Final Zenith Voyage - Should I Cancel??

[richsea]

:confused: We're booked on the April 13, 2007 Zenith 15 night sailing from Tampa to Bayonne, which, as it turns out, will be her final Celebrity cruise. This will be our 5th cruise on Zenith & we will miss her.

 

Having said that, I am torn as to whether we should cancel or not. I recall thinking that when Horizon left the fleet, it would be nice to be on board her final cruise & anticipated that it wolud be full of nostalgia with an atmosphere of saying goodbye to an old friend by both the passengers and crew.

 

From what I remember reading on these boards, that was not how the last voyage went; with the ship running out of basics such as butter, a largely indifferent crew, & an atmosphere that was very un-Celebrity-like. I seem to remember that the Horizon name was removed from the bow while she was still in Bermuda, among other things related to the upcoming drydock.

 

Any thoughts?? Is there anyone who was on that sailing? I really would like to stay on this sailing, but I'm not sure I want to be a part of that kind of history. As The Knack would say........ should I stay or should I go?

 

Please Help!!!!!!!

[LX 470]

From what I remember reading on these boards, that was not how the last voyage went; with the ship running out of basics such as butter, a largely indifferent crew, & an atmosphere that was very un-Celebrity-like.

 

Unfortunately you are going to find this for the last couple of months on this ship. As crew contracts expire they will leave the ship rather than renew for a short period of time. The last few sailings will be understaffed and chaotic at best.

 

I personally would cancel in a heartbeat.

[richsea]

That's a vaild thought LX 470. But I did hear that the cruises leading up yo Horizon's last were nornal cruises. I'm just going to have to sleep on this for a while...... final payment isn't til January!

[richsea]

That's a vaild thought LX 470. But I did hear that the cruises leading up yo Horizon's last were nornal cruises. I'm just going to have to sleep on this for a while...... final payment isn't til January!

[CaribbeanBound]

The good news is everything in the shops that says "Zenith" will eventually be 90% off by the end of the cruise. EVERYTHING MUST GO!

[CaribbeanBound]

The good news is everything in the shops that says "Zenith" will eventually be 90% off by the end of the cruise. EVERYTHING MUST GO!

[moondoggie]

Thanks for the info, fellow cruisers. As a former department store buyer (30 years), I hate to shop, so don't want any more stuff, even if it does say 'Zenith' !

What happens to our deposits if we cancel? We went through Cruise Value Center, as a result of their *****.com listing.

Thanks--I've only got one day to decide now.

[fjb3cpa]

As The Knack would say........ should I stay or should I go?

 

The Clash would ask "should I stay or should I go?" - The Knack are still looking for "My Sharona".

 

Jim

[richsea]

As The Knack would say........ should I stay or should I go?

 

The Clash would ask "should I stay or should I go?" - The Knack are still looking for "My Sharona".

 

Jim

 

How true!! My bad!......... but what should I do??

[Andy]

That's a vaild thought LX 470. But I did hear that the cruises leading up yo Horizon's last were nornal cruises. I'm just going to have to sleep on this for a while...... final payment isn't til January!

 

Hi Rich !

 

As final payment isnt due for a while, you still have plenty of time to make your decision. I wouldnt stress about it just yet.

 

While your Cruise may be less than perfect, you have to balance how important it is for you to be on the last Zenith sailing, vs minor disappointments that may be in the cards. I truly do not feel as if Celebrity will let your Cruise be horrible. If it were me, (while it is not an easy call) I would probably go on the sailing.

 

If you are that concerned, why not consider going on Century instead ? She is still in the Caribbean in April '07. Just a thought.

 

Good Luck !

[Ships R Great]

richsea---we are staying. I hope it is not a "less than perfect" cruise but if it is, I have been on others that were not perfect. I am glad for the chance to say good bye to my favorite ship. I will not be taking the more expensive ship to Bermuda. Two nights there, in Apri,l will be enough for me.

[mahdnc]

Richsea,

 

My vote is to cancel. Like you, I remember reading several posts from disappointed passengers who sailed on the final Horizon sailing. I cannot find the old posts, but I do remember reading about the re-painting and the name removal before the final cruise was finished. I might be corrected later, but I don't remember any body not regretting that they booked that final cruise (sorry for the double negative).

[bilgeboyPa]

Just my 2 cents if any one cares:p .

I wouldn't want to be on the first cruise of a new ship or the last cruise of a ship being put out of service. I would imagine that any major types of repairs and upkeep would be done away with several cruises before the last one. The ship would look lackluster at best and I'm sure the crew would be distracted coming to the end. They have to pack up their stuff too because they have to go as well. Might be good for you just to say I was on the last Voyage, but for what they are charging, I wouldn't want mediocre.

 

IMOHO mind you:rolleyes:

Jeff

[LX 470]

The ship would look lackluster at best and I'm sure the crew would be distracted coming to the end. They have to pack up their stuff too because they have to go as well. Might be good for you just to say I was on the last Voyage, but for what they are charging, I wouldn't want mediocre.

 

These were indeed the exact postings of numerous passengers from the last two or three months on Horizon. I agree for what they are charging it is certainly not worth the hassle and the chance for a much less than stellar experience.

[ninnau]

We were on the final sailing of the Azure Seas a good number of years ago. We enjoyed the cruise and everything was just fine. The time you have is what you make of it. If you think you will not have a good time--you will not.

[spalady]

What about this: we are booked on Zenith May 19, 2007 to Bermuda:eek:

[kelmac]

What about this: we are booked on Zenith May 19, 2007 to Bermuda:eek:

 

You scored bigtime! You will be on the third cruise of the new ship, the Journey! Call you TA.

 

We are on the May 26th cruise.

 

Kel

[spalady]

Well, when I got home I (gently) told my DH that his favorite ship was retiring. I showed him the Journey and the fact that we have been upgraded from CC to a Sky Suite guaranteed and he is excited!! Go figure - I was sure he would be upset. That man is always surprising me.

One good feature is Journey has balconies.:D

[richsea]

Here is a link to one of the threads regarding the final Horizon cruise-

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=249940

 

I agree that I don't want mediocre but I must say that this cruise is VERY inexpensive; substantially less than $3000.00 for 2 for an oceanview for 15 nights. If we were paying $4500 or more I would deinitely not take the chance.

 

Also, the last I checked, which was this AM, Celebrity's site atates that there are no cabins of any kind available. Just prior to this announcement regarding the transfer of Zenith, the rates for an oceanview cabin on this sailing balloned to over $5000 for 2, with all catagories available; now suddenly it is sold out. Very strange.

[richsea]

If you are that concerned, why not consider going on Century instead ? She is still in the Caribbean in April '07. Just a thought.

 

Hi Andy!I would love to sail Century again as we haven't been on her for too long. She is our favorite X ship. But those 4 & 5 nighters just don't appeal to us. Even a B2B has too many repeat ports which we have visited multiple times.

 

Rich

[Andy]

Hi Andy!I would love to sail Century again as we haven't been on her for too long. She is our favorite X ship. But those 4 & 5 nighters just don't appeal to us. Even a B2B has too many repeat ports which we have visited multiple times.

 

Rich

 

Hi Rich !

 

I hear ya. I thought I would take a shot with the idea of Century. I dont particularly care for the 4/5 night sailings either. However, I am sailing on her in 3 weeks, to see how the refurb came out. Then, I am doing a back to back on Century in February. The 4/5 night itineraries not my first choice, but we enjoy Century very much, so we will deal with the so-so itinerary.

 

One of my biggest Celebrity wishes for 2008, is that they have Century doing longer sailings again, but I am not holding my breath on it happening. We can hope though.

[Bodger]

We sailed on the Zenith two years ago for 14 days and had a great time; enough so that we were are looking to try Celebrity again this February.

 

In 2002 we were on the last sailing of the old HAL Westerdam. I was pleasantly surprised at how good a condition she was in. I expected the old girl to be a little down at the heels, but that was not the case.

 

One of the interesting things they did was auction off the plaques that are given to a ship on its first visit to a new port. That quite surprised me, but we were able to pickup three of them priced reasonably. As mentioned the ship stuff was significantly reduced in price. It was kind of sad in some respects but it was not a bad cruise, quite the contrary.

 

I would go.

 

Bodger

[KreinKrunker]

We were on the last sailing of Ocean Princess, before she went over to P&O as Oceana. Admittedly she was only a couple of years old, but in great shape. The crew was in a very good mood, as most of them were going home. The rest were being transfered to other ships. It was a 15 day cruise, and they did start to run out of things. No non-alcoholic beer about four days into the cruise. Towards the end, the bar might not have what you wanted, but they usually called another one to see if they did. The sales in the shops were very good. Our cabin steward told us to take what we wanted, as it would be less for him to inventory. He said this as he pointed to the Princess robes. The only thing that really hurt is they closed down the casino a little after midnight on the last night, so they could do inventory. This hurt, because I was finally making some money at the craps table.