A Graduation Cruise in Review: Monarch (with pics!)

[ChampionCruiser]

The rest of the day was laid back. We had a terrific dinner (no food porn, sorry!) and met our AWESOME head waiter, Vergel, before heading to the Welcome Aboard Show. The show featured comedian Rodney Johnson as well as the singers and dancers and was enjoyable. We relaxed and retired to our staterooms soon after (boring, I know). After all, we had plans to be on the first tender to Coco Cay the next morning!

 

Here are a couple of final pics from day 1:

 

We passed the Ecstasy shortly after we left the harbor. I thought we might see her again in Nassau but we didn’t.

 

 

One of my favorite things from Semester at Sea was waking up every port morning to watch the pilot jump onto the ship, so I didn’t want to miss it here. The Port Canaveral pilot has a pretty easy job since the harbor is small and right on the Atlantic. This was very different than cruising from Baltimore or New Orleans :).

 

 

That wraps up day 1!

 

Up next: Day 2; Coco Cay, Bahamas!

[BLAMBKY]

If I haven't said it already, Thanks! :D

I leave for a 4night on Monarch soon, like I fly out TOMORROW!!! I am like that kid on the WDW commercial, "I can't sleep; I'm too excited!!!!!" :p

[ChampionCruiser]

If I haven't said it already, Thanks! :D

I leave for a 4night on Monarch soon, like I fly out TOMORROW!!! I am like that kid on the WDW commercial, "I can't sleep; I'm too excited!!!!!" :p

 

No problem! Travel safely and I hope you enjoy the Monarch as much as we did!

[iloverags2]

Enjoying your review! We sailed Monarch in January 2011, and I am definitely going to miss her.

 

Your pictures are awesome!

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

Great review!! My first cruise was on the Monarch many years ago. Reading this brings back fond memories!:rolleyes: She was brand new & the largest cruise ship at the time. I remember thinking she was HUGE!! You've done such a good job I may book her again before she leaves the fleet. Congratulations on your graduation!!:D I can't wait to read the rest!

[ChampionCruiser]

Thanks for the replies! I'm glad you are all enjoying the review so far!

 

Day 2: Coco Cay Bahamas

 

As I said before, Coco Cay was a HUGE reason that I chose this cruise and the forecast made me nervous. I know that ships miss this port quite often, so the rain was a little nerve-racking. We all woke up and had breakfast in the Windjammer around 7:30 in order to wait for the first tender announcement. I was up much earlier, though in order to watch us arrive:

 

 

It wasn’t the prettiest morning, but seeing land made me feel a little better!

 

 

Unfortunately it was looking worse during breakfast :(

 

 

 

Thankfully, Captain Trond (who was great, by the way!) made the announcement shortly after that the tenders would be heading out as planned. He said that, even though it was rainy, the seas were very calm. That was a relief! With that, all eight of us jumped up and made our way down to deck one. I assume most of the passengers were either still sleeping or waiting for the weather to clear, because there weren’t many people waiting for the first tender.

 

I wasn’t the only one excited about making it to Coco Cay!

 

[ChampionCruiser]

We only had to wait for a few more to board before we were ready to go!

 

 

I know she’s small by today’s standards, but the Monarch is still an impressive ship.

 

 

The ride over to the island was really fast. We were told that the ship anchored a mile from land, but it didn’t seem nearly that far at all. As far as tendering goes, the whole process was pretty painless.

 

We waved by to our home-away-from-home for now:

 

 

We made it!

 

[ChampionCruiser]

Once on the island, we walked around a bit but soon realized that most of the market shops weren't open yet. Before heading out, I went to the parasail booth (right behind the market) to confirm the 1:00 excursion for my sister, cousins, and I. This was something that we’ve always wanted to do and what better place than Coco Cay! My sister and I LOVED the zip line at Labadee and wanted to compare :). Our reservation was confirmed, but we were told that it would be canceled if it were raining at all, even sprinkling…great…now I would be nervous again for the next few hours...oh well.

 

Our next mission was to find our beach spot! We walked past the larger beaches near the entrance as well as the aqua park beach and made our way to the farthest (and quietest) of Coco Cay’s beaches: Barefoot Beach. Once there we walked…and walked…and walked until we had reached the end. We felt like we were on our own private island!

 

 

The tiki umbrella huts were a nice way to get out of the sun…and rain.

 

 

We made it to the end!

 

 

After staking out our beach chairs, we rented a few beach mats and continued to explore. We saw a good amount of marine life, including a shark (one of my cousins refused to swim in that area), a puffer fish, and a bunch of stingrays (she wouldn’t swim there either) like this guy:

 

 

While exciting, all of those sightings made us look around before we swam!

 

[mygrace777]

No problem! Travel safely and I hope you enjoy the Monarch as much as we did!

 

 

Hey

I was wondering if you could email me. I was wanting to

ask you something about your cruise.

thanks

 

janecool07@aol.com

[chels08]

Congrats on your graduation! That and your future studies are just remarkable!

 

Can't wait to see more of the cruise. Reminds me of my first cruise on Sovereign!

[Cruzin RN]

great pics!!!! and thanks for the one of the "leaning palm" on Barefoot beach..that is our favorite spot..My DH and I always bet on whether that tree will be standing on our next visit...looks like it is!!!! :)

[ChampionCruiser]

The rain began to slack off but continued off and on for the next couple of hours. We used that time to swim a bit and shop in the market. I didn’t find anything of interest (to me) here so I saved my spending money for Nassau. The items for sale were what you would expect to find anywhere in the Caribbean/Bahamas.

 

 

We ate lunch at one of the barbeque/grill stations and enjoyed it. It was exactly what I had come to expect as far as private island lunches go (Labadee and Half Moon Cay were VERY similar). The food was fine. It wasn’t as good as the Windjammer, but it was much more convenient! A word of caution, though: watch out for these guys!

 

 

They apparently can and WILL eat anything! Both my cousin and mom had hot dogs stolen from their plates while walking from the buffet to our table. These gulls are clever and NOT afraid of people. We noticed afterward that all of the employees took an extra plate to cover their food. Now we know why!

 

The weather FINALLY started to clear up around lunch time and I became cautiously optimistic about the parasailing trip. This was the only excursion we booked for this cruise and we had been looking forward to it for months.

 

 

We also started to notice the tide going down, leaving some mini-islands here and there. They amused me if nobody else!

 

 

At 1:00 we headed back to the parasailing hut and were told that our tour WASN’T cancelled! The weather had cleared just in time and we were beyond excited.

 

 

There were about 15 of us in all and we were split into two boats. After signing our lives away, we made for dock and were soon on our way.

 

[ChampionCruiser]

On the parasailing tour, couples take turns in the air. Each couple gets 5-6 minutes with the kite and the entire trip lasts 45 minutes to an hour. The boat ride itself was enjoyable, so I didn’t mind waiting before and after our turn. It provided a great opportunity to take pictures of the ship.

 

 

After watching two couples before us, it was finally our turn! I’m not sure if this is a look of excitement or terror, but there’s no turning back at this point!

 

 

And we’re off!

 

 

In one word, the experience was AMAZING! Yes, it was a bit pricey and five minutes isn’t a lot of time, but we spent around the same price for the Labadee zip line, which lasts around one minute. Both activities were great, but I definitely enjoyed this one more. I wish I was brave enough to take my camera with me, because the view of the island was terrific.

 

My cousins were next and they loved it too. I can't wait to do it again!

 

[ChampionCruiser]

great pics!!!! and thanks for the one of the "leaning palm" on Barefoot beach..that is our favorite spot..My DH and I always bet on whether that tree will be standing on our next visit...looks like it is!!!! :)

 

I was surprised so few ventured that far down barefoot beach because it was beautiful! We'll be looking for the same palm and spot next time as well :)

[ChampionCruiser]

Once we made it back to the island, we could tell that the day’s excitement had just begun, because this is what we were greeted with...

 

SUNSHINE!!

 

 

It’s hard for me to limit the number of pictures I post from this afternoon, because the weather was perfect. It took a few hours, but I could finally see why everyone loves Coco Cay so much! This is what I’ll remember when I think about it:

 

 

 

 

The rest of the day was (of course) spent enjoying the beautiful beach and water. I felt bad for the people we saw returning to the ship earlier because of the rain but not TOO bad, because the island almost seemed empty!

 

 

We hung around until we absolutely HAD to get back to the ship in order to get ready for dinner. I definitely didn’t want to leave, though! To sum it all up, this is what I thought of Coco Cay:

 

 

If I had to rank it along with the other private islands I’ve been to, it would be a VERY close second behind Half Moon. I guess I need to try Great Stirrup and Princess Cays next!

[ChampionCruiser]

We were sad to leave Coco Cay but glad to be back aboard the Monarch! We were among the first to reach the island and last to leave it, but it was definitely worth it.

 

 

 

Under normal circumstances I think three people getting dressed for formal night is a nightmare. Three people getting dressed for formal night in one of the Monarch’s cabins? Impossible :). I rushed to get ready and escaped the cabin in time to see the ship set sail.

 

Nassau, here we come!

 

 

 

Dinner was again very good and it was nice seeing everyone dressed up. There was definitely a variety of opinions on the definition of the word “formal”, but most people followed the suggested guideline. I was actually expecting it to be more casual as a short cruise, but it was about the same as my 7 day Carnival and RCCL cruises in the past.

 

After dinner we headed to the first of two production shows: “You Can’t Stop the Beat” and we were all very impressed. We found the singers especially to be terrific. At the end of the cruise we all agreed that this was definitely the better of the two shows. We also went to the Majority Rules game show, which was a lot of fun. If I haven’t said it already, the entire cruise staff was amazing. They truly seemed to enjoy their jobs and were always pleasant, both during activities and around the ship. The cruise director, Marc (bingbongMarc), might have been my favorite ever!

 

We called it a night after the game show to get ready for the next day in Nassau. It was hard to believe that the cruise was already halfway over!

 

 

Up Next: Day 3, Nassau, Bahamas

[Baseballkurt]

Thanks for the review. Contracts on the degree. What kind of camera did you use? It takes great pictures!

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

I was surprised so few ventured that far down barefoot beach because it was beautiful! We'll be looking for the same palm and spot next time as well :)

 

ChampionCruiser, thank you so much for this fabulous review! I have been lucky enough to go to Coco Cay several times, but I have yet to find the elusive Barefoot Beach. You say you walked and walked, yet you were still able to rent mats? As I get off the tender, and reach the large Coco Cay sign, which way do I go? The tiki huts sound great, and do they have bar service there? Thanks again!!

[mketting]

Great Review! Heading out on the Monarch in August with first time cruisers and I am sending them a link to this thread!!

[Yvonne]

I'm enjoying reading your review, and especially seeing your pictures. :) We were on the Monarch a year ago and really enjoyed the ship too, and CocoCay! :)

[ChampionCruiser]

ChampionCruiser, thank you so much for this fabulous review! I have been lucky enough to go to Coco Cay several times, but I have yet to find the elusive Barefoot Beach. You say you walked and walked, yet you were still able to rent mats? As I get off the tender, and reach the large Coco Cay sign, which way do I go? The tiki huts sound great, and do they have bar service there? Thanks again!!

 

Good point. I didn't make it clear that we did have to walk back for the mats. The farthest rental hut is at the beginning of barefoot beach, so make sure you rent them there before you walk any further. I don't believe there was bar service further down, either, but there were crew members riding around selling beer.

 

When you get off the tender, turn left away from the market. Make your way to the water sports beach with all of the inflatables. This is actually the same beach/strand as barefoot beach. You just have to walk a ways past the sign to reach the peace and quiet!

[Mickeefan]

Thanks for taking time to post this review. I am enjoying it thoroughly. I'd love to read a review as descriptive as yours about the Vision of the Seas. We're cruising in January. Can't wait!

[ChampionCruiser]

Day 3: Nassau, Bahamas

 

Call me crazy, but I am one of the few who actually likes Nassau! It’s never the highlight of an itinerary, but I always find it to be a great port (once you get beyond the cruise docking area). I enjoyed three days in Nassau exactly a year before, when I boarded the MV Explorer for my amazing month long voyage:

 

 

I actually just got a surprise when I was looking through those pictures, because look who was docked beside us then:

 

 

The Monarch!

 

 

 

If I had only known that I would be back in the exact same place with the exact same ship exactly a year later!

 

Anyway, now that I have reminisced, back to this trip! The plan WAS to wake up, eat breakfast, and head over to the Sheraton to buy the $25 day passes that allow access to the pools, beach, and some water equipment. Like the day before, the weather started out gloomy. Sadly, unlike the day before, it remained gloomy for the rest of the day too. We thought it would be pointless to pay for a beach in the rain, so we decided to improvise.

 

As an aside, though, I do highly recommend the Sheraton and its day pass. I really enjoyed my stay there last year and $25 is WELL worth it! Both the beach area and pools were great. Here are a few pictures for those who are interested:

 

 

 

[ChampionCruiser]

Okay, now back to the Monarch (for real this time!). My aunt and I both woke up extra early in order to watch and take pictures of us pulling into port. I always like passing the little lighthouse on our way in! The cruise compass said that we would arrive at 8:00, so we decided to meet each other on deck at 7:00. The problem? We were already in port when we got there! What a waste of valuable sleep time…

 

Here was the view early Wednesday morning.

 

 

The sun actually teased us for a little while but it didn’t last long.

 

 

One nice thing about being on deck so early was watching the Norwegian Sky make her way into port. I’m always fascinated with the way these ships are able to maneuver in port so easily. I guess waking up so early wasn’t a total loss after all.

 

 

 

 

Good morning Nassau!

 

[Coolcruise02]

Great review! I loved the Monarch. :)