Compare Statendam with Mercury

[Quent]

We are planning a trip to Australia and ask the difference between the two ships. The HAL is about thousand dollars more expensive then Celebrity's Mercury. We have never gone with HAL and have sailed 20 times with Celebrity.:)

[Ine]

We are planning a trip to Australia and ask the difference between the two ships. The HAL is about thousand dollars more expensive then Celebrity's Mercury. We have never gone with HAL and have sailed 20 times with Celebrity.:)

 

In the past we have sailed both to the Mexican Riviera.

Mercury is a somewhat bigger ship, but I think cabins on Statendam are slightly larger. Bathrooms in outside cabins are much larger on Statendam, in inside cabins more or less the same.

Meals, service, shows etc. are more or less equal.

Mercury has the sushi bar at 600pm, Statendam has not.

Officers and the captain are in general more approachable on Statendam and speak better english.

Mercury has the "no announcements in cabins", Statendam not.

On Mercury the small aft pool is covered and the large midship pool is open. On Statendam the large midship pool is glass-encovered (can be opened) and the smaller aftpool is open.

 

I cannot judge the price-difference since I donot know what type of cabin you will sail.

Difficult to choose, we like them both.

[J_M_F]

I have sailed on both ships and enjoyed both cruises. The Statendam had slightly better food, and a much happier and more friendly crew. I like the fact that you can walk completely around the promenade deck on the Statendam without climbing stairs or going inside (the bow part of the promenade is blocked on the Mercury). I also like the fact that there is a sliding roof over the Lido pool on the Statendam that can be closed when the weather is cool. We had a dining table on the Mercury that picked up a lot of noise and vibration from the engines; it was so loud we had difficulty having conversations accross the table. In fairness, I think only a few tables in the dining room were affected this way. The Mercury did have a sushi bar which we patronized regularly.

Given a choice, I would pick the Statendam, but you should have good cruise on either ship.

Hope this helps

Jeff