Mercury to Alaska Anyone Just Back?

[poma]

We are on the Mercury August 20th. Anyone just back from this cruise? Did they shorten you port times? If so, did you still have enough time to see everything? What about kids on board? We are bringing our 17 and 13 year olds. Will they have enough to do? How was the ship, food, inside cabins? Any information would be helpful!

Lorrie

[sdcruiser]

Hi Lorrie,

We are also on the August 20th sailing on the Mercury and received our cruise docs just yesterday. I noticed in the cruise docs that the port times were shortened in Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan..:(

However, we're looking forward to this cruise and meeting everyone on board. I've only heard great things about the Mercury as my in-laws have sailed her three times before..

We'll see you in three weeks.

SDCruiser

[HinOK]

I have read people complaining about the port times, but I didn't think it was a big deal. I was on the Mercury July 16-23 to Alaska. I believe we were supposed to be in Ketchikan and Skagway until 5, but for some reason, we left at 3. Quite honestly, there is NOTHING to do in either town so I don't see why people are mad about this. We had shore exursions in both towns, and they got us back to the ship right on time, and we had plenty of time before hand to shop and explore the towns. We were in Juneau until 11pm, but we were back on the boat by dinner and stayed there. All three places, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway, are all VERY SMALL. There is no need to really be there all day, anyway. This is a great cruise, you will have a good time, it doesn't matter if you don't get to spend 10 hours in each place, trust me, you will have plenty of time.

[ho]

I just got off the Mercury last week. They do shorten your port times but it sounds that they at least they made the changes to the doc's they sent you. We had no notice at all. The shorten times made a huge difference to us. We had a whale watching tour in Juneau which we were not able to make because the ship was late. We booked with Capt. Larry and not Celebrity, we were told be Celebrity we should have booked with them and they have the right to change the times as they please. We were then told that due to high seas we would be late getting into Skagway. We had a rental car reserved to make the drive to Emerald lake. We were able to make it but we were rushed and had no time to stop and look around. When we got back, I saw on these boards that this is common for Celebrity, why do they lie and say it's high sea's. :mad: :mad:

I think you will have a great time, Alaska is amazing. The food on the Mercury is OK, the service is Excellent and the management and customer service remains the worst of any cruise line I have sailed. As long as you don't have a problem or have to deal with their customer service department you will have a great time.

Ho

[poma]

Thank you for the replies. Hopefully they won't change the times again. So far, it looks like we will make our shore excursions. I'm surprised you thought the food was ok, most people seem to have positive things to say.

Lorrie

[cjp]

We were on the 7/15 cruise. We had good weather. It was sunny in each port & usually around mid 70's. Only time warm clothes were need was near the glaciers. We didn't do any long excursions so the time was not a factor for us. We enjoyed the food. We had buffet for breakfast or the waffle bar. Lunch was the buffet or the hamburger & pizza bar. I couldn't find the fresh sandwich bar. The evening was in the dining room. There are substitutions you can make that are not always on the menu. Shrimp coctail is always available. Different salads & dressings too. I heard that salmon is always available. You can always order multiples and skip courses too. But I think your waiter is happier to help with substitutions if he thinks he is doing something special for you. Enjoy your trip. It can be a wonderful experience for the whole family.

[siregalahad]

Just got back from the 7/30 cruise. A few comments...

Plenty of time in port. No problems. If you want to shop, wait until you reach Ketchikan (sp?)... the prices are the best.

The kids seemed to be having fun, although not being a parent (the cruise was our honeymoon) I'm not in that much of a position to judge.

Ship was great. Cabins were great. Food was awesome!

:D :D Go to ANYTHING that Brent Nixon (a naturalist) offers. The man is just fantastic!:D :D

The Glacier is just AMAZING! Make sure you have plenty of film.

Check-in is a bit of a hassle... we felt like cattle being herded. Checkout is much easier and relatively painless.

If you like lounging in a hottub, then go for the two nearest the bow... the one nearest the stern is mostly bubbles and little/no heat.

If you and your spouse decide to participate the "Newlywed/Not-So-Newlywed Game," a word of caution... after the show, the game is shown constantly on the ship's TV channel... my wife and I became minor celebrities (no pun intended) after we appeared on it. :rolleyes:

Have fun!

JONATHAN


[quote name='poma']We are on the Mercury August 20th. Anyone just back from this cruise? Did they shorten you port times? If so, did you still have enough time to see everything? What about kids on board? We are bringing our 17 and 13 year olds. Will they have enough to do? How was the ship, food, inside cabins? Any information would be helpful!

Lorrie[/QUOTE]