Zenith 14-day Nov 2006 Caribbean: Parts XI and XII

[CaribbeanBound]

Celebrity Zenith

November 3—November 17, 2006

“Special” Caribbean

 

Part XI - Debarkation and Customs

 

A. Debarkation

Room service was available, and breakfast was served in the Caravelle Restaurant and Windsurf Cafe. We ate in the Windsurf Café. Due to a late arrival, disembarkation was running about 75 minutes behind schedule which caused several passengers to miss morning flights. We had a morning flight which we rescheduled by phone with US Air while waiting on the ship. Earlier in the week everyone completed surveys which were used to prioritize passengers. Clearly those folks needing to catch plane and train connections or who were on escorted tours in Tampa had highest priority. Select and Elite members had elevated priority as well. Other Captain's Club members had priority within their color group. Color-coded disembarkation luggage tags were issued to all cabins, and passengers were instructed to attach the tags to their luggage and place them in the hallway for pickup before midnight the day before arrival.

 

Debarkation was scheduled to begin at 8:15 am. All passengers were instructed to sit in specific public areas until their group color was called. Groups followed directions to exit the ship, clocking out with your sea pass one last time. Once you picked up your bags from the terminal, you declared your purchases by handing a Declaration slip to customs personnel and exited the terminal. Bags were arranged by color for easy retrieval in the terminal. Airport transportation includes bus service ($9.00/pp), Shuttle ($9.00/pp and faster than the busses), and taxis (look to the far left as you exit the terminal).

 

B. Customs

According to Celebrity, US citizens traveling to the Caribbean are permitted $800 worth of Duty Free goods including 1 liter of alcohol per person. In the U.S. Virgin Islands (i.e. St. Thomas), travelers are allowed an additional $800 Duty Free exemption including up to 4 more liters of alcohol and 4 cartons of cigarettes per person. Since we traveled to both sets of islands on this cruise, we were permitted to take advantage of both allowances. All you needed to do was to declare the total value. Anything greater had to be itemized (declared) and a duty paid.

 

Part XII - Praises and Gripes

 

A. Praises

Zenith's personnel are very attentive, friendly and helpful. The food was very good. The ship is well laid out, clean and in pretty good shape for its age. The terminal's personnel are also very nice and helpful. The Captain's Club events were top notch, especially the wine events.

 

B. Gripes

We certainly didn't have much to gripe about, although if you got any group of folks together, similar themes emerged:

1. While the photos were very professional and creative, the price of the photos was outrageous. I really don't understand the mentality of taking tons of pictures of passengers and then expecting us to pay a mint for each. We won't.

2. The ports of call Discovery Shopping talks were a waste of time and generally inaccurate. Claims were made (such as “Tortuga in Grand Cayman is THE cheapest place to buy liquor on this cruise”) which was simply not true in our experience. Guests were also promised enticements (like a free set of tanzanite earrings) just for attending the session, yet none were received. Obviously the trinkets were not of great value, but still an unfulfilled promise. Other guests complained about the treatment received at some of the “featured” vendors. One guest paid cash for a set of diamond earrings and they were taken into the back of the store to be boxed. Upon opening the box on the ship they found the earrings had been switched to a lesser set. In fairness, this was ultimately resolved, but it took two more ports before a sister store resolved the dispute.

Lesson: Never pay cash, and do not let the purchase out of your sight. Check your purchase before leaving the store.

3. The ship cannot handle cigarette smoke. The exhaust systems in the ship are inadequate to clear air and it made the bars and casino uncomfortable for non-smokers.

 

This concludes the 12-part review.

 

The complete review can be found at: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/zenith14.html

[chasetf]

This concludes the 12-part review. The complete review can be found at: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/zenith14.html

Do not understand the reason for breaking this into separate threats. As people post comments this will get fragmented across the board and it will be difficult trying to find and open each thread to get your complete story. :(

 

You could have just provided the link as you did at the end.

[teajak]

Excellant review, been to these ports a lot but this is great.Going on the 27th with Zenith first timers so I printed the entire thread for them, thanks.

[charlielinda]

Scott - What a wonderful review. We had a wonderful time meeting you and Teri! I'll second that the Zenith was a great ship and we had a wonderful trip.

[CaribbeanBound]

chasetf... sorry, it was a 17-page review. I thought it best to break it up.

[chasetf]

chasetf... sorry, it was a 17-page review. I thought it best to break it up.

I understand.... My comment was it will get fragmented across the board as people read and comment, so it will be hard to go from 1->2->3->4....... and read your complete review in order.

 

What I have seen before is people will break it up as multiple posts in the same thread, so that way it is all together and in order.

 

Just my suggestion....:D

[CaribbeanBound]

Good idea. WIll do that next time.

[Blue46]

Great review, very detailed. Enjoyed very much.:p