Mercury 11/3 review (long) Part 1

[MSBYRDY]

11/2 We flew from Chicago to San Francisco to start our vacation a day early. I had gotten the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf thru Priceline and it was in a great location to the pier. We were walking distance to everything for the afternoon and evening. We went to Alliotto's for dinner overlooking the bay.

 

11/3 Had breakfast with our friends who were sailing with us, walked out and there was the big X on the stack sitting at the pier. It's always such a thrill to see that in the morning. We headed over to the ship at approximately 11 am. People were still disembarking, but we were allowed to board immediately. It seems there was a customs problem with getting the ship cleared early.

 

The building that is used as the terminal is indeed nothing more than a cold warehouse.

 

Dropped our carryon's in our cabin (Sky Suite 1226) and proceeded to show our friends around the ship. We had sailed on Mercury to Alaska, but they hadn't been on her before.

 

The Spa was not open to visit til about 2 pm and no tours. Just wander thru on your own and there was a girl taking appointments in the gym. No chance for modeling treatments on this cruise. LOL

 

It was at this appointment desk that we first learned that our Mexican port days had been switched around. Since we had private tours booked in both Mazatlan and Cabo, we immediately headed to the Guest Relations desk to check it out for certain.

 

Sure enough, we were originally scheduled for Mazatlan, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, and lastly Cabo. We ended up doing Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, and Cabo, but the times were changed in quite a few also.

 

I did manage to contact my excursions by email and change what we could.

 

Had lunch and roamed around. Many of you know this is my favorite ship, so I was right at home.

 

Had our luggage delivered fairly early, so got that out of the way, met our Cabin Stewardess Victoria and her Asst. Frederick, and our Butler Keith.

 

Muster Drill was at 5:30.

 

Cruise Critic party was scheduled for the following day at 3:30 pm in the Pavillion Night Club.

 

We left San Francisco a bit later than planned, so going out under the Golden Gate, we were at our late seating dinner. (casual, but at your assigned tables)

 

During dinner the seas got quite rough, some sick people (passengers and crew), and lasted til about midnight.

 

Also during dinner the social hostess (Winnie Hung) introduced herself to us at our table. She was a really delightful young woman

 

11/4 Monterey

Breakfast in our cabin. Keith is a delightful, really attentive Butler and we are enjoying him already.

 

We recieved an invitation to dine at the Captain's Table for our first formal evening tonight. Of course, we accepted.

 

Monterey is sunny and nice versus the rain and gloom of last night. With the balcony door open, all you hear are the seals barking. However, before sailing out, it stormed again and the last tenders had alot of wet people.

 

Our evening was dinner with Captain Petridis, who we've sailed with twice before so it was totally enjoyable. We were surprised to see him as we were expecting another Captain. There was a great mix of nice people and fun conversations.

 

After dinner was the casino, where I actually won some money for a change.

 

11/5 Catalina

Still fairly chilly weather, but we tendered in and walked around for quite some time, then rented a four person golf cart to tour the remainder of the island. It was a really fun way of seeing things.

 

We sailed at 3:45 for Puerto Vallarta.

 

Wedding/Anniversary cocktail party at 4:30, Captain Club Select/Elite cocktail party at 7:45 and then a casual dinner.

 

11/6 Sea Day

Great time to just relax and enjoy the ship. Hoping the weather will get a bit warmer now. Read and strolled around.

 

Dinner is Informal. Now don't flame me for this, but over 40% of the dining room had no jackets on. Some in golf shirts, hawaiin print shirts and very casual pants. We were not at our table on the first formal night so weren't aware of the dress that evening. I did mention this to the Asst. Maitre d as did many others and he said he would talk to his boss and get back to all of us, but instead just hid out for the next few nights, then said they couldn't say anything to them since it was a group of 40 and foreigners, then suggested that 2 people had lost their luggage and perhaps it was them. We just had to laugh at that one. It just so happened that all their tables surrounded ours.

 

Forgot to mention that the clocks change 1 hr. forward for each of the past 2 nights.

 

11/7 Sea Day

Loving not having to be anywhere unless we want to. Slept in a bit and didn't do a whole lot. Went to a culinary demonstration that was good, played some shuffleboard, and lost in the casino.

 

Main Captain Club cocktail party before dinner, but was so crowded we couldn't even find a seat.

 

Second formal evening and all 4 tables surrounding ours were again dressed in casual attire.

 

The show after dinner was quite good. Called Swing Train, altho I ended up falling asleep in my seat and missed the ending.

 

11/8 Puerto Vallarta

Arrived at 7 am. We were in no hurry to get off as we didn't book anything for this port. The friends sailing with us have a time share here, so we went to see that and had a tour of the facilities and walked the marina.

 

Went to the Old Town for lunch at a great restaurant right on the beach called La Palapa. Some of the tables are actually on the sand, but it was hot so we opted to stay underroof with the fans overhead. Great food and drinks.

 

Did some shopping and back to the ship for a 5 pm sailing.

 

Casual dinner night with a Tex Mex buffet at the pool at 11:30.

 

The weather has finally gotten really hot, it was 90+ today.

 

11/9 Manzanillo

Arrived in the port at 8 am. A really industrial port. Cabs and busses available to the downtown area. Cabs were $6, bus was $3 but we were told they weren't too reliable so opted for the cab. The town was not too inviting, so headed to a resort for lunch. Las Hadas was a really nice old resort in a gorgeous area. We did have to pay $25 to get in, but they do give you $25 in coupons to use for your lunch. They originally wanted $25 PP but after convincing them that we didn't want to use the facilities, just the restaurant, they let us in for $25 per couple. We ate in the better restaurant down the way a bit and it was good, but others who used the pool area restaurant weren't as pleased.

 

Back onboard at about 2:30 as it was really hot out there.

 

Sail at 5 pm for Mazatlan.

 

Informal dinner this evening with friends joining us for drinks and appetizers on our veranda before dinner. It got much too windy and we had to move it inside. The filet was great!

 

I do have to add here that Keith our Butler has been wonderful, always smiling and so happy to help with anything.

 

11/10 Mazatlan

Up early as we had booked an excursion privately with Randi's Happy Horses. We were supposed to be picked up at the pier at 8:30, but our arrival time had been changed to 9 am at the start of the cruise. So along with the day change, Randi also was happy to accomodate our time change.

 

However, there is no land in sight at 9 am and we learn that we won't be arriving til approximately 2:30 pm. It seems there was a medical emergency evacuation during the night forcing us back to Puerto Vallarta. A lady had a heart attack and it took several hours to manage it all. All ship excursions had been cancelled. We were sure ours was lost too.

 

As we approached the pier, we noticed an ambulance pulling up to the ship and as we were heading down to the gangway, they were taking off two more persons for medical reasons.

 

It was announced that we would remain in port til 8:30 pm to allow people time to try and do something.

 

We did arrive at about 2:45 and much to our surprise, there was Randi at the pier to get us afterall. We quickly headed out with her in an open air taxi to get the boat over to Stone Island. We met Tony, Maria and the entire family as we got our horses. Tony took us thru the mango groves and on to the beach. He is indeed a charming young man and we had a great time with him.

 

Needless to say, our ride was a bit shorter than planned, but turned out to be the perfect day as we got to ride on the beach during sunset. Sort of an "only in the movies" kind of thing. We obviously couldn't do Victor's on the beach for lunch, but when we arrived there, Chris was there to greet us with beers and fun conversation. The horses were totally clean, healthy and remarkably well behaved. I'm no rider and had no problem whatsoever. I would highly recommend this excursion to anyone interested.

 

Randi returned us to the ship at about 6:45. We cleaned up quickly and had our scheduled dinner served on our balcony for just the four of us. We were sailing late so we could also enjoy a free concert from the pier of Mexican music.

 

We sailed at about 8 pm.

[dam1050]

Thanks for your review on the Mercury!

 

I'm heading on the "Escape" adults only Mexican cruise on Dec. 27, so was particularly happy to hear your comments on such a recent cruise.

 

I hope that the passengers will be a little younger and less "crabby" over the New Years cruise so we can all enjoy ourselves and be thankful that we're all up to travelling.

 

I was particularly happy to hear your comments on Randi's tour in Mazatlan, as I've booked that as well. I've never ridden a horse before, but am really looking forward to that! I haven't decided on any other excursions yet, but did want to book that well in advance so as not to miss out.

 

Thanks again and please let us know if you'll be posting any pix.

 

Dave

[MSBYRDY]

You will not be dissappointed with riding with Randi. The horses were so well behaved that even I could handle things. It was well worth more than the price.

Marilyn