What is Celebrity Mercury like?

[pjlee3333]

We've sailed on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur out of Baltimore several times. We love being casual. We don't like dressing up for dinner (though we're not in swimsuits or shorts in the evening eithe just don't wan't to wear formal or semiformal wear). We enjoy the buffet for all meals (including supper) and picking the time we can eat instead of having a fixed eating time. We also enjoy listening to music in the centrum in the centrum in the evening.

 

Celebrity Mercury will be coming out of Baltimore in December 2009 and January 2010. How does this ship compare to the Grandeur? Is there a buffet where we can serve ourselves when we want in the evening? Is the dress code only for the dining room or is it for all public areas in the evening? Any other comparisons that would help us decide? We love the Grandeur so staying with that ship would not be a problem but having another iteneray choice would be nice.

 

Thanks for any help you can give us.

 

Just as background we've been on the Galaxy once, we've been on about 17 Royal Caribben ships, including Grandeur 11 times.

[Lois R]

We've sailed on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur out of Baltimore several times. We love being casual. We don't like dressing up for dinner (though we're not in swimsuits or shorts in the evening eithe just don't wan't to wear formal or semiformal wear). We enjoy the buffet for all meals (including supper) and picking the time we can eat instead of having a fixed eating time. We also enjoy listening to music in the centrum in the centrum in the evening.

 

Celebrity Mercury will be coming out of Baltimore in December 2009 and January 2010. How does this ship compare to the Grandeur? Is there a buffet where we can serve ourselves when we want in the evening? Is the dress code only for the dining room or is it for all public areas in the evening? Any other comparisons that would help us decide? We love the Grandeur so staying with that ship would not be a problem but having another iteneray choice would be nice.

 

Thanks for any help you can give us.

 

Just as background we've been on the Galaxy once, we've been on about 17 Royal Caribben ships, including Grandeur 11 times.

 

Hi, Mercury is about 77,000 tons. I don't know how big

Grandeur is but Mercury is the same size as Galaxy (they

are sister ships).

Celebrity does not offer a "self-serve" buffet for dinner on

any of their ships.

They do have other options from the Main Dining room but

not a buffet that is the normal one offered for breakfast and

lunch.

They have an area set up on the lido deck (near the buffet)

that is called "Alternative Dining" which is a casual atmosphere.

You are served by wait staff on linen, off a menu which offers

about 4 choices of entrees.

They do request you make a reservation and suggest a 2.00

tip per person. Most of the wait staff is in training.

 

They also have a sushi area which is self serve, and they

have a pizza and pasta station as well.

Hope this helps a bit and I am sure others will chime in as well.

[kodiaknurse]

I'm Sailing Mercury leaving on the 21st. We are lovers of the freestyle dining on NCL - so this will be a big change for us. We are not "formal" dinner kind of people (except maybe weddings - lol). So, we will be looking for the alternative dining for those evenings.

 

I'll let you know when I get back!

 

My understanding is evening wear is collared shirt and pants for men and blouse and slacks, skirt for ladies - I'm going with my capris as I dont generally do skirts. The formal nights, they want everyone to be formal, however, not everyone does "dress". The usual dinner wear will suffice.

 

Sue

[dkjretired]

We've sailed on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur out of Baltimore several times. We love being casual. We don't like dressing up for dinner (though we're not in swimsuits or shorts in the evening eithe just don't wan't to wear formal or semiformal wear). We enjoy the buffet for all meals (including supper) and picking the time we can eat instead of having a fixed eating time. We also enjoy listening to music in the centrum in the centrum in the evening.

 

Celebrity Mercury will be coming out of Baltimore in December 2009 and January 2010. How does this ship compare to the Grandeur? Is there a buffet where we can serve ourselves when we want in the evening? Is the dress code only for the dining room or is it for all public areas in the evening? Any other comparisons that would help us decide? We love the Grandeur so staying with that ship would not be a problem but having another iteneray choice would be nice.

 

Thanks for any help you can give us.

 

 

 

Just as background we've been on the Galaxy once, we've been on about 17 Royal Caribben ships, including Grandeur 11 times.

 

As to the part of your question about the dress code being for dinner or the evening in all areas there is a problem caused by Celebrity with this issue. Their web site states they wish people to remain in smart casual for the evening in other venues however people coming back from the cruises indicate the Dailies have something different on them. According to several reports they state the line is requesting the dining room mode of dress for the evening in all other venues. This had been Celebrity's policy until their recent change of the dress code. Also, enforcement has been uneven in this particular area. I am only expressing what has appeared on the boards lately and not my opinion.

[Fredr]

hello,

 

Just back from a Hawaii cruise on the Mercury....arrived in San Diego on 11/7/2008. Very nice ship overall. For smart casual nights, just look nice but no need to overdress. A pair of khakis and a nice shirt with a collar is all that is needed fror men and for women, just look nice.

 

As for formal nights, most passengers will be in something nice...suits, sportcoats and most with ties. A tux is not out of place but not mandatory. Women were dressed up but very few were in very fancy clothes. Lots of beautiful black pants and nice tops or dresses, some of which were black cocktail dresses.

 

Taking a dress and some black dress pants isn't going to make your luggage too difficult to handle.

 

Hope that this helps,

 

Fred

[BalconyBumz]

The Celebrity Mercury is a cozy ship, but is getting old and is not as glamorous and beautiful as newer ships. I believe they are even selling it in 2 years. I've been on it several times.

[pjlee3333]

Thank you for all these comments. Please keep them coming.

 

Grandeur is a 12 year old ship, and we love it so the age of the ship doesn't bother us.

 

Also, we're fortunate to be a 20 minute drive from the Port of Baltimore so we don't have the hassle of flying in. We're just the more casual traveler who enjoys seeing others dress up but don't want to dress to up on our vaction. That's one of the reasons I was asking about an alternative dining room. For us, the buffet fits our personality, and I know we may be different than many cruisers.

 

Does the ship have any music in the centrum in the evening hours or is the music mainly in the lounges?

[PatC]

As stated above, Mercury is an older ship. We'll be sailing her out of Charleston in 2010. Having sailed Galaxy and loving her, I can tell you the lounges are the only venues for music in the evenings. She's a smaller ship than the M class ships so not much in the way of a central area for music in the main areas of the ship.

 

Casual dining is very nice. Did it on Summit in Hawaii. It was worth the $2.00 We didn't have to "dress up", just slacks or casual clothes but, again, as stated above, they ask you to remain in the dress of the day throughout the ship for the evening.

 

Again, black slacks and a "dressier" top would suffice in the dining room. I always take a long, black non-wrinkly shift dress and 2 tops to put over. works fine, especially with sandals. I never take heels or shoes that are not comfortable, I'm a sneaker person, but on those nights, nice slinky black sandals worked fine.

 

It's all up to the individual but enjoy your trip. Glad to hear Celebrity is back in Baltimore!

[San Diego Ellie]

I thought I remembered one side of the buffet being open for dinner, even though the other is used for the sushi, and then the alternative dining venue. Am I wrong in my recollection?

[oceanbear]

I'm Sailing Mercury leaving on the 21st. We are lovers of the freestyle dining on NCL - so this will be a big change for us. We are not "formal" dinner kind of people (except maybe weddings - lol). So, we will be looking for the alternative dining for those evenings.

 

I'll let you know when I get back!

 

My understanding is evening wear is collared shirt and pants for men and blouse and slacks, skirt for ladies - I'm going with my capris as I dont generally do skirts. The formal nights, they want everyone to be formal, however, not everyone does "dress". The usual dinner wear will suffice.

 

Sue

I disagree! "usual dinner wear" will not suffice. If dining in the main dining room, men are are asked to wear a dark suit with tie or a tux. Women wear "dressy" if not formal clothes. If that is not to your liking, dining in the "alternative dining" area is available as is room service.

[oceanbear]

I disagree! "usual dinner wear" will not suffice. If dining in the main dining room, men are are asked to wear a dark suit with tie or a tux. Women wear "dressy" if not formal clothes. If that is not to your liking, dining in the "alternative dining" area is available as is room service.

Re-stated!

 

I disagree! "usual dinner wear" will not suffice on a "Formal Night". If dining in the main dining room on a fomal night, men are are asked to wear a tux or a dark suit with tie. Women wear "dressy" if not formal clothes. If that is not to your liking, dining in the "alternative dining" area is available as is room service.

[Lois R]

I thought I remembered one side of the buffet being open for dinner, even though the other is used for the sushi, and then the alternative dining venue. Am I wrong in my recollection?

 

Hi:) I was on Mercury in September. The Sushi was located

Starboard side of the Buffet area. It took up one small section

with the Sushi staff making new items as needed...soup, sushi,

sashimi, etc.

If you walk just a bit forward the "Alternative Dining Area"

is set up (also starboard).

 

No regular buffet for dinner (unless there was something going

on that was out of the norm).

[pjlee3333]

I don't mean to harp on the dress code but I do have one more question. If we choose to dress in nice pants outfits for the alternative places on formal nights, would we be out of place in the shows and lounges on those nights?

 

We don't mind not using the main dining room if we're not dressing up but wondered how out of place we'd be in the rest of the ship.

[Lois R]

I don't mean to harp on the dress code but I do have one more question. If we choose to dress in nice pants outfits for the alternative places on formal nights, would we be out of place in the shows and lounges on those nights?

 

We don't mind not using the main dining room if we're not dressing up but wondered how out of place we'd be in the rest of the ship.

 

A nice pants outfit will be fine:)

[shawn&angie]

We were on the Mercury last year. My wife says it is her favorite ship. It has a character all of its own. I think that its character and the staff make up for its age and differences from other ships.

 

I had a question though about the casual dinning, how does the tip work?....do you leave it on the table or give it to them some other way? We never tried the casual dinning but will consider it on our next cruise on the Summit...mostly because we are finding the dinner process can be very long, sometimes two hours...which is too long for me. So one or two nights we may give it a try.

 

We did experience the Sushi and Pasta by the way and loved that as an option.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Having sailed on the Mercury as recently as 11/7/2008, the ship is in excellent shape. The only thing that I noticed that should have been changed was the couch in our cabin but this was a very minor issue. The ship has been maintained superbly.

 

Most likely Celebrity is selling the Mercury to reduce capacity as its newer ships come on line, such as the Solstice. No doubt that the Mercury will go to another cruise line and will spend many years as a cruise ship. The Discovery is the old Island Princess, and Oceania cruise lines is using older cruise ships tha thave been refurbished.

 

Fred

[Hawaii Aloha!]

Fred - I am cruising on Mercury to Hawaii leaving Dec 18th - Can you tell me what the temperature was like cruising to Hawaii and back? Was it warm enough on the first couple days at sea to be pool side/bathing suits??

[Ahhh]

Can you tell me what the temperature was like cruising to Hawaii and back? Was it warm enough on the first couple days at sea to be pool side/bathing suits??

 

I have done the Hawaii cruise three times, and on those sailings, the first and last two days were much cooler than the rest of the trip. As I recall, around day 3 you could really tell a change in temperature and humidity. Keep in mind ;) that weather changes...

 

The Mercury is one of my favorite ships. The alternative dining is a very nice option to the main dining room. The menu changes every 3 days or so. The pasta station menu changes daily and has many options to choose from. Room service is great on this ship too.

[shawn&angie]

I have done the Hawaii cruise three times, and on those sailings, the first and last two days were much cooler than the rest of the trip. As I recall, around day 3 you could really tell a change in temperature and humidity. Keep in mind ;) that weather changes...

 

The Mercury is one of my favorite ships. The alternative dining is a very nice option to the main dining room. The menu changes every 3 days or so. The pasta station menu changes daily and has many options to choose from. Room service is great on this ship too.

 

 

 

How does tipping work for the Alternative dinning?....Do you leave it on the table or give it to them some other way?

[kodiaknurse]

My statement from earlier - sorry was an incomplete thought -

 

"My understanding is evening wear is collared shirt and pants for men and blouse and slacks, skirt for ladies - I'm going with my capris as I dont generally do skirts. The formal nights, they want everyone to be formal, however, not everyone does "dress". The usual dinner wear will suffice."

 

Here is the complete thought: not everyone does "dress" (meant a dress, pant suits work). The usual dinner wear will suffice (meant for the alternative dining areas and throughout the ship for the rest of the "formal" evening)

 

Sorry for causing confusion - not intentional!

[Ahhh]

How does tipping work for the Alternative dinning?....Do you leave it on the table or give it to them some other way?

I always carried cash and handed it to the server. David

[Fredr]

Fred - I am cruising on Mercury to Hawaii leaving Dec 18th - Can you tell me what the temperature was like cruising to Hawaii and back? Was it warm enough on the first couple days at sea to be pool side/bathing suits??

 

The first two days at sea from San Diego were cool as were the last two days on the way back to San Diego. However, the sun was out so we sat outside on all four days but not in our swim suits. I saw several others sunbathing on these days.

 

Do not hesitate with any questions.

 

Fred

[lysolqn]

Here is the complete thought: not everyone does "dress" (meant a dress, pant suits work). The usual dinner wear will suffice (meant for the alternative dining areas and throughout the ship for the rest of the "formal" evening)

 

Even with the recent change in dress code, the Daily continues to state pax are requested to follow the mode of evening dress throughout the ship after 6pm.

[unklez]

Even with the recent change in dress code, the Daily continues to state pax are requested to follow the mode of evening dress throughout the ship after 6pm.

 

Yea they do want their photographers to make money! So it is a _request_.

[LustforLife]

Not sure how the Mercury is set up but I know that on Century (similar ship) there is the Cova Cafe located in the centrum area of the ship and often there was a string quartet playing music there. It was a nice place to sit and have a glass of wine while listening to the music.