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Alaskan dream |
| Reviewed By: Russell, Chippenham on 28th Aug 2008 |
| Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Mercury |
Sailed:
August,
2008 |
| Destination: Alaska |
Age: 46-55 |
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Just returned from a 7 day cruise to Alaska and had been concerned about a few elements e.g. time to clear US immigration in Vancouver, condition of ship etc. before we left based upon recent reviews. In the event it took us less than 30 minutes from exiting our taxi to be sitting in the ship's cafe having a light lunch. As an 11 year old ship we thought the Mercury to be in much better condition than P&O's newer Oceana which we cruised on last year. The only negative was the poor state of some of the windows in the Navigator Club which also serves as an observation lounge, that at least half a dozen windows should be obscured by misting (or something similar) is inexcusable on such a cruise and surely not beyond a relatively simple replacement job. Elsewhere however we thought the ship to be elegant in design and in generally good condition, our Concierge Class cabin was as good as we have seen and the bottle of champagne that greeted us in our cabin very welcome. Little needs to be said about the Alaskan scenery that has not been said elsewhere, it was simply stunning and the wildlife tours we undertook, whilst fairly expensive, were in every case outstanding and memorable - "just another whale" as somebody said an hour into a whale spotting tour, there were dozens!
We were somewhat puzzled however as to why four other ships (some larger than Mercury) were alongside in Juneau whilst we required tenders and the ineveitable delays associated with these.
The entertainment in the theatre each evening was excellent and of the highest standard (and once again highlighted how poor the equivalent was on Oceana last year). The theatre was also nicely laid out and reasonably spacious.
Food was perfectly OK and acceptable but certainly not premium class, we had no real cause for complaint but the presence of a large group (c. 200 +) of a certain religious faith which required particular foods and dining arrangements did seem to mean that the waiting staff were extended and so on occasions the service left something to be desired. The main dining room was nicely laid out but the Pavilion cafe (casual dining) did seem a bit small and was often crowded, on port days we took to having breakfast via the free Room Service.
Unfortunately bad weather on the last leg between Sitka and Vancouver resulted in a 4 hour delay in arrival which meant that departing passengers met with passengers arriving for the next cruise in the terminal - a recipe for total chaos and lengthy delays - but on the positive side the ship handled the bad weather superbly, very stable and very few people were poorly
All in all, an excellent cruise and we are looking forward to cruising with Celebrity next year
One other small point - Mercury leaves from Ballantynes Quay in Vancouver and not Canada Place which is where the main cruise terminal is situated. Consequently it's not the simple stroll across the road from the local hotels we had expected but a short taxi ride instead - no great deal but rather pointless of the travel agent to book us into Canada Place hotels in the first place.......
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Good, but not great, food. Pavilion Cafe choices limited but excellent choices in main dining room | | Entertainment |  |
| Good dance company and singers, excellent dancing contortionists, great comedian and ventriloquist | | Shore Excursions | |
| Pricey but memorable, the float plane trip to go bear spotting was exceptional | | Staff |  |
| Always cheerful, excellent cabin service, restaurant staff "stretched" | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| 300 kids on board, hardly saw them, enough said! | | Onboard Activities | |
| The usual mixture, some nice bars; why do Americans love Bingo so much? | | Cabins | |
| Very comfortable, reasonably spacious, well equipped - note balcony access is through a single door rather than the more usual full width french windows | | Overall Rating | |
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