Mercury 4/28 Review

[stinsowm]

Hi Everyone,

 

I want to post everyone a review of our trip on board the Mercury while everything is fresh in my mind. Out of 24 total cruises it will rank in my top 3 of all. Mainly due to the food, service and wonderful new friends made.

 

Pre-Cruise

Flew in a day early to San Diego from Nashville and stayed at the Westgate hotel. The hotel was amazing. We had a nice dinner at Blue Point Coastal in the gaslamp district. My mother and I also did the Ole Time Trolley tour of the city. Takes about 2 hours to do the entire loop. San Diego deserves at least 3 nights to get to know it better. Beautiful city.

 

Day of cruise-

Since previous sailings on the Mercury had been delayed due to the bleaching process and stomach flu we decided to wait until just past noon to go down to the cruiseship terminal. The hotel took us there and much to our suprise folks had started boarding at 11:00 that morning. We had to fill out a questionaire basically asking us if we were sick with stomach illness. We had an express pass and were Elite members of captains club so getting on took all of 5 minutes. Everyone should use Celebrity Express pass to board as it is really very fast. Upon boarding given glass of champagne and used hand sanitizer. (They were everywhere). I was a bit nervous at the condition of the ship after reading the horrid reviews of some previous cruisers and knowing about the bleaching horrific cruises not long prior. However, much to my happiness the ship looked great to be almost 10 years old. They were busy thru out the sailing polishing her up and replacing carpeting and even mattresses.

 

We learned that the sailing was skipping Mazatlan due to a mechanical issue that had to be corrected in Acapulco so this would give us 2 full days in Acapulco. Having booked the Royal Spa in Mazatlan was a little dissappointed at this, but none the less they did provide each cabin with a 50.00 on board credit which was nice.

 

Our cabin--

 

CC Class 1200--perfect location--center of ship on the 12th deck. The size was standard, but the balcony was much larger than the standard CC class balcony. There are only 4 cabins in CC class with the extended balconies--1200 and 1201 the best. Would I pay much extra in the future for CC class? No. My favorite part was the champagne upon arrival and the plush towels and bathrobes. The flowers were nice, but not worth the extra money. We did get fresh fruit each day which I ate grapes and had excellent room steward and assistant. Dennis and Carlos.

 

Food--

 

Main Seating dinner for us early risers. We ate in the Manhattan dining room every night. They great you at the door with a fancy hand sanitizer bottle and squirt it on your hands. We were fortunate to have a table for 8 by the window. My dining companions were all wonderful and I enjoyed getting to know each one of them. One gentleman Bob is 84 and he kept us all laughing the whole time. Our server was Daniel from Romania and he always had a smile and was top notch. Roy his assistant from Jamacia was outstanding as well. In my opinion they made a great team. I did manage to track down Andrea who is beautiful and she seemed to remember me from sailing with her on the horizon. O.k....back to the subject of food. Celebrity has changed the menus some--mostly for the better. My favorite dishes that stand out are the Creme Brulee, cigar dessert, and all the homemade ice creams. Entrees-the Cape Hake, Filet Mignon and the Lobster were amazing. Tried a new appetizer called Fish Crumble and it was my favorite appetizer all cruise.

 

For breakfast ate mainly casual dining on deck 11. The waffle station back in the aft of the ship is terrific. The cova cafe--grab some of the European pasteries--amazing. I also enjoyed lunch mainly casual as well. Homemade pastas to order--outstanding. Pizza--amazing. I also discovered on this cruise that the homemade wraps for lunch are very tasty as well. Staff always friendly and if you take the time to get to know them they call you by name and it makes everything go so better.

 

Andrea in the dining room. Had her back on the Horizon. In a word--stunning. She is as sweet as she is beautiful.

 

Other Staff members--

Delia--the captains club hostes.. Where did they find her. She is the best captains club hostess that I have ever met. Very friendly and pretty as well. She comes from Canada and always takes her time to talk with each guest. She came to our dinner table a couple of nights and mom and I were fortune to be able to dine with the staff captain the last formal night. It was an experience that I won't soon forget

 

Quinton-the assitant cruise director/Bingo guy--very friendly and seems to really enjoy what he is doing.

 

Cruise director was Stewart Turnbull. He is not a John Howell by any means..however, just because I did not get to know him I did see him taking the time to talk with people. He is leaving the ship to go to Europe on the Galaxy so I am not sure who the future cruise director will be.

 

Bar Server-Iwayan from Indonesia remembered my name after first drink and always took the time to speak to me when he saw me. Even when I did not want to order a drink.

 

The pool/party band was Headlines and are from the Phillipeans. Best I have ever seen. The lead singers are very friendly and do an outstanding job.

 

Rumaldo in the aqua spa again very friendly. I guess really if I had to say anyone was not as friendly as should be it was some of the workers in the gift shops. They seemed to lack customer service skills for some reason. They were not awful, just not as friendly as other staff members on board.

 

Ports-

Cabo San Lucas--did the land end and scenic drive tour. Enjoyed it a lot. After riding around the lands end on a scenic boat tour you are taken to a resturant up for a scenic view.

 

Acapulco--spent 2 days here. Not my favorite stop. Too big. There is a nice internet cafe/phone area though at the port. 1.00 a minute to call home--however in Puerto Vallarta it is .50 cents a minute at tht port. We did the city tour/cliff divers. I really enjoyed the cliff divers and parts of the city tour, but was not my favorite.

 

Ixtapa-beautiful port. Sleepy fishing village. What old Mexico is like. I walked around the cobble stone streets and shopped and watched the fishermen bring in their catch. Just a nice place to relax and soak in small town after being in Acapulco for so long.

 

Puerto Vallarta-took the beach resort tour thru the ship. Ship takes you to a resort just 20 min outside of town. It is a beautiful place. You can use the pools--there are 2. One relaxing and one with activities and also use the resorts beach. Beautiful place. I know many went to Krystal restort next to the ship and I would had I not been traveling with my mother and not wanting to have her walk.

 

At sea days were spent for me playing Bingo, in the therapy pool and eating/relaxing. :)

 

My new cruise critic friends. Never, have I ever met so many new and wonderful cruise critics on board. Led by Joy and Cando we met twice. Had a scavenger hunt and even exchanged pirates gifts. I met wonderful people from all over the United states and Canada and even Scotland. Bo and Jan are still on Mercury for its current sailing up to Alaska--lucky folks. It is so nice to be walking and bump into what felt like family with my new found friends. Keith and Debbie from New Foundland, Jim and Alison--whom I had not realized were both on the Ininity before together, Linda and Barry, Ken and Mary, Al and Val, Marina and Roby, Terri, Debbie, Dot and Wayne, Ramon and Magda, Ellen, Billy, ...the list goes on and on. (I know I am leaving out names by mistake) The people you meet during lifes journeys really can make a huge difference along with your attitude. This cruise will be at the top of my list due to the people before that I mentioned and others that I met on board. Take time to talk to folks. Smile and ask where they are from. Sure you will run into some grumpy people, but move on and you will be suprised at how fast people tend to warm up to you while on vacation.

 

Now thanks for reading my long review. I have to do another load of laundry and prepare for work tomorrow. I am going to have a salad for dinner and think in my head the words from Daniel......Ladies and Gentlemen I wish you Bon Appitite.

 

Walter

[cruisin'mama]

Walter,

Thanks for your wonderful review. I know many others besides me will be grateful to know that our anxieties from previous negative reviews can be aliviated! I still have 6 weeks until I leave for Alaska, but now my anticipation is even greater, knowing Mercury is all better. I can hardly wait to see how beautiful and full of grace she is.

I'm glad you had a fantastic time and thank you for sharing with all of us who have been eagerly waiting word from returning passengers.

 

Cathy

[DDMiller]

Walter,

 

Thank you for your review. We are on Mercury on June 2nd, and it is great to hear that she is back to normal.:)

 

Darrel

[Lois R]

Hi, thanks for posting that so quickly:) and it seems as though

you had a wonderful time.

 

I remember the first time I sailed Mercury. It was back in March

2004 and it was wonderful too.

 

Glad to know things have gotten better since recent events

happened.

New carpet and mattresses too?

I am in cabin 9233 aft....inside. I wonder if I will have one of

those new ones;)

 

A couple of questions if I may. Do you recall who the Restaurant

Manager is...or was for your sailing? And who was your Maitr'd?

And you have mentioned Delia more than once. I will try to find

her and give her your best wishes.:) And I will probably book

something while I am on board so I will tell Natalie hello too.

[shellie100]

Thanks for the review! I'll be on the Mercury in November and am really looking forward to it!!!

 

Shellie

[stinsowm]

Hi Lois,

 

I can't recall who the restaurant manager is. I never met him/her. The Maitr'd was Zephr from Turkey. (I hope I am spelling his name right) He was one of our better Matr'ds. I told him that I loved the escargot from the first formal night and he brought me one the next night. If you get Andrea as a server or Daniel you will be very happy. Out of all my cruises this one ranks in the top 3. I love the M class ships design, but there is just something special about the smaller C class ships. The service/food seems a bit better. Just my opinion. I know all the troubles this ship has had and the staff will tell you that they are very glad to be back to normal. For you coffee drinkers the coffee is very, very strong. Mom had to add hot water to hers to make it a bit weaker. Everyone sailing on the Mercury is in for a great cruise. I also forgot to mention Boom Boom from Thailand in the Martini bar. He is so funny and is great to talk with.

 

Walter

[Andy]

Hi Walter !

 

Thanks for the outstanding review. I am so happy to hear things are well on Mercury !

[teedee]

Hi Walter

 

It was so nice meeting you & Iola on this wonderful cruise! I agree with everything you said, we did most of the same tours except we did the boat cruise & beach tour in Cabo.

 

After reading all the bad reports on these boards before the cruise we were very hapily surprised by the condition of the ship.

 

I was going to write a review, but I think yours said it all. I am jealous that you had a day off after the cruise, it was very dificult getting up & going to work this morning!

 

Terri

[SNOWEY]

Thanks Walter. I'll be on the Mercury next week! Knowing that the ship is getting a little sprucing up is just icing on the cake 'cause I'm going to have a party.

 

Claudia

[Lois R]

Thanks Walter. I'll be on the Mercury next week! Knowing that the ship is getting a little sprucing up is just icing on the cake 'cause I'm going to have a party.

 

Claudia

 

Claudia, we are both going to have a party:D

[jukeboxy]

I just emailed Delia your comments I am sure she will appricate them. We were on her first cruise with her and I knew she was special.

[hogwildcruzers]

Walter thanks for a great review, will be boarding the Mercury next week and sailing and having a party with Lois and Claudia.

[stinsowm]

I just emailed Delia your comments I am sure she will appricate them. We were on her first cruise with her and I knew she was special.

Thank you very much for e mailing her my comments. Delia really was the best.

[stinsowm]

Walter thanks for a great review, will be boarding the Mercury next week and sailing and having a party with Lois and Claudia.

My pleasure. I only wish I could sail with you all instead of going back to work. Have a great time. I know with Lois on board you all will. The staff and food are the best on the Mercury.

[Dale&Joan]

I put this on another thread somewhere-

-----------------------------------------

What a wonderful cruise. Everything went pretty smoothly.

Last year we did a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean on Princess and we loved it. Planning our next cruise my wife was set and sold only to go on Princess again. We got a great deal on the Mercury and the reviews were good. The Mercury was 6 years older than the Golden Princess. Nine years ago I am sure the Mercury was the cutest girl on the block also.

Here are a few quick points:

8th deck room 8231

 

The bad:

-Box springs hurt and I did not sleep will in my twin bed next to my wife's bed and it hurt me. Partially my fault, waited till the 4th night to ask for a mattress. The love seat next to the window was kind of worn.

-We did had an Ocean view on the 8th deck near the back of the ship (aft) and we did hear the rudders/engines early in the morning. Amazing docking back into San Diego at 3:00 a.m. we did not hear anything.

- They need to wash windows more on the ship. Had dirty window pics outside our room and the Navigator room at the front of the ship which was a good location for video/photos.

The Good-

- Food/Service was outstanding. As good or as better as Princess.

- Entertainment was much better than Princess. All the music Production shows were better than Princess. The Ventriloquist, Patrick Murray was the best entertainer I've ever seen in five cruises. I talked with him after the show and he said he was just called as a sub the day before for someone else.

- All the crew were very friendly. We were a finalist in the couples 50-60's sock hop. The music and trivia games were fun.

- It cost $7-8 to make a call from your cabin but the concierge David made calls for us from port to book and outside ATV tour in Cabo which was not a ship excursion.

- The first night we had several things on the bed still and went to the early seating for dinner. We we got back in our cabin, our steward Yolanda, had put everything neatly away and turn down the bed of course with chocolates on the pillows, and somehow got a how of my wife's sexy negligee and folded it up into a sexy figure and laid in on the bed in a sexy way. Kind of nice since we are still almost newlywed's (1 1/2 yrs.).

Summary-

Like one comedian said- "Some people will travel 1,000 thousand miles just to find one thing to B*tch and complain about". My wife and I are people and do not expect all things to be perfect. I mention those "bad" things just because I thought they were and thought Celebrity was a step up from Princess. The ship is in good shape for 9 years old and overall it was better than we expected even. It was truly an outstanding cruise overall. I think a lot has to do with how old the ships are as compared also to cruise lines. The newer Golden Princess had amazing murals of artwork in the formal dining area. We had free style anytime dining on Princess which was great. We were not sure about the Formal seating at first. But we ended up loving it. We met a lot of people I am sure we will stay in contact with.

 

The highlight of my cruise was last Sunday and winning the Table Tennis Tournament. I won a TShirt and a nice hand Bag for my wife. Most important is that I beat the guy in the finals that beat me in the tournament the day before. I guess you can say I am very competitive.

[Dale&Joan]

We also loved the Hake Cape fish the first night. Never heard of it before. Probably best fish I ever had.

 

This was the funniest thing that happened on our cruise-

After we the fish, I asked our wonderful waiter Ketut from Indonesia if he could tell me about the fish. He told one hand and put it almost to his elbow illustrating that it was almost in lenth from his fingers to his elbow. When I was where it came from... He said "THE OCEAN"..... everyone one of us 10 on our table were busting up inside like crazy and not trying to let him know. Some could not hold it in.

[mkringen]

We had Daniel too. He was great. We really enjoyed him.

 

Michelle in SoCal

Mercury 4/7/06