit Chef at Qsine (Deck 11), $55: Qsine on Celebrity Infinity features the Le Petit Chef experience, which incorporates 3D technology and digital animation into your meal. Essentially, a 2-inch-tall French chef projects onto your table and helps prepare your dinner in fun and eye-catching ways. The Qsine menu has two four-course choices, all with a French spin -- think bouillabaisse, roasted lobster and French onion soup.