Monarch Weekend Cruise Review 082310 W/Pics (The cruise we almost missed)

Preface

For those of you who followed my previous posts from a few weeks ago, this was the cruise we almost didn't make because my wife's appendix ruptured three weeks ago. The surgeon gave her a full release on Friday, so we decided to go ahead and go on the cruise and just take it easy. We left our house at 8:30 am and headed to the port.

Review following. . .

Day 1, Port Canaveral

Arrived at the port at 11:35 am. They have changed the arrival system since we last went to port Canaveral. Now, you drive through the parking garage and unload your pages at the edge of the garage, then a crossing guard assists you in crossing the street. Check in took less than 10 minutes and everyone was friendly and helpful.

We stepped on the ship a little past noon and headed for the windjammer. We had no problem finding a table. The food was some of the best that I have had compared with previous first day windjammer meals. I tried the honey-strung chicken for the first time and it was very good.

On all of our previous cruises, they have had tea, lemonade and water on trays that you grab. This time, they had cups with ice and dispensers to fill your own drinks. The windjammer was decorated nicely and the staff was good about offering refills.

At 1:15, we went up to our room. We had a superior ocean view (#9080).

It was nice and roomy, considering we usually book an inside cabin. The bathroom was nice, but had a very strong chemical smell. Started reading through the paperwork and noticed that we did not have a formal night, just two casual nights and one smart casual night. Went through the rest of the paperwork and decided to rest in the room until the muster drill.

We went to the muster drill at 3:45. It lasted about 15 minutes and we did not have to bring our life jackets. After this, we went to the pool deck for the sail away party.

Shortly afterward, it started to rain, so we went to the Viking crown lounge. While we were in the lounge, a group of ladies sat next to us and one of the ladies had a water bottle with a brownish colored fluid in it. One of the crew saw it and asked what it was. She said it was cranberry juice. He asked to smell the cap and said it was alcohol. I couldn't understand the conversation from there, but they both left with the bottle.

Day 1, Continued

For the next hour, we wondered around the ship. While wondering around, we saw that they had cookies and pastries in the coffee shop like the do in the cafe promenade (we are used to the freedom and voyager class ships). I asked if they were free and the server said yes, but that you had to purchase something to get them. I politely declined. We headed up to Sorrento’s and had some pizza. Due to the rain, it was pretty crowded up there. After this, we headed back to the room to get ready for the show and for the late dinner. After I got ready, I had some time to kill, so I went to the windjammer’s dinner just to see what it looked like, since I had never had dinner in the windjammer. It was laid out pretty similar to lunch, but it had the same foods that they serve in the main dining room. Everything looked hot and fresh, and at 6:30, I would say that the windjammer was about a quarter of the way full.

There was just one show for the evening. We went to the theater about 7:25 (the show started at 7:45). By 7:40, the theater was pretty much full with just a few stray seats here and there. The show consisted of the orchestra playing an intro, the RCI Singers and Dancers singing a song and a comedian. I would rate most of the comedians that we see on the ships as average and this won was better than average.

After the show, we went to dinner in the main dining room. I had the strawberry soup, Caesar salad, chicken Marsala and warm chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The food was good and the service was also good (both were about what we had experienced on previous RCI cruises).

After dinner, we went to Boleros and listened to a band called the String Rays play 50's and 60's rock and roll. They were good. At 11:00pm, they had a disco party in the Centrum. It was about like you would expect with the village people, etc. After it was over, we went to the dance club and went to bed around 12:30am.

Day 2, Nassau, Bahamas

We decided to sleep in and got up around 9 am. We went to the windjammer for breakfast. They had all the typical breakfast foods and I would rate the breakfast food as average quality.

At 10:45 am, we went to the welcome back party for gold, platinum, diamond and + members.

Out of all of these types of parties that we have been to, this one was the most enjoyable. It was nice to be in a casual setting for the party for a change. They had a sushi bar, martini bar, fruit carving, napkin folding and many different types of mixed drinks (complementary). They were serving hors d'oeuvres like shrimp, chicken wings, quish, caviar, etc. One thing that was surprising was that when they brought the hors d'oeuvres by, instead of us jut taking a few, he set the tray down and told us to help ourselves (there was six of us). Their were 6 to 8 officers in attendance, and each one came to our table and introduced themselves and talked with us. There was also live music.

After the party was over, we went into Nassau (around noon). There were four ships in the harbor (us, Norwegian sky, Carnival Freedom and carnival Inspiration?).

We wondered around and did some shopping for about an hour. Then we walked to the Queen's steps.

After this, we took a water taxi over to Paradise Island. We wondered around for about an hour, then went back to the ship at 4 pm.

When we got back to the ship, they were having afternoon snack (known to us as afternoon tea on previous cruises) in the Jade. They had hamburgers, hotdogs, a few different cold salads and some desserts.

Just yesterday I was wondering about you and Mrs Bionicman97. :)

Since the cc boards were acting up it was hard to post anything and ask about you two.

So glad she is feeling better and released by her doctor and you were able to go on your cruise!!

Love the review, can't wait to hear more! Love the pictures too!!

***

Day 2, Continued

After the snack, we went back to the room to get some rest. Tonight was the smart casual night (formerly formal night apparently). We got ready and went down to Boleros to listen to the band play around 6:45 pm. Around 7:30pm, we went to the main theater for the captain’s welcome.

They were giving out free drinks (champagne, some type of wine and a fruit punch drink). I thought this was one of the better captain’s welcome events. They gave out a lot of info and introduced the various officers, but it wasn't a big RCI pep rally like I remembered them being.

After this, we went off to dinner. I had a Caesar salad, filet of beef and strawberry cheesecake. It was all great and the service was excellent. Our waiter and assistant waiter both did magic tricks for us. The crew that we encountered was great throughout the cruise.

After dinner, we went back to the cabin to change and went to our show, which started at 10:45pm. The love and marriage show was at 10pm, which we missed because we were still at dinner. The show was a comedian/juggler. Every time I see a juggler on a ship, I wonder what way would be left to juggle that I haven't already seen on a cruise and every time I see a new way. The routine he did was quite good and he was very funny.

After the show, we went up to the pool deck for a sail-a-way party/buffet. There was a big variety of finger foods and desserts. The DJ was also on the pool deck and they had dancing by the pool. At 1 am, with the party still going on, the misses and I headed for bed.

Day 3, Cococay

We got up around 9:30 and went to the windjammer for breakfast. It had the same foods each day and the quality was about the same each day. I was sitting in the windjammer and looked out the window and noticed a Norwegian ship was anchored a couple thousand yards away. This is my fifth time to Cococay, and I never realized that the Norwegian island was right next door!

They had already started the tendering process, but there was a light rain on and off throughout the morning. We went to the tenders around 11:15 am and waited about 15 minutes to get on.

A short ride later and we were on the island.

By the time we got to the island, the BBQ had already started. They were serving chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hotdogs, different types of salads, cookies and cakes. The food quality was good.

We wondered around the island for a while and then camped out in some lawn chairs.

Around 2 pm, we caught a tender with no wait and headed back for the ship.

Day 3, Continued.

Once we got back to the ship, we went ahead and did our packing and paperwork. Once that was done, we filled out the form for the next cruise and visited the shops. The sales of the day were two for twenty t-shirts and twenty dollar watches.

After this, we went to the windjammer for afternoon snack. It was pretty much the same food that you would see at a normal windjammer lunch. After this, we went back to the room to get ready for the evening festivities.

Our show was at 7:00 pm, so we headed to the theater around 6:45. By the time the show had started the theater was only about a third of the way full. By the end of the show, it was about two thirds full. The show was “Signed, Sealed Delivered Production show.” It was very good.

After the show, they had some crew from every department come in for what I remembered to be the Royal Caribbean Pep Rally.

After the show was over, we went through the shops and at 8:30 we went to dinner. For dinner, they had family style caesar salad and I had the turkey. I had the Banana Parfait for dessert. It was all very good. Our service was again excellent.

After dinner, we went to Boleros to watch The String Rays perform again. They had Quest going on at 10:45 also. We skipped it, since we have already seen it seven times. Around 11:30 pm, we went to bed.

Departure

We got up around 7:10 am. At 7:15, an attendant came by to check our minibar stock. By 7:30 we were ready to go. We waited for the rest of our traveling party to be ready and headed down to depart the ship around 8:10. We carried our luggage off, since we only had a garment bag and a backpack. We went out on deck four (same way we came in), went through customs and we were pulling out of the parking garage at 8:45. Pulled into our driveway at 11:20 am.

Final Thoughts

We had always been hesitant to go on a three day cruise because we thought it would just go by so fast that it wouldn't be worth the time and money. We were wrong. It was a very enjoyable trip. Having two stops on the two full days made the trip seem longer than it was. The shows were great. The service was excellent. The food was very good. I would highly recommend a three-day cruise on the Monarch for anyone looking for a weekend getaway. I am sure we will do it again. Can't wait for our trip on the Freedom next month!

Random thoughts from the Monarch

All of our pictures from this trip can be viewed at

They are building a new parking garage at the Disney terminal in Port Canaveral.

When we got to the stateroom, we had a cruise compass. I thought they changed them to “Why Not Today?”

The tear out in the cruise compass wasn't like I remembered it. It used to be that the tear out had the day’s events on one side and the evening on the other. This time, it had the food info on one side and the day’s events on the other. There was a separate tear out for the evening events. Maybe I am just remembering it wrong. Also, in the compass, I could not find any info one the headline entertainment like it usually has.

For those of you who are interested in that sort of thing, all of our photos were taken with either a canon T1i or a G11. I wrote this review on the ship each day with my iPad.

Diamond events were held in the Viking Crown Lounge.

The ship seemed hotter in most areas than we have ever experienced before. I'm not sure if that had to do with the ship or just that we have never sailed in July before.

We started out cruising on the Majesty and Sovereign, and then moved up to the Voyager and Freedom class of ship. Coming back to the Monarch size of ship, It still seems to me that the crews on the smaller ships are more much more personable. I think the service on the larger ships is great, but it has a much more formal tone to me on the larger ships. I really enjoyed the crew on the Monarch.

I missed the Promenade. It is generally the place that my wife and I go to just hang out when there is nothing else that we want to do. We barely visited the Centrum the whole time we were on the ship. I don't know why, it's just the way the trip went.

I can't believe how small the theater and the stage seemed on the Monarch when compared to the Voyager and Freedom class ships. Plenty of room, just seemed weird after seeing the bigger ones so much.

There wasn't any speakers in the room, so when they made announcements, we had to open the room door to hear them.

This is the first trip that I didn't use the gym. Just didn't feel like carrying the extra clothes and shoes. Also, this was the first trip that we didn't sit out by pool. Just never really had time during the day.

Royal Caribbean's website said we would have one formal night. The cruise compass called it smart casual. In the theater, the cruise director called it formal night. Maybe an identity crisis? I took an informal poll of what I could see and from what I could tell, I saw roughly:

For men: less than a handful of tuxes, if that; full suit and tie, 10%; sport jacket/just tie/just suit jacket, 50%; polo shirt/long sleeve shirt 35%; jeans and t shirt 5%.

For women: fancy dress 10%; dress or nice pants/top 80%; jeans/shorts/t shirt 10%.

If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Wow!!!! How can you see into the future like that?!?!?!??!?!?!?

:eek: :confused: ;) :p :D

Just yesterday I was wondering about you and Mrs Bionicman97. :)

Since the cc boards were acting up it was hard to post anything and ask about you two.

 

So glad she is feeling better and released by her doctor and you were able to go on your cruise!!

 

Love the review, can't wait to hear more! Love the pictures too!!

 

***

Thanks so much for thinking about us. I was going to post yesterday, but I couldn't even log on!

She is doing much better and back to work now. We had a great trip!

Wow!!!! How can you see into the future like that?!?!?!??!?!?!?

 

:eek: :confused: ;) :p :D

aahh!!! You got me.

Should be the 7/23/10 trip.

Glad to see you are still unharmed after the posting of the hospital photos ;):p Great review! I am glad you both had a wonderful time. I am kind of interested about the comment made about the food in the coffee shop, its free if you would have purchased coffee? :confused: Wonder what that is all about?

Very nice review...and I loved all the accompanying pictures!

Glad to see you are still unharmed after the posting of the hospital photos ;):p Great review! I am glad you both had a wonderful time. I am kind of interested about the comment made about the food in the coffee shop, its free if you would have purchased coffee? :confused: Wonder what that is all about?

Yes. Still unharmed from the hospital photos, but currently looking at "make up for it cruises in October/November. :D

To me, the food in the coffee shop looked just like the food in the Cafe Promenade on the larger ships. I thought maybe they were doing a mini version of the cafe promenade on the smaller ships now. I just went up and asked for a cookie. The server told me, we do not charge for them, but you must purchase a specialty coffee to get one. Since I do not like coffee, I said no thanks. I could not find a sign or anything that said what the deal with the food there was, so I figured I would give it a shot and save a trip to the Windjammer :rolleyes:

Glad to see you are still unharmed after the posting of the hospital photos ;):p Great review! I am glad you both had a wonderful time. I am kind of interested about the comment made about the food in the coffee shop, its free if you would have purchased coffee? :confused: Wonder what that is all about?

All of the Lattetudes coffee counters operate like that.

Thanks for the detailed review and great pics! What were the dates of your cruise? The heading lists 8/23/10, but today is just 8/1/10. I will be leaving in two weeks for the Monarch and can hardle wait!

All of the Lattetudes coffee counters operate like that.

So then it's different than the Cafe Promenade on the Freedom Class? Because that's what I am accustomed to. I go in to get my Cookie of the Day. :D

I am glad I read this review because I am sure I would have made the same mistake at a Lattetude counter. Thanks! :)

I just saw the updated post with the cruise dates. Thanks again!

When I was on Majesty in April they were giving the pastries away free in lattiudes..no purchase needed...guess it just varies, as most things RCL does...

Maybe they are more lieniant on whatever the rule is on the Majesty? Might just vary from server to server.

The rule on Grandeur is that the cookies or pastries are free with purchase of coffee at Lattetudes, but the worker gave me a cookie for free. :D

The cookies and pastries are the exact same ones that are served in Cafe Promenade on the bigger ships, so I find it a bit annoying that they're sort of a charge item on the smaller ships.

Day 1, Port Canaveral

 

Arrived at the port at 11:35 am. They have changed the arrival system since we last went to port Canaveral. Now, you drive through the parking garage and unload your pages at the edge of the garage, then a crossing guard assists you in crossing the street. Check in took less than 10 minutes and everyone was friendly and helpful.

 

We stepped on the ship a little past noon and headed for the windjammer. We had no problem finding a table. The food was some of the best that I have had compared with previous first day windjammer meals. I tried the honey-strung chicken for the first time and it was very good.

 

 

On all of our previous cruises, they have had tea, lemonade and water on trays that you grab. This time, they had cups with ice and dispensers to fill your own drinks. The windjammer was decorated nicely and the staff was good about offering refills.

 

At 1:15, we went up to our room. We had a superior ocean view (#9080).

 

 

It was nice and roomy, considering we usually book an inside cabin. The bathroom was nice, but had a very strong chemical smell. Started reading through the paperwork and noticed that we did not have a formal night, just two casual nights and one smart casual night. Went through the rest of the paperwork and decided to rest in the room until the muster drill.

 

We went to the muster drill at 3:45. It lasted about 15 minutes and we did not have to bring our life jackets. After this, we went to the pool deck for the sail away party.

 

 

Shortly afterward, it started to rain, so we went to the Viking crown lounge. While we were in the lounge, a group of ladies sat next to us and one of the ladies had a water bottle with a brownish colored fluid in it. One of the crew saw it and asked what it was. She said it was cranberry juice. He asked to smell the cap and said it was alcohol. I couldn't understand the conversation from there, but they both left with the bottle.

O.K.....Inquiring minds want to know more about this if you can provide more info. I have never heard of this happening before. Since when do staff members become detectives and start snooping around trying to figure out what passengers are drinking ???? Was this an officer or a just a crew member doing the detective work? All I can say is wow.

Great review and glad you were able to make it! We were on the same cruise and it was our fourth time on the Monarch. There is no charge for the cookies but I did notice on Saturday night when I went down to get a few cookies and brownies from DW the crew working at the latiudes was pushing the coffee. I had to tell him three times I didn't want to buy anything but he did give me a plate of cookies.

Looks like you had dinner with Harry. We met him in triva a few times and was funny and had good magic tricks.

Also was in the Viking Crown for sail away but didn't see someone kicked out but it did get packed once the rain started.

Glad you had a great cruise.a