Debarkation Fort Lauderdale

Leaving the ship and going back to reality is always sad for us. This cruise we did use the luggage valet service which was $20.00 a person and covered 2 pieces of luggage each. Using Valet means you usually depart the ship in one of the early groups and one's luggage is checked into the airline for you.

Since we were in an group that was suppose to depart at around 8:30am, we got up early and just had morning coffee. We went to the ship's movie theater as instructed but found we couldn't enter as there was a delay due to custom's clearing some of the employees. After that delay which was about 40 minutes we did get off the ship quickly and easily and our luggage was waiting for us very near the exit and all together. Usually it's scattered, but it looks like using the Valet service they keep it together for you. A porter went with us and our luggage through custom's and that went fast as we didn't have much to declare. The porter then took the luggage to the special truck for valet service and directed us to a taxi. Unlike the San Francisco port there were plenty of taxis and we didn't have to wait. Our non-stop flight back to California on Jet Blue was fine, our luggage made it home with us and it was great not to have to cart it around with us since we had an evening flight. I would certainly consider using the Valet luggage service again in the future when it's not convenient to handle it ourselves.

We didn't run into most of our friends as we were leaving the ship for one last goodbye, though we did get to see Gary, Stephanie and a few others later that evening because they were on the same flight home as us. Fortunately we are still able to stay in touch with most friends via our Cruise Critic roll call which is still active periodically. We're planning another cruise in 2008 on the inaugural voyage of Celebrity's Solstice which Merce, Bonnie and Rich will also be on so I have a year to improve my photography skills for that trip report.

I did add a few extra videos to this one, but a couple of the larger ones and that included the lecture on the Panama Canal didn't make it due to technical difficulties. If that sorts itself out at some point, I'll remove this last couple sentences and announce it, otherwise this is now the end of what is so far our favorite cruise!

A Grand Finale to a fantastic trip!

Saturday, October 13th, our last day at sea. Always a bittersweet day as one packs, says goodbye to the staff and gets ready to return to the real world.
This morning we went to the Celebrity theater with Joyce and Angus to hear cruise director Jeff Potts last minute debarkation instructions and see the parade of ship staff on stage to wave goodbye to us. Before Jeff's talk started we ran into Stephanie and Gary who were seated behind us. Those smiles tell the story of the great cruise they had enjoyed!

During his talk Jeff had a very funny top 10 list of passenger's questions during the cruise and the film clip below contains a few of them.



After the show we went to Cova Cafe and had a coffee with Joyce and Angus. This ended up being the last time we were together as we had dinner at the Penthouse scheduled for tonight. We did exchange addresses and such and hope to see them again on another cruise or perhaps when they next come to the States or we visit the UK. We ran into Thomas at the Photography shop and learned he had signed up for the passenger talent show that evening as he is a good singer. Unfortunately the talent show didn't last that long and by the time we ran to the show after dinner it was over, so we missed saying goodbye to Thomas and Annette and hearing him sing. Again we exchanged addresses and such with them and since they live within driving distance of us here in California we hope to see them again sometime.

As mentioned in a previous post, Angel and Sammy the Maitre'D and Assistant Maitre'D had offered to do something they had never done before and that was have the staff of the SS United States restaurant serve one of their fantastic dinners privately at the Penthouse. A big part of this offer was the fact the staff thoroughly enjoyed serving Bonnie, Rich and Merce and made mention that during a long cruise sometimes people become more difficult to serve at the end of the trip but their group was always so much fun. Having observed over the last 14 days the positive and appreciative attitude that the 3 of them always had with the staff I understood completely why they were willing to make this offer.

We of course were thrilled when Bonnie, Rich and Merce invited John, Len and us to share this wonderful dining experience and thus repeat our original dining group from our first SS United States experience earlier in the cruise.










The evening started out with wine and some appetizers, and as we were enjoying but lamenting our last evening in the Penthouse the staff arrived and started to set up the table.



Len, playing us a song on the Penthouse Grand Piano. If you stay in the Penthouse but don't play the piano never fear, there is a automatic player you can turn on for it.
Bonnie, surveys the table after the staff sets it up and is kidding around about stowing away for the next cruise and not leaving, well she was sort of kidding, I'm sure if Bonnie thought she could get away with it, Rich, Merce and her would still be on the Infinity in that Penthouse!
Our great Sommelier is decanting the wine for the main course to come.

Our amuse for the evening was delicious.

A short clip showing our server's style.

Next was a seafood pasta salad.

The centerpiece of the evening,the Beef Wellington.

This was such a tender flavorful Beef Wellington that Randy said it was the best he ever had. Since my Mom and I usually make a form of this dish for Christmas each year and everyone loves it, that was high praise.
The short clip below is of Angel and Sammy sharing a bit of humor as they divide the Wellingtons.

Dessert was a yummy Napoleon.


And the final touch served at all the SS United States dinners, the Petits Fours. Our evening tonight was just perfect, from the witty company, delicious food, luxurious surroundings, to the best service we have ever experienced anywhere which is saying a lot since we have had some exceptional service at some of the finer restaurants in San Francisco and other cities.

Kitchen tour and Last Formal Night

Friday, October 12th, found us at sea on our way to Fort Lauderdale where our wonderful Panama Cruise would end. While the rest of the ship had a Culinary Production show in the Celebrity Theater they could attend, this morning Angus, Joyce, Bonnie, Rich, Randy and I would meet at the SS United States restaurant to take the Captain's Club Select and Elite member's ship tour of the Infinity kitchens.

When we entered the specialty restaurant the harpist was practicing with an Clarinetist so there was lovely music playing while we waited for everyone to gather.


Tanushka, the Captain's Club hostess who had been nice enough to let Randy and I join this tour, split us into 3 groups and we were lucky enough to get one of the Sous Chef's as our guide.


We started out in the smaller kitchen of the SS United States were it was explained that everything for meals at that Restaurant and the Aqua Spa buffet was made only in that kitchen. We then made our way to the larger kitchen that serves most of the ship and even though it was only 11am they were busy preparing food for that night's formal dinner.
During our tour, they served us champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. If you look closely in the next photo you will notice Randy has a strawberry in hand, which he had taken for me since he doesn't like strawberries.
We walked through stations where they were stuffing potatoes, baking breads,making salads and of course creating those wonderful desserts we had been enjoying. All the kitchen areas were spotless and sparkling!


The chef explained that everything is made on the ship from the salad dressings to the bread crumbs that nothing is wasted, except of course for the food that we passenger's leave, though that's my editorializing, not his. During our walk we passed a wall that had menus for the various days and also photos of the food so that the kitchen staff could consult them and make sure they were consistent with the plating of the food.

We also went by the escalator's that the wait staff uses to ferry the food from the kitchen to the two levels of the main dining rooms.


After the tour we left our friends and went to the ship's photography department to pick up our copy of the Infinity DVD of our trip. I think this cost us about $29.95 and it was well worth it as it included detailed information on the Infinity, in addition to the lightning storm at sea we had gone through earlier in the cruise, a movie taken from shore by one of the ship's photographers of our transit through the canal, and there's a shot there of Randy and I on our balcony waving during the transit, though that's the only time you see us on the DVD. The only other person I recognize on the DVD was Len, though there were plenty of shots of events on ship and some of the shore excursions.

Before returning to our stateroom to rest before dinner, I watched the ice craving demonstration out by the pool. Here's a short clip of it.


That evening we met Joyce and Angus before dinner so that we could take some photos of us together. The photo above Angus took and I like it better then some we bought on ship.
We look pretty happy above because we always had a lovely time with Joyce and Angus. This cruise for them was to celebrate 40 years of marriage!

We were fortunate enough to find Annette and Thomas too and get a group shot of the 6 of us.

After photos it was time for our last visit to the Martini bar this trip! Here's Frank our favorite server shaking one of our martini's.
Randy was either looking very happy to see his apple martini or thrilled that we had scored 2 servings of those marvelous bread sticks. The rest of us had ordered my favorite, the blue cognac martini.
The last formal night of course meant it was lobster night! While I'm not a big fan of lobster I did order it and was very surprised that it was both juicy and flavorful as frequently when a kitchen is serving so many people at one time you can get it overcooked. Everyone at our table who had the lobster thought it was delicious, so we ended up having two tails each!

After enjoying those lobster tails, it was time for the production of the Baked Alaska parade. Randy joined into the spirit of the occasion and is waving his napkin.
Angus, getting into the spirit of the parade!


Our waiter Schubert presenting our Baked Alaska before he cuts into it. The Baked Alaska was very good, though of course for those passenger's who didn't want it, there were still several different desserts to select from.


After our wonderful dinner we joined Angus and Joyce at the Celebrity theater for the last production show by the Celebrity dancers and singers and like the last 2 big shows it was very good. It was then time for the Grand Midnight Buffet and though we were too full from dinner to indulge we did the walk through to see it.


The four of us then ended the evening at the Constellation lounge for a nightcap.

On our way to Cartagena

Wednesday, October 10th was a sea day as we sped toward Cartagena, Columbia. I remember we played our only game of bingo this trip in the afternoon. Hey, you got to play bingo once on a cruise! We had a lovely massage at the Aqua Spa. When you tour the Aqua Spa you will notice that the treatment rooms have great views of the sea or port if you are docked, but since your head is usually in no position to see the view I'm not sure why they are designed that way.



Tonight it was an informal evening at the Trellis dining room and at the end of the dinner our server Schubert entertained our table by making a men's jacket and Bermuda shorts ensemble out of napkins. Afterwards he did a couple magic tricks which we also enjoyed.

We went to the show at the Celebrity theater that night with Joyce and Angus and then later had a drink with them at the Constellation Club. That evening before the chocolate buffet started they had the "Not So Newlywed Show" which was hilarious mainly due to a older couple that participated. The film clip below shows one round of answers to a funny question during the "Not So Newlywed Show".



This was also the night of the chocolate buffet. Earlier in the cruise they also had a tropical buffet though we only went to look at it. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that evening so no movies or photos of that buffet or the dance that Joyce and I got up and did when they had some group dancing out by the pool.

Infinity Classic Grand Cru Dinner

Earlier on the cruise during one of the evenings we dined at the SS United States with our friends Bonnie, Merce and Rich, Angel the States Maitre'D invited us to participate in their first Classic Grand Cru Dinner which was the night of the Panama Canal Transit. Bonnie, Rich and Merce had already been invited and we were lucky enough to get invited I suspect because Angel saw how well we all got along and enjoyed eating at the specialty restaurant together. The Grand Cru dinner is something Celebrity is thinking of doing for future cruises and we were a trial run and as far as Randy and I are concerned it was a great success! It's my understanding that this dinner will always be by invitation only, however, it's not a free dinner even though it's by invitation. The price was $125.00 per person which I'm sure some passengers would think was too much, but we thought it was a bargain if only because of the quality of the wines they poured non-stop.



The Classic Grand Cru Dinner started at 8:00pm and there were 9 of us passengers invited with 3 ship officers and Rick Garced the CEO of the United States Sommelier Association and his wife. The ship officers were Hotel Director Leonie Henry, Food and Beverage Manager of all 4 Millennium Ships Donald Beard and his boss Wolfgang who is Food and Beverage Manager for all the Celebrity ships, including the Azamara and upcoming Solstice line.



After introductions we entered the wine cellar where we were served Mumm's Cordon Rouge Champagne and a selection of hors d'oeuvres. We were then seated at a large table in the center of the main room. I was in the center seated next to Donald with Rick and his wife across from me, while Randy was next to me. Bonnie, Rich and Merce were at one end with Leonie, and at the head of the table were Wolfgang, a couple from Boca Raton and across from them a couple from Manhattan.



In the future I believe one will select a dish from each course, but since this was the first time for this dinner we were served every course and instead of being tasting servings they were full size! Unfortunately this meant I could only eat a third or half of everything even though it was incredibly delicious. The pours of wine were also generous and if you emptied your glass, they were quick to pour more unless you stopped them.



We started with an amuse that was 3 baked and fried savories with sauces. They were very tasty but definitely the largest amuse portion I have ever had. The first starter was Lobster and Truffles Souffle. As we started eating this Rick commented that the chef had been very generous with the Truffles and he certainly had been, it was fantastic. Initially I was a bit worried about how Randy would like this dinner because he doesn't like mushrooms or anything related to them, nor does he normally care for Foie Gras or enjoy Sweetbread garnishes, however he loved this dinner and is still raving about the Lobster and Truffles Souffle, a recipe that the chef said he was going to copyright. The Lobster souffle was served with Pouilly-Fume "Baron de L" Domaine de Ladoucette, 2000.



The second starter was Crispy Foie Gras on a bed of fresh Mache served with Riesling "Les Ecaillers" Leon Beyer, 2001. Like Randy, Foie Gras is something I don't usually care for, but we both tasted this and enjoyed it and if it wasn't for all the additional food I knew was coming, I could have eaten all of it. During the dinner especially after the first couple glasses of wine everyone was loosening up and sharing stories. Normally on cruises I really don't get a chance to talk that much to any of the ship officers so I especially enjoyed this opportunity to get to know a couple of them. It was during this course that the Sommelier brought out a wine that wasn't on the menu to do a taste comparison with the Riesling and unfortunately other then it was a Spatlese I don't recall what wine it was. Then before our first entree we had a wonderful little palate cleanser of passion fruit and rum sorbet.


Our first entree was Pave of Sea Bass with Vanilla-scented Olive Oil. It was served with the crispy skin on top which I had removed and it made a Sea Bass fan of me that evening. The Vanilla oil was very subtle and not something that I normally would have thought to add to seafood, but it was wonderful and went well with the Chassagne Montrachet Domaine Colin Deleger, 2001.



The second entree served was Pan-seared Tourmedo with Veal Sweetbread and Wild Mushrooms Ragout and I just hated not to finish this lovely tender filet. I've always thought I hated sweetbreads but as presented in the ragout, I enjoyed them immensely. This was served with the wine of the night, Chateau Beycheveel, 4 Cru Classe, 2003. During this time we had a demonstration between a Riedel wine glass and a regular one and what the Riedel does to open up wine. While I know some wine experts scoff at the theory of Riedel glasses and which type of Riedel you use making a difference in the taste of the wine, during our taste test that night both Randy and I thought using the correct Riedel glass did change the taste of the wine for the better, though it also tasted good in a regular wine glass.



Finally we come to my personal favorite, Raspberry Champagne Souffle served with Sauterne Barton & Guestier, 2002.


At the end of the dinner we met the French Chef and the rest of his staff. Our dinner ended up being four hours, but the time just flew by thanks to the wonderful company, delicious food and fantastic wines. The Grand Cru Dinner was definitely one of the highlights of this cruise for us, and would have been THE highlight if not for something that we experienced during our last night of the cruise.

Panama Canal Transit Penthouse Style

Tuesday, October 9th and it's the day we transit the Panama Canal. Lucky us, Bonnie, Rich and Merce invited us to breakfast and to view the morning transit from their Penthouse stateroom. While some passengers got up at 5:30am or even earlier as we approached the Canal, Randy and I didn't make it out of bed until 7am.



The movie below is a very tiny excerpt of our wonderful morning.


We were warmly welcomed by Bonnie, Rich and Merce with a glass of fine rose sparkling wine. We immediately went out on the deck since it was a beautiful morning. Some of the photos make the weather look like it was foggy, but it was a clear day with blue skies for the whole transit. Unfortunately we have a tendency to forget to wipe the camera lens periodically which means it fogs up now and then from the humidity.



Since the breakfast menu for the suites are upgraded over family view cabins like ours, I was finally able to order my Yogurt granola parfait (2 different flavors of yogurt layered with granola and fresh berries) that I love, and an egg Fritata. While I don't recall what everyone else had, I do remember waffles, chocolate croissants and plenty of other goodies on the table, all of which was laid out and served by George their butler.



We couldn't have asked for a better day for going through the Canal or better company to spend it with. Bonnie had really studied up on the Canal before the trip so whenever we missed what the announcer was saying, she was able to fill in the blanks.



A couple more photos of Randy roughing it (grin) on the Penthouse deck.



The morning with Bonnie, Merce and Rich just flew by, it was so interesting and comfortable. When it became hotter as the day went on we could duck into the Penthouse living room to cool off and watch the canal from their huge panoramic ceiling to floor windows.



We left the penthouse around 1pm and went to get a bite of lunch upstairs on deck 10. We then returned to our stateroom to view the final part of the transit from our own balcony.

Early afternoon the passengers that had shore excursions at the Panama Canal left the ship. Since it was our first time experiencing the transit of the Panama Canal we stayed aboard.





As we were going through one section of the Gatun Locks we looked across to shore and passengers who had taken one of the ship shore tours were at a observation area and waving at the Infinity as she passed. While Randy and I held on to our hats (earlier the wind had already blown mine downstairs to the Penthouse deck where Rich grabbed it before it went overboard) I told him that it looked like one group was trying to get our attention over all the other people on the aft of the ship and sure enough it was John, Stephanie and Gary, friends from our Cruise Critic roll call.

The film clip below is the ship exiting one of the locks in the late afternoon.

Around 6:30pm the Infinity reached Cristobal, Panama where we docked at the pier to pick up the passengers that had taken the shore excursions and also for some shopping.While I was looking forward to the shopping at Cristobal Pier where the Captain had been gracious enough to schedule an extra hour, we had a special dinner to attend that evening that would cut short my shopping adventure.