 |
 |
|
Name: Deborah Grauer
Email: grauer@pluto.njcc.com
Age: 40
Occupation: reference librarian
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Celebrity-Mercury
SailingDate: 4/5/98-4/12/98
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 93
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 97
CabinQuietness: 75
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 85
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 87
BeautySalon: 85
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 98
EmbarkDisembark: 93
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 80
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 15 Apr 1998
Time: 21:29:55
Remote Name: 199.224.2.32
Remote User:
Comments
Celebrity Mercury Cruise, 4/5/98-4/12/98 to Western Caribbean
This was our first cruise on Celebrity. We’ve only cruised once before, on
RCCL’s Sovereign of the Seas in the Bahamas. We chose this cruise
because of Celebrity’s reputation, and because we thought the excursions to Tulum
(Mayan ruins) and snorkeling would be interesting.
We expected excellent service, excellent food, and a beautiful ship - we got all three. I
was especially surprised that the service was as good as it
was, given that the ship was completely, totally booked. I heard a rumor that there were
even a few passengers that could not be assigned a table
at dinner, and had to wait until there were no-shows before they could be seated. (Like I
said, this could be a rumor.) We requested late seating,
but were lucky to get permanent seats at a fantastic table for eight at the main seating.
One couple in particular liked playing gentle practical jokes
on the waiter and the busboy, who played them right back at us. Dinner became the
highlight of the day, it was so much fun. And of course, the food
was great. One couple made it a practice to order every dessert on the menu for the
evening - it was always served with a smile (and once,
chopsticks. One of the jokes.)
We had a Class 2 cabin with a small verandah and a king-sized bed. The cabin was
comfortable for two, and had wonderful lighting and lots of closet
and drawer space. The highly-touted interactive TV was OK, but I spend a lot of time on
computers, so I was probably not as impressed as I should
have been. There were pay-per-view movies, which looked fairly good. I didn’t think
the free movies were so great. The ship did carry CNN. There
was a mini-bar in the cabin, but we didn’t end up using it. The bathroom made great
use of a small space. My only complaint was about the hairdryer
- it gets very hot to hold after about three minutes. Holding it with a washcloth around
the handle gives you another two minutes.
If I were to do this cruise again, I think I would save money by not having the verandah.
It was fairly private with walls on both sides, but not really
good for sunbathing because it had a roof from the porch above. I liked going out in my
husband’s shirt at 7am and watching the ship dock, though.
As far as cabins go, I would definitely consider getting an inside cabin on the Mercury.
They are the same size as the outside cabins, and there is a
mirror on the wall opposite the door which makes the room look much bigger and really
reflects light. If I had to choose where to spend my money, I
think I would save it on the cabin and spend it on the excursions.
Ports - on this trip, we stopped at Key West for a few hours, Cozumel, Calica (a new port)
and Grand Cayman. Key West is a neat place and if you’ve
never seen it before, the Conch Train tour gives a lot of its history in a short time. If
you’re into shopping, I would recommend doing that at either Key
West or Cozumel. Calica has nothing itself - it is just a place to take a bus to somewhere
else, like Playa del Carmen or Tulum.
We went to Tulum, which is the site of ancient Mayan pyramids. I thought it was very
impressive. We took the Celebrity-sponsored tour, which
provided us with the bus and a knowledgeable guide. I felt that the guide made the tour.
Grand Cayman is a great place for water sports, snorkeling or diving. We chose the
“snorkeling with stingrays” tour. Very cool. The five-foot long
stingrays that come to the area where the boats go are practically tame. They will eat
little squids out of your hand, and will even “kiss” you, if you let
them. Don’t let them - they make hickeys that last forever (no joke!) The only
problem with this excursion is that you get to spend 45 minutes in the
water with the stingrays, and 2.5 hours taking the tender, the bus and the boat to see the
critters and get back. There appears to be a lot of fine
jewelry shopping on Grand Cayman, but we were there on Good Friday and many shops were
closed.
Entertainment - we had only our experience with the not-so-great entertainment aboard
Sovereign of the Sea, so the good entertainment on
Mercury came as a surprise. Celebrity tries to provide entertainment for every taste, so
obviously we liked some things better than others. We
particularly liked Grand Slam (acapella singers), Michael James (the comic juggler - he
was a riot in a low-key way), and we were pleasantly surprised
by the shows with the Celebrity singers and dancers. We were especially impressed when we
found out that 12 of the 17 were brand new to the
shows the week we cruised. The cruise director mentioned that the merger with Royal
Caribbean has allowed Celebrity to improve entertainment,
because the budget is now much bigger.
Other thoughts - I had a mini-facial and an aqua-meditation session in the aqua spa. The
girl giving the facial was skilled, but most of the time she
was trying to sell me the products she was using on me. This I did not like. Them I did
not buy. Aqua-meditation was a relaxing 20 minutes in a soft
bathtub with warm water jets moving slowly up and down the body. I was told that it is
most often used to prepare someone for a massage. The
whirlpool, which comes gratis if you have another service performed at the spa, was
enjoyable. The best part was watching the water practically spill
out of it as the ship rocked from side to side (it was our only rocky day at sea).
Although we did not bring our kids on this cruise, we are considering it in the future, so
I went into the kids’ play area and talked to the counselors. I
also nailed as many children between the ages of 5 - 12 as I could, and asked them about
the kids’ programs. All but one of about 10 kids I spoke to
said they liked the activities, and it was a good way to make friends. During the week, I
ran into groups of kids on organized scavenger hunts and
children making cool T-shirts. They looked like they were having fun.
Comparing the two cruises we’ve taken - the two lines have different styles. Royal
Caribbean announces everything, including all activities, over
loudspeakers. Celebrity announces virtually nothing after the compulsory muster - you have
to read the newsletter if you want to know what’s going
on. Sovereign decor is brass and shiny and bright, and Mercury is wood and subdued. We
heard at least 10 other languages besides English
spoken on Mercury by passengers. I don’t think the passenger diversity was as great
on Sovereign. On Sovereign, I felt that we were being
constantly solicited for tips from the dining staff. I didn’t feel that way on
Mercury.
The cruise director on Mercury said that parent company Royal Caribbean International
plans to maintain the differences between the two brands
(RCCL and Celebrity), since they appeal to different markets. According to him, if
there’s something you like about either line, it is not going to
change because of the merger.
If you’ve ever cruised on Celebrity before and plan to take another one, you may want
to consider joining the Captain’s Club for about $40. This
provides you with streamlined embarkation and debarkation, as well as a few cocktail
parties on board. We joined on this cruise (they let us do that),
and it saved us about an hour in the debarkation process.
Want to book your cruise at a great rate?
Click here.
Questions or comments? Mail to webmaster@cruiseopinion.com.
Copyright ©1996-2001 CruiseOpinion.com. Last modified: January 17, 2000.