Review: Celebrity Cruises - Zenith - [May 07 , 2005]

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Zenith Bermuda Cruise Review - From a Golf Perspective

I had the opportunity to book an early spring (May 7th) sailing on the
Celebrity Zenith from New York to Bermuda on short notice. With my 18 and
15 year old children in school, and near the end of their school years with
finals and graduation approaching, they unfortunately couldn't go. I have 6
weeks of vacation this year, so it was a nice time for Dad to get away for
some nice golf in one of the most picturesque places in the world.

We've gone on family trips to Bermuda 3 times before, each time on a cruise.
So I was familiar with Bermuda. I've snorkeled Bermuda's crystal clear
waters before. This time if I went anywhere near the water. not good. 2
Shot penalty. This was a golf get away.

Early May in Bermuda isn't swimming weather. Not unless you're rather
hardy, used to cold water, or have enough rum in you so that it simply doesn't
matter. We walked by several beaches and there were a few people in the
water, but not very many. Early May is golf season in Bermuda. Mornings in
the high 60's, and afternoons in the low to mid 70's. And. since it's a few
hundred miles out in the Atlantic. there is, pretty much, a constant breeze.
If fact, sometimes it's outright windy.

We departed from Cape Liberty in New Jersey. I boarded the ship around 1:00
pm. It's about a 40 minute ride from our home in Central New Jersey to the
port. After some lunch, checking out the ship, and the obligatory life boat
drill, we pushed way from the dock at 4:00. We passed the Statue of Liberty
to our port side, sailed under the Verrazano Bridge, and were soon out past
Coney Island and the Atlantic Highlands. It was a bight, sunny way, with
some puffy white clouds. A storm had passed by, heading northward, the
previous day.

I'd been on the Zenith 3 times before. She's 47,000 tons, and holds between
1400 and 1800 passengers. Built in 1992, she's now one of the smaller ships
sailing today. But the advantage is that with her smaller size, she's able
to fit into Bermuda's tight channels. As a result, she's able to dock right
on Front Street (the main street) in Bermuda's Capital city of Hamilton.
And she docks 1 block away from the center of town in St. Georges, the
beautiful, very quaint, former capital. Zenith might not be the biggest and
brightest ship sailing today, but in Bermuda, nothing beats location -
location - location. In fact, the piers in Hamilton and St. Georges, where
Zenith docks, have better locations than the Hotels in Bermuda. I think
with 2 days in Hamilton and 2 days in St. Georges, the Zenith has the best
Bermuda itinerary of all. Plus, it would give access to courses on all
parts of the island.

Dinners on the ship were excellent (for cruise food) for the most part.
Since meals are prepared for 2000 people at a time, it's not the food you
might get in a top restaurant. But I believe that Celebrity has returned to
a level somewhat approaching where it was prior to the acquisition by RCL.
I even saw palm hearts again, the first time since our sailing on Century
back in the mid 1990's. In addition to the dining room, there are casual
dress options available each night. One side of the buffet restaurant is
devoted to Sushi and fresh made pasta in the evening. The other side has
waiter service, and features different items than available in the main
dining room.

Breakfast and lunch buffets were pretty much standard Celebrity, with once
noticeable missing item - sliced oranges. That was noted on the post cruise
comment card. Breakfast buffets included my favorite chocolate croissants,
crepes/blintzes, thinly sliced salmon, 2 omelet stations, and a fresh made
waffles station with all the fixings. Lunch buffets included a pasta
station, a "kicked up" (like Emeril says) specialty salad station (many more
items than in the main buffet lines), pizza, and burgers and hot dogs
outside. The French fries were excellent.

The breakfast buffet was open until noon. The lunch buffet started at 11:30
IIRC, and was kept open until 4:00, when the finger sandwiches were brought
out. The burgers, fresh pasta and pizza are almost always available. The
gaps in food availability are long gone on Celebrity. At least on Zenith's
Bermuda sailing.

Sailing from New York Harbor was quite calm. Dinner the first evening was
also very calm. But immediately after leaving the dining room, walking
suddenly became rather difficult. We must have hit an area where the storm
passed through, that caused some serious waves and wind. The ship started
getting bounced around by the weather. But not only were we rolling (the
left side and right side alternately moving up and down), and pitching
(front of the ship and rear of the ship going up and down), but for the
first time for me, the ship was experiencing yaw. The bow of the ship was
being seriously moved left and right. Looking at the bow against clouds, I'm
guessing the front of the ship could have easily been moving 10-20 ft. at a
time.

That 3 dimensional movement was a bit too much for me. Even though I had
taken my normal one tablet of Bonine, I was feeling "queasy". I quickly
took a second tablet, and went up on deck to get some cool air. After a
while I went to the cabin and got a second sweat shirt, since it was getting
rather chilly as we sailed well off the east coast.

I went to the cabin for the night around 11:00, and managed to get some
sleep. The motion finally started to improve around 4:00 am.

Sunday was our first day at sea. It takes a night, a day, and another night
of sailing to reach Bermuda from New York. While not as bad as the night
before, it was still a bit rough. There was a golf demonstration scheduled
for 10:30 am. I attended that, to meet the Pro, and to find out what the
golf plans were for the week.

Ray, the Golf Pro is 31 years old, and looks a LOT like Tiger Woods. He was
born and grew up in the southern US (maybe Louisiana?... I forget). He said
he started playing when he was 4. He was a child prodigy, and by 14 was a
scratch golfer. He joked that by 20 he had successful plastic surgery to
make him look like Tiger. He said he played on several lower level tours,
but not on the big tour.

We were in Bermuda for 4 days. Monday through Thursday. Friday was again a
day at sea as we returned to New York. Monday and Tuesday, the ship was in
Hamilton. Wednesday and Thursday we were in St. Georges.

Monday the options were playing Riddell's Bay during the day, or a late
afternoon round at Port Royal.

Tuesday's options were a daytime round at Belmont, or another late afternoon
round at Port Royal.

Wednesday and Thursday the only options were the St. Georges Golf Course.
Ray, the golf pro on board the ship said that 9 of the holes at St. Georges
were closed for seasonal repairs, so they'd be playing 9 holes twice, at a
reduced rate. At the end of the cruise, Ray said that they had negotiated
another course to add to the list in St. Georges, Tuckers Point, which is
the old Castle Harbor course if I understand correctly.

On Sunday, lessons were supposed to be available on board the ship, but Ray
said that because of the wind and the ship movement, he couldn't give
lessons that afternoon, though he hoped that maybe the motion might subside
by around 5:00 (it didn't). I signed up for playing at Riddell's Bay on
Monday and at Belmont on Tuesday.

Monday morning, the ship docked around 11:00 am. Those of us who signed up
for Riddell's Bay were the first off the ship. We were told to report to
the gangway area at 10:45 with our clubs. As soon as the doors were open we
were off and heading to taxis waiting for us.

We drove up to the course, and were escorted through the clubhouse and out
to the practice green. Our clubs were brought to us from the taxis and
loaded onto carts. We had 4 groups from the ship. I played with 2 others
to make a threesome. We were sent off first. The other groups were
foursomes. There were both men and ladies in our groups. Ray told us that
he's play about 3-4 holes with each of us during the day.

Riddell's Bay has a number of holes with views of the ocean, and several
holes that run right along the water. The wind is always blowing. Quite
strong most times. The course is short and narrow. 5800 yards from the
blues. Par 70. 5388 from the whites. The "signature" 9th hole, a par 4,
has a long carry over the ocean to a landing area short of the green. It
was one of the holes that Ray played with us. The 3 of us all hit our shots
across the water to the landing area. Ray then said that he forgot to tell
us that this was the hole, where we played against the Pro. Giving each of
us a shot, if we beat the Pro, we'd get a piece of artwork from the ship.
Ray then got up and boomed a shot right toward the front of the green. We
drove up and each of the 3 of us hit our second shots right on the green.
Then we rode up to find Ray's ball. but it was nowhere to be found. Forced
to take a penalty and drop, he put one at the back of the green. Ray nailed
the putt, but each of us 2 putted for par. Each of us beat the Pro. The
piece of artwork (according to paperwork valued at $95) was delivered to our
cabins the last evening. I'm not crazy about the painting, but the painting
will be going up on the wall. since it was well earned. On the day, I shot
an 88. Not too bad for me, never having played the course before. Plus all
the greens were recently aerated, so putting was an adventure.

On Tuesday, we had an early tee time at Belmont. We were off the ship by
7:00 am. Belmont is a much tighter course than Riddell's Bay. Ray said, as
we teed off on the first hole, that he frequently hits an 8 iron off the tee
on many holes. Of course, he hits an 8 iron 200 yards or so. But the even
narrower (than Riddell's Bay) fairways and constant winds make it a rather
difficult course. The course is 5985 yards from the blue tees. Par 70. We
had 5 groups going, and I played with 3 others to make a foursome. Again
our groups comprised both men and ladies. We were the last group out this
time. Behind us was a twosome of "muscle ladies", who were hitting 290 yard
drives. When Ray came up to play a few holes with us, we told him about the
ladies, and said that if he wanted to go back with them for a while, we
wouldn't tell. After playing the day before, I seemed a bit more consistent
at Belmont. Though with the tighter layout there was more trouble. I
managed an 87 at Belmont, though again, putting on recently aerated greens
(it's done this time of the year in Bermuda) was an adventure. It was
especially nice playing a few holes with Ray this second day. Having
watched us playing a few holes the day before, he was able to offer some
personalized instruction to us.

Having made a number of friends at the golf courses and at dinner (some of
us even partied up on ship Monday night), and since the St. Georges course
was half closed, I opted to wander around St. Georges with friends instead
of golfing on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus, Thursday is only a half day,
since the ship sails at 3:00 pm. On Wednesday, we walked down to Tobacco
Bay, where a few warm blooded souls did manage to head out into the water.
But even though I brought my snorkel gear, the water temperature well below
my threshold. So the snorkel gear never got wet.

Wednesday night after dinner we met some crew members wandering around town.
They invited us to join them at the White Horse, where they go to party.
And I mean "par-ty". We entered to the sounds of a hot beat and lots of
moving bodies (do NOT go there if you are inhibited in the least). I think
we left around 2:30, and the place was just warming up. Unfortunately, one
of the other passengers who was there (though not there with us) fell on the
cobblestone street leaving later that night and broke her arm. She had to
be taken by taxi to the hospital in Hamilton. I saw her in the elevator on
the ship the last day, during disembarkation, with her arm in a cast.

Thursday was a quiet day. Some of us went to the St. David's light house
and we wandered around St. Georges. On the ship by 2:30, we went up on deck
for sail-away. Later that evening was the Captain's Club (repeat
passengers) Elite Level cocktail party. Since you have to have been on 10
Celebrity sailings, attendance was rather small, but they made any kind of
drink you wanted. Some of us tried the blue martini's (thanks again to
Warren for that tip).

On Friday, another quiet day since we were at sea, there were several
Captain's Club activities including a "high tea" and a back stage tour of
the theater. The back stage tour was a lot of fun. We met several of the
singers and dancers, saw where they had all their outfits backstage. They
have 20 seconds to change outfits during their acts.

Later that afternoon it was the Captain's Club cocktail party. This one has
all the CC members, so with a lot more people, they serve only a limited
variety of drinks. Before dinner I found Ray in the casino, and we grabbed
a cappuccino together. After dinner and packing, it was good byes to new
friends.

I got up Saturday morning around 6:00 am to find the ship just off Coney
Island. I quickly dressed and went up on deck to see us sail under the
Verrazano Bridge, and past Lady Liberty.

It is sad not sailing up the Hudson River, past the NY Skyline. But Bayonne's
Port Liberty is so convenient to those of us who live in New Jersey.

As far as the Zenith herself, she's not getting the attention she deserves
by Captain Margaritas' team. The older Celebrity Captains seem to demand
much more from their crews on the newer ships. I know Captain Ioannis does
on Connie. And ships like Galaxy and Infinity were never in this condition.
Dirty carpets, peeling paint, etc. I specifically detailed all this on my
comment card, including names. I think Margaritas needs to have his butt
kicked by someone in the company office, and I said so.

Public areas such as the dining room chairs have had new upholstery
installed. And there are new bead spreads in the cabins. So she's getting
some attention, just not enough.

I believe that she's still under contract to do Bermuda next summer. At
least according to Chelle, the future sales person.

Would I take the golf clubs (KZG woods, Titleist irons, and Odyssey putter)
on Zenith to Bermuda again? You bet. In a New York minute.