Mercury Cruise to Mexican Reviera

[rocket scientist]

:confused: We are planning a cruise to the Mexican Riviera in January 2007 on the Mercury. We read some bad reviews from previous travellers in 2006 complaining about noro virus outbreaks, being quarantined, terrible odors from disinfectants, and badly worn cabin areas. Have there been any improvements? Should we find a different cruise? Open to suggestions.

[Betty4]

We are in the process of planning an Alaskan cruise on Mercury in 2007. For every "bad" review there are several more positive ones (bububr/USNDiver). There are never any guarantees, but IMHO, because cruise vacations are somewhat self-contained, the expectations seem to be far higher than other types of travel. A vacation is what you make of it. Wash your hands often and enjoy the amazing scenery!

[bobhesse]

we are about to take our 3rd cruise to Mexico on the Mercury in as many years. Dollar for dollar the Mercury Mexican Rivera cruise is the BEST.

[Sunbeam56]

We adored the itinerary.

 

I would not be so quick to book a CC cabin (1201), it was too expensive for the what we had. That cabin is in great need of sprucing up.

 

We went last March and there was an outbreak of norovirus. My husband was spared but I was not. I was so sick on the last day.

 

Would I go back on that specific cruise? I don't know and it has nothing to do with the cruise line because we are booked in March 2007 with Celebrity but not on the Mercury. My problem was that that cruise was during the flu season and being confined on a ship for such a long period of time (11 nights), you are more exposed to different viruses. We always wondered if the fact that they pumped water in the ship in Acapulco and Manzanillo, if that could have contributed to that problem, because people started to become sick after Acapulco.

[bububr]

Just came back from a GREAT trip on Mercury. It was like night and day from the March 17th Bleach cruise. Now don't get me wrong, the entire NORO thing as far as I was concerned was due to 'dirty' passengers, not a dirty ship. It amazed and bewildered me to see SO MANY not washing their hands, using sanitizers, touching food with their hands....It was a truly nasty group of people for the most part. Along with parents putting toddlers in the hot tubs, although there is signage NOT TO.

 

Like anyone, we had some favorite ports and some not so.

 

Cabo: Unless you want to shop for overpriced souvenirs ( haggling is almost a thing of the past), go to CABO WABO, or the shrimp factory for over priced shrimp, or to take a picture of the rock......thats Cabo in a nutshell.

 

Ixtapa: quaint, small rustic, some nice local souvenirs. would go back for a land visit.

 

PV: I would buy a place here if I could. Well laid out not overly priced, friendly. THe new boardwalk is amazing.

 

Mazatlan: Once again I'd go back for another visit.

 

Acapulco: Definetly the sewer of Mexico. Not what it was 15 and 20 years ago when I used to go down a couple times a year. It has overgrown into an over populated, over priced, and VERY dirty city. If you look into the bay areas you can not only see the raw sewage that gets dumped and washed back into the bay, but you can smell it. Our veranda doors stayed shut. What used to be a beautiful city is at least by day a sludge pot.

 

Now these are MY OPINIONS and observations, not necessarily those of others. As I stated above there are places I would live, and others I would never go back to.

 

rocket scientist: The itineray is a good one, I think a few things could be changed, but thats personal opinion. The Mercury is a beautiful older ship. Its actually our favorite as we choose not to sail the mega ships.

( If I want to be around 4000 people I'll stay home and set up a BBQ in the back yard and layout in the sun with out the chair hogs and virus's people drag onboard.)

There is no sign of anything that happened this past spring. BUT remember if you are going during a spring break there will be more children, leading to more chance of NORO. Schools tend to be big breeders of these kinds of virus' and if the parents have a trip planned they just drag the sick kid along with them so they don't have to cancel....sounds rather harsh...but its reality. Along withthe fact that some choose to swim/snorkle in some of the dirtier ports and they ingest fecal waste doesn't help with keeping a happy ship either.

 

Book your cruise, plan for a great time, but WASH, Wash, WAsh you hands every chance you get, stay away from people don't practice good hygene on the ship, don't get into a hot tub that somebody just stuck a kid in.....

 

And you'll be fine.

 

BTW: PEOPLE this is just my opinion, and as I said many may not agree.

 

Dave:eek:

[USNDiver]

I had some similar concerns before I booked on the Mercury (we sailed on her in late September and wouldn't hesitate to get back on.) To my knowledge, there was no outbreak of norovirus while we were on board, and didn't notice any smell of disinfectant (my Wife's nose is pretty sensitive and she would have noticed this right off.) We made use of the hand sanitizers often and noticed most of the other passengers did also. Our cabin was nice and didn't seem worn in any way (ditto the public areas of the ship.) It almost seems like these reviews are a double edged sword, you read a good one a feel okay about booking a particular ship/cruise, but you read a bad one and you kind of get this nagging doubt in the back of your mind.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

[Desertbelle]

We are just a few weeks away from our Mercury cruise to the Mexican Riviera, and I have to admit that during the last year that we have had this booking I have had, off and on, that nagging feeling that we picked the wrong cruise, but it only lasts for a moment or two. Our previous cruises on Celebrity have been wonderful, so I can't really believe that somehow the Mercury has been left out in the cold by RCI. We have cruised the Mexican Riviera several times on different cruise lines, and though it's not my favorite place to cruise, it's close to home and the fares are usually very good.

 

Whenever I read bad reviews I am reminded of a couple we met here on a Roll Call on Cruise Critic a few years ago. During the planning stage of our cruise these people seemed so nice, but in reality, they were the biggest bunch of complainers I had ever met. I swear, they complained about every, single, little thing to the point that I would avoid them at every turn. Every day they were going toe to toe with the ship's personel. We shared a few dinners and a couple of excursions with them and though I did find them to be fun people, their constant complaining about everything started to really get to me. Their review of the cruise when we returned home was horrible, yet my family and I had a wonderful time.

 

At this point, I am positive we are going to love the Mercury next month. If it's a wreck, I will report back my observations....but even at that, it's just my opinion, take it for what it's worth. :)

[bububr]

You'll have a great time. The Mercury is FAR from a wreck. As I mentioned in the other post its my favorite ship. We didn't notice anything bad about her at all, except maybe she's showing her age a bit after ten years and hundreds of thousands of passengers.

 

If you get Robin McCartney for a cruise director, say 'hi ' from us! ,Dave and John, Remind him that I was the 'Belly flop guy" :D (He's also from LV, and lives not to far from my parents home there...my mom just retired from LVPD, and dad drives a school bus).

 

Have a terrific time!!

 

Dave:eek:

[USNDiver]

You'll have a great time. The Mercury is FAR from a wreck. As I mentioned in the other post its my favorite ship. We didn't notice anything bad about her at all, except maybe she's showing her age a bit after ten years and hundreds of thousands of passengers.

 

If you get Robin McCartney for a cruise director, say 'hi ' from us! ,Dave and John, Remind him that I was the 'Belly flop guy" :D (He's also from LV, and lives not to far from my parents home there...my mom just retired from LVPD, and dad drives a school bus).

 

Have a terrific time!!

 

Dave:eek:

 

Dave,

 

Saw your write-up in the member review section, WELL DONE!!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

[GaryfmCol]

Dave,

 

Saw your write-up in the member review section, WELL DONE!!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

 

We have done this cruise on the MERCURY.

Without exception we would do it again.

Only problem we had was with a pickpocket that

tried to hijack my wallet from my aft hip pocket

in Acapulco. (Not X's fault, however.):mad:

 

We had table mates that do this cruise every year,

3 back-to-backs on the MERCURY, down the

Mexican Riveria.

I asked him: "WHY 3 B-B's?"

His answer was simple.."Better 3 B-2-B's on the MERCURY

than spending January in Chicago.."

I loved that answer and, he said it all...;)

[Tatka]

Mercury is a very fine ship...

 

It doesn't have all bells and wistles as some super-megaships have, but you will have a very pleasant experience.

 

And don't read too much into reviews.. Before about 2/3-rd of my cruises I read horrible reviews about the ships we were about to sail on. It almost never turned out to be true. (well carnival was overcrowded, but we expected that)

 

Some people complain about the things cruise line can do nothing about... For the last couple of weeks I read about naked people on Princess's balcony, breastfeeding in the dining room, smoking on neighbor's balcony... and so on.

 

The funniest complains for me are the complains about food portions in the ships' restaurants, and how they became much smaller than they used to be, as if it's absolutely impossible to order the second entry (although I haven't seen small portions yet)

[bububr]

Dave: Thanks for the positive input!:) Somehow I think that if we were both on a ship together "D2" everyone would have a good time!. I loved your review. The best thing about narrative type reviews where we spill the beans is we can look back after a few years and the memories come alive again, it not just pictures that make us remember but the words. I loved your 'kilt' adventure, I did the same in Bermuda with 'Bermuda Shorts' along with the high socks and tux shoes for formal night...unfortunately I got blasted by many about the dress cose, who simply don't understand that if its culturally correct, then its acceptable. The same thing happened in St. Marteen when I dropped my drawers at a nude beach....I thought I was going to be crucified by the religious group that was on my catamaran...The Captain had a blast telling everyone "He can do it!, its allowed". Life is way too short to be a prude, I like to enjoy myself within reason, although I drive John CRAZY!!!!

 

Maybe you guys can do the shortie on Century January 4th? Its a bit of a trip for you but its gonna be fun!

 

Garyfmcol: Thats the reason for the two shorties on consecutive weekends:D . John can't the days due to being a VP, and has to over see beginning of the year transactions, but we can get away for long weekends. This year to the dissapointment of our neighbors. We usually host a New Years Day party for our neighborhood (100 or so coming and going ) with all food, drink and booze..all from scratch. We are cancelling this year due to the two cruises and are being met with resistance.........Its like Christmas with the Kranks, substituting News Years Day. We smoke our own Turkey and Salmon ( we have been asked to be honorary Jewish by many neighbors )...:eek:

 

Bahamas one weekend, Mexico the next....Kids will have to suffer...( Not really they have great house sitters...4 bassets, 1 cat, 1 parrot, finches and fish) ......

 

The only thing I miss is the snow. Growing up in New England we had snow. Here in Chicago it gets cold windy, and we're lucky to get 12'' all year.

 

Please join us on the shortie! it'll be a good time for all!

 

Tatka: I agree 100%

 

Drop me a line....booboobear60304@yahoo.com

 

Dave:eek:

[USNDiver]

Dave: Thanks for the positive input!:) Somehow I think that if we were both on a ship together "D2" everyone would have a good time!. I loved your review. The best thing about narrative type reviews where we spill the beans is we can look back after a few years and the memories come alive again, it not just pictures that make us remember but the words. I loved your 'kilt' adventure, I did the same in Bermuda with 'Bermuda Shorts' along with the high socks and tux shoes for formal night...unfortunately I got blasted by many about the dress cose, who simply don't understand that if its culturally correct, then its acceptable. The same thing happened in St. Marteen when I dropped my drawers at a nude beach....I thought I was going to be crucified by the religious group that was on my catamaran...The Captain had a blast telling everyone "He can do it!, its allowed". Life is way too short to be a prude, I like to enjoy myself within reason, although I drive John CRAZY!!!!

 

Maybe you guys can do the shortie on Century January 4th? Its a bit of a trip for you but its gonna be fun!

 

 

Dave:eek:

 

 

Dave,

 

I just noticed they posted our Mercury reviews back to back in the member review section (guess they must be REALLY hurting for reviews to post:D .)

 

Take Care,

 

Dave

[bububr]

LOVED your thread and review!!!

 

But i think you are a bit more of an diver, as my suit seemed to lift and seperate .

 

Please keep cruising and writing your reviews. Not only are they entertaining, but they are very informational, as well as inspiring!!!!!

 

Actually it might be dangerous if we were on the same cruise....the passengers might have a mutiny to stay on and not disembark:D

 

Dave:eek:

[bububr]

LOVED your thread and review!!!

 

But i think you are a bit more of an diver, as my suit seemed to lift and seperate

[Drew B]

Book your cruise, plan for a great time, but WASH, Wash, WAsh you hands every chance you get, stay away from people don't practice good hygene on the ship, don't get into a hot tub that somebody just stuck a kid in.....

 

My biggest concern was the casino. I SHUDDER to think how many nasty germs those casino chips accumulate (same thing in casinos on land). I wash my hands frequently, but I really have to train myself to keep my hands away from my mouth and my eyes between hand-washings!!!

[GaryfmCol]

My biggest concern was the casino. I SHUDDER to think how many nasty germs those casino chips accumulate (same thing in casinos on land). I wash my hands frequently, but I really have to train myself to keep my hands away from my mouth and my eyes between hand-washings!!!

 

I have taken to ALWAYS carrying with me, little bottles

of PURELL in my pocket. I am NEVER without my hand sanitizer

either on the ship or, off the ship..They are sold almost everywhere

now-a-days..I even like the PURELL with aloe..

I can not recommend a better product for personal

care...and, I highly recommend carrying it. The other one

I use is called GERM-X..just as good, but, I do prefer

PURELL w/ aloe and, vitamin E.. :)

[c-legs]

I have taken to ALWAYS carrying with me, little bottles

of PURELL in my pocket. I am NEVER without my hand sanitizer

either on the ship or, off the ship..They are sold almost everywhere

now-a-days..I even like the PURELL with aloe..

I can not recommend a better product for personal

care...and, I highly recommend carrying it. The other one

I use is called GERM-X..just as good, but, I do prefer

PURELL w/ aloe and, vitamin E.. :)

Good morning: Thanks so much for that recommendation !!! Adds a lot of practical suggestion to a basic common sense concept.

 

Cheers

Claude G

;)

[Culaquis]

ahhh, the Mercury, the 12 day, I almost turned the tables and contemplated missing the ship while I was in Puerto Vallarta, making my self an illegal immigrant, in Mexico.I went on this cruise In mid December 2004, the weeks before the Christmas cruise with all the family and kids...The average age of My fellow ship mates was in the Mid-50's and there was no issues regarding any sort of virus or flu. What a great ship, great crew, great service, and as I am an independent wanderer.....some of the best photo op's!! You get hustled alot by souvenier hawkers at most ports, but an open cell phone (even when it wasn't working) up to the ear seems to discourage most approaches. Immaculate service in all food venues and a crew that really wants to please you. I mean REALLY, they seem to like thier jobs and don't "secretly" complain as they do on Carnival. I got to party with the dancers and the photogropher and actually quite a bit of the crew, and I wound up on an excursion with the DJ and a few others, as well as meeting a great group of passengers , all of us single ranging in age from 23 to 54! There was one ship excursion I did in Acupolco that was worth DOUBLE the extravagant prices of the cruisline, and that was the Dolphin encounter....unlike most places where you swim and kiss and pet one in the water..Here they actually having you doing stunts and having the female dolphin jump over you, they take you to two different sizeable pools. I have the video of me getting pushed out of the water by two Dolphins like I'm some kind of Pro Dolphin trainer...and no one I know including Me can believe that is me!! Do it if you can drop about $200 per....worth a memory that will be shared with great grand kids....

I wandered about each port on my own...I even ventured into a Wal-Mart...no Mountain Dew on the west side of Mexico, if your a fan.

 

I loved that cruise, and only Bermuda beat it......but thats because the ship stayed in port for over 24 hours at each stop, giving me time to explore every nook and cranny.

[RANCHOVISTA]

Could not agree with you more Dave. This will be our 5th Mexican Riviera cruise, our 1st with X. Acapulco is a mess, stay aboard ship, and enjoy the quiet. We got sick in March after leaving Acapulco (Carnival). The other ports are fun, and I agree Dave, Mazatlan or PV would be great places to have vacation homes. We'll be leaving Oct. 20th on Mercury.

 

Jeff

[Culaquis]

and all the books and people that have been there will warn you ..'watch out for the buses'...Watch OUT for the Buses!!....some of them have little pedestrian's painted on the side like War Planes of WWII.

[CRUZBUDS]

Hi Jeff - Please join us on our "Roll Call" - We have a nice and growing number of Cruise Critics there.

 

We'll see you in 10 days!

 

Acapulco is also our least favorite of the ports - We love the Mercury!

[Host Anne]

We did this cruise last February and it was terrific. I thought Mercury was in great shape. Yes, she did have a couple of troubled sailings the next month, but quite honestly, what happened to Mercury can and does happen to other ships. I'm guessing you'll have a great cruise.

 

Be sure to join the roll call for your sailing, too. That will help your cruise enjoyment too. Let me know if you need trouble locating it.

 

Bon Voyage!

[rocket scientist]

:) :confused: Already joined the roll call. We are the only ones on it for this sailing

[Host Anne]

Rocket ~ what's your sailing date?