Zenith Make over

[DGF]

Mysteryreader

 

Thanks for the notes on the two cabins, both of which are booked by our group

 

Small is beautiful, but from your rocking comment, seems you had some rough weather; a common problem with the smaller cruise ships.

 

Our closest experience to a ship of similiar size to the Zenith was aboard the Tahitian Princess, our most memorable cruise to date. We did experience some "movement" on the Tahiti to Cook Island leg.

 

However when we were on the Star Princess crossing the Atlantic, the largest ship we have been on todate, it had no problem cutting thru 15 ft plus high swales

 

An interesting trade off

[DGF]

A recent thread reports

6116- Dec 05 We had dining room chairs and carpet cleaners over our heads all night long. It was the longest 14 days of our lives. As a matter of fact Celebrity refunded all of us substantial cruise certificates because we did not sleep well at all.

 

Did you experience such noise?

 

 

Thanks

[DGF]

Just a follow up with your note that you were going on the Zenith on Feb 6, 06

 

How as the ship and trip? Any recommendations

 

Thanks

[DGF]

Sandy

 

You on board?

[Lois R]

Dean and Gayle, I wrote a review after I returned. It is probably

quite a few pages back by now.

I returned home on Feb 11th and wrote it within that next week.

If you want to scroll back (since it is now almost the end of March),

and read it....I had a great time.:)

My cruise was nothing like Host Anne's. In February there were

not alot of college kids on their break yet. (If there were, they were

not on my cruise).

My cabin was fine and I didn't notice as many "maintenace problems"

as Anne did.

 

I am going back on Zenith April 13th:) and can fill you in again

after I get back from that one too.

[millercat]

Thanks Lois!

Glad to read this. We were on the Zenith in 2004 and just booked her again for 2007. We did HAL a few weeks ago and came home and felt the need to get back to Celebrity right away! I will look forward to your April review. I am very jealous.

Take care,

Elaine

^..^

[DGF]

Interesting challenge?:(

 

Went to the review section of cruise critics and did not find you there

 

Then went thru your postings and appears they only give one access to your March posts.

 

We await your April report

 

DEAN

[Lois R]

Interesting challenge?:(

 

Went to the review section of cruise critics and did not find you there

 

Then went thru your postings and appears they only give one access to your March posts.

 

We await your April report

 

DEAN

 

Hi, I didn't submit my review to the "Review Section" but just

posted a summary on here. I went back and found it. I would have

posted the link here but I don't know how to do that:eek: so, I just

put a reply on it for you and it is now on the top of this page.

So, now you can see what I had to say;)

[DGF]

Thank you

[Lois R]

Dean and Gayle, I leave one week from TODAY:D

[vjw1218]

I just got off the Zenith on Monday, April 3, 2006. Room 9090.

 

Beds: If you like springs in your back, then these are the beds for you!

 

Sheets: Mine had holes in them, but the bedding was clean.

 

Deck furniture: All on pool deck were covered with blue fabric chair pads. These held the moisture and mold and you could smell the mold and must from the carpets and deck furniture. IMO, it would be better for them to remove the seat covers altogether and wipe the plastic chairs down at night. The lounge chairs on the sky deck and aft decks did not have these coverings and were much better. I was frankly surprised the pool deck was carpeted. It's probably for safety, but the must and mold aren't safe either.

 

Overall cleanliness: YES! I didn't notice anything that needed attention. Everything was clean and in order.

 

Basic maintenance: There were some very minor things, but generally, you had to look for them to find them. I had read that things looked worn and the ship was showing her age. Other than the color schemes, I didn't find that to be so.

 

If you want further details on our voyage, just let me know. I haven't had time to post a review yet.

[vjw1218]

Thanks Lois!

Glad to read this. We were on the Zenith in 2004 and just booked her again for 2007. We did HAL a few weeks ago and came home and felt the need to get back to Celebrity right away! I will look forward to your April review. I am very jealous.

Take care,

Elaine

^..^

 

We've done 2 HAL cruises before trying this one on Celebrity. (3/30 to 4/3 on the Zenith.) Other than the excellent dinners and Broadway-style shows, we prefered HAL in almost every way. (No, I'm not old. I'm 35.)

[BrooklynGirl2]

A couple of questions...how was the service, especially in the dining room?

 

Did most people observe the dress code on formal nights?

 

How was your weather?

 

How was the other entertainment, aside from the shows?

 

Thanks!!:)

[Lois R]

vjw, Hi:)..that is why it is good there are so many choices

for all of us.

In my case, I have only sailed HAL once and it was the first

time at the end of a crusie I was ready to disembark.

 

I am not old either;) 48 but it wasn't the passenger demographic

on HAL that I was disappointed with..that was a non-factor

really. The service (in my opinion) was lacking. I will say the

entertainment was WONDERFUL. Joel Mason was outstanding:D

but service on crusies means a lot to me and for me, HAL

was lacking.

 

Call me an X loyalist....because I guess I am!

[vjw1218]

A couple of questions...how was the service, especially in the dining room?

 

Did most people observe the dress code on formal nights?

 

How was your weather?

 

How was the other entertainment, aside from the shows?

 

Thanks!!:)

 

 

The dining room service was exceptional. We had Fernando and Sasko and Paulo was the assistant Maitre D for our area. Fantastic! In fact, it was the dinners that made our cruise special.

 

Dress code. While most followed it, many did not. I saw a lady at the table next to ours in a polo-type shirt and khakis on formal night. Her husband wore a tie, though. Nothing was enforced - except the no shorts rule.

 

Weather couldn't have been nicer, really. It was in the high 70s and low to mid 80s. Humidity was fairly low, too which made it even better, IMO.

 

Ours was only a 4-night cruise, so we had 2 "company" shows and comedian and illusionist.

 

The comedian was fair. His stand up was terrible and we nearly walked out. However, he then began an improv set with his guitar - something similar to "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" and then he was hysterical and his tremendous talent showed through. (He asked for audience members' names and occupations as well as a style of music. Then, he composed a song to go with the name/occupation in that particular musical genre.)

 

The illusionist was jaw-dropping. Just ask my sister! :D

________

 

Lois R

 

Other than the dining room, we found the service to be lacking in some areas on X. In fact, we witnessed many workers standing around talking with other workers on several occassions. It made it hard to get waited on -especially in the Cova Cafe and Windsurf Cafe. Now, I'm not saying the service was bad by any means, but compared to the MS Amsterdam and Rotterdam on HAL, it wasn't as good.

 

Also, in the Windsurf Cafe,there were a lot of workers/waiters with nothing to do. They stood in the doorways and chatted with each other. With the poor layout of buffet on this ship, it created terrible traffic problems.

 

This was our first experience on X. It probably won't be our last, but I doubt we'd cruise the Zenith again for longer than 4 days. There's not enough to do if you don't drink, smoke or gamble - especially in the evenings; and it was very hard to find a place to get away from the drinking and the smoking. However, it was a fine vessel with a fine crew. We'd be interested in experiencing X on a grander scale. :D

[BrooklynGirl2]

Thanks VJW for your response. Glad you enjoyed your dinners so much. It was also my favorite part of our Zenith cruises. Paolo is great. He was on both of our cruises and since my dh is Italian they would chat away in Italian LOL. Perhaps your cruise was a bit less formal being a shorter voyage. Ours were 7 days to Bermuda. I think if you were happy on Zenith you would probably really enjoy the M-class ships. Although I have never cruised on them myself I have heard there is lots more to do. I really want to take the Connie's New England/Canada cruise one day. But for now Zenith is our choice. :)

[Lois R]

Hi vjw, thanks for your explanation. I am a bit surprised as service

on all my X cruises has been wonderful.

Having crew stand around when a pax needs something is

totally unacceptable (in my opinion).

Sorry that happened to you.

My HAL cruise was back in 2004 and I won't go into everything

all over again. Lets just say I had a meeting with the Hotel Director

and he was not very "customer service oriented"....again,

that is just my opinion. I have no desire to sail with them again.

They left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I have sailed both class of ships on X....the larger M class you were

speaking of as well as the C Class.......and Zenith too. Any questions,

just ask!

 

I never have a problem with things to do on any of the ships.

 

Then again dinner is an event for me;) I have late seating

and if dinner lasts late (closing down the dining room several

times) that is ok too!

[DGF]

I just got off the Zenith on Monday, April 3, 2006. Room 9090.

 

Beds: If you like springs in your back, then these are the beds for you!

 

Sheets: Mine had holes in them, but the bedding was clean.

 

Deck furniture: All on pool deck were covered with blue fabric chair pads. These held the moisture and mold and you could smell the mold and must from the carpets and deck furniture. IMO, it would be better for them to remove the seat covers altogether and wipe the plastic chairs down at night. The lounge chairs on the sky deck and aft decks did not have these coverings and were much better. I was frankly surprised the pool deck was carpeted. It's probably for safety, but the must and mold aren't safe either.

 

Overall cleanliness: YES! I didn't notice anything that needed attention. Everything was clean and in order.

 

Basic maintenance: There were some very minor things, but generally, you had to look for them to find them. I had read that things looked worn and the ship was showing her age. Other than the color schemes, I didn't find that to be so.

 

If you want further details on our voyage, just let me know. I haven't had time to post a review yet.

 

Have you had time to post a review? This ship certainly gets a mixed review

[Lois R]

Hi, not sure if you happen to see them, but I posted 2 different

threads on my cruise last week.

One was a short review....any questions?

The other was a BIG THUMBS UP:D for the staff and crew

on Zenith.

I want to be back on the ship:eek: I miss it!!!!

[Ships R Great]

"Pending Cruises:

Zenith- Dec, 29, 06: Western Caribbean"

 

If you book ant then decide not to go, I'll gladly take your place. Zenith is a great little ship! I've sailed on her 6 times and never been disappointed. One bad event in all those times and it began as our fault!

[DGF]

Yes we did. Thank you

 

We also noted nine recent reviews (March & April) have been prepared- three extremely negative, one mixed (host Ann where she had an out of control "student"cruise) and five positive- http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=19

 

which we are wading thru this morning to pick up pointers on how to maximize our enjoyment on the December 28, 06 cruise

[Lois R]

Dean and Gayle, as negative as the Spring Breakers were for

their cruise experience...mine was the exact opposite last week.

And we had 440 kids on board. And being totally honest here....

even though I didn't write "An Official" review.....these kids

were VERY VERY well behaved.:)

The majority were little ones...I know I met a family with a 5 month

old.....and I believe the oldest was 16.

(different families sailing together).

 

As I said, the service on this particular cruise was unmatched.

Just outstanding:D I know some folks might be getting tired

of hearing it, but I know you are both quite interested

in all facets of Zenith. So when there are excellent things

to chat about I figured that is a GOOD THING to post;)

[C 2 C]

Zenith Makeover... just routine maintenance..

 

Celebrity Cruise Lines recently completed its first ever drydocking at Detyens Shipyards, Inc. (DSI), North Charleston, S.C.

Celebrity's 682 ft X 95 ft Zenith docked at the facility from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3, 2005.

 

 

"It was a small time frame for their availability," noted Detyens Shipyard project manager Tim Sanford. "Everyone involved with the docking did an excellent job and they should all be commended." The scope of work included: regular drydocking maintenance along with sea valve renewals, blade seals and polishing, anchor chains, bow and stern thruster seals, overhauling of the bow thruster, the dismantling and overhauling of the stabilizers, the application of the silicon base AF coatings, the demolition and installation of a new hot well, and a new shaft and bushings for the port rudder fin.

 

 

Nikolaos Doulis with Celebrity Cruise Lines Technical Department and the port engineer during drydocking said, "Everybody that was involved in the drydocking of Zenith was very motivated, friendly and more than [willing] to accommodate all our needs."

 

[BratDet]

My personal opinion is the majority of people do not hesitate to complain, but it is the minority that will take the time to compliment.

 

That's one big reason why the negative people re the Zenith do not outweigh the many positives I have read.

 

I do read them, and take it all under advisement though- I do not discount their opinions.

 

bernadette

[Lois R]

Bernadette....hear, hear:D it is sort of like life...lots of folks complain

about...well, everything!...cruising is just a teeney part of Life;)

 

And thanks for the compliment on the other thread too.

I appreciate it.:)