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

[Andy]

Hi Gail !

 

Thank you for your updates. Have a wonderful Cruise !

[bubbie617]

I always love reading Tugger's "Live From" threads. I especially like this one because we were on Mercury in January and liked it very much.

 

Roxanne was our favorite bar person. She was always around with a big smile when you wanted or needed something. She has a fabulous personality.

 

Valerie (or as we called her "Frenchie") was a highlight of the trip for me. I loved her music and her cabaret style. She performed onstage in the theater on the first night, and it didn't do her justice. We're very glad we went to see her in Cova Cafe or the Champagne Bar (wherever we could find her). She is great in a small venue.

 

We never did the Elite lounge for breakfast, but we spent time there on several afternoons. My one disappointment was that they did not serve coffee there. I do not care for alcoholic beverages, but I do drink a lot of decaf coffee. After the first trip there, I just took my coffee with me. It was just a nice "kick back" place to go in the afternoon.

 

Have a great trip Gail. Looking forward to more of your posts.

[nottwodoc]

FYI..my son goes to law school at the charleston school of law--there was a threat of some sort made twice -don't know the details so they evacuated the law school,which is actually several buildings.The person was ultimately arrested.

[cruisebunny32]

Gail...just wondering..what is the dress code for the Elite Concieres Lounge? We have heard conflicting reports. Thanks for all you posts....2 more week for us and it can't get here fast enough!

[tuggers]

I had thre best of intentions to post this last night. Got back to the cabin around 11:30, took a shower, finished writing yesterday post, started to get dressed and go to the computer hot spot when they started to spray the halls! Waited 30 minutes for it to dry and then they did it again. Gave up and went to bed.

Came down here this morning and no service! Finally, after lunch it seems to be working but very slowly.

Mercury Day Five 3/8 & 3/19/2010

Today is St Thomas and Cil, Roger and I started the day with breakfast in the dining room. We met at 8:30 because the dining room stops serving at 9 and we hate to go in just as they are closing. Everyone onboard is working very, very hard but the dining staff is perhaps working the hardest. When not in the dining room they are in the Lido, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. While other departments have been able to give their staff a day off here and there, I am told the wait staff has not been so lucky. So we try very hard to be respectful of their hard work and not make it worse for them.

Once out of the dining room, I seemed to just lose all energy. I went back to my cabin and stayed there most all day, napping and reading. I wasn’t sick, just very tired. Terri, JoAn and Roger went into Havensight and shopped. I did manage to rouse myself in time for the Elite Cocktail Hour! J

It was a beautiful day, but I really seemed to need my rest. Ever since my Amazon trip and illness, if I do too much, I’m down for the count until I take a day (or two) and spend it in bed. Sorry it had to be on a cruise!

I didn’t even have lunch. Went up about 3:30 and had a slice of pizza before I went to have a drink. It was the first pizza I have had on this trip and it was very good. I almost had two slices, but managed not to.

Elite Cocktail Hour is from 4 to 6. After that I visited the casino for about 30 minutes. Came out with the same amount I went in with so that was a win. So nice not having to fight off the smokers!

Dinner:

Chilled Melon Midori

Warm Goat Cheese Croustillant (JoAn and Terri both had this and liked it)

Roasted Vegetable Napoleon

Spinach Turnover (my fave, it’s a little smaller but still good)

Minestrone

Baked Potato Soup (very good)

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Sliced Tomato and Red Onion Salad

Green Leaf and Radicchio Lettuce Salad

Penne Quattro Formaggi (easily the best pasta dish they serve but much too rich to eat a whole order so we had one and split it between us – WONDERFUL!)

Seared Tuna Steak

Oven Roasted Tom Turkey

Veal Cordon Blue

Petit Filet Mignon (we all had this, very good)

Vietnamese Yellow Curry with Potatoes

Sacher Torte

Gratin de Poire (JoAn had this but wasn’t impressed)

Marzipan Amaretto Cake

No Sugar Cannoli Tutto-Fruitti

Nothing appealed to me for dessert so I had Pina Colada Ice Cream. X’s ice cream is always good.

We didn’t do much after dinner. Shows are all before dinner and we don’t want to get dressed that early so we have not gone to any of the shows. If they have a comedian we will go, but the singers and dancers, a pianist and a juggler have not enticed us.

Hope tomorrow I can get my computer hooked up onboard. Everyone says it is terribly slow, but I would like to use my free minutes. It just seems that every time I try to go there is no one in the computer lab.

Bye For Now!

[tuggers]

Tomorrow is Tortola!!! My very favorite place on earth! Yea!

Mercury Day Six 3/8 & 3/19/2010

Slept in a little and met Terri at 9 in the CL. Cil and Roger were already there. All of us except Cil had Mimosa’s. We keep telling her its 5 o’clock somewhere but she’s not convinced. I must remember to have a Bloody Mary. I just go in and they ask if I want a Mimosa and I say yes. Fruit, yogurt, pastries. All good. This morning they also had a selection of cheese. It’s very quiet and relaxing. One of my favorite perks! Everyone who works there is very friendly. One of the guys told me I got demerits for not showing up the day before!

After breakfast Roger, Terri, JoAn and I walked into St Maarten. Mercury was docked way down the pier behind something called Ocean Village which I had never run into before. It was going to be a long walk so JoAn and I took the $1 golf cart ride (he only had two seats left) and he was nice enough to take us all the way to the water taxi.

Slight glitch with that because there are now 2 water taxi companies. And you have to try to figure out which one you need to take. We all bought our tickets from the same booth but they gave us different colored wristbands. On the way back they wanted to split us up and make Roger and Terri take another boat, very bizarre. But we made it over and back. Next time we will know to be more cognizant of which water taxi we take.

Anyway, it was a beautiful day, probably the warmest one yet. We walked from the middle of town back towards the ship stopping first at the Internet place we’ve always used. Could not hook up. Needed a network key and the girl working had no clue what that was. We tried to tell her it was a password but she still didn’t get it. So we walked on.

All of us except JoAn had a Guavaberry Colada. Terri and I always stop there and then hit the shop next door. He has purses, t-shirts, beach bags, just about anything you want and always makes us a good deal. Sadly this trip he had nothing we couldn’t live without so we walked on. We cut over to the beach, found a restaurant with shady tables and sat down for a drink. Bushwhackers 2 for $9 and boy, were they strong!

Terri eventually bought a bag and we headed back to the ship. After the aforementioned water taxi fiasco, we got the little golf cart back. Believe me, that’s the best $1 we spent all day. I know JoAn was exhausted because she’s still using the walker and those brick sidewalks were very hard for her to navigate.

We all went up to the Lido where we found Cil, reading Skinny Dip and eating stir fry. Love, love, love the stir fry. I’ve had it every day for lunch that we eaten up there. I guess I may get tired of it, but not so far! Terri went out were they have burgers and got hot wings and fries. Everyone else ate some wings but I was too full from the stir fry. Love it with a little Sambol! We were all so full we never even looked at the desserts!

I came back to my cabin, took a nice cool shower and napped until Cocktail Hour. Boy am I going to miss having someone make me a Cosmo every afternoon when I get home!

Terri and I went into the casino. I stopped at a penny machine and she went to find the nickel ones. There was a man and woman on the other two machines and I guess they were together. He had already put $60 in this penny machine so when he stepped back from it and it only had 16 cents left in it, I asked if he was going to leave the machine. Yes, I was going to play that machine if he left it. He got VERY irate, had a few nasty things to say and jammed another twenty in. Now lets face it, this guy is not the smartest bulb in the box if he’s putting 80 bucks in a penny machine that only pays out a little more than that if you hit the jackpot! Lets just say the nicest thing he called me was a piece of work. I cashed out and left because you never know what a nut like that is going to do. I have met so few truly ugly people on X, that it really did take me by surprise.

I finally managed to find the computer guy on duty so I got my computer hooked up. I posted two days on CC and it took me 20 minutes. I’m going to go back later and post these two days because he said it sometimes was faster late at night when no one was online. Let’s hope.

I did want to tell you that I found out the woman who was taken off the ship in San Juan had fallen in her shower and had a broken hip. That was one of the star codes.

Someone asked what star code and code red meant. A star code is called for a medical emergency and code red is the highest level of precautions needed because of something like the noro. That’s when the buffet is saran wrapped so you can’t reach anything and you are served. The salt and pepper shakers come off the table as well as the bread basket.

I haven’t heard a star code called for two days so maybe everyone is getting healthy and not having accidents! We’ve been told its getting better. No new cases of noro in the last 24 hours. Yea!!! But everyone still needs to keep washing hands and sanitizing! I sure do it. I don’t want to be sick.

Dinner:

Fruit Minestrone

Shaved Prosciutto

Smoked Salmon and Cheese Ball

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Beef Consommé

Musk Melon Chilled Soup

Romaine, Frisee and Escarole Salad

Lettuce and Plum Tomato Salad

Pappardelle con Funghi

Crispy Grouper (we all wanted this but were advised against it)

Blanc de Poulet aux Champignone (best chicken any of us have had in a long time

Rack of Lamb (I usually have this but I’ve been off lamb for some reason)

French Pot au Feu (I’ve had this and its awful – braised beef shoulder)

Gorgonzola, Creamy Spinach and Buffalo Mozzarella

Cocoa Meringue w/Brandy Truffle Sauce

Raspberry Praline Cake

Bananas Foster

No Sugar Café Pot de Crème

Great dinner. BTW, Cil did have the Grouper and she said it was bad. And it sounded so good! But the chicken was wonderful.

After dinner we went up to the Navigator Lounge for Dancing With The Stripes. Twelve officers were paired with guests for three dances: Cha Cha, Waltz and Jitter Bug. Four couples danced at a time and one was selected for the ‘finals’. The last dance was the Merangae (sorry don’t know how to spell it and its not in my spell check). Some of the guests were pretty good and some were pretty awful. A man from Charleston who was just too silly for me, won. I think people voted for him because he made the biggest fool of himself but that’s JMO. J I’m sure the officers have had lessons so they don’t look too bad. Anyway, it was fun.

Forgot to say that Terri and I played Beattle’s Name That Tune Trivia this afternoon. Well, to be honest I just sat there. Terri knew all the answers. We (she) got 19 out of 20 and tied with another team who missed the same one we did. It was Hey Jude but a weird rendition that had a really long intro and never got to the song before they cut it off. Anyway, we did not expect any great prize but what we got was not even worthy of Carnival. A bingo ball (spongy) key chain that is so flimsy you could almost bend the metal ring with your fingers. It’s about the sorriest prize I’ve ever seen given on any cruise ship. If they can’t give anything better than that, don’t give anything. They don’t even say Celebrity on them! I’ll bet you could get 1,000 of them for $20. Geez!

You guys seem to have had all your questions answered but if there is anything I can find out for you just let me know. Thanks to everyone who has read and/or posted. Mercury is a great ship and I am enjoying her very much. With the new Executive Chef and the improvement in the food over our Panama Canal cruise, Mercury is pretty much perfect for me. I’ll let the others have the bigger ships. I feel too at home here to want to go anywhere else. I know the time will come when I have to, but for now I’m happy.

Ships, there is only one Mario on this sailing, probably on yours to, so I think my Mario is your Mario!

Bye For Now!

[SCGirl3211]

Tuggers:

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to send your daily posts. They are so informative.

 

What is the name of the Party Band that I assume plays by the pool during the day and in the Navigator's Lounge at night? Does the group have an oriental female singer?

 

Also what day (if any) do they offer tea or "high tea"? So glad you are having a great time and so very glad you have stayed well. See ya next week for the second leg of your B2B.

 

Debbie

[tuggers]

The 3/8 cruise will miss Tortola, return to Charleston on Thursday instead of Friday to do a two day cleaning. As of now the 3/19 will leave on the proper day but don't know the time yet. I'll post more as it becomes available.

 

Real BUMMER for us as we took this cruise to go to Tortola.

Funny thing is, today we got ice buckets back in rooms and there were snacks on the tables in the Rendezvous (or however its spelled!).

 

Fusion (formerly Exodous) is the band by the pool and in the pavilion at night. Singer is black female. VERY good band! They are on until 4/19.

Elite Lounge allows nice shorts because some of us do not have to be at dinner till 8:30. Early seating comes dressed for dinner. I would not wear shorts on formal nights.

[ellbon]

gail

 

are they taking you off the ship on Thursday or friday.. plan on enjoying charleston as the cruiseline dumps you no where near anything you want to do. you want to be in town..

[tuggers]

We will disembark Thursday AM. Hopefully get back on the ship late Friday. Could be Saturday. If I were you guys coming on I would make contingency plans for Friday night. Just in case. I know nothing, just thinking out loud.

 

Mercury Day Seven 3/8 & 3/19/2010

Today started really good. with breakfast in the CL. Terri, Roger and Cil. Don’t know what happened to JoAn. We sat there until 10:30.

Terri, Roger and I went to the pool. We (I) stayed in the sun for an hour. Can you believe that was my first day in the sun??? Anyway, the weenies sat in the shade!

Lunch was the same group. I had stir fry like always. Terri tried an assortment. Roger had stir fry. Cil had, what looked like, I swear, a bologna sandwich! Whatever, she seemed to enjoy it.

I sat in the sun a little after lunch then went to the cabin and read. CS told us we can now have an ice bucket in our cabins and there were snacks on some of the tables in bars. This told us things were looking up. Or so we thought.

I won’t divulge a name but on my way to Elite Cocktail Hour, I was told that there was a rumor that we were not going to Tortola. And if we weren’t there would be an announcement before we sailed at 5:30. We sailed around 5:50 and since I had heard no announcement, I was thinking, ok, maybe we had some luck and we would not be missing the main port I (and some of my friends) came for. Tortola is for me, the happiest place on earth. So much so that I want to have my ashes scattered there. But not on this trip!

Julianna finally made the announcement that we would be missing Tortola, returning to Charleston on Thursday and the ship would undergo a thorough cleaning and leave sometime on Friday. At least that’s what they are telling us (the b2b’ers). I wouldn’t really be surprised if we don’t leave until Saturday. Have nothing to back that up, just what I’m thinking may happen. The crew is already tired. If they do a round the clock cleaning it will really put them under the weather.

I’m deciding whether to stay or just cancel and go home. A lot depends on the type of accommodations they offer us for two days. I really don’t want to stay in an old, run down hotel for two nights. Besides my car is at Mt Pleasant Hampton which included 21 days parking. If I go and get my car I will have to pay about $150 for parking at the pier.

I know we will get OBC’s for days missed plus port fees for Tortola, plus 25% off future cruise, plus accommodations.

I’ll try to post again when I find out how its going to work. IF I can get online. Everyone and his brother is trying to use the Internet.

Bye For Now!

[Dharma517]

I am so so sorry. How disappointing! I hope you stay and make the best of it. You are still having a better time then most of us right now. :D It is really nice that you have another cruise to look forward to. Enjoy it.

 

Jenn

[BonnieVA]

I hope I'm wrong but you're starting to sound a bit down & I can understand why. You've dealt w/ at least a couple disappointments. I hope you can stay positive & make the best decision about whether to stay on or go home. Please say "hi" to Paul Daniel at the stir fry station if he's still there for me (since you visit that buffet station so much :D). I'm Bonnie - "the woman from the Nov 21 & Jan 23 cruises". I think he'd remember me.

 

Take care. Stay positive. Enjoy your week onboard!

[ellbon]

i would ask and see if you pick a downtown hotel if Celebrity will pay for it in OBC. you never know.. on the Equinox i got OBC for turn around day in Jan. you just need to ask.

 

i had a friend who sailed in feb and never got sick and now she has booekd two more cruises on this ship.. right now i would not want to sail her but i am one person in a million.

 

 

will have to ask my TA if anyone is canceling the Murcury. have another friend on her now. they almost canceled.

[PatC]

Gail - I wouldn't cancel the second half of your vacation. You seem to indicate that things have improved greatly since the last cruise and if they are seriously going to really de-bug the ship over 2 days it can only be a good thing.

 

I'd make sure Celebrity compensated me for the hotel for the 1 night but I sure as heck wouldn't cancel my trip. You have such a wonderful time and you'd be so bummed if you had to go home, I can't see the upside of jumping ship (so to speak:D).

 

Having said that, we sail Mercury on the 29th so I'm really glad to see they are finally doing what they should have done initially and clean their act up. I guess you're correct that someone in corporate has finally had enough and made this decision. Finally, pro-active involvement by those that make the big bucks.

 

Let us know your decision but, as I said, think positive and enjoy the second half of your trip.

 

Pat C

[tuggers]

sorry, did not mean to sound negative. I'm staying on. You know me and cruises. And thanks for the tip about OBC for the hotel. That's all I'm concerned about. I want a nice hotel! I remember the last cruise they did this in Charleston people were not happy with the hotel.

I was merely stating an option for anyone who has not already made the trip to Charleston to get on the 19th.

I still feel there is a good chance the ship will not leave until Sat Hope I'm wrong because the crew is worn slap out already. Another two days of cleaning and it will be awful for them.

[parrothead1]

Thanks for the updates Gail. Does it seem like progress is being made, or has been made on getting this virus off the ship? Ice buckets reappearing is a good sign I guess. But with you guys coming back a day early, possibly sailing a day late for the next trip scares me a bit since we leave on the 29th.

 

Enjoy your time, I know you will. Look forward to seeing more of your updates!!

 

John

[ellbon]

Gail

 

When i was on the Equinox i was told I could take the tour or take a taxi anywhere and I get 150 dollars back.. i took the boring tour but save my lunch receipts and got OBC for it. .i turned them in at the desk .it was on my account later that day.

 

i much rather stay in town as you can walk anywhere. i am sure you can leave everything in your cabin.. for 2 days you only need a carry on and your celebrity tote for make up.

 

look at meeting street inn- very nice and not over price.. most inns include a small breakfast and drinks. I am sure they can help you find a place if full. oh it has a hot tub too. many places have a hot tub or pool in town.

[CruisingChick]

This is really upsetting news. I would have thought that they would have gotten this under control by now. We only have 2 weeks until we board and I hate to drive all the way down to Charleston, SC spend 2 nights pre-cruise in a hotel, just to be told we can't get on the ship or they have to shorten our cruise.

 

I understand people get sick and Celebrity is doing everything in their power to rectify the situation, but it seems that there is something seriously wrong with these outbreaks continuing to happen.

 

Do you know how many people were sick on this cruise?

 

Thanks.

[LeftcoastBC]

What a bummer. First the Zenith and now this for you.

 

I'll be checking the roll calls before I book a cruise with you onboard again. :)

sorry just couldn't leave it alone. Hope everything works out for the best. We had a shorty on the Merc last October and really enjoyed the ship. Except for the martini bar of course.

[STXCruisers]

I read on the Post & Courier website (Charleston newspaper) and it seems there was noro present in Charleston before it was reported on Mercury. This item is from February 25:

The local outbreaks include three long-term care facilities, one school and one large event in Charleston County and one long-term care facility in Berkeley County. DHEC officials would not release the specific locations; and The Post and Courier filed a Freedom of Information Act request

Seems Celebrity is fighting a real battle here, cleaning up the ship and then more pax boarding who might have picked up the virus in Charleston during their precruise stay.

Sad thing is that so many blame the cruise ships for the illness when it is present everywhere, just spreads so quickly when so many are confined to one location.

Hopefully they will get it under control soon onboard the ship AND in the Charleston area.

[StevefromOhio]

With three cruises that have had serious Noro problems there is a chance the CDC (maybe a small chance) will not allow the Mercury to sail on this cruise. It seems the virus is deeply imbedded in the ship. It may take drastic measures to root out the problem.

We have decided to cancel rather than take a chance.

If the ship does sail, I hope all goes well for all of you.

 

Steve

[ChucktownSteve]

Seems Celebrity is fighting a real battle here, cleaning up the ship and then more pax boarding who might have picked up the virus in Charleston during their precruise stay.

 

That's pretty presumptuous that the virus was picked up in Charleston and carried onboard. From reading the CDC web site, there's been an increase of norovirus outbreaks throughout the US. Not just in Charleston.

 

I believe it could have been brought onboard by anyone, from anywhere traveling to Charleston.

 

How would the handful of January Charleston outbreaks at schools and nursing homes affect Mercury cruise ship passengers? Kids were in school when the ship left and nursing home patients don't go on cruises.

 

I hadn't heard of any Charleston hotel norovirus outbreaks. Have you?

 

If you read some of the CDC cruise norovirus reports from a couple years ago, you will see their questionnaire results that indicate the percentage of people responding that later admitted they were ill when they boarded.

 

That's the real culprit. Inconsiderate, sick people. :mad:

[tomatopa]

Gail,

What a bummer....The really fun thing about a back to back for me is getting to stay on the ship when most people are getting off......

 

Hope you have a nice hotel and a good stay in Charleston.....understand why you were upset to miss Tortola....a great stop...funny ..."not this time" to spread ashes....

 

But most important....hope you and your group stay healthy....guess Joan was ok when she did not come to breakfast....sure hope so.

 

Later, Judy

[STXCruisers]

How would the handful of January Charleston outbreaks at schools and nursing homes affect Mercury cruise ship passengers? Kids were in school when the ship left and nursing home patients don't go on cruises.

 

About 20 residents of James Island retirement community Bishop Gadsden sailed out with the Mercury. Kimberly Farfone, public relations director at Bishop Gadsden, said staff contacted the company that booked the residents but learned nothing about specific cases yet.

Farfone said some Bishop Gadsden employees came down with norovirus-like symptoms earlier this year but that the community has not experienced an outbreak. With the residents returning home, staff continues cleaning surfaces and installing hand sanitizer stations and warnings around the premises.

from the Post and Courier - Feb. 24

Just one of many possibilities. Indeed this virus is all over the country.

[philnpen]

The noro virus could also be the result of employees who are fearful of reporting the possibilty of having it because they might be docked their pay until they get better, or let go from employment until medical approval permits their return. Let's not place ALL the blame on passengers, although that possibility does exist.

 

Phil