Monarch review from 12/4-12/8

[renaibr]

my husband and i sailed with our four children.

we traveled from new york to california just for the cruise.

the ship is in nice shape and was constantly being cleaned while we were on board. the new linens are really nice also.

 

monday nite at 10 pm i picked up my kids from the adventure ocean club.

my daughters age 11 and 7 were staying in an inside cabin with me.

my husband was next door. any how the beds were not pulled down.

so i climbed up to pull down one of the pullman beds. there were no bars on it. i tried the other bed and found the same. i went up to the guest realtions desk and they were going to search for a bar.

at 1130pm i was told that there were no bars for our safety and they could not move my room as the ship was full. i slept on the floor that night. somehow royal thinks that a fruit basket and two towels will

take away the aggravation from all of this.

 

my daughter sara who is 11 hated the kids club. she was put with younger children, if there are less than ten kids they put them with the other club. she said the counselors yelled at her and treated her like a baby.

i noticed that quite a few of the counselors dont even hold degrees in education.

 

the weather was beautiful, the ship was nice, and the activities were fun.

i have to say that the service on this ship was blow par and we were extremely disappointed. i have been on her sister ship majesty of the seas also.

[pcur]

I just got off the Monarch yesterday morning. We took the 12/11 - 12/15 cruise, and I did not receive the same customer service you did. I had to get my table changed, and it was by the nicest head waiter in the fleet. I also needed some assistance at the CS desk, and they were very nice.

 

I'm sorry you didn't have the bars for the pullman beds, but why didn't you put the two twins together and make a queen? All three of you could have fit for the night. Did they provide a rollaway for you after that? Your TA should have requested the security bars for the pullman beds.

 

I think the fruit basket, etc is a nice gesture.

 

Adventure Ocean staff don't have to have a degree in education. My DS was thinking of working on a cruise ship one summer while he was still in college, but decided not to apply. They do have to have some experience, but not a full degree. It's the luck of the draw where Adventure Ocean is concerned and the mix of ages on the ship. If she hated it, there is lots of other things to do.

 

I passed the Adventure Ocean staff with the kids on our cruise at least 4 times on the cruise, and they had them all well under control. We passed them in the centrum while they were getting ready to do the "pirate walk" in the dining room. However, most of the kids in the program on our cruise were the younger ones.

 

I just wrote my opinions of our cruise in another thread in case you're interested.

[Merion_Mom]

my husband and i sailed with our four children.

we traveled from new york to california just for the cruise.

the ship is in nice shape and was constantly being cleaned while we were on board. the new linens are really nice also.

 

monday nite at 10 pm i picked up my kids from the adventure ocean club.

my daughters age 11 and 7 were staying in an inside cabin with me.

my husband was next door. any how the beds were not pulled down.

so i climbed up to pull down one of the pullman beds. there were no bars on it. i tried the other bed and found the same. i went up to the guest realtions desk and they were going to search for a bar.

at 1130pm i was told that there were no bars for our safety and they could not move my room as the ship was full. i slept on the floor that night. somehow royal thinks that a fruit basket and two towels will

take away the aggravation from all of this.

 

my daughter sara who is 11 hated the kids club. she was put with younger children, if there are less than ten kids they put them with the other club. she said the counselors yelled at her and treated her like a baby.

i noticed that quite a few of the counselors dont even hold degrees in education.

 

the weather was beautiful, the ship was nice, and the activities were fun.

i have to say that the service on this ship was blow par and we were extremely disappointed. i have been on her sister ship majesty of the seas also.

I am sorry that you did not enjoy your cruise.

 

Not everyone finds a cruise to be a suitable family vacation.

 

Good luck on your next vacation. I hope that it is a better experience for you.

[VernRDH]

With regard to Adventure Ocean-the counselors ARE required to have a bachelors degree to work there. I was told this on both cruises that my daughter took with us (Sovereign and Jewel).

 

I'm sorry you had trouble with the beds, but I think that you would have noticed right after dinner when the beds are usually made up??

 

Hopefully you have a better cruise next time.

[pcur]

With regard to Adventure Ocean-the counselors ARE required to have a bachelors degree to work there. I was told this on both cruises that my daughter took with us (Sovereign and Jewel).

 

I'm sorry you had trouble with the beds, but I think that you would have noticed right after dinner when the beds are usually made up??

 

Hopefully you have a better cruise next time.

 

Hmm....that's interesting, and must be different on different ships. Our OP here said the Monarch staff didn't, and since my DS was in college in Santa Barbara, I am assuming he was thinking of applying with either Carnival or RCCL, and he was non-degree at the time (about 7 years ago), so they must be working the degree requirement into the program.

 

I agree with Merion Mom, and I hope the OP tries again. Be sure to have your TA specify the ages and configuration of those sleeping in the cabins, and request the bed rails.

[boaterette]

I am sorry to hear about your experience. I think if you book three to a room that they would have had the necessary beds available. You shouldn't have had to ask and especially shouldn't have had to sleep on the floor. Poor customer service on their part.

 

As far as the kids club it can be hit or miss. My kids enjoy it at times and not so much at other times. As far as being degreed this is from RCCL's website.

 

" You can feel confident leaving your children with us because every member of our Adventure Ocean staff holds a college degree in education, recreation, or other related field, or has qualified-equivalent experience working with children ages 3-17. All are certified in CPR"

 

So it doesn't appear that they have to have a degree.

 

I hope your next cruise is a better one.

[Merion_Mom]

I am sorry to hear about your experience. I think if you book three to a room that they would have had the necessary beds available. You shouldn't have had to ask and especially shouldn't have had to sleep on the floor. Poor customer service on their part.

 

As far as the kids club it can be hit or miss. My kids enjoy it at times and not so much at other times. As far as being degreed this is from RCCL's website.

 

" You can feel confident leaving your children with us because every member of our Adventure Ocean staff holds a college degree in education, recreation, or other related field, or has qualified-equivalent experience working with children ages 3-17. All are certified in CPR"

 

So it doesn't appear that they have to have a degree.

 

I hope your next cruise is a better one.

boaterette, she didn't say that the cabin didn't have the correct number of beds.

 

She said that the pullman bed didn't have a railing.

 

She could have put the 11 year old up there, or she could have slept up there herself. She did not HAVE to sleep on the floor.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Sorry your cruise experience wasn't the best.

 

OP says she sailed with her DH and 4 children. That would break down to 2 cabins with either3 per cabin or 4 kids in one and parents in another. Either way the cabin attendant should of been on the ball or the parents should request to have the upper berths made up prior to turn down service. No one should need to sleep on the floor! :eek:

 

OP wasn't clear but did you sleep on the floor every night, or just the first night? :confused:

 

***

[ColeandAbby]

Sorry things did not turn out as you liked. I was wondering why you did not have one of your gils in the cabin with daddy? Sleeoing on the flor must have been very uncomfortable!

[renaibr]

we are a family of 6 and had two inside cabins.

my husband had the pullman bed pulled down and it only had one pullman bed.

 

i had three in my cabin and both of the beds were not pulled down.

my bed was not ready for me either when we returned to our room.

we left for dinner at 530pm and returned at 10pm.

they knew we had 3 in our cabins.

i only slept on the floor the first night.

they made a rail for her the second night.

[pcur]

we are a family of 6 and had two inside cabins.

my husband had the pullman bed pulled down and it only had one pullman bed.

 

i had three in my cabin and both of the beds were not pulled down.

my bed was not ready for me either when we returned to our room.

we left for dinner at 530pm and returned at 10pm.

they knew we had 3 in our cabins.

i only slept on the floor the first night.

they made a rail for her the second night.

 

 

You did, indeed, get poor service from your cabin steward the first night. If you weren't back until 10 PM, then he/she had time during BOTH dinner seatings to get into your cabin and turn down the beds. The fact that the ages weren't communicated for the pullman security rails is a little iffy: could be the info was never sent by your TA. But, to not have the cabin ready for the night is a big no-no.