by Melinda Kazmer
First of all, let
me say that this review expresses my and my husband’s opinions and
experiences of this cruise. Everyone has a different experience
based on their past cruising experiences and their expectations. These
are our experiences on this cruise.
We are seasoned
cruisers, with these cruises being numbers 14 and 15. We are past
Celebrity cruisers as well as HAL, RCCL, NCL, Costa, Premier,
Commodore, and Carnival. Celebrity and HAL are our favorite lines
with these being our 3rd and 4th Celebrity cruises. We previously
sailed the Meridian and the Century on Celebrity and will be back on
the Century again this year. This cruise was really two cruises
“back to back”. We booked this cruise last March because we
would leave from NYC and go to Bermuda, then cruise the Caribbean
and end up in Tampa. After September 11, Celebrity repositioned the
ship to embark in Baltimore and Bermuda was dropped as a port of
call. The actual itinerary was Baltimore, three days at sea, San
Juan, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados (end of first cruise),
Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Tortola, St. Thomas, two days at sea,
Key West, and ending in Tampa. It was 15 days long. The longest we
had ever sailed before was 10 days, so we didn’t know how 15 days
would be. Let me assure you that it was great!
Our flights were
booked into Newark and we were unable to change them without
penalty. Celebrity provided buses from Newark to the port of
Baltimore. We were up at 3 am to get a 6 am flight from Ft. Myers,
FL to Miami and then connect from Miami to Newark. The flights were
uneventful - much more security - but hardly full planes and we
arrived in Newark at 10 am. We found the Celebrity rep finally and
then had to wait for the bus - boarded the busses about noon and had
a four hour bus ride to Baltimore. The leaves were still on the
trees and the colors were beautiful. We arrived at the terminal,
unloaded, and just walked up to the Captains Club desk and onto the
ship. There is something to be said for getting there later in the
day! We were escorted to our cabin (4053 on Florida deck - outside,
port, amidships) and then went to check our dining reservation. We
requested late sitting, table for two and it was just perfect. We
then went up to the buffet, but it was over, so we toured the ship
to get our bearings and then went down to our cabin to prepare for
dinner.
CABIN
The cabin is a standard outside cabin, about 172 sq ft, and the
bathroom had a great big shower! There was plenty of storage room
and a really large picture window. We booked a guarantee category 12
and category 9 and got upgraded to a category 6 for both legs and
didn’t have to change cabins. Our cabin steward was Alberto and he
was just great - he was ready to provide anything we requested.
There is a safe in the closet (easy to work) and lots of hanging
space and drawer space. There is a small table and two chairs, if
you want to have room service. We only do that the last morning of
the cruise. There is an interactive TV, if you are interested in
that kind of thing - we hardly turned it on. We enjoyed the window
since we usually book an inside cabin.
SHIP
The MV Zenith is a smaller ship by today’s standards. She
holds approximately 1374 passengers, there are 12 decks, 9 bars, the
Caravelle Restaurant, and the Windsurf Cafe. The pool is on deck 11
as well as the Windsurf Cafe and the Fleet Bar. There is plenty of
deck space all over the ship for sunning, eating, relaxing in the
shade, etc. We never had a problem finding a deck chair or a place
to sit. There is a small Spa and a Gym on Deck 12 as well as the
walking/jogging track and the three hot tubs. The activity areas are
on decks 7 and 8. The dining room and the Rendez-vous Lounge, the
Martini Bar, the show room, the photo gallery and the art gallery
are all on deck 7, while the Casino, shops, Cova Cafe, Michaels
Club, Library, Card room, and the Rainbow Room are on deck 8. There
are three sets of stairs and elevators - forward, midships, and aft.
The elevators are slow - we always take the stairs! The Lobby is on
Deck 5 as well as the shore excursion deck and the bank. The
remaining decks are cabins with the Royal suites and the Celebrity
suites on Deck 10. There are no balcony cabins on this ship. It is a
beautiful ship and well maintained. The crew and officers really
were a wonderful group of people - everyone had a smile and hello
and wanted to help in any way that they could.
DAYS AT SEA
The first three days were at sea and I can tell you that we
needed to relax from the journey there. At sea, meals are served in
the dining room at your assigned table for all meals as well as the
Windsurf Cafe. We prefer dining room service. Celebrity’s policy
is no announcements - check your daily program for activities and
there were plenty. We read, talked to people, ate, exercised, and
just generally relaxed. By the time we reached San Juan, we were
ready to get off the ship.
PORTS
We got off the ship in every port, if only for a walk for
exercise. We never book the ships excursions - we have been to each
of these islands at least once and some many, many times. Our
favorite ports are San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Thomas, but we
enjoyed them all. We called on Martinique on a holiday/holyday and
all shops were closed and there were only a few booths in the
market. We called on St Lucia on a Sunday and only the shops at the
pier were opened. We took a tour of Tortola with a driver and two
other couples and that was a great experience. I would not want to
drive those narrow, winding, very hilly roads myself and we saw the
entire island. Our driver, Dougie, was excellent and we learned a
lot about Tortola - we had only been there once before - so it was a
really nice experience.
We docked for the
first time in St. Maarten at their new pier - it is just beautiful
and the walk into town in not at all long. There weren’t a lot of
ships in any port, the most were in St. Thomas, and many times we
were the only ship. I still think that the shopping in St. Maarten
is better now than St. Thomas, but we had a great time everywhere we
went. We docked in St. Thomas at Crown Bay, not Havensight. The walk
in from there is about the same as from Havensight - you just
don’t have the shops there as you do as Havensight.
Our weather the
whole trip was really good, with a few showers in St. Thomas, the
remnants of Hurricane Michelle. By the time we left St. Thomas, we
were ready for two days at sea. The last port of call was Key West -
really heightened security there - the Coast Guard kept all boats at
least 100 yards from us and the Horizon. We docked at Mallory Square
and walked the town and had peel and eat shrimp, oysters, conch
fritters and a beer at the Conch Republic Seafood Company in the old
Seaport. Wonderful!!! There are wonderful beaches in all of these
ports, but we have been to most of them and don’t do beaches much
since we live practically on a beautiful beach in Florida. If you
live elsewhere, be sure to do some beach days. The water is so clear
and beautiful and there is wonderful snorkeling and diving in many
of these ports.
FOOD
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the food was
excellent all over the ship. Our waiter was Melvis, his assistant
was Aden and our Maitre’d was Gilroy - they were absolutely the
best!!! We ate in the dining room the majority of the time, but did
have breakfast and lunch a few times in the Windsurf Cafe and
enjoyed it as well. When the ship is in port, breakfast and lunch
are open seating in the dining room. Sea Days are assigned seating
and times. Believe me, no one went hungry on this ship. There is
ample opportunity for meals and snacks all day. Pizza is served each
day as well and there are two Grand Midnight Buffets. The other
evenings “Late Night Gourmet Bites” are served all over the
ship. We were invited to dine at the Captains Table on this cruise
and that was truly a memorable experience. We found the service in
the dining room and elsewhere on the ship to be really top-notch!
ENTERTAINMENT
The cruise director was John Howell and he and his staff were
also excellent. We met John before on the Century and knew what a
great job he does. Brenda, the social hostess and the rest of the
staff were always working to ensure the everyone had a wonderful
cruise. We saw a few of the shows - Michelle Murlin, Ian Finkel, and
Ralph Achilles were all really good. Michelle is a Broadway singer,
Ian is a Xylophonist, and Ralph is a Comedian. All really excellent
shows!!! We didn’t see any of the production shows so I can’t
comment on those. There was also wonderful music with Axis playing
in the Rainbow Room each night and poolside during the day, and
James Rea playing the piano and singing in the Cova Cafe each night.
James was a really great entertainer and we enjoyed him so much. The
Celebrity band, directed by Courtney Ennis, was also really good.
CONCLUSION
I could go on and on about the wonderful time we had, the people
we met and our experiences day to day - but it would take forever. I
will tell you that a passport is the easiest way to travel these
days. If you don’t have one, be sure to bring your driver’s
license or other government-issued picture ID. You will need it to
get on and off the ship. Your bags will be inspected as you reboard.
Everyone has to go through immigration when returning to the US. We
weren’t off the ship in Tampa until 11 am - customs took a very
long time. If you are arranging your own air, be sure to allow for
this. There were a number of people who missed morning flights in
Tampa.
Please feel free to
e-mail me at mkazmer@gulfaccess.net
with any questions you may have about this ship. We wouldn’t
hesitate to book the Zenith again.
