A 7-Night Mediterranean Cruise on the Celebrity Infinity

This summer, I went on the Celebrity Infinity for a 7-night Mediterranean cruise. The great thing about cruises is that you get to see a lot of places all in one trip and, as many will say, only have to unpack once! This Celebrity cruise had a great itinerary, visiting Mykonos, Zakynthos, Kotor, Dubrovnik and Split. This started in Athens and ended in Venice, giving you opportunities to see more cities. We arrived in Athens on Friday and had about 24 hours before we boarded the cruise. This was plenty of time to see the Acropolis, wander the streets and visit Monastiraki Square, the Plaka, and enjoy local food.

When it came time to head to the port on Saturday, we had a short cab ride arranged by our hotel, 11 Enteka Acropolis Suites. I’ve been on a fair number of cruises, but this was my first time on a Celebrity cruise.

After a quick bag drop, we headed inside a tent with flavored waters and fans to help cool us off from the hot Athens sun. We quickly checked in with a passport scan, got our picture taken and went to the gangway. Once onboard, we stopped in our cabin, completed the safety briefing, which is easily done on the Celebrity app and made our way to the Martini Bar and Crush for our first of many espresso martinis.

We had an ocean view room with a large window, and while the staterooms could use some updating with the carpeting and bathrooms, for the amount of time you spend in your room while cruising, they’re good enough. The ship is plenty big, with over 2,000 guests and never really felt crowded. There were waits at the pool bars, due to everyone ordering frozen drinks, but otherwise, we could get lounge chairs on deck, find tables at the buffet for breakfast and lunch, etc.

The staff at Celebrity Infinity was exceptional. They quickly learned our names, our drink orders, and always greeted us with a smile. We very quickly made a routine of going to the Martini Bar and Crush for an espresso martini when we got back on board, followed by playing cards in Rendezvous Lounge before dinner. The Rendezvous Lounge often had bands playing a mix of songs, which was great to listen to while we waited for dinner. The staff usually had the same schedule each day, so we’d always chat with the same people and talk about our days. It was nice to make this connection on board.

As I mentioned before, this cruise had a great itinerary. It only had one sea day, so we were almost always waking up in new ports. We visited five ports and had two scheduled excursions. Excursions can be booked through cruise lines or through other companies. The ones through the boat can be more expensive, but there are benefits. If the tour is running late, the boat will know and won’t leave without you. It’s also usually easier to find your group if you book through the boat and the boat will give you instructions, typically the night before your excursion, on where to meet. We did one of each, one through an external company for our excursion in Zakynthos, where we saw where turtles lay eggs on a beach, saw the sea turtles on a glass bottom boat and went saw many little caves and gorgeous water, and one through the cruise in Dubrovnik where we took a cable car up to see a panoramic view of Dubrovnik and then walked through the Old City walls. When we were in Mykonos, Kotor and Split, we explored on our own. This allowed us to do what we wanted, at our own pace and on our own timeline. We spent our days strolling through the streets, stopping in shops and for food and drink at our leisure. There are pros and cons to doing excursions vs. going out on your own. Some places, like Zakynthos, don’t have too much to offer without an excursion, so in a place where you’d need your own transportation to do things, an excursion is the way to go. It’s important to research the ports before you leave. If you’re going through the cruise line, you can book excursions in advance, and if you do it before the cruise leaves, you usually save money, but you can book once on board. Some people schedule excursions for each port. We found this mix of two scheduled excursions and three days on our own was the perfect mix for us.

The ship docked in Ravenna. Originally it was scheduled for Venice, but at some point moved to Ravenna. This was about a 3-hour ride from Venice where we were scheduled to fly out of. Since we were unable to add a day on the end like we did in the beginning, we got off the boat as soon as we were able and got on a bus to go to the airport. We booked our transfer through the ship, which was very helpful. They made sure we could disembark and get on a bus in plenty of time to get to the airport.

We had such a great time on this Celebrity Infinity Mediterranean Cruise. I look back at pictures from time to time and think, “take me back.” From the time we embarked to the time we sadly had to disembark, we had a great experience.

While there were kids on board, there’s only one pool and the ship doesn’t have as many activities as other cruise lines have. Unless the kids are older, this wouldn’t be my first choice for a cruise with kids.

There’s plenty to do on board during your sea day or when you come back after exploring a city. The Celebrity App is extremely helpful and will tell you what is scheduled each day, at every time and where.