Live from Mercury

[STXCruisers]

Hi everyone! We're on Mercury at last!:D She's beautiful and we love her! The crew is wonderful and the food is great.

Yesterday I wore my Cruise Critic shirt and I swear everyone knows Lois! They ask me if I know her, and I have to say we have not met face to face, but we have communicated!:p

I will try to write more later - I'm hoping to get to the thalassotherapy pool soon!

Doris

[Lois R]

Hi Doris, just got home today and glad you are having a great

start:)........she really is a lovely ship:)

I think I will go on her next year too:D

[Susie51]

Have a great cruise. What is your itinerary?

[Lois R]

Have a great cruise. What is your itinerary?

 

Hi Susie, Doris is on an 8 nighter.....Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka and

Victoria :)and some sea days...it ends in Seattle.

I was on this one last year...it is the last Alaskan cruise of this

season.

[willie2845]

Hi Doris,

 

Have a wonderful cruise! We have eight cruises on the Mercury, she's a great ship, and we love her.

Could you tell us who the officers are? Capitan and so on. Thanks, and once again have a great cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tea4ular]

Could you let me know if Mercury has a retractable roof for the weather? Thinking about sailing on her and that's a big bonus for me.

 

Thanks and have a blast!

[Lois R]

Could you let me know if Mercury has a retractable roof for the weather? Thinking about sailing on her and that's a big bonus for me.

 

Thanks and have a blast!

 

Yes, the roof that covers the Indoor AFT pool is retractable.

[tea4ular]

Yes, the roof that covers the Indoor AFT pool is retractable.

 

Just what I was looking for...thank you!

[bug_dan]

Hi Doris,

 

 

Nice to hear you're having a good time, only can wish we were with you:)

Enjoy the rest of your cruise:):):)

[raudacruise]

Ah, the T-Pool. There was another question re: difference between Mercury's and those on the M-Class ships. No comparison in my mind - jealous about not being able to sit under those water jets, what a de-stresser.

[STXCruisers]

Hello everyone!

Well, we were at Sitka yesterday, but my father-in-law became very ill and had to be evacuated to the hospital in Sitka. We spent most of the day with his trip to the medical center and on the tender (on stretcher) to the hospital in Sitka. They did not return to the ship, but everything is going well. He should be released from the hospital in Sitka in a day or two and they will make their way home from there. Mercury evacuated a number of people for health reasons this cruise. The medical center staff said they have not had time to breathe for three days! Anyway, they gave good care and the in-laws seem very happy with the Sitka hospital. We will see how the Cruise Care insurance goes.

Today we were at the glacier! Ah how beautiful. The weather was pretty good for being at the glacier, the water was calm, we saw some calving and were able to come within 1/4 mile of the glacier. They said that was the closest all season. Do they say that on every cruise? They sent a lifeboat out to take a pic of the ship at the glacier and brought back a chunk of glacier ice.

Our CC party was scheduled for yesterday, but didn't happen then(it got lost in the shuffle); so it was rescheduled for today and we had a small turnout. We don't have any other activities planned for our group.

The sunset verandah - it is a bit short on space (compared to the sky suite), but that's OK. The view is splendid, BUT, the sliding door does not stay locked. When the seas are somewhat rough, which they were all last night and this afternoon, it rolls back forth and slams into one side or the other making a great deal of noise. This is a real problem when you are trying to sleep. I should have brought my bungee cord to hold it open.

Today we went to the Future Cruises presentation and I am dreaming of planning the next one (after our February Caribbean on Solstice). I think we are going to do a Panama Canal cruise next.

I'm seriously wishing we were elite, but we won't reach that level until after our February cruise. Those new perks are fantastic!

Will check back later - will get the names of the captain and officers - but don't want to misspell them - check later!

Doris

[STXCruisers]

Hi Doris,

 

 

Nice to hear you're having a good time, only can wish we were with you:)

Enjoy the rest of your cruise:):):)

 

Dan and June, thanks for the good wishes. I really wish you were with us also! June, best wishes to you to get finished with those treatments and get back to cruising!

Doris

[bug_dan]

Doris,

 

Sorry to hear about your FIL, hopefully Cruise Care will cover everything. Unfortunately they did not cover our cancellation due to the 60 day rule. Must admit, I didn't really understand that the 60 day rule only began when final payment was made. Fortunately for us, Celebrity waived all penalties for the cruise and the only cost we had to bear was the independent airfare we made. Apparently Cruise Care does not cover pre-existing conditions:(

[Sailor's Girl]

We're sailing on Mercury out of Baltimore in January and I'm learning lots from your posts. Thanks!

 

We'll be in a Sunset Verandah (1156), too. We'll be sure to pack a bungee cord to hold the sliding door open. Any other suggestions?

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise, and thanks for posting.

[harmony6840]

Thanks for your thoughts while sailing on Mercury. We will be on her out of Baltimore on November 9th. It will be her first sailing out of Baltimore and we're really excited. Would you please tell us how much the T-pool costs. Have read so many good things about this, just sad that there is a cost involved. We love the Solarium on the Grandeur and especially the hot tubs. Will miss that luxuary on the Mercury. But, we are really glad she has the covered pool area for adults.

[Andy]

Hi STX Cruisers !

 

Im sorry to hear about your FIL missing part of the Cruise, but happy to hear he is doing well. Thanks for your updates, and enjoy the rest of your Cruise.

[cruisebunny32]

Doris...Glad you and Jerry are enjoying your cruise. I am so sorry about your in-laws, and missing the cruise...but at least he is fine.

 

The Glacier sounds awesome! I am glad you are enjoying the ship. Do tell more!

 

Dont forget the spoon on the nose trick!

 

The aft cabins on Soltisce were not as nice as on the M-class....just to let you know...verandah is just regular! Try to get a cabin in AQ..they seemed nice...well duh you were there!

 

Alisia

[STXCruisers]

Hello everyone. Trying to remember questions.

Jerry's stepdad is doing well. They were in Seattle today and will arrive at Chicago O'Hare at 11:30 tonight (8:30 Alaska time, so it will not be quite so bad), so I am sure they will be very tired when they get home. Two of Jerry's brothers are picking them up at the airport. Thanks to all for the well wishes.

Captain is Patsoulis (sp?) - didn't remember to bring papers with me to wifi hot spot. We were invited to a bridge tour today. I went; Jerry did not. It was very interesting.

We found out you don't need the bungee cord if you lock the child lockon the sliding door of the aft cabin. Ours was sticking and hard to lock, but steward helped and got the job done.

Lois, was Bresley your waiter? He thinks you were at his table. He and Pareira have been great.

T-pool costs $35 per day per couple or $129 for our entire cruise (7 days as it was not open the first day nor will it be when we disembark). If you are in a suite, you don't have to pay. It has been wonderful and that is ONE of the things we love about Mercury.

The aft suite is great in that you don't get the wind you get on the side verandahs. However, very little of it is covered and it has been raining a lot, so we have had little use of it. There is a table with two chairs and two footstools which can be used to lounge. The open area on the corner of the ship next to our cabin (8259) is very nice and is covered.

Didn't post yesterday - system was down both times I tried to post. Service seems to be spotty - I think others have said that too.

Doris

[STXCruisers]

Alisia, the spoon on the nose trick has already been done!

Doris

[Bozo]

Thanks for your thoughts while sailing on Mercury. We will be on her out of Baltimore on November 9th. It will be her first sailing out of Baltimore and we're really excited. Would you please tell us how much the T-pool costs. Have read so many good things about this, just sad that there is a cost involved. We love the Solarium on the Grandeur and especially the hot tubs. Will miss that luxuary on the Mercury. But, we are really glad she has the covered pool area for adults.

 

Have you guys been on the thread for the 11/9/09 cruise check it out also you can sign up for the cruise critic meet at celebrity connections we wellcome all hope you join in

[Lois R]

Hi Doris:) yes, Bresley was my waiter:D He is terrific (and not

bad on the eyes either;)).

Tell him hello please! We were at table 606...starboard all the

way back by the window on the railing.

 

Glad your FIL will be ok.:)

[tea4ular]

Just booked the Mercury for a May sailing, can you tell me...the Celebrity website says the cabins have a VCR, have they upgraded to DVD players yet?

 

Thanks!

[cruisebunny32]

Alisia, the spoon on the nose trick has already been done!

 

Doris

 

 

No one does it better than my Carolyn....LOL

 

I am glad you are enjoying your cruise...sorry about the rain. I hope you are seeing some really great stuff!

 

Glad the folks got home safely.

 

Talk to you soon!

Alisia

[bug_dan]

Doris,

 

Looks like your cruise is almost over:( Hope to hear more about what I missed:( Have a safe trip home:)

[STXCruisers]

Well, it was a great cruise, but wish Dan & June that you could have been with us. The crew and the food were fabulous. We saw two shows and enjoyed both. The acrobat couple are great.

There is a VCR, no DVD player, in our sunset verandah. I do not know if they are updating some of the cabins or not.

We went to the Future Cruises presentation and we are looking at a Panama Canal cruise for 2011, following our Caribbean in February of 2010.

Enjoyed the specialty coffee drinks in the Cova Cafe this time. Yummm.

Victoria, B.C. was beautiful. We went to Butchart GArdens and the Butterfly Gardens too. The weather in Victoria was spectacular!

Lois, I told Bresley you said hi. He sends a hello to you too. He and his assistant Pareira took good care of us. They are neighbors when they are at home.

Alisia, you are right about Carolyn. She is a natural at the spoon on the nose trick!

We are trying something new for disembarkation. We are walking off WITH our luggage in the morning. We have to go to the theater at 7:25 a.m. and will be called to exit with our luggage as soon as the ship is cleared. We have a flight at 11:50 out of Seattle, so we would have been in an early group to disembark anyway, so we decided to keep our luggage tonight and take it off ourselves. That will be the first group to disembark the ship. Will let you all know how that goes. We fly home from Seattle, arriving home to Laredo, TX at 10:30 p.m. if all goes well.

Doris