Better Late than Never Mercury Review

[DaisyGirl55]

Background: This was our first cruise to Alaska. We originally booked with Celebrity on the Infinity last year, but due to pod problems, the cruise was cancelled. We were able to book with the Mercury for the June 29 sailing...and we are very glad that we did! This was our 9th cruise, so while we are not "old salts", we consider ourselves to be at least knowledgeable about cruising.

 

 

We flew into Vancouver from Atlanta the day before our cruise. No last minute flights for us! We stayed at the Holiday Inn downtown, which was about a 30 minute ride from the airport. The hotel was great, and they had a room ready for us immediately. The hotel also has a complimentary shuttle to the pier, which we took the following morning.

 

We arrived at the port around 10:45. By 11:00, we were checking in and going through customs, and by 11:30 - we were on the ship! It was so neat having the ship virtually to ourselves! We sat out on deck, and just relaxed a bit before grabbing a quick bite to eat. After walking around a bit, and getting ourselves acclimated, we went to our room when the ready announcement was made.

 

We booked a Concierge Class cabin, which has a balcony (our first!). We unpacked our carry-on, and popped open the champagne. We went up on deck for the sail-away, but then went back to our balcony. Our room was very cozy - not too small, and not too big. It was so neat to sit out on the balcony, enjoy our afternoon cheese and fruit, have a drink before dinner, and just watch the world float by. For those who wonder if it is too cold for a balcony in Alaska, let me tell you that we enjoyed ours every day! We saw so much wildlife: eagles, seals, otters, whales, and porpoises - all without leaving our room! With it staying daylight so late into the day, I have some awesome pictures of the passing scenery.

 

A big thanks for all posters on the Celebrity boards. Your tips allowed us to enjoy our CC cabin to its fullest!

 

The ship itself was great; from the buffet staff who carried our trays to the casino staff who always made sure we were being serviced when we hit a jackpot! Our cabin steward - Robby - was a dream, and always took care of our little requests promptly and with a smile. The ship was clean, and the mandatory hand cleaners are located near each entrance to the dining areas. Everything is decorated very nice, and the decks are easy to find your way around. The only complaint we had was in the dining room. The food was to die for, but the service was not up to par compared to cruises we have been on with other lines. Our waiter was on his last few cruises as he was leaving to go back to school. He was nice enough, but very, very slow. One night it was only my hubby and myself at our table, and we still waited and waited between courses, even though his other two tables were only half full as well. Our assistant waiter, Lorenzo, was fantastic. I hope he gets promoted soon as he was a bright spot each evening!

 

Of course, I had the fantastic waffles, and they were all that I had hoped they would be!

 

PORTS -

Juneau was fun, but our much anticipated whale watching trip with Captain Larry was just okay. Chalk it up to bloated expectations, or maybe to just plain ignorance, but we do not consider a sighting of a slip of a tail a mile or two in the distance as whale watching. He did not talk much, and mostly sat in his chair driving the boat around looking bored and smoking cigarettes every time we stopped the boat. If you went upstairs, you could hear the guide give some great whale facts, but only if you were outside. I saw several children and even some adults who fell asleep as we drove around. I don't think we will repeat this particular excursion. I would rather have gone to Mendenhall, and spent some more time downtown.

 

Skagway was a blast, probably the best port we stopped at. We took an excursion called "To The Summit". We were in a mini-bus with very large windows. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, personable, and he made the trip fantastic. We drove into the Yukon, and all around the mountains with numerous photo stops along the way. The photo stops was the biggest reason we booked this tour instead of the White Pass train, and we are so glad we did! After the tour, we shopped a bit in town, and bought a few souvenirs. My darling hubby also bought me a beautiful ring to celebrate our 30th anniversary.

 

Ketchikan started off rainy (in fact, it was about the only port we had rain), but 20 minutes after getting off the ship - it was clear skies the rest of the day! We went to the Lumberjack show, which while it was a bit cheesy was also great fun. We took a tour to see the totem poles at Saxman village, and did the last of our shopping before getting back on the ship. All in all, it was a very pleasant day.

 

Hubbard Glacier was a bust. We were so looking forward to getting close enough to the glacier to appreciate the sheer size of the glacier, and to see and hear the calving we read so much about. Another ship was already in the mouth of the bay by the glacier, and we watched through our binoculars as it went right up to the face of Hubbard. Soon, we were floating in a river of ice, as the sun glinted off the small chunks of glacier floating by. But once we got to where we thought we were going on in, the captain announced that for safety reasons, he would go no closer. Very, very disappointing! So much build-up, and then what a letdown. We went back to our cabin, sat on the balcony, and drank some more champagne to make ourselves feel a bit better. Oh well, maybe we will have better luck next time we cruise to Alaska.

 

Disembarkation was a breeze. We were off the ship by 9am, one of the first groups off the ship thanks to our Concierge Class priority. Back to the Holiday Inn, and we flew home the following day.

Our cruise was a magical time in a magical place. It was made even better thanks to these boards, and to the wonderful people who post on them. We never had a Roll-Call that was active enough to warrant a get-together, but hopefully we will do better with that next time. Our next major cruise will be a family cruise with the kids and grandkids next September. In the meantime, I will hit a few weekend getaways from Port Canaveral. Smooth sailing everyone, and I hope you enjoy your cruise to Alaska as much as we did!

[kruisecat]

Marylou - welcome back to the boards! I've missed seeing you here :D We had almost the exact same experience! Same Capt. Larry exp. and same problem at Hubbard. But I couldn't agree more about the boat! What a wonderful time we had too. And I'm so glad you had a great time. Hope to talk to you soon!

 

Christine

[Lois R]

Marylou, thanks for the review:) I was wondering if you were

going to do one for us.

Glad you had such a wonderful cruise and a belated

Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby:)

[Dreamer04]

Thank you so much for posting your review. I am going to be on the Mercury very soon-August 17th! Your trip report was a lovely way to whet my appetite.

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the great review. We are considering Celebrity for our next cruise.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Interesting report on Captain Larry. We were lucky because last fall Brent Nixon came on our whale watch and did all the commentary and coached us on when to shoot our pix. He was great! I understand he is no longer on the Mercury, a huge loss. I observed that Captain Larry did not look very interested, but that was not an issue for us because we had Brent who is very animated and very interested.

[smileycruiser2007]

Thank you so much for the review which is very helpful to this first time Celebrity cruiser. I have a lot to look forward to on the August 17 Mercury sailing, and do hope for good luck at Hubbard Glacier; I wish yours had been better. I sailed to Alaska on HAL 10 years ago and loved it. :) The sea life (whales, sea otters, sea lions, dolphins) and eagles were all magnificent and breathtaking.