Celebrity Mercury-is it true it is moving to Charleston, SC

[momofmeg]

departure port- when? and what cruise itineraires will it have? I hope Bermuda!

[signman]

Just pop on in at http://www.celebrity.com and you'll have all the answers.

[momofmeg]

Just pop on in at http://www.celebrity.com and you'll have all the answers.

 

Oh I know I can do that. I just thought since this is a messageboard, others may be interested in "talking" about this.

[suzziecruisie]

It is going to be awhile before it happens. BUT thank you-had no idea that any ship would be leaving from Charleston, SC-cant wait-that will be easier for us to get to than the FL ports!!!! I am so excited!!!

[momofmeg]

It is going to be awhile before it happens. BUT thank you-had no idea that any ship would be leaving from Charleston, SC-cant wait-that will be easier for us to get to than the FL ports!!!! I am so excited!!!

 

Susie, NCL Majesty leaves from there now and before they reposition they do a FEW Bermuda crusies. I just do not want to crusie in a stateroom that is only 140 square feet unless I book a very expensive suite. 140 square feet would be tight for just my hubby and I, unbearable if we had our daughter along, which is why we have not crusied that ship. NCL is retiring that ship at the end of 09, I suppose Celebrity gets their spot, as in March 2010, they are doing Charleston to the caribbean crusies. I hope they will do a few Bermuda cruises also.

[Lois R]

Hi Momofmeg, Mercury will start on the East Coast in Nov 2009.

Various sailings from Charleston and Baltimore.

The roll call boards have quite a few on there already.

[our turn]

We are very excited about this news. Charleston is such an easy drive for us. We love X and HAL and just couldn't bring ourseves to try NCL.

[momofmeg]

We are very excited about this news. Charleston is such an easy drive for us. We love X and HAL and just couldn't bring ourseves to try NCL.

 

This is what I have been waiting for also. A FIVE HOUR DRIVE for us! I don't mind cruising an older ship, I just felt the NCL Majesty was too old and the staterooms simply too small. I was on the Zenith not long before she was retired and I felt that she had decent sized staterooms. My hubby and I were in an obstructed oceanview and we had enough room.

 

I did go to celebrity.com and checked out her sailings but it only shows through March 2010. I am still HOPING that before the ship returns to Baltimore that there will be one or two Bermuda sailings. But I also liked the caribbean sailing that goes to San Juan and Tortola on 2-15-2010! I may just book that one!

[momofmeg]

If the Mercury will do any Bermuda cruises?

[Lois R]

Hi,:) She is not scheduled for any Bermuda runs on these

new itineraries.

And this is just a possiblity, but there is a chance after 2010

she will be following in Galaxy's wake......and leaving the fleet.

[momofmeg]

The schedules only go through early April 2010. Nothing after that.

 

I have heard though that NCL may put another ship there-perhaps they will do a few Bermuda,or perhaps if I really want to do bermud afrom Chareston I need to do it this May.

[crazylarry]

I am thrilled to see that Mercury will be sailing out of Charleston with 7+ day itineraries starting late 09. DW and I just completed a 10 day repo cruise on Jewel of the Seas. I think we're ruined now to cruises under 10 days. It was a great cruise, but we were talking about how convenient it would be not to have to fly to the cruise port (cost and being able to bring back liquor and other items easily). We live in central NC, so Charleston is about 5 hours for us...definitely drivable. We're considering the 10 day cruise on 2/26/10.

 

We're veterans of RCI and we like it alot. For those of you who may have cruised on X and RCI, please give me an idea of how different the overall experience is. We like the food on RCI just fine, the wife plays alot of bingo and I like onboard sports/the pool/casino, etc. I've read a little bit about X being a little more reserved but I don't know how different it might be. :D

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback or comments that you can provide.

[tuggers]

Larry, I am getting on the Jewel 12/8. Did you use the Concierge Lounge? Was there a good bartender? It's always so much nicer when it's a fun bartender!

I think you will like X food a LOT. That's the one failing I find with RCI, the food is just not as good as X. However the buffet set-up on RCI (with the seperate stations) is much better. X's buffets can get very crowded trying to get through the lines.

X has a lot of little touches, iced towels when you return from a hot port, great free pastries in the Cova Cafe, and wonderful service.

I, too, will be looking at those itineraries out of Charleston. And I definately don't want to do any more short cruises! You do get spoiled easily with the longer ones don't you? Just hope the X prices plus the single supplement don't dissuade me!

[dkjretired]

The schedules only go through early April 2010. Nothing after that.

 

I have heard though that NCL may put another ship there-perhaps they will do a few Bermuda,or perhaps if I really want to do bermud afrom Chareston I need to do it this May.

 

I wouldn't get too excited about anything after April, 2010. IMHO Mercury will probably be leaving the fleet after the Charleston sailings. Again, this is only my opinion and I hope it doesn't happen...

[crazylarry]

Tuggers:

 

My wife and I are still RCI Gold (we'll be platinum after our next cruise) so we didn't get to use the Concierge Lounge. There were a ton of D and D+ pax on our cruise, so many that they actually set up a satellite Concierge in one of the other bars (Viking Crown I think).

 

The Jewel is beautiful and the staff is awesome, you should enjoy yourself. I cruised on Radiance two years ago and I love the layout of these Radiance class ships. Not too crowded and most everything is easy to get to.

 

We had some very rough seas coming out of Boston, but I'm told that the North Atlantic can be that way this time of year. The captain is Canadian but sounds very American, this is nice because you can understand his announcements! The Cruise Director, Karen is great as well.

 

If you happen to see an assistant waiter/Windjammer breakfast coffee station attendant named Typhoon (from Turkey), tell him "James Bond" says hello.

 

Good sailing my friend. Do you have room for me to stow away in your luggage? lol

[frogfuzz]

I just booked a birthday cruise for me. So excited,even if it turns out just for 1 year,it is still finally a close port.

 

When I booked, they told me there had abeen a lot of interest and excited people.

[TenerifeSharon]

departure port- when? and what cruise itineraires will it have? I hope Bermuda!

 

Thanks for this information! Can't believe that this was the way I found out -- very casually -- that our Mercury Feb. 1, 2010 cruise from San Juan, PR just happened to have been switched to Millennium, and that they replaced my carefully chosen Mercury cabin 8004 to something else.:mad::mad: (I assume they figure that the choice of ship or cabin isn't very important to most of us!!)

 

Just had X on the phone trying to get things straightened out. It's incredible to me that they didn't even both notifying their confirmed passengers of any changes (and I was told that the change took place in September). Guess I've just been lucky up to now that it's never happened before. We'll see what the outcome is!

[emptynest1]

This is what I have been waiting for also. A FIVE HOUR DRIVE for us! I don't mind cruising an older ship, I just felt the NCL Majesty was too old and the staterooms simply too small. I was on the Zenith not long before she was retired and I felt that she had decent sized staterooms. My hubby and I were in an obstructed oceanview and we had enough room.

 

I did go to celebrity.com and checked out her sailings but it only shows through March 2010. I am still HOPING that before the ship returns to Baltimore that there will be one or two Bermuda sailings. But I also liked the caribbean sailing that goes to San Juan and Tortola on 2-15-2010! I may just book that one!

 

I booked this as soon as I saw it. I was able to get a sky suite with the large balcony. We sailed Galaxy out of Charleston in 2003 with the same ports and it was a blast.