Just Back From Alaska on Mercury- FABULOUS!!!

[JuneauWhatIMean]

This was the Inside Passage trip to/from Seattle Sept 8-Sept 15.

 

Sorry ParrotTops, but apparently Mercury has an alter ego. We had a great trip with absolutely NO PROBLEMS and LOTS OF FUN. Sorry you didn't make it to the Cruise Critic party, maybe we could have helped. Dave, (bububr), and his family were great and managed to get my DH and I to the Chief Engineer's table for the first formal night and he and his SOJ (significant other John) to the Captain's Table for the final formal night. Of course my DH's entertaining personality and Dave's making it into the cruise CD for the contest he won, (I'll let him explain :eek: ), could have something to do with it. ;)

 

We stayed at the Inn At The Market the day/night before the cruise and it was a great base location for Pike's Market (where the inn is located), Pioneer Square and the Space Needle. The monorail wasn't running so we had to take a cab- no problem.

 

Embarkation- A breeze. Quick stop at Pike's Market for flowers for the Sky Suites at 12:30, two cabs to the terminal to check in. (Brother-in-law and wife were with us). Check-in took about 10 minutes. Back outside for photos of the ship and walking around, back and onboard by 2. Met our wonderful butler Mateus who put our flowers in a vase and brought us three buckets of ice for our bootleg bar setup and our Bon Voyage package. Mateus brings first three plates of food.

 

We went out on deck for the poolside sailaway which included drinks in souvenir glasses and a rocking band with everyone dancing. We went back to our rooms to unpack and freshen up for dinner and receive our second three plates of food from Mateus. By the second day this became a joke with us yelling at Mateus "No more food!" and DH yelling "Stay out of our room!" and Mateus just laughing and continuing to surprise us with little plates of food left in our room. I was even in the room one afternoon at tea time and he brought the cart. I told him we couldn't possibly eat anything and he made me take a plate anyway. Each day when we came back to the room in the afternoon there were three buckets of ice, freshly sliced lemons and limes, and a bowl of fruit as well as the plates of sandwiches and appetizers.

 

Okay, I'm not even to the first port, Juneau, but I have to take a break. I think I hear Mateus knocking...................tbc..................:D

[slotaddict]

It is truly amazing, how two people on the same ship have such different experiences. This trip on the Mercury is not unique, I have seen many ships reviewed by different people on the same trip and they are totally opposite. I am sorry for anyone who does not have the trip that they expect. I personally have had only one "bad" cruise and that was not even that bad. I hope I never have to come back to these boards and report that my cruise was not what I anticipated.

[C 2 C]

We had a great trip with absolutely NO PROBLEMS and LOTS OF FUN.

 

On Mercury. You gotta be kidding... I don't believe a word of it.:rolleyes:

 

Would you happen to remember the name of the Captain and Cruise Director?

[bububr]

Hi Ali, Just got home from Seattle 5 minutes ago ( Literally )...I just wanted to see if anyone posted. I'm a bit confused over Parrotops.....Was she even on our ship?. I guess we are all entitled to our own opinions, however I can't complain about the 'slop' at the buffet, because my head was buried so deep in the trough I think I gained 10 pounds.:D oink...oink

 

Sorry I wasn't able to get you together with Terry and Amy....We were just all over the place at different times.

 

It was a pleasure to meet you, Marty, John and Peggy.

 

I'll post my review in the next few days...John asking what I want to order for dinner so I gotta go...No food in the fridge yet.

 

 

Dave:eek:

 

BTW....Okay, now I gotta do some 'splaining about the DVD...because you mentioned it......;)

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Hi C 2 C- The Captain is Anastasios P. Salessiotis and the Cruise Director is Robin McCartney.

 

Dave- It was great meeting you and your family, too. :D I too don't see how anyone could complain about the buffet. If you don't like something you just move on. Tons of selections. And if that doesn't work go get a burger, hot dog, pizza, full meal in the restaurant, or anything you want from room service. My personal favorite was the french fries from the burger place. Mmmmmmm. But I can't figure out what everyone likes about the breadsticks at dinner. I think it must have something to do with butter. ;)

 

No need to explain about the DVD. I think your expertise at the trough explains it all. Thank god the tux still fit, eh? :eek:

 

Back to my nap................

[lysolqn]

I love to hit the boards after we get back from a cruise, just to see what other passengers who were on our cruise have to say about it. I'm always amazed by the diversity of opinion expressed by passengers who were on the very same ship at the very same time with respect to food, service, entertainment, cleanliness and condition of the ship, staff and crew - and yes, even weather.

[SheilaNC]

Wow, what a relief to hear that others had the great time that we did in July. I was beginning to think that 'our' crew jumped ship and they had hired rejects! As avid (and critical) cruisers who are NOT Celebrity apologists, we had nothing to complain about (and I tried, really I did :)). Food and service were excellent. Minor flaws in decor and wear and tear were expected. So glad to hear others felt the same way. Wish I could explain the variation - different expectations, lenses, tastes??? Who knows...just glad we had a blast!

[cruisin'mama]

JuneauWhatIMean...

 

We had Mateus in June. Isn't he just adorable! For us, he was so sweet and yes he brought food, food and more food, and always with that warm genuine smile. I received an email from him yesterday and you got him on his last sailing before he goes home on a 2 month, well deserved vacation. Very lucky were you! He'll be back onboard Dec 1st but he doesn't know what area he'll be assigned when he comes back. He certainly made our cruise even better than it already was !

[bububr]

I'll throw a hint about the DVD out there, but I'll save the details for my review.

 

It involves a very cold outdoor pool, and a speedo :D

 

Dave:eek:

[4 cruisers]

Cruisinmama, it's so nice that you are keeping in touch with Mateus! We took our sons on the Crown Odyssey (now the Norweigan Crown) 6 years ago and still get calls from all over the world from "Bong" a bartender who taught us all about his home and culture in the Philipines. To us, that is one of the things that makes cruising so unique!

 

Back to my point:o , when you find out where he ends up in Dec., please let us know! We'll be in a RS for our spring break. Thanks and I've enjoyed your posts about your trip!!!:cool:

[C 2 C]

when you find out where he ends up in Dec., please let us know!

 

You'll have a long list... We're on for the Canal crossing Dec 8th...

I've never had a waiter named after a wine... With my poor memory for names, I should be able to remember his. I'll try and meet him and pass on all the rave reviews...:) If you don't mind, ask him for the best table location....

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Okay just to be fair, here are some of the bad things we experienced and what we did about it:

 

When we boarded we were handed a glass with a very small amount of champagne in it. We were forced to gulp this down and return the glass a few steps further on. This unfortunate incident was forgotten when we arrived in our suite to find a full bottle of champagne on ice.

 

No one was waiting to escort us to our room. Solution: Waited until they did. (Approx. wait time: 5 seconds.)

 

Disembarking in Juneau was very annoying as everyone was packed like sardines into two hallways for about half an hour. Don't know what the holdup was- perhaps local security forces were not in place in time? Upside: Everyone on the ship was also waiting and we made the best of it by joking with our fellow pax.

 

Lots of flyers advertising jewelry sales and art auctions in the Celebrity Today! newsletter. Solution: Cruised through the gallery and checked out the jewelry. Didn't buy anything until we got to Ketchikan where DH bought me a beautiful Tanzanite and diamond bracelet from a store not listed in the newsletter and not associated with Celebrity. Take that! Our purchases onboard consisted of two souviner glasses, a coffee mug, and a sweatshirt. We also had cocktails in the Rendezvous Lounge on several occasions when they were trying to setup for the art auction. Their dirty looks did not dampen our enthusiastic slurping.

 

Everyone was not dressed properly in the dining room. In fact a gentleman at our table the first night (casual) was wearing jeans and his wife was wearing a denim skirt. But they were a really nice young couple and we got along great. BTW, the four of us were invited to the Captain's table to dine with the Chief Engineer (second in command) the next evening. (Just goes to show you how much they care about the dress code.) Our waiter, MOISES, and assissant waiter, BIN GIN, served us famously.

 

The second time we ordered cappuccinos with our eggs benedict at 6:30 we didn't receive it. I had forgotten that the Cova Cafe didn't open until 7:30. Solution: MATEUS brought us eggs benedict with bacon, pastries and coffee at 6:30 and brought us 4 cappuccinos with chocolate and almond croissants at 7:30. We were starving by the time we went to lunch at 12:30- NOT.

 

Sometimes the room service breakfasts were cold. Oh well.

 

Sometimes we were the only people in the Martini Bar with BRANI. Oh well.

 

Sushi Bar and Burger and Hot Dog station were average. Oh well.

 

Okay, I'm tired of all this negativity so I'm going to stop now. We had a great cruise and I have nothing but praise for Celebrity and Mercury for exceeding my expectations of the past nine months. We can't wait to cruise with Celebrity again.

 

PS Thank you CAPTAIN SALESSIOTIS for not leaving us behind in Skagway when we were the last to board. It was great fun being the source of entertainment for sailaway. The bar tab from the Navigator Lounge will not soon be forgotten.

 

Thank you also for the solemn remembrance of the 9/11 victims.

 

And thank you for always being in port on time and getting within 1/4 mile of Hubbard Glacier. The hour+ cruising slowly up to it and the hour and a half spent there were fantastic.

 

~~~And thank you fellow Cruise Critics for all of the wonderful information you give here that allowed us to have this most remarkable of cruises~~~

 

Sincerely,

 

Glass Half Full Ali :D

[ParrotTops]

I am perplexed as to why voicing any negative opinions or experiences about one's cruise experience seems to offend others on these boards...and is somehow seen as taboo?? I guess we are only suppose to express praise even if that has not been our experience. I have taken over 15 other cruises on various lines (RCCL, Seven Seas, Princess and Crystal) and enjoyed each of them immensely...I was only giving my personal opinion about my recent Mercury cruise...so sorry if my glass is half empty in regard to the Mercury!

[bububr]

No one is slamming you for your opinion. I think at most we are a bit 'perplexed' by both the title of your post, as well as the mixed messages contained in it. As with Ali, and most likely many other passengers....I had some things go wrong also; but it didn't ruin my total experience, nor did they make me upset. I simply shrugged them off. BTW try to remember that I was also one of the passengers on the infamous March 17th BLEACH cruise, as well as having been thrown off a horse early in the cruise in Mazatlan breaking my pelvis, and a vertebre.....I still found SOME good in the experience and with all the problems I had I still rate that cruise over any of the Carnival cruises or some other lines that I have taken.

 

Its okay to post a negative comment / opinion; but its better if you follow it with an action or way of resolution.

 

i.e. Okay, the FIRST night I took a shower to step out of the shower into 3 inches of water at the door lip level.....the drain was obviously backed up. I called Michael ( Stateroom attendant ), he was out, so I them called guest services. Imediately a plummer was sent up to reslove the problem.....They ended up pulling out a HUGE clump of hair from the drain. And the problem was resolved. It did take up a few minutes of my time, and I was a bit concerned......but I reacted with "WOW....thats where that went! Can I have it back?!? ( I'm a little bald on top:D ). The plumber and Micheal laughed......and the cruise continued.

 

Others might react differently by storming down to guest relations and demanding a refund, or having a simple maintainance problem lurking in their minds after it WAS resolved leaving a damper on the rest of the cruise. I think the point that Ali was making is that NOTHING is perfect EVER. NO ONE has the same expectations or ideals.

 

From your post the problems you encountered, I see as minor distractions, or inconveniences......However you feel you are able to justify them based on your past experiences. Its fine to do that, but thrown a little bit of HOW they were different in you descriptions because there may be some that don't have anything else to compare them to. i.e The buffet food was slop compaired to RCCL; How? what did RCCL have or do that X didn't. .......i.e The 1/2 hour wait between courses that frustrated you; At a five course meal, the wait between serving courses is generally 20 minutes. Its not even unreasonable to go to a fine land based restaurant and spend at least 2 hours dining and only have a three course meal. But on the ship they are preparing dishes for 900 guests at a time, so the extra few minutes is expected. So my question is based on your experience with a few of the different lines, how did the wait time compare with some of the other lines? and do you feel that the location of your table had anything to do with taking a bit longer?

 

As I said I'm not trying to blast you. I'm just trying to understand what went so wrong for you.

 

Your Cruise critic buddy:)

 

Dave:eek:

[SheilaNC]

Parrottops,

Like Dave, as I said earlier, I am not slamming you or apologizing for any inconveniences or problem that you encountered on Celebrity. Just try to understand why your experience was so different from the stellar experience that we had.

 

For instance, you mentioned that Justin and David provided help and support (my words, not yours). If you look back on an earlier report that I wrote, you will see that I, too, had wonderfully positive experiences with them and that they were part of what made our trip so special. It is the people that make it work for me, even if other things go wrong.

 

So, like Dave, I would be interested in more details about your experience. Not to refute your comments - they are yours and I respect your right to your feelings - but to better understand. We are booked on B2B cruises on Mercury in Australia and NZ in 2008 mostly because we had such a great cruise. So...if things were different for you, it would be helpful for me to know about them. Sorry that you felt criticized. It was certainly not my intent to do so.

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Well, I'm the OP on this thread and I was writing about my experiences, not yours ParrotTops.

 

A couple more notations.......

 

I found our bed to be perfectly fine. We were in 1209 and I had my gun loaded and ready to fire "Bring me two egg crate mattress toppers ASAP!" but the bed seemed fine so I waited until the first night was over. It was the best sleep I've had outside my own room, ever. There were four pillows, two of which were down, and the mattress was pleasantly firm. The gentle rocking of the ship is just the best thing imaginable. And our bedspread and sofa were spotless.

 

We never once touched the thermostat, keeping it at 60 degrees. This allows you to keep the balcony doors open without guilt. (Us 50 YO ladies don't mind 60 degrees while sleeping. ;) ) But you will get an amazing swirling dervish with howling sound effects and a vacuum at the front door that won't let you open it. Not easy to sleep with.:eek:

 

I measured the balcony for our Suite 1209. It is an astounding 13.3 x 15 feet! I just can't express to you how much larger this made the room seem. :D

[Desertbelle]

Thanks for the positive review. We will be on the Mercury in November and I am quite sure our cruise will be wonderful. I am just like JuneauWhatIMean, I choose to have a wonderful cruise and it always happens. :)

[daisymae253]

We did the same cruise the last week of August....Loved everything about the Mercury and the crew....I have sailed many times with Carnival....but this to us had much more class....My next cruise will be with NCL....sailing out of Ohau for 7 days....Simply chose this cruiseline only because they offered what we were looking for...So we will see...Hopefully it won't be my last cruise with Celebrity!!:D

[cruiser2004]

I am perplexed as to why voicing any negative opinions or experiences about one's cruise experience seems to offend others on these boards...and is somehow seen as taboo?? I guess we are only suppose to express praise even if that has not been our experience. I have taken over 15 other cruises on various lines (RCCL, Seven Seas, Princess and Crystal) and enjoyed each of them immensely...I was only giving my personal opinion about my recent Mercury cruise...so sorry if my glass is half empty in regard to the Mercury!

 

I too have noticed that reporting any negative experience is seen as taboo.

No matter what happens it somehow always seems to be the fault of the passenger for not trying hard enough to overlook anything and everything that is wrong.

[poohtaz]

I sail on Mercury in Jan. 2007 and am just so happy that people are finding so many great things to say about her!:)

[Host Anne]

Consider this a warning to PLEASE keep comments directed at other persons OUT of your responses on the board.

[cruzcfi]

I have just posted my review which of course is my opinion and that of the others in my party. We had a GREAT time but Mercury is need of some maintenance. The food quality has diminshed since I sailed on her five years ago. We had plenty to eat and enjoyed ourselves anyway. The flight to Seattle is another story.

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Oohh, cruzcfi, do tell more. What happened with your flight? I'm sorry if there was a problem, I know all these travel details can be such a nail-biter. We booked independently with reward miles and actually switched to an earlier flight home because we docked so early.

 

I'm beginning to think that the flight in and embarkation can color a person's entire cruise. And I'm certainly not sure it couldn't happen to me. And I agree that the food may not have been what everyone expects of Celebrity, but I really wasn't disappointed in any of it. I was on cloud 9 the entire cruise and have already booked the same cruise for May 25, 2007. (After dry dock.) :D

 

Dave~ Sky suites are available! :eek:

[Lois R]

Did I read you had Brani as your bartender in the

Martini Bar?:D He was there when I sailed back in

May! Everyone agreed he looks like Harry Connick, Jr...

except cuter;) and he can make a helluva martini too!

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Hi Lois! *Hug* *Hug* Yes, it was Brani alright. And he did make an amazing sugarfree cosmo for me. :p He also served as the witness for a couple that got wed in Ketchikan. Truly a man of many talents. And cute, to boot. ;)