Just Off Mercury 10/13 to 10/24 Any Questions?

[johnsfo]

My partner of 12 years and I just returned from an 11 night Mexican Riveria cruise on Mercury. This was our third curise. The cruise director was Dru Pavlov, who is a young (32 yrs) straight guy, but he still managed to schedule three FOD parties at the Campagne Bar on 5 Aft. I sent him a note to ask if he could schedule the FOD parties earlier as I view them as a 'mixer.' We had about eight FOD couples, some partners, some friends travelling together. Winnie Hung, the social hostess from Toronto was fantastic. One FOD couple, who were recently married in Massachusetts--I am happy to say were invited to the Captain's table for the last formal dinner. The piano player, also gay, was Jason Richards, who told us he will be on Mercury for another month. This guy is working seven days a week with four to five performances an evening/night with no time off for a period of his six months contract! He should get some kind of plaque for indurance under peressure! The last time we were on Mercury (Spring of 2003 for a CA Coastal 7 day cruise) the cruise director was David Cole. What an incredibley fabulous Cruise Director (who just happened to be gay) !!! We heard two different stories about what might have happened to Daivd. One story told is that he is working for RCI in Miami. Another story told that he had some issue in his past which RCI or Celebrity discovered and he was fired. If anyone knows the TRUTH, please let us know. I think there is some very special Cruise Directors who happen to STAND OUT, and David Cole was certainly one of this special group. On our cruise last year the Navigator Lounge, which I believe is the most beatuiful lounge on the ship, was used as a venue for the piano player at various times. On this trip, the Navigator Lounge has been used only for the guitar player but primarily was as a disco. I don't know who made this decision but I think it has to do with revenue for the ship. It appears that someone decided that more people populate the Cova Cafe (which I think is the second most beautiful venue on the ship) so they placed the piano player there--read more money! The piano in the Navigator Lounge was never used on our trip which I mentioned to the Cruise Director. His response is that he really lacking an additional perfomer and that it was too late to change the venus. Further, the lecturers, who were brought aboard for a free tirp in exchange for their talks, were a doctor of plastic sugery and a man talking about investments--nobody was invited to talk about the history of the discovery of Mexico or about the ports which we were to visit which I found very disapponting. Both these guys got a free cruise for their talks. Please don't read my comments as necessarily negative. Overall, we both enjoyed our curise very much. We love Celebrity and, in fact, booked a cruise for next year, Panama Canal on Infinity from Fort Lauderdale to SF, It's probably more about first ship, first experience, first love--and expecting the second experience to match, or be equal, to the first. John Mokricky in San Francisco

[garykool81]

John --

Had a blast meeting you and Bob onboard! Too bad things didn't work out properly for the dinner reservations, but Ian and I ended up having Alan and Thomas join us here and there (and vice versa) for dinner.

Jason Richards was a very, very gay, very jaded and extremely die-hard hilarious person...talk about bitter haha. He was a blast to hang out with several times.

Hope everything is well in your beautiful city :-)

[BEAV]

Thanks for the reviews, guys. Brings back memories of our April cruise last year from SF on Mercury. She's definitely one of my favorite ships. Does Celebrity still employ a string quartet? We really enjoyed them last year in the Cova.

[garykool81]

They still have the lovely string quartet at dinner time and in Cova here and there. Unfortunately, it all goes to waste during dinner unless you are fortunate enough to be seated next to the band area...as the ambiance of noise from people talking turns the dining room into an echo chamber. The speakers above your head in the dining area are never turned up high enough to allow you to enjoy the experience, unfortunately.

[johnsfo]

Hey Beav--I remember reading and enjoying your posts last spring. My partner and I took a CA Coastal late last April. I recall then the string quartet was made up of all men. The Mexican Riveria cruise this year was made up of all women. We heard them once, late in the cruise, in the Cova Cafe. All the music was very light--I was hoping for something classical with a little more meat in it (pardon the pun)--along with a meledy of tunes from My Fair Lady. They also had a guitarist, a Polish duo who called themselves the Melodico Duo (read Mediocre Duo). The female singer was SOOOOO bad, she was entertaining to listen to and watch. She looked BORED TO DEATH when she shook a moracca (spelling?) or banged a tanborine against her hip. TOOOO Funny! Her english was not up to par and when she sang "I Fall To Pieces," I thought I'd fall. In terms of entertainment, I thought last year's cruise on Mercury had better entertainment. Not to mention that I understand that David Cole, last year's cruise director has either been (1) fired based on something RCL or Celebrity discovered in his past, or (2) has been promoted to some positon at the head office. We heard both of these potential senarios from two different staff members. I thought David Cole was a FABULOUS cruise director. I think your cruise had the benefit of David Cole also. Let me know what you thought. Tks John M