After our third and final port at Coco Cay, Steve (DOS) and I packed up our luggage, tagged it, and placed it outside the room for delivery to the terminal building in the morning. Since this was an eight night cruise, we packed light (for us) and had only one large suitcase each, and one carry on bag each, plus DOS had a knapsack as well. It was nice when packing that we would be driving home after the cruise, and didn’t have to be as careful packing as if we were flying; i.e. liquids, meds, etc.
After packing and showering, we then had a nice last evening aboard the Mariner of the Seas (OTS). We first went to the Suite Lounge around 7pm, which we had done each evening before dinner. We enjoyed the sunset views from the 14th floor Viking Crown Lounge, as well as meeting new friends, and of course the complimentary drinks and Hors d’oeuvres served in the evenings from 5 -8pm.
We also thanked (and tipped) our wonderful Suite Concierge for the week, Jennifer, and our Suite Bartender, Raymond, and took selfies with each of them.
We had a nice last dinner at Chop’s on board, which had been our specialty restaurant of choice most evenings on this cruise. We also took selfies with a couple of our favorite wait staff, Andre, Shubert, and the Chinese host who had served us well throughout this cruise for both dinner and breakfast.
And now before I end this cruise and go to the finale, I am inserting a couple miscellaneous photos and video from this 8 night cruise, that I hadn’t included in previous posts. Our after dinner hang out place most evenings was at the pub on the main corridor level on deck five, which featured entertainment by a British performer who had just joined the ship a couple weeks prior. DOS and I sat just outside the pub on the street, cafe side of the pub, but as it was an “open air” pub with glass free windows, we could hear the guitar/singer very well. Some nights the performer would invite guests up on the small stage to join him in playing and/or singing with him. Always a lively little pub on the Mariner!
We also took a farewell selfie with our server, Luh, the last night who had been wonderful serving us each evening.
We also really enjoyed the ice show performance one evening, which is a large scale production show with a circus theme, performed in a specially designed ice skating ring theater on level two. It is really extra remarkable seeing an ice show with many sets and costume changes performed aboard a moving cruise ship!
One bit of trivia I learned at the question and answer seminar hosted by the cruise director on our last sea day, was the relationship between the ice production cast and the main theater show production cast featuring the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers. Neither the ice cast nor the theater production cast are in each other’s shows, although each cast assists the other cast with their many costume changes, so you will never have both an ice show and a main theater production show at the same time as a result. Wow – those little but important details that are transparent to most all of the passengers as the cast and production staff make the shows seem so seamless when performed!
Here are some additional pics from the Ice Circus production show.
And this Circus video is one of my favorite scenes, complete with a train that pics up some kids for a ride around the ice! How cool (pun intended!) is that!
Anyway, back to the last evening onboard. After dinner at Chop’s, we caught the end of the last act of the evening’s show in the main theater.
We found some seats at the back of the theater, and arrived just in time to watch the farewell number performed by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers. We hadn’t sailed Royal Caribbean in several years, and we were pleasantly surprised that they performed the “Farewell for Now” song, which concludes with a wide selection of crew members who parade in from the back of the theater, and walk up to the stage for the finale. When we last sailed with RCCL several years ago they had changed the finale song to “Imagine”, which actually seemed to leave us on a sad note rather than the happy (but sad to be leaving) “Farewell Song”, which is like in life when saying good bye to a friend, “until we meet again”!
DOS recorded this farewell scene which I uploaded to You Tube. Here it is, and Farewell from the Mariner of the Seas!