RCL Monarch or CCL Paradise ?

[tamcbyrd]

I am torn between which cruise to book. The only cruise I have ever taken was CCL The Pride last summer. I wanted to book a 4 day cruise this summer because we are taking our 3 year old with us. We are also bringing our 12 and 14 year old who joined us on the Pride last year. I was leaning more to RCL because we already did CCL. Please help with your feedback.

 

Thank You

[shipknotshore]

We've done the Monarch twice. The ship is in good condition and there is a rock climbing wall and a kids/teen area which should be fun for the teens. I don't know what kind of cabin you were considering but I will tell you that the regular cabins on the Monarch are small, but if you're only in the cabin to sleep and shower it won't be too much of a problem. Have fun on which ever one you choose.

[capnlars]

Before they brought the Paradise over, it was the Ecstasy doing cruises out of LA. The ships are the same. We've done 4 trips on the Ecstasy, and are doing our second on the Monarch in 3 weeks. After going on the Monarch once, we decided we won't be going on Carnival again. We were so impressed with RCI, that while on the Monarch we booked a week on the Mariner for July.

 

The Monarch, and RCI in general, is just a whole lot "classier" than Carnival. We found Carnival to be too high-energy in-your-face type of experience. The Monarch is more subdued and overall much nicer. Kind of like walking into Nordstroms as compared to a bad Macy's. The crowd was different: not as roudy, not as drunk, not as many shorts in the dining room. Not as many people starting sentences with "For what I paid for this cruise......." (fill in the blank complaint).

 

The regular rooms on the Paradise are larger than the regular rooms on the Monarch. Almost all rooms on the Monarch that are not suites are about 125 square feet - not a lot of room for 5. The suites, however, on the Monarch are much much nicer than on Paradise. We book Cat 12s on Carnival, and Owner's Suites on Monarch. The Monarch suite was far superior. Also, if you go for that level of room (the Royal Family Suite would be great for 5 if you can swing it), you get much more extra attention and goodies for booking a suite. On Carnival, didn't seem to matter what type of room you had (same experience on the one-week, where you'd think it would be different). The suites on RC are a lot more expensive than Cat 11 or 12 on Carnival, but you really get a lot more. On Paradise, Cat 11 and 12 have balconies, but the Cat 11 rooms are not that great and balconies are not very private. On Monarch, only deck 10 rooms (JS, GS, RFS, OS, and RS) have balconies.

 

We thought the food on the Monarch was higher quality in the dining room. There's lobster night on CCL, but not on RCI 3 night (don't know about the 4 night).

 

Can't give you comparisons on kids activities on both - but there seemed to be way less unaccompanied kids running around on RCI. They announce an under-17 curfew during the muster drill on the Monarch, but I don't know how well enforced that is.

 

Like I said, after going on the RCI, we won't be going on another Carnival ship.

 

Hope this helps.

[luvronijean]

Hey tamcbyrd

A fellow Kern County resident :) . I live in Bakersfield and would definitely recommend the Monarch. I personally haven't sailed Carnival but have talked to many people who have. I'm one of those that feel any cruise is a good cruise but if given the choice, I'll take the Monarch :) .

 

Veronica

[Happy ks]

I have never sailed on Paradise, but I also sailed Ecstacy several years ago. I hate to say it, but if it would have been my first cruise, it would have also been my last. Hopefully, Paradise is a nicer ship, Carnival must be doing something right to be the largest cruiseline afloat. I have to agree with the above poster, though, RCI has a nicer product and the pax mix seems to be a little more conservative. Surprisingly, every time I price out the two ships, RCI Monarch comes out to less $$, even booking 2 small cabins rather than 1 regular Carnival cabin. Our kids are teens, so we don't want them in the same cabin with us, you might consider a cabin next door or across the hall for your 2 older kids. We had an extra key made and could go in any time we needed to and we let the steward know he could tell us if he felt the kids weren't behaving. Our teens are with us most of the time on a cruise and they understand the disadvantages of misbehaving. The only advantage Carnival has over RCI is the size of the cabin, but the decor is ugly to me.

 

Monarch has a definite advantage over Paradise on the 4 day cruise because they have a port stop in San Diego. It is a fairly ambitious cruise, 3 ports in 4 days. We love San Diego, Catalina is always beautiful and we stay onboard the ship in Ensenada. It's a great little getaway for locals, or to add onto a longer So. Cal. vacation. We have been on Monarch twice, have another cruise planned with them this year and would go again any time.

[SharleneinTexas]

I read that the Monarch just had a stem-to-stern renovation........perfect time to take advantage of all the new options available.....:)

[shipknotshore]

We were on the Monarch in Dec. 03 and the refurbishing had already been done.

Went on her again Nov. 04 and the ship looked as good as it did the previous year.

[MszKitty]

I was just on the Monarch last month and loved it. That being said, however, we are planning another 3 night cruise this coming June and I thought I would try the Paradise, just so I can compare the two. But, then....I'm hesitate to try the Paradise because it is more expensive. I'm torn....its like....Why not stick to a good thing (the Monarch)?...or...Try something new (the Paradise)?

What to do??..what to do?? :confused: