GTS ''Celebrity Infinity'' (formerly ''Infinity'') is a operated by

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in ...

, a subsidiary of

Royal Caribbean Group Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a cruise holding company based in Miami, Florida, United States and incorporated in Liberia. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corp ...

. She measures and long, and holds a capacity of 2,170 passengers across 12 decks. After Royal Caribbean signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term she ...

with French shipbuilder

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, ...

in February 1998, she was floated out in June 2000 and delivered in February 2001, making her the second ''Millennium''-class ship to join the fleet following '' Celebrity Millennium.''

Construction

In February 1998, Royal Caribbean signed a

with French shipbuilder

to build two new ships, with an option for two more, that would make up a new class of ships, dubbed the ''Millennium'' class. Designed to be an evolution from Celebrity's ''Century''-class ships, the two ships were initially planned to measure , have a guest capacity of approximately 1,900, and be delivered in June 2000 and January 2001, respectively. In March 2000, Celebrity announced the second ''Millennium''-class ship would be named ''Infinity.'' On 9 June 2000, she was launched from the shipyard in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 25 February 2001, Celebrity took delivery of ''Infinity'' in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

after she embarked on a

transatlantic crossing Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

from Saint-Nazaire. Formal naming festivities were held on 29 April 2001 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where ''Infinity'' was christened by Solveig Wilhelmsen.

Service history

The ship's maiden voyage was originally scheduled for 3 February 2001, a 14-day cruise from

Port Everglades Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2022, Port Eve ...

in Fort Lauderdale through the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

before arriving in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

for her inaugural season. However, the voyage was later postponed by one month to 3 March 2001. Her inaugural season also included cruises to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

before she headed to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

in summer 2001, joining fleet-mate '' Mercury.'' Since 2002, she has also cruised to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

from

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

and Fort Lauderdale, and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

and throughout the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. On 3 June 2016, while docking in

Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan ( ; ) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on Revillagigedo Island of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District. With a p ...

, the ship crashed into the dock on her port side, causing a 10-to-15-foot scrape along her bow above the waterline and heavily damaged the dock. Winds were reportedly gusting to 45 miles per hour from the ship's starboard side at the time of the accident, which accelerated the ship's approach. There were no reported injuries or pollution caused by the incident. In addition to the damage to the ship, the collision caused $2–3 million in damage to the dock. The ship was quickly repaired and resumed sailing following the collision. In summer 2020, ''Celebrity Infinity'' was scheduled to sail in the

, but the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

forced the cancellation of the season. Following the cruise line's pause in operations, she is scheduled to resume sailing from Port Everglades on 25 June 2022, sailing weekly Caribbean voyages. Beginning in summer 2023, the ship will be stationed year-round in the Mediterranean, making it the first time Celebrity will have a year-round operation in the region.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 23 March 2020, two crew members reportedly tested positive for the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

, raising concerns among crew members of their safety while on board. On 14 April 2020, nearly two weeks after a crew member died aboard the ship, a

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuit was filed on behalf of over a thousand Celebrity employees over the company's allegedly inadequate response measures to outbreaks aboard its ships.

Design and specifications

Along with her sister ships, ''Infinity'' is equipped with a turbo-electric

COGAS Combined gas and steam (COGAS) is a type of marine propulsion system comprising gas and steam turbines, the latter being driven by steam generated using the heat from the exhaust of the gas turbines. System In this way, some of the otherwise los ...

power plant. The COGAS plant consists of gas and steam turbines, with the latter being driven by steam generated using the heat from the exhaust of the gas turbines. In this way, some of the otherwise lost energy is reclaimed and the specific fuel consumption of the plant is decreased. Propulsion is provided by two "Mermaid" azimuth pod-propulsion units from

Kamewa AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (''trans.'' Karlstad Mechanical Works Ltd), known as Kamewa, was a Swedish manufacturing company in the city of Kristinehamn. Kamewa started as a brand name of the controllable-pitch propellers manufactured by KM ...

and

Cegelec Cegelec or Actemium is a French engineering company specialized in electrical infrastructure, HVAC, information technology, nuclear energy development, transport infrastructure, robotics and offering both public and private services. Cegelec wa ...

(now

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

). The ship also has three bow thrusters.

Recurring pod-propulsion issues

''Infinity'' and her sister ships have experienced problems with the pod-propulsion system. Months following her delivery, Celebrity reported ''Infinity'' began experiencing problems with a faulty ball bearing in the ship's starboard propulsion unit; it necessitated an emergency dry dock repair in June 2001 in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, which resulted in cancelled sailings. In April 2002, more dry dock repairs were made to the ship's propulsion pods, as they were reportedly showing premature wear, preventing her from cruising at maximum speed. In a third dry dock in February 2003, Celebrity had all ball-bearing units on ''Infinity'' replaced, forcing the cancellation of two sailings. A fourth dry dock took place in April 2004 to replace a thrust-bearing propulsion unit. A fifth dry dock was held in March 2005 to replace the ship's starboard thrust bearing unit. A sixth dry dock was performed in September 2006 to repair one of the ship's propulsion pods. Numerous unsuccessful repairs led Royal Caribbean to file a lawsuit against

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

and Alstom in August 2003 for $300 million to recover lost revenue and the costs associated with the faulty pods on all four ''Millennium''-class ships. Royal Caribbean settled the lawsuit in January 2010.

References

External links

Official website
{{Celebrity Ships 2000 ships Maritime incidents in 2016 Ships built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique

Infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...