MErcury 5-29-04 Part VI of VI

[transactionchick]

6-3-04

Our last day! How can this be! It is sort of a sea day…we will be SLOWLY making our way from Ketchikan to Vancouver where we will dock at 8pm tonight. Then we will spend the night on the ship going…nowhere! I think I am going to find that kind of weird…..

And I do mean we went SLOWLY….at times it seemed we were barely moving! It was certainly calm…as for me, I like a lot of motion in the ocean, in fact the higher the waves are the better I like it! I keep remembering fondly our last trip to Alaska, on our way back the seas were 20-30 feet, we sat in the equivalent of the Navigator’s club on Rhapsody of the Seas (I forget what it was called), which was at the hack of the ship. You could see the whole ship in front of you going up, down, up down on the waves. Cool. I know a lot of people were sick that night but as for me I just found it exhilarating. In fact, I am one of those people who have trouble when the boat STOPS. I kind of felt a little sick when we stopped in Vancouver, and for days I walked around ‘listing’ to one side. Pretty funny.

Yesterday we were invited to an elegant tea in the Pavilion room, dress informal. Because we wanted to see what it was about, we went. We observed the dress code, but many others didn’t. My favorite was an elderly Asian man dressed in his Tshirt and sweats who sat at the table next to us and picked his nose. I should introduce him to the sushi lady. Anyway it is nice. They have a classical quartet playing and white gloved waiters serving. There is a tea cart with scones and crème and all sorts of goodies. Course everything other than the scones we could have gotten from Stanley in the comfort of our cabin, so not sure I would do this again.

We spent part of the day today doing those things we hadn’t yet gotten round to…I went all over the ship snapping pictures. Today I finally found the aft of Deck 8 – this is really, really nice. In fact, if you have one of the aft cabins on deck 8, this would almost be like your own personal balcony. Very few people and a great view of the ship’s wake. We also found Michael’s. You just don’t think of going on Decks 8-10 as they are primarily full of cabins. Rob never did go to have a cigar there – I peek through the door, it looks nice.

Also looked at all of our pictures and did buy a few. I was really impressed with the care taken by the photographers on formal nights…they really took time with each party, did several poses, etc. I found the prices reasonable.

One sort of remarkable fact about the ship was that with all the people on board (I guess it was between 1,500 – 2.000 but I don’t know the exact number) at times it seemed like you were on board with just a few. And I often spotted people I knew. The only time I ever felt like I was in a crowd was at debarkation…the ship is so well designed you never feel crowded. I was rarely, if ever in a line, just a few times for sushi and then it was 20-30 people, that’s all.

Oh yeah,. I just remembered…several of our CC bunch had called Celebrity to find out the mix of formal/informal/casual and were told definitively that it would be 1/2/3. When we got on board we found out it was 2/1/3. So we got to wear the same clothes last night. Also the second formal night was a port night (Ketchikan) which I found a little strange. So this is one area that Celebrity missed the boat on so to speak. No real problem as we just wore the same clothes again, but it would have been nice to bring two formals .and wear something different.

The weather is simply INCREDIBLE today – high near 70, beautiful sunshine. Lots of people are wearing shorts (but if you get in the wind it is still a bit nippy) and we even see people laying out in the sheltered areas of the ship. There are kids in the outside pool as well.

I forgot to mention that there is a topless deck – deck 14. Course if you want to use it for that on an Alaskan trip, more power to you. Except for today it was certainly too cold to indulge. Anyway, lots of people kept tramping up there to sightsee, so if you are modest, I would not recommend this.

We see some more great scenery..sadly, the closer we get to Vancouver, the more we see of the logging industry…there are great swathes cut from the trees from time to time and you see tiny tugboats hauling massive barges of timber. Interesting I am sure but just one more sign that we are rapidly re-entering civilization.

One very interesting part of our last day is that we traversed the Seymore Narrows during daylight hours, which is rare. The Narrows are famous for riptides, and cruise ships normally time their passage of them at low tide – usually in the wee hours of the morning. One aspect of the Seymore Narrows is that there is an electrical cable strung over the water…it is so low that most cruise ships clear it by only a few feet. It was really interesting to watch this passage. We literally did miss that electric cable by what seemed to be inches. And you could clearly see the riptides (looking a lot like mini-whirlpools) in the Narrows.

Rob and I tried to hit the T pool about 4pm, only to find it had been closed for cleaning for the remainder of the voyage. So if you want to hit the pool on the last day, be sure to do it early. We used one of the Jacuzzis on deck 12 instead and it was very nice and warm and the jets were strong. So it was almost as good as the T pool.

The day passed…as all the other days before it, quickly. There is a bittersweetness to everything we do as we know it is the last time…last breakfast, last lunch, last sushi, last martini with Martin!. At the same time we are really ready to be at home.

We arrive in Vancouver between 7 – 7:30pm , sailing under the Lion’s Gate Bridge. What a great itinerary…we got to sail under both the Golden Gate and the Lion’s Gate. The Lion’s Gate is a very pretty suspension bridge, although it is not orange. However, there seemed to be a lot of people on hand at the park close by the bridge to wave at us.

While we were approaching Vancouver, I ran into the Dance Host I met the other night. He remembered me – I knew I had met him but couldn’t place him at first. He told me he lives in Victoria and signed up for 14 days as a dance host. He had a buddy who signed up for 28 days, but this guy (I forget his name) said that he was not sure he could do 28 days on a ship. He told me that they were not paid, nor is the trip free, but he did get a discount, he did not specify how much. He said that Crystal ships had upwards of 5 or more dance hosts per ship. He was expected to be in certain lounges at certain dance times but other than that his time was free. Sounds like an interesting thing to do if you have the time. Of course, I guess only men are eligible, and probably only single, attractive older men due to the clientele they are targeting, particularly on a ship like Crystal.

Our dinner conversations were lively and tomorrow’s travel arrangements were discussed. Several people have a late flight and no one seems to know what to do with the time between getting off the boat and getting on the plane. We consider taking the shuttle to the airport for ease of handling the luggage (we find out later at the airport that this is a REALLY bad idea…..Celebrity takes you and your luggage to the airport and then DUMPS it in a big pile, and the Alaskan Airline guy told us they FREQUENTLY lose luggage, so DON”T do this). It looked like absolute chaos – NOT the way you want to end a relaxing cruise! Fortunately we decide against this as it is $18 a person and we figure we can get out own transportation much more cheaply. Others are going to take a City Tour with airport drop off, we momentarily considered this but figured we’d be sitting on public transportation for hours as it was and we certainly didn’t want to add to that. Glad we didn’t as the luggage at the end is handled the same way as the transfers…..
So we decide we will get off with our luggage, take either a taxi or a limo and wing it.

As we were docked and cleared by 8pm that night, a lot of people took advantage of this to get off the ship and go into town. We would have liked to…in fact, made tentative plans to go into town after dinner. We sure didn’t want to miss out last dinner with our new friends, though.

It was also time to say goodbye to Stana, Stanley and Virginia and hand out the tips. We did give extra to everyone as well as a tip to the sommelier, even though he was supercilious. Kelsy also wrote a nice thank you note to Stana for her crème brulees. We took some of our personalized business cards from our suite, and everyone at our table exchanged emails. We also had bought a picture that had been made of our whole group and everyone signed it. I will think of everyone frequently in the months to come and hope we keep in touch.

Actually, we have such a good time at dinner that everyone decides to meet on Deck 12 for a nightcap. After a quick visit to the teen center so I can thank Kelsy’s counselors with a small tip, we meet on deck. I also happen to spot a lanky redhead…on impulse I ask, “Are you Shelly?” and it is! I had called her cabin several times although it turned out to be her boys’ cabin so the messages to her did not get delivered. She decides to join us.

There is a full moon and it is gorgeous over Vancouver. It is a little cool but we wrap ourselves in deck blankets. Kelsy brings out a waiter for us to meet – she has been telling us about this “hot” British waiter who brings evening snacks to the teen center. It is the Austin Powers guy! Anyway, he and a couple of other waiters bring us food on deck from the gourmet bites, first appetizers and then desserts. To the very last drop, the service on this cruise was unparalleled. We all had a couple drinks and finally broke up the party around 1 am. As we all have to get up around 7am we will be a little tired tomorrow!

6-4-04

The worst part of any cruise is debarkation and this one proved no different. We were up at 7am and had coffee delivered by Stanley. After packing the last minute items we went to the Palm Springs Café for breakfast. The offerings today were limited….no waffle station, no omelet station. (BTW those waffles are KILLER…hard to find because they are actually out at the pool and they only serve till 10:30, so be sure and get yours!) We did pick up some bird bread and tried to feed the seagulls from our balcony…they were not interested. At about 9am it was our turn to head to the theater and wait for our color to be called. A few minutes after our arrival, we were called and off we went. A bad part about getting off in Canada was that you have to clear Canadian customs, then a short time later at the airport you have to clear US customs, even though you are technically in Canada only a few hours. We found our luggage with no problems and went out into the Vancouver terminal area.

The Vancouver terminal is VERY nice, if you ever get a chance to sail from Vancouver, do so. I had forgotten. BTW, there IS a place to leave your luggage while you go explore the city – actually they will deliver your luggage to the airport for you to pickup for a small fee – I think it was $10 CAD for 4 bags. Had we gotten off the ship earlier we might have done this. As it was, we felt that it might end up just being a hassle – we would have to go to a certain place in the airport and then schlep it to Alaska Airlines. After seeing the long lines and mass confusion at the Celebrity luggage pickup points I am glad we didn’t.

We took a stretch limo to the airport…we had a recommendation for a very reasonable service from the CC board. In fact, this ended up being only $50 CAD for the three of us, probably not much more than a cab would be, and it was a nice way to end the cruise, sort of a little transition to reality as it were. When we arrived at the airport a porter came over automatically and started loading up our luggage – guess if you are getting out of a limo they just assume that you want a porter!

Just a couple more observations and I will close this journal. Alaska Airlines was very efficient and even served a hot sandwich. American should take notes. We connected through LA and had to change terminals – in order to do so we had to exit security and re-clear security. Thank goodness we had enough time but what kind of system is that? It was a real pain.

Anyway, we arrived home about 1am after an exhausting day. We loved the cruise and look forward to doing another in the future.

I’ll talk to you all again on my next adventure!

Cyndi

Happy Sailing!

Cyndi Wagner, AKA Transaction Chick
Carnival Celebration - 5/98
RCI Rhapsody - 5/00
Carnival Sprit - 10/01
Celebtrity Mercury - 5/04

Parley Vouz Francais? Si vous pouvez, email moi en Francais!

[Carol/Houston]

Transactionchick,
Thank you for the very informative review. After reading the first couldn't wait for the second and so on. Sorry to see them end. I will be boarding the Mercury in Seattle on July 16...after all the wait it is starting to seem real.

One question if you don't mind. Did you think it made a big difference with debarkation in the various ports being in a suite? Was there a special line at each port as when you first board the ship to start the cruise?

Carol

[norma2424]

Cyndi, Thank you for your excellent review of the Mercury 5/29/04 Inside Passage cruise. As I was also on that cruise I anxiously awaited each installment so I could relive each wonderful day. I thought the cruise was perfect in every way except for disembarkation. Unfortunately because we arranged for Celebrity to transfer us to the airport we were involved in the airport chaos you described. Once at the airport we had to wait a very, very long time before we were reunited with our luggage. Everybody was very unhappy with the process and many of us almost missed our flights. Advice to future cruisers disembarking at Vancouver, take a cab to the airport. Cyndi,Sorry we didn't meet onboard, maybe next time.

[transactionchick]

Carol,

There was only priority for the suites for the inital embarkation. At ports you wait with everyone else to get back on the ship. I am not sure about getting off in port as we never tried to get off right as we got cleared, we always got off an hour or so later and just walked right off.

When we debarked we were let off at 9am. I do think we got off ahead of a lot of people, but behind those people with early flights, that were taking the excursion at 8:30 am, etc. I know some people at our table said they had a 7:30am tag. That was perfectly fine with us - Frankly I was not in that big a hurry to get off [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Have fun in July, you will love Mercury and Alaska. Which suite are you staying in?

Happy Sailing!

Cyndi Wagner, AKA Transaction Chick
Carnival Celebration - 5/98
RCI Rhapsody - 5/00
Carnival Sprit - 10/01
Celebtrity Mercury - 5/04

Parley Vouz Francais? Si vous pouvez, email moi en Francais!

[Carol/Houston]

Cyndi,
Thank you for your information. We are in Suite 1218.

Carol

[pamkev]

What limo company did you use? Pam [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[transactionchick]

Pam. it was Limo Jet Gold, [url="http://www.limojetgold.com"]www.limojetgold.com[/url] or call 800-278-8742.

I got their name from someone else on this board and we were really happy with it.

You don't need a reservation from Vancouver, just step outside to the limo waiting area and call on the courtesy phone. Just specify limo jet gold as the person you want to pick you up.

Hope you have a great time,

Cyndi

Happy Sailing!

Cyndi Wagner, AKA Transaction Chick
Carnival Celebration - 5/98
RCI Rhapsody - 5/00
Carnival Sprit - 10/01
Celebtrity Mercury - 5/04

Parley Vouz Francais? Si vous pouvez, email moi en Francais!

[CJHouston]

Great write up. Where would I find Parts 1 - 5??

[Carol/Houston]

cjhouston,
Click on transactionchick's name and choose the option "view recent" posts.
Carol

[CJHouston]

Thank you Carol(and fellow Houstonian)for the directions! What a wonderful review.

I will be onboard the week before you Carol; we'll wave at teh airport!