LIVE - Monarch of the Seas, Dec 10-14

[rafinmd]

I am in Cocoa now, and will board the Monarch in a few hours. I wanted to see the Monarch before she leaves the fleet, and the timing worked out for today. I'll actually combining this with a cruise on the Summit out of San Juan Saturday; that will be my nephew's wedding. My style is mostly narrative, I will post some pictures on a companion blog which will be here:

 

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/rafinmd/5/tpod.html

 

The blog started with my departure from home Friday. Here's my entry for yesterday when I arrived in Cocoa:

 

Day MOS-1, Sunday, December 9, Port Canaveral, Florida

 

to a pond with a plexiglass window looking out on whatever wildlife may happen to appear. I only had a few minutes there today but a solitary anhinga was perched on a pole above the water. I took a walk around the grounds, pausing for the 2PM and 2:30 recorded selections. A period house, Pinewood sits near the edge of the property and is decorated each year for the holidays.

 

A carillon “keyboard” is actually a row of levers attached to cables which ring the bells. Allegedly, the levers are pressed with a fist, rather than with the fingers as on a piano or organ. There was a TV monitor near the base of the tower which showed the carillonneur at work. He struck most of the notes with his fist but occasionally used his fingers, and he could reach 2 or perhaps 3 notes simultaneously that way. The 3PM concert consisted of a Sonata, a Passacaglia, and a number of selections on a winter and holiday theme.

 

The concert ended and I left about 3:30 and I arrived at the Comfort Inn Cocoa Beach in the early evening. I spent much of the evening watching the Weather Channel account of the Coast Guard’s rescue operation of the HMS Bounty crew after superstorm sandy.

 

Today’s parting shot comes from Edward Bok: “Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.” Bok didn’t just say it, he lived it.

 

Roy

[Merion_Mom]

O M G !!!!!!

 

Time travel IS possible!!!!!:eek:

[RuthlessBoss]

O M G !!!!!!

 

Time travel IS possible!!!!!:eek:

We are all believers now.

[KirkNC]

Thanks, I will bookmark your blog. Hope you have a great cruise.

[skyking]

We just got off her a few hours ago and are now in bed st home. We had such a wonderful time, great ship, great great crew and good food. It was a super weekend, and the weather could not have been better. Enjoy!!

[Twinzma]

I hope you have a wonderful time....

[rafinmd]

I hope you have a wonderful time....

 

No, you didn't miss your ship. Sorry about the date mixup (and too late to edit).

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

When I woke about 5:30 it was quite foggy. I had hoped to watch the Monarch come into Port Canaveral, but it arrived earlier than I expected and also there was quite a heavy fog. I left the hotel around 10, dropped my bags off at the pier, and took a walk in Cocoa. It was just after noon when I turned in my rental car and made my way to the pier. It was about 1 when I completed checkin and was surprised to learn that the rooms were ready, it seems like my past experience has been around 2. WJ was crowded for lunch, but there was sufficient room and good food. After an afternoon of unpacking and exploring ship, my steward Michael knocked on my door and told me it was time to leave for the muster drill. The drill seemed to have a bit of a split personality. It seemed we were expected to be organized on deck ahead of time but when the alarm sounded the announcement was “now proceed to your muster station”. It seemed like most of the room stewards got their people to the drill ahead of time, but there were several room numbers read of missing people, and they were all within a couple of narrow ranges of room numbers.

 

Captain Kjell Nordmo had us pulling away from the slip around 4:25. I stayed out on deck as we pulled out the inlet past Jetty park and cleared the breakwater about 4:50. I am at a 10-top for my early dinner, we had 9 show up the first night, quite impressive. Most of us are solos with one couple and a mother/daughter mixed in. One of my tablemates is a docent at Bok Tower Gardens. Oliver’s service was quite efficient and we enjoyed a leisurely desert but still had free time before the single 9:45 welcome aboard show with comedian Tom McTigue. I did not really sleep well Sunday night and my having a bit of trouble staying awake was not Tom’s fault.

 

Today’s parting shot will be the Monarch itself. I wanted to sail her before she leaves the fleet, and the only real down side for me is the short, repeating itineraries. It seems in really good shape, the primary negative I saw from the point of it’s age was the small windows and sparse verandahs. I think the ship will be a real asset to the new owners.

 

Roy

[iloverags2]

Thanks for posting an update. Sounds like a nice group for your dining tablemates!

[GatorGirl]

Looking forward to your reports!

[MrFunInTheSun]

Wish it was January 10. :) Thanks for taking us along with you "Live" on the Monarch! "Live" reports are the best. :D You might be able to send a message to the MOD's to correct your title for you. I think they have the ability.

[rafinmd]

I started the day off with a 2-mile walk on the Promenade deck. The walk usually goes all the way around the ship and is only about 3 ½ laps to a mile, but today quite brisk winds forced closing of the bow and the walk became a series of U’s. It started out pretty overcast, but the rising sun did manage to find a thin spot to come through.

 

CoCo Cay is originally Little Stirrup Cay, one of the Bahama Islands, and is used by Royal Caribbean on a 99-year lease. A permanent staff of about 100 is supplemented by ship’s crew and commuters from a nearby island. There is no dock and we anchored in the harbor, coming into the island by large tenders permanently stationed there.

 

I am not a beach person, but I did book the "Nature Walk". I took the first tender to the island, arriving around 8:15, and walked around the island until the 9AM tour start. Gardenia took us around a little bit of the island, spending most of our time on the Nature Trail. What we saw was mostly plants but we did get a good look at an iguana and learned that there are also cats, chickens, and peacocks on the island. She spent most of her time talking about the mostly good (except for poisonwood) trees and shrubs and how the fruits, leaves, and bark are used to treat various aliments. It was a sunny day and I found it very pleasant in the shade but the heat was a bit oppressive in the sun. When the walk ended around 10:30 I returned to the ship to relax a bit, returning to the island for lunch.

 

When the walk ended around 10:30 I returned to the ship to relax a bit, returning to the island for lunch. A cookout (mostly barbecue) was held at Blackbeards, tasty dogs, burgers, bbq, and lots of trimmings. I spent the afternoon on the ship, enjoying the quiet of having so many people ashore. Sailaway was at or a little before 5PM.

 

This was our formal night, again with 9 of us for a lovely dinner. When I returned to my room, I confirmed that towel animals are alive and well. The duck and the Fillet of Beef seemed to be the favorites. Captain Kjell held his welcome aboard reception in the Sound of Music Theater followed by an energetic performance of Signed Sealed Delivered.

 

Today's parting shot is a repeat of the one I did when the Enchantment visited Labadee:

 

"My parting shot today is ship's security. We have had to go through quite sensitive metal detectors and have our belongs x-rayed in detail at each port. Labadee is a closed environment with everything that comes in under RCI control. Lamy confirmed that we are not permitted to leave the complex. There is little to no chance of contraband, but there were still significant lines at the scanners returning to the ship. FDR once said 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself'. There seems to be an ample supply of that."

 

Same seems to apply to CoCo Cay, with the happy exception that I didn't encounter any lines.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Thanks Host Jacqueline for fixing my title.

 

Another late day, sleeping until 6. I went out to the Promenade deck for 2 miles in perfect weather. As I was finishing my walk we pulled into Nassau with the Norwegian Sky fairly close behind. Nassau was busy but not packed today with the Aida Aura and Carnival Miracle arriving later, but we were the first ones in and the last ones to leave.

 

This is something of a homecoming for me. My first cruise (Carnival Fantasy 1993) was from Port Canaveral to Nassau. Cruise-ships.com credits me with 39 trips, 19 ships, 11 cruise lines, and 98 ports, and that doesn't count my many trips on specialty lines, but this is the first time I have been back to Nassau. I did not book a tour but spent my time around the downtown area. The bargain of the week was the Nassau Public Library where wifi was not free but might as well have been at $2.50 for 5 hours. I walked down past Junkanoo Beach to the fish fry. Junkanoo beach looked like a pleasant place very close to the center of things, I believe I got to Cable Beach in 1993 but did not go there this time. I boarded the Monarch for the last time about 4:30.

 

There were 7 of us present for this evening's dinner with I think 2 choosing to stay in town for the evening. The Crown & Anchor party was in the Circuit this evening. There were 819 repeat cruisers on board, with the top people completing something like 697 points. That was followed by the headliner showtime, comic/juggler jason Garfield.

 

Today's parting shot comes from Jason Garfield. When you swallow and nothing goes down, you're full. It's time to stop eating.

 

Roy

[Twinzma]

Sounds like you are having a really nice trip. Wow, I had no idea that there were chickens and peacocks on CoCo Cay. My boys are going to be thrilled. Have you been to the casino at all? If so have you had any luck?

 

Thanks for the updates, it's helping the time go by for our trip:)

[KK_Cruisin]

Thank you for the update. My BF and I will be on Monarch in February. I look forward to reading the rest of your review. Is it possible to take pix of the compasses?

[rafinmd]

KK_Cruisin and Twinzma, I'll get back to you

 

I am finally beginning to feel like myself as the end of the cruise nears. I was up at 5 and went out on the promenade deck for my normal sea day walk. I usually walk 5 miles but had planned for 4 today (allowing for more in the Walk for Wishes) but the Monarch's promenade deck and the lovely weather were so inviting I continued for 5 miles (17 laps). For those in the Orlando area who like to walk on Monarch, the Enchantment will be a step down, but only a small one. My first time on Enchantment walking was problematic on the windswept "jogging track" but they recently opened up the bow of the ship and Enchantment's deck 7 is quite nice.

 

It was a very busy sea day but most of the activities that interested me were in the morning, and some of the activities were quite poorly attended. The Coffee Chat in Latitudes included only 2 other people and one staff member. The other people present were on their first cruise and we talked a lot about the differences between the ships, available itineraries, and the like.

 

I was disappointed in the Walk for Wishes. I was told it only raised about $500, I would have liked to see it get 10 times as much. About 20 of us walked 3 laps around deck 12 with most of us stopping at the end for a group photo.

 

Things moved quickly to a cake decorating contest in Centrum. The ones I have seen were a staff competition among the Captain, Hotel Director, and pastry chef. The one today was among guests with 1 staff member helping out. I prefer the other one but this was still fun. Centrum remained busy as the Captain's corner came at 11:15, with perhaps 30 guests asking questions. After a quick snack I returned to the Centrum for a classical concert by the Rosario Strings.

 

As the concert ended and I headed up to the Windjammer for lunch a flood of people was streaming down the stairs. I'm not sure if the men's belly flop went to conclusion or was cut short but it ended with a flood of rain. Some people coming down the stairs were showing obvious red areas from the competition.

 

Fortunately, the afternoon activities didn't interest me much so there was time to get with packing. I went up to the WJ at tea time for a final scone and made engaged in a frustrating dual with the internet but it was mostly packing.

 

My final dinner was the Chicken Marsala and it was quite popular at out table. 8 of us were present for dinner and a 8th came by to say goodbye. If a 10th person was ever assigned to the table he/she never showed up. The evening closed out with the production show "You Can't Stop the Beat". Performances were 7 and 9. I opted for the early show which was just getting started as I left Claude's dining room. After going through my final packing I retired about 10.

 

My parting shot comes from Marc's list of dumb questions he's heard on cruise ships. I liked "Is the water in the toilets salt or fresh". I understand inquiring minds, but that's just a little too inquiring for me.

 

Roy

[Merion_Mom]

 

My parting shot comes from Marc's list of dumb questions he's heard on cruise ships. I liked "Is the water in the toilets salt or fresh". I understand inquiring minds, but that's just a little too inquiring for me.

 

Roy

 

"And does anyone really care which it is? I know that I don't. For two really good reasons: #1 and #2."

[rafinmd]

Krystal, I don’t have anything I can post, but do have scans I can send by email. I have the planner, daily compasses, daily specials, teens, kids, and CoCo and Nassau maps. Send an email to rafinmdcc-info (at) yahoo (dot) com, and I’ll send whichever of those interest you. Twinzma, I did not visit the casino.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

When my wakeup call came at 5 there were lots of lights shining ahead of us. The promenade deck was roped off both at the bow and the stern so I went up to deck 12 for about 2 miles (9 laps). We spun around in the basin and backed into terminal 10 about 6:45, concluding our 591 nautical mile journey.

 

After snacking my way through breakfast in the WJ I went to the Gold area of the Sound of Music theater about 8:10. My Green 8 tag was called within 5 minutes of the 8:40 estimate, and I was on the bus to the airport about 9. Royal did let me down a bit here. I had pre-booked a transfer and am thankful I had my printout of the voucher for the ride. A couple of people ahead of me didn't have their vouchers and were looked up in the manifest and waved ahead to the bus. I was not on the list, and suspect I'd have had quite a problem if not able to prove I should have been. We left the port about 9:25 and were outside McCoy terminal A about 10:15.

 

My JetBlue flight to San Juan was uneventful and arrived a little before it's 4:50 schedule. As I was checking in at the Courtyard Isla Verde about 5:30 my brother approached me with the family's plan for dinner.

 

A few of the people planning on the wedding had to cancel at the last minute and there were 19 of us at the rehearsal dinner at the Metropol restaurant, a short walk from the hotel. I had not yet met anyone from the bride's family so it was a wonderful evening.

 

Today's parting shot will be a mixed bag. My current favorite RCI ship is the Enchantment of the Seas which has just finished her revitalization and is heading up the Chesapeake Bay towards Baltimore. On Saturday she will embark on her first cruise with all her new features. A hearty Bon Voyage to the people replacing me on the Monarch, the lucky people on the new Enchantment's first voyage, and to the 20-some other people in our wedding party embarking on the Celebrity Summit.

 

I will report my continuing travels on the Celebrity Forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1751785

 

Roy