elindoo

I had to be back in the States the next day after we left Aruba for another engagement so we couldn't stay on and go to Panama. I'm not sure what the real deal is with customs/immigration. I had written the Aruba authorities months prior and they said don't worry about it, just walk of the ship and go to the airport. When I let guest services know I was leaving early they were OK with it but said they needed our passports as an Aruba official comes on board early and stamps them. Sure enough, they did. I guess it's like when you go on a small private boat and island hop you have to check in and out with the local customs officials.

I have to agree with one of the previous reviewers about the fact that CC does not have review area for the Monarch! They really need to fix this.

At any rate we did the Pullmanter Monarch Cruise, 13 days Las Palomas Gran Canariato Panama.

I had read a number of discussion boards about thePullmanter experience, so my wife and I were prepared for the worse. This wasour 27th cruise but first with Pullmanter. First the check in. I hadread that it was quite slow, often hours. Well they were right. Typically, whenwe go a Princess cruise there are lines for general boarding and lines forelite, like myself, and so we typically check in and are on board within 30minutes of arrival. Not that it would have matter with Pullmanter as I have nostatus, but we were told by the line to be there between 11:30 and 1:30. We arrived at noon and were greeted with aline about a block and a half long. So, we got in line and waited 2 hours toget into the building where check in is. Once inside the took the bags that we had been dragging for the past 2hours and we waited another 30 minutes to get checked in. No matter, all those people ahead of us whohad already checked in were waiting across the street to get on board. Itwasn’t until about 2:45 that they opened the ship for access to us. One onboard we were informed that we couldn’t go to our rooms until 4pm. Again, whenI get on a Princess ship at 1pm, I am usually able to go right to my room.

One of the alarming things about this check-in, was thatwhile standing in this long line up against the check-in building, a militarytruck pulled up and 3 guys got out with Uzzie sub machine guns. I’ve not seenthe Spanish military before but they didn’t look all that official, in fact Istarted having thoughts of these guys being ISIS and we have no-where to run.They proceed to walk up and down the block and a half of passengers standingthere, looking very intently at us from about 20 yards. Had this been ISIS itwould have been a real slaughter fest. The whole scene was very unnerving! We got on board at 2:50pm and went to the buffet for something to eat.Afterwards we walked around the ship a bit and quickly found that she’s a tiredold lady. While some parts are still quite nice, most of the carpets are shotand in serious need of replacement. Upon entering our room it was very, veryhot and even turning the air all the way to the coldest side, it really didnothing. Even by 10pm it was still warm, but as the cruise went on it gotcolder and colder. By day 5 we had the setting almost to the warmest it wouldgo.

We have an interesting group of tourists on this ship, andto my surprise very many young (25-40 range). On Princess the average age isprobably 60 and I’m right there with them, so a bit out of place on this ship.There are some old folks, maybe 10%. As mentioned in other boards, this shipcaters to Spanish and I would guess 50% of the ship was that, with 20% or so beingGerman and another 20% English. The first night we were just walking out thedoor to go to dinner and go a phone call. It was guest services saying that wehad to go down to deck 2 and see the immigration officers because we had notcleared immigration. Well, excuse me but we were never told about needing toget our passports stamped, nor did I see and signs about it. We get to deck 2 and are told to go outsideto see the officers. We get out there,there are a few police, no immigration and about 30 people standing around. Iasked one of the waiting passengers what was going on and he said they roundedup the North Americans and were putting us on a bus to go to immigration. Thisall sounded very fishy to me, so I promptly turned around and went back upstairs to talk to someone in charge. After waiting in line at guest services Iwas assured it was routine and that I need to go. We went back downstairs and saw the busleaving. With that I said let them come get me, and went to dinner. Never heardanymore after that.

The first morning we awakened at 6:30 am with a thumpingthat sounded like a heard of elephants. It passed and about 3 min later weheard it again, and again, and then more started coming more rapidly. Turns outour room is on deck 6 and right above us is deck 7 which they use as a joggingtrack. The patter says the track is open at 9am, but this was clearly not9am. Later that day we went to guestservices and asked that they enforce the 9am rule. They stated that they had alot of other complaints and that something would be done about it. I have toadmit the next day it was better, they didn’t start thumping until 8:30am, butthis does go on all day, so if you’re room is on deck 6, don’t plan on spendingmuch time in it. By day 3 they were back at it, around 6:45am. Funny how peoplehave zero respect for anyone else. Rooms are quite small anyway so best to gofind other things to do during the day.

Aside from the thumping all day long coming from deck 7 thecruise was pretty enjoyable. The food was decent, not quite as good as I’ve hadon Princess or NCL, but decent. Because our ship was only about half full theyonly offered early seating (7:30pm) which is what we wanted anyway. Iunderstand that had the ship been full there would have been a 9:30pm seatingas well. Dinner was the traditional sit down and get waited on type, but inthis same restaurant for breakfast and lunch it was buffet. I’m not used tothat because on Princess it’s a totally sit down and order breakfast and lunchin these dining rooms. Still, much nicer here than going up to the Panoramabuffet.

Internet was good in the wee hours when no-one was on (orvery few) and also on days in port when most people were off the ship. But mosttimes were EXTREMELY slow as can be expected with satellite service, hit a webpage and just watch it spin, and spin. I think just about every passengerbought an Internet package, and I think most, like me were upgrading to the$11.95 per day unlimited because it was so slow. That of course just made iteven more slower. I do a lot of work online as an instructor, things that wouldnormally take me 5 minutes were upwards of 45-50 minutes! Also, it seemed that on days in port theytook the system down for maintenance, and so that was more frustration.

On our 7th day we were told that we had to do thewhole muster drill again, same thing we did the first day out. We were told tobe at our stations at 10:30am. All thestations are outside on deck 7. A bunchof us were there at 10:30 and staff seemed confused, trying to put people inlines and keep us line up. A few more passengers came, then a few more, andstill more. By 11:20, now almost an hourof standing, passengers were still arriving, I supposed they were either chasedout of the pool or their rooms. Reallynot fair to the rest of us who ended up standing over an hour while we waitedfor everyone to show up. The whole thing was really ridiculous. Had it been a real emergency, we would be inserious trouble!

I loved the fact that with taxes and port charges we paidabout $485 each for a 13 day cruise, which included alcohol, which is anotherpoint of discussion. Upon arrival they really try to upsell you to a 13 topshelf booze package for $165 Euros. I politely said no and still got decent redand white wines all day long. Had a few rum and cokes and they used eitherCaptain Morgan or Bacardi so for me the $165 would not be worth it. Next day inthe bars, anything that they consider top shelf, like Bailey’s for example theysell for $2 a shot. Seems to me that’s abetter way to go. They add I think $12per day per person for tips, which is average. I tipped our waiters and cabinperson extra anyway.

Some folks on the cruise critic boards asked about Englishbeing spoken. My wife and I only speak English, maybe a touch of Spanish likeGracias, but that’s about it. We had absolutely no problem with language withany of the crew and even most Spanish and German speaking passengers couldspeak some English. The TV is mostly Spanish and I knew that going in so Ibrought a lot of movies on my laptop. The HDMI cable that I brought alongconnected my laptop to the TV and it worked very well. Other than that BBC wasthe channel we watched the most.

We disembarked 2 days early in Aruba. I had been in contactwith the Aruba immigration and customs authority via email months prior andthey said it was no problem, just get off the ship and come on over to theairport. So 3 days prior to Aruba I wentto guest services just to let them know I would be leaving early. They made apretty big deal out of it and asked to have our passports so that on arrival inAruba, the officials who come on board first thing would take care of it. So wegave them the passports and everything worked out fine. We got our passportsback the day we were leaving and found out that about 40 other people did thesame thing. Once we got all of our bags outside, it was easy getting a taxi tothe airport. I had heard nightmarestories about how long it takes to get thru Aruba and US officials at theairport, but from check-in until we got to our departure gate it only took anhour.

Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY! For the price (under $500each for a 14 day cruise) and free booze, you can lose!

Thanks for the great info. Never been to Canary islands so we're looking forward to this. We're flying in on 9/21 so we can spend a few days there. Perhaps you know, it looks like there's an Avis right at the port so thought I'd get a car at the airport and return at the port.

Any suggestions on "must do" on the island?

Perhaps we can hook up on the ship one day. We're in cabin 6540, leave a note or something.

Ed & Linda

Thank you very much for the info! Very helpful! I didn't realize that you couldn't get to Aruba. That would really stink for me as I have Delta tickets already purchased and need to be back in the states that night. Very rare that Aruba gets a Hurricane so hopefully this year will be fine.

Everything I've read about the Monarch has been mostly positive. We've done a lot of cruises, and a lot of lines. I won't even go back on a Carnival anymore!

But what I've read so-far is that the Waves is really exclusive to suites, free to the higher end and about $80 for the Jr. Suites. I'm in an ocean view, it's all that V2G had to offer. Not sure if that means everything is sold out or what, but your experience of only half the ship sold sounds great! Love to go on cruises that are not full.

Thanks again, Ed

Not sure if anyone is still checking this thread from last year, but I'm taking the Monarch from Grand Canaria to Panama September 25, 2017. I need to get off early, in Aruba and I noticed that some folks from last year were talking about that. Just wondered what you have to go thru for that? I was thinking that perhaps I should contact Aruba immigration and get their blessing.

I've also read about the Wave club on the Monarch, sounds like something I'd like to buy into, but I'm not in a suite. Has anyone had any luck getting to purchase it if not in a suite?

Just got off a 14 day cruise from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. I selected C106 because it looked bigger on all the deck plans i looked at, however I don't think it was. I didn't bring a tape measure but on each side of the double bed we had the standard small table. There was no room for anything else, in other words it was wall, table, double bed, table, wall. In front of the bed, standard small table, small fridge and TV. Space between the table and bed was about 2.5 feet. The bathroom was your standard small shower and small bathroom. The room of course is in the very front of the ship which brings in a few issues. First, every time you want to go eat it's a long walk to the back. We actually enjoyed the exercise but for those who don't want a long walk you don't want this. More importantly, if you like to go to bed early keep in mind that you're right above Princess Theater. While they had early shows, they always had a 10pm show, and while you can't really hear the band, the drums are very real. And this continues until about 10:45pm. Also, if you like to sleep in, that may be an issue because every time they pull into port you hear and feel the front thrusters and the ropes and chains going out to tie up. If you're tendering that day you hear the anchors and chains going out. You should also know that there is a metal stairway used by the crew right next to this cabin. Often I would hear crew running up and down the stairs, even at 2 or 3 am! But I think the thing that I disliked the most was that the crews smoking lounge is somewhere nearby and so the hallway right outside our room often reaked of smoke, and we got some smell of it in our room because the door is not very well sealed (at night you can see light coming in all around the door. I feel like I was getting a lot of second hand smoke all night in my room. Bottom line, it was OK but I wouldn't stay here again.