I have just returned from the CruiseOne, Cruises Inc. 2008 National Conference aboard the Celebrity Mercury. We sailed into glorious Alaska from Vancouver, B.C. and returned to Seattle after 8 nights, having visited Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, and Victoria. We also viewed the magnificent Hubbard Glacier, which, for me, was the highlight of the cruise. Since this was my first cruise aboard a Celebrity ship, I have decided to review it so that my readers can have the opportunity to gain from my experiences. What did I think? Well, read on to find out!
Since my husband had to stay home with the kids, I traveled with a friend of mine, and we shared a Category 2A Balcony Stateroom. I have to say that I was not very impressed with the stateroom, as it was very small. With two twin beds and two very small bedside tables, a desk, small glass coffee table and "loveseat", there was hardly room to walk around the room without bumping into furniture. The Mercury is one of Celebrity's older ships, and the size of the room and its furnishings reflect that fact. Many ships have now updated their staterooms to include flat-screen TVs and upgraded bed linens such as comforters, but these have not undergone such upgrades yet. Despite the cramped surroundings, the storage space was more than adequate, with two closets for hanging items and a third with shelves and drawers. The bathroom was tiny, as expected, but with adequate storage space and a decent-sized shower, it was definitely serviceable. The balcony was good-sized, and was furnished with a small square coffee table and 2 chaises. The balcony was not deep enough to accommodate the chaises if they were laid flat, but it still worked. We've been on ships where the balcony was barely deep enough to accommodate standard chairs, so this was an improvement.
The ship's public rooms were nicely decorated but in my opinion there really was not a lot of pizazz. I don't care for loud neon lights and really bold colors, but I thought that in general the decor seemed sedated. The main dining room was nice but nothing to scream about and the nightclubs and other areas were nicely appointed but nothing really took my breath away. One thing I found frustrating was that the only area of the ship that had a TV on was the casino bar, and the bar was in the middle of the casino so it tended to be very noisy when there was a lot of gaming action going on. The pool area seemed nice but the pool didn't get much use since we were in cold weather. The enclosed Palm Springs Pool area at the back of the ship was a nice place to relax and seemed to be used more often than the area surrounding the La Playa Pool midship. The Celebrity Theater had comfortable seating and good sight lines and the Navigator Club on the Sky deck and beautiful views.
The food on the Mercury was generally good and lunches and dinners in the dining room were nicely presented. The buffet in the Palm Springs Cafe served breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and also had a Sushi buffet in the late afternoon. The food at the buffet was pretty decent, exept for most of the desserts, which seemed to lack flavor. The sushi buffet offered a variety of maki, such as California Roll and Tuna Roll, and had small pieces of tuna and salmon sashimi; these tasted better than the rolls. They also offered a create-your-own stir fry station, which was a pretty good way to get your vegetables in but the choice of sauce was limited to oyster or soy, so not much variety there. My major complaint about the food on the Mercury was room service. The 24-hour menu was limited to soups, salads, sandwiches and a few hot items, and the dessert choices were also limited and uninspired. For breakfast, room service was limited to eggs (scrambled or a plain omelette only) and a selection of breakfast meats and some toast and pastries. Coffee came with non-dairy creamer only, and you could not choose the type of pastry you wanted, and muffins were not offered. I expected the choices to be better, but at least delivery was timely.
As for the ports of call we visited, I enjoyed Juneau and Sitka the best. In Ketchikan, we visited the Totem Bight State Park, which was small and sort of interesting, but not really my cup of tea. If you are interested in Indian culture and totem poles, this might be a good place for you to visit. In Juneau we took the Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip, which was disappointing because we merely floated along the lake with the glacier in the background, the mouth of which was obscured by a large land peninsula; and the rapids, which were fun, lasted all of about 10 minutes out of a 90 minute trip. The scenery was not very interesting and overall the operation was shoddily run. I would not recommend this excursion unless you like to sit and do nothing in the cold for about 90 minutes with not much to see. In Sitka we went on the Captain's Choice Wildlife and Beach Trek, which was interesting and informative. The tour lasted 3 hours and we spent about an hour on the beach of a small remote island and learned about marine life and the flora and fauna on the island. Later, back on the large and comfortable catamaran, the captain took us to an area where we saw a large gathering of bald eagles, and then we saw several whales in the water. What a sight that was, and it really was the high point of that excursion. The crew was friendly and knowledgeable, and I would definitely recommmend this excursion.
For me, the highlight of this cruise was seeing the incredible Hubbard Glacier. The enormous blue-colored wall of ice was an awesome sight and it was everything I had envisioned. The weather generally cooperated for us, as it was quite cold and rainy as we entered Disenchantment Bay, but it gradually cleared up and the sun came out for a while as we viewed the glacier from all sides of the ship. The smaller Turner Glacier also was a beautiful sight and the area really is spectacular.
Entertainment on the Mercury was rather limited. During the day, activities were the usual fare: art auctions, bingo, trivia, watercolor painting lessons and computer enrichment classes, etc.; and in the evenings you'd have the show, whether it be the singers and dancers or the comedian, or some sort of variety show; and a couple of different choices to listen to music and dance. The casino was an option, but it was small and the slots seemed very tight. It could be very easy to lose a lot of money there in the space of 8 nights, so you need to visit it sparingly unless you have a large bankroll. The shops onboard sold the usual array of items, but since we sailed at the end of the Alaska season, a large amount of Alaska-related merchandise was marked down. I personally did not care for Fith, our Cruise Director, but I heard others onboard praise him, so to each his own.
Overall, it was a good trip and I will cruise to Alaska again, although next time I plan to do a cruisetour so that I can see more of Alaska's awesome wildlife on land. If you have not yet visited Alaska and would like to take a cruise there, start planning soon because the big Alaska cruise booking season is just around the corner! I will treasure the memories of my Alaska firsts, such as icebergs, glaciers, and whales, and I look forward to seeing all of that again and more on my next trip. Take my advice and cruise to Alaska next year -- you will love it!
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