Monarch of the Seas Review (June 21-25)

[we3cruisers]

Warning – this will be a lengthy review. :D

A little background first – this was a Christmas Present from my father to the entire family. The cruise included my family (myself, hubby, son (16), son (13) & daughter (9), my father & my brother’s family (brother, wife, son (10) & daughter (9). My family had taken this same cruise 2 years ago on the Sovereign of the Seas. When my father mentioned a cruise, I definitely wanted to stay on RC and this particular cruise seemed to work for everyone. (Of course, I wouldn't complain if we did a longer one… ). My family and my brother’s family stayed in Owner’s Suites and my oldest son and father shared a Jr. Suite. We stayed in suites because my father wanted rooms with balconies… and who was I to complain?!? ;)

My brother’s family and my dad flew from Ohio to Orlando on Saturday and my family drove from Pgh to the Port. We stayed at Radisson Resort @ the Port before the cruise. The Ohio Clan stayed two nights (in standard rooms) and we stayed one. We stayed in the suite since our family had 5, and I do have to say, the room was so roomy. The beds were very comfortable, loved the sit-down shower and it also had a whirlpool (but we didn’t use it since we were in the pool so much). The pool was fantastic and the water temp was awesome and it wasn’t cool at all when entering it. We ate @ Rusty’s Seafood a couple minutes away from the hotel. Great food – would highly recommend.

Cruise Time!

Monday, we got to the port @ 11am. It was literally 5-10 minutes from the hotel. We were so early that the porters were waiting around for passengers. We pulled right up, unloaded and my husband went to park the van in the garage. The rate is $15/night so for 4 nights, it was $60. You pay when you leave. Since we were in suites, there is a separate line to check-in for guests in suites. Checked in right away and then went straight onto the ship – YEAH! The cruise officially begins!

Once on the ship, my husband and I went to Guest Relations to add $$ to our account. This was the first cruise we decided to pay cash and I loved it. It just felt like I had a better handle on what was being spent. The entire time I went to Guest Relations, they were so helpful and would print out the current account to see exactly where we were at all time (and to keep tabs on the kiddies, who did extremely well!) After that, we went to the Windjammer for lunch since the rooms weren’t ready yet. Personally, I think the Sovereign had a better selection than the Monarch in the Windjammer. After that, up to the rooms! The owner’s suites (1518 & 1520) were very large. I particularly enjoyed the large balcony as well as the large bathroom and the walk-in closet. The Jr. Suite was small but it had a balcony and a tub in the bathroom. We met Hershel, our room attendant. I had heard so many good things about him and I told him so – he was very flattered regarding the high praises about him. The muster drill was @ 3.45pm – it is so great not to put the life jackets on for the drill. We left @ 4.30pm and we watched us sail away from the pool deck. After that, we got ready for dinner. We chose the 5.45pm sitting, and we had Branko as our waiter at table 37 in Vincent’s Dining Room. Branko was fantastic and I always loved when he would say, “It’s Yummy, Yummy Time!” (Dessert Time). Food every night in the MDR was absolutely delicious! No complaints whatsoever. After dinner, we donated some money to the casino.

Tuesday – CocoCay. We ate early and were on the tender to the island at 8.45am. They recommended to get on the tender before 9.30am before it got too busy. We chose the same spot as 2 years ago – next to the large slide and the water activities. Plus, the Tiki Bar was close-by, too. We spent the day in the water, at the bar, laying out, collecting seashells, watching a stingray (or manteray) swim right in front of us, and eating at the barbeque. Good day and good food. The scary part was around 2pm-2.30pm. Apparently, a young man (around 18) had a seizure in the water and nearly drowned right near where we were. At the time, we were sitting at the bar and didn’t notice anything until everyone converged upon him on the sand. They whisked him right to the ship. We went started to head for the ship but stopped and shopped first. That night was formal night so I hopped right in the shower when we got back in our suite. As I was in there, the captain made an announcement that we would be in Nassau at 9pm (we weren’t supposed to arrive until 7am the next morning) due to a medical emergency. Dinner was great that night – we asked our waiter if they have many emergencies like this and he said no, not really. After dinner, we went up to change so we could watch the arrival in Nassau at dusk. It was so pretty! After watching from our balcony, we went to the top deck where we met some of the young man’s classmates/friends. They were on a Senior Trip and they said as they took him off the ship to the ambulance, he waved to his friends – A good sign indeed! they did let people off that night if they wanted to explore Nassau early. We decided to stay in. That night, we donated some more to the casino, then headed off to bed.

Wednesday – Nassau. We all went straight to the Straw Market and did the shopping thing. After that, we all went our separate ways. My brother’s family reserved a room at Comfort Suites (thanks to me!) so they had full access to Atlantis for the day. They had such a great time that they didn’t return to the ship until nearly 10pm. We took our kids there two years ago, so we wanted to do other things. My husband took the two younger kids to Dolphin Encounters to do the Dolphin Encounter. We booked directly through them instead of through RC (it was less expensive to book directly). They took a ferry to Paradise Island and then connected with Dolphin Encounters from there. They had a 1.30pm time and returned to the ship around 5pm. They had a ball! My younger son loves dolphins and was thrilled with it… as all of the souvenirs showed! (As a side note, my husband and I had previously done the Dolphin Encounters 5 years ago when we stayed at Atlantis – at that time, we did Swim with the Dolphins, and that was magnificent as well.) My father, older son and I took the Jitney to Twin Brother’s in Fish Fry for lunch. The conch salad was absolutely delicious, and I would honestly eat it every day. My hubby wouldn’t like it, though, because there is a lot of onion in it! :eek: We then took a cab back to the Straw Market, where we did more shopping there & on the streets. We were back on the ship around 4pm. Enough time to sit on the balcony and take a short nap. Dinner that night was quiet as my father, hubby and I ate in the MDR and our kids ate @ the Windjammer. After dinner, my daughter got her airbrush tattoo and then we went and saw the Love & Marriage Game – that was hilarious! They had the Sail Away party that night on the pool deck. The buffet was nice and the music and dance were in full force!

Thursday – Day @ Sea. Slept in today, and it felt good! We pretty much lounged all day, did some shopping right after breakfast (sales are always good the last day of the cruise) and donated the last of my coins back to the casino. Had a couple of drinks in the bars and just enjoyed the day. The kids did the rock climbing wall before dinner and I grabbed a couple of snacks from the Windjammer. I do have to say the little shrimp salad sandwiches on sesame buns were awesome. I had too many and wasn’t all that hungry at supper. The last dinner that night was really nice – the waiters put on a good show as always and the food was delicious, too. After dinner, I bought a couple of photos from the ship and we took a lot of family pictures around the ship (always a good idea for Christmas Cards, too). Had one last drink with dad and off to the room to pack – UGH! We had so much to pack but we got it done. My oldest son met some other kids from around Pgh the last night so he spent a lot of time with them. I wish he would have met them earlier on the cruise, but he had fun!

Friday – Disembark. The saddest day. :( We were up at 7am, had a quick breakfast in the Windjammer and then we were off the ship by 8.30am. The Porter brought our luggage to our van in the garage and were on the road by 9.30am.

• Once again, sorry this was so long but I wanted to cover everything I could remember.
  
• My oldest son rated this cruise 8 out of 10, and the last night with his friends a 10 out of 10.
  
• The Crown & Anchor Booklets were still the old ones. I only used the photo coupon and the airbrush tattoo coupon. Yes, I forgot to use the casino coupon.
  
• Bonus for us – this cruise brought my hubby & me to Platinum Status and my oldest son needs one more credit for Platinum. The younger two need two more credits.
  
• I hope you all enjoyed reading this. I would take another cruise tomorrow, if I could!
  

[oklahomagirl]

Thank you so much for the review. My friend and I will be going at the end of July. I prefer to use the cash method too.

[GAHart]

Thanks for the review my wife and I are going to be on this ship next Monday can't wait ready for some R&R.

[cruisegirl1]

Bonus for us – this cruise brought my hubby & me to Platinum Status and my oldest son needs one more credit for Platinum. The younger two need two more credits.

 

 

 

To the OP - Thanks for the review.

 

You might want to check on this. I thought I read that your minor children living in your home get the same status as the parents.

 

M

[we3cruisers]

Bonus for us – this cruise brought my hubby & me to Platinum Status and my oldest son needs one more credit for Platinum. The younger two need two more credits.

 

 

 

To the OP - Thanks for the review.

 

You might want to check on this. I thought I read that your minor children living in your home get the same status as the parents.

 

M

That would be fantastic if the kids were the same level as us! I will have to check this out. Thanks for the information!

[Misquoted]

I was on the same cruise, and also had a wonderful time! It was a mother-daughter cruise for us, to celebrate three high school graduations -- my daughter, her two best friends, their mothers, and myself. (Now I have three years to plan something just as good for my younger daughter's graduation!)

 

When our tender back to the ship was disembarking, half of us had to stay on the tender while it back away from the ship to allow the next tender to disembark due to an emergency. We found out later it was the man who'd had the seizure. How scary. I'm glad they were able to go full speed ahead to Nassau to get him more medical attention.

 

The ship is one of the smaller ones, and while it may not have had as large a selection, and while it was full to capacity, the food was still delicious and plentiful, and nothing was terribly crowded, which was nice. :)

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise -- we did, too!

[KansasK]

I enjoyed your review and am glad that you had such a good cruise on the Monarch. We sail on the Monarch on July 16 and I am looking forward to it. :)

[BRMAN]

Thanks for the revue. I sail in November. Cannot wait.

[Jo2310]

July 26th for us! with our two sons, 18 & 15...can't wait! thanks for the review.

[Lindy Sue]

Great Review! Thanks for posting. We are on the Monarch in October, so love to read all the reviews. Quick question... you mentioned your brother's family booked a room at the Comfort Suites with access to Atlantis. Can you explain? We don't have any desire to shop the Straw Market (did that the last time), but would like to return to Atlantis and spend more time there, possibly have lunch there as well. Thanks for sharing what you know! :)

[we3cruisers]

Contact Comfort Suites in Nassau to reserve a room for the date you will be in Nassau. If you go to their website and choose Nassau, it specifically states on the homepage that you have full access (for 4 people, I believe) to Atlantis for your stay. When you arrive at the hotel, you will be given wristbands that allows access to Atlantis. It is less expensive than getting day passes at Atlantis. We did it 2 years ago (we actually had 5 people so we did purchase 1 day pass through Atlantis) and my brother's family did it this year with no problem at all. Hope this helps!

[RascalAnn]

Thanks for the great review! We will be on the Monarch in October. Your review has me even more excited. I'm ready to get on the ship and have some fun and alot of relaxing on deck too! I'm looking forward to CocoCay. Have never been there. This is our first RC cuise. We have always sailed on Princess.

[Lindy Sue]

Thanks for the information on Comfort Suites & Atlantis. Sounds like the way to go!

[romeoblue]

Thanks for the Review! We are headed there on the 19th with a group of 10 and I can't wait! :)

[JustUs275]

Thank you for the great review! We went on our first cruise ever, on Monarch in May and enjoyed it so much...your review made me want to book another one! :D

[kim1972]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the great review.We're going on the same cruise Nov 8-12th (our first cruise so I'm not sure how everything works) with 3 kids ages 7,10, and 17. Money is tight so what would be the least expensive activity Atlantis or a dolphin excursion? Atlantis is an amusement park? If you book a room at the Comfort Suites do you actually stay there or have to be back on the ship? Any advice is appreciated.Thanks,Kim

[ryano]

Atlantis is an amusement park? If you book a room at the Comfort Suites do you actually stay there or have to be back on the ship? Any advice is appreciated.Thanks,Kim

 

You will DEFINITELY have to be back on the ship at sail away! :eek: .

 

Atlantis is a HUGE resort. Cant miss it once you get off the ship.

[pbinn]

We were on the same cruise and had a fantastic time. My nephew is 12 and it was his first cruise. He didnt go into the teen club, just stayed with us and he had a ball. Belly flop contest was a scream and the love and marriage game was funny as anything..love the couple who won..on the way home we passed a sign for the Dutch Inn and my nephew laughed out loud !

 

We had a SOV cabin on deck 9 and the obstruction was no problem at all..just the boats hanging under the window, so worth it cause the room was a lot larger and we had a small frig too.

[we3cruisers]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the great review.We're going on the same cruise Nov 8-12th (our first cruise so I'm not sure how everything works) with 3 kids ages 7,10, and 17. Money is tight so what would be the least expensive activity Atlantis or a dolphin excursion? Atlantis is an amusement park? If you book a room at the Comfort Suites do you actually stay there or have to be back on the ship? Any advice is appreciated.Thanks,Kim

 

Atlantis is the least expensive - you probably can get a room at Comfort Suites for around $250.00. And, since you have 5 total, you will have to purchase a day pass at Atlantis (the children's passes are less expensive so purchase one of the kids's there). Atlantis is a resort - google it and you will see how much fun it is. You can honestly spend the entire day there but I think the pools and everything pretty much close around 7pm. After that, you can walk around the Diggs and the hotels @ Atlantis. (When you check in @ Comfort Suites, you do receive a room so you can always leave your things there and change your clothes after swimming and before going back to walk around -- just an idea).

 

When my husband took two of our kids to Dolphin Encounters, it was $98/person for the Dolphin Encounter (4 hours but only 30 minutes with the dolphins).

 

I would recommend Atlantis for your family... less expensive and you can spend the entire day there.

 

Enjoy!