Monarch of the Seas 4 Night Review (April 16, 2007)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Hi Ginny!

 

I read your review and your thoughts of the 4-day vs the 3-day are the same thoughts as mine!

We only had 5 teams at Quest during the week. On 3 day cruises we have about 20 teams! LOL

 

I am sailing with MMom and the other crazy cruisers. It should be a great week!

Thanks for posting the pics. The one of us at dinner is a nice pic. :)

Glad you had a good time!

 

Hi Jen! It's great to hear from you. I thought about you and Karyn a lot and wished we could have shared the 4 night with you also. I have to admit that I am a bit green with envy that you will both be sailing with such a great group of CC people! It will make a great cruise for all of you.

 

If I can fanangle another cruise before our Explorer Cruise it would have to be the 3 night as Steve can't take another week off. I did enoy the 3 night a lot, too. It was just different than the 4 night.

 

Karyn - I will keep you on the e-mail list for the Med cruise if you would like. I changed computers and lost a lot of e-mail addresses. E-mail me at sgkpaetz@aol.com and I will let you know our thoughts so far.:D

 

Critterchick - Joy was probably the best cabin attendant we have ever had. She is very personable and nothing got past her. I would love to have her again!

 

Mojavemommy is right about the boarding time and parking. It kind of spoils us for other ports. It's so easy to park and board right at the ship.

 

All of you who are cruising soon - Have a great time!

[MissKise]

 

 

.

 

What time did you board? How was the parking? Where did you park? DS and I are surprising DH for a birthday cruise... I book, he still paid, just didn't know it! Is the parking so far away from the terminal that you have to take a shuttle, or can you park and walk in?

 

 

 

D :)

 

When you pull into the parking lot you will be directed to pass the door to enter for embarking. You can drop your bags and people at the curb and the driver of the car can pull around to park. I suggest trying to park to the left side of the lot when looking at the terminal because you will be coming out with your bags on the left side. It is not a huge area, but it is secure, we have never had any problems and it is nice to be able to walk out to your car and leave. The parking rates are assessed on a 24 hour basis, so if you get there very early and stay on the ship late you may be charged an additional day. We did that once.....

 

For those looking for a cab, you may want to try Super Shuttle to see what the charge with that company would be.

[mohavemommy]

Parking is very convinent at the dock for $12 per day. We arrived around 11 and had to wait until noon to board. There is a special lounge for diamond and Diamond+ with beverages and goodies to help pass the time.

 

... and Platinum too!

 

 

I just saw on your countdown you are so close in going! Have you packed? How's the excitment (a/k/a butterflies in the stomach)!

 

D :)

 

I just can't believe it is here already! Yes... I am very excited!

[skandls]

Hey Ginny:

Thanks for the great reveiw. I too, am sailing on the 4 day, and my roll call is almost non-existent. I'm so use to my roll calls on Rhapsody and Voyager (Voyager is over 1200 posts and we're a year out). I won't let the CC absence though tarnish my vacation. I do see that the week after our sailing's roll call is in full swing! Lucky ducks! I did get very spoiled having the roll calls so active though. I guess it's hit or miss. :)

 

Anyway, wanted to pop in here and say thanks. I'm looking forward to the dueling pianos have I have heard nothing but rave reviews on their show.

 

What time did you board? How was the parking? Where did you park? DS and I are surprising DH for a birthday cruise... I book, he still paid, just didn't know it! Is the parking so far away from the terminal that you have to take a shuttle, or can you park and walk in?

 

Thanks again for posting such a great review. Looking forward to my time on MOS.

 

D :)

 

We get to the pier between 11am - 12n. We've been on the Visions twice and the Monarch twice. The lines for boarding are really unpredictable. I think a lot depends on how many people show up when.

 

DH drops me off with the luggage and he parks the car in the cruise terminal lots. He walks - not too far from the car. Parking is outside but secured.

[mohavemommy]

I must add that on our last cruise as "Gold" members, we were surprised when they called for Gold C&A members to board immediately after the Suite/Diamond/Platinum members! General boarding was after that. :D Not sure if they do that every time or not.

[Tahoestarr]

We also gad Joy on our December cruise. She was very accommodating. She brought me a pool lounger for our balcony...ver nice :D Although, last Monarch trip we had Pedro...he was in the forward starboard suites. He was really great...nothing against Joy, cause she was wonderful too!

 

Glad to hear that Danney is staying! That is such great news! I know that it's been going back and forth on the board...he's leaving....no, he's not leaving....glad to have the official word!

 

Funny that you were alone at your large table....that happened to me and my sister as well! We were the only two at our table of eight! Kind of weird, but...like you, we got spoiled by the waitstaff! We also tipped them for the entire table....LOL.

 

To the previous poster asking about flights to Long Beach....YES....it's much closer that LAX!

[Merion_Mom]

Who has stayed in the Crowne Plaza pre-cruise? (I know that it used to be something else, but my brain won't let me remember what it was) I need a store that sells you-know-what within walking distance.

[silentbob007]

Is debarkation usually fairly quick on Monarch? I'm usually really cautious about flight times out, but the best price I can get (by a lot) is a 10:15 AM out of Long Beach. Figure we'd need to be off the ship by 8, right?

[mohavemommy]

On our last cruise we had the white luggage tags and were off the ship, thru customs, and in our car by 8:00. On the other hand, when we arrived at the port for that cruise, it was 11:00 and there were people still disembarking the ship from the previous cruise.

[silentbob007]

Hmmm ... I know it's a risk ... if anything happens, etc, we'll be delayed and miss the flight. Do they do self-assist on Monarch?

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Your best bet for early disembarkment is to do self disembarkment. They will tell you to NOT put your bags outside your cabin the night before and to prepare to carry all of your own bags off the ship. You will be instructed to be on Deck 4 by 6:45 AM and you will be the first ones off the ship, before the white tags. On the shorter cruises like the ones the Monarch has it should be a doable process. That is IF the ship clears customs in a timely manner. We were on the Explorer in 2005 and some kind of problem delayed the beginning of the process and we were not off the ship until close to 1PM!:eek: Ever since then we have had no problem.

[EggDropErin]

How far is the port from LAX? I just started looking at the Monarch and saw that transfers are $26/pp each way. Can I get a cab there for less than $50?

 

According to the travel website I just searched, the ditance from the port to LAX is 19.3 miles. :)

[cruisePRN]

Long Beach is very close to the port and there should be no reason to get stuck in traffic. The trip to LAX could take much longer due to traffic and the need to use the freeway.

Since Long Beach is cheaper and closer it's a no brainer:D

[critterchick]

SilentBob, Long Beach airport is definitely the way to go! On our last cruise we had Customs come onboard, search somebody's cabins and "escort" one man off. That did not delay disembarkation at all - they just went out in the middle of the crowd! We were at the end of the express line (people get there at 6:30), were off the ship by 7:30 and DH still made it to his 8:00 staff meeting with seconds to spare (he works 10 minutes from the port, which helps).

 

A taxi from LAX would cost you about $60 with the tip. You could also call the SuperShuttle or PrimeTime shuttle services (Google them), which charge $16-17 per person. The downside of using them is that they may circle the airport looking for additional fares, but using the RCI transfer could take plenty of time, too.

 

A taxi from Long Beach airport to the pier is a flat rate, I think about $35 (for both, not per person). The rates are posted at the taxi stand. I imagine that going back is metered.

[dsnygrl]

Do any of you know how far it is from the port to a hotel located on the Disney property and what the best (and hopefully least expensive) form of transportation for a family of 4 would be. We are staying at Disney both before and after the cruise.

[Happy ks]

LAX is around 20 miles from the port, LGB around 13, but those 7 miles up the 405 can take a pretty long time, especially on a week day!

 

Disneyland is around 25-30 miles from port. If you are staying on a Disney property, you really don't need a car, everything is within walking distance. Even in a surrounding motel you can still walk, but take a foot bath with you. If it were me, I'd take a shuttle and forget about trying to find my way around.

 

Also, if you're going to be at Disney both ends of the trip, SNA (or John Wayne or Orange County...all the same place) airport makes a lot more sense.

 

Back to the focus on the review :) , it's nice to read that the 4 dayer is different in the Spring months than the summer. We've been on in summer and at Christmas and the ship has been overrun with kids. They didn't bother us, we don't let them, they were just there.

 

I was thinking of Monarch last Thursday, April 19th, the winds were really strong that day. We'd considered the cruise for the weekend and I'm a little happy we changed our plans!

[lephysteria]

Friends on board that I have email correspondence with have said that last week when it was windy, the seas were-a-rollin!!!!! :D

[lephysteria]

Hi Jen! It's great to hear from you. I thought about you and Karyn a lot and wished we could have shared the 4 night with you also. I have to admit that I am a bit green with envy that you will both be sailing with such a great group of CC people! It will make a great cruise for all of you.

 

If I can fanangle another cruise before our Explorer Cruise it would have to be the 3 night as Steve can't take another week off. I did enoy the 3 night a lot, too. It was just different than the 4 night.

 

 

You know you and Steve are also always welcome to join us on the 3-nighters. We're doing the 3-night on May 25th. When we booked it wasn't that expensive, although I have no idea how much it is now.

 

A fun group and us are also doing the 7-day E Carib on the Liberty over labor day. That should be a fun trip and we are always looking at recruiting newbies :)

[silentbob007]

Thanks for the help everyone ... my cheap airfare disappeared on me, so I have everything booked but the return flight. Figure I can sit a tad and see if anythign better comes a long before I jump.

 

BTW, I converted the NextCruise booking I made in March to my Monarch sailing ... no problem at all. I was also able to add a second person to a one-person NextCruise deposit with no problem at all. Now ... the wait to see what cabin I get with my OV GTY. :)

[mohavemommy]

Friends on board that I have email correspondence with have said that last week when it was windy, the seas were-a-rollin!!!!! :D

 

Jen... I have the cookies baking right now to take along with me! Our friend should be ready for some more when you go in May! :D

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I have all of my pictures now posted on my Webshots album for this 4 night cruise! I took a lot of pictures of the popular locations on the ship, especially for my CC friends. Enjoy!:D

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/558766790QoayYD

[IBookHePays]

Thanks for the great shots....gets me excited for our 3 day!:)

[lephysteria]

Jen... I have the cookies baking right now to take along with me! Our friend should be ready for some more when you go in May! :D

 

Yum!!!!! He should totally love that!! :)

[Tahoestarr]

Thanks for the great pictures! Can't wait to get back on her in October!

[Piepkorn]

Thank you so much for the detailed review! We are on the Monarch for the 3 day May 5th...any chance you have the compasses from your last 3 day cruise in December? We're crusing with some friends who haven't cruised before and I would love to know what's going on ahead of time. Thanks again for your review:)

 

IBookHePays,

 

Sorry I'm a bit late on this.....last month I scanned the Compasses from the 3 day cruise we did in November for someone else onto the site: http://www.scrbr.com/cruise/ Just click on the thumbnails to make them viewable.

 

Dave