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Mercury review, Pacific Northwest 9/18 (Long)

USNDiver

By USNDiver,
in Celebrity Cruises

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USNDiver

USNDiver

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Just stepped off the Mercury last friday (sadly) and thought a review and some observations/lessons learned might be helpful to some others. I'll be happy to answer any questions I can

 

First; my Wife and I are not what you'd call "veteran cruisers." This was only our third cruise (our first with Celebrity though.) Our first cruise was a one week Eastern Carribean on the Grand Princess (which was brand new at the time- VERY NICE!!) and our second was a three day Baja on the Carnival Ecstasy (a great three day drinking binge.) Bottom line, I consider us easy to please cruisers.

 

 

Pre cruise stuff

 

We booked the flights, a three day pre cruise stay, and the cruise, through an on-line agent. Got a great rate and no problems with anything. Arrived in Seattle the Friday before the cruise and jumped the Grey Line shuttle to our hotel (the Westin.) Next time I'll spend an extra $20.00 and just take a cab as using the shuttle was a slow process (1st lesson learned.) The Westin hotel (I gather) is contracted by Celebrity to house pre cruise passengers. No problem with check in except we were given double beds, and were told by the desk manager that Celebrity always puts its pre cruise passengers in a double. As the hotel was full, and we couldn't change rooms, we made the best of it (minor annoyance- nothing more.) The Westin was nice but next time I'll shop around and book my own room (second lesson learned.) These were minor glitches, and probably something I could have avoided if I'd asked a few more questions, but no big deal.

 

The Mercury

 

From the time the shuttle picked us up at our hotel, to the time we stepped on the ship, was about 45 minutes. The check in was smooth and the online pre-check in made it easier. Once we stepped aboard we were greeted with smiles, champagne (and hand sanitizer.) Once aboard we explored the ship (paying particular attention to the buffet and several bars) while they were prepping the cabins. I've read some previous threads that mention that the public areas were showing some wear but I didn't really notice it. I liked the ship's style (less chrome and neon and more dark woods.) Anyway, a classic looking ship I thought. At about 1:00 they announced that the cabins were ready and we made our way to ours. We splurged and got a Sky Suite (#1012) and were not disappointed with it. As we were looking around the cabin our Cabin Steward and Butler introduced themselves- very professional both of them. Our Butler gave us his cell phone #,told us how to reach him and asked what he could do for us.

 

So far I'm impressed.

 

Worked my way down to the Maitre'd desk to try and get early seating (we booked kind of late so we were assigned late seating - too late for us.) We were told "of course you can change your seating time, I'll seat you with two charming ladies." We lucked out on this deal (more on this later.)

 

Okay that's all for now....................To be continued.

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USNDiver

USNDiver

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The story contuinues..

 

 

Okay, so we explored the ship a little more, found a couple more bars, went up on deck for awhile to admire the Seattle skyline (very nice!!) and made our way back to the cabin. This was around 3:30 and we noticed that a long line of the staff (white gloved) were lined up at the boarding area and were escorting the arriving passengers to their cabins. We arrived sort of early so we didn't have the escort service, but next time we'll arrive later and take advantage of it (we found our cabin with no problem but personally, I like the formality of the escort, lends an air of class.) We had bought a large bouquet of flowers that morning from the Pike Place Market (I highly recommend doing this) so we hunted up our Butler and asked if he could find us a vase for them "It would be my pleasure" was the answer. We left the cabin for a little while to be on deck for the sailaway and when we returned we found the flowers arranged in the vase, as well as a bottle of champagne from the Hotel Manager (I guess this is one of the perks of the Sky Suites) and a large bowl of fresh fruit that was replinished daily. A little more on the cabin, in a word "great." We were in Suite #1012 with a balcony large enough for two chairs and a small table (I understand the Suites on deck 12 have larger balconies but this was fine for us.) The bed was firm without being hard and the bathroom large (with a jacuzzi tub.) By this time our baggage (as well as tea/pastries/finger sandwhiches served by our Butler) had arrived. We unpacked and I found my formal jacket didn't travel well so we had it sent out for pressing (I think the pressing was like $3.50) We changed for the first dinner (casual night) and worked our way down to the dining room, pausing briefly (okay, maybe not so briefly) at the Martini Bar before dinner ;). We had been watching the other passengers, looking for two ladies traveling together (that were supposedly charming) and who we would be sitting with (or who we would be stuck with.)

 

We approached the dining room, the doors swung wide, beckoning.

 

We were greeted warmly by the Maitre'd and were shown to our table when we noticed.....

 

To be continued...................................

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USNDiver

USNDiver

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Great review. Have you ever thought about writing nail biting who-dunnits? Eagerly awaiting the next chapter...............:o

 

Thank you for the compliment! Some of the reviews I've seen here are a little on the bland side I thought I'd try something new.

 

Stay tuned,

 

Dave

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Nilla

Nilla

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:p :D I am wanting and needing more! We will be sailing her next weekend, and I am loving it so far! This is like a really good tv show that you have to wait a week to see what will happen! Oh please Dave give us more!:p

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USNDiver

USNDiver

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Now where was I?

 

 

Ah yes....We were approaching our table when we noticed...

 

 

 

 

It was empty!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I then overheard a lady in line front of me whisper to her companion that "they're seating us with a married couple." I guessed (correctly it turns out) that these were our dinner mates. Attractive, well dressed and indeed charming, they were a Mother and Daughter from the San Francisco area (as we are) who were traveling together. After introductions, we learned that they were as concerned as we were about who (or what) they might get stuck with at dinner. My Wife and I were both relieved (as were they) and I ordered a martini to celebrate. Our smiling, and efficient, assistant waiter appeared with water and bread and the Sommelier presented us with a wine list the size of a Sears catalog. I know nothing about wine but the Sommelier was professional, personable and made a few recommendations without being pushy. My Wife ordered a bottle of her favorite California wine and all was well (did I mention my martini?) Our Waiter handed us our menus and briefed us on some of of the evening's dishes. The menu, for all of our dinners, usually offered a choice of 4 appetizers, 3 soups, 3 salads and 5 main courses (and I think a vegetarian offering) and several desserts. Our waiter was efficient, and polite, but a little too formal for my taste (I'm guessing that this is what most passengers prefer or, maybe, he was just new.) This is not a complaint, just an observation. Though some dishes were better than others, we all agreed that the food was uniformly good, and nobody walked away hungry. We also noticed that some of the other diners were wearing jeans, and t-shirts, but we decided that this being the first night, some slack was being given as far as attire.

 

We shall see.

 

 

 

Decided to walk the ship and explore a little more. Discovered a couple bars that I had missed earlier (STILL don't know how that could have happened) and talked with some of the staff, and some fellow passengers. When we returned to our room we discovered the bed turned neatly down and, you guessed it, chocolates on the pillow (I could hardly contain my surprise!!)

 

 

All in all a good day.

 

We turned in with visions of the next evening's formal night dancing in our heads.

 

 

 

This is where it gets interesting.

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bububr

bububr

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I am completely enjoying your style of review...its very similar to mine, and personally I think its the best way:D

 

Unfortunately as I try and get over this cold to finish my review......I am glued to yours....;)

 

Thanks so much for the kind of objective review/story that I as well as many truly enjoy. Its a relief from the 'I liked', 'but I hated!' , and 'I'll NEVER!' kind of review that gets my blood pressure rising wondering just what really happened.

 

Okay...I'm waiting.....sudafed in hand.....

 

Gimme more!!!

 

Dave:eek:

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Lois R "Live from...." Rare

Lois R

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I am also enjoying your review:)

 

As for the formality of your waiter, hopefully as your week

went on he opened up a bit for you:)

I have always had wonderful waiters, asst's, etc.

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USNDiver

USNDiver

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I am also enjoying your review:)

 

As for the formality of your waiter, hopefully as your week

went on he opened up a bit for you:)

I have always had wonderful waiters, asst's, etc.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Please don't get me wrong on this, our waiter was very good, and not unfriendly in any way (maybe formal was the wrong word to use.) Looking back, I'd be willing to bet he was new at his position and just a little "stiff" (with a little seasoning he'd probably be the life of the dining room.) Keep in mind too that on our last two cruises (Princess & Carnival) the waiter and busboys juggled plates and did magic- different cruise lines, different styles.

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USNDiver

USNDiver

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"Good morning Sir, would you like your coffee service now?" Came the cheerfull voice on the other end of the phone. We had requested coffee from our Butler the night before, for 7:30 the next morning, (okay, okay, we get up early even on vacation - so sue me) and he was phoning from outside our cabin at 7:28. That's service. We sipped our coffee on the balcony and watched the water drift by until we headed down to breakfast. I'm not real big on buffets but this was surprisingly good. All the standard stuff was there; eggs, ham, bacon, corned beef hash (much to my Wife's delight,) a good selection of fruit and pastries, and a respectable omlette bar. Overall a cut well above our previous two cruises. We weren't due in Nanimo until 10:00, and were scheduled to depart at 2:00, so we just decided to stay on board and relax. I spoke with some people who went ashore and they said the tendering was well organized, without much of a wait, and the town pretty neat. If we go back that way I'll pay it a visit. My Wife went down to the spa for a masasage and had nothing but good things to say about it. I went down to the casino, before we anchored, and won a few bucks. Keep in mind I am such a bad gambler that people AROUND me will start losing. If you couple this with the "stingy" reputation that most cruise line casinos seem to have, me actually winning becomes a big deal. The casino gets high marks. Met up with the Wife in the buffet for lunch (and cribbage and martini's) and liked what we saw. Burgers and dogs were flying off the grill and the buffet chow looked good. Impressive salad bar, some type of roast that changed daily, sides, etc. We went out to the stern of the ship and found the pasta/pizza bar near the indoor pool. I love a good bowl of pasta and (for a pasta bar) this was a quality product.

 

So as the day wore on we were getting excited about the formal evening ahead of us.

 

But first, there was something I needed to do...

 

 

More tomorrow,

 

 

Dave

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