Celebrity Mercury
Mexican Riviera
November 11, 2006
by Carol & Phil Nicholson
We just returned from an 11-day Mexican Rivera cruise on the Celebrity Mercury. This was our fifth cruise: two others on Celebrity's Horizon and Summit, one on Holland Ryndam, and one on Dawn Princess.
We felt this was the best cruise we ever have taken, in fact the food and service was even superior to the last two Celebrity cruises in 2002 and 2003. The cuisine was meticulously prepared, and beautifully presented continental food. After one taste of the consommé, it is evident these chefs know food preparation! If your idea of good food is a trip to the local mall food court, this is not the cruise line for you. If you are content with a steak and baked potato night after night, ditto. However, if you enjoy fabulous high cooking with a wonderful variety of classical continental dishes, you won't be disappointed with Celebrity. We agree that most of the items we had were even memorable. Even at the buffet the worst food we had was good; most was very good to excellent. Holland and Princess do not serve gourmet aged cheeses daily, freshly made grav lax sliced paper thin off the salmon filet, homemade ice cream and sherbets, or custom made Belgian waffles.
As you can tell, we cruise for the food and service. Celebrity also stands a notch above the Princess and Holland cruises we took as well, although they certainly were not bad. Shows ranged from good to great, activities were available daily, the drinks were excellent, although spendy, and the ocean view stateroom was pleasant and comfortable. The staff were happy and simply bend over backward to meet your every desire.
The ports are typical cruise ship itinerary ports, with an abundance of obnoxious cab drivers, hawkers, and vendors. We did not do any excursions, but they seemed to be fairly comparable to ones of other cruise lines.
Again, we can't speak highly enough of Celebrity's efforts to provide a wonderful cruise, particularly in the areas of cuisine and service. Yes, they do stand above the other lines in these areas!
Celebrity Cruises - Cruise Reviews
Celebrity Cruise Line Profile