good news for Mercury

[shanghai 100]

Mercury will receive extensive series of upgrades in April 2007

[thomas stanton]

Long overdue I might add. Celebrity lets thier ships go way to long before they refurbish them.Being that they are supposed to be a Premium line you would think they would take better care of thier ships..We have put celebrity on hold until they recieve thier new ships. I do think thier service is good especially in the dinnig rooms.t

[moeve]

Hmm are you sure?? I thought she was only going for her regularly sheduled dry dock.... that is very much a outside and mechanical thing....Nothing like what the Century got.

[SD Cruiser]

How did you find out exactly what the upgrades will be? I would like to be able to check that out for myself, as Mercury departures are sometimes very convenient for me, living in San Diego. I was on the Mercury last month, and the beds are definitely long overdue for replacement. I also noticed that service and food were not up to par with the Mercury cruise I took 14 months before that.

[thomas stanton]

SD
Celebrity is not the line it was a few years ago.They started down hill as soon as RCL bought them out.

[CathieOK]

I would like to know more about this as we are cruising on it on April 27th.

[shanghai 100]

As far as I know, the Mercury will be going to dry dock from Apr 16,2007 to Apr 26,2007. No further info was released as of now.

[fruby]

Hello,

I'm not sure that I agree that Celebrity has "gone downhill" since RCCl bought Celebrity. Based on my 15 cruises, cruising has become so popular that all of the cruise lines including the ultra sophisticated and very expensive have altered their cruise product in order to make as much profit per cruise as possible. Also, you will notice that many persons who really like cruising, do not want to dress up for formal nights. This sends a message to the cruise lines...if their customers want to wear jeans to dinner in the dining room, not wear a suit and tie to dinner on formal nights,then why provide excellent food and service when a large percentage of our customers do not care? Cruise lines are not stupid. If they can make bushels full of money like they do, why have a midnight buffet to give you one example if very few persons attend? And why provide new bedding if their ships are at 90% capacity or better?

As for Celebrity I believe that they provide a very good cruise experience for the money. Have they changed, yes, but gone downhill not sure that I agree.

If you need an especially high quality of food and service, be prepared to pay much more than you would pay for a Celebrity cruise. As for me, Celebrity is fine but at least on formal nights I want the dress code reasonably enforced.

Fred

[shanghai 100]

Mercury Hotel Refurbishment Work Scheduled for 2007
During the 6-day SFO dry-dock period in April 2007 we will:
• Add 12 new verandas in the aft end of the vessel. The twelve new verandas that are being
added on Mercury will be located at the aft of the ship on decks 6 and 8 (those currently
categorized as FO - Family Ocean View). These staterooms will now be sold as category 2A's,
although they will be 22% larger than other 2A staterooms (210 square feet versus the rest of
the 2A's at 172 sq feet), making them a great value for a large, aft facing category 2A
stateroom with a veranda.
• Completely revitalize the gift shops
• Refurbish the pool deck
• Complete replacement of all mattresses on the vessel
• Commence replacement of all the potable water system with plastic piping
• Install a new satellite antenna
During the 6-day SFO dry-dock period in April 2007 we will:
• Replace 200 bathroom sinks
• Replace carpet in the following areas:
·Staircases
·Staircase Landin
·Main Foyer
·Guest corridors on Decks 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 & 12
·All Sky Suites
·Main Restaurant
·Martini and Champagne Bars
·Cova Cafe
·Casino

[shanghai 100]

Mercury Hotel Refurbishment Work Completed in 2006
• Navigator’s Club:
·Carpet was totally replaced
·Leather was replaced on all armchairs
·Upholstery material of the sofas was partially changed, with material arriving shortly to
complete the work.
• Palm Springs Café/Lido: All fabrics of sofas and chairs have been replaced. Carpet was
replaced in the entire area.
• Casino on Deck 7: Vinyl material of stools, chairs and walls have been replaced. Curtain
replacement is in progress.
• Photo Gallery: Carpet was replaced in the entire area.
• Pavilion Night Club: Fabric of all chairs has been replaced. Stools material has also been
changed.
• Rendez Vous Lounge: Fabric was replaced for all red armchairs as well as leather of the
stools, wool panels and hand rails.
• Cova Café: Fabric of all chairs has been replaced. Carpet was partially replaced.
• Foyer’s Salons: Armchairs and sofas fabric replacement is in progress.
• Manhattan Restaurant: Fabric of chairs was partially replaced.
Champagne Bar: Fabric of all chairs was replaced. Same for stools leather, hand rails and
wool panels.
• Guest Staterooms: Approximately 500 sq meters of carpet in total was installed on all decks.
• Aqua Spa: Floor tiles have been replaced in all treatment rooms.
• Mattresses: New mattresses were installed in 143 guest staterooms during 2006 with
remainder scheduled for replacement during Jan-Apr 2007.