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 www.maxpages.com/mvzenith December is a good time to cruise in the Caribbean as the hurricane season should by then have long ended; however, this year a most unusual December tropical storm visited the Puerto Rican area just at the start of the Zenith's western Caribbean cruise and it looked as if we might encounter some of Odette's disturbed sea conditions but that never was a factor. I flew to Jacksonville the day before embarkation and rented a car to tour the area as far south as St. Augustine. Driving to the new Jaxport cruise terminal was quick as it is only some 15-minutes from the international airport and one does not have to enter Jacksonville proper to get there. In fact, at the present time there is nothing around the terminal which is set in a commercial port facility and is therefore quite isolated. The easiest arrangement is to overnight at one of the hotels in the airport area and taxi ($20) out to the Dames Point Cruise Terminal. I used a shuttle van service ($5/person) to get from the ship back to the JAX airport after debarking. It was convenient and fast. One did not have to make reservations for the shuttle as the vans just kept rolling in and out. The Zenith was on its third cruise since the new terminal was opened late this year and the city of Jacksonville has great hopes for increased cruise traffic. Carnival will start operations in March of 2004 and the city will be the site of the February 2005 Super Bowl which will attract at least six cruise ships to moor in the area and serve as floating hotels for staff and visitors during the event. Dec 7 Jacksonville, Florida departure 1600. Upon turning in the rental car at the airport, I used the cruise line's shuttle to get to the ship. It took all of twenty five minutes to get from the airport and through registration to board the ship! I had dropped the baggage off earlier in the day so there were no impediments. Dec 8 at sea. Weather was unseasonably cool in Jacksonville so it took all day cruising south to notice the increase in warmth; however, by the end of the day the sea air was noticeably more agreeable. One could see the bigger buildings along the southeastern Florida coast during the early part of the day and the cruise seemed to be off to a good start. Exploration of the moderately large M/V Zenith (approximately 1400 passenger capacity vessel) was initiated and few surprises were encountered. It seemed most activities were either on the 11th deck or on the 7th and 8th decks. The central of three banks of elevators did not reach the 11th deck and the main restaurant occupied one half of the available 7th deck and always seemed to be getting in the way of getting about the ship or so it seemed. In any event, the arrangement of public rooms was certainly adequate and convenient for the most part. I attended lectures and shipboard sports events and did the usual things so I never spent much time in any single spot on the ship. The Rendezvous Lounge had the best danceable music but it offered only a duo team and at only certain hours of the evening. There was a single 'gentleman host' available to dance with the ladies but his presence was kept a secret and it was only revealed on the last full day of the 14-day cruise. The man and wife team, Estee and Chris Woods, from the production cast presented good dance lessons on days when the ship was not in port and they are to be commended. Similarly, the man and wife team, Sarah and Bill Weber, presented lectures concerning the operation of digital cameras that were outstanding. The four production shows were enjoyable and the vocal renditions of Bill Acosta in his imitation of famous singers was most noteworthy. Everthing else was what one has come to expect in shipboard activities and entertainment. A new wrinkle was the 15-minute Captain's welcome party and the 30-minute Captain's farewell party! Not much dancing opportunity there. Dec 9 at sea. The cruise line website notes a theater is located on the ship but movies are seldom shown in one of the lounges. A relatively few different movies were offered on Channel 23 on the TV sets in the rooms; however, the late run movies now are pay/per/view and are charged to the passenger's account. It seems more and more amenities are being considered as a source of revenue. I expect there will be a charge for top entertainment on the ships in the near future. Dec 10 Costa Maya, Mexico 0700-1800. A new pier has been constructed a few miles north of Majahual on the relatively isolated Mexican coast just north of Belize. A shopping facility containing about three dozen shops has been tastefully built and a large pool is available for ship's passengers. The cruise lines have been instrumental along with the Mexican government in developing this area to provide yet another port destination in a crowded cruise ship area. It inevitably will result in more hotels and attractions as time goes on. The offshore Chinchorro reef, which is thirty miles to the east and not easy to get to, has been the magnet for divers but, generally speaking, this is not readily available for cruise passengers. I walked along the shore south to Majahual, meeting only an occasional iguana, and swam out to the nearby reef just for exercise. Majahual, or Mayahual, is a very small village catering to visitors and a few restaurants, rental vehicles and horses, and small stores are available. The cruise line offers tours and excursions to a few attractions. Dec 11 Roatan, Honduras 0700-1400. The island of Roatan is very well known by scuba divers as a favorite in the Caribbean. I did a bit of snorkeling on my own and enjoyed the experience. Most of the passengers, not surprisingly, felt that there was very little of interest in the visit. Dec 12 at sea. Again, a good day at sea to get involved in all the trivia and games aboard the ship. I found I did very little reading during the whole cruise and so my time must have been spent following the plan of the day, everyday. Dec 13 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 0700-1900. Costa Rica's Caribbean shore is low and forested and Moin, just a stone throw's distance north of Puerto Limon is the commercial outport for shipment of bananas to Northamerica and Europe. I took a taxi to the start of the Tortuguero Canal near Moin and took an hour's boat ride up the canal to see birds, monkeys, sloths and a single crocodile. The canal ride costs $15. Dec 14 Colon, Panama 0700-1700. Colon has not had the attention that is probably its due; however, it does have an extensive duty free zone that is important locally. A taxi ride for an hour will easily take in all the sights of the city and then some. Panama did have the lowest prices of all the ports visited and a decent white wine from Argentina costs no more than $2.50/bottle. Dec 15 at sea. It was pleasant to have a day at sea, maybe even two, between port visits. Dec 16 Grand Cayman 0700-1700. There were eight large cruise ships in this tendering port, a record 20,000 visitors for an island that has a population of some 35,000. The local newspaper was preparing a lead article by conducting passenger interviews and taking pictures of this congregation of ships. The Voyager of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Coral Princess, Inspiration, Norwegian Majesty, Zaandam and Grandeur of the Seas were the ones I recall with their many similar lifeboats scurrying in and out of the small harbor. I snorkeled just a few minutes walk south of the harbor at a place with a sign called Eden Rock. The fish were plentiful and colorful. There is even an outdoor shower near the few steps leading down through the coral to the sea. Dec 17 at sea. The passage had been a bit rough during the day and many passengers felt the ill effects although I did not seem to notice at all the rocking and rolling. Many rain showers were encountered now and again. Dec 18 Key West, Florida 0800-1700. The port terminal is right in the heart of the city and Key West was a most delightful visit. All the passengers seemed to comment how much they enjoyed their visit. I took the nearby glass-bottom boat that left from the head of Duval Street, seemingly not a hundred yards from where the Zenith was moored. The relatively new Pride of Key West can accommodate 110 passengers and takes a half-hour anjoyable ride south six miles to the reef preserve to observe sealife while it's passengers stay dry and well informed. An excellent narration points out the importance of the coral reef environment and we did see a variety of corals, reef fishes, a single Hawksbill turtle and birdlife. After an hour of drifting over the reef area, the half-hour ride back fitted in well with the early departure of the ship. We heard that the city has required the ships in port to depart no later than one hour before sunset so as not to hamper the many shore visitors from seeing the sunset from the dock area. Since cruise passengers can view the sunset from wherever they are at sea, this seemed like a sensible arrangement. Dec 19 Freeport, Bahamas 1000-1800. The so-called private island of Coco Cay was supposed to be visited today but after arriving at the small, low island early in the morning, it was determined that the seas were a bit too high for safe tendering operations so we headed for Freeport in the western part of Grand Bahama Island which was on our course anyway. It took about two hours to reach Freeport and it afforded a day in the Bahamas which was welcome. The port is being improved with added container yards and some shipyards. Two former Premier Cruise Line ships, the Big Red Boat II and the Rembrandt (formerly Rotterdam), were moored nearby just to the north of the cruise terminal. Since a recent reorganization of the port, the cruise terminal sign now reads "Lucayan Harbor" which really confuses visitors as Port Lucaya is located ten miles to the east and requires a drive to the main shopping and hotel areas on the island. The cruise terminal area has room for about two dozen shops. Not much else is of general interest although the Pier 1 Restaurant at the entrance of the ship channel is within a five minute walk and is the scene of a shark feeding event in the evening usually well after the cruise ships have left. A small pocket beach is adjacent to the restaurant site but swimming is at one's own risk as you might imagine. Dec 20 at sea. The weather turned noticeably cooler and windier as the ship headed north so the deck areas were abandoned for the most part although there were occasional areas of bright sun to cheer the atmosphere. It was a full day of shipboard activities and packing and taking care of last minute details easily filled the hours. The ship was slowed as the distance to be covered to Jacksonville was not very great. Dec 21 Jacksonville, Florida arrival 0700. The ship was cleared at approximately 0845 and disembarkation was immediately thereafter so I caught a shuttle, as mentioned above, to the international airport which took about twenty minutes at the most. I was easily able to board a 1130 flight out although I would not recommend trying to depart before noon with the present setup. Overall, the cruise was most enjoyable and well worth the investment of time and money. |
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