4-Night Monarch of the Seas - Suite Life - Picture Review

[cruisenlove]

A-m-a-z-i-n-g review!!! Looks like you all had a wonderful vacation...wdw and cruise!!! Thank you so much for posting and congrats on your graduation!!!! :)

Edited June 29, 2012 by cruisenlove

[terpfan101]

Hey Victoria! I just wanted to say great review. I spent a good few hours reading it from start to finish late Friday night. I'm not really too keen on ever going on the Monarch or Majesty to be honest though and these views were confirmed after this review. To me the ship really shows its age and its a good thing Royal is going to replace these ships with newer ones! Glad you had a great time though and I do encourage you and your family to give Allure or Oasis a try at some point. I think you'd love it!

[Rewind]

I was on Monarch of the seas in June 2011 - it was great to relive the cruise through your photos. I'm going to be on the Enchantment this December before she moves to Port Canaveral so I'll let you know how nice a ship she is.

[Smith0154]

Thanks to all for the kind words! It's your encouragement that makes me continue to write these detailed reviews.

 

I do try to keep a positive spin on my trip reports - just because a few bad things here and there aren't going to put a damper on my vacation, and I don't want them to be a downer on my trip reports, either. I don't think I'm a Royal Caribbean cheerleader or a hater... I am just a fan of cruising. :)

 

If you're already anticipating my next report :D, it will probably be of our next Christmas cruise - not sure where we're going or what cruise line we're sailing, but I did overhear my parents talking about flights the other day! And if you need a 'LittleMiss fix' in between, check out my travel blog. I'm leaving for Hilton Head this afternoon (in a few hours and I haven't packed a thing - ack! :eek:), and I'm trying to squeeze another Disney trip in this summer.

 

I'm subscribed to this thread, so if you have any questions about the Monarch or the itinerary, feel free to ask, and I'll get back to you asap!

 

Until then, happy cruising! :)

 

Rachel:

 

Just checking in again with a quick question. As I stated in an earlier post, my wife and I will be staying in the cabin you were staying in aboard the Monarch. My questions to you, since there is no Concierge aboard the Monarch, what extra's are there for Grand Suite guests aboard the Monarch for our November 12th sailing.

 

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

Best

Smitty

Edited August 20, 2012 by Smith0154

[LittleMissMagic]

Just checking in again with a quick question. As I stated in an earlier post, my wife and I will be staying in the cabin you were staying in aboard the Monarch. My questions to you, since there is no Concierge aboard the Monarch, what extra's are there for Grand Suite guests aboard the Monarch for our November 12th sailing.

 

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

Best

Smitty

 

In replace of the CL, we were invited to the nightly Diamond Plus event in the Viking Crown Lounge. There was also a Suite area of the MDR for breakfast (we never went there). There was also a suite party at Coco Cay with free cocktails.

[luv2sail7]

Hi Victoria - Great Review of the cruise and Disney! You are an incredible travel writer!! A few questions:

What were some of the "stories" you heard regarding scooter rentals in Nassau? DH and I are thinking of doing this if/when we do the Majesty in September. We both ride street and dirt bikes and consider ourselves very experienced but curious of the comment you made. Is this regarding the company/people you rent them from or something else? Again, thanks for the entertaining and informative review! :)

[colesc15]

Hi Victoria - Great Review of the cruise and Disney! You are an incredible travel writer!! A few questions:

What were some of the "stories" you heard regarding scooter rentals in Nassau? DH and I are thinking of doing this if/when we do the Majesty in September. We both ride street and dirt bikes and consider ourselves very experienced but curious of the comment you made. Is this regarding the company/people you rent them from or something else? Again, thanks for the entertaining and informative review! :)

 

Have you ever been to some of these islands? If you haven't, and plan on going to one, you'll instantly see what she means by stories of people on scooters. The drivers of tour buses/commuters on these islands, by American standers, are risk-takers and drive extremely fast for road conditions and traffic. You're pretty much a sitting duck on scooters for many tour buses who are roaring by you or coming right at you.. I'm assuming this is what she meant by it :)

[luv2sail7]

Have you ever been to some of these islands? If you haven't, and plan on going to one, you'll instantly see what she means by stories of people on scooters. The drivers of tour buses/commuters on these islands, by American standers, are risk-takers and drive extremely fast for road conditions and traffic. You're pretty much a sitting duck on scooters for many tour buses who are roaring by you or coming right at you.. I'm assuming this is what she meant by it :)

 

OMG! I just did a search on the Bahamas port page and I have the run down - scooters are a definite NO NO and I now understand why. I grew up in Miami and traveled a few times to the Bahamas but that was long ago. I can see its not worth the danger along with the "thugs" trying to scam on damaged bikes, etc. Will look at other options while in port. Thanks!

[mj]

We always finish our stay at WDW with a farewell character breakfast.

 

One of our favorites, Cape May Cafe -

 

DSC_7065 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

DSC_7067 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

DSC_7071 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

DSC_7075 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Thanks for the tip on the Camp May Beach Club. Going to try this when we are down at Disney in December. This will be something new to try.

[LittleMissMagic]

They're actually remodeling Cape May now. I'm not sure if this will affect the character rotation.

 

Cape May is also great for dinner - clam bake!

[KUF]

Hi. Finding your review very helpful. What seating time did you guys go to? Trying to determine what time we should eat and be able to catch the shows.

[mpoole3]

Hi. Finding your review very helpful. What seating time did you guys go to? Trying to determine what time we should eat and be able to catch the shows.

 

Most of the show are 7 & 9 So if you have early dinner you can attend the late show. Late dinner attends the early show.

[LittleMissMagic]

Hi. Finding your review very helpful. What seating time did you guys go to? Trying to determine what time we should eat and be able to catch the shows.

 

We had the late dinner. We've done this for the past several years because we've learned that this gives us more time in port and more time to get ready for dinner. Back when we'd have the main seating time, we were always late for dinner - now that's almost never a problem!

 

But like mpoole said, whichever dinner time you choose, you should be able to catch whatever shows you'd like to see.

[RuthlessBoss]

Resurrecting this review, used the search button. Most reviews and commments I found were on the new huge ships.

Just did a weekend cruise on Monarch, I thought the ship was wonderful, and because of the ship's age parts were not "perfect" which was perfect for me.

I took pictures, but certainly did not come out with the clarity of yours. Was it the camera that made the difference? Did you use automatic feature or change lighting etc. using manual? Example was the clarity of the instruments outside Sound of Music. Mine were so bad, looked like a blob, deleted them. Same for the clarity at Schooner.

Kudos to you for your pics. I saw things I didn't see before.

[LittleMissMagic]

Resurrecting this review, used the search button. Most reviews and commments I found were on the new huge ships.

Just did a weekend cruise on Monarch, I thought the ship was wonderful, and because of the ship's age parts were not "perfect" which was perfect for me.

I took pictures, but certainly did not come out with the clarity of yours. Was it the camera that made the difference? Did you use automatic feature or change lighting etc. using manual? Example was the clarity of the instruments outside Sound of Music. Mine were so bad, looked like a blob, deleted them. Same for the clarity at Schooner.

Kudos to you for your pics. I saw things I didn't see before.

 

Thank you!

 

I took most of the photos with my Nikon 1 J1, which is a compact DSLR camera. The underwater photos were taken with my sister's Nikon AW100, a shockproof and waterproof point-and-shoot camera.

 

For the most part, I shoot in manual. This can result in mistakes (like my noisy, overexposed photos on the first day because I forgot to take the ISO down after shooting high ISO at WDW the night before), but for the most part, it allows me to take in the different environmental factors. For teh instruments outside of Sound of Music, I remember squatting down and focusing closely on the instruments, blurring the background. I also remember widening the aperture and using a slower shutter speed to allow more light in. I almost never use a flash (I hate my flash - it's so harsh) and instead rely on the light already available. I always try to capture detail. I like to get down on the ground or focus on little things that people often overlook when just getting from point a to point b. I did several photo walks during that cruise, looking for things to shoot and bring my own perspective to.

 

I'm actually headed on my next cruise, a 10-Day Panama Canal Partial Transit on the Island Princess tomorrow! I'm hoping I have time to at least do a quick photo TR before I move to Italy for the spring semester. Keep an eye out!

[emmacruises00]

We stayed there when we were on Monarch in February :) We loved the pool!

[emmacruises00]

WOW! That's HUGE! LOL

[DOING GR8]

Thanks for the very informative Review. I'm going to be on the Feb 4th cruise with my DW and Sister in law and her Daughter (20) this will be their first cruise. I wasn't sure she would have things to do but thanks to your review this will give her somethings to do. I did book a night at THE COVE in atlantis since this will allow all of us access to the THE COVE beach and the rest of the property. That was the main reason I choose to take the Monarch of the Sea.

 

I was worry that it might be rough waters and worry that we might not stop at CocoCay but will have to see.

 

And we are making the DisneyWorld trip after the cruise.

 

:)

[diddlydi]

Dad fell on the bed and took a nap, and shortly after, Mom found the room. She was impressed by the size. I mean, it's not really larger than most hotel rooms, but considering that it's on a cruise ship, it's huge!

 

I texted Rachel to see where she was, and hearing that she was on the pool deck, I took that as my cue to go decorate her room.

 

I had planned to decorate all three rooms, but time became an issue, and I was only able to make the decorations for one room. So of course, I had to decorate Rachel and Meredith's room (I figure they were going to be the ones to appreciate it, anyway).

 

Is Victoria going to blame these bad photos on terrible lighting and high ISO?

 

DSC_5848r by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Yes, yes she is.

 

DSC_5851r by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Hi there, Just curious how you stick the decorations on the door? :confused:

[Justmekaren918]

They were Magnets

[Justmekaren918]

Hi there, Just curious how you stick the decorations on the door? :confused:

They were magnetized to stick to the metal door any sign shop could make some.

[diddlydi]

Thank you so much. I will look for them. :D

[monctonguy]

Wow, that was a great review and pics!

 

I sailed Monarch for 4 days in Feb of that year, was my first cruise ever and was hooked. Never got to sail on her again, but it sure brought back some great memories!!

[cruisegirl1]

Question for the day.

 

 

How does a three-year-old thread, about a ship that no longer sails for RCCL, get resurrected just to ask a question about door decorations?

 

M

[Clarea]

Question for the day.

 

 

How does a three-year-old thread, about a ship that no longer sails for RCCL, get resurrected just to ask a question about door decorations?

 

M

The search function.;)