We're Back ... Part 1

After 10 days cruising the Mexican Riviera on the Celebrity
Mercury2/3/2006-2/13/2006 , the comedy of errors on our return to New
Jersey from San Diego couldn't dampen the feeling we had from this
cruise ...

First the criticisms ...

WORST LIFEBOAT DRILL EVER - When we got our information about our
muster stations my hopes were raised as they were in lounges or the
casino ... The Pac Princess did it that way and that was the best
lfeboat drill ever ... seated with a concise run through followed by an
easy trip back to one's room ... Well no such luck ... that was merely
gathering us crowded together for part one ... this was long and boring
enough ... then we all followed the leader outside to our life boat
station ... and waited ... there was a call for a crew drill ... and we
waited ... then other areas went outside ... and another crew drill and
we waited ... and again ... then we just waited and they had another
crew drill ... then they let us leave back to our rooms but told us to
keep out life vests on ...like they weren't on long enough already ...
I think to make the elevators hold less and make it more uncomfortable
and delayed to return to one's room ... longest/least efficient most
uncomfortable drill ever ...

1) The entertainment was too similar ... pretty much singing and
dancing from the production company ... Though they were excellent ...
and the vast majority of the audience seemed thrilled ... only one late
hour comic, a Mexican revue, a banjo player and a gymnast couple were
there for 10 days ... plenty of good music in the lounges so to me ..
too similar ...

2) The soap dish in the shower and the toilet paper holders were
terrible... The soap fell through very easily and it took great
technique to get more than one square of toilet paper ... and with all
the great food on board ... believe me that was annoying ...

3) The cruise director was terribly remiss in his duties in reminding
me of Bingo and art auctions ... I missed them all ... I'm used to
being constantly reminded and here ... lucky once a day at noon ... and
then only in public areas ...

OK ... I'm being facetious about #3 ... and #2 shows how picky one has
to be to find fault with this cruise ...

Everything about this cruise rated very highly ...

Embarkation Day ... went smoothly ... we pre registered ...and a 1
person ,1 minute wait was all that kept us from going up the gangway to
get on board with our welcome abord champagne awaiting us as we boarded
at about 11:00 am ... Though they don't guanantee rooms will be ready
until 1 pm ... ours was at 11 am with our room steward Elvie and
assistant putting a few finishing touches here and there ... very
competent ... Elvie's done this ship for a few years after 5 on the NY
to Bermuda route on a different Celebrity ship ... Her competence gets
the routine done quickly ... leaving time for a few nice touches ...
Then to lunch on the welcome abord buffet ... and very quickly I
realized this was not your typical buffet - having been on several
Carnival and NCL ships and the Zuidy and Pac Princess ... I've been
pretty jaded by all the buffets as good ... but not special ... well
here I met special ... Fresh fruit ... not just melons and canteloupes
.... but some strawberries ... and kiwi and raspberries and blackberries
and blueberries ... which appeared throughout the cruise in various
concoctions ... how they kept them all fresh throughout the cruise
amazed me ... lots of other good looking good tasting interesting
dishes ... plenty of servers around both filling your plates (someone
told me that Celebrity does this to prevent Norwalk - along with the
numerous disinfection stations all over ...) and carrying them to
tables ... much more than anywhere else ...
Next, a walk around the ship quickly impressed me as to how well the
ship was laid out ... 5 sea days awaiting us was reason to find nice
places to relax on board ... we're not pool people ... but finding
quiet places on board to relax was easy ... the Navigator club forward
deck 12 was perfect for sea days ... but plenty of relaxing places
abound ...
With early seating at 6 PM we anxiously awaited our luggage ... which
seemed to be coming in dribs and drabs ... This too though was
something special as they used smaller carriers and no passenger
elevators to do this ... first time we've not had baggage crushed or
damaged by the cruiseline ... slower smaller and more careful seems to
be their method ... and even though the last bag containing my wife's
dresses did not arrive until until 5PM ... both our room steward and
the baggage carriers assured us all along that all would be fine ...
and it was ...
We were greeted for dinner very pleasantly and led to our table shared
with 2 other couples ... one a dozen years older than our 54/56 and the
other 2 dozen years older than us ... my first impressions were what
was Celebrity thinking of ... I was dead wrong ... we had the most
pleasant time ... always near the last persons leaving dinner ... We
prefer freestyle on NCL ... having had some terribly incompatible
tablemates before but mostly because set eating times and shore
excursions don't mix ... With tablemates like these ... we'll put up
with that problem ...

Then an energetic production show ... a small donation to the casino
and a relatively early 11 PM bedtime since out bodies were still
feeling like the 2AM eastern time ...

More to follow ...

number6 wrote:
Everything about this cruise rated very highly ...


I've been looking forward to your post. I'm aboard for Mercury's Alaska
repositioning in May!

Warren

Hi, I was on this same voyage -- with my little red scooter due to
broken leg.
I, too, found the food very good. Especially the beef. I come from
beef country and am pretty picky about how it's prepared -- steaks and
roast beef were perfect.

I found it interesting how many scooters were on board. Most were
rented in San Diego, with arrangements made through Celebrity. I
wasn't aware that they could make such arrangements but was glad to
learn that this is possible. My scooter came with me on the plane,
which was surprisingly easy. It was gate checked and met me on
arrival. I'm looking forward to more of your review.

stitcher wrote:
Hi, I was on this same voyage -- with my little red scooter due to
broken leg.
I, too, found the food very good. Especially the beef. I come from
beef country and am pretty picky about how it's prepared -- steaks and
roast beef were perfect.


The Beef Wellington at Grand Buffet was very special ... Were you on
the fifth floor near the guest relations ??? I saw someone several
times scootering around there ... but there were several and no one
seemed to have problems navigating ... good ship layout ...

I found it interesting how many scooters were on board. Most were
rented in San Diego, with arrangements made through Celebrity. I
wasn't aware that they could make such arrangements but was glad to
learn that this is possible. My scooter came with me on the plane,
which was surprisingly easy. It was gate checked and met me on
arrival. I'm looking forward to more of your review.

More will come shortly ... feel free to comment or even disagree ...
despite my proclivity for freestyle ... This cruise rates the top for
traditional ...

No, I was on deck 4, but I agree about the ship layout. I only found
two doors that were tough
to motor across, one into one of the gift shops, one up on deck 11. I
was a little upset about my cabin -- 4118 -- which was directly above
some sort of machinery that banged and clanged until midnight each
night, and the noise started up early again the next morning. Maybe it
was a laundry? Or a storeroom that people were moving cargo in night
after night. It was terribly loud.
But the ship was sold out and there was nowhere they could move me to.
It was a bummer because I was already so uncomfortable due to the cast
on my leg. Looking forward to your further commentary.....