X Leaving Baltimore / Mercury Retiring

[Marco Beachcomber]

I have some good news for you that I picked up during the Equinox TA that I just finished yesterday, while the Mercury may be leaving Baltimore, Celebrity is not. The Celebrity Century has several Carribean cruises in 2011 and 2012 scheduled.

I haven't seen a recent thread on this:

 

Celebrity Cruises: Mercury to leave the fleet in February

 

Comments

By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY

 

JUST POSTED: Coming hurricane season could be fierce. Click HERE for details

 

In a Friday, February 26, 2010 file photo, the cruise ship Celebrity Mercury is seen docked at the South Carolina State Ports Authority passenger terminal in downtown Charleston S.C.

 

 

CAPTION

By Mic Smith, AP

 

 

 

Celebrity Cruises today announced one of its oldest ship, the Celebrity Mercury, will be leaving the fleet in February.

 

The 1,898-passenger vessel, a mainstay of the line since 1997, is being transferred to TUI Cruises, a German-focused cruise brand launched in 2008 in a joint venture between Europe-based Tui and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is the parent company of Celebrity Cruises as well its namesake Royal Caribbean brand.

Celebrity says the Celebrity Mercury will be renamed Mein Schiff 2 and join Tui's one existing vessel, Mein Schiff, in sailing in Europe. Mein Schiff also is a former Celebrity ship, the Celebrity Galaxy.

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Popular among many Celebrity regulars for its smaller size, the Mercury is spending this summer sailing in Alaska out of Vancouver. It had been scheduled to spend the coming winter sailing to the Bahamas and Caribbean out of Baltimore and Charleston, S.C., but the Charleston sailings now will be canceled. The ship's departure will leave Celebrity with nine vessels at sea. The line also has two more ships on order for delivery in 2011 and 2012.

"Celebrity Mercury has been a cherished member of the Celebrity family since she entered service in 1997, and has offered countless guests outstanding vacation experiences," Celebrity Cruises President & CEO Dan Hanrahan says in a statement. "We are confident that the ship's future with TUI Cruises is very bright."

Celebrity says the Celebrity Mercury's final sailing as a Celebrity ship will be its scheduled Feb. 14, 2011 departure. Passengers with bookings on Celebrity Mercury on or after Feb. 26, 2011 have the option to either cancel their booking or move to an earlier Celebrity Mercury sailing between Oct. 18 and Feb. 14, with the exception of the December 20, 2010 itinerary.

The line says passengers who make the switch to an earlier sailing will receive an onboard credit of $75 per cabin for inside or ocean-view accommodations; $100 per cabin for veranda or Concierge Class, and $200 per suite.

The line says passengers with reservations affected by the transition will be proactively contacted by Celebrity Cruises. Passengers with questions specific to impacted bookings can 888-281-9343.

Cruise Loggers, how do you feel about the Celebrity Mercury leaving the fleet? Share your thoughts below.

 

Posted May 27 2010 7:22AM

 

 

I'm so depressed over this.:( I LOVED The Mercury and was looking forward to many more cruises on her. There's no way I can convince my DH to book one of her last cruises, since we currently have 2 Carnival cruises booked. He just refuses to miss that much work.:rolleyes: If I had only known...

 

And to lose Celebrity from Baltimore altogether just compounds my depression. I want more cruising options out of Baltimore, not less!:mad:

 

Anyone else out there feel my pain?:(:o

[BonnieVA]

I have some good news for you that I picked up during the Equinox TA that I just finished yesterday, while the Mercury may be leaving Baltimore, Celebrity is not. The Celebrity Century has several Carribean cruises in 2011 and 2012 scheduled.

 

Who did you hear this from? That would back up what I had heard on my Oct 29 Merc cruise ... but she said they wouldn't know for sure until April. AND ... what about after that?????

[BonnieVA]

OK, I just looked at X's Century itineraries & it doesn't show her coming back to mainland USA until May 5, 2012!!! That would mean the earliest she'd be in Balt would be fall of 2012!!! That's a long way away but still would be nice.

[pattibacon]

We South Carolinians wish ANY X ship would come back to Charleston!!!! We, too, are on the Feb. 14 final cruise -- was supposed to have been in April from Charleston. Now gotta drive UP to Baltimore just to come back DOWN to the Caribbean. I still think they should just stop in Charleston and pick a bunch of us up that were originally on the April voyage!!

[Straitaway]

Yes, Celebrity, please come to Norfolk! One less day at sea to get to the Caribbean.

[ShakyBeef]

Hi Shaky! It was so lovely to spend time on our cruise with you and yours. There is always the port of Bayonne. I took a cruise out of Bayonne on Summit this summer with my daughter and my Dad to Canada/NE and it was fabulous! Dave and I + daughter are booked on a Bermuda cruise out of Bayonne next summer. You should join us! :D

 

 

Hi! That was a fabulous cruise, wasn't it? I wish we had gotten more time to hang out with you and Dave. It's great to hear from you again! We had a great group on that roll call.:) Hope to cruise with you again. Hopefully out of Baltimore on a Celebrity ship.:p

 

We'll look into Bayonne in the future, but it's so much less convenient than Baltimore.

[ShakyBeef]

I have never cruised on the Mercury but did a few on the Galaxy. We loved that ship and she went to TUI as well. We enjoyed every cruise on the Galaxy but especially the last one which was also the last cruise for her as a Celebrity vessel. It was an excellent cruise the farewell cruise which had the staff arranging all sorts of different celebrations each evening to give her a glorious send off.

If Mercury is dear to you and you can arrange the final cruise I wouldn't hesitate to do so.

 

:((too bad there's no 'smilely' for crying) There's just no chance of dragging DH away from his work for another cruise this winter. I wish I had known about this before I booked my Pride cruise. I'm looking forward to the Pride cruise, but given the choice, I would have taken a final cruise on Mercury instead.:(

[cruzeluver]

We South Carolinians wish ANY X ship would come back to Charleston!!!

 

Amen!! The only I love more than sailing on X is sailing on X 20 minutes from my house!:p

[ShakyBeef]

We tried the same thing before they took her away from us in San Diego --- I feel your pain :(

 

Thanks, and sorry. It seems they just keep giving the ships to us long enough to fall in love with them, then yanking them away. Mean, mean Celebrity people!:mad::p

 

Shaky Beef - you can cry on my shoulder. I, too, deplore losing Celebrity from the port of Baltimore. Weren't the original plans to have Century in Baltimore in 2012?

 

Keep your hopes up! Galaxy left Baltimore and a few years later we got Mercury. Perhaps after a hiatus we'll get Century.

 

Yup - I'll miss Mercury, and the convenience of sailing from Baltimore, BUT I am already looking at Silhouette's schedule from Bayonne. Depending on where you are on the 'Shore, it might be almost as close as Baltimore.

 

But I agree that the Port of Baltimore needs to do more marketing.

 

Thanks! No, Bayonne is nearly as good for us. We're south of Salisbury, and it's about 2 1/2 hours to Baltimore; but my parents live in Laurel, 20 minutes from B'more. We overnight with them before a cruise, and leave our dogs (and sometimes our kids:p) with them. Then my dad drops us off at the port (and picks us up). No parking fees!:cool:

 

We would still have to drive the 2 1/2 hours to Laurel before a Bayonne cruise, then pay to drive to and from and park in NJ.:(

 

I'm spoiled by Baltimore cruises!

 

Would love to see more cruising options out of Baltimore or Norfolk, Va. Both ports seem underused. Driving to Miami with kids is an unfortunate way to start a cruise vacation. And airfare is not always a reasonable option. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

 

I agree completely!

[ShakyBeef]

I have some good news for you that I picked up during the Equinox TA that I just finished yesterday, while the Mercury may be leaving Baltimore, Celebrity is not. The Celebrity Century has several Carribean cruises in 2011 and 2012 scheduled.

 

Who did you hear this from? That would back up what I had heard on my Oct 29 Merc cruise ... but she said they wouldn't know for sure until April. AND ... what about after that?????

 

OK, I just looked at X's Century itineraries & it doesn't show her coming back to mainland USA until May 5, 2012!!! That would mean the earliest she'd be in Balt would be fall of 2012!!! That's a long way away but still would be nice.

 

 

I hope it's true, somehow! What about those 2 ships the article mentions that Celebrity has on order? Will they be small enough to fit under the bridge? Might we get one of them? Or might we get Century if one of the new ships replaces it in Australia?:confused:

[ShakyBeef]

We love the port of Baltimore- even loved the old port at Dundalk. We are trying the Silhouette out of Bayonne. And we will be sailing on RCL and Enchantment OTS a whole lot more.

With this current body scan / pat down thing at the airport - we just say NO!!!

 

 

We're going to do Enchantment one of these days. I guess since our Baltimore choices are pretty much Pride or Enchantment, we'll be doing a lot of cruises on those 2 ships.

[ShakyBeef]

ShakyBeef - I would like to ask you some questions on the excursion you took to the Blue Lagoon on your cruise in January but I don't want to hijake this thread. When you have some time could you possibly email me at llmdrt at verizon dot net. Thanks in advance.

 

Lucy

 

 

Hi Lucy,

 

I'd love to answer your questions. :) But I don't do much email. :o How 'bout you start a thread on the subject (you can even address it to me in the title, I've seen people do that before). I guess the best place for the thread would be in the Nassau area of the ports forum. I'll keep an eye out for the thread. If I don't reply pretty quickly, just pop back on here and paste the link to the thread.

 

 

 

Sorry to all for the off-topic moment here.

 

 

And now, to return to topic - thank you all for the empathy / sympathy, and words of hope (please stay in B'more, X!). I feel ridiculous, being so sad about this. But I can't help it, I'm bummed. I just keep thinking, "I'll never set foot on Mercury again," and getting sad all over again.

[BonnieVA]

I hope it's true, somehow! What about those 2 ships the article mentions that Celebrity has on order? Will they be small enough to fit under the bridge? Might we get one of them? Or might we get Century if one of the new ships replaces it in Australia?:confused:

 

No, only Century will fit under the bridge at this point, I believe. The new ones definitely will NOT. So ... even if Century comes to Balt, eventually there will not be an X ship there since they'll have to get rid of her, too. SHe's getting up there in years, isn't she?

[ShakyBeef]

No, only Century will fit under the bridge at this point, I believe. The new ones definitely will NOT. So ... even if Century comes to Balt, eventually there will not be an X ship there since they'll have to get rid of her, too. SHe's getting up there in years, isn't she?

 

 

Well, darn. So much for that idea.

 

I guess I'm not a good judge of what is 'old' for a ship - I don't think Mercury is old enough to retire.:rolleyes: And I'm not a fan of the bigger (ships) = better (cruises) thing that most of the cruise lines seem to be doing lately.

 

Oh well, I haven't had a bad cruise or a bad ship, yet. I'll guess I'll survive... somehow:rolleyes:.

[drwong]

OK, I just looked at X's Century itineraries & it doesn't show her coming back to mainland USA until May 5, 2012!!! That would mean the earliest she'd be in Balt would be fall of 2012!!! That's a long way away but still would be nice.

 

They can always change schedules on you - just ask the Mercury passengers who had booked cruises from Baltimore and Charleston for the spring of 2011. :D

 

But one has to wonder how firm the demand is for Celebrity's product here in the mid-Atlantic states when they're selling cabins at fire-sale prices in their Tuesday Specials and competing against Carnival's Sunday-to-Sunday Bahamas cruises and the Enchantment of the Seas' longer Caribbean itineraries.

 

Perhaps once the Silhouette and Reflection come on line, Celebrity might homeport one of their "older" ships in Baltimore, which would make us very, very happy, especially if the governor and mayor can make Celebrity a deal they can't refuse. It sure beats the hassle of flying to Florida or a toll-laden drive up I-95!!!

[atb]

I would love to see Celebrity homeport a ship in Baltimore. I don't think the M class will fit. And with Mercury almost gone, and Century, probably not long after; that leaves no ships that would fit to be homeported in Baltimore.

Enchantment OTS, here we come.

[B'moreTraveler]

I have some good news for you that I picked up during the Equinox TA that I just finished yesterday, while the Mercury may be leaving Baltimore, Celebrity is not. The Celebrity Century has several Carribean cruises in 2011 and 2012 scheduled.

 

Marco,

 

I'm just reading a story about the Equinox TA you attended and it contradicts what you are reporting.

 

The story says, "In response to a AAA agent seeking more consistency with itineraries, Hanrahan reminded agents they had asked for Solstice in the Caribbean year-round, but it turned out the ship would have made more money if it had gone to Europe. Baltimore, he said, didn’t get the expected response after a couple tries."

 

The story later reports, "Ritzenthaler reminded the Building Bridges audience that Celebrity has 82% of its capacity in the Caribbean during the first quarter. She further urged agents nationwide to support Celebrity Silhouette in Bayonne following the ship’s inaugural season in Europe next year."

 

It sounds to me like Celebrity is dropping Baltimore and is considering dropping Bayone as a cruise port as well.

 

Here is the link to the story:

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4315&catid=910&Itemid=69

 

I'm confused by the differing reports of what was said... I suppose these decisions are all based on profits.

 

By the way, I am also sad to see the Mercury leave Baltimore; I will be sailing on her on December 11th, which will be my first cruise.

 

Marty

[B'moreTraveler]

I have a question for all you experienced Baltimore cruisers that I have been wondering for a while. Which bridge is it that's too low for the larger cruise ships to travel under? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

 

Marty

[ShakyBeef]

Marco' date='

 

I'm just reading a story about the Equinox TA you attended and it contradicts what you are reporting.

 

The story says, "In response to a AAA agent seeking more consistency with itineraries, Hanrahan reminded agents they had asked for Solstice in the Caribbean year-round, but it turned out the ship would have made more money if it had gone to Europe. [b']Baltimore, he said, didn’t get the expected response after a couple tries[/b]."

 

The story later reports, "Ritzenthaler reminded the Building Bridges audience that Celebrity has 82% of its capacity in the Caribbean during the first quarter. She further urged agents nationwide to support Celebrity Silhouette in Bayonne following the ship’s inaugural season in Europe next year."

 

It sounds to me like Celebrity is dropping Baltimore and is considering dropping Bayone as a cruise port as well.

 

Here is the link to the story:

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4315&catid=910&Itemid=69

 

I'm confused by the differing reports of what was said... I suppose these decisions are all based on profits.

 

By the way, I am also sad to see the Mercury leave Baltimore; I will be sailing on her on December 11th, which will be my first cruise.

 

Marty

 

Thanks for the info, B'moreTraveler. Although it dashed what little hope I had.:(

 

Have a great cruise on the lovely Mercury!:) I'm sure you'll love her.

[ShakyBeef]

I have a question for all you experienced Baltimore cruisers that I have been wondering for a while. Which bridge is it that's too low for the larger cruise ships to travel under? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

 

Marty

 

 

The Key bridge? I don't know. I do know the Bay Bridge (near Annapolis) seems like a pretty tight squeeze when we go under it. Maybe both (all 3, 'cause the Bay Bridge is 2)?:confused:

[BonnieVA]

I guess I'm not a good judge of what is 'old' for a ship - I don't think Mercury is old enough to retire.:rolleyes:

 

I agree ... & the ship is in great shape.

 

They can always change schedules on you - just ask the Mercury passengers who had booked cruises from Baltimore and Charleston for the spring of 2011. :D

 

But one has to wonder how firm the demand is for Celebrity's product here in the mid-Atlantic states when they're selling cabins at fire-sale prices in their Tuesday Specials and competing against Carnival's Sunday-to-Sunday Bahamas cruises and the Enchantment of the Seas' longer Caribbean itineraries.

 

Perhaps once the Silhouette and Reflection come on line, Celebrity might homeport one of their "older" ships in Baltimore, which would make us very, very happy, especially if the governor and mayor can make Celebrity a deal they can't refuse. It sure beats the hassle of flying to Florida or a toll-laden drive up I-95!!!

 

I was also hoping that maybe they'd change Century's schedule & bring her to Balt before fall '12 ... I guess it depends on how well those cruises sell. Those itineraries DO sound pretty nice since I've never been to that part of the world.

 

But, still, by then all the crew will have been scattered around the world. I guess the Century could possibly have as fantastic a crew???? :rolleyes: And maybe I'd see ssome familiar faces???? :rolleyes:

[philipsw285]

Yes, I feel your pain, and love leaving from Baltimore as it is very easy for us to jump on 95. We sail on her in two weeks and looking forward to our cruise. I agree that the port of Balt should be used more, and even Phila should be back up and running. There is also Bayonne.:p

 

Celebrity Silhouette is ging to be based in bayonne from november 2011 Celebrity Reflectionis due to be finshed in november 2012 maybe that is going to one of the other destinations?

[hansolosmom]

this is sad - we haven't sailed Celebrity yet but are on the Century for an Alaska trip this summer & knowing the Merecury was in Baltimore gave us a great option.

 

We sailed on the Grandeur of the Seas a few years ago out of Baltimore & it was sooooooooooooo convenient. We've also done Bayonne which for us is also pretty convenient.

 

I have to say the lack of publicity for the ports on the eastcoast is just pathetic. Philly actually had an NCL ship going out of it for maybe 2 years. I thought it was a perfect location but there was never any real news about it other than when the terminal opened & then closed. I agree with all of you that I'd much rather drive then have to fly to FL!!!

[Chesterpeake]

I have a question for all you experienced Baltimore cruisers that I have been wondering for a while. Which bridge is it that's too low for the larger cruise ships to travel under? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

 

Marty

 

I have the same question. If the QE2 could dock at the old cruise terminal at Dundalk (I was actually driving over the Key Bridge when she passed underneath)' date=' why would other cruise ships have a problem with either the Chesapeake Bay Bridge or the Key Bridge? I always considered the QE2 to be quite high. Perhaps she is not as large a transatlantic liner as I thought.[/font']

Looking forward to my first Celebrity cruise on Mercury in January. After flying to meet the ship for my previous cruises, using the homeport is something I look forward to at this point.

I'd really like for Princess to give the Port of Baltimore a try.

[CrabbyHarper]

Princess has three smaller ships, and Azamara has two - any of these would probably fit comfortably under Key and Bay bridges.

 

And HAL has some delightful smaller ships - like the Maasdam and the Ryndam. HAL did go out Baltimore a few years ago - why would they not return?

 

Port of Baltimore, you need to do some marketing of a great and convenient port!