Back From Mexican Riviera - Mercury 2/3 - Photos Posted

[rspro]

Folks, I posted photos from our February 3, 2006 Mercury 10 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. They are arranged in a ship folder plus port folders. Sorry about not arranging with more meaningful titles but you might enjoy these until I get my act together. Email me or post if you have questions.

 

http://photos.yahoo.com/proszowski@sbcglobal.net

[Spot]

This is a cruise we've been considering so your photos were very helpful.

The photos of the sunsets are the most beautiful I've ever seen - thank you so much for posting all of these great photos.

[STUR]

Folks, I posted photos from our February 3, 2006 Mercury 10 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. They are arranged in a ship folder plus port folders. Sorry about not arranging with more meaningful titles but you might enjoy these until I get my act together. Email me or post if you have questions.

 

http://photos.yahoo.com/proszowski@sbcglobal.net

THANKS FOR THE PHOTO'S

We Booked For Next Year !! Night on th Mercury Out of San Diego Monday January 29th ,2007

 

Need To Know How To Post Pictures?

 

My E-Mail Address Is Stur2@woh.rr.com

 

Stur Dayton,Ohio

[MarkSpark]

Great pictures.......:D :D

Which PS were you in? I'm in #1047 leaving on the 24th, next week.

I have been waiting for someone to post recent pic's of a PS room. How did she look? DId she look worn out at all? From the pic's she looks in pretty damn good shape. Who was your Butler?

Thansk again you made my day.

Mark

[rspro]

We were booked in Suite 1047. Our butler was Savio and he was very good. Rooms on the starboard side as you go south have a great view coming into Cabo and when berthed in Acapulco. Then you get to see two nights of wonderful sunsets as you cruise back the last two nights.

 

The penthouse suite is in great shape, showing just normal wear and tear for a 9ish year old vessel. If anything is not up to snuff, ask your cabin attendant and they'll take care of it if it is within their power. The one downside is the late night Caribbean Night coming out of Acapulco -> the party is right over your heads on deck 11 so... just plan on partying longer than you might normally, then go to sleep. Enjoy your trip.

[SuSu530]

Your pictures are wonderful!! Thanks for taking the time to post them. We are leaving on the Mercury for the Mexican Riveria on April 17, and after viewing your pictures, we can't wait!!

 

I would like to ask you a question about restaurants in Acapulco if you don't mind. It looks like you had dinner with a view at Coyuyca 22. Would you recommend it? The views looked wonderful as did the food. I was considering Madeiras for dinner but read that busloads of tour groups have dinner there, which is something we want to avoid.

 

I appreciate any feedback you can provide.

[rspro]

Given that the Mercury was in port until 11PM, we booked dinner at 7PM at Coyuca 22. Coyuca 22 is a great restaurant with all outside seating on terraces overlooking Acapulco Bay. You can even see the Mercury far below as I tried to capture on some of my photos.

 

The restaurant has excellent atmosphere (slightly eclectic music selection), food, service and view, but it also comes at a price ($$$$$). By Mexican standards it is a very expensive restaurant, but the location and view are very unique. I'd be hard pressed to draw exact comparisons to other restaurants worldwide, although there may be other Acapulco choices. To give some facts, we did have two dinners from appetizers to flaming dessert, with both of us having two lobster tails each and a bottle of wine. The tab was over $300 US -> very expensive but we considered it a special worthwhile evening.

 

We arranged reservations by email from their website and confirmed everything with the general manager, Graciela Córdova. We caught a cab at around 6:40PM at the ship and were at the restaurant about 7PM. Cab fare was $15 and the cabbie waited for us.

On a seperate note, we also ate lunch and grabbed drinks during the day along the beach for a bargain price. It all depends what you are looking for.

[SuSu530]

Thanks for your feedback. It sounds like just the type of restaurant we are looking for. I think that all restaurants with the quality food, service and view will be a little $$$$. We too a looking for a special evening in Acapulco.

 

I see that you said the cab driver waited for you. It is difficult to get a cab back from the restaurant? About how long was your meal? I am just kind of surprised that he waited and missed other fares. $15.00 isn't bad for roundtrip cab fare.

 

It looks like you had a wonderful cruise and I can't wait until April until we're on the Mercury.:)

[rspro]

Hello again. Cab fair from the ship terminal to Coyuca 22 was $15. Cab fair back was another $15. When we were being dropped off at the restaurant, I asked if getting a cab back to the ship would be difficult. At that point, the cabbie said it wouldn't be since he would wait for us; his idea, not ours. Dinner was about 2.5 hours, we wrapped up after 9:30 and sure enough the driver was waiting for us. In the event that your cabbie just drops you off, I would just have the restaurant arrange a cab back. The area where the restaurant is located has other hotels and restaurants not too far away, so getting a cab should not be difficult. Perhaps our cabbie needed a nap, or worked locally for an hour or so and then waited after that.

 

PS: We tipped the driver an extra $5 for making everything effortless.

[MarkSpark]

RSPRO,

 

Was this PS your room of choice? Or did you get an upgrade from a RS? These PS rooms are not cheap by any means. Also, how does the projector TV work? Does it show regular programming TV or just from a DVD's or video cass.? And does the wet bar area have refrig? Or just the refrig. with the mini bar stuff in it? How about a blender? I was going to bring one but if the wet bar has one that would be great. How big is the wetbar/butlers panty area? We are going to have a little get together for a few drinks with a few of our fellow CC'ers in our room, is the room big enough for say like 15 to 20 people or more?

 

Sorry about all of the questions but I'm getting real excited after seeing your pic's of the room and cruise.

 

Thanks again,

 

Mark

[MarkSpark]

RSPRO,

 

I forgot to ask if you could use a computer in the room? Don't know if I should bring my laptop. I think there are hot spots for laptop use around the ship right?

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

[rspro]

The penthouse was the room we booked. We had been in the PS for a Panama cruise on the Galaxy last year and have gotten hooked on it. The projection TV has the regular broadcasts in addition to VCR/DVD. In fact, I watched the superbowl using it since our cruise was leaving Cabo on Superbowl Sunday. The butlers pantry has a full size fridge with ice maker and cold water dispensor + a mini bar fridge + sink + all the glassware and cutlery you might need. There was no blender, but keep in mind that the butler can be of great service here.

 

Between the dining room area and living room and veranda, I think twenty people is possible to accomodate if they are all friendly.

 

As far as the PC, I actually brought mine and used a broadband card while in port and close to shore and never used Celebrity's service. It is possible that there are convenient hot spots, I just didn't use them.

[mktmzm]

RSPRO...

 

I will be on the Mercury on 3/18 - 3/27. We are 2 couples in our 40's.

 

I keep hearing a lot of recommendations for insect repellent. What are your thoughts/suggestions on that topic?

 

Also, We have booked the following and was hoping you had some insight:

 

Cabo: Tall Ships Whale Watching

Acupulco: Jeep Tour and Night Cliff Divers

Puerto Vallarta: Zip Line

Mazatlan: Tour with Mazatlan Frank's Partner

Ixtapa: Possible day at Barcelo Resort?

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Marcy

[rspro]

We didn't encounter any bugs or insects in February, you may be lucky in March. I have used Deep Woods Off in the past in addition to "Buzz-off" brand clothing which has insect repellent impregnated into the fabric; good stuf for deep jungle use which you may not need at all.

 

We didn't do any of the specific tours you mentioned, I would browse around the rest of the boards, there are plenty of specific reviews. Having said that, in February, whales were everywhere, so if you like that kind of thing, you'll prbably have fun. The divers in Acapulco are also worthwhile, night or day. We did zip lines in Montego Bay and Costa Rica on other vacations, its a blast. In Mazatlan we took an organized tour in the morning (Paplanta Flyers) and then hired a private taxi in the PM, it was very laid back. In Zihuatenejo, we stayed on the beach and never made it to Ixtapa. It all depends on what you like.

[SuSu530]

RSPRO

Thanks for the info. on the Coyuca 22 and the cab ride. It sounds and looks like a wonderful restaurant and it seems to be closer to the Ship than some of the others I was looking into. I think we'll make a reservation!

[RLM77]

RSPRO,

 

Thank you so much for sharing your photos. We are leaving on March 6 and felt as if we were already there!

 

What camera is it that you used? The zoom capability seemed stellar.

 

The detail too was amazing in the bird feathers especially. Do you remember the pixels?

[rspro]

I use a digital SLR, a Canon D30 which is about 3.2 megapixels. This is not a current generation of this camera which is now running over 8 megapixels. The resolution also lies in the lense, which in the case of most of the pelican shots is a 100-400 mm zoom, also a Canon lense. The "glass" is where a tremendous amount of the quality comes in. By the way, I stripped a great deal of the quality out of the JPEGs in order to post them to the internet. The full resolution pictures are truly stunning. I'm glad you liked the shots.

[Patrick IL.]

Thanks so much for the pictures and information. We are seriously considering the Mercury for next Feb, Mexican Riv 9 day. One thing I noticed is that they are not showing Acupulco in the itinerary? It appears they replaced it with Manzanillo.

Did you enjoy the ship?

[rspro]

The ship is great. My wife and I feel it is just the right size and very manageable. The Mercury is in great shape, the crew was great, we had a lot of fun.

[MarkSpark]

When I talked to CS while booking my cruise, he said she will be going into drydock in April of this year, not sure if thats the truth or not.

I also, told him that I heard the RS had been redone and I asked if that meant the PS's had been too, and he said if the RS's had been done then the PS's for sure would have been done at the same time.

 

Mark

[Yoopergirl]

rspro,

 

I am enjoying the photos greatly -- looking through them port by port. Thanks for sharing them with us (we are leaving March 17). In Acupulco, what/where is the place that looks like an outdoor restaurant (thatched roof) with all the beautiful flowers and plants?

[rspro]

If I am interpreting your question right, the flowers, great daytime vista and building with thatched roof is the Flamingo Hotel. It is included in one of the excursions showing the "golden era" of Acapulco. There is actually a restaurant there but the tour did not include time to sit and enjoy a drink. I'll update those descriptions to make sure we're in synch. As a follow-on, the entire beach is dotted with great little places with thatched roofs, great food and adventurous beverages. Everyone was very friendly and accomodating even when we struck out on our own.

[MAN86]

Folks, I posted photos from our February 3, 2006 Mercury 10 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. They are arranged in a ship folder plus port folders. Sorry about not arranging with more meaningful titles but you might enjoy these until I get my act together. Email me or post if you have questions.

 

http://photos.yahoo.com/proszowski@sbcglobal.net

 

Great photos - we have never been and are looking forward to it.

Question: You have pictures of some mermaids and seahorses, I am assuming are statues nearby. Where are they exactly?:confused:

[rspro]

The staues of mermaids, a seahorse and a wide variety of others are all on Puerto Vallarta's malecon or boardwalk. All are along the shore along the shopping zone and its a great stroll to go from one end to the other.

 

The one other mermaid photo is in Mazatlan, also along the ocean. There we just visited by taxi and made the driver stop at interesting sites.

[MAN86]

Oh thank you for the mermaid/seahorse info - I collect these "fantasy type" things. I can only assume that there will be some little trinket to purchase as well?