My wife and I took a late June 7-day cruise on the Celebrity Mercury to Alaska, leaving through Vancouver. This was our fifth cruise, so I have something to compare to, when giving some of my opinions. I'll give a rundown on, what I consider, the most important pieces to the cruise and then will give a final opinion.

1) EMBARKATION - This was better than we've had in the past. Once you check in your luggage, at the airline counter, you don't see it again until it is outside your door on the ship. Celebrity has it down when it comes to getting people on board, with quite a few personnel helping you at each point. It took about 35 minutes, by bus, to go from the Vancouver airport to the dock. It then took about an hour to check in, and they served refreshments while you waited. We received our luggage about an hour after leaving the dock. It was waiting outside our cabin door, everything intact.

2) SHIP - The ship was first-class. It was extremely clean and didn't look rundown at all. We had a category 6 -outside cabin (no balcony). The room was comfortable and had the standard amenities. There were two things that did stand out. First, the shower was great, with wonderful water pressure and enough room to maneuver. Second, the room squeaked. In fact, most of the ship seemed to squeak. It was most noticeable in the cabin and the dining room. After a while it became white noise. It was fairly easy to find your way around the ship, since it isn’t one of those mega-liners. There were plenty of little nooks and crannies to hide away in, if that is your bag. The ship never felt crowded, even though it was a full ship. There were plenty of lounges, with the Navigator Club (top of ship) a great place to watch the world go by. I can’t say much about the outside pool decks, because it rained quite a bit, plus an Alaskan cruise isn’t noted for sunning opportunities. My wife used the Spa area and enjoyed it, but it is quite pricey.

3) FOOD - The food was very good, but not great. This was a little disappointing. After hearing such raves about the food maybe I set my expectations too high. My letdown mainly came from the food in the formal Manhattan dining room. I'm not a picky eater but a few nights I had a tough decision about what to order (main dish). Everything I did order was very good, but nothing "WOWED" me. Everything was well prepared and they accommodated any slight deviations from the menu (sauce on side, no mushrooms, etc). This may sound weird, but the food from my Carnival cruises was almost as good. The food in the Palm Springs Cafe was a notch above average. We ate most of our breakfasts and lunches here. Breakfast was basically the standard fare with an omelet station to boot. Lunches were very good, with a lot of variety throughout the week. They had very good hot entrees. Hot dogs and (burned) hamburgers were also available at the Palm Springs Grill, plus they had themed lunches each day (Chinese, BBQ, sushi, etc). The lines had a tendency to be pretty long when people saw how good some of it looked. The pizza was pretty average, but it was made from scratch. The desserts, on the whole, were just so-so. The exception was the gala midnight buffet where the desserts were spectacular. Too bad they couldn't have gone out of their way during the whole cruise.

4) SERVICE - In a word, "TREMENDOUS". This part of the cruise really stood out. I've never experienced such exemplary service throughout the entire cruise, like I did on the Mercury. They always accommodated every request, and seemed happy to do it. The cabin stewardess was extremely efficient (I've found that so on all my cruises), but did some little things that made her stand out. She kept our ice bucket always filled, gave us extra towels throughout the cruise (after asking only once), and expedited our dry cleaning (without charging us for the faster service). The waiter and his assistant were wonderful, helpful, friendly, and consistent throughout the cruise. I have nothing but high praise for the pair. The head waiter was annoying (a suck-up) and a bit of a pest. I think that is part of their job description, plus they don't want you to forget them when it comes time to tip. The bar wait staff really stood out, since they were not pushy (unlike those on Carnival), and remembered your preferences after seeing you a couple of times. Wherever we went we received a smile and a greeting.

5) ENTERTAINMENT – I read a lot of negatives about the entertainment, but was not disappointed. The three Broadway-style shows they put on were extremely enjoyable and well done. The “clean” comedian looked like he was struggling for material and was barely passable. Many of the smaller lounges had a piano singer or small ensemble and they all did a really good job. The main “house” band was great. These five guys knew a zillion songs, took requests, danced with the audience, and really tried to get everyone to have a good time. Since this wasn’t a party crowd, the lounges tended to have a sparse audience and emptied out at an early hour. On Carnival, they seemed to party all night.

6) ACTIVITIES – This is an area that could use improvement. Maybe because it was 40 degrees outside and raining (most sea days), they were limited to what activities could be done. The cruise director was the typical insincere smarmy, cheesy type (aren’t they all) who worked the crowd like a vaudeville act. His staff was made up of a bunch of 22 year-olds that were scattered around the ship. Other than the obligatory bingo, casino, and a few trivia contests, there was not much happening on-board the ship. They did seem to push their twice daily art auctions, but only old (and bored) people seemed to show up. Luckily, my wife and I go to mainly relax, so we participated when the mood hit us. The movies shown in the movie theater tended to be 6 months old, plus the playing times always seemed to be a bit off (around dinner). The in-room T.V. did have a live news network and a few channels, but was dominated with in-ship infomercials.

7) PORTS – Let me start by saying that the majority of the ship shore excursions can be had, for a lot cheaper, by purchasing them at the port. Only the more exotic and expensive ones, seemed to be worthwhile to purchase from Celebrity, since they had limited space availability.

A) KETCHIKAN – If you want to spend the big bucks, then go ahead and purchase a sea plane/helicopter ride to the glacier field. Everyone we visited with, who took these tours, raved about them. You really aren’t missing much when it comes to seeing the sights within the city. We took the city and totem tour and were under whelmed. They dropped us off at the totem pole village (in the pouring rain), we looked at a few totem poles then reboarded the bus. A waste of the $34/person we paid for this shortened 1.5 hour tour. The shopping isn’t too bad, and we picked up a real nice stacking doll for our daughter. On retrospect, I should have sprung and taken a glacier helicopter ride ($150/person), thus we could have had a probable once-in-a-lifetime memory.

B) JUNEAU – I liked this port the best. They have loads of great tours and a lot of interesting sights to see. We wanted (but decided against it) to take the aerial tram up to the top of Mount Roberts, but there was a lot of cloud cover on the mountain, thus negating the great view. Again we took a city tour (through Celebrity) that included a stop at the Mendenhall glacier. We also briefly toured the city and stopped at a salmon hatchery (tourist trap). I recommend seeing the glacier, but you can take a bus ($10/person) that takes you to/from the glacier. They also have a Mendenhall canoe excursion which takes you right to the face of the glacier. We also took a whale watching tour with Captain Dave, and it was very interesting. We got to see seals, orcas, and humpback whales. Being out on the lake was so peaceful, plus we saw four other glaciers from varying distances. The shopping was pretty good, with the usual touristy shops, and we picked up smoked salmon and a beautiful carved wooden Eskimo doll (with real fur) for our daughter.

C) SITKA – This one port I wished we could have skipped and replaced with a stop at Skagway. Other than spotting bald eagles, this town left a lot to be desired. We had to be tendered in, so there was a wait to get into town. Their famous Russian cathedral looked pretty much like any other church. The shopping was rather poor and the sights were limited. We ended up taking the semi-submersible tour, which while was interesting, got boring quite quickly. How long can you look a sea kelp and small fish? It seemed like a good idea at the time we signed up. We barely made the last tender back to ship and were packed in like sardines.

8) DEBARKATION - This was much better than we've had in the past, and went very smoothly. We ate breakfast in the Palm Spring grill and waited for them to call our color/number combination. We waited on the top deck enjoying the beautiful Vancouver weather and sights of the harbor and surrounding area. We were off the ship by 9:30 A.M., and on the way to the airport. BEWARE THE VANCOUVER AIRPORT!!!! With four cruise ships docking, and letting off around 7,000 passengers, the place was an absolute mess. We thought that by arriving at 10:15 A.M., for a 2:30 P.M. flight, we would have loads of time to wait at the airport. It took close to three (3) hours to go through check-in and security. Many people were moaning about missed flights. Remember to get your MANDATORY ($7/person) Airport Improvement Ticket, before you check-in. This will save you a half hour waiting in another line, later in the check-in process. We made our flight, but not without a lot of aggravation.

FINAL THOUGHTS – Even though I pointed out some deficiencies, my wife and I had a really good time on the cruise. I feel that if you go in with a good attitude, and roll with the punches, then how can you not have a good time. Both the Celebrity cruise line and the Mercury ship are very well run and know how to give the customer a solid, positive cruising experience. Cruising is a great value and allowed us to experience places that we would not otherwise see. I would definitely cruise on the Celebrity lines again, but next time we may take the Millennium. I just booked a drive-to cruise on the RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas (out of Galveston, TX) for this coming October, and look forward to experiencing the Western Caribbean with my entire family.



Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Couples