Las Vegas to the LA Port....

[tahoemc]

They weren't that nice to me. I paid $108 for an eight night cruise (and that was in 2005). I don't recall what I paid for the Monarch three night cruise in Dec 2007. I'll have to look that one up.

 

Cuizer2 - The $36 and the time reference was for parking for the weekend cruise - a previous poster indicated it was $48. Sorry if you thought thats what I paid for the cruise itself. It was more than that, although very reasonable.

 

cruiser671 - DW, DD and I had a good time. Lots of activities during the day. On Friday afternoon after muster, we met fellow CruiseCritics Jean and Don (critterchick), Tony and Lisa (mimoo2 and bbnut) and Terri and Lee (Band1Mom) - a good time had by all! We went into Ensenada on Saturday for a couple of hours for some browsing and lunch. Spent the afternoon by the pool which wasn't very crowded until the Papas and Beer crowd returned. Sunday afternoon back to the pool - was crowded but fun. Ate in the dining room all three nights - food was good but not exceptional. Windjammer buffet was nothing special, but keep in mind, I come from the land of buffets (Nevada). Service was good overall - wait staff was prompt, efficient and friendly - never saw the cabin steward but our room was always made up twice daily. Caught the magician/comedian during the farewell show Sunday night in the showroom - he was pretty good. Boleros was quiet most of the time - not much happening there at night but they make good specialty drinks (mojitos come to mind:D ). Check out The Circuit for karoake (sp?) and music at night. Also, Quest was at 10:30 Sunday night. We didn't make it, but have always enjoyed it in the past. Just don't ask what its about before you go;) .

 

The Monarch itself is in pretty good shape considering her age, the number of people that she entertains each week, and the eventual retirement to a sister cruise line. Clean and bright, although she is showing some age spots and scarring here and there.

 

Advice - Have fun!!! Read this thread and search other threads that talk about first time cruising - lots of great hints. Get to the pier about 11:30a on Friday if you can, hit the Windjammer for lunch, then check out your stateroom after 1pm. After lunch, take the map that will be given to you and explore the ship - have fun. Have a drink at the pool and take in the view of San Pedro. After muster, head up to the pool deck for sailaway - Always fun. Pack light - the staterooms are small unless you booked a suite. Most suitcases will fit under the bed leaving the closet for clothes and shoes. I'm sure others can help with suggestions. Oh, an one more thing - HAVE FUN!

 

One word of caution - If your like most on this site, you will be hooked on cruising for life. Join the Crown and Anchor Society when you are on board - this will get you some small perks on future RC cruises, and the perks get marginally better as you achieve higher award status.

[Cuizer2]

Cuizer2 - The $36 and the time reference was for parking for the weekend cruise - a previous poster indicated it was $48. Sorry if you thought thats what I paid for the cruise itself. It was more than that, although very reasonable.

 

I know you were talking about parking. When I said $108 for eight nights I was talking about parking too. Like I said, I'll have to check how much I paid for the Monarch cruise, as I parked at the port for that also.

[cruiser671]

cruiser671 - DW, DD and I had a good time. Lots of activities during the day. On Friday afternoon after muster, we met fellow CruiseCritics Jean and Don (critterchick), Tony and Lisa (mimoo2 and bbnut) and Terri and Lee (Band1Mom) - a good time had by all! We went into Ensenada on Saturday for a couple of hours for some browsing and lunch. Spent the afternoon by the pool which wasn't very crowded until the Papas and Beer crowd returned. Sunday afternoon back to the pool - was crowded but fun. Ate in the dining room all three nights - food was good but not exceptional. Windjammer buffet was nothing special, but keep in mind, I come from the land of buffets (Nevada). Service was good overall - wait staff was prompt, efficient and friendly - never saw the cabin steward but our room was always made up twice daily. Caught the magician/comedian during the farewell show Sunday night in the showroom - he was pretty good. Boleros was quiet most of the time - not much happening there at night but they make good specialty drinks (mojitos come to mind:D ). Check out The Circuit for karoake (sp?) and music at night. Also, Quest was at 10:30 Sunday night. We didn't make it, but have always enjoyed it in the past. Just don't ask what its about before you go;) .

 

The Monarch itself is in pretty good shape considering her age, the number of people that she entertains each week, and the eventual retirement to a sister cruise line. Clean and bright, although she is showing some age spots and scarring here and there.

 

Advice - Have fun!!! Read this thread and search other threads that talk about first time cruising - lots of great hints. Get to the pier about 11:30a on Friday if you can, hit the Windjammer for lunch, then check out your stateroom after 1pm. After lunch, take the map that will be given to you and explore the ship - have fun. Have a drink at the pool and take in the view of San Pedro. After muster, head up to the pool deck for sailaway - Always fun. Pack light - the staterooms are small unless you booked a suite. Most suitcases will fit under the bed leaving the closet for clothes and shoes. I'm sure others can help with suggestions. Oh, an one more thing - HAVE FUN!

 

One word of caution - If your like most on this site, you will be hooked on cruising for life. Join the Crown and Anchor Society when you are on board - this will get you some small perks on future RC cruises, and the perks get marginally better as you achieve higher award status.

 

 

Thanks so much for the details of your fun trip. I'm so excited I can't contain myself. Thanks for the tips. Let's see if I can remember......Oh yeah, HAVE LOTS OF FUN!!!! and that I WILL!!

[Irishnana]

PS- If you have a Baja 1000 trophy truck and driver there are even more direct ways around the traffic...but they are not recommended in a rental car. :eek:

 

Kenish you've burst my bubble; I thought all rental vehicles were BAJA 1000 TROPHY TRUCKS with any driver ;)

[Irishnana]

PS- If you have a Baja 1000 trophy truck and driver there are even more direct ways around the traffic...but they are not recommended in a rental car. :eek:

 

Kenish you've burst my bubble; I thought all rental vehicles were BAJA 1000 TROPHY TRUCKS with any driver ;)

[southbayer]

Yep, that's what I would do. So you don't have to pay for all that dead time for the car while your vacationing

I am renting a car from Enterprise in Las Vegas and traveling to the LA Port for the Monarch of the Seas cruise. I see that people are getting rentals and dropping it off at the "New" Crown Plaza Enterprise and taking a shuttle from there to port.

 

Would it be cheaper to go ahead and drop the car off, and then after the cruise, rent another car and drive back to Vegas?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

I want to add a couple of comments...

 

Driving from Las Vegas to los Angeles at night is not recommended. I -15 is a race track, that is, people drive very fast cars at very high rates of speed. During the day time you can see what is behind you but at night it is very difficult. Secondly there are always trucks on this road.

 

Make sure that you are alert, and there are places to stop in Primm (Stateline), Baker, Yermo, Barstow (Lenwood), and Victorville.

 

When you enter the Los Angeles area, you will see signs on the freeway for HOV lanes (high occupancy vehicles of two or more passengers except on I -10 which is three or more passengers). Use these lanes if you can because they can really save you time.

 

The 210 and 105 freeways are new and fun to drive, and both have HOV lanes.

 

Fred