Mercury Nov 29, 2010

[CrabbyHarper]

Just back from Mercury and here a few quick notes:

 

May have been our best cruise ever despite one major glitch :( - see below.

 

Kudoes to ALL the crew - they are like a big extended family and are just wonderful.

 

Ship is in good condition and VERY clean.

 

Evening food much better than I thought it would be.

 

Lots of activities and something for everyone.

 

Disembarkation the smoothest, easiest, and fastest ever.

 

But......

 

"Casual evening dining" has been discontinued, greatly to my chagrin, because - now here is the glitch in the voyage - The MDR was AWFUL! We ate there twice, leaving early the second time. The first dinner took over 2 hours at a table for 6, and the second would have been longer, but we left. It was noisy, chaotic, and uncomfortable. If this was a restaurant on land, after one meal we would never return. We did send word to the maitre d' that we would not be returning so he could give our places to someone who wanted them. Lucky for us, we had a suite, and our butler brought us our evening meals - no more quickly than in the MDR but at least we could get up and walk around, watch tv, read, etc, between courses. Thus we did get the advantage of the excellent evening fare.

 

Longer review to be posted.

[Hlitner]

Interesting post. We were on the same cruise, ate every dinner in the MDR, and enjoyed every moment. In fact, our tables were generally among the last to leave the Select Dining area. Unlike the previous poster, we love to dine and think 2 hours is not long enough when at a fun table (all of our tables were fun). We are glad to see that Celebrity still understands the difference between dining" and fast food. Regarding the Mercury we found the crew and related service to be excellent, loved the great service in the lounge used for the daily Elite cocktail hours and breakfast, thought the entertainment was great. Our only negative comment would be about the dinner food served in the MDR...which we found terribly underwhelming and not up to the quality we usually find on Princess or HA. During our 12 dinners we did think that the filet mignon and the veal medallions (very thick pieces of veal) were excellent. The Escargot and French Onion Soup (both on the daily menu) were also excellent. Most other meat was tough and the fish would certainly not make it into our home kitchen. The lobster served on lobster night was simply awful. It was overcooked, tough to a point where it was difficult to cut, and drowned in a sauce that sure looked like the Lobster Bisque on the daily menu. We really enjoyed every minute of the cruise because of our wonderful fellow passengers and terrific crew. But as to food, Celebrity no longer deserves the reputation as having food that is better than most of its competition. That being said, we do complement the line on having a larger menu than is found on most other cruise lines, but if they cannot maintain the quality of the items on the menu perhaps they need to rethink their purchasing policies.

 

Hank

[gillandjm]

I was also on the cruise. I was pleased with everything. The staff on The Mercury was outstanding. For working 10 to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 months. So friendly. I found the food in the mdr really good. In fact, Everything I had was fantastic. I found the Port of Baltimore coming and leaving to fast. As for the excursions. We did 5. My favorite Island was St. Kitts and St. Maartin. I would like to thank everyone on here. It was nice, finally putting faces to the names here online. HAPPY HOLIDAY>

[smurf1635]

Two completely different opinions of the evening meals. I am wondering which seating did you have? Is one better than the other? We are booked for the Jan 3 sailing and have second seating. This sailing appears to be pretty much sold out, so I'm thinking that we can't change our dinner time at this point.

[RickyandLucy]

CrabbyHarper, Hlitner, gillandjm,

 

Love to hear more of your review/thoughts/comments. Any chance you'll post some pictures.

 

Lucy

[Hlitner]

Sorry but we don't even bother taking a camera on cruises these days (after the first 50 cruises all the pictures look the same). As to our seating, we used the Select Dining option which worked well since we would usually dine about 8 pm just after the 7pm shows. The shows usually ended around 8 and it was perfect for us to just stroll over the the dining room and be seated versus having the 2nd seating and having to meander for the 30 minutes until the 8:30 seating time. The cruise director did have that 30 min gap covered by providing a short BINGO game in the theater right after the show (we are not BINGO players). The different opinions on food are really typical since everyone has different taste and folks also order different dishes. To be real blunt, we have been cruising a long time (more than 2 years on cruise ships of many lines) and have really lowered our expectations on food versus what we used to experience years ago when cruise food was very special. We thought our Mercury cruise was an amazing value since we paid very little for the trip. We never complained about the food, but as we said, we found it terribly underwhelming in the MDR for dinner. Another couple mentioned that the dinners up in the buffet area were really excellent, but we prefer the MDR with its dining experience. It was not long ago when you would get two nice lobster tails on lobster night vs the now 1 lobster tail plus a scallop and a couple of shrimp. As to fish (keeping in mind that you cannot get fresh fish on most cruises) the days of having decent Dover Sole or real Chilean Sea Bass have been replaced by other less costly types of frozen fish. All was not bad in the MDR, but overall it did not even compare to the food we had last month on the Grand Princess. That being said, we sure did not starve and nothing was bad enough to send back. For us one of the real highlights of our cruise was our treatment in the various Elite events which were well orchestrated by our wonderful Elite hostess (Melissa). We spent part of our last day passing-out twenty dollar bills to various crew members (we did not have enough twenties to do the crew justice) despite having pre-paid our gratuities.

 

Hank

[lambcom]

Another opinion on the November 29 Mercury cruise. What struck us first was that the ship looked tired. Generally very clean, especially in public areas, but it looked as if once the decision had been made to sell, management said "let's spend as little as possible in the remaining months." In our CC2 cabin on deck 10, the balcony door wouldn't shut tightly, the chrome door plate was rusting, the sofa seat was torn, there was a stain on the bedspread and a crack in the bathroom mirror. We also had a sewer odour near the toilet which never really got fixed. Others had the some complaint.

 

We used the select dining option for the first time and were very pleased. We asked for a table for two at about 7:15 (midway between the two seatings) and were so pleased with our waiter and assistant waiter that we asked for a table in their area on all subsequent nights and got it with never a wait longer than a minute or two.

 

The food was okay -- you can't expect gourmet from a kitchen cranking out more than 5,000 meal a day, but the quality has definitely dropped since the Rioux days. The meat was served the way we wanted it every time (medium rare for me and rare for the DW) but it was certainly tougher and of a lower quality than in the past.

 

Cabin stewards didn't seem to be putting as much effort into cleaning as in the past and the attention to detail -- .e.g replacing shampoo and lotion bottles when empty -- wasn't there.

 

We made new friends, a number of them Cruise Critic members, and we appreciated all the effort a number of them made in setting up special events and activities.

 

Bottom line: B-. We had a wonderful time, but if I had paid top dollar list price, I would have been one very unhappy camper.

 

George +

[BonnieVA]

Cabin stewards didn't seem to be putting as much effort into cleaning as in the past and the attention to detail -- .e.g replacing shampoo and lotion bottles when empty -- wasn't there.

 

I wasn't on this sailing ... I was on Oct 18-Nov 8 but I want to chime in. I've heard a few people talk negatively about the stewards & so it must be true. But my experience was the exact opposite ... my cabin was very well taken care of AND the asst steward drove me nuts by changing out my soap too often, lol. I never lacked for supplies or cleanliness.

[maril]

Anyone else signed up on this date? We signed up for the mix and mingle for this cruise and at last count, there were 55 of us attending the party. Hope for a response. Maril

[JEDIKNIGHT]

I'll be on Mercury Jan 3rd.

 

Uh oh. This is scary.

 

Please people. I need recent Merc cruisers to say positive things about the food.

 

Cute furry bunnies will die if I don't see positive comments.

 

Don't kill cute furry bunnies.

[buffi001]

We, too, were on the Mercury cruise on Nov 29th. I had read reviews

of the MDR food and service before we left, and the reviews were decidedly

"mixed"....some complimentary and some very critical. We had a select dining

reservation for a table for 2 every night. We never had any wait, I thought

the menu, both fixed and chef's entrees were very good. The service was

especially good, and we were never in the MDR for more than an hour. I also

thought the quality of the food and preparation was excellent. My wife and I

have been on six different cruise lines, and this cruise was, by far, the

best cruise we have ever been on....from the embarkation, to the cabin, to the exemplary service, to the itinerary, to the debarkation. My only complaint is that Celebrity and the Mercury are leaving Baltimore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Our select reservation was for 6:00 PM, but we often arrived as early as 5:30PM, and

it was never a problem. We were always out in time for the 7:00 show. I thought the

food was VERY GOOD. The only item on a 12 day cruise that was disappointing was the

lobster bisque soup.....and out of 12 dinners I'd say that was pretty darn good. The freshly made

to order belgian waffles were fantastic, as were the dining room breakfasts. For those of you

booked in January, rest easy...At least that was our opinion. Don't kill bunnies.

[Ocean Dancer]

hello everyone, please excuse my typing as i was on the nov 29 mercury cruise, and i'm the clutz that literally fell off the ship in balt, broke my wrist in 2 places and am wearing a hard cast for 6 weeks. i am trying to type left handed and want to throw in my 2 cents before the vicodan kicks in.

 

sorry to hear about crabbys dining experience. the food has declined but we were able to select something that was edible each night, we had 2nd seating and our table was for 10, but only one other couple ever showed up. by dinner, we were hardly starving having enjoyed belgium waffels, interesting lunches, home made ice cream. the coffee was awful at the buffet, but very good in mdr.

 

all crew and ship personal were outstanding, we have about 25 cruises under our belt and this was one of the best by far. dh and i had wonderful time, so much that we rebooked for jan 3 onboard. unfortunally we had to cancel due to my injury. always buy trip insurance, first time we had to use it.

 

food does not always made the cruise, but people do. we had a wonderful and active group, made many friends and made many more memories. i really hope our paths cross again, very sad about mercury leaving.

 

happy holidays to all our cruise mates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[srpilo]

All interesting comments..

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all the reviewers

Srpilo

[SrTrPro]

Hi Maril -

 

We will be on the Jan 15th Mercury cruise from Baltimore.

 

Our last cruise was 20 years ago - so we are almost first timers.

 

We are signed up for the Cruise Connection Party.

 

We are also currently signed up for 1st Seating in the MDR but are considering changing to Select but do want to sit with others.

 

Happy Holidays to All.

 

Kathi and Bruce

[bald sonny]

[quote][quote][/quote][/quote]

Anyone else signed up on this date? We signed up for the mix and mingle for this cruise and at last count, there were 55 of us attending the party. Hope for a response. Maril

yes, we are on the 15 jan mercury (4 of us "young" retires from Philly area - how do we sign up for party????

[SugarLover]

 

May have been our best cruise ever despite one major glitch :( - see below.

 

Evening food much better than I thought it would be.

 

But...... "Casual evening dining" has been discontinued, greatly to my chagrin, because - now here is the glitch in the voyage - The MDR was AWFUL! We ate there twice, leaving early the second time. The first dinner took over 2 hours at a table for 6, and the second would have been longer, but we left. It was noisy, chaotic, and uncomfortable. If this was a restaurant on land, after one meal we would never return. We did send word to the maitre d' that we would not be returning so he could give our places to someone who wanted them. Lucky for us, we had a suite, and our butler brought us our evening meals - no more quickly than in the MDR but at least we could get up and walk around, watch tv, read, etc, between courses. Thus we did get the advantage of the excellent evening fare.

 

Longer review to be posted.

 

Crabby: Still waiting to hear your details....and have been looking for your review... not posted yet!

 

You confuse me saying it was one of your best cruises EVER, but then...

concerning the food...

first you say the food was better than you expected,

and then you say Casual dining is 'gone' (what does that mean?)

You also say the MDR was AWFUL

but... you ate in your cabin and had 'excellent evening fare."

 

So is your complaint the FOOD, or the SERVICE of the MDR, or... that you can no longer go to the buffet?

 

Please elaborate. There are others I am sure that also are interested... those last of us taking these last 5 cruises on the Mercury. Thank you!

[robtulipe]

 

yes, we are on the 15 jan mercury (4 of us "young" retires from Philly area - how do we sign up for party????

In the box with the title Celebrity Cruises at the top of this or any Celebrity Cruises thread page, click on the link Register to attend a Connections Party or go to the link below.

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/cruisecritic/home.do

[dmwnc1959]

I was on the Dec. 11-20 sailing and had late dining in the MDR. Thought the food was quite good in every aspect. Also the Palm Springs opens at 5:30pm with Sushi, stir fry, Indian food, and other tasty selections bug no table cloths etc, still trays and silverware wrapped in napkins and staff available to take drink orders and clean tables. I was very pleased with the overall condition of the ship and the crew were excellent. See my pictures and review here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1325943

[Grannycb]

Reading these reviews has lowered my expectations of our Jan. 3rd cruise. We've sailed on Princess and Carnival in the past couple months. The service on both was first rate. The food on Carnival was outstanding. I'm going into the Mercury cruise with low expectations and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

 

I'll try to get back here to give you my take on the food.

[dmwnc1959]

CrabbyHarper, Hlitner, gillandjm,

 

Love to hear more of your review/thoughts/comments. Any chance you'll post some pictures.

 

Lucy

 

I have nearly 700 pictures posted, approx 500 just of my cruise and of the Celebrity MERCURY at this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1325943

[cruisecluestoo]

Reading these reviews has lowered my expectations of our Jan. 3rd cruise. We've sailed on Princess and Carnival in the past couple months. The service on both was first rate. The food on Carnival was outstanding. I'm going into the Mercury cruise with low expectations and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

 

I'll try to get back here to give you my take on the food.

 

I think you will be pleasantly surprised . We thought the food was very good and the service was first rate . Our cabin steward was by far the best we have ever had .Have a great time.

 

Dianecruiseclues

[CrabbyHarper]

an earlier poster commented on my original post:

 

"You confuse me saying it was one of your best cruises EVER, but then...

concerning the food...

first you say the food was better than you expected,

and then you say Casual dining is 'gone' (what does that mean?)

You also say the MDR was AWFUL

but... you ate in your cabin and had 'excellent evening fare."

 

so: Here are some - I hope - clarifications:

 

The Food itself was better than my expectations, especially the dinner menus!

 

Casual dining used to be a special area on the port side of the buffet. Tiems were 6 pm to 9 pm. There were tableclothes, a special menu, waiters and a Maitre d'. Reservations were recommended, although most of the times we dined there in previous cruises we could walk in without them. The waiters were all in-training, and were very earnest although not necessarily polished. The menu was not as extensive as in the MDR, although everything was prepared right there in the buffet kitchen, so food was nice and hot. The atmosphere was - in my opinion- relaxed casual. The service was quicker, it was quiet, and very relaxed. We could usually arrive at 6 pm, have a cocktail or two, a full dinner, and be out of there by 7 pm without feeling rushed. In our previous cruises, we ate there almost every night.

 

What I dislike about the MDR is the noise, the rushing around, and the fact that we are ALWAYS seated at a table for 6 or more, even though we always request a table for 2 or 4. I am slightly mobility impaired, and during this last cruise, the table we were assigned was all the way at the aft of the dining room, so was difficult for me to get there. Further I am hearing impaired, and our table was under the higher section of the MDR and was extremely noisy. The table was for 6 people, very nice ones too, I might add! The first evening we requested a cocktail waiter/waitress to order a cocktail. After about 90 minutes when we were into our main course, we were asked to place our orders for cockails. We finally finished our dessert and left at 8:15. The service was very slow, although we thought that the waiters were over-scheduled. My physical problems make it very uncomfortable to sit in a dining room chair for extended periods of time. It was not at all a relaxing experience, but a frustrating one. The second evening was much like the first, and we left before dessert. After that, we told the maitre d' we would not be returning.

 

Luckily we were in a Royal Suite, and had our butler serve us from the MDR menu. While this was no faster, it was more relaxed since we were able to get up from the table, play a few hands of cards, sit on the balcony, etc between courses.

 

I have learned a lesson. In future we will choose the "Open" dining option. There are folks who like the MDR - bless them! Thank goodness for different options for different folks!

 

Will I sail Celebrity again? Absolutely! :)

[Ocean Dancer]

hi crabby, nice to finally hear from you...............and remembering the wonderful times we all had on the mercury..............she will be missed.......

 

vicki :)