Just Back From Zenith March 11 - A "Different" Kind of Cruise

[Host Anne]

Expectations ~ Celebrity talks about them alot. Here's my review of the Zenith cruise we disembarked today, March 16. It was unique.

 

Zenith Review

March 11 – 16, 2006

Cabin 4076

I’m not sure where to start with this review as this cruise was unlike any other we’ve taken for a variety of reasons. On the upside, we were on a cruise and that is always a positive. On the downside, it was a very tough week for Celebrity and the overall experience certainly wasn’t up to Celebrity standards. As you read this, keep in mind that we’ve been very fortunate to be able to cruise quite a few times in the past 15 years and I always try to provide a balanced review of each cruise we do. As Celebrity has been our favorite line for some time my goal with this review is to once again provide an honest and balanced review of this cruise.

EMBARKATION

We thought our embarkation last month on Mercury was the easiest ever. This embarkation equaled or bettered that experience. We drove 3 ½ hours to the Port of Miami. It’s great to be able to drive to the Florida ports now. It makes the entire travel to the ship much less stressful. No airport delays, no weather worries. It was great. We arrived at the port around noon. We dropped our luggage off with a porter and then parked the car directly across the street on the second level of the parking garage. It was $12 per day to park, cash or Visa/MasterCard on the way in.

We walked to the Express check-in line, turned in our Express boarding pass which we printed before we left home and we were on the ship in less than ten minutes. Wait staff were passing out champagne and orange juice as we stepped onto the ship and we dropped our carry-ons in our cabin before setting off to explore the ship.

We’ve wanted to try Zenith for sometime. We like smaller ships and as they are quickly becoming a thing of the past, so we wanted to sail Zenith in case she too is replaced down the road in the Celebrity fleet. Our first impression was pretty much what we expected. An older ship that didn’t have all the amenities of the newer, larger ships but that was OK with us. The public spaces such as the lounge areas were very nice and the ship was very easy to get around.

CABIN 4067

We booked this cruise six months ago so I can’t recall how we ended up in this cabin. Perhaps because we wanted something that could accommodate three people without a bed that came out of the ceiling. At any rate, the cabin was a good size with plenty of storage space for the three of us. We didn’t even use all of the drawer space. The furniture in the cabin was in good shape and overall I’d say the bedroom section of the cabin was perhaps even a bit nicer than anticipated. The bathroom too was a good size as well however this is where we first noticed the significant maintenance challenges that would appear throughout the ship. A section of the wall in our shower was rusting out and the floor tiles were in bad need of replacement. While our cabin attendant did a fine job at keeping the cabin and bathroom clean, after years of wear and tear and water-soaked floors (the bathroom floor can’t help but occasionally get wet from the shower) the tiles were in need of replacement. The public restrooms were in a similar situation.

While the cabin itself was fine, we’d strongly recommend avoiding a mid-ship cabins on deck 4 (the Florida deck). This area of deck 4 is just above the area of the ship where you get a lot of mechanical noise from deck 3 below. Every morning by 5:30 – 6:00 AM, we were awakened by loud mechanical noises and the crew getting ready to dock or tender for the day. Even on the seas days, there were loud mechanical noises early in the morning. I imagine if you were on deck nine or ten, you wouldn’t have heard any of these.

This cabin was also directly adjacent to the elevator and stairs which added to a less than quiet environment (more on that later). If sailing Zenith, I’d encourage you to select a cabin elsewhere on the ship.

LUGGAGE HANDLING

Being in close proximity to the stairs, we had the opportunity to witness luggage being brought up to the decks. Perhaps it is always handled this way but in all of our cruises (26 now for me) we can’t recall being witness to such luggage abuse. Crew members were taking luggage from the stairs between decks three and four and literally throwing it (as hard as they could) up to deck four. Luggage was flying and landing on top of other luggage already thrown up the stairs with loud thuds. It was worse than watching the airlines grounds crew throw your luggage onto and off a plane.

DINING

After our exploration to get the feel for the ship, we went to the Windsurf Café (the buffet area) for lunch. The regular buffet is as you enter the area with a pizza and pasta station at the rear of the room just before you go to the outdoor dining area aft. Outside (on the backside of the pasta/pizza station) you’ll find the grill where they have hot dogs and hamburgers during the day. We opted for burgers and pasta and both were good.

After lunch we made our way to the pool deck where partying was now in full swing. Being a five-day cruise over college spring break, the ship was more than half full with college students. We like cruising with people of all ages, however, it was quickly apparent that this cruise had the potential to be somewhat rowdy. Yelling and screaming permeated the pool deck. A little different from past Celebrity cruises. I was thinking initially that perhaps we boarded a Carnival ship by mistake!

Before our cruise I had learned that a waiter we had on a previous Celebrity cruise on was now on Zenith so I called the Captains Club and put in a request to be assigned to his table. We had already requested a large table (we always do as we enjoy getting to know other passengers) and the Captains Club staff person said she noted my request in our record. While I know these requests cannot be guaranteed, I’ve found in the past that Celebrity usually does what they can to be accommodating. When we arrived at our dinner table the first evening, we were actually seated at a table for two (yes, there were three of us). The table was set for four, but it was really a small cocktail round designed for two people. We also were not assigned the waiter we requested. Our waiter appeared aloof and there wasn’t enough room around our table for the wait staff to maneuver. Andy (my husband) was constantly being hit by waiters and the trays they were carrying as there simply wasn’t enough room to walk between tables. In fact, there wasn’t enough room on our table to even place the bread basket. While this cruise was pretty inexpensive overall, this table wasn’t going to work for the entire cruise. Additionally, my request for our previous waiter, Aslan, along with the large table, had been apparently been ignored. We had asked the waiter for the wine sommelier but she didn’t show up at our table until we were actually eating our dinner. Our assistant waiter, Joanna, who was pleasant and efficient, was clearly struggling trying to work in tandem with our waiter.

When dinner was over, we set out to find Aslan and say hello. He was stationed on the other side of the dining room. He wasn’t aware of our request to be assigned to his table and I asked who he thought I should talk to about the very uncomfortable situation at our assigned table. He directed me to the Assistant Maitre D, Franco, who I found in the Rendez-Vous lounge still working on dining room situations. I explained our pre-cruise requests and after looking our record up he explained that the ship did not receive either one of them, but he would certainly try to assist. He made a phone call to three people sitting at Aslan’s table and asked if they would be willing to switch tables with us. They graciously agreed and we were assigned to Aslan’s table. I felt a bit guilty about three people moving to our old table, but we were very grateful to be at a large table with Aslan. Dinner for the rest of the cruise was very pleasant and the food was generally very good.

SHIP CONDITION

The ship was a mixed bag. Some areas, like the public lounges (Fleet Bar, Cova, Rainbow Room, Rendez-Vous, the Celebrity theater) were in fabulous shape. Newer furniture in good condition. It very much felt like a Celebrity ship and these were the things we really enjoyed about Zenith. The coziness of the Cova along with the entertainment and friendly crew made this our favorite spot on the ship. But there was a noticeable lack of maintenance in other areas of the ship.

The pool deck and outer areas of the ship were dire need of attention. Pool tiles throughout both pools were missing, leaving sharp edges exposed around the pool. Where repairs had been made, tiles weren’t actually replaced, rather the spot was just “puttied” in. In the pool itself, the water level was approximately a foot below the pool deck exposing rust and dirt underneath. The condition of deck chairs, particularly the seats at the outdoor eating areas, was beyond awful. For the most part, you wouldn’t want to sit in them. The plastic straps were dirty and many were broken. The paint had chipped off most of the chairs. These items combined with the rusted out area in our shower were pretty shocking for a Celebrity ship.

ENTERTAINMENT

Entertainment on Celebrity ships has always been satisfactory, but I am happy to report that we found the entertainment quality on Zenith to be excellent, far above the average cruise. There were three very good production shows throughout the week. This cast was not only outstanding but you could tell that they thoroughly enjoyed what they were doing. I can’t recall another ship cast that was so together. A big congrats to them. Additionally, the trio that played in the Cova, Alhambre, was outstanding. They were comprised of three guitar players whose harmony was perfect. They did a killer rendition of Simon and Garfunkel and played a wide variety of music nightly. The pool band, Changez (yes, it is spelled with a “z”), were one of the better pool bands we’ve heard. Also very versatile, they played everything from island music to country, far more than a typical pool band. Whoever is responsible for hiring the entertainment on board did a great job.

The cruise staff, headed up by Cruise Director Jeff Potts, was fine. They missed a beat here and there when no staff member showed up for an activity that was posted in the Celebrity Today newsletter that is in your cabin, but they were a pleasant group.

SERVICE

In general, service from the crew was very good to excellent. Our cabin attendant Alex was pleasant and efficient. Our waiter, Aslan and his assistant, Wayan, were outstanding. A water glass was never empty. Our wine sommelier, Allan from Australia, provided great recommendations to match the evenings’ dinner. And Franco, our head waiter, worked hard to meet our requests early in the cruise. Nikolina, our bar server in the Cova was fabulous….always smiling and hardworking. Fredy, the assistant waiter who served late night gourmet bites in the Cova, was hysterically funny and very friendly. These are the kinds of things that keep us coming back to Celebrity.

PORTS OF CALL

There were only two ports of call on this sailing – Grand Cayman and Key West. We tendered in Grand Cayman and received priority tender tickets with our Captain’s Club status. We met in the Fleet bar and were promptly escorted down to a tender. It was quick and efficient (they were using local Grand Cayman tenders). The entire tender trip took about ten minutes. We spent the better part of the day with a relative who is attending college on Grand Cayman. Stopped for lunch at the beach and enjoyed catching up.

Key West was also a pleasant stop. We walked the town (a lot of souvenir type shops plus bars and restaurants) and had lunch on Sunset Pier overlooking the water. We were back on board both port days before 2:00 PM so we could enjoy the pool area while it was somewhat quiet.

Weather for the trip was great. Warm and sunny but not too hot. Seas were calm and for the most part we were moving at a slow pace since we didn’t have very far to go.

SPRING BREAKERS

We’ve been on Spring break cruises in the past. But the difference was they were all 7-day cruises that tended to be more costly. This was a very inexpensive cruise that had several universities sending groups of 50 to 60 kids each. It made it very attractive for groups of college-aged students to take an inexpensive vacation.

While some people we spoke with said the students “livened up” the cruise, many others witnessed situations where some of them were downright rude and vulgar. We did meet many nice students as well but unfortunately, it doesn’t take many to turn a good cruise ugly. You somewhat expect the late night parties and noisy hallways, but when they begin throwing pool loungers with students sitting in them into the pool, you know it has gone too far. The final straw was when Andy witnessed an older passenger speaking with a crew member at the guest services desk about some rude students. Two students who were behind her at the desk began cursing at her in every foul word you could imagine. While the crew member told them to refrain from using that kind of language, she did nothing to alert security or seek additional help. And the students, who lost keys to their room, were given new keys without being questioned for a form of identity to receive new keys (a fairly common security procedure). Even the comedian on the last evening of the cruise commented on how obnoxious he found many of the students to be, quipping “was I really this obnoxious when I was your age?”

For long time, loyal Celebrity cruisers, this type of situation is absolutely unacceptable (it’s actually unacceptable for anyone to be subjected to these types of situations). One of the many reasons people who regularly cruise Celebrity do so is in order to avoid this type of behavior. While those who were new to cruising (there were quite a few first timers on board) may not have known the difference, those of us who cruise with Celebrity regularly were extremely disappointed.

Sadly, in closing, our Zenith experience was less than expected on many fronts. We felt sorry for the staff who had to constantly deal with one challenge after another for a second cruise in a row (we were told that the cruise before ours was even worse), but if Celebrity wants to maintain itself as a classy cruise line they need to ensure that cruise experiences like this week don’t continue to happen. It’s the quickest way to destroy your reputation.

This wasn’t a typical Celebrity cruise. Here’s looking forward to the next one.

[Lois R]

Hi Anne, welcome home. Your reviews are ALWAYS well balanced.

I am so sorry to hear about your experience.

You know I went on Zenith last month and it was totally different from

yours.

I am going again next month.....I wonder when Spring Break

is considered "over". I will be prepared for a different cruise than

the last one, but hopefully I will have a good time again:) I am

sailing over Easter.....wonder how that will affect things.

 

That is really sad....about the kids being so rude:(.

 

I will be on deck 5...hope it will be ok. (Was on 9 last time and had

no noise problems).

 

Thanks again. Definitely gives one some food for thought.

[Host Anne]

Lois ~ you will be fine on your April cruise. All of the college (or most of them) spring breaks will be long over by your cruise. I think you'll have mostly families by that time so I don't anticipate that your experience will be anything like ours. Let me re-phase it -- I don't think Zenith would have a crew left by that point in time if they were still dealing with these kinds of situations next month.

 

You'll have a GREAT time!

[Lois R]

Lois ~ you will be fine on your April cruise. All of the college (or most of them) spring breaks will be long over by your cruise. I think you'll have mostly families by that time so I don't anticipate that your experience will be anything like ours. Let me re-phase it -- I don't think Zenith would have a crew left by that point in time if they were still dealing with these kinds of situations next month.

 

You'll have a GREAT time!

 

Oh Anne, the poor crew:( it sounds awful!!!!

Let's hope things get better for them. They work their butts off

to begin with...and to have such rude pax...makes it even worse.:(

[Host Anne]

They'll bounce back. They just need a couple of "normal" Celebrity cruises with passengers like you and they'll be back in the swing of things. ;)

[mahdnc]

Anne,

 

Thanks for the review. We sailed aboard Horizon last year during Easter Break and did not encounter the problems with the other passengers (probably because it was a 10 night cruise). Also it sounded like she was in better shape than you described Zenith.

 

I felt sorry for the 3 people that swapped dining room tables with you. Did you notice if they ended up sitting there for the balance of the cruise?

[Host Anne]

Mahdnc ~ no question, a ten-night cruise would have eliminated many of the challenges presented on this cruise. The length and cost of this cruise contributed a great deal to the situation. I did check up on the people who switched tables with us (our original assistant waiter was a sweetheart so I checked with her) and were told they were fine with their dinner arrangements. They could have joined us two of the four remaining nights because our tablemates skipped the dining room on two nights. It was a different cruise.

[Cruise Arizona]

I don't know where I got this idea, but I was thinking that some cruise ship require a minimum age slightly older than college age for atleast one passenger occupying a cabin unless the occupants are a married couple or some thing like that.

 

Have you ever heard of something lik that. It might help to curtail or even completely eliminate the unsupervised spring break crowd.

 

I personally never did understand the whole spring break, lets go get drunk mentality. I usually took the time to go visit a friend at anothe college, or visited with my Grandmother, but one time I did go to the beach for a few days with friends, but it was quiet beach where we just all hung out together, no crazy parties. I don't know how college kids afford a cruise, somebody else must be paying for it.

[ocngypz]

Unfortunately, spring break + cheapee rates = less than desirable experiences.

 

Sad, but true.

 

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for my sailing.

[jessemon]

Host Ann,

Thank you for the very nice review. Sorry to hear about the drawbacks. To me when we go on 3, 4 or 5 night cruises it always seems a little more party oriented. Can't imagine what it would be like at spring break.

We will be sailing the "Zenith" at Christmas this year. We did the same cruise out of Tampa in 2004 on the "Horizon". We have also sailed on the "Zenith" before on a 7 night.

Just a side comment...Did any of the staff talk about the sale of the "Zenith"? Several people have posted after recent cruises that the staff is talking about that very thing. Made a few calls yesterday about this to agents in the travel industry and they said...don't be suprised.

Something for CC to look into?

We are going to miss these size ships.:(

Jeff

[usha]

Host Anne, thanks for your review. Wow, it's really kind of shocking to hear about all of the negatives! But then, if Celebrity combined its oldest ship with its shortest itinerary during spring break, should we be surprised that it might be a little less wonderful than the usual Celebrity experience? Still, it's sad, especially the knuckleheads-gone-wild.:(

[jeffs55]

Sorry to hear your cruise was below expectations. We (middle aged gay men)

were on the 2/25 cruise with the same itinerary and loved it. I was on the Zenith to Bermuda in 2003, we were on the Horizon in 1993 so we knew the layout pretty well.

My only complaint this year was the tawdry deck furniture, otherwise we

loved the ship and the service.

[delyn]

My cruise is on Monday and now I'm slightly nervous. We have sailed one other time about 4 years ago on RCCL and didn't have the greatest time (short trip, bad weather, etc...). Had heard great things about X and thought we'd try again. We did book CC on Atlantic Deck, so hopefully the mechanical noise will be a non-issue.

 

Biggest hope is that spring break is winding down.....really don't want to deal with rude 20-somethings.....I really need relaxation not increased stress.

 

Thanks for your review - I'll make sure to post mine when I return too.

[duke052]

This is why I do not do cruises less than 7 days

[BrooklynGirl2]

Thank you Anne for that comprehensive review. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the cruise as much as we enjoyed our two 7-day Zenith cruises last summer. I do agree on two items...the tiles in the bathrooms are sometimes not in the best condition. Our bathroom during our June cruise was in worse shape than our bathroom for the September cruise, which was fine. I guess it varies from cabin to cabin. And yes, they do need new deck furniture. Neither of these things really impacted me or my enjoyment of the ship.

 

My favorite part of Zenith is her crew. They are wonderful. Simply the best. They took excellent care of me and my family. I guess I've been lucky in that our cabin stewards and waiters were great! Even the waiters at open seating breakfast and lunch were amazing. Franco the assistant Maitre'd is very helpful as is Jose. Franco is married to one of the Celebrity singers, Tyra I believe.

 

One comment about the noise. We stayed both times on deck 4 midship and I never heard any mechanical noises. Maybe I'm just a deep sleeper but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

 

I'm looking forward to sailing her again this summer.

[vtsnowflake]

Anne, I couldn't agree with you more about your review of the 3/11 zenith. My husband and I moved to a different room at 2:45am on the first night of the cruise. We were next door to students that had been involved in a fight in the rainbow room and were screaming, and out for revenge. My husband went to open our door to go to the front desk since he couldn't get through on the phone and found 5 students outside our door sceaming and obviously intoxicated. We were able to get a different room and packed everything up and settled into a new room at about 3:30am. This was our first celebrity cruise and certainly not what we expected. We did really enjoy the Cova. That was our retreat throughout the cruise. The staff there was top notch! We stopped going to the dining room after our 2nd day .We were at a table for 2, which we wanted, but it was directly in the path of the waiters station and the wine station and so we always felt we were ducking and avoiding trays. We chose sushi and the pasta bar or room service for the remainder of the cruise. I don't consider my self a malcontent, but there is little I can say to provide a positive spin on our celebrity experience.:( ~Danielle

[jacank]

I'm concerned about what I'm hearing about the condition of the Zenith. I've booked 3 rooms for 6 people (a considerable expense for us) to celebrate my Mom's 90th Birthday. She's never been on a cruise before and neither have my son and his wife (celebrating their 5th anniv.), nor my daughter. DH and I cruised to Bermuda on the Horizon two years ago and loved it, and I thought the Zenith would be similar. We had a CC room that time, and this time the rooms are all inside, mid-ship on Europa Deck, so I'm sure that will be different, but we couldn't stretch the budget much farther. We're going on April 29th, so I think we'll be safe from the spring-break crowd. Everyone is very very excited and I sure hope the trip isn't a let-down. My mom is an amazing woman who can still run circles around me. Do you think the Zenith might make a little fuss over her for her 90th?

[BrooklynGirl2]

jacank...please don't worry. You will have a wonderful time. Really, the discolored tiles and the worn deck furniture outside (aft) of the Wind Surf cafe really did not impact our cruise experience. We are a family of 3 with a 5 year old and we loved our June cruise on Zenith so much we booked the same cruise in September.

 

Since your companions have never cruised before they won't be looking for 5 story atriums and the mega mall ship experience with all the bells and whistles. I think they will be quite content on Zenith, especially after the crew has spoiled them silly. I think the smaller size of Zenith will be good for your mom...not so much walking from place to place. And the crew will cater to her needs. They took excellent care of my 5 year old who adored the waiters.

 

And do I think they will make a little fuss over her for her 90th? They will probably make a BIG fuss over her. Just let Celebrity know ahead of time and also check in with your assistant Maitre'd. Both Jose and Franco are wonderful and very efficient.

 

Don't worry and enjoy the cruise!:)

[Cruise or Lose!]

Anne, my deepest sympathies that this bunch of hooligans-on-crack made your cruise less than enjoyable.

 

I trust a letter to corporate is being drafted?

[thomasale]

hooligans on crack...thats a good one :)

[mason525]

Hi all-

I was also on the 3/11 sailing of Zenith(a group of women 45-50ish). I picked this cruise for my girlfriends & thank goodness for 2 things. First we had cc cabins on deck 10 & no kids close by our rooms. If I was missing sleep,as in the case of the previous poster, it would have ruined my cruise. Secondly, we loved the kids energy & sense of fun on an individual basis. Whenever we chatted with a group of breakers they were charming, polite & fun. Some mentioned being horrified by how rude & out of control some other kids were.

I know to expect spring break families in March but like the Arizona poster, I thought you had to be 21 or older to book a cabin. All the kids over 18 were drinking like crazy. Almost every breaker was in a quad cabin making the on board crowd a little higher than usual. I also felt bad for families w/younger teens & kids who could not really use the pool without a lot of lewd, profane & drunken behavior. It was my feeling that as the cruise went on Celebrity lost more & more control over crazy behavior. Lots of sympathy for the security staff that really could not do much despite great efforts. For example, the relentless effort to keep glass beer bottles out of the pools-pretty much common sense right? The pool "activities" were crazy too. They had A Queen of the Zenith Contest which featured a "sexy" dance by each contestant & 1/2 of the girls used the poles( as in a strip club) & we were sure the only reason they kept on their bikini tops was that they were told they had to.

The Kids definately overran the casino as well. Hate to watch kids lose their babysitting money. Others were losing thousands of dollars & learning some tough lessons- like you can't count on winning back loses by making more & bigger bets.

Everything I had heard about the ship having outstanding service was true with leads me to another concern. I think the bartenders made out really well. It was slow to be served because the bars were always busy. But I worry that the waiters & stewards did not get what they deserved from the kids. I'd be very curious to hear from this next cruise what they have to say.

 

Remember- we had a blast on this cruise. I probably would rather be with this bunch than a group of crabby, unhappy people. But it was not at all what I expected from Celebrity.

Meg

[newmexicoNita]

yes, cheap cost plus spring equals college kids, so does cheap plus last week of May.Someone asked about age requirements: depending on the line, normally if there is one person over 21 in the cabin just about anyone can be the second one. It all depends on the lines and they keep changing every year or so. Now that we have gotten over the spring break subject let's discuss the condition of the ship. We found it to be just fine in December. Of course the weather not being great we spent very little time around the pool, but as Anne said the public areas were wonderful and our cabin beamed with nice light colors, plenty of storage (like Anne we didn't even use all our drawers) and a nice bathroom. The vanity and sink were showing signs of wear. Overall we thought the ship was in great shape. The food was good, the dining room service could have been better. Overall we were very happy with the ship but I am not certain we would cruise her again. There are lots of choices out there thus we repeat ships only if we are awed by them and we certainly didn't feel that way about the Zenith. NMnita

[JFontaine]

Celebrity isn't the only line that finds itself in situations like this.

 

Last year I was on Crystal and a large group (slightly older than college-age) boarded mid-cruise (hence, the less expensive vacation). They completely disrupted the cruise in almost every way imaginable - and Crystal did nothing, in my view, to try to control the situation. I did get a nice letter from Crystal and a small discount on a future cruise (now expired) but frankly post-cruise there was little that Crystal could do to take away from that expensive (for me) experience.

[BrooklynGirl2]

Nita in your post did you mean last week of March or last week of May?? If you did mean to say last week of May can you tell me why there is a problem with the last week of May?

 

Thanks.

[STUR]

A year ago in February We booked RCL Jewl of The Sea High School Spring Break New York / Michagin (THE PARENTS ARE TO BLAME ) With the students on the Ship and let them Run Wild Kids were Drinking and running wild all over the ship One night after 12 midnight Wife and myself went to get late night snack (Kids on Floor of Elevator stoned out of there minds)

 

This Past Year We picked The Golden Princess (Few Kids ) But Lack Of Good Service

 

January 2007 We picked the Mecury I Hope a Little More Up Scale

 

We have bean Cruising since 1988 and are Spoiled (Service dose not seam to be what it used to be ) CUTTING A LOT OF CORNERS

 

STUR DAYTON,OHIO