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Name: Carole Prosser
Email: clprosser@ccgate.hac.com
Age: 55
Occupation: Administrative Assistant
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Mercury
SailingDate: 1-8 March 1998
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 60
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 85
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService:
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 95
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities:
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 09 Mar 1998
Time: 15:40:45
Remote Name: 130.210.216.151
Remote User:
Comments
We had excellent service in the Manhattan Restaurant with extremely personable and
attentive staff. After the first dinner, our server was willing to
bring us several appetizers and a couple of entrees with no hassle. In fact, he even
seemed disappointed if we didn’t order more than one! Food in
the Palm Court (buffet) was ho-hum, not much variety, a steam table affair with fish
overcooked, etc. An omelet chef was the saving grace for
breakfast. We opted for main seating in the Manhattan Restaurant and quickly discovered
that that also meant early seating for breakfast and lunch
as well. Caught us off guard. Beware of the Mercury’s complementary wine, often a
gift from the travel agent but also advertised through the daily
ship’s program. It is terrible but, overall, the wine list was acceptable. We never
managed to get to the midnight buffets. Its hard to maximize days in
port, snorkeling, fresh air, plus all that good food and entertainment and still be
energetic for much late night life! The evening shows, with only a few
exceptions, were super, and the music for dancing and listening pleasure was a real plus.
The big band (Celebrity strings and band) in the Pavillion
and a duo in the Rendez-vous were my favorites for dancing. We chose the Mercury for its
itinerary (that is, the number of ports with maximum time
available at each stop) and were very pleased with that as well as with the ship itself.
Unfortunately, the itinerary changed after we booked the trip
and one of our stops was replaced with another. This caused our two days at sea to come at
the end of the trip; it would have been more relaxing to
have had them interspersed. We experienced rough water in Key West on Monday so the Fury
Catamaran snorkeling trip wasn’t nearly as clear nor
as colorful as it might have been. However, we all were glad the trip had not been
canceled and that we had persevered. Calica was our Tuesday
stop and is not a destination point but rather a ‘jumping off’ place. We went
ashore via Mexican tenders and they certainly took advantage of their
captive audience as they actively hawked their wares going and coming. Those taking the
ship’s excursion to shop in Cancun were very
disappointed. Our trip to Xcaret, done at our own leisure, was good value. The underground
rivers provided a unique snorkeling experience, and
there were also a number of lagoons for snorkeling or lazing atop tubes. Lunch in one of
the restaurants was bland and disappointing but we’d
been spoiled by our high living aboard the Mercury. Wednesday was Cozumel and we poked
around the shops during the morning and lunched
back on the ship. After changing into bathing suits and gathering up our snorkeling gear,
we took a $7 cab ride to nearby to Chankanaab Park to
do some snorkeling. Of all the places we snorkeled, that was my favorite. There was lots
to see, quite a variety of colorful fish and coral within ten
feet of shore! We all agreed we would like to have spent more time there. Thursday was a
day at sea and we all were more than ready to sit and
relax. Friday we arrived at Grand Caymen and were tendered ashore by Mercury’s life
boats. Fortunately there were only two ships in port and even
that created traffic jams. We had heard about Captain Sterling’s Sting Ray City
Charters in an earlier cruise opinion and tried to contact him via ‘turtle
mail’ on the internet and through a regular fax. We should have been suspicious when
we got no answer after a month of actively trying. After a
brisk hike to the Burger King a mile or so down Church Street which was supposedly next
door to him, we found no evidence of his business and
later learned he’d moved to 7-mile Beach. My travel mates and, we later heard, our
dinner mates weren’t very happy with my insistence on looking
for a more economical and better alternative to the ship’s excursion. We picked up
another tour ($25/person) offered by one of the several smaller
outfits at the pier and in a group of 16, went out to feed the stingrays at Sting Ray City
with 8-12 foot water depth, lots of fish and stingray, incredibly
clear water. Snorkeling with stingrays -- holding, petting and feeding them was an
unforgettable experience!
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