If I have enough money, I feel like a CELEBRITY
Written: Oct 01 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Food and Sky Suite and our cabin deck
Cons: not enough time at ports, exursions highly priced & paying for alcohol sucks
The Bottom Line: Go with the suite!
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| kjb96a's Full Review: Celebrity Mercury |
My husband and I took our honeymoon on the Royal Caribbean "Rhapsody of the Seas" several years ago. We decided to go on a cruise again, but this time to a colder climate...Alaska. We chose Celebrity because of it's high rating and it's outstanding reputation. We also chose to do things a little different this time around!
CABINS:
The cabins were very nice and clean but small on the first cruise we went on. So this time we decided to choose a Suite as a treat. A Sky Suite was what we could afford. The
bed is a pillow top not like the cots in the other rooms. The cabin was 246 sq ft instead of 154 sq ft on Royal Carribean's Rhapsody of the Seas. And our balcony was 179 sq ft...bigger than the state room we had before on our first cruise!!!
Tip: when you call in to make your reservation and you're getting a room with a balcony, ask for the largest balcony available since there are different sizes.
Some of our family decided to come with us on the cruise and we requested from our butler some board games and we had a family game night in our suite! Speaking of our family, after we had booked our reservation, we gave them our reservation number, they called Celebrity to make their reservations, gave them our reservation number and asked to be near us. They were right across the hall in a "no windows" family room. How much closer can you get?
The cabin service was good but my expectations were apparently too high for the butler! He was just a little slower at getting to things than what I expected. When we came back from dinner or port, we always had neat things that had happened in our suite. Chocolates on our pillows everything was neat and tidy, eagles and other creatures made out of our pillows and towels.
Tip: don't expect your television to work all the time, especially during a storm or "rocky" waters.
FOOD:
The dinner food and service was Wonderful...more than Royal Carribean for sure!!! Don't forget that you can order as much or as little food as you want as I've said before. You've already paid for it! Order in your room any time...just don't expect it to get there right away.
Alcohol: You have to pay for it. EXCEPT FOR CAPTAIN'S NIGHT of course...FREE DRINKS! Buy a drink card, don't tell the bar tender about the card until after he's made the drinks. He won't like it but he won't skimp on the liquor that way either. Trust me.
PORTS & Excursions: Not enough time...which was one of my complaints on the last cruise...and the excursions were WAY over priced!!! Do it solo. Find neat cafes and do some of your own site seeing. The people were super nice, but it tended to be a little expensive if shopping.
Here's some things we did and others we would have liked to have done but didn't have the time but that maybe you could possibly do/go...
Juneau:
*Alaskan Brewing Co/ open 11am-4:30pm/ www.alaskanbeer.com
*Last Chance Mining Museum/ 9:30am -12:30pm/3:30pm-6:30pm/ $4
*Macaulay Salmon Hatchery/ $3.25/ www.dipac.net
*The Fiddlehead Restraunt & Bakery for coffee!!
Skagway:
*Klondike Gold Dredge Tour/ 8:30am-4:30pm/ $35 + $5 transport/ www.klondikegolddredge.com
Ketchikan:
*Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery & Eagle Center/ 8am-4:30pm/ $7.95
*Totem Bight State Historical Park/ 10 miles out of town/ FREE / www.alaskastateparks.org (click on 'individual parks')
Prince Rupert, CA (we didn't have time to do anything there since we were only there for 3 hours from 9pm to 11:59pm but if I ever get a chance to go back for longer here are some things I'd like to do):
*North Pacific Historic Fishing Village/ 9am-6pm/ 12 miles out of town/ US $8 adult & US $7 senior/ http://district.portedward.bc.ca
*Cow Bay Cafe/ noon-2:30pm/ coffee again!!!
Also in May it was in the 40's, 50's & 60's!!!
Remember that if you ever use your cabin card for something other than your cabin, you'll most likely have to pay for it later...unless you know something I don't know...and if that's so, please let me in on your secret!
OTHER:
The first time we cruised, we used a travel agent and received over $650 cash back because at the time we were New Mexico residents and we opted to go down a level. But this time, we did not have any such luck and because our travel agent is a friend of ours, she told us with Celebrity they don't usually have any sales and that we could get the best prices on Expedia.com as well as through her.
You will need your passport especially if traveling after 2005 because the USA laws will have changed. A visa is necessary if a US citizen because you stop in Canada for a few hours (which I think is ridiculous, but no one asked me for my opinion on that). And cash! If they work, there are safes in the cabins to put your valuables. Don't forget to tip your waitors and cabin attendents like your butler. Ours did a fantastic job and made our second cruise very enjoyable.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
kjb96a
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Member: Kimber
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 5 members
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