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Celebrity Cruise Line

MV Mercury

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Ben Truong
# previous cruises: 3
Date of Trip: June 15, 2003
Itinerary: Alaska

At that time, this was our first cruise, we were inexperienced, not a clue about the boarding process, etc. We even ate lunch before getting on the ship!, talk about that worrying about being hungry on a cruise ship. Upon arriving in Vancouver, BC, we ate lunch, and headed over to Canada Place, where Holland America Statendam, Norwegian Wind, and Vision of the Seas was berthed over at Ballantyne Pier. The boarding process was somewhat long, maybe like an 1.5 hours? But it wasn't bad, I was so excited. After a while, we checked in, receiving our SeaPass, and then walking towards the ship, it was Huge! My family who was traveling with me left Vietnam during the war on a 60ft fishing boat crammed with over 300 people, they were trembling at the sight of the massive vessel.

When we boarded, attendants and crew member welcomed up aboard, complementary glasses of either champagne and orange juice was given out, and a crew member lead each person to their room, this was the first time on a passenger ship this size, I was in awe.

The Mercury is fully of wood trimming, brass outfits, marble floors, great colors and decor, not to bright and flashy, not to plain and dull. We walked through the photo gallery, where great photographs were displayed, then through the Rendezvous lounge, could have been a little more colorful and alive but was still good. The main restaurant, The Manhattan welcomes guest with walls of stainless steel facades of the landmarks on Manhattan island, a grand staircase , stainless steel trimmings, big circular lights, a clam blue carpet, elegant dinning ware, and a roof with dim but bright at the same time studio lights, and curved panels decorate the restaurant, but the most stunning part, the grand view at the stern, this is a restaurant at the aft of the vessel, 2 story high windows stretch the entire width of the ship, big, rectangle windows are everywhere else, the Alaskan sunset, and dinning in pure elegance in the night time was amazing.

The walkways, (from the restaurant to the theater), were just plain..well great, stop in a few shops, take a few pictures, maybe even brave the wind and walk out onto the teak decked promenade. Before heading into the Celebrity theater, this was a part on the ship which I felt could have been better, its to much red. The Navigator's lounge, one of my favorite spots on the ship, 14ft tall windows surround the area giving a 1800 view, nice, wide leather chairs, and tall wood, columns with an every now and then photograph surround the area. La Playa pool, not the best I've seen, the area around has soft lounge chairs, wool blankets, but the pool wasn't that good, one pool was colder than the other, but the jacuzzi's were nice, it wasn't that bad, this is an Alaska cruise. The spa, fitness room area was nice, had that spa smell, and the locker rooms had big circular wooden bench for changing, the fitness room could use some more modern equipment, but it was clean and well maintained, just a little out of date.

The food, well Mercury is voted #1 in the food catagory for large-ships by Conde Nast Traveler, I agree. One day i dropped a fork, the waiter walked over, picked it up and got a new one! On formal nights, you would get a shot-sized cup of sorbet, to clear up, and perk the taste buds before the main entree you don't get anything like this on RCL. The La Playe buffet features, sushi, a ice cream bar, deserts, fruits, afternoon tea with those little sandwiches, and everything else that is usually found in a buffet. The service is great, the people working at the spa welcome area even remembered our names.

The cabins, our was a inside, you fell a small earthquake when the engine starts up, just a fun fact! The cabin is small, but space is used very carefully and well, the lockers are big, the bed, comfortable, the bathroom was small like always but who's complaining. My favorite was the choice of colors and materials used, blue carpets, soft woods, and great lighting made a cozy cabin, just great.

We went to nearly every show, they were fun and entertaining, especially the comedians, cruise director, dancers, cruise staff were friendly, helpful, always happy to help, Celebrity has a great staff.

Our ports of calls were Ketchikan, the salmon capitol of the world, we went to the Saxman village, Native America totem poles, and culture center, and walked around Creek Street, our first taste of Alaska, such a different part of the world.

Next up was Hubbard glacier (cruising) our ship was quite far away but we could still see the glacier, this was because Captain Salesiottis was only 2 weeks onboard Mercury, safety first. Juneau was next up, the capitol of Alaska where we took a 3 hour tour of the city and surrounding area, Mendenhall glacier, downtown Juneau, etc, a fun city with lots of tourist attractions, we also rode the Mt Roberts tramway up to the peak of Mt Roberts, no view though, it was overcast, quite disappointed for paying 30$. Sitka, Alaska largest city in Alaska by size, not really that big, kind of plain and boring, didn't do much there besides walk to the downtown area for an hour or so and tendered back to the ship.

Mainly middle age, and below, senior citizens, people I would say was in their 30s, 40,s 50,s 60,s and 70,s there were a few people younger. The two people who sat with us at dinner, and elderly couple Gene and Bobby were so nice, and friendly, we would talk every night, we kept in contact with them, and Bobby almost landed my cousin a job, unfortunately we have not been able to cruise with them yet, hopefully soon

The Celebrity Mercury set our expectations very high for our next cruise, this might happen to you, the Celebrity treatment work, maybe a little to well. So if your gonna chose the Mercury for a first ship, don;t expect the same on other mass market lines. Or cruise on the Mercury later on and take a step down from all the excitement nd just relax, but have better service and food. We will definitely cruise on Mercury again.