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| NYE family selfie. Everyone looking at the camera with an expression that can pass as a smile. Pass! |
It was a quiet New Year's Eve and an even quieter New Year's Day. I should be ashamed to admit that I did not even stay awake past 9pm. At home even that would have been a fail for the family fireworks.
New Year's Day saw us arrive at our last port of Valencia. We had not booked a tour and were forewarned that everything would be closed on account of New Year's Day. We got off the ship regardless regardless to wander around the very dead port area. We refused to pay the extortion of 10 euros per person for a shuttle bus to get to the old town centre! Sadly there were no taxis in sight.
It probably was not a bad thing. Everyone took the opportunity to enjoy the last of our down time before disembarking tomorrow for our next leg. It is rare that I NOT recommend something. Celebrity Infinity, however, ticked that box. The ship is old and dated, and it really showed. We also didn't fit the demographic, at least not for cruises for this region. Although the staff were friendly and tried hard to please, we felt that they haven't really received the appropriate training to deliver service that is top notch. The service felt forced and lacked finesse. The food was meant to be a drawcard, and the buffet certainly delivered. However, in general, everything was too salty or too sweet, and if you order meat, there was a good chance that it would come out looking like a nursing home meal. The activities were sorely lacking, and the quality of entertainment was generally poor (with the exception of the juggler!). We believed Celebrity to be a more "refined" brand in RCCL's portfolio and we were somewhat disappointed.
What did save the cruise was the itinerary (being port intensive, as well as having interesting stops), and cruising as an extended family unit. We had a lot of fun on our port days, and it would have been logistically difficult to visit those ports with elderly parents in tow. We would be willing to give Celebrity another chance but I'd be looking more closely at the age of the ship...
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| The dessert bar looked fabulous! |
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| Time for our celebratory New Year's Eve dinner |
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| A competition to see who would be the prettiest princess.... |
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| Jan 1 was to be the start of eating well. Oh well I guess it would have to wait until tomorrow! |
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| Family photo in Valencia. Tick! |
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| We found an open coffee shop! |
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| We could not hold back any longer....we paid for Japanese food |
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| We had very low expectations but it wasn't too bad |
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| Sushi |
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| Water views while relaxing. Never mind the oil refinery in the background (at least I think that's what they are) |
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| Happy New Year from us to you! May 2024 see you fulfill your travel bucket list dreams! |
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