Questions about Monarch OTS - 4 day cruise

[cruisemama5]

We are going on the Monarch OTS 4 day cruise the end of September. I have a few questions I am hoping someone will help me out with....

 

We are driving from Utah. Can we park at the port somewhere? How much??

 

Wondering what to pack for that time of year, weather-wize and for the dining rooms, especially formal night? I understand you cannot predict the weather, but just a general idea of what to expect.

 

Are there specialty restaurants on this ship?

 

What is in the room? We will have an inside cabin (going as cheaply as possible). Is there a refrigerator, a hair blow dryer?

 

We were going to go to California for a week get-away and saw this cruise. The price makes it cheaper to do than going to places onthe coast on our own with the food, a room and price of meals and especially gas these days. We love to cruise. Have never been on RCCL though. Have been on Celebrity, Holland, and NCL. Went back and forth on going on this one versus Carnival's similar cruise. I like sea days, but this is what hubby wanted to do. It was cheaper also.

 

Thanks for any help!

[photocruiser]

We are going on the Monarch OTS 4 day cruise the end of September. I have a few questions I am hoping someone will help me out with....

 

We are driving from Utah. Can we park at the port somewhere? How much?? I believe parking is about $12 a day and you can park pretty close if you get there as early as possible.

Wondering what to pack for that time of year, weather-wize and for the dining rooms, especially formal night? I understand you cannot predict the weather, but just a general idea of what to expect. I think it should be fairly warm in LA, but it can get chilly at night. Formal is up to you, You can get as fancy as you want. No jeans, shorts or casual stuff.

Are there specialty restaurants on this ship? Don't remember the names.

 

What is in the room? We will have an inside cabin (going as cheaply as possible). Is there a refrigerator, a hair blow dryer? No fridge but they do have a dryer and you can bring a cooler so you can have it filled with ice.

 

We were going to go to California for a week get-away and saw this cruise. The price makes it cheaper to do than going to places onthe coast on our own with the food, a room and price of meals and especially gas these days. We love to cruise. Have never been on RCCL though. Have been on Celebrity, Holland, and NCL. Went back and forth on going on this one versus Carnival's similar cruise. I like sea days, but this is what hubby wanted to do. It was cheaper also.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Enjoy,

Photocruiser

[crb04]

Parking for the 3-4 night cruises is right in front of the terminal, and is $12 day.

 

I believe only the rooms on decks 9 and 10 have the mini-fridges (and safes)? Should be hair dryer in all the rooms. We went in April (is a little cool then for Baja--low 70s). I brought a cocktail dress, and also slacks with blouses for evening...ended up wearing black dress slacks and a 'sparkly' blouse for formal. Monarch seemed more casual for formal nights than the longer cruises. I packed jeans, capris, shorts for excursions, with a light jacket...and also a 'dressy' sweater for evenings on deck. Husband wore suit and tie for formal, slacks for other evenings, shorts and jeans for excursions (he doesn't get chilled near as easily as I do).

 

Have a wonderful cruise...:)

[critterchick]

The only specialty restaurant on Monarch is Jade Sushi, which also serves cooked Japanese, food, not just sushi. IMHO the food had ranged from pretty good to horrible (as opposed to the dining room food, which is usually very good or the Windjammer, which had some nice dinner offerings), and it's been unpredictable which it will be. The charge depends on what you order, but two can get out of there for $25 for a full meal.

[cruisemama5]

I am hoping that the parking is patroled, or watched so that cars aren't broken into. Is it outdoor parking or covered parking? Also is the rate applied so that if I park there Monday morning and get out Friday morning, will I be charged 4 days or 5 days?

[chelle the cruise junkie]

The parking in LA is a large parking area inside the cruise port. Its safe, I've parked there 4 different times and never had a problem. You'll be charged for the 4 days only...

chelle:D

[MissKise]

Parking is secure, and it is accessed at 24 hour time frames....depending on how early you arrive at the port and how late you stay on the ship will determine the days you are charged. If you get to the port at 10:00 am and don't get through customs, pick up luggage and exit the lot before 10:00 you will be charged the additional day. And we have been stuck in the customs line for over an hour before...so plan accordingly.

 

All the other info above is correct.

[AdMaven]

The only specialty restaurant on Monarch is Jade Sushi, which also serves cooked Japanese, food, not just sushi. IMHO the food had ranged from pretty good to horrible (as opposed to the dining room food, which is usually very good or the Windjammer, which had some nice dinner offerings), and it's been unpredictable which it will be. The charge depends on what you order, but two can get out of there for $25 for a full meal.

 

On my cruise in July, my GF and I went to have dinner at Jade and all they had was suishi. We were told that's all they had and there was no other menu or food. We were greatly disappointed because we had a wonderful meal there a few years ago!

 

This was on formal night and we had planned on Jade but ended up in the Windjammer.

[cruisemama5]

Thanks for all the info. I am looking forward to this trip! It is only a month away now!! I have only been on three previous cruises, but they were all booked months in advanced. This is fun, with it coming up so quickly. Sadly, that makes it over quicker too!:(

[MissKise]

We love the Monarch.....

 

The crew is great, the ship is fun and the weather in Sept will be nice. It should be still warm, clear, with very little morning fog.

 

Jade is a upper level area that does serve sushi, but there is also the section of the Windjammer/Jade area that is wonderful. It does have an Asian flare to the food, but it has many of the Windjammer items also. We found Miso soup, noodles, tofu, and stir fried rice......along with roast beef, and the regular Windjammer fare.

 

Make sure you wander back to check it out...............

 

There is so much to do, and so little time, the small cabins are hardly noticed. We slept there, changed clothes and spent little time in the cabin.

 

BON VOYAGE!