Name: Pat & Sonja Megenity (webmaster)
Email: webmaster@cruiseopinion.com
Age: 31
Occupation: Business owner / cruise agency owner
NumberOfCruises: 23
TravelAgent: Yes
Ship: Celebrity-Mercury
SailingDate: 10/25/98
Itinerary: 7 day Eastern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 84
CabinComfort: 85
FoodRoomService: 93
CruiseStaff: 99
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 91
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 0
FoodMidnightBuffets: 93
CabinSteward: 98
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 91
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 85
CasinoStaff: 98
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 88
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 82
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 75
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 90
EntertainmentPoolside: 88
CruiseActivities: 84
Casino: 91
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 96
EmbarkDisembark: 96
DiscoNightclubs: 93
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 92
OverallCruiseValue: 84
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 06 Dec 1998
Time: 19:07:34
Remote Name: 206.173.113.52
Remote User:

Comments

Review - Celebrity Mercury 10/25/98

We were greatly looking forward to this cruise. Sonja and I had not really cruised (other than a 4-day quickie in January) in over a year, due
to moving and remodeling. So when we negotiated some great rates this past February on outside staterooms with verandahs ($999 cruise
only) for Fall Mercury sailings, we jumped at the chance to again cruise our favorite line. We assembled three groups for late October and
early November sailings, and had a total of about 100 people sailing in the three groups. There were about 20 others in our group's 10/25
sailing, and we threw a little get-together in the Pavilion night club to meet many people who had contacted us through CruiseOpinion.com. It
was great to meet in person the people you had only known by voice. You can read other opinions on the same sailing from people that were
in our group - Rod Collins and Steve Simonetti.

For some quick background, we are in our late 20's and (very!) early 30's, and as owners of a cruise travel agency have been on about 23
cruises. We sailed with Sonja's parents, 50ish, and this was their second cruise.

There have recently been some excellent, very thoroughly written reviews on both this ship and the Century. Thanks to those who took the
time to write them. And many of the compliments and criticisms brought up by those reviews are right on. Rather than repeat much of what
has already been written, we'll try to add our perspective on things that haven't been touched on as much, taking from our viewpoint and
those of more novice cruisers. Also, due to hurricane Mitch, we had a last-minute itinerary change. Our planned Western Caribbean itinerary
was wisely changed by Celebrity to the standard Eastern (San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Martin/Maarten, and Nassau) itinerary. This
announcement was not made until noon on embarkation day, but we understand Celebrity wanted to get the most up to date predictions on
the storm's track. We were very happy about this change, as we prefer the Eastern itinerary (although some different islands rather than the
ones everyone goes to would have been nice). But some customers were very upset, which is understandable from the viewpoint that if you
wanted to go to a particular island for an activity (Mayan ruins, etc.) that was shot. But at the same time, it's an act of God, you can't change
it, so just roll with the punches and enjoy the fact that you're on a beautiful Caribbean cruise, in safe waters. For us the ship was the
destination, so we were not upset in the least.

Positive aspects from our notes:

1. Great service. Our waiter was fantastic. The sommelier, John from England, was the nicest, most entertaining sommelier we've ever met. John - have a Big Mac for us! Our cabin stewardess was fantastic. And due to our group, we dealt a great deal with Cynthia, the hotel manager, and Amanda, the social hostess, who were both courteous and extremely helpful. Finally, the entertainment staff were extremely friendly in their various roles throughout the week.

2. The food was as good as before. We were somewhat worried that the quality might have dropped a bit due to the purchase by RCI, but those fears were unfounded. Most entrees were in the 'very good' category, with several (including at lunch - DO NOT miss dining room lunches on a Celebrity cruise) entrees rating a true 'wow'.

3. Room service was very prompt, and fresh tasting.

4. Onyx, the band we've written about before, was excellent as always. But we felt this cruise their repertoire was very limited, playing the same 8 songs over and over the entire cruise. C'mon, guys, you are great enough to expand beyond 'Day-O' and 'Hot Hot Hot'. Learn some Boys To Men, Luther Vandross, Sade, Bob Marley, etc. They could do so much more.

5. No announcements to disturb your day.

6. Shops on board were elegant and had a good selection of merchandise.

7. The exercise room was spacious and functional.

8. They did an excellent job putting together shore excursions, etc. for the new itinerary on very short notice. It was almost impossible to tell this ship never does the Eastern itinerary.

9. Nice string quartet playing in the atrium. They also utilized two of my favorite high tech toys, Yamaha Disklavier digital player pianos, in the ship.

10. The casino and casino staff were excellent. Aqua spa was also very nice.

Negative aspects:

1. This is the BIG one. Just like on the Horizon, our cabin ceiling creaked like a rusty door hinge whenever there was the slightest motion. It was so bad, we could not sleep at all the first night. We tried stuffing towels, pounding, etc. and it made no difference. I said it before, but I will say it again - when will Celebrity design cabins that have a one-piece ceiling that does not creak? It is a design flaw that is easily noted if they tested it in a moving cabin. Carnival and other lines have no problem designing cabins that don't squeak. This to us was the single biggest detriment to the entire trip. After all, no matter how good everything else is, you can't very well enjoy yourself if you got no sleep the night before. This was such a bummer that we were going to dock our overall rating by 20 points due to this problem. But after complaining to the hotel manager, we felt the service, however superficial it may have been, was very good. The hotel manager came to our cabin several times and tried to help, but to no avail. But he was very nice about it, apologized profusely, sent us free champagne, and invited us to sit with him at dinner (which we did not take him up on). I'm sure they hear this complaint constantly, and it is not their fault the cabins were designed poorly. But he did make a valiant effort to help, and for that reason we only dropped the overall score (that would have been 94) 10 points, to 84. Our final solution to sleep the rest of the week? Earplugs. Conveniently sold in the gift shop (probably a very popular item). That, and keeping the door to the verandah slightly ajar to bring in the sound of the sea, at least allowed us to sleep. Note that our same-category cabin on the Galaxy did not have this problem. And many others we spoke to did not have a squeaky ceiling. So it may now just be an isolated problem.

2. While most menu items were excellent, some were just 'good'. And there were few 'extra treats' like tableside pasta preparation on Italian night, truly funky dishes, etc. But nothing to complain about in the food department, certainly.

3. The layout of the ship is hard to get around. It is not easily navigated or remembered, which we normally do quite well. Within the first day on a ship like Sensation, we have the layout down. But we found ourselves heading the wrong way or going into a dead end even five days into the cruise.

4. The art work is very, very weird. You'll just have to go on it and judge for yourself. Also, the ship in general, and dining room in particular, are not as elegant as the Galaxy in our opinion. The hallways in cabin areas are narrow.

5. There was no weather forecast information provided on the in cabin information system, daily programs, or announcements. We had to ask several officers, or guess for ourselves, to anticipate what the next day's weather would be.

6. The entertainment and activities on this cruise were geared much more toward a 'Holland America' age category than on the Galaxy. On that ship we felt the entertainment was excellent. Good variety, funky, and fun. Here, it was big band and 1940's tunes up the wazoo. Even the baby boomers did not have a lot of entertainment geared toward them, and forget it if you're under 30. Our only conclusion is that this ship attracts an older median age customer than the Galaxy, and the entertainment is geared as such. Or is the cause/effect the other way around? In any event, we found ourselves often the only ones in the show lounge without white hair. Nothing against older people - we have met many that we've had a great time with on many cruises. But we were surprised at the median age on this sailing, possibly in part due to the sailing date (not during a time most working people vacation, and while kids are in school).

That's it for negatives. And other than the creaking cabin, most are really very little things that in no way affected our overall enjoyment of the cruise. Overall, we loved it and certainly will sail Celebrity again. They put out a consistently great cruise product, and we think the 'feel' of the ships and usual clientele are the closest match for our personalities and preferences that we have found.

One final note - we were the only ones in our group to request (ok, insist on) main seating. If you sail Celebrity, you MUST have main seating. Why? Food is the primary attraction of this line, in our opinion. We feel the food is fresher in the main seating (some things may kept under the warmer until late seating - maybe not on this line, but likely so on others). Not only that, you cannot miss the buffets on Celebrity. And with main seating, at least you have a little room to sample come midnight. Whereas with late seating, you are so stuffed (like the world's fattest man scene in Monty Python's 'Meaning of Life'), you don't want to look at another morsel. And that's a shame, because you don't sail this line to diet! If you haven't tried this line, you really owe it to yourself to sail Celebrity. The price is very reasonable for what you get. Bon
voyage, and bon appetite!

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