Zenith to Bermuda review, 7/29 - 8/05/06

[DeltaOne]

My wife and I sailed the Zenith from Bayonne to Bermuda the week of 7/29 to 8/5/06. This was our sixth cruise (5 previous, 3 with Celebrity, 2 with Princess). First time to Bermuda.

 

We used the free Celebrity bus program, leaving our car in Baltimore, MD. We boarded the bus at 9 am and arrived in Bayonne at 1:15 pm (including a 30 minute wait for a family that didn't show up at the last stop). Check-in was fast, no lines at all. After presenting our Xpress pass and credit card we were on our way, total check-in time was less than two minutes. A few minutes later, with our complimentary glasses of champagne, we had been escorted to our room. We had an inside room on deck 9, all the way at the front of the ship. The room was nice, no problems there.

 

After lunch in the Windsurf cafe we explored the ship. The Zenith is the smallest ship (682 feet, 47,255 tons) we've sailed and we loved it. The Zenith began service in April of 1992 and is in great condition. You'll find evidence of her age if you look hard enough (small areas of rust, evidence of many layers of paint, etc). Did it affect our cruise? Not at all. I'd say the only way Zenith's age affected our cruise was the need to carry two cards, your SeaPass card (to pay for purchases, to leave and reboard the ship) and your room key card. On newer ships the SeaPass card doubles duty as your room key and SeaPass card.

 

We asked for, and received, a table for two at the second dinner seating (8:30 pm). Our waitress, and her assistant, were excellent. The wine sommelier was friendly and helpful. The assistant maitre'd stopped by each evening for a chat, always making sure everything was okay. The food, and presentation, in the Caravelle Restaurant was superb. We never had a problem making menu selections and thoroughly enjoyed each dinner.

 

We attended two of the shows by the Celebrity Singers & Dancers (World Goes 'Round, That 60's Show) and both were excellent.

The other talent included Paul Tanner (singer impressionist), Joe Mulligan (comedian) and Carl Andrews (magician). Tanner and Mulligan were okay, we enjoyed their shows. Andrews is incredible...don't miss his show if you enjoy watching magicians. Andrews is very talented.

 

Monday morning we docked in Hamilton. Be sure to be up on deck to watch the Zenith zig and zag its way through the harbor, docking right on Front Street. We purchased the $28 three day bus pass and ended up only using the bus pass one day. You can buy one, two, three, four or five day passes...we should have purchased a one day pass. We rode the #7 bus simply to see the sights. Later that evening, at 9 pm, we took the ferry from Hamilton to the Dockyard Wharf (making several quick stops along the way). It was neat to see the sights after dusk. Total time was about an hour.

 

Wednesday morning I made a point to be up on deck at 6 am. The Zenith departed Hamilton at 6:15 am. I enjoyed being up on deck for the sail from Hamilton to St. George. It's amazing to watch the 95 foot wide Zenith make its way through the very narrow "Town Cut." I'm guessing the ship had less than 25' feet of room on each side as it sailed through the cut. We docked in St. George at 8:45 am.

 

While we enjoyed exploring Hamilton, and our great lunch at the Hog Penny restaurant, St. George is unbelievable! Very beautiful and quaint. I took lots of pictures in St. George. We were amazed at how beautiful Hamilton and St. George were, each is clean and spotless and everyone is friendly and helpful. Be sure to attend cruise director Don Fluke's presentation on Bermuda, I learned a lot about the history of Bermuda and lots of useful tips that came in handy for getting around in Bermuda.

 

Other highlights: We enjoyed the martini tasting, $10 for six mini martinis. Most nights we enjoyed a pre-dinner martini in the Martini Bar. While the buffet offerings in the Windsurf Cafe are okay we got nearly all of our breakfast and lunches from The Grill. For breakfast the The Grill offers waffles, pancakes, donuts and made to order eggs (omelets and/or eggs). For lunch The Grill offers made-to-order sandwiches, pasta, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries. Most nights we enjoyed sushi from the Sushi Bar (5 to 10 pm) for a late-afternoon snack.

 

Lowlights: Just two. 1) The chair hogs. The cruise lines need to find a way to stop people from saving chairs by the pool on sea days. On both sea days all the chairs were "taken" by 8 or 9 am, before most of the passengers had even had breakfast. 2) The passengers that refuse to use the hand sanitizers. I remember one day seeing a male passenger bypass the hand sanitizer and then use his fingers to place onions from his plate back on to the food line. Yuck.

 

They caution the passengers about renting scooters, saying on each cruise some passengers will be injured while driving a scooter. In Bermuda they drive on the "wrong" side of the road, add that to not being familiar with riding a scooter and you've got an accident waiting to happen. We did witness a half-dozen or so passengers limping with various bandages. We assumed they were injured in scooter accidents. If you must rent a scooter I would recommend doing so in St. George where things seemed to be slower paced and more laid-back.

 

All in all, a great cruise. We can't wait to return to Bermuda and hope it's on a ship like the Zenith that can dock up-close in Hamilton and St. George. Celebrity continues to offer great service, food and a great value for your dollar.

[Cachecara]

Thanks for a wonderful review. We go back Sept 9th and can't wait!:D

[Spurs Fans]

Thanks for the review. It brings back great memories from a couple of months ago. Was Ana still working in the Martini Bar?

[DeltaOne]

Thanks for the review. It brings back great memories from a couple of months ago. Was Ana still working in the Martini Bar?

Yes, she is. While we saw Ana, we somehow never managed to talk to her. There's another gal that works in the Martini Bar, and she always took our order and delivered our drinks.

[BrooklynGirl2]

Thanks for the nice review. I've been on Zenith 3x and the highlight of our day was our dinners in the Caravelle dining room. The food was always hot and delicious and the service from Assistant Waiters to the Maitre'ds was always superb. We made a lot of crew friends on Zenith and we enjoy the small ship feel. Bermuda is also a lovely destination and being able to get on and off the ship at will is an extra bonus.

[blambition]

Thank you for your wonderful review. Do you suggest getting a two day bus pass if we are thinking of going to the beach for snorkeling, and taking the ferry for fun. I think we will also want to shop in town and maybe take a dolphin excursion. The husbands may also want to golf one of the days. I figure the time we are in St. George we will most likely not need the bus pass. Also there are four of us so short distances should be ok by taxi in St. George. Would you agree?

 

Any comments on the passengers deck we are on the Europa deck (5) aft. stairwell location outside

 

Hopefully we will be blessed with great weather!;)

 

We are sailing 9/30/06

Thanks,

Vicki

[DeltaOne]

Thanks for the nice review. I've been on Zenith 3x and the highlight of our day was our dinners in the Caravelle dining room. The food was always hot and delicious and the service from Assistant Waiters to the Maitre'ds was always superb. We made a lot of crew friends on Zenith and we enjoy the small ship feel. Bermuda is also a lovely destination and being able to get on and off the ship at will is an extra bonus.

You're right, the food in the Caravelle dining room was outstanding. And hot, some times the soups were so hot you had to let them cool a bit. And, speaking of the soups, Celebrity really does a wonderful job with their soups...they were outstanding all week.

[DeltaOne]

Thank you for your wonderful review. Do you suggest getting a two day bus pass if we are thinking of going to the beach for snorkeling, and taking the ferry for fun. I think we will also want to shop in town and maybe take a dolphin excursion. The husbands may also want to golf one of the days. I figure the time we are in St. George we will most likely not need the bus pass. Also there are four of us so short distances should be ok by taxi in St. George. Would you agree?

I would agree, a two day bus pass sounds just right.

 

In St. George we paid a few dollars ($4? I forget already) to take the bus from the Town Center to Tobacco Bay. While waiting for a return bus we connected with a party of four and shared a taxi. The taxi was cheaper, $2 pp.

 

You're really only in St. George for a day and a half, since the ship leaves on Thursday at 3 pm, so you may not use a bus pass there at all.

[blambition]

Paul,

Sounds like a two day bus pass it is. I was also happy to read about the soup being that hot since I'm the one who always asks a waiter in a restaurant for mine to be extra hot.

Counting down the weeks until we leave. Before you know it we will be on our way back. That is the only problem I see with cruising is that they end.

Vicki;)

[cruisingdelt]

Thanks for the review. After being on the huge Sapphire Princess we needed a small ship, just for a change. Planning a return to the M class in 2008. It appears that the cruise met your expectation. Less than 48 weeks til my trip on Zenith. I was on Zenith in 1991 and I only recall one card. Looks like that has changed

[DeltaOne]

Thanks for the review. After being on the huge Sapphire Princess we needed a small ship, just for a change.

 

Our last cruise, prior to the Zenith last week, was on the Sapphire Princess. And before that, a sister ship, the Caribbean Princess. We liked both ships, but they sure are big. The cozy, comfy Zenith was nice after those two huge ships.

[elktoncruiser]

Thanks for the review Paul. We live in Maryland as well and will be sailing on the Zenith Sept 9. Is there any must sees and do in Bermuda as this is our 1st time there?

 

Thanks Mike and Jackie

[BobJanice]

Sounds like you had a great cruise with great weather. Reading your review brings back the memories of our 7/1 cruise, I agree the bus pass turned out not to be a great deal.....

[fjb3cpa]

Paul - thanks so much for the review and for all of the valuable information contained therein. We will be following your footsteps from Maryland in October and appreciate all of the time and effort not only yourself but others have taken to post their reviews here.

 

We are still assembling all of he information we can before making our decision regarding the bus program. Right now we are leaning against it as traffic should not be as bad in October as it can be through NJ on Saturdays during beach season.

 

Thanks again.

 

Jim

[DeltaOne]

Thanks for the review Paul. We live in Maryland as well and will be sailing on the Zenith Sept 9. Is there any must sees and do in Bermuda as this is our 1st time there?

Must sees? Yes! We never made it to Horseshoe Bay (in Hamilton), so I regret that. We did make it to Tobacco Bay (in St. George) where the snorkeling was very good (if you go out by the rocks).

 

It was our first time to Bermuda, so I can't recommend too much. We loved walking around in St. George...very quaint and beautiful.

 

I would recommend reading the posts in the Bermuda ports of call section here, lots of good info.