Where did San Diego go?

[badgebunny]

I was thinking about another trip on the Monarch of the Seas for next July and was shocked to see that San Diego had been replaced with a sea day. We loved San Diego last time and are really disappointed. Does anyone know if this is a temporary change or if the port is gone for good?

 

Thanks so much,

 

Amy

[WECoyote]

I think what happened is you looked at a three day cruise. Those are always to Ensenada and back with a sea day. The four day cruises all go to San Diego, Catalina, and Ensenda with no sea days. The Monarch makes one of each cruise, every week. The three day leaves on Friday afternoon and the four day on Monday afternoon.

[GMoney]

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? :D

[WECoyote]

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? :D

 

Think she went to Washington DC and got kidnapped by a crazed member of congress. It has been hard to narrow down list of possible perpatrators as they have 535 prime suspects.

[tnf]

They are no longer going to stop at San diego on the 4 nighter. Iam not sure when it starts. When we were on the Monarch in May our waiter had told us that.

[WECoyote]

They are no longer going to stop at San diego on the 4 nighter. Iam not sure when it starts. When we were on the Monarch in May our waiter had told us that.

 

Interesting. I looked at the RCI web site prior to my first post and put Mar - Jun 07 & Jul - Sep 07 and they list San Diego as a port of call for the Monarch. Oh well...that itinerary has burned us out, so will press on to other things. San Diego was the only thing that kept us going back to that cruise.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Interesting. I looked at the RCI web site prior to my first post and put Mar - Jun 07 & Jul - Sep 07 and they list San Diego as a port of call for the Monarch. Oh well...that itinerary has burned us out, so will press on to other things. San Diego was the only thing that kept us going back to that cruise.

 

They don't need to drop San Diego, they need to replace the Monarch :D

 

###

[WECoyote]

I think what happened is you looked at a three day cruise. Those are always to Ensenada and back with a sea day. The four day cruises all go to San Diego, Catalina, and Ensenda with no sea days. The Monarch makes one of each cruise, every week. The three day leaves on Friday afternoon and the four day on Monday afternoon.

 

I stand corrected. April 23, 2007 is the last Monarch sailing that stops at San Diego! Mea culpa:mad:, I have found two different sites that showed this info. I then went back to RCI and changed my search parameters and sure enough, San Diego is history....Hmmm does that mean RCI might put another ship in San Diego....or is that too much to hope for:confused:???

 

PhoenixCruiser (hi neighbor) I could not agree with you more. It is time to let the Monarch go the way of the Viking Serenade. I think they will find that they are not going to have sold out cruises once people find out that they dropped San Diego but kept Catalina:eek:.

[rvrgirl]

the four nighter goes to ensanada and san diego and catalina island

[WECoyote]

the four nighter goes to ensanada and san diego and catalina island

 

As I just pointed out as I was eating crow, the Monarch will no longer stop in San Diego. The 4/23/07 sailing of the Monarch is the last of the 4 day cruises that stop in San Diego.

[critterchick]

As much as I would loooooooooooooooove to see a Radiance class ship on the Left Coast, I feel compelled to point out that Monarch sells out her 3-day weekend cruises that have only Ensenada as a port, so I suspect that dropping San Diego is just a matter of cutting back on port fees. They have to have a foreign port in order to run the casino, and I don't know why Catalina would win over San Diego, but I guess it did.

[dirtgirl]

Hiya critterchick,

 

We were thinking of going to Disneyland and then doing the 4 day Monarch cruise next year. Looks like we won't be. :( I really wanted to go to San Diego! They are pushing people to Carnival! I would pick San Diego over Catalina Island any day.

 

I was hoping to get another cruise credit...........:(

[rvrgirl]

As I just pointed out as I was eating crow, the Monarch will no longer stop in San Diego. The 4/23/07 sailing of the Monarch is the last of the 4 day cruises that stop in San Diego.

 

First I heard. Maybe new ship coming in town?

[rubrrick]

As much as I would loooooooooooooooove to see a Radiance class ship on the Left Coast, I feel compelled to point out that Monarch sells out her 3-day weekend cruises that have only Ensenada as a port, so I suspect that dropping San Diego is just a matter of cutting back on port fees. They have to have a foreign port in order to run the casino, and I don't know why Catalina would win over San Diego, but I guess it did.

 

Critterchick...........are we cruising together on the 9/1 Monarch cruise?

 

Everyone..........keep hoping that the Monarch will be replaced, but the truth is that it will be in '08 or '10 before the company feels that the Monarch is history. Reason..........she was just in drydock, and with the items put aboard, she will be good for at least 2 to probably 4 years.

 

Rick

[Coralc]

dirtgirl, I hate to mention this...but Carnival doesn't stop in San Diego either. That will probably eliminate our attraction for the itinerary, too. :)

[rvrgirl]

Critterchick...........are we cruising together on the 9/1 Monarch cruise?

 

Everyone..........keep hoping that the Monarch will be replaced, but the truth is that it will be in '08 or '10 before the company feels that the Monarch is history. Reason..........she was just in drydock, and with the items put aboard, she will be good for at least 2 to probably 4 years.

 

Rick

 

When was she in dydock?

[lawsoncd3]

We're in the early stages of planning a cruise in Feb. on the Monarch (4 night, San Diego)... we're taking my in-laws as they have never been to San Diego. Good thing we're going when we are!

 

Dona :)

[whitshel]

If you keep looking at the calander, the monarch stops going to san diego from april to october 2007, but returns going to san diego nov 2007 through april 2008;) (minus the holiday sailings) i wonder if they are going to be working on the cruise terminal during those months?:confused:

[RDeagazio]

Don't get your hopes up over the Monarch being replaced any time soon. She's newer than the Sovereign and Majesty and all 3 will have gone through the total renovation. Monarch is also getting the upgraded bedding in the next few months. The ship is making money hand over fist and sails full almost every cruise and is FAR SUPERIOR to the Paradise in every way.

 

I think the reason to temporarily stop calling in San Diego is due to work being done on the port and cruise terminal. Also the port charges to dock in SD are extremely high which is why the Vision stopped calling here and one of the reasons SD doesn't have a year round ship.

[dirtgirl]

dirtgirl, I hate to mention this...but Carnival doesn't stop in San Diego either. That will probably eliminate our attraction for the itinerary, too. :)

 

You are right - I thought that they left out Catalina Island. My bad. I guess we are SOL.

[MomeeToEm]

We're in the early stages of planning a cruise in Feb. on the Monarch (4 night, San Diego)... we're taking my in-laws as they have never been to San Diego. Good thing we're going when we are!

 

Dona :)

 

We're also going in February, so I'm happy to hear that San Diego will still be on the itinerary then. I hope it stays long term, we're thinking of taking the kids with us in '08. :)

[Ericknow32]

Does San Diego really make or break a cruise. I don't get it. If you are in the LA area you can take a day trip there to see it.

 

Lets be honest, most people sailing the Monarch are local Californians. San Diego is close enough to visit on our own, we don't need to go there on a cruise.

 

Personally I would rather have the sea day.

[FitzLA]

As much as I would loooooooooooooooove to see a Radiance class ship on the Left Coast, I feel compelled to point out that Monarch sells out her 3-day weekend cruises that have only Ensenada as a port, so I suspect that dropping San Diego is just a matter of cutting back on port fees. They have to have a foreign port in order to run the casino, and I don't know why Catalina would win over San Diego, but I guess it did.

 

Opening the casino has nothing to do with visiting a foreign port. In order for them to open the casino, they just have to be in international waters. They have to visit a foreign port to comply with The Passenger Services Act, which states the following....

 

"The current law states that cruise ships carrying passengers between U.S. ports with no foreign visits must be built in the U.S., registered in the U.S. and manned with U.S. crews. If these rules are not followed, the operator must pay a steep penalty."

 

This basically means that ships built outside of the U.S. and registered outside of the U.S. (which most are except for a few NCL ships) must visit a foreign port in order to comply with this law. If they are registered in the U.S. and manned by a U.S. crew, they have to comply with U.S. labor laws, which they most certainly do not want to do. Again, nothing to do with the casino.

[badgebunny]

Thanks everybody! We are from Louisville Ky and San Diego reallly does make or break the cruise for us. Since we are usually on a budget we can't afford to take a day trip up from LA to replace the lost day there. I hope that it is just port work in San Diego so we can go back in 2008, until then I guess it's back to the Carribean for us.

 

Amy

[karessamom]

Opening the casino has nothing to do with visiting a foreign port. In order for them to open the casino, they just have to be in international waters. They have to visit a foreign port to comply with The Passenger Services Act, which states the following....

 

"The current law states that cruise ships carrying passengers between U.S. ports with no foreign visits must be built in the U.S., registered in the U.S. and manned with U.S. crews. If these rules are not followed, the operator must pay a steep penalty."

 

This basically means that ships built outside of the U.S. and registered outside of the U.S. (which most are except for a few NCL ships) must visit a foreign port in order to comply with this law. If they are registered in the U.S. and manned by a U.S. crew, they have to comply with U.S. labor laws, which they most certainly do not want to do. Again, nothing to do with the casino.

 

I don't think Catalina is a foreign port tho. It's part of california. Ensenada is the foreign port.