The ''Zenith'' was a

Cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

built in 1992 by

Meyer Werft Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have be ...

Papenburg Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Geog ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...

as ''Zenith''. After a career for

Pullmantur Cruises Pullmantur Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by U.S ...

and Croisières de France she was sold for scrapping in

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Alan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 2022.

History

''The Zenith'' was built as a sister ship to Celebrity Cruises' first newbuild MV ''Horizon''. Ship designer was yacht designer Jan Bannenberg. Her interiors were designed by Michael Katsourakis and British designer John McNeece. ''The Zenith ''was delivered in February 1992 and set under

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n flag. She was used for cruises from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

islands. In 2002 she was reflagged in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. In 2007 she was transferred to Pullmantur Cruises and used for cruises around the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. A seven-night cruise from 11 to 18 March 1995 aboard ''The Zenith'' is the subject of

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...

's 1995 essay "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" (collected in a collection of the same name and originally published in '' Harper's'' as "Shipping Out"). Wallace refers to the ''Zenith'' as the ''Nadir'' throughout (although he insists "the rechristening's nothing particular against the ship itself"). In 2014, ''The Zenith'' was moved to the fleet of

CDF Croisières de France CDF Croisières de France was a cruise line that catered to the French cruise market, with French as the primary language used on board. CDF was a subsidiary of Pullmantur Cruises, and offered cruises to the Mediterranean operating from mid-Marc ...

, joining her sister ship the ''L'Horizon''. CDF Croisières de France brand was discontinued in early 2017. ''The Zenith'' returned to the fleet of Pullmantur Cruises in 2017. In July 2019 it was announced the ship would leave Pullmantur's fleet in early 2020 to

Peace Boat is a global non-government organization headquartered in Japan established for the purpose of raising awareness and building connections internationally among groups that work for peace, human rights, environmental protection and sustainable dev ...

, with fleetmate ''Monarch'' poised to take over ''The Zenith''s existing sailings. In September 2020 Cruise Capital informed according to Hong Kong Cruise Society, Peace Boat is to replace the contracts of two ships ''Ocean Dream'' and ''The Zenith'' from service, replacing them with one larger ship that they had purchased—the current , to be renamed ''Pacific World'' from Spring 2021. In May 2022, Peace Boat announced that all cruises in 2022 and 2023 to be operated by ''The Zenith'' were cancelled due to a change in contract with the owner company. She was laid up in

Lavrio Laurium or Lavrio ( ell, Λαύριο; grc, Λαύρειον (later ); before early 11th century BC: Θορικός ''Thorikos''; from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greec ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, but left the port on 8 June as ''TSM Singapore'' heading to Hai Phong, Vietnam. In September of 2022 she has been renamed to ''Singa'' and has been sold for scrap in Alang, India. She never sailed for Peace Boat.

Fires

The ship was damaged at the stern on 8 August 2009 when a fire broke out. It was at that moment moored at

Frihamnen Frihamnen is a neighbourhood of Malmö, situated in the Borough of Centrum, Malmö Municipality Malmö Municipality ( sv, Malmö kommun), or City of Malmö (''Malmö stad''), is a Swedish municipality in Skåne County, the southernmost of the ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. On 26 June 2013 another fire aboard the ship broke out, this time in its engine room causing it to lose power. It had to anchor 17 miles off the coast of Venice, Italy, before four tugboats came to tow it to port. One week later it went to the S.Marco shipyard in the

port of Trieste The Free Port of Trieste is a port in the Adriatic Sea in Trieste, Italy. It's the most important commercial port of Italy with a trade volume of 62 million tonnes. It is subdivided into 5 different Free Areas, 3 of which have been allotted to ...

Gallery

File:Zenith at Ocho Rios.jpg, ''Zenith'' in Celebrity livery at

Ocho Rios Ocho Rios (Spanish for "Eight Rivers") is a town in the parish of Saint Ann on the north coast of Jamaica, and is more widely referred to as ''Ochi'' by locals. Beginning as a sleepy fishing village, Ocho Rios has seen explosive growth in the ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

File:MV Zenith in Bermuda.jpg, ''Zenith'' in Celebrity livery at

(2007) File:Zenith (ship, 1992) IMO 8918136; in Split, 2011-11-01 (1).jpg, ''Zenith'' in Pullmantur livery at

Split, Croatia )'' , settlement_type = List of cities and towns in Croatia, City , anthem = ''Marjane, Marjane'' , image_skyline = , imagesize = 267px , image_caption = Top: Nighttime view of ...

(2011) File:CelebrityOrientUshuaia.jpg, ''Zenith'' in Ushuaia (docked with the ''

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

'')

References

External links

Celebrity Cruises

A video clip of Zenith (in Pullmantur livery) leaving Rhodos

The Zenith page on Croisières de France website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenith Ships built in Papenburg Ships of Celebrity Cruises Ships of Pullmantur Cruises Ships of Croisières de France Cruises 1991 ships