Sky suites on Mercury

[chrismch]

Have some questions for anyone who has cruised in the sky suites on Mercury...In looking over the deck plans it seems that the sky suites on the sky deck have extremely large balconies in rooms 1202 to 1236. Are all these balconies covered or are some of them open to the deck above? Also as these are below the jogging track has anyone ever had problems with the noise (poundng of feet from the deck above) in these rooms? And as they are larger, do you have to book 1 yr + to get them? :p

[Leela]

We were in 1206 on Mercury in late September. Our balcony was only partly covered, by about 30%. This was great because it gave us a place to push the full-size padded deck chairs so they wouldn't get wet when it rained. We also had a little cocktail table that would sit between the deck chairs, and a regular-sized cafe table with two sit-up chairs so we could have lunch. The veranda is not private, though -- people from the deck above can look down on you unless you are under the overhang, and people from the Sky Suite next door could see you depending on where you sat/stood.

 

The space above looks like a jogging track but isn't. There are even signs telling people not to jog up there. The real jogging track is around the pool, so it's on the same deck as the Sky Suites. We did not have any issues with noise from joggers. We did, however, hear a couple of cell phone conversations coming from the next suite's veranda. They didn't last too long, though, so they were amusing more than anything else.

 

The Sky Suites with the largest, square, balconies book up the fastest. We booked ours seven months out, but there were still suites available closer in. It all depends on the date and itinerary, of course!

 

I loved our Sky Suite and would sail in one again! What really amazed me was how much drawer and storage space there was! If I were on a very long cruise, I'd really be thankful for the extra drawers and shelves.

[Mercruiser]

Attached is a photo of the Mercury Sky Suite Balconies on the Sky Deck. (You can only see attachments if logged into the CC boards.) I've circled the Sky Suite balconies in yellow. These balconies are the largest on Mercury at 179 square feet. Beware that the Sky Suites on the Penthouse deck are only 69 square feet.

 

I haven't stayed in the Sky Suites myself. Instead, I've stayed in one of the CC cabins on the Sky Deck. There are four of them (1200, 1201, 1240, and 1241). They also have very large verandas (but not as large a as Sky Suite veranda due to the fact that the room is narrower.)

 

Here are my comments on Cabin 1200 from the thread. I have copied them here because they address your questions about noise and location. Ever stay in CC room 1200 or 1201 Mercury?

 

I stayed in cabin 1200 on Mercury about four years ago on a Vancouver to Seward cruise. Here is what I liked about it.

• The balcony was huge compared to the other standard balconies (CC and 2A) on the Penthouse and Vista decks. I don't remember the exact dimensions, but it had to be at least 8 feet deep from the balcony door to the rail. The standard balconies are probably only about 3 feet deep.
  
• With an Alaska cruise, it's always daylight. I liked being able to go out on the balcony on a moments notice whenever there was some interesting scenery. This happens a lot on an Alaskan cruise since the ship is mostly on the "inside passage".
  
• The Sky Deck balconies have terrific visibility compared to the Vista and Penthouse deck balconies. The outer half of the Sky Deck balconies are completely open to the sky.
  
• The location is very convenient to the top decks and the buffet. I like my early morning coffee. It was really convenient to go down one flight of stairs to the Palm Springs Cafe right under the Sky Deck. I would bring coffee and o.j. back to the room.

Here are the disadvantages.

• The cost of the balcony is an obvious disadvantage. It sounds like you can save $1,000 by booking an Ocean View cabin. Judging by the number of balconies on new builds, most passengers must think balconies are worth the extra money. I know I do.
  
• A couple of times I was awakened by noise coming through the ceiling from the Sunrise Deck above. The noise source was people running or crew members sliding deck chairs in the wee hours of the night. There are signs on the Sunrise deck saying the running is not allowed. But, people do it sometimes regardless. Overall, the noise wasn't a big deal - just a minor annoyance.

We really had a great time on our Mercury Alaska cruise. We really liked cabin 1200. In fact, we liked it well enough that we are booked in Mercury cabin 1201 for a Mexico cruise in 2006.

 

The Sky Deck "CC" cabins are so popular that if you even think you might want one of these, you had better book now. You can always rebook in an Ocean View if you change your mind up to the time that final payment is due.

 

Nanietwo asked about cabin 1241. I didn't stay in that one, but I did get a good look at the balcony. It's a little smaller than that of 1200/1201 because of the angled cut-out shown on the deck plans. But, it is still way bigger than the CC and 2A balconies on the Penthouse and Vista decks. I think you will be very happy with cabin 1241.

[cabo de hornos]

I agree with Leela. We were upgraded to 1236 on Mercury at the last minute (total surprise from TA via phone call on day of departure for ATL) in January 2002 Around the Horn from (then) Rio de Janeiro to Valparaiso. Recent departures on this itinerary have been from Buenos Aires due to the lack of organization in Rio (long story). Wonderful cruise though. She held up well in the shallows of the Mar del Plata, but not without the occcasional rumbling feedback from the props being so close to the bottom.

 

The deck was huge (trapezoidal, in fact because of the transition toward full horizontal depth further aft), with plenty of cover as needed. Yes...we could see some folks up above, and further aft next cabin over at times, but never really intrusive. The only other thing I can add is that at times we may have picked up some residue from the stack emissions overnight, depending on which way the wind was blowing - small black spots on the deck as I recall..... but not particularly troublesome.

 

Very convenient to the aft elevators and fantail areas. And our butler Manuel from Honduras was terrific...we last saw him on Infinity two years later (northward through the Canal) in the next section over from our SS section. He remembered us...it was nice to see he had been "promoted".

 

Cabo

[mcnyc]

Speaking of Sky Suites on Mercury, I remember last year in Alaska our Sky Suite allowed 4 in the cabin. This year, while I'm booking for the Baltics on the Constellation, I'm told I cannot book 4 to a Sky Suite, there is a max of 3 per cabin. When I asked why I was allowed 4 in the previous year, I was told perhaps it was a bigger ship (?!?!?!?).

 

Have they changed their policy on how many can stay in a Sky Suite?

 

Doesn't matter this trip, but for future trips. We have a coveted Aft Family Room this go-around. :D

[rubrrick]

We sailed on the Mercury on a B2B to Alaska in '01. We made friends that had a sky suite, and I was amazed at the amount of room on the balcony. They had their butler serve lunch at the table on the balcony, and we could not do that on our balcony in a Royal Suite. I was very impressed with the deck space.

 

Rick

[mahdnc]

One small drawback with the Sky Deck SS is that they are prone to getting a layer of soot from the ship's stack every now and then.

 

As a rule you do not have to book 1+ in advance to get a SS but because the balcony shapes and sizes are so different among all the Sky Suites, it is advisable to book as far in advance as you can to improve your chances on getting the exact location and balcony configuration that you want.

[pkexton]

Me & my sister are booked into SS 1203 for our Mexican cruise & I can't wait to take full advantage of the size. We booked ours about 1 3/4 years out and it didn't not take long for the ones with the large balconies to get taken. We could have a nice little party on it.

Pat

[KevBew]

Love the Sky Suites on Mercury! The area above is not a jogging track and although they have signs stating "No running" the kiddies ignore it. I had a couple of ventures up the stairs to scare them off. But the space in the room and on the balcony make this the stateroom of choice on Mercury.

[canderson]

Have some questions for anyone who has cruised in the sky suites on Mercury...In looking over the deck plans it seems that the sky suites on the sky deck have extremely large balconies in rooms 1202 to 1236. Are all these balconies covered or are some of them open to the deck above? Also as these are below the jogging track has anyone ever had problems with the noise (poundng of feet from the deck above) in these rooms? And as they are larger, do you have to book 1 yr + to get them? :p

Just came back from Galaxy in 1202. Same arrangement as on Mercury.

 

The balconies ARE much larger than those of the SS's down on the Penthouse deck. The first 6' or so is covered as you exit to the balcony. The remaining space is open.

 

These cabins are NOT below the jogging track. To the contrary, there are brass signs indicating that the space above is not to be used for this purpose. We never heard anyone, but understand that it happens sometimes. If it becomes a problem, get a couple of your fellow SS pax to go up with you and start a "Snapping Pool Towel Gauntlet". That'll slow them down!

 

The rumors of occasional soot are true, but we found that being so far forward in 1202, we rarely saw any.

 

Given that our suitcases didn't fit well under the beds (less vertical clearance, even lifting the edge to get them under, than on M-Class ships), it was good to have the extra space for them (and the golf clubs!)

 

The ones with the best balconies do seem to get booked sooner, but whether you'd need to book a year out will depend entirely upon the popularity of your particular cruise. In our case, the SS cabins did sell out fairly quickly, and we did book almost a year in advance.

 

I'll add some pictures to the link pointed to by my signature line this morning. Takes about an hour for them to post, but you'll get an idea of how these cabins look.

[canderson]

OK - the pics are up and running.

 

Another thing I'd suggest.

 

The C-Class ships' spa T-Pools are, in comparison to those of the M-Class ships, positively awesome! However, on the C-Class ships, you have to pay for access to them UNLESS you've booked a suite. I cannot emphasize enough to you that you should, at some point during your cruise, take advantage of this perk. Do it early, as your first experience may convince you that you need to be going back regularly.

 

Suggestion: take a hand towel with you to put under your head (more comfortable) when you're laying on the "bubble bed" part of the pool and see if you go to sleep!