Zenith Question/Royal Caribbean

[jenjes3]

Hi.. we are platinum members of Royal Caribbean.. We have sailed some of the Voyager class ships.. the Grandeur, Enchantment and recently the Serenade. We now want to sail to Bermuda. RCCL is only offerring 2 5night cruises to the Royal Dockyard on the Voyager or Grandeur. We want to go to Hamilton and St. George for more then 5 nights. So, we are wanting to try Celebrity. It is our 25 th wedding anniversary next year and we are thinking about end of May.. First how do you think we will like Zenith compared to the product we are use to with RCCL? How is the time for going to Bermuda.. We are thinking of May 21st.... Warm enough for swimming? A lot of Kids? Anyone sail on both RCCL and Zenith .. we are use to our balconies.. and now will have to settle for Oceanview..

 

Thank you for your help.

Karen

[cohengm]

We did a 14 day sail on the Zenith this past January and enjoyed it so much we're doing a repeat this January. The Zenith is about 1/3 the size of a Voyager class ship. However, every cabin is 172 sq. ft or bigger, which is about 10% bigger than the average cabin on a V ship. The Zenith, carrying only about 1,300 passenger max probably feels more roomy than a ship carrying over 3,000 passengers. The V ships will have better and more facillities, i.e. the pools, sports venues, etc. Zenith passengers might tend to be a few years older, on average, then V passengers, but that is probably very much cruise dependant and also time/date-basis dependant. I don't know if the Empress of the Seas with it's 117 sq. ft cabins is doing the Bermuda run at the same time as the Zenith, but I would definitely do the Zenith over the Empress.

[wallie5446]

Zenith is a totally diff experience that any thing RCI has. 5x RCI & 4x Celb.

Much more laid back and one of our favorite ships.

[moai]

Karen,

We are in a similar situation, we cruised the AOS this past July (first Cruise) and loved it. We wanted to do Bermuda next year, to avoid plane travel and to have more than a few hours on a port, and the only option is the Zenith. As somebody else said, the Zenith is almost half the size of the AOS. I just hope my kids (12 and 16) will find things to do. Hubby and I will be happy just to be on vacation. :D

 

cohengm, the Empress is not doing Bermuda next year.

[wallie5446]

moai,

Our kids were 11 &17 when we were on Zenith, but it was on a East Carib int.

They had an outstanding time. But I have read here, and from our TA, that the Bermuda cruises usually have an older group of pax no matter what line you go on. Our kids have been on 4 diff lines and like Celb the best.

[fierball]

We were on the Zenith last Feb for two weeks. We joked about the cruise as being an AARP cruise. Very few young people on the cruise. We fit right in since we were in our 50s to. We liked it so much that we are booked again for this Feb for 14 days . Come join us ,it is a great ship.

[Host Kewlguy]

We just returned from the Horizon 8 day Bermuda cruise. Only had 30 children onboard. Had a great time.

[West Side Story]

Hi!

We just returned from the Zenith. (Oct 23 - Nov 1) A 9-day New York/ Bermuda/Halifax/Newport, Rhode Island/New York. Hardly any kids onboard...and thank God for that!! The very rough seas would have been too much for them!

I would say the age group onboard this cruise was 50-80.

Whatever food I was able to hold down was deeeeeee-licious!! :D

[kely53]

We were on the Zenith last June and took the cruise you are considering. There were a lot of kids on the cruise. They were well behaved and seemed to be having a great time with the activities the cruise ship had for them as well as on their own. There is so much to do in Bermuda that you should have a wonderful time on and off the ship!

[Host Kewlguy]

I feel for you Zenith Bermuda/Halifax cruisers. We had it bad Saturday night on Horizon but you guys had it worse.

[Jillc2]

Hey Kewl, from what I hear the NCL ship that was piered at the Dockyards really had it bad.....injured pax, etc. It was great seeing the two sister docked side by aft to stern in Bermuda. DH is submitting a pic to the community boards. I've titled it "Refuge from the Storm"

[Jillc2]

Speaking of all that deeeelicious food.....DH and I both lost weight on that cruise. We rationalize we were burning so many calories trying to walk and stand up straight we compensated for all the great food.