Celebrity Mercury-A Fabulous Vacation
Written: May 13 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderful, relaxing, pampered vacation. Highly recommended.
Cons: It costs money to drink soda.
The Bottom Line: The Celebrity Mercury offered a luxurious, pampered vacation where we saw great sites and met great people on a beautiful, well appointed ship.
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| servin's Full Review: Celebrity Mercury |
My husband and I took our first cruise on the Celebrity Mercury. My parents are frequent cruisers and were recommending a cruise vacation to us for a while now. My husband and I were a little skeptical. We had the usual apprehensions about cruising that are often heard from people who haven't been on a cruise before. They were:
1. Cruising is for older people - (we are in our 30's).
2. We will feel trapped and claustrophobic on the ship.
3. We will gain a ton of weight.
4. We will get stuck at a dinner table with boring people.
5. We will get seasick.
All of the above: absolutely UNTRUE.
Here's a (probably long-winded) synopsis of our Celebrity Mercury experience.
Booking and Fares
Someone recommended to us that we book our cruise but not specify a particular cabin class. As the date of the cruise draws closer, the cruise company assigns a cabin based on those not booked. This is a way to save a little money on the cost of the cruise. We did this and were not disappointed. We probably saved a few hundred dollars, and while we wound up with an inner, lower level room, we were fully satisfied. Which brings me to my next topic...
The Room
Ok, if you are looking for spaciousness in a room, you will not find that on a cruise ship, unless, of course, you have a lot of money and are willing to spend it on some of the large suites available. Having said that, our room was very well laid out, with plenty of closet and storage space, and enough room to be comfortable. Both my husband and I have rented apartments in NYC on low budgets, and by comparison, this room was spacious and very well appointed.
We had a lower level, inside stateroom. I would highly recommend a lower level room if you are suseptable to seasickness. The ship definitely swaps less on the lower decks. The inside stateroom wasn't bad. The only drawback is in the morning, there is no outside light coming into the room. As a result, we slept later than usual.
The Ship in General
We sailed on the Mercury during its Inaugural Season. The ship is immaculate and exceptionally well appointed. There is nothing gaudy or overstated about the decor. It is very elegant. The crew works day and night maintaining the ship. You often see crew members painting, cleaning and polishing and the effect is an immaculately kept ship. I don't mean to give an impression that the crew was obtrusive - they weren't. In fact the service is impeccible. Anything you want, just ask and you will get it. The crew is friendly and always available to help. The all seem to be having fun as well, which is nice to see.
A word about seasickness - this ship is huge - we felt slight motion at times, but most times we were barely aware that we were moving. Most of our fellow passengers felt the same, noone we met got seasick.
Shore Excursions
We went on a Western Carribean cruise. Our ports of call were Key West, Cozumel, Cayman Islands and a second port in Mexico near the ruins of Tulum.
Our favorite ports were Key West and Tulum. My husband and I are sightseers. Both of these ports offered historical and interesting sights to see. The Tulum port was especially nice. The tour we went on was a guided tour of the ruins of Tulum, which were very interesting.
There is a large menu of shore excursions, meant to please a variety of tastes. They include: snorkling trips, boat trips, historical tours etc. If you simply want to go ashore and fend for yourself that is also available.
Shore excursions are not included in the price of the cruise ticket, and may be purchased on board the ship. The price ranges depending on the excursion.
Ship Activities
We really enjoyed all the activities on board the ship. No, we were never, ever bored. Nor did we ever feel claustrophobic on the ship. The Mercury is a huge ship. It took us several days to see the entire ship. There are plenty of activities. We took advantage of a lot of the sports activities available. This included playing basketball on deck, swimming and using the large beautiful gym (really helps mitigate the feasting at the midnight buffet).
The pool area is spacious, but on days at sea it is wise to arrive early to secure lounge chairs.
Other activities include nightly shows, which are very entertaining, a casino, several bars/lounges with entertainment, a disco that overlooks the bow of the ship, bingo, dance lessons, movies (I could go on). Bottom line -it is impossible to do everything. Besides, sometimes the best activity is to do nothing at all. That is also possible. At no time are you ever forced to do an activity. This to us, is the beauty of cruising.
Meals
We were really concerned about sitting with people that we didn't know. Boy were we wrong about that. We sat at a table for eight and by the end of the first night, were already having a great time with our tablemates. Our table consisted of couples of various ages, and we really enjoyed the meals we spent with them. We continue to keep in touch with one of the couples we met on the cruise (nearly 1 year later).
The food on the Mercury is excellent (and there is an abundance of it). Dinner includes 3 or 4 courses. This may sound like a lot to eat every night, however, the portions are reasonably sized, so it is possible to taste every course and not be stuffed.
For lunch and breakfast, we frequented the ships buffet. The buffet is also available for dinner, as an alternative to the formal dining room.
Speaking of formal, two nights of the seven day cruise are considered formal nights - dresses for women and suits/tuxedos for men. I really enjoyed formal nights. It was a pleasure to see everyone dressed up.
Midnight buffets happen on several nights of the cruise and generally have a theme. We had the late seating at dinner (our dinner's generally ended around 9:30-10:00 PM, so it was difficult for us to take advantage of the midnight buffet - being still full from dinner.
Beverages
Probably my biggest pet peeve and only negative about the cruise experience is the fact that beverages are not included in the price of the cruise. Not just alchoholic beverages (which I can understand) but all beverages except coffee, tea and water. This means if you want a Diet Coke, you pay extra for it. Not a large amount of money, but enough to add up over the course of the week. Frankly, I would rather pay up front a little extra, than be charged for every drink.
Cash
One of the nicest things about cruising is that you can't use cash. We basically put our wallets in the room safe when we arrived, and took them out on departure day. This is a great thing, and definitely lends itself to the relaxing, pampered atmosphere.
I highly recommend cruising, particularly on the Mercury - which attracted a wide range of ages of people and had a wide variety of activities to choose from.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
servin
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Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 16 members
About Me:
30-something foodie, who loves shopping, music and travel.
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