News from the Death Star: Nice weather and a weird rumor on the Monarch

[DarthGrady]

Please tell me all those new "beach"line signs were not installed in vain.:eek:

 

They were indeed. A waste of money in my opinion, it'll always be "The Beeline" to me. ;):D:D

[spencercoop]

I think the rumor mill is confused. I'll bet the basis of the rumor mill is getting other ruise lines to use Falmouth. From my perspective, the can have Falmouth/

 

Other lines are already free to use Falmouth and some other lines already do.

[negc]

I think the rumor mill is confused. I'll bet the basis of the rumor mill is getting other ruise lines to use Falmouth. From my perspective, the can have Falmouth/

 

They already are and wnen Allure was in Falmouth in December, a Carnival ship was docked there as well. I was quite impressed with what has been done in Falmouth and believe it is a good stepping off point for those interested in going to Ocho Rios or Montego Bay or other points in between.Shopping area in the port area was clean and well-controlled with no overly agressive vendors on site.:)

[DarthGrady]

Here goes a quick cruise overview. I'm not doing a full pictorial review on this one, I'm saving that for her final sailing in March. This will just be the highlights.

 

Embarkation:

 

Very fast! We arrived at around 1:30 and got right on. The C&A Gold member line was actually shorter than the Platinum (and up) line.

 

The Ship:

 

No changes from the last time we were on last year. The forward pool was roped off and green the first day. I couldn't quite figure out why. They drained it that night and refilled it with clean water. Everything else seemed to be in fairly good repair, there were a few odd things. A shattered window in the Schooner Bar and a few missing ceiling panels in the internet cafe were the most glaring.

 

Our Cabin:

 

We had cabin/closet #8522, with a lovely view of a lifeboat (we let my wife's parents have the one with the view between the boats). There was a bit of mildew and some damage to the shower surround. But as a consolation, the room did have a safe and a flat screen TV.

 

Service:

 

Excellent service all the way around. We had table 3 in Vincent's. Our waiter Gershom was great. Service in the Diamond event was great each night, mostly due to the fact that no one was there. This sailing only had about 600 past guests, less than 100 were D/D+.

[DarthGrady]

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Mildew in the bathroom

 

Damage in the shower

 

Unfortunately we didnt see this sign until it was too late, they were already gone. :(

[DarthGrady]

 

We arrived in Nassau, and found that we were sharing the port with the Queen Elizabeth. It's something special to be up close and personal with a Cunard Queen. As she left that day all of the ships were rendering a horn salute. It was really something to see.

 

 

The Carnival Destiny was also in port, but only because her thrusters had failed and had to be assisted out of Miami with tugs and then helped to the pier in Nassau. She was supposed to go to Cozumel, but they apparently didn't have the tugs. We spoke to a couple of her passengers who were not amused. Their story was all too familiar to me, as Destiny's ongoing propulsion problems caused us to miss our call on Key West back in 2010.

 

 

 

Not sure what's going on with Imagination's hull

[DarthGrady]

I briefly stopped by the past guest party, it was lightly attended. For some unknown reason it was being held in the Sound of Music Theater this cruise.

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

 

We walked through downtown and up to the Queens Staircase and Fort Fincastle. It was an interesting thing to see, as we've never gone there before.

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

The view from the fort, worth the walk in my opinion.

 

 

 

Around Nassau

 

 

Now I see where RCI got the new tag line from

[DarthGrady]

The crew were running lifeboat drills upon our return

 

 

 

 

I had a little trouble figuring this one out until I heard the "Oscar Oscar Oscar" drill a few minutes later

 

The pool deck was lightly populated while we were in Nassau

[DarthGrady]

Rule Britannia! Britannia rule the waves!

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Some night shots

 

 

 

 

 

The party goes long into the night at Senor Frogs

[DarthGrady]

 

 

 

There was a juggling act in the main theater, I only stopped in for a few minutes

 

[DarthGrady]

The rest of the cruise was spent relaxing. We didn't bother going over to Coco Cay on Sunday. I sat up on the pool deck reading a book and enjoying the usually empty hot tubs.

 

In the evening we stopped into the VCL for the Diamond Event and to watch the playoffs. Later I went back up for a cigar and couple glasses of port.

 

I almost forgot, just in case anyone is interested. At the past guest party I overheard some crew members discussing the number of Crown and Anchor members. They were saying that the number of Pinnacle Club members is now around 250. Thats pretty impressive.

 

So thats it. It was a pretty nice weekend cruise. Feel free to ask any questions.

[Clarea]

Nice photos Grady, enjoyed the review.

[DarthGrady]

Nice photos Grady, enjoyed the review.

 

Thanks!

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

I almost forgot, just in case anyone is interested. At the past guest party I overheard some crew members discussing the number of Crown and Anchor members. They were saying that the number of Pinnacle Club members is now around 250. Thats pretty impressive.

.

 

So there are now 250 Pinnacle members! That is really amazing. I bet that number is growing every month. I was just thinking of how much money taking that many cruises represents, but plenty of people do it.

 

If we cruise at our present rate, we will be in our mid-eighties before we reach Pinnacle...if we sail ONLY Royal Caribbean from here on out.

[DarthGrady]

So there are now 250 Pinnacle members! That is really amazing. I bet that number is growing every month. I was just thinking of how much money taking that many cruises represents, but plenty of people do it.

 

If we cruise at our present rate, we will be in our mid-eighties before we reach Pinnacle...if we sail ONLY Royal Caribbean from here on out.

 

My theory is that they may eventually put another level in between D+ and PC. It would make sense, as most D+ members (especially ones that just recently made D+) I talk to aren't even worried about PC because its very unlikely they'll ever get there.

[PH8]

 

Service:

 

Excellent service all the way around. We had table 3 in Vincent's. Our waiter Gershom was great. Service in the Diamond event was great each night, mostly due to the fact that no one was there. This sailing only had about 600 past guests, less than 100 were D/D+.

Who was up there........Desmond or Sylvester??:confused:

[DarthGrady]

Who was up there........Desmond or Sylvester??:confused:

 

Desmond, and a new guy that I haven't seen before.

[Pumbaamd]

The Ship:

A shattered window in the Schooner Bar and a few missing ceiling panels in the internet cafe were the most glaring.

 

That window has been shattered for quite a while. Maybe they'll just let the shipyard fix it in April? Same thing happpened in the Schooner Bar on MJ a while back, and they had it fixed in a couple hours.

R&D

[DarthGrady]

That window has been shattered for quite a while. Maybe they'll just let the shipyard fix it in April? Same thing happpened in the Schooner Bar on MJ a while back, and they had it fixed in a couple hours.

R&D

 

Very possible, I'm sure they're only doing the bare minumum since she'll be getting a full refurb in a couple of months.

 

I was actually looking around for something not bolted down that I could take as a souvenir at the end of our 3/29 cruise. Maybe one of those nice table and chair sets from Boleros. :D;):D

[Pumbaamd]

Very possible, I'm sure they're only doing the bare minumum since she'll be getting a full refurb in a couple of months.

I was actually looking around for something not bolted down that I could take as a souvenir at the end of our 3/29 cruise. Maybe one of those nice table and chair sets from Boleros. :D;):D

 

And will you be one of those that leaves early and carries off their own stuff?

 

We are on the Monarch 2/18 and 2/22 B2B, as well as the final 3/29. We will measure the furniture in Bolero's to make sure it fits our airline regs to fly home.

 

Back to packing for NV from NOLA this Saturday. GO RAVENS!!!

 

Rick and Deirdra