some advise wanted

[joanagain]

we are from HAL, and we will be taking our first celebity cruise on the Zenith in 05, only because we got a rock bottom price and we wanted to know how we would compare celebrity to HAL...now we wonder if we will be able to make a fair comparison... and if we got such a good price because the Zenith is at the rock bottom of celebrity's fleet...

 

should we expect the service and and quality of the celebrity experience to measure up to the great things we have heard about celebrity...or not get our hopes up?

 

i would like to be excieted about this step onto celebrity...just don't want to overstate what to expect on the Zenith.

[Spender Nui]

I've never been on the Zenith but have recently been on the Horizon. They ae both older ships without some of today's amenities. I know the Horizon is tired and in bad need of some maintenance. I can only assume the Zenith is not far behind. I honestly don't think you can make a fair comparison between HAL and Celebrity based on the cruise you have booked. All that said, I still think you can enjoy your cruise.

[tuggers]

I was on the Easter 04 cruise and had a great time so I booked 1/02 for 14 nights and will book again for an April cruise. I;ve been on other X ships and I like them, but I like Zenith and Horizon. I like the small ships. You get to know everyone and they get to know you. You dinner is more like an individual preperation and is very good. Sure, she could use a little updating, but you can't beat her food and service.

[smeyer418]

Hi Joan you ask a very difficult question because we know so little about you.

We don't know what HAl ships you were on so we can't compare them. We don't know which iternary you are on and when. So we can't say whether you should expect a lot of teens or kids on the ship. We don't know whether you like traveling during times when school is out etc.... so in short you make telling you what we think difficult. You know this is what you would traditionally use a TA for. We are happy to help but please help us too!.

 

Thanks

[joanagain]

thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts...i think i have the picture... and will look forward to a pleasent cruise ...but not forget the byword of juan valdez...

[dmarch@islc.net]

Hey Joan,

 

Yes the Zenith is, well middle aged. Some of the carpet and upholstery could probably use a little freshening up. Other than that she is in great shape! The food, service and crew are outstanding. She just might win Y'all over to X.

[Char]

The Celebrity experience is a little different from HAL--both are good--just different. No matter which X ship you sail, old or new, the service will be excellent. You won't see all the fresh flowers on X that HAL is famous for, but you'll see some very interesting artwork! The best comparison I can give with the Zenith would be to the old Noordam. Anybody have a better comparison ship to ship?

 

One thing I noticed on our last HAL cruise on the Veendam was a subtle change in the friendly service. Not the same as our other HAL cruises--- but every cruise is different, so maybe it was just this one that wasn't up to the usual HAL standards we had experienced in the past.

 

Zenith is a great little ship, but I missed the balconies that have become my standard now! We were on the cruise right before Tuggers--too bad our paths didn't cross then!:D

[Char]

thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts...i think i have the picture... and will look forward to a pleasent cruise ...but not forget the byword of juan valdez...

OK--it's early! What is the byword of Juan Valdez?

[joanagain]

char

 

i trust juan (when it comes to columbian coffee)...his reminder is

"YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!"

 

...and it is so true, in this case, i am feeling better already, because the noordm was my first cruise and i had no idea what to expect...everything was gravy for me...i enjoyed it so much, i wll go along with her on her final voyage in november...and i am looking forward to that...as you say, now that there have been changes, (tipping policy, reduction of staff...) it may be "different"...it is the excellence of service that i thought to compare..in spite of its age, the noordm did deliver, and i am looking forward to celebrity excellent service...omg, i have the best of all words, and for just a few pennies too.

[tuggers]

Why won't you tell us when you are sailing? We won't 'stalk' you! Promise!

[joanagain]

we will be sailing march 13 to the southern carribean...i have never been to the carribean, so it will all be new to me...we are casting off at jacksonville,...never been there either, so we might do a prenight...

 

stopping at san juan, st,. thomas, st.kitts, granada, barbados, st. maarten and coco bay...islands that i have only seen in picture books and wet shirt commercials...

 

would welcome any hints as to what to do there as i do not swim nor snorkel .

[tuggers]

I do prenights there and I only live in Georgia. I just don't like to get in day of cruise. I usually stay at Fairfield Airport. $59 senior, $69 regular. Typical Fairfield, clean, good free breakfast, can even do low carb as they have boiled eggs and things. Even fresh waffles. No shuttle but I never use them anyway as I like to get to port around 11 and shuttles usually start 12:30 or 1. Gator Cab will cost about $12.50 per cab (not per person) to port, about $2.00 more for return if you are going to airport. You should have no problem making a 10:30 flight out, 11 is safer. If you stay at Fairfield, there is a Ruby Tuesday and a Longhorn Steakhouse within walking distance (about the distance of 1 good block to block and a half). A lot of the CC groups meet at one of these for precruise dinner. No real reason to rent car.

 

I have done most of your ports and I do not swim or snorkle. I shop, drink and beach! There are ample opportunities for all that on this trip. I'm sure others will have lots of fun things to tell you so I will let them have at it. I think I may actually be kind of boring on a cruise! :)

[nealberk]

should we expect the service and and quality of the celebrity experience to measure up to the great things we have heard about celebrity...or not get our hopes up?

The Zenith is about the same age as most of the HAL fleet so "old" is a relative term.

 

I have been on both HAL and Celebrity and loved both lines. They are definitely different but both are very enjoyable. You might be interested in viewing my comparison on my web site http://www.celebrity-century.com

 

Neal

[mariloum]

Hi Joanagain,

We are also going on the Zenith on March 13th. Really looking forward to it.

 

We will be sailing on the Zenith to Bermuda and NE October 23rd. I will let you know how she compares to other ships we sailed. We sailed the Horizon twice last year and just loved it so I am really looking forward to sailing on the Zenith.

 

Marilou

[hisfirstm8]

I was on the Zenith with Tuggers last April. We had a great time. I loved the ship and loved the fact that with the small size you saw your new friends more often on the ship. The crew was also able to recognize you and could accomodate your needs more easily.

 

You should have a great time.

 

PS - check out the Martini Bar - it is wonderful!!!!!

 

Barbara

[joanagain]

OK...helpful hints, thanks

 

marilou, hope you have a wonderful time

 

nealberk....omg, what a great album, does that beat all get out...guess we will never go back to pasting fotos on paper again....i have not made friends with my digital yet, and it is still sitting in its box...i would like to bring it with me and get some shots, that was one reason for buying the thing...even when i read the manual, its greek to me.

[nealberk]

OK...helpful hints, thanks

 

marilou, hope you have a wonderful time

 

nealberk....omg, what a great album, does that beat all get out...guess we will never go back to pasting fotos on paper again....i have not made friends with my digital yet, and it is still sitting in its box...i would like to bring it with me and get some shots, that was one reason for buying the thing...even when i read the manual, its greek to me.

I bought my digital before our first cruise in 2001. It actually arrived the day before we were to depart which made things very interesting (I was watching the UPS site tracking the packeage each segment along the way!)

 

Anyway, my suggestion for the camera is to take it out of the box and start playing with it taking pictures of everything in sight. This will give you a chance to get familiar with the camera and costs you nothing but the time. I would also suggest that you get a second memory card and battery for the camera. Both have been worth their weight in gold.

 

Incidentally, that is just some of the pictures. I ended up with over 800 pictures from our cruise even after deleting the obvious bad ones. My FIL had his Canon film camera and was carefully taking pictures so as to not run out of film (he brought 10 rolls). Me, it was just click, click, click!

[tuggers]

Earl and I are going to book the March 13th Zenith to get in one final 14 night out of Jax before she goes. We're booking onboard to get the extra credits. With this new pricing they may be very important! :)

[dublin]

Spender Nui,

 

See you are from Valley Forge, Pa - I am from Limerick - small world.

 

Do you find that some people never heard of Valley Forge?