Does looming retirement affect service???

[ilovecraig929]

I'm looking at taking a short, very inexpensive cruise Jan or Feb on the Monarch. I've sailed on the Sovereign and the Majesty so I have no problem with the smaller ship/not as many ammenities/etc. BUT I was wondering if service on board as well as general maintenece of the ship's appearance gets less and less as it gets closer to retirement. I've never sailed within a month or two of a retirement and I was just curious if things of that nature took a back seat when a ship is nearly the end with a company...Any enlightenment would be appreciated!

[Merion_Mom]

I'm looking at taking a short, very inexpensive cruise Jan or Feb on the Monarch. I've sailed on the Sovereign and the Majesty so I have no problem with the smaller ship/not as many ammenities/etc. BUT I was wondering if service on board as well as general maintenece of the ship's appearance gets less and less as it gets closer to retirement. I've never sailed within a month or two of a retirement and I was just curious if things of that nature took a back seat when a ship is nearly the end with a company...Any enlightenment would be appreciated!

 

Since it is the ship that is "retiring" (actually transferring to another RC-controlled line) and not the people, I don't think that there is a decline in service. As a matter of fact, the vast majority if not all of them are transferring also - to other RC ships.

[bethco]

I was on the Monarch over Labor Day Weekend and it was delightful. The service was excellent. So good in fact, I have booked another Monarch trip with my daughter for mid-March since we are going to a family wedding in the area. I WILL make a point to mention staff by name where I feel I receive excellent service as I know they will be looking for other jobs shortly.

[smoosh21]

I was on the Monarch over Labor Day Weekend and it was delightful. The service was excellent. So good in fact, I have booked another Monarch trip with my daughter for mid-March since we are going to a family wedding in the area. I WILL make a point to mention staff by name where I feel I receive excellent service as I know they will be looking for other jobs shortly.

 

We were on the Monarch in late September and also experienced excellent service, especially by the bar staff and dining room staff. I think that the service was better than average for Royal.

[iheartbda]

We were on ships on Celebrity, RCCL, and NCL when it was the last cruise for each one. We had sailed 2 of the ships a number of times before and never noticed any difference in service. :)

[Clarea]

We were on Monarch mid-September and if anything, the service was even better than previous cruises. I don't think the present Hotel Director would stand for anything less than outstanding service.

[5012nk]

We were on the Monarch in October. The service was wonderful - no complaints there at all.

 

But - the ship needs maintenance. There were plumbing issues in a number of the rooms. Our sink seemed to take forever to drain (a common complaint of others). And for our "at sea" days there was only one pool open because of "pumping" problems so it was very crowded.

 

I hope you have a great trip.

[CruisinCrow]

We were on the Monarch in October. The service was wonderful - no complaints there at all.

 

But - the ship needs maintenance. There were plumbing issues in a number of the rooms. Our sink seemed to take forever to drain (a common complaint of others). And for our "at sea" days there was only one pool open because of "pumping" problems so it was very crowded.

 

Agree with everything here. We were on Monarch in September. Our cabin steward was one of the best we've ever had. I made sure to put in a WOW card for him so that he would be more likely to get moved to his first choice of ships.

 

But our shower did not drain properly. There were two drains in the bathroom and the water would go down the drain in the shower and come back up the drain under the sink. It's an old ship and they aren't going to bother with fixing it at this point.

[ilovecraig929]

Thanks for the replies, sounds like we would be in good hands :)

[cb at sea]

We were once on a last sailing before a dry-dock....the crew seemed tired and the entertainment was less than stellar.....I'm assuming, especially with the entertainment, that this was the end of their "run" for a while.....

 

Service wasn't bad...it just wasn't as great as it has been on other ships.....but the entertainers were certainly lack-luster. (Not the guest entertainers, but the bands onboard.)