Review of Monarch of the Seas March 9 - 13

[MusiCruiser]

About us: My wife (Cindy) and I (Rusty) live in Belle Vernon, Pa. This would be our 3rd cruise on Royal Caribbean, and our first on Monarch of the Seas. We are in our mid-50’s and enjoy cruising as well as spending time in Florida.

We left Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 7 at 10pm, with Port Canaveral and The Monarch of the Seas as our destination. Our night-long drive through Pa, W.Va., Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina went uneventfully. On Sunday morning, shortly after passing Columbia SC, we decided to stop at a McDonalds for breakfast. We were surprised to find that two women that were on the same cruise, and members of CC, (I’ll call them Barb and Debbie) were standing in line at the same McDonalds. We introduced ourselves to each other, and after a brief conversation, Barb and Debbie left to continue their drive, while Cindy and I finished our breakfast. Then, it was back on the road to Port Canaveral.

We made a brief stop in Daytona Beach, to verify some plans that we had made for the week following our cruise, then proceeded on to Port Canaveral. We had reservations at the Radisson in PC which included breakfast and the cruise and park option. We arrived at the Radisson at around 3:30pm., and checked in. We were pleasantly surprised at the size, features and cleanliness of the room. We will definitely choose this hotel any time we are in PC. After getting settled in our room, we decided to have dinner at Fishlips Restaurant. We were seated at the window and were making our dinner selections, when pleasantly, Barb and Debbie arrived and were seated next to us. What a wonderful surprise. We were introduced to some of their family and talked for a few minutes. As we were talking, the Disney Adventure sailed past, so outside we went to wave to the cruisers, and to take photos of this beautiful ship. After a delicious dinner, Cindy and I drove to Cocoa Beach and the obligatory visit to RonJons Surf Shop. If visiting the Cocoa Beach area, RonJons cannot be missed.

On Monday morning, we awoke, showered, and went to breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. The breakfast was not a huge buffet. However, despite its small size, it offered more than enough items for the two of us, plus offered a made-to-order omelet station. Delicious. With our stomachs full, we made a couple of quick local stops, and arrived back at the Radisson, parked the car, and wheeled our luggage to the front door to await our 12:30 shuttle to the ship. As promised, on the half hour, the shuttle arrived, loaded our luggage into the tag-behind trailer, and transported us to the ship. The driver was very pleasant and efficient in unloading the luggage at the ship. As we exited the shuttle, we got our first close-up view of The Monarch. She is considerably smaller than the Mariner, but still presents an awe inspiring presence. Once we entered terminal #10, we were whisked through security, upstairs to get our Sea Pass, and onto the ship, all within 15 minutes. Just prior to boarding, there was the mandatory “Welcome Aboard” photo, as well as the Sea Pass ID photo. All that stood in our way to the Monarch was the gangway, which we crossed quickly and stepped into the stunning Centrum of Monarch of the Seas.

Part 2 is just a short time away..

Rusty

[deskh]

Rusty,

Ok I am waiting for part 2! :D We are headed on the Monarch in May, wondering how your cruise went. thanks for posting.

[cbCRR]

I'm taking a group of girls in June that will have just graduated high school. It's the first cruise for all of us. Can't wait to hear all the details and any ship specific suggestions you have!

[bbw187]

Hey Rusty.......it's BARB!

 

I just love being known by an alias.......it's so exciting! Can't wait for part 2, 3 and 4!

 

~B~

[MusiCruiser]

As we entered the Centrum on Monarch of the Seas, we were overwhelmed at the size and beauty of the area. Brass and Glass was everywhere. Cindy had to have her first drink, so we found the nearest table and ordered a Pina Colada. We walked up and down the stairways admiring the art, and listening to the live music filling the area. It was at this point that we realized that this cruise was going to be over-run by college students. Yes, it is spring break for some schools, and it appeared that most of the students decided to cruise on this sailing. Oh, to be young and in college again. As it turns out, most of the spring breakers were quite well behaved. We even met a few that were extremely well mannered.

 

From there we proceeded up to Deck 11 where we entered The Windjammer and enjoyed lunch. The food was good, as was the service. After lunch, we decided to walk around the pool deck and take a few photos. From there, we investigated the fitness center, small but adequate, The Circuit and the Sound of Music Auditorium. By this time it was 2pm., and we were permitted into our cabin.

We made our way back up to Deck 8 and located our cabin, # 8050. As we opened the cabin door, we were just a bit surprised at size of the room inside. It was, well to say the least, SMALL. Having been on Voyager class ships, we weren’t quite ready for a room of this size, or lack of size. Our previous sailings had all been balcony cabins, and this one had no balcony, and no couch, and barely had room to move around the desk before reaching the bed. We had the two beds pushed together to form a single larger bed. However, we were satisfied with the cabin, as we didn’t intend to spend much time there. Within 3 minutes our Cabin Steward arrived and introduced himself to us. His name was Charlito, and he was wonderful. We came to appreciate his efficiency and friendliness as the cruise progressed.

Next on the agenda was the Muster Drill. We were amused to learn that our muster station was on Deck 7, inside Bolero’s nightclub. It is amazing the amount of people that can be squeezed into a space. Bolero’s onboard the Monarch is considerably “larger” than the on the Mariner. People were seated everywhere, but by the time we arrived there was standing room only on the dance floor. After listening to the usual safety presentation, it was time to return our life-vests to our room, and head up onto Deck 11 for sailaway. Cindy and I each got a glass of red wine and found a couple of deckchairs on the starboard side forward.

As we stood next to our chairs, we sensed a minute change in our view of Port Canaveral. Yes, we were moving. The ear-splitting blast of the ships horn verified the fact that we were underway. Passing up the channel, we were greeted by the patrons of many of the restaurants that line the waterway. We passed the SunCruz Casino ship, Fishlips Restaurant and the Las Vegas Casino Lines ship. Then it was on to pass Jetty Park and finally out into the Atlantic. Our cruise had officially begun. Since we had second seating for our dining preference, we decided that now was the time to start exploring the ship. So off we went to discover what this ship had to offer.

 

Our first stop was back in Bolero’s, where we found a friendly bartender just waiting to help us choose a drink. We made his job easy as each of us just wanted a glass of wine. We sat there for about 10 minutes then continued our trek. Next stop was Schooners Lounge. Again, this lounge was considerably larger than it’s namesake onboard the Mariner. It had a large bar, piano, and plenty of seating for the upcoming nights of alcohol consumption. From there, we investigated the onboard shops, the Guest Relations area, and our Claude’s Dining Room assignment. Satisfied with our tour, we decided to retire to our cabin to get a quick nap, since we were still recovering from the all-night drive from Pa.

We were awakened at about 6:30 by a phone call from the Dining Room. They wanted to change our seating arrangement, as the table at which we were assigned needed 2 additional spots for a family. We didn’t see it as a problem, and were assigned a table for 4 which ended up being a table for 2 for the duration of the cruise. At 8:15 we made our way down to Claude’s and waited to be admitted into the Dining Room. We were shown to our table, and met our waiter Ahmad, and our assistant waiter Doreen. Both were wonderful and were very patient. Ordering was difficult for me as I had contacted a case of Laryngitis, and was not able to speak in anything above a whisper. We generally found their meal suggestions to be on the money. After dinner, it was a quick stroll around Deck 12, then off to sleep. Coco Cay was our destination for Tuesday.

 

Part 3 is soon to follow.

 

Rusty

[MusiCruiser]

Tuesday morning, we awoke late. It was almost 8 o’clock before we finally got out of bed. We showered then went up to The Windjammer for breakfast. There was the usual breakfast selection; scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cereal, fruit, ham, fried vegetables and, of course, lots of coffee. It was a very nice selection of entrées and was rather good. Of course, I had to fight the impulse to get seconds, otherwise, I would never make it walking all over Coco Cay.

We caught the tender at about 9:30 and landed on the island about 10 minutes later. We had a definite destination in mind, which was more than half way up the island. Cindy made a pit stop, and I was just wandering around when Barb saw me and waved to get my attention. I walked over and was introduced to Barb’s Daughter Janet. What a lovely young lady, and very sociable. While talking to these two ladies, Cindy came over and joined the conversation. We found out that Debbie was off being adventurous with some of the other college girls in their group. We told them of our plans to go far up the island to the more private areas. We said good-bye’s and then headed off to find our own little spot on the island. We found the spot where we had relaxed on a couple of our previous visits, and set up camp. Beach towels, sunscreen and MP3 players. Yes, we are addicted to that little piece of technology. At least with our own players, we don’t have to listen to music that we don’t like.

We relaxed there in the sun, fell asleep, awoke, turned over, fell asleep some more, awoke, watched the beautiful aqua colored water, observed people slowly walking by, listened to our music and just enjoyed each others company. Now THIS is a vacation. We never did make it back to the more populated area for the Bar-B-Q lunch. Instead, we decided to explore the island. We found a partially overgrown walkway, and followed it onto what turned out to be a nature trail. We followed the nature trail until we ran out of island. It was here that we discovered some of RCCL’s employees fishing. Yes, they were fishing off of the rocky shoreline. I guess they were running low on fresh fish in the dining room, and had to replenish their supply somehow. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Not many people are willing to walk to this point, as it IS quite some distance, perhaps a mile or so. But if you want to find some seclusion, take the nature walk until you can go no further. You won’t regret it. P.S. Take a camera, as the photos are wonderful.

Around 2:45, we decided that it was time to head back to the ship. We returned to our little beach homestead, retrieved our belongings, and made our way to the tender dock. Now, don’t forget that you can’t just walk up to the dock and expect to get onboard the tender. You need to proceed to the right of the dock and pass through a metal detector. I’m not sure of what they expect you to find on the island that needs to be x-rayed, but, none the less, you will need to go through the machine. We only waited about 15 minutes before another tender was available and we were permitted to board. On our way back to Monarch, the difference in size between the Voyager class and the Monarch is evident. Still, Monarch is a beautiful ship.

Once back onboard, we stopped for a glass of wine, (we do like our wine), returned to our cabin, showered, then relaxed for about 1 ½ hours. It’s amazing how the warm Caribbean sun can put you to sleep. We woke up a bit before 6:00 and turned on Fox news. Yes, we watch Fox news, even onboard ship. We need to know if the rest of the world is still there.

Around 7:30 we started to get dressed. Tonight was Formal night, so Cindy got out her gold dress and I set out my Tux. We enjoy formal night, as we have always thought of it as one of the finer aspects of cruising. We don’t get to go out much at home, due to our work schedules. So when we do go out, we love to get dressed in our finer attire. We arrived at the Dining Room just as they were opening the doors. We proceeded to our table and were greeted by the two beautiful young ladies from FSU that sat at the table next to us. If their parents could see them, they would be very proud. These young ladies were wonderful, and were a pleasure to talk to. We talked through dinner, but one of the girls wasn’t feeling well, so they left without finishing dinner. It turns out that it was nothing serious, and we saw them again the following evening. After dinner, we walked around the ship a bit, walked out on deck, and just looked out over the ocean, as we love watching the moonlight sparkle off of the water as the ship slowly makes it’s way to the next port. What in God’s creation could be more beautiful? We returned to our cabin around 11:00 and called it a night. Tomorrow will be Nassau.

Part 4 is soon to follow.

Rusty

[phabric]

Enjoyed reading your review. We will be on the Majesty which does the same ports.

[Gator0178]

Very Nice review! Look forward to the rest!:D

[DaisyGirl55]

More, More, More!

 

What a great review so far! I almost feel like if I close my eyes, I can see everything you are describing...the crystal blue water, the wake of the ship, the noises in the dining room, the music in the clubs.

 

I am sailing on the Monarch in just over a month with my DH, and I am so ready to step onboard.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[MusiCruiser]

Wednesday morning we awoke rather early. Cindy glanced out the window and said “There is an Island out there”. Sure enough, looking out the cabin window, we saw Nassau. The sun was not very high in the sky, so the different shades of blue waters were not yet visible. The ship was in the process of turning around and backing up to the dock. We watched the view from our cabin window and, at the same tine, watched the television view from the camera mounted atop the Viking Crown Lounge. Ever so slowly, the ship moved closer and closer to the dock. Then, another ship appeared on the TV. It was an NCL ship, in the process of performing the same maneuver as the Monarch. It was turning around and beginning its backward crawl to the dock.

As we watched, the ship slowed to a bare crawl, and the Visitors Center with it’s bright yellow paint came into view. Behind the Visitor’s Center, the beautiful community of Nassau was visible. The red tile roofs, the Pink government buildings, the pastel colored shops; the beautiful greenery intermingled with the buildings. What a beautiful sight. This was our first visit to Nassau, so we had no idea of what to expect. This was more than we could have asked for, and it was charming.

We showered and dressed, then made our daily trek up to The Windjammer for breakfast. As we entered, I was thinking to myself that this cruise had better end soon, or else I am going to get addicted to a full breakfast every morning. We rarely eat a heavy breakfast, but, with everything that is available on the buffet, how can we resist. After finishing our eggs, bacon, toast and potatoes, we returned to the buffet for some fresh fruit. Cindy said that we man need the energy with all of the walking that we had planned for the day. We left The Windjammer, returned to our cabin for some legal tender (money), and our cameras. As it turned out, I used my daughter’s pocket digital camera more than I did my Canon 35mm SLR. We walked down the stairway to Deck 1 and exited the ship. No line, no waiting, just swipe our Sea Pass, and walk down the gangway onto the concrete dock.

We walked past the aft end of the ship and turned right to head toward town. Glancing to the left, we were able to see the impressive structures of the “Atlantis Resort”. As we neared the end of the pier, we were approached by a very well dressed man offering us his services for a 2 ½ hour tour of the island for just $28 per person. His name is Philip W. Miller, and his tour actually lasted more than 3 hours. Originally, we had not intended to take any formal tours. Instead, we were just going to do a modified version of the walking tour that was featured on Frommer’s website. But the offer made by Philip sounded so good that we decided to go for it. He attracted 4 other couples, then, like ducklings following a mother duck, we followed Philip to his van. The van was new, clean and comfortable. He ran a friendly monolog as we left the pier area and started into town. He explained the colors that were used on the government and the public buildings, gave us a quick history lesson, and took us to some of the more affluent neighborhoods of the island. He did, however, also take us to some of the less affluent areas, which afforded us quite a rounded education of residences on the island.

Philip made a number of photo stops for us, including one at Fort Fincastle. We entered the quaint little fort and listened to the informative narrative offered by one of the fort’s attendants. He related some of the history not only of the fort, but also of the island and it’s settlement. Here we were able to take some wonderful photos of the ships in port, the surrounding neighborhoods, and of the Atlantis Resort. Once everyone was satisfied with their photos, their souvenir shopping, and their restroom stops, Philip rounded everyone up and ushered us back into the van. Next stop, Atlantis.

We had heard of Atlantis, and seen the magazine ads for the resort, but never really had a grasp as to the size of the structures. Crossing the intercoastal onto Paradise Island itself, we were able to grasp the size of the complex. As we entered the resort, we were greeted by beautiful gardens, meticulously manicured lawns and colorful flowers and trees. A marina with some of the most beautiful boats imaginable fronted the main entrance to the resort. Philip parked the van in the circular drive, affording us quick access to the entrance. As we passed through the beautiful arched double doors, we were instantly surrounded by colorful mosaics that covered virtually every wall. Off to the side was the Reception Desk, and on the other side was the hallway leading to the Casino. But, the most dominant feature in the lobby was the aquarium. No matter where you walked, you could see this amazing manmade display. Fish of all sizes, shape, colors and species can be found in this wondrous feature. Our guide assembled everyone and escorted us in toward the casino.

One of the more popular photo spots was the oversized royal chair. Everyone wanted photos of themselves seated in this ornately painted oversized fiberglass chair, Cindy and I included. From there we walked through part of the casino, then precede outside where we were able to view the resorts private beach, their poolside cabanas, and the top of the great seawater tank. We were then directed back inside, down a stairway and came face to face with this immense tank full of all types of marine life. What attracted the most attention was the appearance of two enormous manta rays. Even allowing for the natural magnification of the glass, these animals must have been 2 to 3 meters from wingtip to wingtip. They were absolutely beautiful animals, moving almost effortlessly before our eyes. Just seeing these beautiful giants made the entire trip to Atlantis worthwhile. A quick note, I was surprised to learn that most of the stucco on the building is not actually stucco, but fiberglass. Just knock on it and listen.

Again, Philip rounded up all of his ducklings, and saw to it that everyone was present before departing the resort. He made one final trip through town, and then arrived at the pier. Philip thanked everyone for choosing his taxi, requested that we ask for him on any of our return visits to Nassau, and provided business cards to anyone interested. In the event that anyone is interested, his Taxi is # 571, and his email is superfly242@hotmail.com. He is a very friendly and personable man, who possesses an outstanding knowledge of the island. No regrets will be incurred by seeking out Philip for anyone caring to make use of his services

After our tour, we decided to investigate some of the shops in Nassau. We walked up one side of the street, frequenting many of the shops, crossed the street, and then made our way back down the other side, again frequenting some of the shops that we found. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of pressure that was exerted on people as they passed the shops. We were taken back a bit by the high pressure we experienced as we walked through the streets of Cozumel in October of 2008, and were pleased that we did not experience this same pressure in Nassau.

We visited the obligatory jewelry shops in town, and the liquor stores, (of course we purchased some Rum), and some of the tourist trap shops. Everyone was very friendly and courteous to us. We also noted that all traffic stopped the instant anyone entered a recognized crosswalk. Now, we don’t know if the authorities in Nassau are very strict about pedestrians entering a crosswalk, or if the drivers are just that courteous. But we never had any problems crossing the streets, and never felt intimidated during our entire visit to the island.

We returned to the ship at around 3:30, only to return to do more shopping less than ½ an hour later. We did not find the watchband that we were looking for, but we did find a couple of Christmas ornaments for our family room tree. We never made it to Senior Frogs, as by 5pm our legs started to show signs of fatigue. Once again, we returned to the ship. We made a quick visit to our cabin, and then made our way to Deck 12 to do some photography of the Island. We stayed up on deck until the sun set, allowing us a number of beautiful photos.

We returned to our cabin, showered, relaxed for a while, and then made our way to the Claude’s Dining Room for dinner. Again, we were joined at the next table by the two lovely young ladies from FSU, and enjoyed our dinner, and the pleasant company. After dinner, we made our way to Boleros, where we sat for quite some time enjoying the live music, a couple of drinks, and each others company. Around 11:30 we retired for the night. Only one more day on The Monarch of the Seas, and we intend to make full use of it tomorrow.

Stay tuned, the final installment of this review is coming up soon.

Rusty

[MusiCruiser]

We awoke around 8:00am, on what was to be our final full day onboard Monarch of the Seas. At about 8:30 we made our way up to The Windjammer for breakfast. During our meal, we decided to spend most of the day on deck, enjoying the sun. Only, there was one small glitch in our plan. Remember that this cruise was packed with college students on spring break. With this in mind, we found it almost impossible to locate an open area on either the pool deck or the sun deck surrounding the pool. However, I remembered reading about a little known area on the aft of the ship, between Deck 7 and Deck 9.

We walked aft along the port side of Deck 7 until we came to a narrow stairway near the back of the ship. We walked up this stairway up onto what would be Deck 8. On this level, there was another short stairway of 5 or 6 steps, leading to a small sundeck on the very back of the ship, overlooking the wake. It was here that we found only about 7 or 8 people enjoying the sun and solitude. We found 2 unused lounges chairs. Spreading out our towels, we performed the usual ritual of covering ourselves with sunblock; we each donned our MP3 players, and settled back for some quiet time in the sun.

Pedestrian traffic in this area is extremely light, which allows for a considerable amount of privacy. We relaxed there, enjoying the wonderful view of the wake, listening to music, and shared each others company. The solitude offered on this part of the ship is wonderful. This area is one of the hidden gems aboard the Monarch of the Seas. We stayed there for almost 3 hours, before deciding that we had exposed ourselves to enough sun. We gathered up our towels, cover-ups and sun block and made our way back down the stairway to Deck 7, before finding our way up the aft interior stairway to Deck 8.

We returned to our cabin to find the tip envelopes had been delivered. We had already decided to supply all of our attendants with cash rather than vouchers, so Cindy opened her wallet, counted out the cash and distributed it into the individual envelopes. We showered, and then decided to take one final afternoon nap, a luxury that is seldom afforded in our regular everyday lives. We walked down to the Centrum to visit some of the shops and pick up some Rum Cakes and some Rum, then went to get ourselves a glass of wine, We walked around the ship a bit more and decided to go down to the photo shop to pick up our onboard photos. After that we simply wandered the ship, shooting photos here and there as we silently bid the ship an early good-bye.

After once again returning to our cabin, we dressed for dinner, walked down to Claude’s Dining Room, and sat at our regular table. Our waiter and assistant waiter were there ready to serve us our final meal onboard ship. The two lovely girls at the next table arrived and we shared some small talk with them as we awaited the arrival of our meals. Dinner was wonderful, as usual. We had no complaints about the quality or the quantity of the food served in the dining room. Almost every night our diner concluded with a little extra desert served by our waiter, and tonight was no exception.

Once we had finished our meal, Ahmad and Doreen came over, thanked us for being such wonderful patrons and wished us the best. We presented each of them with their envelope then proceeded to take photos of all of us. We assisted the girls next to us by taking photos of them with the wait staff, and they did the same for us. It was an enjoyable dining experience. We bid each other goodbye, then returned to our cabin to start the unpleasant job of packing. We managed to get everything into our 2 ****-cases and the overnight carry-on bags. We then made our way to The Circuit Lounge for, of course, The Quest.

Neither Cindy nor I have seen the Quest prior to this cruise, and we definitely wanted to experience this spectacle. Barb and Debbie told us that they were going to see this free-for-all, and we wanted to experience it for ourselves. Well, we had a blast. Barb and Debbie invited me to be one of the guys on the team, but after watching all of the running that was required on the teams behalf, I was happy that I declined the invitation. The college age men that did participate in the Quest are in considerably better shape than I am. But we did laugh and enjoy every bit of the foolishness and antics of the participants. Next cruise, we will definitely be at The Quest.

That night, we did not sleep very soundly. I guess it was the anticipation of the cruise ending. We set our alarm for 6:15, and, surprisingly, we did need it to wake up. We showered, made one final visit to the Windjammer for mandatory last breakfast, then returned to our cabin to retrieve our carry-on bags. Our waiting location was the Sound of Music Theater, and we arrived there at about 8:00am. Cindy wanted me to deliver the guest survey to the boxes outside the Guest Relations desk, so, while she waited in the theater, I attempted to deliver the survey. On my way, I ran into Barb and Debbie and their extended families waiting to be called to disembark. They were waiting in Schooners Lounge. We had a great farewell conversation, and said our final goodbyes. As we were talking, their disembarking color was called so we had to abbreviate our conversation. We agreed to keep in touch on-line, and to try to get together again for another cruise. We LOVE that idea. These women from Columbia SC were wonderful. It was almost like meeting friends that we had known for years and years. Barb and Debbie, you are good people, and we love you.

We waited in the theater, and waited, and waited until almost 9:10 when they called our color to disembark. It was a long line from the theater, through Schooners Lounge, down the stairway, and around the Centrum to gain access to the gangway that lead off the ship. But once we got to the gangway, it was smooth sailing. We were through customs in less than 10 seconds. Thats right, 10 SECONDS. We made it to baggage claim, found our luggage, found a porter, and made our way out of the terminal in less than 10 minutes. We had to wait for a second shuttle to the Radisson as there were just too many people trying to get back to the hotel. We didn’t mind, as it gave us a chance to talk to a very friendly employee of Port Canaveral named Richard. He was from our area in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and gave us some information on working for Port Canaveral and living in the area. Nice man with plenty of good information. Thanks Rich. We arrived back at the Radisson, found our car, loaded everyting into the back, and were on our way to Daytona by 10:30am.

Well, this concludes our review of our short cruise on Monarch of the Seas.:D We want to thank the wonderful staff of Monarch of the Seas, and we want to promise the Monarch that, "we shall return". We hope that you enjoyed some of the review, and that, just maybe, you managed to extract a bit of useful information from all of this. Thank you for taking the time to read this extended review. You can find some photos of this and our other cruises on Webshots. Just do a search for Musicruiser, and you will find our albums. Again, thanks for reading this review. If we can, we will be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Have a great cruise everyone, no matter where it takes you, no matter what duration.

Cruising. There is nothing else.:)

Cindy and Rusty

[suzannev3]

Thank you for your wonderful, detailed review of your cruise on the Monarch. My husband and I did the same cruise Feb 16-20 and loved it too. The staff was awesome, Cococay was so beautiful, the food was great.... we'd go on the Monarch again in a heartbeat! We also met a couple who have become "friends" - they were at our dining table and we clicked immediately. We correspond online and hope to take another cruise together some day. Again, thanks for the review of a wonderful cruise.

Sue

[birdylady]

THank you for a SUPER review. We are scheduled for our turn in May. Needless to say, we can't wait. We've only done Mariner so far so I figure it will be a bit different on a smaller ship. Your review really gave me a good idea of what we have ahead of us. Question... you didn't mention the casino at all. I take it you didn't go. By any chance did you check it out at all? If so, can you give us an idea of size, ammenities. I know hubby is hoping for a Craps table. I am hoping for some decent 'cheap' slots and of course an affordable Black Jack table. Any input would be great.

 

Also, in regards to the island tour. Did anyone opt to stay at Atlantis instead of returning with your tour?

 

Thanx,

Erika

[MusiCruiser]

Question... you didn't mention the casino at all. I take it you didn't go. By any chance did you check it out at all? If so, can you give us an idea of size, ammenities. I know hubby is hoping for a Craps table. I am hoping for some decent 'cheap' slots and of course an affordable Black Jack table. Any input would be great.

 

Also, in regards to the island tour. Did anyone opt to stay at Atlantis instead of returning with your tour?

 

Thanx,

Erika

Erika,

I'm sorry but neither of us gamble. We DID walk through the casino, but did not wager anything. The casino is not as big as the one on the Mariner, but it appears to be well equipped. We did notice a Black Jack table, (saw these on the TV show Los Vegas). They also have many slot machines from 5 cents on up. Also, no, no one from our tour stayed at Atlantis. We had the tour with 3 other couples and everyone returned on the same van.

 

Rusty

[Cruiser052]

Cindy and Russ - Thanks for the great review. My husband and I will be on the Monarch for the first time for the 3 night cruise from Port Canaveral the weekend of June 5-8 and are really looking forward to it. We have cruised on the Majesty out of Miami before and the Sovereign from Port Canaveral and find that Port Canaveral is our favorite between the two. Also, thanks for the info on the cab. We were thinking of doing something like this, but somewhat leary on getting into just any cab and asking them to take us on a tour. I think we will contact Philip and check his tour out. (Nice to have this info.) We too have spent time on Coco Cay walking the Island to see what else it has to offer as well as doing the beach chair scene and wave runner. It will be neat to compare the three ships. We have loved both the Majesty and the Sovereign. We like the small intimate feel they give us whether we are just sitting out on the deck chairs enjoying each other with our drinks while watching the ocean go by or walking circles around the ship.

[msjaxson]

Hi Jo....

I am looking forward to my return trip to the Monarch .. where my cruising addiction started nine years ago .. we are going next weekend .. hopefully this holds me over until October.. I see you are also on on the Jewel Repo .. I cannot wait for that one !!!

[newbiecruiser09]

Rusty & Cindy: Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an awesome review. We are taking our 1st cruise on Monarch in just a month and I can't wait to experience all the wonderful things you've detailed so vividly. Thanks again!!

[Cruiser052]

Hello Janine - Yes, we are on that repo cruise. So looking forward to that, it's our first repo. We started cruising in Feb. 2005 -----And, I wish I had started 25 yrs. ago. My husband had always teased me about taking a singles cruise because I am not very fond of deep water and never wanted to cruise -- until I did a bit of research work and found that a cruise for 5 days was less expensive than a 5 day destination vacation back in Feb. 2005. So, I gave it a great deal of thought and I took the plunge and booked us a 5 day cruise to Western Caribbean. I have fallen in love with cruising and can't get enough of them. In fact, we both would rather do a cruise than destination vacation. I see you are from CT. We are both originally from Connecticut. We moved to Vermont back in 1983. Have a great cruise on Monarch and will see you on The Jewel in Oct.

[KeywestK]

RUSTY....I just finished reading your phenomenal review of your recent Monarch cruise, and all I can say is WOW! We are sailing on her in April, and I've been little concerned only because it's been years since we sailed on her sister ships, Sovereign and Majesty, and almost couldn't remember how much we enjoyed those cruises--until I read your review.

 

The other thing I wanted to mention is that we have very dear friends who are sailing with us on the Monarch, and it will be their first cruise on RCI. They are very experienced cruise travelers (on other lines), and I was a little worried that their first experience on RCI was going to be on an older, smaller ship, that perhaps lacked some of the ammenities of the newer ships. After reading your great review, I think those concerned are now completely gone. I think we will all have a GREAT time on our 4-nt Bahamas cruise, and I am very excited to introduce our friends to RCI.

 

Thank you again for writing such a thorough and complete review. I felt like an armchair traveler!

 

Karen

[weabcruiser]

We are taking our first cruise on the Monarch .. My husband is so excited and I am so nervous! :) I have a question about beach towels... are they supplied on Coco cay or do we need to bring our own??

[firefly4423]

Thanks for the review!

[CruisingCaraCat]

Hi Rusty - how are you two doing - just caught your review today.

 

Enjoyed talking to you on the cruise and I am sorry I never met the ladies from SC and/or Florida. Of course since I am a geezer they were cavorting with a different crowd I am sure.

 

I will second that the Monarch is a great looking ship with a great crew. We enjoyed the whole cruise except of course disembarking. I aslo liked the oversize Boleros.

 

In answering questions - we spent a reasonable amount of time in the casino and it seemed to me that it was about the same size as the Voyager (Mariner) class. The cards were very good to us also:)

 

When you get off in CoCo Cay you just take the pool towels you are given in your cabin. There is no need to bring your own unless you want too.

 

Mybe we'll sail together again Rusty - we are looking at Freedom sometime in September.

[MusiCruiser]

Hi Rusty - how are you two doing - just caught your review today.

 

Enjoyed talking to you on the cruise and I am sorry I never met the ladies from SC and/or Florida. Of course since I am a geezer they were cavorting with a different crowd I am sure.

 

I will second that the Monarch is a great looking ship with a great crew. We enjoyed the whole cruise except of course disembarking. I aslo liked the oversize Boleros.

 

Mybe we'll sail together again Rusty - we are looking at Freedom sometime in September.

 

Jack, it's great to hear from you. I am in contact with the two ladies almost daily on Facebook. They may be interested in sailing on Monarch again next spring. I'm afraid that Freedom is going to have to wait until 2011. Next year we want to take our daughter and her boyfriend again. Hope you enjoyed the review, and that it's not too long winded. Hope to sail with you again, and this time, spend more time in Boleros or Schooners.

 

Rusty