FO Cabin on Mercury...questions.

[stace11]

Hello everyone-

Does anyone have info on these rooms? Are they pretty similar to the FV cabins on the M-class ships? For instance, is the sofa bed one that "flips" into a real bed or is it a pull-out? Also, it looks like there is a deck outside the window, so you don't see directly out to the water, but rather on people walking around. Can anyone shed some light on this? Which deck is better for these rooms? Panorama or Penthouse?

I'm looking into a trip to Alaska next summer with my parents and just wanted to have all my bases covered.

This is such a great forum! Thanks to everyone for their excellent input on so many great topics!

Stacey

[Guest]

Stacey,

these photos should answer most of your questions: [url="http://www.cruise-forums.com/gallery/view.php?id=388"]Mercury FO[/url]

The sofa beds are not pull out or flip over beds. Rather the back cushions are removed and the rest of the sofa is then made up as a bed.

There is a public deck behind the window so the cabin window is not private. Some people liked having close access to a deck; others like me did not like having the cabin window being non-private (had to keep one of the curtains closed at all times).

Jubilee 1991 Solar Eclipse
Century FO 1996 E Carib
Mercury FO 1998 W Carib
Galaxy SS 2000 Alaska IP
Infinity FV 2002 S Carib
Horizon HS 3/05 W Carib

[trcori]

Stacey, we sailed Mercury in an FO cabin on the Penthouse deck two months ago. We enjoyed the extra space (we are a family of three) but as mahdnc notes, there are some drawbacks -- besides needing to keep the curtain pulled sometimes -- I also missed the nighttime water views we enjoyed from "regular" oceanview (nonbalcony) cabins; there is no way to see the water at night through the window in FO because of the deck lighting right outside. OTOH, the location was certainly handy -- from Penthouse, just one flight (we used the outdoor stairs most of the time) up to the Palm Springs Grill and pool deck; just one flight down to the Fun Factory (kids' program, if that is relevant to you). Panorama is two decks further down, which means it's three flights up to the buffet/pool deck (fewer flights down to the indoor activities, though, if those matter more to you).

TR
Millennium 12/12/04
****
Mercury 4/04, Infinity 8/03, Century 3/03 & 9/02

[Guest]

Stacey,

this may or may not be relevant to your question, but in case it is:

while an FO and an FV have some initial similarities when first examining the deck plan (oversized aft cabin that sleeps 4+ with a sliding door that cuts the cabin in two), the FV cabin is much better especially for an Alaskan cruise. The FV cabin has a balcony--and a very large one at that, the FV interior is 30% considerably bigger, and the beds are much better. With respect to the beds, the FV double bed can be accessed from both sides.

Of course the FVs are going to be more expensive than the FOs....

Jubilee 1991 Solar Eclipse
Century FO 1996 E Carib
Mercury FO 1998 W Carib
Galaxy SS 2000 Alaska IP
Infinity FV 2002 S Carib
Horizon HS 3/05 W Carib

[stace11]

Thank you both for your help. Your descriptions will help me make an educated decision! The FV's definitely look like the better cabins, but as you said, they are more expensive and we've already been on the Summit Northbound Alaska cruise, so we were looking at Mercury from Vancouver to Seattle next year for something a little different. I'll take all this into consideration.

mahdnc--thanks for the link to your pictures. They are helpful as well.

Cheers!
Stacey