Zenith Begins a New Life

[richsea]

Our old friend Zenith will be embarking on a new chapter in her life when she joins Peace Boat in 2020. It’s great to see the old girl continue sailing.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/21221-zenith-will-sail-for-peace-boat.html

 

Here she is at berth in Hamilton, Bermuda for the final time in 2007.

 

 

[cangelmd]

wow we sailed on Zenith and Horizon, long time ago. I can never remember which was first.

[davekathy]

We sailed on the Zenith in 1994. A lot of great memories, pictures and videos of the Zenith. We both thought when we first boarded this ship, it's huge. Well I guess it was compared  to our first cruise in 1991 on the SS Constitution. 

[Jim_Iain]

LOL -   I thought you hit Zenith and it Changed your Life.   

[TeaBag]

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

LOL -   I thought you hit Zenith and it Changed your Life.   

So did I!

We sailed Zenith in 1994 also.

[C 2 C]

31 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

So did I!

We sailed Zenith in 1994 also.

We were in the same boat, so to speak...

[C 2 C]

2 hours ago, cangelmd said:

wow we sailed on Zenith and Horizon, long time ago. I can never remember which was first.

 

Take your pick...

[Bo1953]

36 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

LOL -   I thought you hit Zenith and it Changed your Life.   

As well, I...

 

I thought a Congrats was in order...

 

bon voyage

[richsea]

13 minutes ago, Arno. said:

 

Take your pick...

Those were the days! Zenith & Horizon both sailed to Bermuda; one on Saturday, the other on Sunday, stopping in Hamilton & St. George. And prior to that, it was Zenith & Meridian (our 1st Celebrity cruise), which stayed at Dockyard because her draught was too deep for the other ports.

[Ray in NH]

18 minutes ago, richsea said:

Those were the days! Zenith & Horizon both sailed to Bermuda; one on Saturday, the other on Sunday, stopping in Hamilton & St. George. And prior to that, it was Zenith & Meridian (our 1st Celebrity cruise), which stayed at Dockyard because her draught was too deep for the other ports.

 

The Meridian was also our first Celebrity cruise (May of 1993 -- to Bermuda).  Yes, tied up at the Dockyard.

Loved that ship, even though it did not have all the "bells and whistles".  

 

NRayH

[Baron Barracuda]

You always remember your first.  Ours was on Zenith back in '93.  Service levels today pale in comparison.  No balconies - no problem.

[wwcruisers]

LOL Rich! When I read your 'subject line', my immediate reaction was: Rich finally made Zenith! Thanks for the photo. Sadly, Zenith and Horizon were both gone from the fleet, by the time we first sailed on X. I DO miss Century, though!

[Lady Arwen]

For us, Zenith was first and then Merdian to Bermuda.  We thought we were in the lap of luxury!  Service and food were 5 star!  Then we sailed a few times on Horizon!  Loved those ships.  Today's ships are fine and all, but nothing beats those days with Celebrity!

[kelmac]

The Horizon was the first cruise ship designed and produced by Celebrity Cruise lines.  It was our first cruise together back in 1993 -- Deep Caribbean Xmas/New Years for 9 nights out of San Juan, PR.  The Zenith came in 1992 and the Horizon was built in 1990.

 

Enjoy!

Kel

Edited July 11, 2019 by kelmac

[floridacruisers]

 The M.V. Zenith came into Celebrity's fleet in April, 1992. We were on the third sailing April 18-25, 1992. It was our first of many Celebrity cruises. I was fortunate to have video taped our entire cruise with my new 8 mm Sony camera. Looking back at it makes you long for those days. You are right.

Who needed a veranda with all the great food and service we experienced. The MDR food, IMHO,  came between Blu and the specialty restaurants of today. Guess I was a very early foodie since I taped almost every meal. Also, my ears weren't assaulted by loud obnoxious music everywhere we went. We had plenty of good disco music, but where it belonged, in the disco.

The shows were fun and well done. At least I can look back and say "The good old days". Do miss them......

  Phil.........floridacruisers

[TeaBag]

This is a fun thread.  Meridian was our first on Celebrity too.  We had an "outside" cabin but no window!  It was by the water and we could hear it lapping on the side of the ship at night.  Only 2 cabins in that location and the people in the other one fought day and night.  Often wonder what happened to them.  We had a great cruise and it started us on many great journeys with Celebrity.

[QueensChick]

A little later to the party but I’m glad I got to experience Zenith to Bermuda in 2001.

She got me hooked! 😀

[RICCruisers]

Horizon to Bermuda in 2002 out of Baltimore. This was our first X cruise. I won a travel voucher from my company so upgraded to a Butler Cabin. The food (Michel Roux?) and service was outstanding. The cruise down the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore to Norfolk seemed to take forever since the speed was limited. That cruise did convince us that Celebrity was a good fit for us. We felt like we were one of the young couples at that time.  Now we are more middle aged in X terms. We’ve certainly noticed the changes over the years but also realize that the cost of cruising has not gotten outrageous until Edge came into the fleet. 

[iheartbda]

And here she is in St.George.

 

[iheartbda]

After I took that picture, I noticed that the same view was in the Celebrity brochure, just more of a closeup.

Edited July 12, 2019 by iheartbda

[Denny01]

“You always remember your first...” Ohhhh, I’ll let that line go without responding!!!! And I’m of course talking about...cruising!!

 

I’m afraid I’m of the classic first cruise on Carnival guy and fell in love with cruising. It took my mate 5 yrs to talk me into going back to sea and paying for it! But it turned out to be just a bit different from my previous ‘Cruise’ experiences in the Navy. 

 

On our 2nd cruise, our TA messed up our reservations and moved us from Holland America to Celebrity and we truly fell Fully in love with cruising and stick with Celebrity whenever we can. We missed out on Zenith, but cruised on Mercury a month after she was launched. Hooked from then on.

 

Den

Edited July 12, 2019 by Denny01

[Loracpin2]

First Celebrity cruise was on the Horizon in 1993 out of New York to Bermuda!! Yes, there cabins were a little smaller and there were NO balconies, but the memories are lifetime. As someone already mentioned...FIVE STAR services for the entire seven days.  Crepes Suzettes and Bananas Foster tableside, Midnight Buffets every evening with food and dessert presentations that were creative perfection!!  We got off that ship and were hooked on cruising and the funny thing thing is we paid more for that Horizon cruise (without the perks of free drinks, included grats and OBC) than we've paid for 10 nights balcony cabin in the Med. 

[bighairtexan]

For me it was Zenith. Caribbean 1992. My kids HATED it b/c there were "no other kids" and begged to go back to Carnival. Now they're 37 and 39 and you can't drag them on to Carnival and they've cruised on Celebrity with their spouses... on their OWN DANG DIME!! 😂

[richsea]

15 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

LOL Rich! When I read your 'subject line', my immediate reaction was: Rich finally made Zenith! Thanks for the photo. Sadly, Zenith and Horizon were both gone from the fleet, by the time we first sailed on X. I DO miss Century, though!

Hi Suzanne. Century was a great ship also. She was our 2nd ship in 1997. I still have the brochure about her that they provided everyone in their room.

As for me making Zenith; never gonna happen. In fact, we’ve kind of drifted away from Celebrity recently. Priced too high for us, & moving in a direction that doesn’t interest us.

Edited July 12, 2019 by richsea

[Lois R]

Hi Rich:) I sailed Zenith twice and both times were right before she left the fleet...…….I think it was 2006.