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

[LMKohler]

Hi Gail,

 

I'm another one on the March 29th cruise and it is very good to hear things are getting back to "normal":).

 

I am curious, though, are the codes published? How do you know if it is a star code or code red? I have been on noro cruises before so I know the first thing that disappears is usually the salt & pepper shakers;)

 

Have a wonderful trip and I will look forward to your posts.

 

Lucy

[atb]

Not sure if Valerie (performer) is still on - but if so, and they schedule the French Cabaret for her, she is definately a do not miss.

We loved Roxanne, but we also loved April at the elite thing. Julianna is awesome / excellent - all of the above.

We wait until October to get on again. :( Serious Bummer!!!

[celebrity cruiser]

Hey Gail and Co.

Can I ask who Zafer is?

 

If he is not the restaurant manager, can you please ask if Donata, a female, is the current restaurant manager? We thought she would be on our next Summit cruise but here she may be with you. She will remember us from NJ and traveling with a friend of ours in a wheel chair. She was our waitress at that time.

 

Enjoy,

Mark

[Ma Bell]

Do you mean Danuta? If so, I believe she is on vacation now.

[smtcan]

Have heard of no noro but we've had a star code every day we've been on. Today they took someone off on a stretcher. I guess one of the star codes. Just don't think its noro or we would be seeing more signs of it.

We were on the cruise before you and were very surprised at the number of star codes. I have never heard one over the PA on a cruise before and on our cruise there seemed to be one or more every day. We did turn back to one port (I think it was Cozumel) to drop off a passenger who had become ill just after we left. We were less than an hour out, so it didn't cause much delay.

[Ships R Great]

Hi, Gail. glad to hear your trip is goin g well, so fr. Sorry about the mess boarding. But, as you say, I've seen worse than our's on 2/26-27. (Watch everybody jump on that!)

 

Is there more than one Mario? We had him on our cruise. He is super. He had to deal with a new table group every night and was always vheerful and helpful. He warned me not to order the steak and I did anyway. He was right.

 

Roxanne is a dear. If she is not there, try Ansal. Tell Juliana I send a warm hello.

 

Re. the library. They took all the books out before our cruise. John said they had a "book tossing" party. I suppose they will wait till the scare is truly over (maybe after they get to the West Coast, to replace them. Find a Walmart and buy some paperbacks.

 

Looking forwad to your daily reports.

[CruisingChick]

Hi, Gail. glad to hear your trip is goin g well, so fr. Sorry about the mess boarding. But, as you say, I've seen worse than our's on 2/26-27. (Watch everybody jump on that!)

 

Is there more than one Mario? We had him on our cruise. He is super. He had to deal with a new table group every night and was always vheerful and helpful. He warned me not to order the steak and I did anyway. He was right.

 

Roxanne is a dear. If she is not there, try Ansal. Tell Juliana I send a warm hello.

 

Re. the library. They took all the books out before our cruise. John said they had a "book tossing" party. I suppose they will wait till the scare is truly over (maybe after they get to the West Coast, to replace them. Find a Walmart and buy some paperbacks.

 

Looking forwad to your daily reports.

 

Okay for those of us who have yet to sail Mercury, but will be on her in 17 days, who are all these people you are mentioning: Roxanne, Juliana, Mario, Ansal? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Thanks.

[blong2200]

Tuggers:

 

Keep everyone in line and keep the place clean for us that sailing with you next trip!

 

Beth in Georgia

[Andy]

Hi Gail !

 

Thank you for your updates. I look forward to your next installment. Have a wonderful Cruise !

[CruisingChick]

Okay, I have another question about Mercury - is it Deck 5 - Plaza Deck the one you can't walk the full length of. So if you need to go AFT you need to go up to 6 or down to 4 and walk aft and then go to 5? I know one deck is cut off and for some reason the entire 7 days I kept walking into that wall.

 

Hope you are having a great time and that no one is sick.

[PatC]

Anne Maria - they are folks who are waiters, hostesses, etc. on the ship. We have met some really wonderful staff who we've sailed with on different ships.

 

The restaurant manager who we love the most is from Poland. For the life of me I can't remember his name right now and that's a senior moment. We sailed with him before we all became "old and grey". Last saw him on Summit. We have pictures together and what a difference 6-8 years make:eek: One waiter from the Martini Bar on Connie last March told us he might be on Mercury this trip so we'll have to look for him.

 

Other than that we have met so many wonderful people you remember them all. It's nice to see familiar faces when you board who remember you.

 

The best was John Howell on Summit. We warned him we were all coming back and when we boarded for Hawaii he remembered all of us and we had a blast with him. I believe he's on Azamara now.

 

Another CD was Don Fluke - he was terrific and remembered sailing with us on Zenith when were were thrown out of Bermuda for a hurricane and ended up in Martha's Vineyard. That was an experience I can tell you all about in a few weeks.

 

Love Gail's posts. Glad the ship seems to be getting back to normal.

 

Pat

[cookiejarvis]

Not sure if Valerie (performer) is still on - but if so, and they schedule the French Cabaret for her, she is definately a do not miss.

!!!

 

 

Valerie is still on board. She played almost nightly right outside 5th deck entrance to MDR. And she is still good.

[cookiejarvis]

Okay, I have another question about Mercury - is it Deck 5 - Plaza Deck the one you can't walk the full length of. So if you need to go AFT you need to go up to 6 or down to 4 and walk aft and then go to 5? I know one deck is cut off and for some reason the entire 7 days I kept walking into that wall.

 

.

You are correct, Deck 5 is a short deck for foot traffic. Plays havoc in getting to dining room.

[If only]

You are correct, Deck 5 is a short deck for foot traffic. Plays havoc in getting to dining room.

 

The short deck is due to the kitchen behind the wall.

[Dave's Florida Girl]

You always have such fun on these cruises, Gail. Maybe one of these days they'll invent a fool proof anti-nausea treatment so I can join in the fun! ...........who knows? :o I can always hope!:confused:

 

We'll pray the norovirus away from your ship and have a great cruise! ;)

 

Tip the glass for me once or twice!

Diana

[celebrity cruiser]

Do you mean Danuta? If so, I believe she is on vacation now.

 

Thanks Ma for the info. Sorry about ruining her name. We remembered her saying its like "donut."

 

Do you have any idea when she will return and on what ship? We are sailing on Summit april 17 and would love to see her. Maybe she got married this time while vacation.

 

Cheers, Mark

[Ma Bell]

No, sorry I don't. We met when she first started with Celebrity and have been pleased to see her progress to Restaurant Manager.:)

[WINEMANVISALIA]

WE HONEYMOONED 12 YEARS AGO ON THE MERCURY 5-3-1998,WE HAVE JUST BOOKED OUR SECOND HONEYMOON ON THE MERCURY 5-5-2010,WHERE WE LEARNED TO WINE AND DINE...

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/576987878emuPaE

[cosaraquis1]

Restaurant manager from Poland her name is Danuta. Spoke with her on Mercury in December, she is enchanting & wonderful as ever. Seems very happy, she is such an asset to Celebrity. I will always remember her.

[tuggers]

Mercury Day Three 3/8 & 3/19/10

This is another Sea Day, which I lovc, but I was hoping for a little more sunshine and a little less wind. But, hey, I’m on a ship so I can’t complain too much!

Another day started in the Concierge Lounge. Boy, am I going to miss this when I go home! Starting the day with a Mimosa and an almond croissant is something I would love to get used to!!! Oh well, at least I have it while I’m onboard.

Because of the weather we just kind of kicked back, read, visited and, of course, ate! We (Terri and I) did go to Opposition Wars, which used to be Battle of the Sexes. They are doing it differently, for one thing you can’t ‘steal’ if the other team gets it wrong. All the questions came from trivia cards, they were not guy questions for the ladies and vice versa. Just luck of the draw as to which questions you got. We did have a brand new activities person who is on his first contract and had just gotten onboard. That could have been one reason it was a little boring. We’ll probably try it again.

So far our days have all been about resting and relaxing so I’ll just go straight to some food stuff!

Terri, Roger and I went to the buffet while Cil and JoAn went to the dining room. Roger and I were hungry for stir fry and it was excellent. That’s what Terri had wanted but she got side tracked by salad and roast beef. I think after she saw our stir fry she was sorry she hadn’t got it, but we have many more days so she will get her fill of the stir fry!

BTW, one of the things we really miss with this code red is there are no munchies in any of the bars or in the CL. I understand why, but sometimes it would be very nice to have some peanuts or Asian mix with our drinks.

Dinner:

Ambrosia

Asst Crostini (JoAn had this and it looked GREAT)

Chilled Veal Tenderloin w/Tuna Caper Dressing

Caribbean Cod Fritters

Asian Consomme

Cream of Sweet Corn Soup (had this, Wonderful)

Leek and Potato Vichyssoise

Seasonal Greens

Belgian Endive and Fresh Pear Salad

Grilled Alaskan Halibut

Mediterranean Seafood Risotto

Chicken Ciao Bella

Cochan a la Moutards (Pork Medallions)

Pan Seared Sirloin (very good)

Lemon Ricotta Ravioli

Tiramisu

Walnut and Banana Cake

Fondant Croustilant (that’s the Rice Crispy thing)

No Sugar Strawberry Angel Food Cake

Dinner was great and, of course, our service was impeccable! Celebrity still does food better than anyone else. HAL comes close, but I’m still an X food fan.

New Executive Chef since I was on here last and I did get a chance to talk to him. He was on, observing, during part of the Panama Canal trip. They were having so many complaints then that the Exec Chef we had was getting off. This guy came from HAL. He said he is still tweaking things to get food just the way he wants it. It is very, very good. More like the old X.

Tried the casino. Lost my 5 bucks. Bummer!

San Juan tomorrow!

Bye For Now!

[tuggers]

Mercury Day Four 3/9 and 3/19/2010

We’re in San Juan and the sun is shining! Well, okay, its shining through the rain drops! After a visit to the CL, Roger and I headed in to town.

First stop was to be the Internet shop which is right across from where the ship docks. It was locked up tight. Talked to some of the men sitting around drinking beer (yes, it was about 10:30). Apparently the guy who owned the place had gotten all his temporary permits (a long time ago) but had never gotten the permanent ones. They said he is still renting the store so maybe he’ll be back.

We waited there for the Trolley which is supposed to come every 15 minutes but definitely runs on San Juan time! Only about a 20 minute wait. We took the trolley to the Walgreens/Marshall’s stop. I had lost my sunglasses so Marshall’s was our first stop. Also bought a HUGE dog treat jar. Hey, I’m driving home so I can do these things! Never went to Walgreens because when I asked the cashier about an Internet place she pointed to Starbucks!

Roger had coffee and I had Internet! J Students from a local arts school came in while we were there and put on a short skit. Coffee, entertainment and Internet! What a deal!

We went back to the trolley stop and waited. And waited. No trolley so we decided to walk back. It was then we discovered the new, huge CVS on the street across from the ship. We now have munchies for the CL! Yea!

By the time we got back it was CL time so we went directly there. Everyone made it by 4:30. And we’re on a Cosmo kick.

Dinner:

Feta and Fresh Fruit

Curried Chicken Salad

Tomato and Arugula Crostini

Chicken Spring Rolls (these were good)

Cream of Broccoli

Saffron Shellfish Broth

Chilled Black Cherry Soup (heaven!)

Boston Lettuce and Gorgonzola Salad

Market Fresh Salad

Seafood Fettuccine

Blackened Drum Fish

Oven Roasted Tandori Chicken

Mozzarella Meat Balls (one of the JVS signature dishes which I have learned to stay far away from!)

Braised Short Ribs (we all had this and it was very good)

Honey and Marjoram Braised Barley

Passion Fruit Cheesecake

Pastry Cigar w/ Dulce de Leche

Chocolate and Blueberry Chambord Cake

No Sugar Cherries Jubilee

Discovered that we now have FOX news! So nice to have something besides CNN which I get so tired of on the ships! Don’t know how long it will last, but for now we have a choice in news!

Wonderful day! Little tired from the walk over those horrible San Juan sidewalks. Got bad cramps in my calves. But still had a great day!

Bye For Now!

[tuggers]

Finally managed to get my laptop hooked up onboard so I will come down here later and catch up on postings and get you up to date.

Couple of things. Noro cases are decreasing. Looking good for next cruise. Keep your fingers crossed. All sorts of wild rumors out there but I have this on good authority.

Restaurant manager is a man so not the one you all are looking for. Zafer is an asst matre d', the one who changes your table assignments and such on the first day. I have heard from several other guests that they also found him discourteous and condescending. So its not just me!

Thanks for all the ni8ce comments. This has been the hardest cruise for me to get Internet service. Onboard and in ports. Finally got this one through so I am very happy.

I'll be back on tonight!

Bye For Now!

[Eliz]

Gail, great to hear from you! I really enjoy reading your updates. I'm so glad that Terri and Joan are onboard with you. Hope you all stay healthy and enjoy the sun and sea.

 

Elizabeth

[cruiseacecat]

Hi Gail,

 

Enjoying living vicariously through this cruise. I may be the only person on the Panama Canal cruise who actually enjoyed the food. :)

I assume you are going to name the various staff and officers who are now onboard. I will not be on Mercury until 9 April, so I understand they can change. Would love to know who I might be seeing.

Really surprised to hear about the attitude of Zafer. I have always found him to be, if not actually warm, at least relatively pleasant. Sorry you are not having the same experience. At least you got Mario.

Enjoy your cruise and stay well.

Anne

[BonnieVA]

Thanks for the updates, Tuggers. Glad you found some internet connection because I've been anxiously waiting to hear how the cruise is going.

 

If you happen to get some more stir fry maybe you could see if the young man serving it is named Paul Daniel from India. If so, could you tell him that Bonnie (the woman who was on the Mercury Nov 23 & in late Jan) says "hi"? I'd appreciate it.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise on the awesome Mercury. I'll be waiting to hear about the next week from you!