Trip Review
Mexican Riviera on the Celebrity "Mercury"
February 20th thru March 1st, 2004
I'll begin by saying that, for all travel info hounds who only want the 'cliff notes' rather than the whole nine yards of where + when we ate/who we saw/what we did or not/ yadda yadda, I'll be putting those notes in some as yet to be determined color so you can hightail it thru without reading every line.
We had a GREAT TIME and loved every minute of it.  A couple of wrinkles - yes - but overall we would do it again in a heartbeat & likely will.  Moving forward with specifics:
Departure
As per usual, I stayed up all night, partly from not being entirely prepared and partly from distraction as this was the first time I'd boarded our dearest  "Spooky"  & was finding that situation extremely distressful.  Flight was early AM so we left the house about 4:30AM with our dear friend Ian graciously chauffeuring us.  We flew with Alaska YVR to SEA, had breakfast in SEA & then flew SEA to SAN direct.  Booked the flight thru a web special from Alaska reasonably shortly before departure date for about $350USD/PP.  Food service was pretty sparse but no hitches with the flight & the crew were pleasant enough so that was all fine.
San Diego
Arrived in SAN shortly after Noon, retrieved baggage reasonably quickly and on doing so, noticed the TSA blue tags on them.  More about that here.  Off to our chosen hotel - Hilton Gaslamp - and I'll say it is an excellently located hotel if you're trying to decide.  It's right across from the San Diego Convention Centre (so very handy for me getting to convention) very close to the Marriott & the Hyatt (easy walk) and likewise to Horton Plaza plus right in front/behind (depending upon your orientation) the railroad tracks where the InterUrban runs.  I really don't think you could find a more centrally located hotel.  If you're considering booking there, get your Hilton Honors card ahead of time, link it to your reservation & likely as not your rooms will be on the HH Executive floors - the top three floors.
"Mercury" The Ship
LOVED this ship!  Key words - to me - would be understated elegance.  None of that 'glitzy s**t' which personally I find pretty *uck*.  Well maintained with evident care & attention abounding.  Personally not so fussy about the color choices for decor in some areas (including our suite) but perhaps others love it so it's kind of a personal taste thing.  My first ever cruise was a HAL repo & I can still recall incessantly thinking " Eeewwww - who is your DECorator???  I could do a better job blindfolded!"  
Since our Panama cruise at the end of 2000 where we were on Riviera Deck on the Sun Princess & close to everything of daily importance, we look for similar accommodation on upcoming cruises.  Our Mercury cabin was Sky Suite 1215 on the Sky Deck and it was FABULOUS.  The sole complaint I have is that the weather wasn't fabulous from our Day One departure from San Diego so that we could have comfortably utilized the HUGE balcony much more greatly!  Regardless we surely enjoyed & utilized it.  
Didn't take as many pics of the cabin as I'd intended however you'll find some here with comments / explano's included.
Cabo
Mazatlan
Puerto Vallarta
Acapulco
Zihuatnejo / Ixtapa
Return to San Diego

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