Celebrity Cruises

MS Zenith

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Operator: Celebrity Cruises
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1992 / 1999
Length / Tonnage: 682 / 47,500
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 687 / 1,374
Officers / Crew: Greek / International
Operating Area: Bermuda and Panama Canal
Telephone / Fax: Tel 124 5564 / Fax 124 5567

Think of it like this...not quite a dozen years ago, the passenger/cruise division of the great Chandris organization decided it no longer wanted to be the dish cloth of the cruise biz...it wanted to be the table cloth. Chandris felt the time had come to move from their great past as carriers of migrants from Europe and Australia, and carrying hundreds of thousands of passengers from four continents who paid affordable rates for great cruises in ships perhaps grown threadbare....but they had one hell of an enormous following...what veteran cruise passenger did not know the BRITANIS....I know I did....and our Cruise Editor, Mark Goldberg, worked on her for a time....and when not working in her, sailed often as a passenger...and just loved her. It was a good, simple, honest product, and people loved it.

Forgetting, or maybe turning their backs on where they came from, Chandris formed their "upscale" division, Celebrity Cruises, fully intent on positioning themselves as the cruise line between Crystal and the rest of the market. Never mind that no such niche in the business existed then, nor exists now.....at least not at tariffs required to operate in the black...from almost the beginning Celebrity has had to discount like crazy. It brings us to ask this question: Can a cruise line thoroughly rebuild an old monster (the GALILEO, rebuilt as Celebrity's MERIDIAN) and build from scratch five impressive new cruise liners, three of them megaships, and make money at rates beginning at $600.00 per person per week? Apparently not, because the balance sheets that had been Celebrity Cruise Lines ran hundreds of millions of dollars into the red. Defend them, oh you lovers of this fleet.....but old die hard Chandris fans, happy enough with the AMERIKANIS, VICTORIA, BRITANIS, ELLINIS, and a couple of REGINAs, feel no pity that the Chandris people had to sell out. They sold us out.....so goodbye to them! Another thing about these ships they built....we find they have no character, no personality, little to recommend them but pretension....and their itineraries have not appealed to us. Based on brochure rates, we find their competitors do almost the same thing for a less money and attitude.

Not so long ago a ship's uniqueness was best identified by the crew......notwithstanding the occassional eccentric passenger or those who stood out in the crowd, the crew brought their home countries with them....so a Greek crewed ship made you feel as if you were in an Athenian taverna, an Italian ship sent your mind off to enchanting Venice, and a French crew had you humming La Marseillaise. The ZENITH has a international crew....so there is no pervading atmosphere at all. It's a modern hotel, nothing more, nothing less. So benign is the ambience that most of your fellow passengers will not remember the name of the ship within two years of taking the cruise. Decorative themes in some of the public rooms are but a weak attempt to evoke images of varying cultures or of the "good ole days".....but the results are ertzatz at best.....and are no more evocative than Hollywood movie sets or exhibits one visits at EPCOT.

The entertainment is Las Vegas style.....and it's probable at least one of the musicians will appeal to you. Much of it is digitally enhanced (this company just loves electronics), on occasion lip synced, and in some lounges just too loud....but it's professionally choreographed, it's pretty to look at, and if you're not in the mood to gamble, shop or watch a movie, it's something to do at least. But for the most part, you won't come away from it thinking "Gee, that was really special....I'll never forget it".

Given the right cabin location, you'll sleep comfortably. If you have a choice, avoid cabins too far forward and too far aft, as they have a tendency to vibrate or waddle in a rough sea. Consider that the ZENITH is very light in the water, considering her size, and a few large waves or deep swells will have her moving like a pig. Cabins just below or adjacent to public rooms with musical entertainment can be noisy.....and there's no way to turn off the music until the performers are done.

Thankfully, there's nothing overtly tacky about the ZENITH. So understated is she in many places, in fact, that sometimes she resembles the lobby of an upscale.....a VERY upscale office building. But an important thing to consider is that you won't be dining or sleeping or paying much mind to these spaces. The food and service departments on the ZENITH are just fine.....and so are the cabins.....and since much of your trip, whether you admit it or not, will be spent eating or sleeping, you'll have nothing to worry about if you sail on her.

Bland....a non event.....just a place to sit.....these are the memories I have of the public rooms on the ZENITH and her sister HORIZON. If you've traveled Celebrity's larger MERCURY, GALAXY or CENTURY, you can see some of those ships' design features in their infancy on the ZENITH....but there's no fondness in my heart for the decorators who organized the Celebrity Show Lounge, Harry's Tavern, the Rainbow Room, Scorpio Disco and the Fleet Bar. So everything you need is here.....but it's dullsville. I do find myself seeing red on the ZENITH and HORIZON.....with the blatantly offensive message to buy, buy, buy.....to get from the balcony of the show lounge to the disco or the Rainbow Room (all the way forward to all the way aft), you have to pass the good sized casino and the Galleria.....shop after shop. I resent having the owner's greed thrust upon me this way. And this is not the way luxury is meant to be....in anyone's language. The deck space and pool areas are subdued and pleasant....and there are enough deck chairs for everyone, as a rule. The spa and gym facilities are up on Sun Deck behind the smokestack. This area, called the Aquaspa, is for the active among us, and for decadence at a price (bring your Celebrity Signature Account Card....or your first born for collateral).....massages, facials, body restorations, and so forth.

Just a couple of years ago, a big sales point for taking a Celebrity cruise was the food.....with menus inspired by chef Michel Roux, and top notch galley crew to prepare it, it was almost a given that you would leave the ship's dining room with a smile. We have reports that the quality has slipped.....this has become a bit of an epidemic in the cruise line.....as fleet sizes increase, and fares decrease, something's gotta give....and the easiest thing to cut is the food. I'm not saying the food isn't good anymore....it's fine....but it's on average, not much better than rival companies' offerings.....so you'll be well fed, but probably not wowed. Unlike the wonderful dining rooms on the MERCURY, CENTURY and GALAXY, the Caravelle Restaurant on the ZENITH is a complete non event.....and at times, rather uncomfortable. The cheap looking and often uncomfortable stackable banquet chairs do not invite the diner to linger longer. Some tables have one too many place settings.....great place to rub elbows, but not easy managing for those of us who are ample in size.

Perfectly serviceable, if not memorable, buffets for breakfast, lunch and midnight are available in the Marina Deck's Windsurf Cafe.

The standard cabins, all nine categories, have many common features....two beds (some can convert to a king size), a couple of chairs, good storage space, television, safe, hair dryer and a pleasant enough bathroom with shower....and all are decoratively as dull as dishwater. In their defense, they give their occupants a generous 172 square feet of privacy. Category 3 cabins, pegged as premium, are identical to standards, but have a mini bar and small sofa instead of two chairs. Category 2 deluxe suites are a modest 270 square feet (this size cabin is more appropriately pegged as a mini suite on rival lines). These suites have bathtub and mini bar, and along with the highest graded Royal Suites, have butler service.....for full meal service, canapes, and such. The Presidential Suites, at 500 square feet, have a separate living room, dining area, tub in the bath and mini bar....and although they are pretty enough, they don't come close to emulating the similarly graded suites on Celebrity's larger ships.

Although Celebrity's advertising caters to those in the 30's and 40's age group, you'll find all types on board. The ZENITH does not offer all the electronic gewgaws that pervade her larger fleetmates....so to that end, she offers a slightly more traditional seagoing experience. During her winter season, her longer Panama Canal sailings will fill with folk with more time on their hands....it's not as frantic a pace as some seven day cruises.

With her sister, HORIZON, the ZENITH provides weekly summer sailings to Bermuda. ZENITH has the Satuday departures, while HORIZON leaves Sundays. During fall, spring and winter months, ZENITH is deployed on Panama Canal sailings, of lengths of ten to fifteen nights. Some cruises begin or end in San Juan, others make Florida the terminus, and two trips end up in or begin in New York.

Over the past several years the quality of the food, and level of service on board the Celebrity fleet has been inconsistent. While this is not necessarily unique to Celebrity, throughout this period the company continued to promote itself as the "highest-rated premium cruise line in the industry" and a company whose vessels are "consistently recognized with five- and six-star rankings". Unfortunately, the reality is that the company could not be what they claimed to be because the fares they collected did not permit them to operate the type of product they aspired to be.

Recently though, Celebrity has implemented a series of initiatives designed to improve all aspects of shipboard service. These initiatives grew from a the results of a quality assessment program that was conducted fleetwide. While these initiative has helped improve the onboard experience, keep in mind that not all of these initiatives are available on some of the older vessels in the fleet.

So do these changes mean that you will now have a great great cruise if you take the ZENITH? Probably yes. But will your cruise be extra special, giving you something other lines cannot? That depends on your expectations. Keep in mind she is one of the older vessels in the Celebrity fleet. If you are looking for a step up from Carnival or Royal Caribbean you most likely will be plesantly suprised with your Celebrity experience. If however you are really looking for the five and six star product promoted in Celebrity advertising, you may have a hard time finding it on on board.