Celebrity Cruises Panama Canal Cruise

One of my clients recently returned from a Celebrity Cruises Panama Canal cruise on the Mercury (one of the older ships in the fleet), and I wanted to share his comments:

“We would definitely use Celebrity again. The ship did have some areas that were very dated, mainly exterior. However, the important areas (public areas, bars, restaurants, clubs, casino and our room were obviously updated). Not just carpet & paint. It looked like they had put new veneers on most of
these areas. Excellent staff.

“Our room was beautiful (don’t let the online picture fool you). Tons of storage. Huge veranda. The butler service in the Skye Suite was incredible. We dined in-suite 9 nights. It was served course by course and at our pace.

“The food was very comparable with Holland America Line. Excellent quality and a very nice selection both in dining room & Buffet. Really good sushi! We took 8 bottles of wine and had no problem getting it on. We spoke with many people who said the same thing.

“We even got our one rough day at sea – no clouds, just wind and big seas. BUT you must be careful of what you wish for-the rough seas kept us from going into port one day.

“Which brings me to the only downside-too many days at sea. With the one cancelled [port] we were at sea 10 days out of 14. If we have a cruise with that many sea days it will need to be a larger ship with more activities.

“We met many many people on board who were frequent cruisers. They also like Celebrity & Holland but said that Royal Caribbean was excellent for the $$, with very good activities. [Royal Caribbean is a ‘moderate’ cruise line, while Celebrity and Holland America are both considered ‘premium’ products.]

“One other thing-spa prices on board RIDICULOUS!!!!.

“Overall an excellent experience!! The Panama Canal was just amazing. We are ready to start packing again. Thanks for all your help.”

Mike Z., client of Vickie Baehner