Celebrity Mercury Wine Cruise

[lucywestie]

I noticed on the Celebrity website there is a cruise on October 13th 2008 for a Wine Cruise from Vancouver down to San Diego. It has some stops we are interested in but there doesnt seem to be much info on what the cruise actually entails i.e. is it for wine lovers exclusively, wine tastings on board, tours of wineries along the way?

Maybe I didnt look in the right place for more info on the cruise but maybe someone who has done something similar can reply

Cheers

Pete

[janrj7]

Hi Pete,

We're going on the Nov. 2 "Pacific Coastal Wine Cruise" on Mercury next week. According to the brochure, there will be:

Enrichment lectures, food and wine pairings, specialty wine tastings, specialty art auction, specialty gift shop items, wine-related trivia, and wine-related movies

 

Optional shore excursions will be: seafood cooking school and wine tasting in Astoria, Butchart Gardens Wine & choc tour, tours & tastings at some well-known vineyards in Napa Valley, Sonoma, etc., an overnight Napa excursion, "and more."

 

So I'm guessing it's like an enhanced repo cruise, huh? And it's also a Captain's Club reunion cruise, but I'm not sure if the Oct. 13 08 one is or not.

 

Anyway, there will probably be some reviews afterward (I'm going to try to post one) so maybe that will help you decide!

 

Regards,

Jan

[lucywestie]

Thanks so much for the info. Will keep it in mind as an alternative to the repeat we are doing with RCI on the Serenade next year. [did it this year and loved it, two weeks on board]

[EnidSooner]

Pete - We have booked the '08 cruise and what I have gleaned off the boards is that there is some, but not much in the way of tastings and seminars. What attracted us was a casual itinerary down the coast with X. I'm looking forward to hearing from any of the CCer's, that means you Jan, that go on the 11/2/07 sailing.

[janrj7]

Just to follow up on these questions ...

 

We had a great time on the wine cruise, and there were so many wine-related events we couldn't attend them all. I included a complete list of the wine events and also of the Capt. Club events (though those would not all be repeated on a non-reunion cruise) at the end of my review:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=34830

 

If you decide to book the 08 cruise, hope you'll have a terrific time!

 

Regards,

Jan

[sharpie13]

DW and did our own Napa Valley wine excursion 2 weeks ago for our anniversary. Fall is wonderful time in the Napa Valley, the colors are great, the crowds are smaller and the air stills smells of the crush. You can have a lot of fun there weather you are going for the wineries or the culinary attributes of the area.

[beauxdammit]

Luciwestie

 

Perhaps by now you have looked at the reviews available on this cruise. We found it to be a deliteful combination of activity and leasure with a most laid-back feel. You will have a great time, I am sure, on a nice ship. As I and others suggest though, you might be better off arranging your travel on your own rather than having Celebrity do it. (See reviews and several threads re X travel arrangements)