Zenith lunch?

[39august]

I believe the Zenith lunch is held in one of the specialty restaurants, and this can vary by cruise. Is there always a Zenith lunch and when and how is notification? Obviously, I am newly Z and have lots of questions. 

[cruisestitch]

Not always.  It could be a dinner.

 

The Captains Club representative or one of the other concierges will let you know.  
 

don’t look for any sort of invitation before the cruise. Check in with them early in the cruise and they can tell you when they think it will be so you can  keep your schedule open.

[omeinv]

The lunch recently became a stated benefit.  Prior to that it sometimes happened, sometimes didn’t. It can be in a specialty restaurant, often in Blu, and it can be in an otherwise unused section of the main dining room.

 

 Harris

 Denver, CO

[jelayne]

20 minutes ago, 39august said:

I believe the Zenith lunch is held in one of the specialty restaurants, and this can vary by cruise. Is there always a Zenith lunch and when and how is notification? Obviously, I am newly Z and have lots of questions. 

Suggest you go to the other social media site and join the Celebrity Zenith group 

[Pennstatedj]

Just off the Beyond. The CC host will let you know. It is up to the Hotel Director and the Captain. Our recent cruises two weeks ago were held in Blu. Both were spectacular. There was over 20 Zeniths on board. The week later I heard they would not have a lunch and they were doing something else. On recent Equinox cruise it was held in Tuscan and Murano on btb. All were great. So just wait to find out by CC when and where it would be. Enjoy. 

[jelayne]

8 minutes ago, Pennstatedj said:

Just off the Beyond. The CC host will let you know. It is up to the Hotel Director and the Captain. Our recent cruises two weeks ago were held in Blu. Both were spectacular. There was over 20 Zeniths on board. The week later I heard they would not have a lunch and they were doing something else. On recent Equinox cruise it was held in Tuscan and Murano on btb. All were great. So just wait to find out by CC when and where it would be. Enjoy. 

20 is the most we have had, others were in the 9-13 range and had a great intimate feel.  I’m afraid with Pinnacles now being included the number will explore and the Sr Officers will just stop by and leave. 

[Northern Aurora]

25 minutes ago, jelayne said:

20 is the most we have had, others were in the 9-13 range and had a great intimate feel.  I’m afraid with Pinnacles now being included the number will explore and the Sr Officers will just stop by and leave. 

 

The most number of Zeniths we have had was over 50.  This was on the Edge last fall on the middle of a B2B2B we were on.  The middle leg was Dubai to Singapore.  The Zenith count on the first leg was in the high 40s and on the final leg (Singapore to Sydney) was again in the high 40s.  On legs one and three two Zenith lunches were held.  On the middle leg they held three.  These multiple lunches took a tremendous amount of staff time.  With the addition of the pinnacles I wonder if the pinnacles  will be invited on a space available basis.

[jelayne]

2 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

The most number of Zeniths we have had was over 50.  This was on the Edge last fall on the middle of a B2B2B we were on.  The middle leg was Dubai to Singapore.  The Zenith count on the first leg was in the high 40s and on the final leg (Singapore to Sydney) was again in the high 40s.  On legs one and three two Zenith lunches were held.  On the middle leg they held three.  These multiple lunches took a tremendous amount of staff time.  With the addition of the pinnacles I wonder if the pinnacles  will be invited on a space available basis.

We were on those cruises, we went to a lunch of 20.  
 

From what I have read Pinnacles will be included in the lunch ( no space available caveat that I have heard of).  Access to the Retreat Lounge for Pinnacles is on a space available basis and will be determined before sailing.  However Zeniths sailing on Royal apparently will not be included in their Pinnacle event.  
I can say that I won’t be booking Royal for the great Pinnacle perks, 6 drink coupons per day, a bag of laundry and minimal dining discount.

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

We were on those cruises, we went to a lunch of 20.  
 

From what I have read Pinnacles will be included in the lunch ( no space available caveat that I have heard of).  Access to the Retreat Lounge for Pinnacles is on a space available basis and will be determined before sailing.  However Zeniths sailing on Royal apparently will not be included in their Pinnacle event.  
I can say that I won’t be booking Royal for the great Pinnacle perks, 6 drink coupons per day, a bag of laundry and minimal dining discount.

 

 

Jelayne:  I believe the cruises I have referenced were just before you and your husband became Zenith.  We briefly met on the Edge in 2023 and my memory is that you told you were just reaching Zenith status.  You were not at any of the three special Zenith cocktail gatherings on that series of cruises.  And we became Zenith in 2016.

 

Trust me -- you would remember the number of Zeniths and it was much larger than 20 or so.  The middle leg of our B2B2B set a record for the number of Zeniths onboard a Celebrity ship, and Capt. Matt unfortunately mentioned at one of the lunches that there should be a group photo since it was such a record number of Zeniths.  The photo did not happen which resulted in several folks being upset.

 

And yes, I have also read that the pinnacle Zeniths will only be included into the Retreat/Michael's  Club on a space available basis.  When there is a great number of traditional Zeniths on a particular itinerary I suggest that the pinnacle reciprocal status pinnacles  should only be invited to a Zenith luncheon on a space available basis.

[cruisestitch]

Apples and oranges. The size of the retreat/Michael’s  is fixed and can’t be expanded.  But they can always schedule a second lunch or dinner if there are an excessive number of zeniths on board.

[sheeng]

14 hours ago, jelayne said:

Suggest you go to the other social media site and join the Celebrity Zenith group 

Another new Zenith here🤗  I applied to the above site and my application shows pending. I sent a screen Celebrity shot showing our full names, point total and CC #.

How long is the wait to hear usually? I’m anxious☺️

[jelayne]

9 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

 

 

Trust me -- you would remember the number of Zeniths and it was much larger than 20 or so.  The middle leg of our B2B2B set a record for the number of Zeniths onboard a Celebrity ship, and Capt. Matt unfortunately mentioned at one of the lunches that there should be a group photo since it was such a record number of Zeniths.  The photo did not happen which resulted in several folks being upset.

 

 

We were on the Dubai to Singapore leg and the preceding Rome to Dubai leg.  On the Dubai - Singapore leg they had 3 lunches in order to accommodate everyone and keep it to a reasonable size.   The one we attended had  20 Zeniths. The 20 I was referencing was size of the lunch not Zeniths on board.

[jelayne]

2 hours ago, sheeng said:

Another new Zenith here🤗  I applied to the above site and my application shows pending. I sent a screen Celebrity shot showing our full names, point total and CC #.

How long is the wait to hear usually? I’m anxious☺️

It is usually about a week.  I know the administrator   (a volunteer who also works) is getting a bunch of requests to join the group. it is not a terribly active group but a friendly group and great place to get correct info and advice. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

3 hours ago, sheeng said:

Another new Zenith here🤗  I applied to the above site and my application shows pending. I sent a screen Celebrity shot showing our full names, point total and CC #.

How long is the wait to hear usually? I’m anxious☺️

 

Give her some grace.  You'll get in.  She's currently overwhelmed by applications from Pinnacles.

[cruise wizard]

I am looking forward to the Zenith lunch to meet some of the seasoned Zenith's and make new cruising friends and share experiences across the brands. 

[sheeng]

Thank you Happy Cruiser and Jelayne. I’m just excited to chat and learn more but can be patient!

 

Sheila.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

4 hours ago, sheeng said:

Thank you Happy Cruiser and Jelayne. I’m just excited to chat and learn more but can be patient!

 

Sheila.

 

A suggestion for you:  on your Zenith cruise when you have your Zenith party, ask the concierge to invite the other Zeniths on the cruise.  That's a good way to meet some of them.

 

[jelayne]

3 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

A suggestion for you:  on your Zenith cruise when you have your Zenith party, ask the concierge to invite the other Zeniths on the cruise.  That's a good way to meet some of them.

 

Agree,  they did not tell us we could invite anyone.  We were traveling with friends but our Z ceremony was just us, Captain and some officers.  When we arrived to be cleared by security to enter the bridge there were 3 security officers who looked around and said just you 2.  1st clue something was missing.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Agree,  they did not tell us we could invite anyone.  We were traveling with friends but our Z ceremony was just us, Captain and some officers.  When we arrived to be cleared by security to enter the bridge there were 3 security officers who looked around and said just you 2.  1st clue something was missing.

 

They didn't tell me either--I told them.  Was traveling with many friends & had attended a Zenith party for some of them the previous year, so I knew it could be done.  I just gave the concierge a list of the people I wanted invited and their stateroom numbers.  Asked her to invite the Zenith members on board also.  She had to reshuffle from the bridge to Blu because of the number of people, but she made it happen.  If you're traveling in an upper suite, I'd advise the landside suite concierge ahead of time.

[abbydancer2003]

On our last cruise, we were invited to a friends Zenith party.  It was very nice.  We'll have ours sometime next year.  I hope the friends who's party I went will be able to join us.

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

They didn't tell me either--I told them.  Was traveling with many friends & had attended a Zenith party for some of them the previous year, so I knew it could be done.  I just gave the concierge a list of the people I wanted invited and their stateroom numbers.  Asked her to invite the Zenith members on board also.  She had to reshuffle from the bridge to Blu because of the number of people, but she made it happen.  If you're traveling in an upper suite, I'd advise the landside suite concierge ahead of time.

We should have figured it out when 2 of the Retreat Concierges we had known from previous cruises said they would like to be invited.  But you don’t know what you don’t know.  On the bright side the crew got a lot of delicious cake😊

[CruiseImage]

11 hours ago, abbydancer2003 said:

On our last cruise, we were invited to a friends Zenith party.  It was very nice.  We'll have ours sometime next year.  I hope the friends who's party I went will be able to join us.

Same here - I planned our party/celebration way ahead of time (almost 18 months in advance).

We travelled with 28 of our friends and family and our Zenith party was with exactly who we wanted to be there. There was no way I was asking other Zeniths just because of their status and I didn't know a single thing about them - 20 years in the making and celebrate it with people you don't know - no thanks LOL !!   

Ours took place on the bridge and some officers and crew had to be turned away due to the size of the party - hilarious !!  also had a private helipad party too 😄