Zenith

Can anyone tell us anything about this ship. Its our first time with Celebrity. We have cruised with P&O, Princess and NCL. What can we expect with Celebrity?

We are flying in from the UK to join the ship in Jacksonville.

Would love to hear from you

WE were on the Zenith in April and loved her. She is a smaller ship, but very beautiful. Loved the size of the ship because you can meet more people and see them more often. The crew is very good at remembering your name when they see you around the ship. Loved the Cova Cafe for coffee and sweets in the afternoon...Have a great trip.

PS We live in Jax. Love the city also.

Barbara

Nice ship, if your're used to larger ones you'll notice that you're bumping into people more, since it's a more moderate passenger pool.

The ship was fairly recently (2002?) given a retrofit to bring her even closer to the Century/Millenium class ships. She still lacks Thallasotherapy and Balconies, but is otherwise great. My wife & I very much enjoyed her South American itinerary of January, 2003.

Any specific questions we can help you with? For background, we've been on the Century, Galaxy, Mercury and Infinity as well as the Zenith - there are some ship pictures, I think, on our cruise summary Our homepage

*EDIT* Doh! I missed that it was your first cruise with Celebrity - you should have a fine time on the Zenith, though - as with any cruise, the fundamentals are the same, a big floaty hotel with food, shows, food, pools, food, port calls, and a little snack here and there ;) Celebrity food & service is super, Cabins & public spaces are very nice, entertainment ok. *END EDIT*

Good cruising!

We sailed the Zenith for 14 days last December and loved it. The food is great and the service couldn't be better. We especially loved the sorbet parade at the pool every afternoon. They make all their ice cream on board and it is wonderful, so be sure to order some for desert. Just ask them to add a dip of icecream to whatever else you are ordering.

Are you staying over in Jacksonville before the cruise? We stayed at the Wingate the night before. It is near the airport. We drove and they kept our car for 14 days at no charge. But that won't be a consideration for you. But they also provided free shuttle to/from the pier. There was a special deal at that time. We contacted Bina Patel at the hotel and asked for the Cruise Critic deal. It was something like $104 for the night which included a free breakfast. Large beautiful hotel rooms with free high speed internet connection in your room for your laptop. If you don't have a laptop, there is a computer in the lobby which you can use at no charge.

Hope you have a great cruise.

We got on Easter Sunday and had a wonderful 11 night cruise. The ship is a very nice size and you will love the Martini Bar before dinner. It is so nice to sit and have a drink and look out at the ocean. If Madelyn is still there she is the greatest! I had a cabin that is now a CC class. It was very nice, great cabin steward. The dining room staff was more than willing to please and the food was great! I Love the chilled soups after a hot carribbean day. You'll have a great time!

We have sailed on the Zenith three times and are booked on it again in February 2005 for another two-week cruise from Jax It is smaller and you meet more people. Our first cruise on it was through the Panama Canal in 2000, did the Western Caribbean and a two-week in February of this year. We loved the two weeks because it is very relaxing with lots of days at sea, which is what we enjoy in the warm weather in winter. I feel sure you will enjoy this cruise and Celebrity is the best, Great food, great service and friendly employees. Happpy Cruising

We just got back from our third cruise on the Zenith, seventh Celebrity. You will love this ship! The smaller size makes it even more friendly than the other Celebrity ships. It is easy to get around without getting lost and this was one of the nicest crews we've ever had. I am not sure which itenerary you are taking, but I'm sure it will be nice.

Have fun!

Donna

Themommy, We have cruised on the Zenith also last April. We loved the ship and the service. We are booked on her again in Feburary but might switch to January because it still seems unclear if she is going into drydock. We thought it would be fun to be on the first cruise out of drydock so we picked a cabin and booked.

Either way, We are looking forward to our next Zenith cruise. The weather in April was pretty rough out of Jax for us and the passengers on the following cruise. Then again, you can't predict the weather.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Celebrity or any of their ships to friends. We cruised on the older Meridian which was really outdated at the time and still had a wonderful cruise. Enjoy your cruise on the Zenith. We certainly did and intend to again. :)

My wife and I have cruised on a number of different lines, with the majority (6) with Princess. We sailed with Celebrity for the first time in April aboard the Zenith and I agree with all the above comments. You will like the Zenith because of its size and its friendly crew. The food is at least as good as Princess (for a comparison) as is the entertainment. One thing you may really appreciate is, unlike other large cruise lines, Celebrity has very few shipboard announcements to jolt you from a pleasant slumber on deck. If you've been aboard a crusie that is constantly announcing bingo in the show lounge and everything else going on you'll appreciate how quiet the Zenith is.

Barry & Sharon

We have sailed on the Zenith three times. The first was when she was new, and the last was in South America in 2003. It was just a great as ever. They really do a nice job.

Thank you so much to all who responded to my message. We feel very encouraged by all the comments and are looking forward to this new experience.

We have enjoyed holidays in America for many years before we discovered cruising and after our last cruise with P&O which we were not happy with, we are sooooo looking forward to Celebrity.

Once again grateful thanks to you all.

Will any of you be on board?

We sailed the Zenith last summer to Bermuda. It was our first cruise so we don't have a comparison as far as other cruises go. I can say that we loved our experience so much that we decided to do the transatlantic this year with Celebrity once again.

My fiance and I live in New York City, and he loves the great food that he can get at so many restaurants here. His biggest worry was that the food would not be as good as what he gets at restaurants here in the city. He loved almost every dining room meal that we had. Once again, Celebrity was excellent in the food category.

As others have said, the ship is older. Carpets and bedspreads are not brand new. The main areas have a bit of an older feel. This bothered 2 of our table mates at dinner, but did not bother us at all. The staff was excellent. The other passengers were wonderful. There were few enough people on a smaller ship that we found quiet places to read books. Just seven days on the Zenith were far too few for us. We are looking forward to taking our parents on the Zenith next summer to celebrate their 60th birthdays!

Kelly

Won't be on the Zenith this year, alas, but there's a roll call Here. You can at least sign up for the Celebrity connections party.

Many thanks to all for all your replies

We are looking forward to our trip with Celebrity