Who Here Sailed & Loved Celebrity Mercury?

We did two Alaska Inside Passage Cruises with her in the early 2000's. The first one was so good we booked the second identical passage the next summer. In fact we sail Alaska practically every year, in part because of our great past experiences with Celebrity Infinity, Mercury and Century in that region.

I just found this AMAZING posting of the ORIGINAL Celebrity Mercury promotional videos. Thank you "WeCuteSD"!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2443379

Celebrity was simply awesome back then. In particular, the food on Mercury during this time period was rated #1 of all ships on the annual Conde Nast survey. And to date, those Century class ships had the absolute BEST Thallosotherapy Pools ever! :)

I have sailed every Celebrity ship and have to say that the only one I did not like was Mercury. Perhaps it was because of an ongoing noravirus issue that resulted in the ship smelling of Clorox and every surface being smeared and/or pitted from constant cleaning with Clorox. Must say, if this had been our 1st Celebrity cruise, it would also have been our last. However, since we knew this was not the norm, we gave Celebrity another chance and have happily continued sailing on all of their other ships over the past 17 years.

I had heard about several problems on the Mercury when she was older before they traded her to a sister Cruise Line, the German one I believe. It's sort of like when a Hall of Fame football or baseball player decides to play past his or her prime.

Believe me, she was GREAT before your not-so-great experience.

Mercury was our first X cruise in 1998. We loved it. It was our first cruise review on our website. I wish that I had done reviews like I do now back then; so I would have had more ship pics. These are from the MDR.

I posted awhile ago but loved seeing it again,...

That's what cruising should be like,....even today....classy ship, exceptional staff, outstanding food and service, lovely clientele.. Perfect in every way!

I posted awhile ago but loved seeing it again,...

That's what cruising should be like,....even today....classy ship, exceptional staff, outstanding food and service, lovely clientele.. Perfect in every way!

Exactly! Celebrity had "the Edge" back then. No other Cruise Line could compare.

Of all the Celebrity ships I've sailed on, Mercury was my least favorite, and I can't even say why. I don't know, maybe it was her color scheme? I really can't put my finger on it. Sailed her twice, in '02 & '05, and enjoyed both cruises though. Did love Century & Galaxy though.

Mercury was our first X cruise in 1998. We loved it. It was our first cruise review on our website. I wish that I had done reviews like I do now back then; so I would have had more ship pics. These are from the MDR.

I read your review. Great review for only your second cruise. I do like your closing line:

"We would recommend the Mercury to anyone who wants to be treated like royalty basking in luxury! "recommend the Mercury to anyone who wants to be treated like royalty basking in luxury!

Of all the Celebrity ships I've sailed on, Mercury was my least favorite, and I can't even say why. I don't know, maybe it was her color scheme? I really can't put my finger on it. Sailed her twice, in '02 & '05, and enjoyed both cruises though. Did love Century & Galaxy though.

We fell in love with Century after Mercury was traded to their sister German line. I have to admit, Century was nicer. But I was a bit miffed when they got rid of that Great Huge Jacuzzi Pool. They filled it in and expanded the AquaCafe area.

My biggest complaint about Century though was when Celebrity decide to trade her away a few years ago. She was the last of the classy Celebrity ships and I was thinking sort of like what HAL has done with Prisindam, Celebrity should have kept her for more exotic trips. But hence, Celebrity abandoned her. She was a special ship.

We sailed on her out of Sydney in January 2008.

We loved her.

Our room 9149 (2A) faced the Sydney Opera house.

Also sailed Galaxy, Rome to Galveston and Century around Hawaii.

We should have been on Century's last cruise Dubai to Rome, April 2015, but unfortunately she was sold to the Chinese market 6 months before our sailing.

I've sailed the Mercury before, it was one of the first ships I sailed! I've sailed 11 other ships, 8 of them were Celebrity ships. Do I remember the Mercury specifically? No, but keep in mind, I was maybe 6-8 years old when I was on it.

I have a love/hate relationship with Mercury.

Sailed her to Alaska in 2007. Best cruise ever to that point. Beautiful ship, excellent crew/staff, etc.

Fast forward to February 2010 we cruised her again - everything that could go wrong did go wrong!

Booked a balcony that they misrepresented, although when I proved they were lying they upgraded us at no charge.

Sailing was delayed maybe 36 hours due to norovirus and CDC. (Sorry ma'am, we can't find any more hotel rooms, you're on your own.)

Missed Key West entirely where we had planned to spend Hubby's retirement date.

Midway thru cruise hubby contracted norovirus and was quarantined last 4-5 days. I spent those last days scrounging the ship looking for jello, crackers, force feeding him Gatorade, begging for clean linens, etc.

Our first Celebrity cruise was aboard Mercury in February 2000. It was love at first sight and we were fortunate to sail her two more times. I loved the boutique feel she had to her. We sailed Century later in her life and enjoyed those voyages as well. Never made it aboard Galaxy, though, before she left the fleet.

Many fond memories sailing this class of ships.

I still wear my Mercury T-Shirt. It is a classic!

Sailed the Century and loved her. She had a special kind of ambiance. Real classy ship.

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We sailed on the Mercury in Nov 98. It was so upscale to us at the time. The food was outstanding. Fond memories.

We sailed the Mercury three times, Hawaii once and the repo to Alaska that included a 7 day Alaska cruise. It is our all time favorite ship. That includes the M and S class ships on Celebrity as well as the ones we went on with HAL, NCL, RCL, and Princess.

I still wear my Mercury T-Shirt. It is a classic!

Same here! I have the Red one with the Steering Wheel! Great shirt, and only us older Celebrity guys and gals can truly understand what the shirt represents. :confused:

I have a love/hate relationship with Mercury. Sailed her to Alaska in 2007. Best cruise ever to that point. Beautiful ship, excellent crew/staff, etc.Fast forward to February 2010 we cruised her again - everything that could go wrong did go wrong! Booked a balcony that they misrepresented, although when I proved they were lying they upgraded us at no charge.Sailing was delayed maybe 36 hours due to norovirus and CDC. (Sorry ma'am, we can't find any more hotel rooms, you're on your own.) Missed Key West entirely where we had planned to spend Hubby's retirement date.

Midway thru cruise hubby contracted norovirus and was quarantined last 4-5 days. I spent those last days scrounging the ship looking for jello, crackers, force feeding him Gatorade, begging for clean linens, etc.

Mercury, for some reason fell apart in her later years. Not sure what happened but I did read a lot of bad press on her before Celebrity pawned her off to the German Line, TUI. She looks good now. I saw some pics recently.

We first sailed Mercury through the Panama when she was quite new. Then sailed her again the first time Celebrity went down under. upwarduk, we brought her into Sydney That still remains one of our best cruises (Honolulu to Sydney via Auckland)

Hope to see the T-shirt soon, Mike!

The Merc, as we lovingly call her in our household, was our first Celebrity cruise (not our first cruise, though) to celebrate my 40th birthday back in 2000. We did a 2 week San Diego to Ft Lauderdale through the Panama Canal. Wow! She made me fall in love with Celebrity!! I sailed on her again a few years later what was to be a 7 night Pacific Coastal when they changed it to an 11 night Mexico ... now get this, for the same price plus some shipboard credit for the inconvenience for those that were already booked. We were lucky enough to get one of the family oceanview rooms at the very aft of the ship, which were later converted to family veranda cabins. Another amazing cruise on the good old Merc. I loved her but probably would scoff at her now that there are so many more bells and whistles on the newer ships. While we had an amazing time on the Century just before she was sold off, she was really showing her age!! She just had a worn out feel to her. And ... I would never want that to be my impression of our beloved Merc. I want to remember her as the amazing ship she was.

We first sailed Mercury through the Panama when she was quite new. Then sailed her again the first time Celebrity went down under. upwarduk, we brought her into Sydney That still remains one of our best cruises (Honolulu to Sydney via Auckland)

 

Hope to see the T-shirt soon, Mike!

I bet you see it in April.:D I also have a Constellation inaugural season one that would be perfect for this Constellation cruise.

I loved the ships of old: Mercury, Galaxy, Century, Horizon, etc. Today, I still like the smaller ships.

I had heard about several problems on the Mercury when she was older before they traded her to a sister Cruise Line, the German one I believe. It's sort of like when a Hall of Fame football or baseball player decides to play past his or her prime.

 

Believe me, she was GREAT before your not-so-great experience.

My not so great experience was in either 2000 or 2001. It would seem to have been before your cruises on Mercury, not after.

The Century still sails in china...

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/17513-skysea-expands-2018-deployment-to-more-homeports.html