Review -Zenith - Christmas Cruise

[atlasali]

We (husband, almost-20-year-old daughter and I) arrived in Miami after a rough start to our trip. Our 7:00am American airline flight was delayed due to computer problem. But the pilot made up the time and we arrived to sunny skies and temps in the 70’s. Way better than the snow and cold that we left behind in Cleveland. Before we collected our luggage, a Celebrity employee spotted our luggage tag on our carry-on. He told us how to catch a shuttle and told us that they would take care of our luggage for us (cost $12.00 each.)

Check-in was smooth and easy…no line. However, the man looked at his computer and told us that we had a room change. That initially brought up my hackles because I chose a room (1031) that was nestled in between the suites, had a view and was not near a potentially noisy place like a disco. But to my surprise he handed us gold colored Concierge Class sea pass cards. We got an UPGRADE! I wished that I had read more about the CC on cruisecritic.com because I couldn’t remember exactly what that entailed, but I knew it was good.

We were greeted with either champagne or a mimosa and directed to the Windjammer Café for buffet lunch since the room would not be ready until after 1:00pm. The Windjammer was a lovely facility. There is always a little confusion as you first discover where all the food stations are located. There is a counter for pizza and pasta. Outside on the back of that counter is the grill for hot dogs, burgers and excellent fries. My tray was carried to a table for me. The food was delicious and we were already feeling the stress lift off of our shoulders and the “no worries, mon” cruise bliss take over. We walked around the Pool deck #11. There is an area of tables with umbrellas outside aft. Next is the Windjammer Café. The soft serve ice cream dispenser is located there, but I never tried it. In the early evening the sushi bar is there, also did not partake in that. Who can eat all the food opportunities? Then is an area of tables and chairs outside but under a cover. Next, you see the 2 pools with 3 rows of padded deck chairs on each side. Last is a lovely bar the Fleet bar. It has a great view out the bow.

Promptly at 1:00, an announcement was made that the rooms were ready. How do they turn around the rooms so fast? Our room was down one floor #1077 aft. We walked into one of the biggest rooms we have ever had. There were 2 twin beds separated by a good-sized nightstand with phone, lamp, controls for the lights and music, and 2 drawers. There was a bunk for our daughter. The window was a good-sized window not a porthole. The room was lovely: new bedding, new carpet, comfortable duvets, and a choice of pillows. Only one criticism=the bunk mattress was hard as a rock, even though our steward added a mattress pad. Our mattress was perfect. At the foot of one bed was a huge desk/dressing table mirrored area. A television and ice bucket were located on the desk but there was still plenty of space. We hung our Christmas lights there. I almost forgot; fresh flowers were sitting there, too. A small glass table had a bottle of champagne on ice. Along that same wall was the largest bathroom we have ever experienced in 8 cruises. It had a big shower with a 2 speed removable, hand-held showerhead. Roses in a vase, amenities such as round bar soap, shampoo, lotion, cotton balls, mints, and mint green colored “Concierge Class” floor mats and towels were in the bathroom. Across from the bathroom was not one, but 2 closets. One had drawers and a safe, and a full-length mirror. Since our soft-sided luggage could slide under our beds: we did not even use all the storage space that was available!

We went up to the pool deck to enjoy the sun. We purchased a “welcome aboard” drink in the souvenir glass and read over the daily activity list. We had Main sitting for dinner, so we headed back to the room to dress. We met our room steward Muhammud. He did an excellent job of preparing our room quickly and unobtrusively. There were 2 knocks on our door: one was a delivery of a fruit basket; the other was a tray of canapés. The canapés came every day at 5:00pm. A second bowl of fruit came on day 3.

I like this Concierge Class!

At dinner we were escorted to table #38, a table of 8, which we shared with a delightful family: a mother and father from Michigan, their grown son and his wife from near Washington, DC, and their other adult son from Boston. They were interesting conversationalists and I hope that they enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed theirs. Our waiter was Hugo from Portugal. He was excellent; both efficient and personable. The dinner menu was extensive. During my dinners, I ate prime rib, a shrimp dish, and veal chop. The Cozumel night we arrived too late for our dinner seating, so we missed the lobster tail. But we ate delicious lamb and pork in the Windjammer Café. Most people ate in the dining room. On our last cruise, the dining room was “strange looking” with tables of 8 with only 2 people actually eating there. After dinner, we checked out the shops, sampled some liquors, and saw the “60’s” show. The dancers and singers were talented and energetic. With every intention of going to the disco later, we went to “rest” in our room and that was all for the night. The motion and sound in our room was non-existent.

Day 2 –Key West. We had all our breakfasts on deck in the Windjammer. The boards were correct—the Waffles are Divine! Made to order omelet’s and steaks are available at the grill out back. We docked at Key West at 7:00am. This was our second time at Key West. Our excursion was the Glass Bottom boat ride. It was a pleasant boat ride with fairly good viewing. The captain stated that the visibility was not as good as usual; and he even gave us the opportunity to cancel. Afterwards we shopped, drank at one of the bars, (free jello shot), and purchased some Blond Giraffe’s Key Lime Pie to eat on the ship. Getting on and off the ship was easy. Slide the sea pass card in the scanner. Ate lunch, laid in the sun on the 12th deck aft (where the whirlpools are located), watched us sail away from Key West, and sat in the whirlpools. Dinner, Captain’s toast, and the saw the “Thoroughly Broadway” show. The songs were from were more recent shows such as; Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mamma Mia, Les Miserables, the Producers, and Wicked (I do not know that show). I was most impressed with the cast. In the closet, we discovered lovely robes to use.

Day 3 –Cozumel. There were many fun activities and informational sessions to participate in. At bingo, we saw an older teen win a weeklong cruise to Bermuda. We attended the Diamond and Gemstone seminar. I won a loose gem “rainbow topaz”, and a black faux pearl necklace; my husband won an ivory faux pearl necklace. Since we did not have an excursion, we picked up tickets for the tender #1 then waited in the show lounge. Since it was one of the shortest days of the year, I was getting antsy waiting to get off the ship to take advantage of the sun. It would be better if arrival time could be 9:30am to allow more daylight time in Cozumel. But we boarded the first huge tender and docked at the International pier (same place where we docked in March.) But what a difference Wilma had made. Missing concrete slabs of the pier, no Senor Frogs=a wild and crazy drinking establishment, and the see through shell of a former hotel the El Cid. It looked like it had been through a war. The lush jungle vegetation had been stripped bare. Some of the leaves were beginning to grow again. We caught a cab and spent the afternoon at Playa Mia Beach Club. It was a great day. Other than that the main palapa was replaced with a huge tent; there was no evidence that a hurricane had ravaged Playa Mia. The sandy beach was in good condition, the water was warm and calm, we did not need to snorkel—some giant fish were schooling around us. The drinks were strong and tasty. The tacos were delicious. We stayed almost until sunset. Then boarded the tender and returned to the ship. We were too slow getting dressed for dinner so we could not eat in the dining room. Evening show was a magician/illusionist from England-Jamie Allan. He performed some excellent tricks. However, I did not care for his verbal banter, and I feel that the large Show Lounge was the wrong setting for him since so much of his magic was slight of hand. We found a nifty bag in a bag waiting for us in our room. It unfolded to be a 2-foot by 2-foot carry-on piece of luggage. This was actually our second bag. There was a beach tote in the room, too. At 10:15 the "Island Night party" was held on the pool deck. The Caribbean band Changez lead dancing under the stars. The drink of the night was Coco Loco served in a Coconut shell. Since it was Christmas Eve the special Tree Trimmer Midnight Buffet opened for photos at 11:45pm. It was beautiful. A Santa and his sleigh with reindeer ice carving, gingerbread houses, all the food displays were themed in a holiday motif. We ate a very small taste; there was no reason to be hungry on this cruise. Dancing continued up in the Rainbow Room for the over 18 crowd. I stayed up way too late.

Day 4 –Christmas at sea. I was most impressed with Celebrity. Every Celebrity employee smiled and greeted us as they passed us. After breakfast, we were seated by the pool. Santa and his band of elves paraded by gathering children. We followed along and watched Santa greet each child in front of the fireplace in the cozy Michael’s Lounge. Each young cruiser got a Celebrity Polar fleece blanket. The pre-teens got a “cool” hoodie. It was charming. We attended a cooking demonstration, learning how to cook filet of beef, and how to make food sculptures, and marzipan pastry flowers. Samples were shared. We spent most of the day baking in the sun by the pool. Just as I was about well done, the wait staff came parading through with scoops of citrus sorbet. How did they know, I needed that frosty treat? Back in the room, we got 2 Christmas gifts. One was an engraved glass penholder “Celebrity Concierge Class Holiday Season 2005”. The other was an Italian fruitcake. Our last dinner was enjoyable; we brought our bottle of champagne and shared it. After dinner was a Holiday Show that featured all of the musical entertainers. Not only the singers and dancers but also the pianist, the orchestra, the duo, the dance band, and the guitarist. It was a pleasant show. We took our three $1.00 dollar bills to the casino. We each won and parlayed it into almost $20.00. We experienced the “late nite bites”, food stations scattered around the ship. But again, I am not hungry. We put the bags in the hall before 11:00pm. Stayed up to go to the late night dancing again, but it was a different crowd and not too interesting.

Day 5 –I don’t want to go home! We were color-coded based upon our flights. After breakfast (8:15) we (red tags) were to make our way to the Fleet Bar and wait to be called. There were pastries and beverages there. When it was time for red to leave, we walked down stairs and swiped our sea pass cards one last time. Customs was quick and easy. We located our bags and found a shuttle that took us to the Miami airport for $9.00 each.

I had read some mixed reviews about the Zenith. I could not have been more pleased. It was a lovely, classy ship. The employees were friendly. The level of service was one of the best we have experienced. The food was delicious. Even our picky-eater daughter was pleased with the food. We love to dress up for dinner and we found that most people (but not all) dressed appropriately for dinner. We spoke to 2 guys who "since they did not own dressy clothes" the only time they went to the dining room was for the midnight buffet. I would recommend Celebrity and the ship Zenith to anyone. I would like to sail her again…maybe to Bermuda.

This is a link to our photos:

http://home.comcast.net/~wb8waa/

[Deb C.]

Very nice review, Alison! Thanks for taking the time to write it.

I, too, love Zenith :D and hope to sail on her again soon.

[slotaddict]

What a nice review. I can't wait for my cruise on the Zenith. It seems you had a wonderful holiday. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and pictures. Happy New Year.

[njscuba]

Nice review .. only problem is that it makes me wish I was leaving tomorrow and not in the next few weeks ..

[chessbriar]

Quick Question: Who was your CD? Have a friend sailing on the 11th and it would be nice to let her know.

[BrooklynGirl2]

Thanks for posting your detailed review. I too love Zenith and can't wait to sail on her again. I'm happy to see so many recent positive reviews for this ship. She does have a wonderful crew.

[cuppy]

Paul was the CD on this cruise.

 

Allison - I posted our pictures finally.

[Lois R]

Thanks for your review:) thoroughlly enjoyed reading it!

I am sailing her in February and I am definitely looking forward to

this cruise!

[Andy]

Hi Alison !

 

Thank you for the excellent review !

 

Happy New Year

[atlasali]

Thanks Sue, for posting your pictures. They are lovely. Anyone who has not been on Zenith will have a good preview of the ship with your photos. I wish that I had seen such a group of complete and clear photos before we went on the Zenith.

Were you and Matt the first passengers on the ship? I can't believe how empty the public areas are...especially since the ship was full.

Our daughter is one of the dancers in your photo "poolside party". She was wearing a black skirt and sweater with a gold halter top. I see I made an error in my review, I said that she was "almost 20" actually she is "almost 21".

With your picture of the ocean on Christmas day; were you taking a photo of the flying fish? We saw many of them; but they were too fast, and we were too high up (on deck 11) to photograph them.

I'd like to do a Christmas cruise again next year. Alison

[Lois R]

Thanks for sharing your pictures:) they came out great!!!

[midwestsunshine]

Atlasali- I really enjoyed reading your review. We'll be on the Zenith in Feb (5day which includes your stops plus Costa Maya) and I really appreciated the positive comments.

Maybe the upgrade fairy will visit us too :)

Have a wonderful New Year.

[cuppy]

It felt like we must have been among the first on the ship. When we got there they had already let people through but they had said not too many had show up yet. By noon there were a lot more people on the ship.

 

We looked at our map and decided to start touring the ship right away. I always like to take pictures of the public areas first before they get crowded and I think only one of the rooms had someone in it when we arrived: and to be honest it may have been a crew member.

 

I didn't see the flying fish; wish I had though. Unfortunately my camera decided to start acting up while we were on this trip - something about the gear mechanism in the lenses. So not all of my shots came out; I posted the best of what I got. I did find a new camera though on-line and I am going to go pick it up this week. The zoom is much better and it has built in anti-shake so I won't have some of the issues I do know.

 

Happy New Year everyone!

[artvlay]

Great review. We are going on the Zenith on Thursday. A few questions about the Playa Mia Beach Club in Cozumel. What was the charge to use the club? What services/facilities did they have? How much was the cab ride. Thanks

[atlasali]

artvlay - We made a huge mistake. So listen carefully so you can save some money. Buy your "all-you-can-drink" $28.00 entry pass on the ship. It was $33.00 from the taxi cab driver and $35.00 at their gate. There as a cheaper level that was just entry only. We talked to some other Celebrity Zenith passengers who bought the $68.00 all-inclusive on the ship. But all that gave them extra was the buffet. Based upon our time in Cozumel (12:00 - 8:00pm); I did not think that it was necessary to eat the buffet. When we got a little hungry; we ordered one order of beef tacos, and split them 3 ways. It cost $7.00. The taxi cab was $14.00 per cab each way. You can go to Playa Mia web site and check out the different package levels.

I wish you good weather and smooth seas. Enjoy your trip.