jgnova
-
Posts
3,068 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by jgnova
-
-
Also wondering if you attended any of the Elite activities? Kind of odd that some were scheduled in the middle of port days rather than sea days.
Vicky
No, we didn't do much of anything beyond the CC party, dinner, and a walk around St. George.
I almost suspect a deliberate attempt to reduce attendance (and concomitant costs) with some of their scheduling.
j
-
We're back home from the May 27 Summit to Bermuda. I'll write and post a review in the next few days, but wanted to get the dailies and menus scanned for everyone who had been asking.
Some quick observations on the cruise (in no particular order):
The ship was clean and being maintained - they were repainting sections of the Promenade deck one day. The corridor and cabin carpets were new and much brighter feeling than I recall from last year.
Staff & crew were great - very friendly - as =X= staff have always been. Very attentive to anything we asked (and looked like we were about to ask) for. DW commented to the Chief Engineer at the CC party about the lights not working right in the library - he grabbed his phone, called, and someone was working on them before we went past on our way to our cabin.
The food was good - about the same quality and portion size as previous sailings. It looks like they may have made a strategic decision to offer several higher cost (and popular) items on a single evening to force a choice and reduce their costs.
Our cabin attendants and waiters were as good as we've ever had on any sailing - everything was perfect. Even our room service breakfast was hot (for the hot items) and cold (for the chilled food).
Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth and fast.
Several officers were at the CC party - walking around and chatting with everyone.
There was another union meeting in Bermuda on our last day - shutting down the ferries and buses until after 11. Rumors are that refunds were available for $10 at the ticket booth after it opened - but we didn't hear about it until that night at dinner.
I noticed a couple of funny typos on the dailies - one had a deadline for registering for something - from two weeks earlier. And another announced the evening's dinner recommendation as something from the old menus - not on the menu that night.
More to come in the review.
j
-
There are plenty of activities to keep them occupied. Click here for a page with links to the kids' activities schedules for each day. You'll see plenty of kids on board that time of year. We took the Mercury over the winter holidays for two years in a row and the kids we saw on board all seemed to be having a good time. It all depends on how dependent the kids are on doing activities with things (water slide, climbing wall, ice rink) or with people.
j
-
When comparing prices, be aware that Riedel makes several lines of glasses. The crucial aspect of the line (Vinum) used on =X= tastings is that they don't have a rolled lip - it's flat and the wine flows differently on to the tongue. The other aspect of Riedel is that the glasses are shaped to put the wine on the part of your tongue that does that particular taste - different parts of the tongue are more sensitive to sweet, sour, bitter, etc. The Vinum line is near the top of the Riedel glasses - the line that's higher priced is hand blown whereas the Vinum are machine blown.
j
-
Hi,
We did this on our Dec 09 Mercury sailing and it was quite enjoyable. You get one each of four different Riedel Vinum goblets, which typically sell in the $30/each range. You get the option to either take the set home or they give you a coupon to order the set online and pay the shipping costs (~$15).
At the workshop (ours was in the MDR), they put out one of each glass, plus a normal goblet. They then pour various wines into the glasses, have you taste and then change to a different glass. There is a difference in the flavor of the wines, not only between the normal glass and the Riedel, but among the different Riedel glasses as well. Quite an impressive workshop - so much that I ordered a pair of Riedel port glasses when I got home and they really make a difference. If you register on board through your sommelier, you'll also get Riedel glasses for your dinner wines as well.
I recommend not only this workshop, but the one on food pairing - at which they serve different wines with different kinds of food and have you taste the synergistic effect of the food/wine pairing. Another treat is the wine dinner (talk to your sommelier or the cellar master), which consists of a special menu with each course paired with a wine. A fantastic experience!
j
-
Donna & Gil:
DH posted a link to a copy of one day's kids' activity sheets. See his message for that link. I don't think there was any specific name on them, now that I've looked again. You can pick up copies at the Guest Relations desk as well as just outside the Fun Factory.
HTH.
S
-
I doubt DH will want to scan ours since he's trying to draft his review right now, but we just got back from Mercury's eastern Caribbean cruise. If you have any questions about that itinerary and what might have been in the dailies, let me know and I'll check the files.
(I posted the football games they showed on Radio's Live from... thread recently. Hope he didn't mind -- someone asked about it.)
S
3 IN A ROOM? – My husband wants to take his mother-in-law on a cruise!
in Celebrity Cruises
Posted
I think they were considering putting the air mattress on top of the sofa bed. Could be wrong about that, of course.
However, as others have noted, it's more a bathroom and storage space issue, as well as very tight quarters for three for that many days, so perhaps an inside across the hall (preferably with a friend so there's no single supplement) and the balcony cabin for everyone to enjoy the balcony -- maybe that's a better option for three if the budget can handle it.
S