(Continued from our blogs page...)

Mercury appeared a little 'used'... but elegantly used; a little dim and seemingly 'worldly'. A vision (probably) better described as old fashioned.

But it was very charming.

Mercury is/was then, the smallest of the fleet and it demonstrated all the little luxuries of small ship cruising. The staterooms were well proportioned (larger than more modern-day ships) having all today's mods & cons.

The big difference we found was the socialibility of staff and crew. If ever I've become bitter about a cruise, it would have to be about the service (rather, lack of) We had no such gripe aboard Mercury.

The crew were 'excellent' in every way. No crew member passed you by without an acknowledgement of at least an "Hello" or "Good morning"

The ship was immaculate in every way, even whilst they worked frantically preparing her for the next sailing; with boarding passengers due starting from around noon for a 5pm sail-away.

Considering Mercury (as I understand it) has now been transferred to HUI, I won't rave on about the ship itself, instead I'll talk more about the Celebrity brand and how she showed all the typical hallmarks of the Celebrity service.

Noon came, and we witnessed the first group of passengers boarding. On arrival, they were greeted with a warm welcome and a choice of icy cold drinks. The 'lost looking' passengers (having rested and chatted to welcoming staff) appeared to have been escorted to their cabins by awaiting stateroom attendants.

I consider Mercury (in fact, the Celebrity range), a 5 Star product. And I was seeing it. Going into Canadian school holidays, children were boarding and receiving the same warm welcome as adult customers. The smiles on faces of boarding passengers said it all.

Having completed a thorough inspection of the ship, we ended with a hosted lunch with fellow delegates of the cruise conference we were attending.

Tables were explicitly set and awaiting our arrival. Not-surprisingly, we were escorted to our table by a senior (volunteer, I might add) waiter and napkin-laid and given a menu. Drinks (white or red, bubbly or soft drinks) were provided immediately - being the only time these have been included on any of our inspections during the conference in Vancouver!

I have to say, the choice of menu (remembering we were a small group of hungry, freebie-free loaders) was to die for. Probably the best I'd had since I left home!

The service was second to none. Waiters were extremely attentive and even whilst paying customers began to fill public areas of the ship, we were unhurried.

That's the Celebrity Cruises difference. Perhaps by comparison; a little more expensive than others, it's certainly worth an investment for peace of mind. If (that is...); it's any more expensive at all!

I'm going to finish up on the Port of Vancouver itself. FANTASTIC, well organised and reasonably short passenger queues for customers preparing to board.

I recommend either Vancouver (or Seattle - from USA) for cruising Alaska, there's no better way in my opinion than to cruise the Inside Passage; to/from or on a round-trip Alaskan cruise.

Spoil factor... 8.5/10

Photos to come!

Editor - Cruisescene