Just back from the Zenith:

[SEPyle]

All I can say is Celebrity must listen to less than positive reviews because our cruise was GREAT! The food was outstanding! One had Filet Migon one night and last night of the cruise was delicious lobster! The shows were absolutely fantastic (best I've seen on X)!

 

I'll post more later, since I'm already back at work (bummer:mad: ), but just wanted to check in to let you know the Zenith is a great pick!

 

I'll try to answer any questions people may have.

 

Sharon

[bethwendy]

Glad you had a great time! Looking forward to your reveiw. Sailing the Zenith on 3/5. Which ports did you go to? Any suggestions/recommendations for the ports &/or the ship?

[KAJOKG]

This is great. Hearing such positive reviews from most recent Zenith cruisers! We sail on her in January -- our first Celebrity cruise and we are looking forward to experiencing this cruise line. We chose the 5 day Zenith since it was a good opportunity to give it a try. Hearing all these good reviews is a happy note, indeed. Thanks.

[robbie500]

My wife and I were also on the same Dec. 8th sailing, but didn't get the chance to meet up with the Zingers. We totally enjoyed our cruise.

I think I found the reason that Celebrity is scaling back the Caribbean routes. The passengers on this cruise were outrageous at times and some had to be borderline "idiots". We experienced a woman tapping her menu on the table, while the waiter was taking an order at another table. She was talking loud and saying she was ready to order. They got up, left, and never returned to the table. (lucky for us, and our waiter)

Only problems that I mentioned, was our wine steward not being very attentive, and The Grill at the back of the ship always was out of Silverware, Plates, Napkins or Food. Yep, they ran out of some of the food at 15 til 6 on Thursday evening, luckily the Pizza counter still had some pizza.

All in all, a great time was had by us!

P.S. My wife won $225 on a slot machine Thursday night so that made the trip "Extra Special"

Rob

[robbie500]

I don't know if anyone is considering the "Hide-Away Speedboat" tour, but ours was cancelled due to lack of participation. So be sure to look for a secondary excursion.

Rob

[bryanjaync]

Any comments on the Zenith Suite ? Signed my parents up for a 10 day cruise and choose cabin 1006. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

[slotaddict]

Nice to hear the positive reviews. How are the rooms, are they continuing the upgrades to the rooms while the ship is in port? Can;t wait for the cruise.

[robbie500]

We were in cabin #1052, which is Concierge Class. This room seemed clean, but carpet and furnishings didn't look new or like they had been changed probably at least for two years. One thing that perplexed me was a mirror that is inside the closet, which was broken. The mirror had been taped with box tape to keep it from totally falling apart. It was just along the bottom about an eight inch piece. It would not appear that all the cabins got a makeover at the dry dock.

Rob

[Barry ATL]

The refurb of the rooms is an ongoing process. When they change the carpet, they are chaning all of the soft goods at the same time. The carptet is a different color so they change out the spreads, curtains, etc. at the same time. The new spreads have more of a homey quilt look. Pastel colors. If you had a solid color spread, then it was the older stuff.

[Kay and Hal]

Any comments on the Zenith Suite ? Signed my parents up for a 10 day cruise and choose cabin 1006. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

We were in a Zenith Suite, 1015, on the Dec. 3 cruise. We loved having the extra space. King size bed, pretty comfortable, PLENTY of drawer and closet space, you can store your luggage under the bed. More room in the bathroom, tub/shower instead of small shower, very easy to eat a meal in the room also, as there's a love seat and chairs and a small table. Canapes or sandwiches/cookies served to you in your room every afternoon - order Cappuchino through your Butler to be brought around the same time. We asked for fruit and cheese plates and shrimp cocktail for DH as well, instead of the canapes or sandwich plates. I have no doubt your parents will enjoy their cabin, it's not crowded at ALL. OH - and the air conditioning works great! ;)

[flahagan]

We were also on the Dec. 8 sailing. I certainly agree with the comments about the entertainers - all were outrageously talented, the highlights of the cruise!

We were disappointed in the rooms, however. We were on deck 6, and none that we saw had been refurbished. Our mattress was like a brick, and our 1 pillow each was just plain flat. After the first night, my back was so stiff I could hardly move, so we asked our steward if we could have an eggcrate and some extra pillows and these were put on that afternoon. It did help some. Another person traveling with us also experienced backaches every morning, so be prepared.

We all thought the food and service was inconsistent. Some dishes served in the dining room were very good, including most of the beef and veal dishes, but others were just fair. Our service was very slow, orders were messed up several times, and our waiter went on forever the last 2 nights about how we needed to fill out the opinion form and give them good marks. The pasta bar was good in the Windjammer, and we found the servers there to be pretty attentive. Breakfast was actually the worst meal, which we thought was strange (how can you mess up there?!), but none of us could eat the bacon. It was very undercooked and had a rancid taste, everything else just so-so. Oh, and this was evidently the first cruise since drydock that lobster was served, but not on formal night - on the last night of the cruise! I think they must have gotten a lot of negative feedback about it, and decided to bring it back.

 

It seemed to us that most of the bars were understaffed, as most evenings at "cocktail time" there would be just one poor fellow to serve an entire lounge.

 

All of that being said, though, we still had a fun cruise - gorgeous weather, fabulous entertainment, great travelling companions - and the positives far outweighed the negatives. Our waiter told us that the Zenith has been sold and will leave Celebrity next October, so maybe that's one of the reasons there's not going to be many more improvements made. Since this was our first Celebrity cruise, we had nothing to compare it to, but we heard numerous comments throughout our cruise that this was not a typical Celebrity experience.

[Barry ATL]

Our waiter told us that the Zenith has been sold and will leave Celebrity next October, so maybe that's one of the reasons there's not going to be many more improvements made.

 

I had heard they were going to keep Zenith. Next year she will be doing longer cruises. I checked the Celebrity website and they have cruises listed up through April 2007.

[newmexicoNita]

Any comments on the Zenith Suite ? Signed my parents up for a 10 day cruise and choose cabin 1006. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

will let you know when we return the end of Dec. We leave tomorrow for Texas and then onto Florida. We will be on the Zenith Saturday and our daughter has 1006. NMNita

[newmexicoNita]

We were in cabin #1052, which is Concierge Class. This room seemed clean, but carpet and furnishings didn't look new or like they had been changed probably at least for two years. One thing that perplexed me was a mirror that is inside the closet, which was broken. The mirror had been taped with box tape to keep it from totally falling apart. It was just along the bottom about an eight inch piece. It would not appear that all the cabins got a makeover at the dry dock.

Rob

When were you on her? Deck 10 we have been told has been completely re-done. We also have part of our group in 1052 I think. We have several cabins on deck 10. We are in 1032. NMnita

[pixiguru]

When were you on her? Deck 10 we have been told has been completely re-done. We also have part of our group in 1052 I think. We have several cabins on deck 10. We are in 1032. NMnita

 

 

hi nmnita

 

you lucky lady......cabin 1032 is about the best position on the ship........so close to stairs and elevators....just one deck up to the sunshine !!

 

we were in cabin 1032 on Horizon last year and decided to always try and book a cabin in the same position in future.....

 

we are on century in january 06 and so happy to be cruising x again.....

 

i am sure you will be happy with your choice.......enjoy !

 

allison

[flahagan]

Barry, our waiter seemed pretty certain that the sale of the Zenith was a done deal, as he was negotiating his contract and would stay until next October if he could continue on the Zenith, otherwise he was leaving in four months. He said he was hoping to stay with the Zenith until it left Celebrity next year, then was going back to Romania.

 

I wanted to add how wonderfully smooth embarkation and disembarkation were on this trip - really the best ever. We were on the ship within a few minutes of arriving at the pier!

[bsdmhutch]

We all thought the food and service was inconsistent. Some dishes served in the dining room were very good, including most of the beef and veal dishes, but others were just fair. Our service was very slow, orders were messed up several times, and our waiter went on forever the last 2 nights about how we needed to fill out the opinion form and give them good marks.

 

Which dinner seating did you have? We had an awesome waiter that never once mentioned the opionion surveys or tipping. We had soo much fun with our table mates - We did miss dinner on Sat after Cozumel 'cause mom was so tired.

 

No problem with our room either. We had two pillows each from the beginning. I don't know what the rooms looked like before, so I can't say whether they had been done or not. We were on deck 9 with an outside partially obstructed view.

 

I'll try to post more of a review later. I enjoyed all the meals (even breakfast), but I know that others didn't so much. I loved the hamburgers. Of course, I am a pretty easy to please person and not real picky and figured I wasn't cooking or cleaning so I had to keep it all in perspective. It was all better than it would have been if I had cooked it myself. I'll be glad to answer any questions too.

 

Mom and I went to Paradise Beach in Coz and it was beautiful. They have really worked hard to get it cleaned up after Wilma.

[flahagan]

We were on the second seating, and our waiter and assistant left much to be desired. You know how you love to have them pull out the chair for you and flip that napkin down on your lap, makes you feel like you're the Queen of Sheba, well, that never happened. Seems like a small thing, but it makes cruising special. As for our room steward, when we first met him, we said if he just had our ice bucket filled at 4 PM everyday, we would be happy campers. Never happened once. If we ever wanted ice, we had to call the desk and ask them to have our steward bring us some ice. Then we had to wait at least 15 minutes. I'd say that's not very good service.

[bsdmhutch]

We were on the second seating, and our waiter and assistant left much to be desired. You know how you love to have them pull out the chair for you and flip that napkin down on your lap, makes you feel like you're the Queen of Sheba, well, that never happened. Seems like a small thing, but it makes cruising special. As for our room steward, when we first met him, we said if he just had our ice bucket filled at 4 PM everyday, we would be happy campers. Never happened once. If we ever wanted ice, we had to call the desk and ask them to have our steward bring us some ice. Then we had to wait at least 15 minutes. I'd say that's not very good service.

 

Oh, my, you are right. Our ice bucket was filled at least twice a day. And we always had our napkins placed for us. We had second seating too. Don't know what side of the room you were on, but mom and I were at the table with the reindeer. If you saw them, you know what I mean. They were hard to miss.

[SEPyle]

Isn't it amazing how people can be on the same cruise and come away with such different impressions. I do understand because it happened to us on another cruise (Carnival Legend). Some felt everything was fantastic and for us that was simply not the case. Looking back it boiled down to the waitstaff. Because of the service, our food wasn't as good as others experienced; I really think because of poor service food can get tough sitting under heating lamps. Sorry flahagen that your cruise wasn't as good as we experienced. We sat at the table next to Stephanie, and we too had great waiters! Having fun great waiters certainly makes a difference! One thing I really recommend: When being seated at a table with less than desirable waitstaff...ask to be moved! One comment to a Maitre'D will remidy the situation! Guess our experience on the Legend taught me that. We didn't ask to be moved, and our cruise was impacted because of it. On another cruise our dinner companions were in the 'less than' category. Looking back we should have simply switched tables.

 

Now as to 'jerky' people...Robbie, I don't quite understand that one. I saw a couple people who I certainly wouldn't want to befreind, but that happens on cruises anywhere and in every walk of life. My thoughts on why X is scaling back on Caribbean routes: plain ole economics. They make more $'s on other itineraries!

 

Have a great day eveyone. Right now I just wish I was back on any ship anywhere!

 

Sharon

[slotaddict]

I asked this question on another thread and didn;t get an answer. Were people generally adhering to the dress code. I read somewhere that most people were dressed resort casual for most of the cruise.

[bsdmhutch]

I asked this question on another thread and didn;t get an answer. Were people generally adhering to the dress code. I read somewhere that most people were dressed resort casual for most of the cruise.

 

I was going to answer on the other thread, but forgot. Ours was only a 4-day cruise and there was 1 formal night and the other three were casual. The first night was the only night I really saw anyone in Jeans. I must admit, I didn't pay much attention to how people were dressed. I know that mom and I and the ladies at our table dressed nicely. Dressy pants and such. Most of the men I paid attention to (we had a table of 9 women) were dressed in pants, shirts and ties... some jackets. Don't know if the 5-day will have an informal night...we didn't.

[Anchors Away]

We just got off the Zenith on Thanksgiving Day. This was our first five day cruise (always before 7 & 10 days) and first cruise on this small a ship and we loved it all. The embarkation and debarkation were the fastest, most organized either of us have ever experienced. We had Octavian for a waiter at late seating and he was fantastic. The food was delicious and service was very good. Our cabin steward did not have a lot of personality, but he was efficient - rarely saw him but the room was clean.

 

Our room was an oceanview on Caribbean Deck 6 (I think it was 6149) and neither the carpet or the soft goods have been replaced. They were older but well cared for. We were scheduled to go to Key West and Grand Cayman but due to Tropical Storm Gamma we ended up in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Nassau, Bahamas. Even the less than desirable ports did not ruin this cruise for us. There were always chairs available by the pool and believe it or not, more pool towels than the towel hogs could use.

 

To answer the question about dress code, this five day cruise had one formal night, one informal night and three casual nights. I would say nearly 80 percent of the people adhered to the dress codes. I saw a few late-twenty something people that were too casual on both the formal night and the informal night, but I don't recall seeing anyone in jeans.

 

I hope you have as wonderful a cruise on the Zenith as we did. I wish I was back on her now.

 

Joy

[slotaddict]

Thank for the quick reply. The anticipation is growing. :D

[flahagan]

Slotaddict, actually there was an informal night - the last night of the cruise (sea day). First night was casual, second (Key West) was formal, third (Cozumel) was casual. It seemed most people dressed nicely, very few tux or long dresses, but certainly most wore after-five type apparel for formal night, and on informal night, nice dresses or pants outfits for the women, dress shirts and slacks for the men (many wore sports coats). Hope this helps with the packing!