The Farewell - Monarch of the Seas

[melbur]

The Final Farewell Voyage for Monarch of the Seas - review

We decided to sail this weekend for a few reasons. . It is both my birthday and DH’s on the 30th; it’s a long weekend and the final voyage of Monarch. A perfect combination to book this cruise.

It started months ago with a super active roll call – an astounding 2200+ posts for a 3 day cruise. We have birthdays to celebrate, a marriage proposal in the works, and some fond farewells to crew.

We have made arrangements to meet up at the Schooner Bar Friday at 3 pm for our own Meet and Mingle. There are a few from our roll call that are already onboard to do the 4 day as well.

Thursday

Today we head to Orlando to start our exciting weekend. As it is a milestone b’day for DH, I booked this as a complete surprise to him. All he knows is we are flying somewhere . . .Our friends who are joining us on this sailing are already in Orlando and picking us up at the airport later today. (He knows nothing of this!)

An overnight stay at their condo and we will be on our way to Monarch early in the morning . . .

Friday

We’re up and off. Time to return the rental car and get to the pier.

Boarding was a breeze, we arrived about noon, and were onboard in no time.

Rooms were ready a little before 1pm and we headed to our cabin. With only carry on, we wanted to unload and get back to the wonderful weather that awaited us by the pool. After hearing about the cool weather the Orlando area was having, we weren’t sure if this would be a very warm cruise.

No worries, beautiful and sunny.

As we approached the cabin, I was relieved to see the b’day decorations were in place. I had ordered through Gifts and Gear the cabin decorations and they added a festive touch to the room.

 

[melbur]

Back to the pool area, which was starting to fill up now. We enjoyed the good weather til 3pm when we left to meet the gang at the Schooner Bar.

Seems many showed up early as it was well underway by the time we got there.

It was great putting a face to the cc names we talked with over the last 6 – 8 months.

Back to the pool deck, where Sailaway activities were about to take place.

Being Easter weekend, there were lots of kids as well as adults of all ages.

The place was packed. The gangway was pushed away, and the fun started.

They had Make your own Roast Beef sandwiches offered on deck for sailaway and I can tell you they were DELICIOUS!!

 

 

partying gangnam style

 

 

some of the M&M gang

 

[melbur]

We ventured down to the Shops when they opened at 5:30. The stores had pretty much been picked clean but there were still some souvenirs to be had. Line ups for purchases were long, but moved quickly. I was able to snag a couple of mementos while DH chilled with a latte.

Tonight is the Welcome Aboard Show at 7:45 but we opted to spend time in the Diamond Event prior to our second seating dinner. This was held in the Viking Crown Lounge and well attended.

What a team they have here, a shame to break them up and scatter them across the fleet. All the crew were upbeat and happy. Ritish, our waiter in the MDR, said he was going to the Adventure after he leaves here, and was looking forward to being on a big ship and sailing from PR in the winter months.

There is a Farewell Party for the Monarch to be held Sat morning in the Circuit Lounge at 10:45.

Saturday

We weren’t arriving til noon at Nassau. We headed to one of the many Farewell Partys in the Circuit Lounge. The LA announced 29 Pinnacle, 100+ or more D+ and so on. It was well attended by the officers, with the exception of the Captain.

We opted to stay onboard for the better part of the day, and only went in to town to buy DH some shirts – oh did I mention, he left his good shirts in the condo when we left, so nothing remotely close to formal wear was in his suitcase. We had to respectfully decline an invitation to dine with an officer, as our attire would not have been suitable.

We opted to dine at Jade though and had a great dinner.

 

 

empty stores

 

farewell

 

 

 

 

 

gotta upload more photos . . .

Edited April 2, 2013 by melbur

[melbur]

Sunday

 

Coco Cay

 

So glad the weather was in our favour! We've missed this port before so kept our fingers crossed for this one.

Getting the tender was a breeze around 9am. Headed over for a great beach day. A little windy, but sunny. Today there was a cocktail event at the Wacky Seagull at noon, I believe for top tier C&A.

 

 

at the Wacky Seagull

 

 

 

 

 

[Lloyd555]

 

 

Loving this photo.

[waterbug123]

First time I can recall this happening.... I spotted myself in pictures someone else posted on CC, below. :D

 

 

 

 

at the Wacky Seagull

 

 

 

 

 

[waterbug123]

To add my own comments to the final sailing...

We booked it purely for the novelty of going on a final sailing. We did the Oasis and Allure inaugurals, and hope to do the Quantum inaugural, so figured we've been "first on," why not be "last off?"

 

As the OP said, the gift shop was pretty picked over and getting bare of merchandise since it was all down to 75% off, but I had forgotten my workout top so I picked up a RC t-shirt for about $6, which was nice. The liquor and fine jewelry however, were NOT 75% off. Darn! ;)

 

The ship ran out of Dos Equis, and later Corona, or if they had still had it, it was no longer available at the pool bar. And a friend was having trouble finding a bar that still had Rose's lime juice. Not a big deal though, and they didn't run out of food or anything like that.

 

We got a whole hodgepodge of gifts and food delivered to our cabin throughout the cruise. Clearly they were giving away a bunch of stuff so as not to have to worry about getting rid of after.

 

At the Saturday morning C&A party, when they announced that there were 29 Pinnacle members on board, they said that was the most Pinnacle members they've ever had on a single sailing.

 

We asked many of the crew where they were going next. The vast majority that we talked to said their contracts were up, so they were going home for vacation before starting new contracts. A few were transferring to other ships right away. With so many going home though, there was definitely an air of excitement about this being the final cruise, but to their credit, service remained excellent right up through breakfast on Monday morning. (One bartender on Coco Cay seemed to be in a snit, but that was it.) In fact, as late as Sunday afternoon, less than a day before the ship would be out of service for Royal, we saw crew members hard at work polishing the brass stair rails.

 

One of the girls in the spa/salon told my boyfriend she would be up half the night on Sunday night, doing a complete merchandise inventory that had to be done before the Royal-Pullmantur transfer.

[alaska_planner]

thanks for sharing!! :)

[paylady]

Melanie:

 

Welcome back and a belated Happy Birthday to both you and Don!

 

I see Donna and Danny are alive and well. Say "hello" to them for me. I will see you in May.

 

Take care.

[BillOh]

To the OP and other contributors, thanks for the details. Very interesting.

[hannibal54]

We had a great time on the ship, however our flight home is today. Flying back to cooler Illinois. It was fun meeting everyone. We even went last night and watched the Monarch sail out for the last time.

[DarthGrady]

Hello Melanie!

 

Thanks for posting the great pics and review! :)

 

It was nice to finally meet you and your husband after chatting for so long on the roll calls. Everything on this cruise went by so quickly it was hard to really get to know everybody. I felt like I was going 100 mph the whole time. Things will hopefully be a little less hectic on Jewel next month, so we should all be able to get together for longer.

[melbur]

Sunday evening = the final farewell party. You couldn't move in the centrum. The Monarch cake was served, and Liberty Hounds were there for the send off.

Crew were so upbeat, I asked everyone I saw where they were going, and most were excited to get their first choice of ship. Some going directly, some taking a vacation first.

 

We came back to our cabin to find all kinds of mementos from the sailing . . crystal block, tote bag with robe/slippers, our offical Last Voyage cetificate. It certainly was one to remember and made the birthday surprise even more memorable.

 

[melbur]

Hello Melanie!

 

Thanks for posting the great pics and review! :)

 

It was nice to finally meet you and your husband after chatting for so long on the roll calls. Everything on this cruise went by so quickly it was hard to really get to know everybody. I felt like I was going 100 mph the whole time. Things will hopefully be a little less hectic on Jewel next month, so we should all be able to get together for longer.

 

Agreed. It was like a whirlwind, but great. We never got to meet Beth and hopefully will in May on the Jewel.

Thanks again for your part in the birthday surprise too!;)

[Clarea]

We had a great time on the ship, however our flight home is today. Flying back to cooler Illinois. It was fun meeting everyone. We even went last night and watched the Monarch sail out for the last time.

Safe travels Hannibal, and it was nice spending some time at the shack with you.

[DarthGrady]

Agreed. It was like a whirlwind, but great. We never got to meet Beth and hopefully will in May on the Jewel.

Thanks again for your part in the birthday surprise too!;)

 

No problem at all, I'm glad it all worked out!

[karena1]

First time I can recall this happening.... I spotted myself in pictures someone else posted on CC, below. :D

 

Us too! We were in 3 of them - one by the pool, and 2 at the event on CocoCay

 

Great review - we had such a blast on the ship and was great to meet a bunch of people and some other people we knew but had not seen in a long time.

Edited April 2, 2013 by karena1

[melbur]

Us too! We were in 3 of them - one by the pool, and 2 at the event on CocoCay

 

Great review - we had such a blast on the ship and was great to meet a bunch of people and some other people we knew but had not seen in a long time.

 

Sorry we didn't meet up with you Karen, but we'll rectify that in May!

 

Also, I wanted to add that both embarkation and disembarkation went so smoothly at PC. No hold ups from CBP at all. Did express walk off right at 7:30am and no delays.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Sounds like you guys sent her off well and with class...just as she was brought to us --I'm glad to hear it! :)

[1cat4jan]

Monarch was our first cruise experience. 1992

 

We'll miss the old girl.

[mrsfecura]

Thanks for the really cool details! Great photos. I never sailed on Monarch but my DH and I did Majesty in Feb so that we could sail on the smaller class of ships before they go away entirely! Maybe we'll try to do the farewell sailing of Maj! Does anyone know when that will be?

Edited April 3, 2013 by mrsfecura

[LBumb]

great job

[lastinga]

Sunday evening = the final farewell party. You couldn't move in the centrum. The Monarch cake was served, and Liberty Hounds were there for the send off.

Crew were so upbeat, I asked everyone I saw where they were going, and most were excited to get their first choice of ship. Some going directly, some taking a vacation first.

 

We came back to our cabin to find all kinds of mementos from the sailing . . crystal block, tote bag with robe/slippers, our offical Last Voyage cetificate. It certainly was one to remember and made the birthday surprise even more memorable.

 

 

Great picture...thanks for sharing!

[brianjb]

Did anyone buy a photo frame that they will sell?

[LandlockedCruiser01]

I really like the angle in this photo, with the tall hull that towers over you when you're standing onshore. Great job!