Part II - Monarch 7/31-8/3 Review/Day Log (LONG)

[Poultrygeist]

Here is a link to Part I of this post. Be sure to read PrincesScuba's version of this post which is much easier to read. Click the link, then scroll down and you will see her version.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1036756

 

Review - Part II

 

Before I begin part II, I want to talk a little more about the food on the ship. After all, this is was my favorite part of the cruise. We ate breakfast every morning at the Windjammer. The kids had cereal some days, and pancakes other days. The selection was great. Every day they had the basics - pancakes, sausage, and eggs although they did mix up the styles of eggs they offered. Milk and orange juice was free. Lots and lots of fruit to choose from. I love orange juice, and theirs was good. I had read where some people described it as orange drink. Not sure, but I liked it.

 

For the first dining room dinner, I had the New York Strip (actually I had two). Very good. The first night is the only night they offer it. I also had the mashed potatoes which were probably the best I’ve ever had. The baby chewed on an ear of corn and was happy. The 7 yr old had the sirloin steak and really enjoyed it. The 10 yr old is picky. He tried the pizza, and ate some of it. He was content to eat an ear of corn, so I did not push the issue. My wife had the New York Strip and enjoyed it. For desert she ordered the banana cake - I can’t remember the name. She absolutely loved it. She let me have a little (cake). A definite must try.

 

We ordered room service after returning from Atlantis the second night. We ordered six milks, that’s right, six. At home my family drinks four gallons of 2% white milk a week. No exaggeration. And I don’t drink a drop of it. Like I said, I like o. j. Back to room service. This may be the greatest service ever invented. It was free if you ordered before midnight. Along with the milk, we ordered six chocolate chip cookies. All was well with the world. The two year old still likes a half-bottle at night and in the morning. (All you parenting experts - give me a break. We’ve raised three boys so we are allowed to do what it takes to keep them happy and quiet.) We put a serving-size carton of milk in the ice bucket to keep it cold till morning. This worked well.

 

Day 3 on the Monarch - Coco Cay

 

We had breakfast, then departed by ferry-type boat over to Coco Cay at about 9:00am. The trip over was nice. The island is much smaller than I thought it would be. Before I go too far, let me warn you about one thing re: Coco Cay. It is hot as Hades there in August. We tried to find shade under a group of palm trees. It started off ok, but as the sun moved we were out of luck. That will be my only complaint about this paradise. We went down to the beach. A staffer on the island told us that the best beach was the second one from the right as you approach by the path from the ferry dock. In the water, the surface was smooth and sandy. We waded around a little with the baby in the surf. The 7 yr old had his goggles from home which helped him find a medium size shell with a live crab in it. Nothing like a live crab to entertain young boys. We saw two stingrays come right up into the crowd less than 15 feet from the shore. That got everyone’s attention. After sufficiently wearing out the baby, my wife took him back to the chairs to let him play in the sand a little before a nap. I often wish I was two. We brought a few sand toys from home which he really enjoyed.

 

I found the snorkel shack and did the Sea Pass thing. I did not pre-book this excursion because I did not see a need to. A couple of the young Bohemian ladies working there looked to be about twelve yrs old. But they were nice and I was on my way with an arm load of vests, goggles, and flippers. You can picture the scene. I had left the boys on the beach to enjoy the crab. The cost for one adult set (which I shared with the wife) and two kids’ sets was $61.00.

 

The two older boys and I decided not to wear the flippers after all. We headed out for the floating platform that was about 500 yards out. The snorkeling was not great close to the shore because all the people moving around really stirred up the bottom. About 100 feet out it cleared up fine. The water was the clearest I had ever seen. We saw all kinds of fish. Not as many close to us like on the reef in Nassau, but it was very good snorkeling. About 2/3 of the way out my ten year old got water in his mouth and panicked. He is a very good swimmer, but I was scared. I could not get him calmed down. The waves were rougher there than in Nassau. I would say one to 1 ½ foot high. They were hitting him in the face and he was freaking out. I assured him that the vest would keep him floating. I was about 30 seconds away from pulling his distress horn/siren when he finally started calming down. We were closer to the floating dock than to the shore so I decided to try to make it to the dock. I kept one had on him as we swam to it. The 7 yr old was oblivious to the whole ordeal and was having the time of his life. We made it to the floating plastic dock. Here’s a hint- There is a ladder on the left side of this dock. That piece of info would have been helpful as I tried to pull myself up on the front. I’m sure the teenagers that were hanging out there got a kick out of that. Anyway, we took about a fifteen minute rest and the 10 yr old was fine.

 

I had planned on swimming from there to the sunken plane, but we decided to head back in. It was easier going heading back to shore. On the way we saw a small stingray right under us. There were two fish that swam along with it the whole time. As we watched them, we saw a bunch of “dust” rising up form the floor about 40 feet away. Out of the dust comes a huge stingray. I would say 6 to 8 feet across. I looked up to make sure the boys saw it and when I looked down again, it was gone. Very cool.

 

We went back in and I relieved my wife of the baby for a while. She tried several times to snorkel but could not get comfortable this time. She had snorkeled twice before with no problem. She gave up so myself and the seven year old headed out again. This time I wanted to find the drop-off that I read about on this board. We went over to the beach to the left of us because it was closer to the rocks. This beach had a much more rocky floor. It really hurt walking out. It was very shallow all the way out to the rocks - less than four feet in some areas 300-400 yards from shore. We finally figured out where the drop-off was. You could feel a ten degree drop in water temperature. It was 30 to 40 feet there. There were a good amount of fish out there to see. I’m 99% sure I saw a barracuda. I was just floating along watching some fish when this long, silver, streak passed diagonally below me. If I would have blinked, I would have missed it. It made me realize that we were pretty vulnerable out there. Jaws is one of my favorite all time movies, but I had no desire to reenact it. There were a couple of groups that went out a lot further. I was getting tired, so we came back in. It was not easy fighting the current at the rocks. We were never in any trouble, but it was aggravating to keep getting off course. We eventually made it to the shallow area to a big flat rock that was less than knee deep. After a short rest, we returned to shore.

 

It was close to lunch time by then, so we hung out in a shelter until it was ready. People swarmed the buffet, so I just settled for a hot dog and a burger. Even this was good. Later on, as we explored the island I saw that some folks had found a nice shaded area to eat. This grassy area was near the center of the island. Anyway, we hung out until about 2:30 then headed back to the ship. I would never have thought I would leave paradise two hours earlier than I had to, but we were getting fried and were all worn out. We returned to the ship and crashed for a while.

 

We got ready for our 8:30 dinner in the dining room. I kept the boys while my wife went to see our photos that were on deck 4. As I stated earlier, only one was decent. She bought one of the ones taken we got off the ship in Nassau. She also bought a couple of beautiful pictures of the Centrum and Coco Cay.

 

It was Italian night. The Godfather II is my favorite all time movie, so I felt prepared. My wife and I both had the tiger shrimp which tasted a lot like shrimp scampi. Very, very good. For desert, we both ordered the warm chocolate cake. My, my, my…delicious. We got a picture of the boys with Rajeesh and Maria. They then joined the other waiters for the show. It was a blast to have them sing O Sole Mio for us. It was funny that the head chef mentioned that their staff represented over 50 countries, but there was not a single Italian in the bunch. The head waiter came by and played with the baby. I believe her name was Onica, from Trinidad and Tobago. I wish she had not came over because she did not the first night, so I was not going to tip her. Speaking of tips, here is what we did: $30.00 to our waiter, $20.00 to the asst. waiter, and $5.00 to our area’s head waiter. I would have given her more but I had a choice of a $20 and a $5. I’m sure some leave more and some leave less, but this is what we thought was fair. Remember, we only ate there two nights.

 

Oh well, I hoped to complete this tonight, but be on the lookout for Part III - Departure/Kennedy Space Center/Daytona Beach/Manatee Watching

[luckyprincess]

She let me have a little (cake).

 

:eek:LOL! Too funny!!:p Thanks for clarifying - I thought you said you were in separate rooms....:D

Your review is awesome! You seemed to have a great time. I have a question for you, though - I've asked before but seeing as how you were just at Cococay.... I can't swim very well, the main problem is that I can't tread so I'm a bit nervous in the ocean. I want to snorkel at Cococay (I did about 6 years ago but not very far out) and want to see a lot of fish - do you think the current out by the rocks where you saw the barracuda would be too strong for a non-swimmer?

Thanks:)

[debbieinva]

The two year old still likes a half-bottle at night and in the morning. (All you parenting experts - give me a break. We’ve raised three boys so we are allowed to do what it takes to keep them happy and quiet.) We put a serving-size carton of milk in the ice bucket to keep it cold till morning. This worked well.

 

This line was worth reading the whole review...lol I have to show it to my daughter that has a one year old and she thinks its time to take his morning and night bottle away!!! HE LOVES HIS NIGHT BOTTLE!!

 

Really enjoyed reading the review!!

[Poultrygeist]

:eek:LOL! Too funny!!:p Thanks for clarifying - I thought you said you were in separate rooms....:D

Your review is awesome! You seemed to have a great time. I have a question for you, though - I've asked before but seeing as how you were just at Cococay.... I can't swim very well, the main problem is that I can't tread so I'm a bit nervous in the ocean. I want to snorkel at Cococay (I did about 6 years ago but not very far out) and want to see a lot of fish - do you think the current out by the rocks where you saw the barracuda would be too strong for a non-swimmer?

Thanks:)

 

If I were a non-swimmer I would try heading straight out to the floating dock first. This will get you out into rougher water, if there is any. It could depend on the day and the wind. Anyway, that's what we did just to get used to it. I had only snorkeled from boats in limited areas, so I was cautious out in open water.

 

I'm stapping in to get started on part III. Wish me luck. I don't type we very fast, so this review is wearing me out.