Mercury PNW 9/15/06 Impressions

[waunabcruizin]

This was my first cruise in 25 years and Linda’s first cruise ever. Needless to say, we were excited. I’ve been haunting the cc boards for the past four or five months learning everything I can about the modern cruising world and it proved to be worth every minute spent online. Here are some observations about our Mercury cruise from our perspective, and keep in mind this was our 'learning' cruise:

1) The ship was in excellent condition. Our stateroom was immaculate but the mattresses were old, hard, and uncomfortable and our pillows were flat sponge rubber slabs. Egg-crate foam mattress pads corrected the bed problem but the pillows were horrible. That was the only fly in our stateroom ointment. We had a great room steward, Salam, and we tipped above our pre-paid gratuities with the traditional envelope with something extra. He deserved it.

2) The public areas on the ship were in very good condition. Carpets were clean and bright, woodwork polished, brass shiny, mirrors clean, windows clean. The only flaws we found were in the buffet area where the upholstery and chairs were in worn, stained condition and the general atmosphere reminded us of a well-worn Denny’s Restaurant (for those of you familiar with Denny’s….and btw, we found the food was only so-so in the buffet, though the sushi was really good and the waffles to die for).

3) Service was in every way outstanding. The dining room staff for dinner, our waiter and assistant waiter, the bar staff everywhere, the Guest Relations crew, the Future Cruises desk, the Bank, everywhere, the staff was outstanding, just outstanding. Having said that, the one exception was open seating breakfast in the dining room. My requested Tabasco sauce for eggs never appeared and one of our table mates requested sour cream for her omelet which didn’t arrive until she was finished with her breakfast.

4) The entertainment on the ship was so-so. We enjoyed the two shows we attended featuring the comedian (who was very funny) and the Celebrity Singers and Dancers (who had a couple of very good dancers). The downside of the entertainment for us is that we were very limited in where we could go because of cigarette smoke in the public areas. The art display was just outside the casino and was so smoky we couldn’t peruse the art. The Navigator Lounge would have been great fun but was so smoky we couldn’t venture in. Some of the other lounges were okay for a short while but then the smokers would arrive and we had to leave, even though they smoked on port side and we were on starboard. So evening entertainment was, for us, somewhat of a letdown. Now, I have to confess we may have missed out on a lot because we failed to read the daily newsletter with all the events listed, so that’s a learning experience for us.

5) We also discovered we do not particularly like inside staterooms. It was a very nice room, but I am a person who needs to see the world outside my room. We missed every port arrival because by the time we got up and got dressed to go on deck, it was all over. I also don’t like not knowing what the weather is doing, what the temperature is, whether it’s sunny or not, etc. We had the porthole channel on but it didn’t give us any information except the view from the bridge camera. No information on whether you would need a jacket, or shorts, or long-johns, or a snorkel and swim fins or what. Very aggravating.

6) We found we did not like main seating for dinner. It’s too early for us. We missed every sailaway because we were in our stateroom changing for dinner at sailaway time. Again, a learning experience.

Now having said all of the above – did we have a great time? YES, WE DID!!! And we loved it. We booked an Alaska cruise out of Vancouver on the Mercury next August. What made the Mercury so terrific was it’s wonderful staff and the absolutely outstanding service we received from nearly everyone we encountered. Celebrity service is truly all it’s cracked up to be. And, oh yeah, the food was terrific too. :D

[SheilaNC]

Carol and Linda,

so glad you got to do your 'short' introductory cruise and explore Mercury. I appreciate your learning curve and am so glad you had the great service that we experienced in July. We had the same mattress/pillow issues but the egg crate and additional pillows helped alot and I slept like a baby so maybe my body likes hard mattresses :) Hopefully the bedding will be replaced before our down under cruises. Did you get to meet Justin, Natalie and David (our wonderful Captain's Club Host, future cruise sales director and concierge)? They were all wonderful to us and our family. Thanks for posting your experiences and hope they whetted your appetite for more.

[Angel]

Hi Carol,

I am so glad to hear you both had a great time. We are heading out for a 4 night cruise on the mercury next monday. Looking forward to just being away for a nice break. Thanks again for the great review..

Bev

[jb_yvr]

We also just got back from the Mercury.

 

My biggest complaints were the parking at Pier 66 in Seattle - seemed like chaos getting on and off the ship.

 

We got off about 10 mins after our designated time, we waited nearly 50 mins to get our car - go figure.

 

I had some big issues with settling my accounts on the ship - they made a mistake and charged me for a souvenir mug that I did not buy - and it took forever to get the problem fixed. They also had some meltdown with their credit card system - they thought that a lot of people were going to settle the accounts in cash - instead of using the credit card that I added to the cabin (online, at checkin again) - and again a third time at customer relations.

 

In dealing with these problems, I found customer relations to be mostly useless.

 

I guess all of the problems I had were sort of limited to me - and should not have affected too many other people.

 

This was our fourth cruise with Celebrity in the past 9 months (all of them in Concierge Class) - and I must say this one was probably the worst - although even a not so good cruise is MUCH better than no cruise at all!

 

I do prefer the Millenium class ship, although I love the Century. The Mercury however is no Century. We kept looking at things that we thought how it looked different on the Century - and how this newer ship could have whatever has an 'improvement' because it is a bit newer. We have not been on the NEW Century - so I am sure that is even much better now.

 

For those who dress up for formal dinner - like us - you will be sorely disappointed. Most women looked great - their husbands not so much.

 

I saw several people in Jeans/Shorts on formal night. Also lots of large company groups of people.

 

Still - overall we had a good time - we did not hear about people falling sick or the captain being intoxicated or whatever ills seem to have been around in the past.

 

I thought the Celebrity dancers were very good - and the cruise director was good too, as well as some staff from other cruises.

 

We also tried main dinner seating for the first time - and won't do it again - it feels like you are eating in the afternoon.

[waunabcruizin]

Sheila - Our appetite for more is indeed whetted! We did meet Justin and David, both of whom were simply delightful, but we did not get to meet Natalie. She is transferring to another ship in a job promotion situation, I think Justin said, and he (Justin) will take over Natalie's position as future cruise person. We booked an 8/31/07 Alaska cruise on the Mercury with Justin and got cabin 8007 with a window facing forward over the bow and with a great panoramic view.

 

We did get extra pillows but they were all hard flat sponge pancakes and very uncomfortable - though I admit that by nite 3 I was sleeping peacefully on the 'bed of nails' :D .

 

Bev - You'll have a wonderful time, I'm sure! We did not want to come home....we were just getting settled in and it was time to leave :( . We did a shore excursion in Nanaimo and in retrospect it would have been better to have simply relaxed aboard with a good book, gone to the T-pool, and hit the gym for a bit. Now we know why people love sea days and we are really looking forward to OZ in 2008 and Mexico this coming January (on Princess - should be an interesting comparison) where we will have a number of sea days to simply relax.

 

If you enjoy a drink once in a while don't miss Brany's Purple Martini (we called it a purpletini) at the Martini Bar. It's absolutely yummy! And so refreshing - but he wouldn't give me the recipe! Have a great cruise.

 

Carol (and Linda).

[waunabcruizin]

JB_YVR - I agree the parking garage at Pier 66 was absolute ludicrous.

 

We too got off the ship on time and then waited nearly an hour for someone to retrieve our car. Finally, we spotted our car backed in and waiting for us.....but nobody there and no keys.

 

By this time I had had enough. I marched over to that twit at the desk and waited semi-patiently while she and two guys argued over who was doing what, and then I snapped. I stomped up to the front of the desk holding up my ticket with the number on it, pointed to my car keys hanging there right in front of her nose and said 'give me my car keys!'. She said 'just a minute...' I cut her off and said 'give me my g*d d*****d keys this instant! I'm not waiting one more second!' and I picked my keys off the hook on the board. She snatched them back and ripped off the tag, I snatched them back and without another look, marched off. I'm sure everyone there was wondering who the mad woman was, but by then I did not care.....I just wanted my keys and to get out of there. What a complete zoo. NEVER again will I park there with valet parking. Sheesh!

 

Other than the fiasco at the parking garage, though, we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise. The credit card problems may have been universal. We had a letter on our door that we needed to come settle our account with cash or travelers checks at the Bank, so we went to the bank and discovered our American Express card that I had registered with Celebrity's online web site, and then again at checkin, was not recorded. So I presented it a third time and that took care of it. Apparently something erased the credit card entries at some point. Another sheesh!

 

I agree with you about formal night. The table next to us was occupied by a young couple and three older couples. The young couple dressed in gown and tux while the three older couples were in jeans and shorts. I couldn't believe the Maitre d' let them in the dining room like that. It didn't ruin my cruise but I thought the young couple was probably rather disappointed as they were dressed to the teeth and looked terrific and were sitting at a table full of scuzzies. Kind of too bad, I thought. But then what do I know....I wasn't sitting at their table.

 

Carol (and Linda).

[RedmondCruiser]

We were also on the short cruise. I agree with much of what you said. The food was excellent as was the service. We were also in an inside room and found that we had a fantastic amount of storage in the room. Took us alittle time to find the safe though - and found more storage. My only complaint was the mattress and pillows which were terrible. Replacing them should be an absolute priority.

 

Pier 66 does leave alot to be desired. Pier 30 is much better and I hope the new facility at pier 99 will be well thought out. This becomes a none issue for Celebrity since they are moving to Vancouver next season.

[sally r]

Thanks for all the input on the Mercury! We sail this Friday and very excited to experience Celebrity.

 

Could someone please elaborate on the "Valet" Parking? My husband usually just drops me and the luggage at the pier, parks the car and walks over using the sky bridge. Am I correct that you can leave the bags with the parking people and they will deliver them to the ship?

 

Thanks for any information.

[waunabcruizin]

Sally R - Your method is MUCH SUPERIOR to valet parking. Yes, they will take your bags and deliver them to the ship and it's a piece of cake for boarding. BUT, trying to get your car back at the end is no picnic. You don't know where they parked it so you can't go get it yourself and they are so completely overwhelmed with hundreds of people wanting their vehicles right away that it's a disaster. After waiting for an hour (almost) standing there with our luggage our car finally appeared but then I couldn't get the keys and finally lost patience (see previous post). People who didn't opt for valet parking were driving out with no problems while the rest of us could only stand there and watch. My opinion is you should stick to your routine and not bother with valet. JMHO.

 

Redmond Cruiser - Mercury will sail the Alaska itinerary from Vancouver next year but will sail the 3 and 4 nite PNW cruises from Seattle, so unfortunately parking may still be an issue.

 

Carol (and Linda).

[sally r]

Thanks, Carol. Just what I needed to know. Using the Valet Parking option might be nice if it is raining so the bags and I don't get soaked. However, the forecast looks like sun!

[Angel]

Thanks all for the info about the parking, we are using pier 66 parking but will not use the valet and just park our selves. Will have cousin drop us girls off then go park and walk over like you said. It is all paid for anyway.

We will be on a 3 day- er next Oct 07 with all our adult children and spouses for reunion. Will reserve shuttle express's van for 10 to and from the pier. They will pick us up at home so everyone can just park and go. Cant get it any better then that.

Again welcome home,

Bev

[lauraleigh9mm]

Is the 66 terminal downtown? We are flying in early and out late so we will have a few hours for sight-seeing. I heard it is about a mile from Pike place.

[waunabcruizin]

lauraleigh9mm - Seattle's waterfront marks the western edge of the city itself. The land is flat right along the water but inland about a block there is a cliff and the rest of the city is up the hill. Pier 66 is in walking distance of downtown, sort of. Pike Place Market is on the cliff above the piers overlooking the waterfront. If you walk south from Pier 66 along the waterfront you will find stairs off to your left climbing the cliff to Pike Place Market. It's quite a huff and puff to the top, but Pike Place is a really cool place.....you can pick up a nice flower arrangement for your stateroom for not a lot of money....and there is LOTS to see. Don't miss the fish market area where the guys throw the big fish back and forth to the purchasers.

 

If you 'google' Seattle, Wa you will get a bunch of info on what to see and how to see it. Hope this helped and I hope you have a great cruise.

 

Carol (and Linda).

[SheilaNC]

Another trick is to walk past the Marriott across from the pier about a block and take the free elevator to the top of the cliff then walk a short distance to Pike Place. We huffed and puffed our way to the top and found the elevator on the way back :(

[Kathie44]

I'm glad to hear the mostly good comments about Mercury. We are sailing her in Jan. for the first time. Hope the bedding issue is resolved. We've always had very comfortable beds.

Stateroom--we have always booked an oceanview. We haven't quite been able to fork over the extra $$ for a balcony, but like to see out the window; it seems more cruise-y. (Is that a word?) The money we save buys a lot of excursions.

Dining--we always book early seating because we can't sleep on full stomachs and have to be more careful due to our diabetes. We like to have the whole evening before us, not interrupted by dinner.

Activities--I've learned to plan ahead and carry the daily bulletin around with me, so as not to miss anything. I've really gotten into the trivia games and do as many as I can, usually hooking myself up with winning teams. lol

The bottom line is, to each his/her own. We all have our own preferences and needs and on any ship it's possible to do your own thing and have a wonderful time.

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords +3 days in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

[waunabcruizin]

Sheila - I didn't know about the elevator - that's terrific. That darned stair climb about does me in :o.

 

Kathie44 - The beds are okay if you get a foam mattress topper but there was no hope for the pillows. Some people like flat pillows and some like big puffy ones. I'm somewhere in the middle and did manage to plump my foam rubber pancake into something a little more reasonable but I was really, really happy to see my own pillow when I got home. Hmmmm, wonder if I can pack it somehow when I cruise to Mexico on the Dawn Princess in January......:D .

 

On the subject of early or late dining, Linda and I just spent some time going over the dailies to see what we missed and when, and if it would have been different had we had late dining. We came to the conclusion that we really hadn't missed much by having early dining instead of late, but early just seemed too early somehow. We have late traditional for our Princess cruise in January, so we'll see if that works any better.

 

We did find that reading the dailies would have been a really good thing to do as there were a number of activities that we would have liked doing....if only we had known about them. Sigh. By the time we do our Alaska cruise on Mercury in August next year we should be getting better at this whole thing. I find it takes experience to cruise well :D .

 

Carol (and Linda).

[SeaGal]

I am doing a 4-night on October 2nd and have some questions I hope you can answer:

 

Which night is the formal night?

 

Are the rest casual?

 

What time are the evening shows in the Celebrity Theatre? Sometimes Celebrity places the show for the late seating before dinner and sometimes they make after dinner.

 

How much does the T-pool cost if you are not in a suite?

I am so glad to hear that the service was good - that has always been a strength on the Celebrity cruises I have been on.

 

I am driving to the port and I might just take my pillow with me. I hate flat pillows :eek: and appreciate your warning.

 

Thank you for your review.

-Patti

[walkabout07]

Do I need to pre-book and pre-pay for parking or can I show up (with my car) on the Monday the cruise leaves for the 4 days and pay at that time? Do they take credit cards?

 

Is there a reception with the Captain on the short 4 day cruise?

 

Do you have any menus from the 4 day?

 

How many shows on the 4 day?

[jb_yvr]

From our cruise:

 

Casual (Fri), Formal (Sat), Casual (Sun, final) night

 

T Pool cost $50 for a 3 night cruise (yikes - but might be nice if you know it is going to rain the whole time)

 

Regarding dinner time - I wish there was an in-between time - waiting for 8:30pm is a LONG wait, but eating at 6pm is too early for me. It is sometimes nice though to see the outside view from the dining room.

 

You can meet the Captain if you are a captain's club member - in our case we had a very small captain's club party - very few repeat cruisers on board it seems, and also bad time - it was like 11:15 - noon on Sunday.

 

If you have a concierge class, you can order one of a couple of types of pillow - so no need to sleep on a bad pillow. If not, I am sure they will be happy to give you more.

 

The menu was the standard Celebrity menu - Formal night with things like lobster and baked alaska, other nights with things like shrimp cocktail, prime rib, etc.

 

Shows for early seating started at 8:30 one night, and 9pm the other nights. I think the first night maybe had late seating show before early seating show - i.e. they are switched.

 

There are not nearly as many activities as you will find on a longer cruise with a lot of sea days - e.g. not a lot of trivia, no ice carving shows etc.

[USNDiver]

I was getting on the "Merc" as you were getting off.. Everything was great but I agree that the dress code needs to be better enforced. I wore a full dress kilt on on the formal night but saw people being let into the dining room in jeans & T-Shirts - I'd have to say that was my only real disappointment with the cruise. By the way, thanks for leaving me an olive for my martini(s).

 

Dave

[bububr]

Glad to see things are a little different from a couple years ago. We didn't have the lobster or the party at that time. Sounds like X is trying to take a step up.

 

Dave:eek: