Mercury Cruise - Oct. 8-13, 2005 - Review

[Lady Librarian]

It's a little late in getting posted but here is a link to a quick review that I did of our cruise on Mercury. It from my blog so the focus was mainly on the food.

Mercury Cruise - Oct

 

If you want the longer version, that focuses more on the overall experience (including a link to our pictures), read below.

 

 

We had to get up at 3 a.m. EST to get to the airport in time for our 6:30 a.m. flight. And if that wasn’t bad enough, it was absolutely POURING outside. We had had any rain in the D.C. area for a month but caught up with some to spare over the weekend. I believe the report was about 7 inches of rain fell on Saturday.

Our flights were on time and very uneventful (thankfully). The coolest parts were flying over the Rocky Mountains and seeing Mt. Rainier sticking up through the clouds.

We made it to Seattle at 11:30 a.m. PST, got our bags and took a cab to the Cruise Pier about noon. Check in was a breeze. From the time we were dropped off at the front of the Pier building to the time we got on the ship was only about 15 minutes. And we were greeted at the ship with a glass of champagne……nice.

We quickly dropped our bags off in our room, which was already made up, and headed up to Deck 11 for some lunch. The buffet was nice, plenty of options to choose from. And how nice to have waiters take our trays out to a table for us! We could get use to this.

After a nice lunch, we were exhausted but took a quick self guided tour of the ship. For the most part, it was immaculate. Yes, there were a few pieces of furniture in the Pavillion Nightclub that were dirty and a scuff here or there but the ship was beautiful and well taken care of.

Our room was very nice and we were glad we got an outside cabin. Granted our window was covered with sea spray, and I was a bit disappointed that it was never cleaned at all during any of the stops we made but we didn’t let it bother us. We were on vacation and we wanted to have fun and relax not knit pick the ship.

We did ask our wonderful cabin steward, Ralph, for an egg crate mattress pad which helped make the bed more comfy. He was also very good about keeping fresh water in our cabin and always greeted us with a big smile whenever we saw him.

The rest of Mercury’s staff was fantastic. I had read that our Cruise Director Dru Pavlov was great and he certainly was. On one of the ships TV channels we caught him behind stage talking to some of the singers and dancers. Normally I would yawn and change the channel but we watched the entire show because he was so damn funny! Even his disembarkment presentation was a hoot.

Other staff of note were our waiter and assistant waiter, Cecil and Quintino. Five star service all the way. And Quintino made my husbands day by remembering that he liked blue cheese dressing on his salad. He was also so cheerful and polite without being stuffy. What a gem! If he would have fit in our suitcase, I think hubby would have tried to smuggle him home. And our table mates were great! We shared the table with three other couples and thoroughly enjoyed their company.

Then there was James. He was the emcee for Battle of the Sexes trivia during the entire trip. He was great! What ever we dished out to him during the 4 day long battle, he was able to fire right back at us. Seeing as the women had won this game on the last three cruises, we women felt obligated to defend the title. But the men had perhaps the best weapon of all, my husband. He can kick anyone’s butt at trivia. I tried to take one for the team by keeping him ‘occupied’ in our cabin but that didn’t work. I was even tempted to turn his watch back an hour but was afraid he’d miss getting back on the ship! And in the end, the men won. I think the score was 153-147. Bingo Becks was great (although it would have been nice if she called my numbers :p).

Our Ports of Call were hit and miss. Astoria is a quite little town. Aside from the Columbia River Maritime Museum and the Astoria Column, there wasn’t that much to do. There was a little riverside trolley which took you down the river to the other side of town. Got to see some sea lions, cute but noisy little buggers. Had lunch at the Silver Salmon Grill. It was ok but after stopping at the Wet Dog Café for a beer (or two) we wished we had eaten there instead. Other people at the bar got burgers that looked scrumptious. The Maritime Museum was pretty cool. It explained a lot about the Astoria Bar which is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It’s referred to as the Graveyard of the Pacific for a good reason. Crossing it that morning on the ship was a bit bumpy. We saw a freighter go by next to us and watched as its bow went way up then under water and back again. Eeek. But once we were in the river, it was smooth.

But nothing prepared us (or most of the passengers and crew) for what lie in store for us when we left Astoria for the open seas. We woke up in the middle of the night rocking back and forth. Crew were saying it was the roughest seas they had experienced in a long time. I’d say about 1/3 of the passengers were sick. Thankfully a bonine (provided by our cabin steward) kept me from becoming ill but it was touch and go for a while. But once we turned eastward into the inner passage the water was as smooth as glass.

Our second port of call was Nanaimo. Again it was a small town but it really tried hard to make our visit memorable. Members of the High School band played on the pier area and a small market area was set up with booths from local craftsmen to food to a reflexologist giving foot massages. We also met “Puppy” a miniature horse. Our self guided walking tour took us up to the city where I had to make a stop at the local library. Call it a professional courtesy but I just love checking out other libraries. We also did a little shopping and picked up some cheese and crackers from a little market. We carried our snack back down to the pier area and ate while we watched them fire an old cannon…..BOOM. I then hit the reflexologist for a massage. I just about fell asleep….it was that good.

I had been concerned about tendering from the ship to the port but my fears were quickly quelled. It was such an easy process! The platform used to get from the ship to the tender was very solid and the tender was very stable.

The last port of call was Victoria. What a beautiful city! Even on a cloudy, drizzly day the city just exuded beauty and friendliness. We went to the Butterfly Gardens and pretty much had the place to ourselves. If it had been sunnier, the butterflies would have been more active but we still had fun. We had lunch at a new Irish pub. Hubby got to try out some local brews while we munched on fish and chips.

Our only regret was that we didn’t have enough time to spend in town.

Bottom line: We will definitely sail with Celebrity again. Will we choose to sail to small ports like Astoria and Nanaimo……..maybe not. They were cute towns but still not quite cruise ready. They will someday though.

To see all the pictures, click here Our Cruise

[catmand]

Thanx.....................always enjoy reading, brings back lots of memories of our cruise on Mercury. Enjoyed the pictures as well.

[nu2sea]

Thanks for the review and the pictures. Dru was a lot of fun wasn't he?

 

Oh, BTW we did do the Empress High Tea and it really was as good as advertised! You've got to put it on your list of things to do next time.:D

 

Sorry about the rough seas. Someone from your cruise got off the ship with her mother and sister in Nanaimo and then posted on our Roll Call (we went Oct 13 to the 21st) about how rough the water was on this cruise. I don't know what we were supposed to do with that info, other than worry about it, but our cruise was a delight. We had a little motion around the Oregon coast, but nothing like your pictures show. Like you, I was on Bonine.

 

Thanks again for the review and the pictures.

 

Susan

[scott in maine]

Great photos! We'll be on Mercury in a few months out of San Diego. Can't wait.

[susancruzs]

Wonderful pictures, really super! Thanks for the review, too! I booked the Mercury for April 2006 and nice to read a positive review! Lately alot has been said about the way the ship looks, which I take with a major grain of salt!

 

I'm usually a Princess person, but the airfare/hotel, cruise out of San Diego was a much better price than San Francisco! Looking at the food pictures, I think I'll be very happy! :-)

 

Thanks, great job! Susie

[senior lady]

Great pictures!!!! We'll be on the Mercury in 11 sleeps:D Doing the 10 day Mexican cruise out of San Diego.

Our cabin is on the same deck as yours, just further towards the back.

We've never cruised Celebrity before so both DH and I are really looking forward to it.

 

Any hints about the ship????

[DCT61]

Hey LL ....great review! Don in Nashville here....I recognized the pictures! Glad to see you had such a good time. Give me a holler.

[Cruise2End]

Great pictures! We will be on the Mercury in a few weeks and cannot wait!

 

May I ask what kind of camera you used? Also do you like the Kodak Photo Gallery for downloading the pictures? I just purchased my first digital camera so I'm trying to absorb as much as I can to get the best use of my camera. TIA

[Lady Librarian]

Great pictures!!!! We'll be on the Mercury in 11 sleeps:D Doing the 10 day Mexican cruise out of San Diego.

Our cabin is on the same deck as yours, just further towards the back.

We've never cruised Celebrity before so both DH and I are really looking forward to it.

 

Any hints about the ship????

 

The Navigator Lounge is a wonderful place to be in the late afternoon, especially as you are leaving port. Indulge yourself with a Bailey's Banana Colada.....yummy! Do look at the daily on board activites. We loved the crew in charge of these events. They do a daily Bingo session, but next time I will wait for the final day for the big jackpot. A sheet of three boards is $20 and one with 6 is $30. Money I would have rather spent in the Navigator.

 

Michael's Club is on the same deck as your cabin. It can be a little smoky but is rarely ever busy. They have big cushy leather chairs you can really relax in. The perfect place to go for a nightcap.

 

Do watch the onboard tv productions with Dru Pavlov. He's the Cruise Director and he's an absolute scream.

 

Enjoy your trip! She's a great ship, easy to get around on and the crew is wonderful.

[Lady Librarian]

Hey LL ....great review! Don in Nashville here....I recognized the pictures! Glad to see you had such a good time. Give me a holler.

 

Don .... as in the Don I went to HS with?

[senior lady]

Thanks Lady librarian,,

 

I can hardly wait. I've heard such good things about Celebrity.

We've done the Mexican Riveria cruise several times on Princess. But we find that 7 days just isn't long enough anymore.

Also we've never been to Acapulco or Ixtapa before.

 

Any hints on those places????

[DCT61]

The very one. Please.....dont mention the year.

[Lady Librarian]

The very one. Please.....dont mention the year.

 

Oh My! What a small world.....Never would I have thought I'd meet up with an old friend here. How can we swap e-mail addresses without everyone on Cruise critic getting it? I'd really like to catch up with you.....last time I think I talked to you was when I still lived in Nashville. That was three moves and one husband ago. :D

[DCT61]

you can reach me at D + my last name + 650 @aol.com...all one word. Let me know whats been goin on!

[Lady Librarian]

Great pictures! We will be on the Mercury in a few weeks and cannot wait!

 

May I ask what kind of camera you used? Also do you like the Kodak Photo Gallery for downloading the pictures? I just purchased my first digital camera so I'm trying to absorb as much as I can to get the best use of my camera. TIA

 

We actually had two digital cameras on this trip. Most of the pictures were taken with my husbands new one. It is a Konica-Minolta Maxxum 5D. It's big like a 35mm camera and has tons of features including an anti-shake feature. Most of the food pics and ones of the views of the ships and ports were taken with that one.

The other camera, also a Minolta, is a D'Image S414. More along the lines of a large compact with lots of bells and whistles. (most of which I don't know how to use.)

[Ginnylou]

Thanks for sharing your photos, I really enjoyed them. It was a wonderful cruise. Mercury is a wonderful ship and the crew outstanding. :)

 

Ginnylou