Mercury to Alaska 5/26/06 Review (Very long)

[frchteaze]

This is a very detailed and lengthy review. I'll probably have to put it in multiple posts, so keep reading. :D

 

Stateroom:

Three adult women traveling as part of a loosely-connected group of 70+ people. We stayed in cabin 8076 on the Panorama deck, which was a connecting room (but we never opened the door). This was a great room layout and location. We had the beds separated and one person used the fold-out sofa. It was tight at night with the sofa pulled out since it made the desk hard to reach, but we all 3 get along well and we didn’t have a problem sharing the room or bathroom or anything. One person spent a lot of time in the spa and ended up taking showers there, since she said they were bigger and very nice. But, if I had it to do again, I think I would have kept the bed together. The last day before disembarkation the steward pushed the bed together and it looked a lot bigger than just 2 singles slammed together, with more room to walk around too. If you’re trying to put 3 adults together and at least 2 of you can share a bed, that would be my suggestion. The beds were all comfortable and we never asked for a mattress topper. The pillows were fine. I didn’t see any evidence of poor bedding as suggested on a lot of threads around here.

This room had a great window and tons of storage. Three closets (2 hanging with small shelf above, and 1 with shelves and drawers. The 3 of us had tons of luggage, but we managed to put it all up using the nightstand drawers, closets, and desk drawers. Bringing wire hangers was a very good suggestion, since that helped fit all the hanging clothes in the closet. Not sure we would have been able to fit them in using only the wooden hangers provided.

The bathroom has a huge step up. Now I have to admit I laughed at a previous reviewer’s complaint about the “ramp” to the bathroom, but this step was pretty significant coming out of the bathroom if you have any kind of knee or hip troubles. My knee gave me a little trouble one day after I stepped down wrong coming out of a bus, and the bathroom step was difficult until my knee started feeling better. The shower was great and plenty big. I joked that the water pressure was better than here at my house, but it was true. Plenty of storage in the bathroom too. I followed suggestions and brought a hanging shoe bag to put toiletries in, but I think it was unnecessary. We would have had plenty of room without it using the cabinets, drawers, and glass shelf on top of the vanity.

Our room steward did a good job of keeping the place clean and bringing fresh ice and water twice a day without us asking. I think we could have had better, but I wouldn’t complain since he pretty much did his job. I did have to beg for an extra pillow the first day. We went back and forth over needing one more pillow – he seemed to think 2 per person was enough, but one of us wanted 3. Finally he brought one. He also didn’t supply the room with laundry bags/list or the breakfast cards. Although our friends in the connecting cabin had the same steward and they had all of these, so it was probably just an oversight. He brought them immediately when we asked.

Dining:

We had the early/main dinner seating and it worked out well. I’m a late eater so I was concerned about eating so early, but dinner typically took 2-2 ½ hours and we were exhausted every day, so finishing dinner at 11 p.m. would have been a drag for us. Our server Melvis and his assistant Mojca (pronounced like Moytza) were fantastic! We saw them in the buffet a time or two and they always recognized us, greeted us, and even remembered what we liked. After the first night, Mojca realized we were tea drinkers and brought everyone tea without asking. She also did a great job of remembering who liked coffee with dessert and who didn’t, even though she asked each person every night just to make sure they hadn’t changed their minds.

Because we were part of a large group, all of us sat together at dinner on several 8 toppers. There were 3 of us, 2 of our friends, and then 2 people we had never met before. They were part of the group, but I’m not really sure how they ended up there since they didn’t know anyone in the group. The trip had been a surprise for them by their children and grandchildren for their 50th wedding anniversary. They were incredible table mates! We were originally supposed to sit with other relatives, but due to some inner-group conflicts, the group leader/TA had us swapped to sit with Ralph and Irene (the 2 celebrating their 50th anniversary). We couldn’t have gotten luckier! We all hit it off the first night and ended up eating together for lunch and breakfast several times throughout the cruise. I really enjoyed eating with different people throughout the trip. It would have been nice to have a large table with all strangers at night, but this arrangement worked out well for us this trip. Most of the people we talked to were very friendly and talkative, but I did see quite a few scowling faces roaming the ship. I don’t know how anyone could be so miserable. Even with the weather, port delays, not being able to do a lot of activities, and being sick, I still had a blast!

Before the trip, I had read lots of reviews on CC about not getting “Celebrity treatment”. To be honest, I’m still not sure what that even means. But I will tell you every night at dinner Melvis and Mojca made me feel like this was what Celebrity treatment was supposed to be. Every request was met with a “But of course, Madam” or a “Certainly, Madam” or a “My pleasure, Madam”. If I could just record Melvis saying “Madam” over and over, I’d be in heaven!

The food was good. I’m by no means a foodie and honestly can’t stand the foo-foo foods that everyone seems to rave about. You probably will never catch me eating a goat cheese soufflé or foi gras or sweetbreads. I’m also an extremely picky eater – I don’t normally eat any meat except chicken, turkey (rarely), or beef, with an occasional shrimp thrown in. However, I think my taste buds have been changing lately as I’m slowly learning to appreciate more foods.

I decided before the cruise started I was going to venture out and try a few new things that sounded good. If I didn’t like them, I would get something else. And that’s exactly what I did. Almost everything I tried was very good and I never had to send something back or replace anything. The cold soup the first night tasted sort of like orange juice (I’m not a big fan of OJ) and I didn’t try a cold soup again since there were other options I liked better. The salads were okay for me, but Irene had a knack for ordering the salad with the big fat lettuce wedge (which she didn’t care for). The ginger salad dressing got several bad reviews from our table and from others that I dined with at lunch the next day. It was watery and lacked flavor. I don’t know where Ginger was hiding, but it wasn’t in the dressing! Most of the salads I got already had dressing on them and they were good. I did finally get to try the Celebrity dressing (reminded me of a creamy Italian dressing) the last night and it was very good. I wish it had been an option every night.

My only real complaint is that the wording for menu items can be very misleading and/or confusing. The petite Henry IV marmite soup is really just chicken broth and a few veggies (very tasty by the way). Most of the soups were very good, especially the broth-based ones. Of course, my review might be tainted here by the fact that I got a cold the 2nd or 3rd day on the ship and kept it all week. I’m still sick, although beginning to feel better.

Appetizers were all good, though not great. The shrimp cocktail was probably the best one I tried. I also really liked the escargot on the last night. (Yes, I ventured out to the amazement of everyone at my table!) I love mushrooms, and to me that’s sort of what they tasted like. They were in a dark sauce on a puff pastry and it was good. The ice creams were incredible. My only complaint with them was the last night we ordered butter pecan and it tasted like peanut butter. Earlier in the cruise, someone had ordered butter pecan (which I sampled) and it was the real deal, so this must have been a mix-up on the menu somewhere.

The entrees were good. I had the Tender Young Roasted Chicken the first night and it was delicious. Others at my table tried the hake. Some liked it, some didn’t. One person tried the veal piccata and gave it great reviews. I can’t remember every dinner, but I do remember one of the shrimp dinners I ordered was good, but it was only 2 little shrimp. If I had known I would have ordered something else also (or 2). We tried the rack of veal one night in addition to our entrée and it was delicious, even though I’ve never eaten veal before. The roast sirloin was very good. The lobster was good, but a little overcooked. Overall, everything was good.

We ate in the main dining room twice for lunch and once for breakfast. I didn’t care for breakfast much, but I’m not a breakfast eater. I’m also not an egg eater, so that severely limits my breakfast choices. The lunches were very good. One of them was actually the best meal we had the entire week. It was some kind of pot roast and was a big hit with everyone at the table. Lunches took us a long time, just like dinner. So we didn’t eat in the main dining more, but I would have if we had the time.

I didn’t really eat the buffet for lunch either. The lines are long unless you hit it at a good time, and I don’t like buffet food enough to wait. The pasta and pizza bar was nice, and the hamburgers were great. The waffle station in the morning was my favorite thing. You can get waffles, as well as eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit, cereal, and yogurt. The only time I braved the main buffet area for breakfast was to sneak in and get a bagel toasted a couple of times. It also took a few days for people to realize the waffles and tables were back there, so there were no lines and plenty of tables available the first 2 mornings.

[frchteaze]

Public Areas:

I tried to visit every area on the ship, but not sure if I made it everywhere. For being a “smaller” ship, it felt huge to me. In general, all the areas of the ship looked great. Yes, a few things looked worn, but not badly. And to be honest, I only noticed because I tried to look for any worn spots, stains, etc. once or twice because of the bad reviews of Mercury as of late. I realized it was as I had expected all along – the “problems” aren’t noticeable unless you’re looking for them. They never bothered me even after I saw it. And I’m talking a tiny tear in a couch, a little chipped paint, and a worn pillow here or there. I didn’t see a lot of cleaning going on, but the ship always looked clean. I did see a guy sanding and revarnishing the outside stairs a couple of times, and some other people reported a brief smell of paint on deck 9.

 

Just as a little background, I’m a smoker who likes cozy, but large spaces. I typically like smoking outdoors, but the weather wasn’t great this trip and I started getting a cold so instead of quitting smoking, I just moved indoors ;). I’m also not a big drinker, but I found myself drinking a little more this trip than I thought I would. The Cova Café and the Navigator Lounge were my 2 favorite spots for hanging out, smoking, having a drink, and people watching/sightseeing. The Cova is great for people watching as it’s large and lots of people walk through here or up/down the stairs on the smoking side. It also has nice windows to look out, but the view/sightseeing is better up in the Navigator Lounge (Deck 12 forward). I think the drinks were a little stronger in the Navigator, but I loved the coffee drinks in the Cova. I tried the Kingston, the Aspen, and the Venetian, and the Venetian was my favorite by far. Very smooth and tasty.

 

I never made it to the Martini tastings because the hours were always during the early dining. The bar itself looked tiny and not very cozy, although there was more seating down below but not with a separate bar. I did get to attend the Daiquiri tasting and it was a lot of fun. Too much sweet and sour mix in the drinks, but met some great people and we enjoyed ourselves. The Pavilion and Rendezvous were both large and nice, but not quite as cozy as the other 2 spaces. I did attend the Karaoke in the Pavilion on the last formal night and it was hilarious, but very crowded in there. This was the latest I stayed up all of the nights, so I can’t really speak of the bars/lounges during the late hours. I was in the Navigator and Cova around 11 p.m. a couple of times and it wasn’t very crowded.

 

The area on 5 around guest relations is nice to just sit and relax, but I never saw ashtrays here, so I avoided staying here very long since I had other areas I liked just as much that I felt more comfortable smoking in. I also really liked the back buffet area indoors and out (when the weather was nicer). Even though all the dining areas are non-smoking, this area is smoking on one side and you can easily get a tray of food and sit here and smoke. We normally ate on the non-smoking side and couldn’t smell any smoke while we were eating.

 

The casino was small. Typically it wasn’t crowded during the shows, but filled up after the late dining was over. I didn’t make it to any shows, but I heard they were very good. I also didn’t participate much in any activities. The cold really slowed me down this trip, and I took it easy sitting around and relaxing. I wish I could have done more, but it just didn’t work out that way this trip.

 

The spa looked very nice and smelled great. I didn’t use it, but one of my roomies did and loved it. The workout area looked great too. None of the machines were old or broken from what I could tell and what other people said. I did have my nails done the first day at sea, and it lasted the whole week. Pretty amazing for me. Kind of expensive ($45), but it was a nice splurge.

 

The library was nice and the librarian, Nadia, was super friendly and sweet. The computer area looked nice and well-used, but I didn’t use it. The cinema was nice. I didn’t see a movie since I had seen all of the movies on the days when I had time to go. I think the choices this trip were, The Interpreter, Crash, Million Dollar Baby, and a couple others I can’t remember now. Most of the choices (if not all) were kind of downer movies, and with feeling poorly and the weather, I would have preferred more upbeat choices. It did seem like lots of people attended the showings during the days though.

Weather:

The weather was overcast most days, and rainy quite a bit. Cold with the wind blowing and the ship moving. I sat outside a little early on in the cruise with other die-hard smokers, but eventually gave it up for the warm indoors. Needless to say, no one was out at the pools or even hot tubs except the one day it was warm and sunny for a few hours. Then it was extremely crowded, though no one was swimming outside. The port days had overcast, cool weather but it didn’t really rain on us while we were walking around. I enjoyed the weather actually, since I left 90 degree sunny days and came home to 95 degree sunny days. Most days it was in the 50s and a long-sleeve shirt with/without a vest was plenty warm for walking outside briefly.

 

The shipped rocked at the beginning and end of the trip. Having never cruised before, I didn’t know if this was normal or not. Others said it was pretty bad, but not the worst they had experienced. Most people I talked to seemed to think it was bad because it was constant for at least a solid day or longer, and not just a brief period of rocking. One of my travel companions felt queasy the first couple of days, but she took some Bonine and felt better almost immediately. I’ve actually felt more seasick since I’ve been home than I ever did on the ship. I had no idea the swaying feeling would continue this long after I’d been on land.

 

Ports:

We weren’t that active, since I was sick and my mom isn’t in the best of shape. Mostly we did the excursion for each port and hit a few shops close by.

 

Juneau- We did the salmon bake at Gold Creek. The tour bus driver was lively and fun and informative, and it’s a shorter bus trip than I thought it would be (10 minutes max as opposed to the 30 minutes I had heard about). The food was good, but I felt like a cattle being herded to sit, eat, and leave. I’m not a fish eater, but I did taste the salmon and it was good. I think if you like fresh fish, you’d love it. The chicken was delicious; I didn’t try the ribs. The blueberry cake dessert wasn’t that good (too dry). I think if I did this port again, I’d skip the salmon bake unless the salmon is a priority. The shops were cute. The Alaska Shirt company had great deals on everything, but there’s also one in Skagway, so don’t feel like you have to buy everything in Juneau. We took advice on the Alaska boards and walked down to the Alaska Bar next to the Alaska Hotel. It was a great little local hangout. I think we were the only tourists in there, and it’s a smoker’s paradise! After this trip, I felt like everyone in Alaska smoked. ;) It was also nice to step in and get out of the tourist glitz for a little while.

 

Skagway – The train was great. I was a little nervous about riding that high up on a 100+ year old train, but it was fine. We saw a black bear right next to the track, so that was a great highlight. Our dinner companions did the Yukon bus trip and they enjoyed it too, but it took longer. We could see the buses stopping and taking pictures as we headed up the trail. Hard to compare the 2 since I only did one, but I think most people will be happy with either one. We got off the train in town, even though we boarded at the pier. And because of this, we didn’t realize how far of a walk it is back to the pier. If we hadn’t headed back early, we might not have made it with my mom so out of shape. (She had to stop and rest often.) There were S.M.A.R.T. vans all around for $1.50 a person, and I would definitely take one of those back next time. I wasn’t as impressed with the shops here in Skagway, but I’m not easily impressed by high-tourist area shops to start with.

 

Ketchikan – We did the Undersea boat tour. We got lucky with where our ship docked and ended up being very close to the excursion areas and some good shopping. The boat tour was fun. We didn’t get to see much because the algae were in full bloom and it was still early in the season. According to our guide (who was a young kid, but a knowledgeable local and fantastic), the previous 2 days had a lot of sunshine, which kicked the algae up and made the water difficult to see through. It also sounded like the best time to view marine life was the end of June/early July. Everyone who did this tour with me seemed to enjoy it but it was very low-key. We saw a few jelly fish, tons of beautiful star fish, a few sea cucumbers, and of course kelp everywhere. We also saw an otter jump out of the water and urinate right next to us as we were waiting to get on the boat. That was a hoot! The boat itself was nice. We first went downstairs (several steep steps down) and took the ride out. On the way back, we all grabbed a pair of binoculars (very nice ones provided for you) and headed up on deck to view the top side of the way back. We saw several eagles and got great pics. Shopping was good. The bartender in Fat Stan’s is great!

 

This was the best port as far as walking around, low prices, and being close to the pier. It’s hard to save your shopping for the end, but I would recommend trying to do that if you have enough time scheduled for Ketchikan.

 

Hubbard Glacier – This was a disappointment to me. We saw lots of beautiful scenery throughout the trip, and to be honest, the glacier viewing didn’t really seem much different other than seeing little chunks of ice in the water. We saw a Regent ship make a path through the icy waters and get very close to the glaciers. Had we been able to follow, it probably would have been much better. But, as it was, we didn’t get very close to the glaciers at all. No calving or anything close the spectacular things I’ve heard and seen on TV or in other reviews. Perhaps this was just this trip. It might be different on other sailings.

[frchteaze]

Seattle:

I’ve been to Seattle before, so sightseeing here wasn’t a priority. And we also didn’t have much time to do anything. I will comment a little on the hotels though. We flew in a day early and stayed a day after the cruise. The first night we stayed at La Quinta on 8th St. My mom had pre-arranged this hotel, and I wasn’t too sure about it but went along since she was paying for it. I believe it cost about $90. Hotels in Seattle are expensive everywhere. I think $90 is too much for this place, but it’s among the cheapest downtown. We had a rental car the first day, and parking in the garage underneath the hotel was difficult and a little scary. They’re remodeling at this hotel, so it will probably be nicer soon. It wasn’t hard to get to, but not close to any restaurants or shopping. There was a Best Western across the street that looked better from the outside. The room was okay, but not great. The free breakfast the next morning was nice.

 

We rented a car from Hertz since 2 of us were flying in at noon and my mom and 2 others in our group were flying in about 6:30p.m. We checked in to the hotel early and went back to the airport to pick them up. Got everyone checked in and went to Outback for dinner, since it was fairly close and we were all tired. The next morning we dropped 2 off at the pier around 10/10:30 am and stopped for coffee and a brief stroll in the International District before taking the rental car back to the downtown location. This was probably the most stressful experience of the trip. I was told we would have a free shuttle provided, but they didn’t. Construction is also going on around the Hertz location here, and it made it difficult to get to the garage where we return the car. We didn’t realize we could have pulled up on the curb, so we followed the signs to the garage and parked it and heaved our luggage down the office on the street corner. Then we had to wait for a large taxi van. The whole ordeal took several hours, and we finally made it to the pier around 1:30 pr 2 pm. Embarkation was a breeze from there. Long lines inside the terminal, but they moved quickly (maybe 5-10 minutes in line). Tipping the porters well helps. We managed to snag one and move ahead of about 30 people since he walked us directly up and past the line. On disembarkation, tipping well also helped us belly up to the taxi line, but problems with taxis that day slowed us down (see below). If we could have fit in one taxi, the porter would have been a huge help here too.

 

Disembarkation was easy, although we were delayed by 2 hours due to an unexpected inspection in our token Canada stop the night before. It didn’t bother us, since we were staying an extra night, but I know a lot of people were cutting in close at the airport. Getting off the ship was a breeze, finding our luggage was easy, but getting a cab was another story. Evidently, the guy who directs the cabs didn’t show up that day and everyone was on their own. We were the last group to get off, so most of the cabs were gone and we had a ton of luggage for the 3 of us and needed something larger than the average cab. No shuttles were to be found. Finally after waiting about 20 minutes or so, a guy came up to us and asked if we wanted to take a town car. I knew the prices were about the same as a cab, so I asked if he thought all the luggage would fit. He said yes, so we went off with him. He was a nice guy, but we had a slight misunderstanding to start with. I told him the Westin, but we realized after about 5 minutes maybe we were heading toward the airport. He had to get off and turn around and take us back to the Westin. We were planning on leaving for the airport at about 4:30 a.m. the next morning, and he agreed to come back and pick us up. He showed up on time and it worked out great.

 

The Westin itself was phenomenal! I got the hotel on Hotwire for $170 with taxes and all (listed rate was about $145 as a 4 star customer favorite). If I had it to do over, I would pay more and stay here again both nights instead of just the last one. I’m not one to splurge for hotels, but this was really fantastic. The linens were gorgeous and comfortable. The room was beautiful. There is a concierge desk downstairs that is staffed with incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful people. We went down and stood there looking through a take-out book for restaurants and heard the concierges (2 of them) doing everything from calling and making reservations, arranging cars to come pick people up for dinner, making ticket purchases for events, arranging tours, and giving advice on things to do/places to eat. We also asked where a Seattle’s Best Coffee was and instantly got directions drawn on the map.

 

We walked over to the indoor pool and gym, but didn’t use it. It looked nice and lots of people were taking advantage of it. In case you haven’t figured it out, I highly recommend this hotel. Check in was a breeze, even though it looked crowded. We had lunch at the bar/restaurant downstairs and the food was incredible. The clam chowder gets high recommendations from my travel companions. It was a little pricey, but not too bad. We didn’t walk down to Pike Place since it was cold and rainy, but we walked to Westlake Mall (I think that’s the name). It was very close to the hotel. Tons of great stores (Nordstrom’s, Gap, etc.) all very close by. Side note: This is a completely non-smoking hotel now. You have to go outside at least 25 feet from the entrance to smoke, but I didn’t have a problem with it, and there were usually other smokers outside. There’s also a taxi line out front, so it’s easy to get one if you need to go somewhere out of walking distance.

 

Overall, this was a great trip. The weather could have been nicer. I wish I hadn’t gotten sick. But the service, food, and rooms were all up to my expectations or better. I’m not that hard to please, but I did expect it to be nice, and it was. I would sail on the Mercury again in a heartbeat. I think I would like to try a different Alaska itinerary if I were to do it again though. Since this was my first cruise, I didn’t really know what to expect as far as the ports were concerned, but I wasn’t very impressed. Had my mother not been with us, I probably would have been able to see and do more and venture out on longer/more active excursions. I think that would have helped. I like shopping, but I really don’t care for tourist-trap areas, and that’s what the ports seemed like to me. I also felt we didn’t have enough time in Skagway and Ketchikan. Juneau was delayed by 2 hours, but with the 11 p.m. departure, we still had plenty of time to walk around, do an excursion, and enjoy beers in the local bar.

[FlorenceItaly]

for sharing your trip. I really appreciate you taking the time to post a review. I cruised to Alaska in 2004(Vancouver - Seward, on HAL) and can't wait to return. The beauty is breathtaking.

 

Marie

[SNOWEY]

Thank you for posting your thoughts/memories on this cruise to Alaska. We were on the cruise before yours.

 

We were quite fortunate with the weather, however, there were times when we took adavtage of the blankets that were provided.

 

We had wonderful service, great dinner companions and we truly enjoyed this cruise.

 

Alaska is so different every time you cruise.

 

Sorry to hear that you were sick and that the Salmon bake wasn't so great. Go back again.

 

We did the kayaking in Ketachikan and saw a whale breech while we were kayaking, some seals poping up and then some eagles. No experience required. Also did the helicopter tour and it was awesome. I think the weather in Alaska is like in Texas....just wait a minute and then it changes.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Claudia (snowey)

[idssms]

Great review and write up.

 

We were on the repositioning from Ensenada on May 8th and had a great time also.

 

The food was excellent!!

 

Don

[frchteaze]

Sorry to hear that you were sick and that the Salmon bake wasn't so great. Go back again.

 

Thanks Claudia. I actually liked the Salmon bake okay. I just don't think I would do it again. There was so much food on the ship, eating again just didn't seem like that much fun once we were there. ;) I was also hoping we could go up to the glacier or take the brewery tour, but with the 2 hour delay, we didn't have time to do the salmon bake and the other things since most of those things ended around 5:30 pm or so. That and the weather probably tainted my view of the salmon bake a little.

 

We did the kayaking in Ketachikan and saw a whale breech while we were kayaking, some seals poping up and then some eagles. No experience required.

 

I saw the kayakers and it looked great. I posted a more detailed excursion review on the Alaska board, and said if I went back to Ketchikan I would definitely do the kayaking. The scenery here was gorgeous!

[naturalized texan]

Both the ship and the crew need some work to bring the cruise up to the advertised level. I was on the 5/26 sailing and found the food not as good as on other cruise lines. We tried the informal dining upstairs one night and found the service much better.

 

My main complaint, however, was the lack of notification to the passengers when we were arriving late. I met a number of people who had excursions in Juneau cancelled, they were not notified prior to our arrival, and therefore did not have the opportunity to change to another excursion. Also, the ship knew when were were in Prince Rupert more than the scheduled hour or 2 that we would be late arriving in Seattle but, again, no notification to the passengers.

 

I did not feel "treated like a Celebrity."

 

I will say that Alaska on a cruise is spectacular and well worth the time and money.

[dachshunddoglover]

We were also on the May 26th. sailing of the Mercury. We were very disappointed with the inability of the ship to get anywhere on time. Two of our shore trips were cancelled. The captain would not take us into the Hubbard Glacier. It did affect our opinion of the cruise, but not Alaska, which was magnificent. If you are sailing on the Mercury any time soon these would be my suggestions- 1.) Come a day early and explore Seattle, which is lovely. You must go to the Pike's Market area. We loved it! 2.) Try to check in early before the big lines form. 3.) Bring some extra hangers. We had plenty of closet space but only 9 hangers.

4.) Bring a clock from home. There was no clock in the cabin. In Alaska, they have daylight for 18 hours a day so it would be bright at 3am. in the morning. With no clock, it was very disorienting. 5.) Pack two smaller bags instead of one large bag. The small ones would fit under the bed but large would not and then it sits around your cabin taking up valuable space. 6.) Don't plan your flight back any earlier than 1pm. just in case you are late also. We had a 12:30 flight and barely made it. We did have a good time, don't get me wrong. We loved our dining room attendant and cabin steward and the Naturalist, Brent Nixon was fantastic. However, Mercury must improve or it will loose passengers if our experience was the normal one. :(

[mahdnc]

3.) Bring some extra hangers. We had plenty of closet space but only 9 hangers.

4.) Bring a clock from home. There was no clock in the cabin. In Alaska, they have daylight for 18 hours a day so it would be bright at 3am. in the morning. With no clock, it was very disorienting.

 

Your cabin steward can get you more hangers, if you ask. As far as a clock is concerned, the time is displayed on the cabin phone's LCD. Not as nice as a real clock, but there is something there.

[frchteaze]

Both the ship and the crew need some work to bring the cruise up to the advertised level. I was on the 5/26 sailing and found the food not as good as on other cruise lines. We tried the informal dining upstairs one night and found the service much better.

 

My main complaint, however, was the lack of notification to the passengers when we were arriving late. I met a number of people who had excursions in Juneau cancelled, they were not notified prior to our arrival, and therefore did not have the opportunity to change to another excursion. Also, the ship knew when were were in Prince Rupert more than the scheduled hour or 2 that we would be late arriving in Seattle but, again, no notification to the passengers.

 

I did not feel "treated like a Celebrity."

 

I will say that Alaska on a cruise is spectacular and well worth the time and money.

 

Sorry, Tex. I have to disagree. Even though my cruise wasn't perfect, it was great. As far as ports go, we were only late getting to Juneau and that was due to bad weather. This is where I personally believe research can help tremendously -- I had read bad weather can delay the Juneau port and/or cause several cancellations to excursions and was prepared this might happen. Thus, I wasn't upset about it. I can see where if you didn't realize this might happen, you could be very disappointed in cancelled excursions. As for the notification, I thought they did a good job of alerting us that we would be delayed. Yes, the cancellations were announced last minute as we prepared to get off the ship. But if you knew your excursion times and realized the ship was being delayed, common sense should have alerted you the excursion was highly likely to be cancelled.

 

As for the ship and crew not being up to standards, I saw no evidence of this myself. I'm really not sure what it is people expect out of their cruises. I couldn't have asked for much more service unless the servers hand fed me each night and dabbed the lobster juice from my chin. Every staff member I met was friendly and courteous, and they were all polite and did their jobs. The ship itself was in fine condition. No, there was no rock wall, and the overall feel of the cruise was not upbeat and full of energy, but I thought it was a pleasant relaxing journey with a lot of very nice, interesting people.

 

The Seattle delay was again unfortunate, but not the ship's fault. As for announcing the delay, I much preferred the morning announcement when they made it as opposed to the alternative announcement of 1 a.m. in the morning when they realized we would be late. Again, common sense dictates not to make early flights out on the day of disembarkation -- anything can happen.

 

I still don't know what it means to be "treated like a Celebrity". Personally, all that means to me is people falling at your feet because they want to believe you're something you're not and paparazzi chasing you around with cameras. Personally, I'll take the "Celebrity treatment" anyday. I felt like a pampered guest, and that was enough for me! :D

[dachshunddoglover]

The two other ships that left Seattle at the same time we did were docked and waiting for us when we got to Juneau and they encountered the same weather we did, as was the case with the return to Seattle. They were there docked and unloading when we arrived. The weather was not that bad to have affected our late arrival in my opinion. It was a problem with the Mercury.

[naturalized texan]

The two other ships that left Seattle at the same time we did were docked and waiting for us when we got to Juneau and they encountered the same weather we did, as was the case with the return to Seattle. They were there docked and unloading when we arrived. The weather was not that bad to have affected our late arrival in my opinion. It was a problem with the Mercury.

 

Based on other cruise experiences, I feel there was some problem with the propellors or propellor shafts (something akin to that experienced by the Carnival Celebration, better known a few years ago as the "Vibration"). If you spent much time at the rear of the ship you felt a definite shimmy.

[philnsand]

My Wife Andi Were On The Cruise Withyou.we Really Enjoyed Your Detailed Report. It Was Extremely Informatve And Intersesting To Get Your Preseptive.. We Took Airborne Prior To Trip To Prevent Colds. We Had A Wonderful Experience In Alaska,and We Are Glad You And Your Mom Did Also.i Hope To Cruise Alaska In 2007/