Live from the decks of the mercury b2b 3/8/10 & 3/19/10

[tuggers]

Thanks, Fran, I had fun, too! Have you considered Alaska?:)

Sorry about your luggage! You were not alone, I saw it happen to others! And you are so right about how frustrating it was, doing nothing for a solid hour except waiting and reaching in our pockets to tip the next person who touched our bags. I'm not one to begrudge tips but geez they didn't have to take advantage of us!

If Charleston wants and needs the cruise business they are going to have to get their act together and make some major changes. And I don't mean a new terminal. That will take 3 years. They need to learn to work better and smarter with what they have or the only people willing to sail from there will be the locals.

OK, I'm off my soap box!:rolleyes:

[fecombs]

Gail,

 

I e-mailed Celebrity today concerning elite status. If you would like a copy of that e-mail, just e-mail me at fecombs@comcast.net and I will

send it to you.

 

Blessings

Fran

[fastrock]

OK, found this out regarding disembarkation.

The March 8th disembarkation was the first disembarkation being handled by longshoremen union members. Previously it was performed by same company that ran the buses on the 500 ft journeys from one warehouse to the next.

 

Longshoremen threatened action - not sure what that means, but I can imagine - unless they got the disembarkation gig.

 

The reason the bus drivers were less than friendly was because they (company they worked for) was doing a good job, but they got muscled out by the longshoremen and all the baggage handlers got released. Baggage handlers shared a % of tips with bus drivers.

 

A local bird in the port authority "loop" tweeted the above, so I'm confident of it's accuracy.

 

Thanks for the info on the 25% coupons.

[cheryl20772]

Please post and let us know when you get your 25% coupons.

 

I will be looking for the 15% coupon. Our refund process got really screwy looking. First after I cancelled this cruise, the online page at My Celebrity started showing that I had cancelled a cruise for South America in next Feb. Then I got two small refunds each around $200 one on the 19th and another on the 20th of March.

 

I called Celebrity and was on hold forever because they couldn't find my confirmation number. After they found our transactions they came back to me with a story that they could not talk to me as I had used AARP Expedia to book the cruise. Nevermind the credits to my credit card did not show Expedia and had Celebrity's phone number listed. I asked them if my credit card company did an enquiry, would they also be directed to Expedia? Got a monkey recording about the agreement they have with the TA.

 

So I called Expedia and, after two phone calls and much holding, finally found out that the mess is caused by Celebrity having to book us for another cruise and cancel it in order to generate the 15% coupon. Supposedly the two refunds on the 19th and 20th were for taxes and port fees. The balance will be refunded after 4 to 6 weeks.

 

I want to book our Anniversary cruise in June, but feel like we have to wait for this refund business to be sorted first.

 

Will let you know when it's all fixed.

[tuggers]

I'm sorry the bus drivers feel they got a bum deal but not giving us air conditioning isn't going to change anything except to have us leaving Charleston with a not so warm and fuzzy feeling!

As for the extra $25 in tips it cost me, I would have rather spent it on two more martinis!:rolleyes:

[fecombs]

Me Too!

[marvin]

Can,t wait to get on the Mercury on May 5th. Marvin

[missygirl]

We board on April 9...first 10-nighter...so very excited.:D

 

Missygirl

[tuggers]

After your first 10 nighter comes a 12, then a 14. After those you try a b2b. then it becomes the longer the better!

You'll soon be hooked on longer cruises!:rolleyes:

[Deb C.]

Welcome home, Tuggers!!

I have been following your journey the entire time---just lurking in the background. It is always an adventure following you on a cruise! Glad to hear everything, in the long run, came out okay and you had a good time!

Sounds like you had some of my favorites---shrimp cocktail and some trivia!!:D

Good to hear Terri made it along, too!! I enjoy cruising with both of you and hope to someday cruise again!

Take care and be sure to keep posting on your future cruises! Deb C.

[tuggers]

Hey Deb! I know you will be happy when I say they never cut the number of shrimp down in the shrimp cocktail, even on the last night! Of course, with the shrimp and the escargot both available every night I have big decisions to make!:rolleyes:

See you on a ship real soon! :)

[r5516]

I'm sorry the bus drivers feel they got a bum deal but not giving us air conditioning isn't going to change anything except to have us leaving Charleston with a not so warm and fuzzy feeling!

 

As for the extra $25 in tips it cost me, I would have rather spent it on two more martinis!:rolleyes:

 

I agree, the bartender in the martini Bar was among the best I have ever encountered in my martini career. Did you break the bank with the slot pull?

[tuggers]

r5516, the slot pull was a great success. We had 29 people join in. We used a $1 Wheel of Fortune machine. After everyone had their turn we had $185. It was suggested that we take that money, put it in another W of F machine nearby and give everyone two pulls. Low and behold we got a wheel spin and it stopped on $1,000!!! Isn't that great? Even better, one of our people took her money from our slot pull win to the casino in Nassau and won a $1,200 jackpot! I think it was just lucky money!:D:D

Vaughn was very good. And to think, he had only been in the Martini Bar 2 months!

I've been home almost a week and I'm ready to start planning something! Would really like to do Mercury to Alaska. Can I interest anyone else??? We could get a group rate...

[Cindy G]

We leave for AK on the Millie, departing April 30th. It's a 14-nighter and inside cabins are less than $999.00. The cruise is on the Exciting Deals (again) for 4-6-2010. Maybe you should join us??? You will have time to unpack and re-pack. It leaves from San Diego...gotta love Southwest. It's a perfect combination.

 

Cindy G.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

We leave for AK on the Millie, departing April 30th. It's a 14-nighter and inside cabins are less than $999.00. The cruise is on the Exciting Deals (again) for 4-6-2010. Maybe you should join us??? You will have time to unpack and re-pack. It leaves from San Diego...gotta love Southwest. It's a perfect combination.

 

Cindy G.

 

Yeah, Gail, come on along! Really great itinerary and you can't beat those prices for a 14-day cruise. You can even get a balcony for a few bucks more. I'm paying less for this 14-day to Alaska than I did for my 7-day to Alaska on the Mercury in 2006.

[r5516]

r5516, the slot pull was a great success. We had 29 people join in. We used a $1 Wheel of Fortune machine. After everyone had their turn we had $185. It was suggested that we take that money, put it in another W of F machine nearby and give everyone two pulls. Low and behold we got a wheel spin and it stopped on $1,000!!! Isn't that great? Even better, one of our people took her money from our slot pull win to the casino in Nassau and won a $1,200 jackpot! I think it was just lucky money!:D:D

 

Vaughn was very good. And to think, he had only been in the Martini Bar 2 months!

 

I've been home almost a week and I'm ready to start planning something! Would really like to do Mercury to Alaska. Can I interest anyone else??? We could get a group rate...

 

 

Thanks for the info about the slot pull. We are also looking forward to our next cruise, The Jersey Shore is getting ready for summer so we will be anxious come fall to get out and about. We did Alaska 2 years ago and it was great.

 

Jerry

[seasill]

r5516, the slot pull was a great success. We had 29 people join in. We used a $1 Wheel of Fortune machine. After everyone had their turn we had $185. It was suggested that we take that money, put it in another W of F machine nearby and give everyone two pulls. Low and behold we got a wheel spin and it stopped on $1,000!!! Isn't that great? Even better, one of our people took her money from our slot pull win to the casino in Nassau and won a $1,200 jackpot! I think it was just lucky money!:D:D

Vaughn was very good. And to think, he had only been in the Martini Bar 2 months!

I've been home almost a week and I'm ready to start planning something! Would really like to do Mercury to Alaska. Can I interest anyone else??? We could get a group rate...

 

Count us in for Alaska!!!

 

Seasill :)

[tuggers]

You're in Cil!

[tuggers]

Looks like we might be lucky if we get to do Alaska this year. On Mercury, that is.:mad:

[blong2200]

Looks like we might be lucky if we get to do Alaska this year. On Mercury, that is.:mad:

 

Tuggers:

 

Why do you say that? Is something going on with Mercury?

[tuggers]

blong 2200, there were 'reports' of people on board to look her over. Implying they were thinking of buying. But there are always rumors.

I wanted to thank all of you who took the time to post or just read and kept up with our cruises. I love to write about cruising and appreciate all the comments, suggestions and questions. Thanks again.

Planning on doing Alaska in August so I'll be back with another 'Live From' then.

Bye For Now!

[elena7seas]

blong 2200, there were 'reports' of people on board to look her over. Implying they were thinking of buying. But there are always rumors.

 

I wanted to thank all of you who took the time to post or just read and kept up with our cruises. I love to write about cruising and appreciate all the comments, suggestions and questions. Thanks again.

 

Planning on doing Alaska in August so I'll be back with another 'Live From' then.

 

Bye For Now!

 

It's always a happy day when I find another installment of your "purple prose".:D

 

Love, love, love your "Live from..." posts and hope you'll be travelling again soon. It keeps me going (feeds my craving) when I don't have another cruise booked any time soon.

[CruisingChick]

blong 2200, there were 'reports' of people on board to look her over. Implying they were thinking of buying. But there are always rumors.

 

 

Hi Gail, those reports are factual since we saw the people from TUI with our own eyes. They were not hiding the fact who they were and what they were doing on Mercury. They boarded in Tortola (4/5) and then we had 3 sea days after that.

 

That sat at the table right next to us in the MDR for the last 3 evenings of the cruise. We also saw them on the final morning of the cruise lugging all their equipment into the "closed library."

 

In any event, from what we saw and heard during those 3 days suggests that Mercury will be transfered over to TUI in May 2011. Unless of course TUI rejects the transfer.

 

The staff and crew on Mercury were doing everything to cater to the TUI reps.

 

Wish I could sail Alaska!!! Have a great cruise.

 

Anne Maria