Just back from the Monarch

[reggierail]

I was a little disapointed in the dining room food, maybe the same menu so many times is getting a little old. The dining room is also closed for lunch on the port days in Catalina and Ensenada. The Windjammer was a little crowded on those days. I found the Windjammer food to be consistently excellent and the variety was very good. There were different selections every day and all were very good to excellent. I ate dinner in the Windjammer Jade on formal night and the menu was excellent and service, presentation, food and service was excellent also. They had duck on the menu and it was excellent, served on a bed of red cabbage, I had seconds on that. The lobster bisque was excellent as it had been on all of my previous cruises on the Monarch. The desserts were very good at all the meals including in the Windjammer. On Wednesday night in the dining room they had passion fruit creme brule that was excellent.

I had the prime rib on the last night in the dining room and wasn't impressed at all. For lunch on sailaway day in the Windjammer, there was a carving station with an excellent roast beef. The chef, at my request, cut me an excellent end cut that put the prime rib at dinner to shame.

On my last cruise in January we had a jam session in the Schooner Bar on the last night of the cruise. I lucked out again this time and had a great time the last night in the Schooner Bar. The pianist Angelo was leaving for his vacation Friday and members of all the bands, RCCL singers and dancers all had a jam session again. It was a highlight of the cruise. The Latin band at Bolero's was very good too.

All in all a very nice cruise although 4 nights is just a little short.

I'll try and answer any questions. I've been on the Monarch 4 times in the last 10 months. It's a lot like a second home.

 

Reggie

 

Rhapsody 10-17-04

 

Mercury 12-06-04

 

Monarch 3-29-04

 

Viking Serenade 1998

Viking Serenade 1999

Voyager of the Seas 2000

Viking Serenade 2001

Majesty of the Seas 11-2002

Norwegian Sea 11-2002

Vision of the Seas 11-2002

Mercury 5-03-03

Monarch of the Seas 6-09-03

Mercury 10-12-03

Monarch 11-17-03

Monarch 1-19-04

 

God bless the USA and all freedom loving people. May God protect all those who fight and die to protect those freedoms.

[princesspckr]

Reggie,

Thanks for the review. Who was the cruise director?

When we went in March it was Matt, found him rather boring and bossy. Plan to go on the Monarch again next fall and hoping he is gone.

 

[reggierail]

Matt was the cruise director and he seemed to be very nice, maybe you just caught him on an off cruise. He did leave on vacation on Friday and I don't know who will replace him.

 

BTW, I'm hoping to sail on the May 2nd sailing of the Radiance. It will be my first Radiance class ship and may see you on board.

 

Reggie

 

Rhapsody 10-17-04

 

Mercury 12-06-04

 

Monarch 3-29-04

 

Viking Serenade 1998

Viking Serenade 1999

Voyager of the Seas 2000

Viking Serenade 2001

Majesty of the Seas 11-2002

Norwegian Sea 11-2002

Vision of the Seas 11-2002

Mercury 5-03-03

Monarch of the Seas 6-09-03

Mercury 10-12-03

Monarch 11-17-03

Monarch 1-19-04

 

God bless the USA and all freedom loving people. May God protect all those who fight and die to protect those freedoms.

[princesspckr]

Reggie,

Thanks for the info. must have caught Matt on a bad week.

Come on over to the Roll call board for the May 2 Radiance of the Seas sailing. We have several people on the roll call, alot of really nice and fun people. We also have a live chat going on Sunday nites at 6pm. Instructions are on the roll call board. We would love to have you join us. There's also a couple people planning on going on the Monarch soon and would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Sue

 

[reggierail]

Thanks Sue, I've been lurking at the May 2nd Roll Call for a couple of days. I'd really like to take a cruise on a Radiance or Millie class ship. Then all I'd have to experience would be the baby Celebrity ships(Horizon/Zenith).

 

Reggie

[cruiseroyalcaribbean]

Hello all.....

 

Just interested at princesspkr's comment...

 

How can a cruise director be bossy?

 

We just got off of the Monarch and loved Matt. He is fresh air in Cruise Directors (We didn't hear one toilet flushing joke or "Bring you on as guests, take you off as Cargo" joke - some Cruise Directors are still doing that.....)

 

The only person I spoke to on the ship who didn't like Matt was for a good reason, he disqualified them from the Quest cos they were cheating!!!! Serves them right and good on him for having the balls to do it!

 

Boring - OK, fair comment..... everyone has their opinion. I personally hated Jeffrey Arpin, as he thought he was a comedian and I thought he was the most boring person around, everyone has their opinion, as I say. (I will get flamed for disliking Jeffrey Arpin now).

 

I am just confused that a Cruise Director can be bossy.....

 

I was also in the Schooner Bar on Thursday night for the Jam - it was great Jackie Michaels, the girl in the show, got up and sang, so did loads of others, including Matt..... it was great..... a lot of fun. I wish they would do it all the while, but then it wouldn't be so special, would it.

 

I spoke with Matt on Friday morning and he is going back to the Monarch in 6 weeks and will be there for probably four months, he said.

 

I had a blast, great entertainment (Jackie Michaels was super) and nice weather for most of the cruise......

 

Here is to the next one, next month on the Explorer!

[goofyfordisney]

Reggierail,

 

Glad you had a great trip! Thanks for the review.

 

We are sailing in November--have some "newbie" questions...

 

When is the formal night on a 4 night cruise?

 

What type of on-board activities are there? Do they provide you with a daily schedule or something? Any idea of where I can find info about that? Do they have a movie theater on the ship? If so, what kind of movies do they show?

 

Any tips about excursions for first-timers? We pretty much know what to do in San Diego. Catalina also. We just don't know what to do in Ensenada. We just want to get to a good shopping area and maybe eat lunch, maybe go to a beach. My mom and sister are less adventureous than I am. They seem to be worried about what is "safe" for us to do..what would you suggest?

 

Thanks in advance!

Sue

[ekistics22]

Thanks for the brief but good cruise review. We're sailing back-to-back on the Monarch in December 2004.

 

CCL Ecstasy, Dec98, W. Carib.; CCL Imagination, Dec99, E. Carib.; CCL Fascination, Dec00, "Dutch Treat"; CCL Destiny, May01, So. Carib.; CCL Destiny, Dec01, So. Carib.; CCL Victory, Dec02, E. Carib.; NCL Majesty, Jun03, Bermuda; CCL Conquest, Dec03, W. Carib.; Gonna sail NCL Pride of Aloha, Sep04, Hawai'i; RCI Monarch of the Seas, Dec04, Baja Mexico

[gardnerna]

Reggierail,

 

How was the crowd in general? Is it old people? Rowdy young people? Families? I'd like to get a feel for what we're in store for.

We're going on April 26th, 2004.

 

Thanks

 

Nancy G

cruise 14 coming up!

[cruiseroyalcaribbean]

The crowd were quite rowdy on our cruise, but bear in mind it was Spring break and I think they had over 400 kids or something on the ship.

[reggierail]

Formal night is Tuesday, the second evening on the ship.

FYI, dining times are 5:30 and 8 on the 4 night cruise.

There will be a daily Compass delivered to your cabin each evening listing the hours for all the entertainment and dining venues for the next day.

They show several movies daily on the in room television, I noticed Seabiscuit and Freaky Feiday to name a couple.

I have only taken the shuttle to downtown in Ensenada, $3 round trip. There are many places to shop and eat in town.

 

Reggie

[glendon3281]

We're booked on the April 19th sailing of the 'Monarch'. Sailed her 2 years ago when Ft. Lauderdale was her home. I'm anxious to see the new refurbishment.

 

This is the first time hubby and I are going on a cruise alone...We're accustomed to going with a large group plus we've always gone out of Florida ports. I've never eaten with strangers in the Formal Dining Room, either.

 

I'm just not sure how we're going to like cruisin' by ourselves.

[reggierail]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gardnerna:

Reggierail,

 

How was the crowd in general? Is it old people? Rowdy young people? Families? I'd like to get a feel for what we're in store for.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

The crowd seemed quite a bit younger than my previous 2 criuses in November and January. There was still a lot of middle aged to older people on the ship, but many more kids than I've seen before.

 

Reggie

 

Rhapsody 10-17-04

 

Mercury 12-06-04

 

Monarch 3-29-04

 

Viking Serenade 1998

Viking Serenade 1999

Voyager of the Seas 2000

Viking Serenade 2001

Majesty of the Seas 11-2002

Norwegian Sea 11-2002

Vision of the Seas 11-2002

Mercury 5-03-03

Monarch of the Seas 6-09-03

Mercury 10-12-03

Monarch 11-17-03

Monarch 1-19-04

 

God bless the USA and all freedom loving people. May God protect all those who fight and die to protect those freedoms.

[cruiseclues]

Reggie,

 

We enjoyed your review, especially all the info about food, which we always like to hear. Glad to hear you had a good time.

 

 

Happy Cruising, Buil, http://cruiseclues.com

Sitmar, RCCL, Costa, HAL, Princess, Royal Cruise Line, Celebrity, Renaissance, Disney, MSC Lirica

"We cannot change the direction of the wind... but we can adjust our sails"

 

[reggierail]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by glendon3281:

We're booked on the April 19th sailing of the 'Monarch'. Sailed her 2 years ago when Ft. Lauderdale was her home. I'm anxious to see the new refurbishment.

 

This is the first time hubby and I are going on a cruise alone...We're accustomed to going with a large group plus we've always gone out of Florida ports. I've never eaten with strangers in the Formal Dining Room, either.

 

I'm just not sure how we're going to like cruisin' by ourselves.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Maybe you should check on the roll call forum for others on the cruise. You might meet someone you could have dinner with. I've always met some very nice people on the roll call forum and got together on the ship. RCCL has done a good job seating me with other singles for dining. On my last cruise I was seated with 2 very nice women, 1 of which I met on the roll call for my sailing.

 

Reggie

 

Rhapsody 10-17-04

 

Mercury 12-06-04

 

Monarch 3-29-04

 

Viking Serenade 1998

Viking Serenade 1999

Voyager of the Seas 2000

Viking Serenade 2001

Majesty of the Seas 11-2002

Norwegian Sea 11-2002

Vision of the Seas 11-2002

Mercury 5-03-03

Monarch of the Seas 6-09-03

Mercury 10-12-03

Monarch 11-17-03

Monarch 1-19-04

 

God bless the USA and all freedom loving people. May God protect all those who fight and die to protect those freedoms.

[frayedknot]

reggie-

I, too, am fond of the monarch,

Cruised 12-8-04 on a 4 day (solo),

2-6-04 on a 3 day (with a friend),

2-20-04 on a 3 day (with a broken toe but still went!)

4-2-04 on a 3 day ( solo).

 

am booked 5-21-04 on a 3day ( with a friend)

this will be 14 total cruises for me.

 

and possibly 5-14-04 3 day (solo)

and 5-24-04 4 day (with friends).

which will be 7 monarch cruises in 6 months...

 

I love the classic lines of the ship, especially the promenade on deck 7, which reminds me of the Queen Mary.

the dec, feb cruises weren't as much fun as the april cruise.

The jade buffet is always good...

 

love the sailaway from the port of LA, too.

 

Pam

 

#14 Monarch of the Seas 5-21-04

 

[lfdianne]

Pam, wow! You must really love the Monarch. I was on that cruise with you on 2/19-2/22. I was with 7 girlfriends and we had a blast. Had the best margaritas of my life at a restaurant at the open air market at La Bufadora. There is nothing like sitting in a jacuzzi at sunset on a cruise ship with a fruity drink...

 

Monarch of the Seas 03/04 My Need-A-Vacation-NOW-Cruise

Vision of the Seas-Mexican Riviera 1/03

Viking Serenade-Ensenada 12/93

Regent Star- Inside Passage 6/91

[magmcclure]

For a shore excursion I would recommend the Winery Tour. The guide we had was fantastic. Since you are on a bus, you cannot go to the smaller family owned wineries but you will to to Domeq and LA Cetto. Have a big breakfast as the tastings are not like they are here in the states. BIG servings. Also, the wine is very inexpensive. I paid about $7-9 for Premium Reserves.

 

I was on the Monarch in October 2004, right before the fires in California took over. It was my mother's first cruise and I now have her hooked. She is sailing on the Rhapsody in May.

[cruzaholic]

Reggierail and cruiseroyalcaribbean:

 

Matt was the cruise director and whom was the captain?

 

Thanks

[lfdianne]

Cruise Director is Matthew Sole. The Captain (as of 2 weeks ago) is Trym Selvag. His bio according to the Compass: "Trym was born and raisd on the West Coast of Norway in the small town of Ulsteinvik. Following in the family footsteps of his grandfathers and father, he headed to sea at the young age of 16. At the age of 20, he returned home to start his Captain studies at the Norwegian Maritime Academy. After graduating from here, Trym worked for several years on fishing vessels before choosing to explore life on cruise ships. Trym joined Royal Caribbean in 1990 on the Sovereign of the Seas as a Second Officer. Since then, he has served onboard the Song of Norway, Monarch of the Seas, Sun Viking, Vision of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas. Trym now resides in Ft. Lauderdale where he enjoys spending his off time playing golf."

 

Monarch of the Seas 03/04 My Need-A-Vacation-NOW-Cruise

Vision of the Seas-Mexican Riviera 1/03

Viking Serenade-Ensenada 12/93

Regent Star- Inside Passage 6/91

[reggierail]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by frayedknot:

reggie-

I, too, am fond of the monarch,

Cruised 12-8-04 on a 4 day (solo),

2-6-04 on a 3 day (with a friend),

2-20-04 on a 3 day (with a broken toe but still went!)

4-2-04 on a 3 day ( solo).

 

am booked 5-21-04 on a 3day ( with a friend)

this will be 14 total cruises for me.

 

and possibly 5-14-04 3 day (solo)

and 5-24-04 4 day (with friends).

which will be 7 monarch cruises in 6 months...

 

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I may be sailing again on the 5-03-03 Monarch.

I'd probably sail more often if I didn't have to make the drive from Bakersfield. They are now charging $11 per day to park, up from $10 in January.

 

Reggie

 

Rhapsody 10-17-04

 

Mercury 12-06-04

 

Monarch 3-29-04

 

Viking Serenade 1998

Viking Serenade 1999

Voyager of the Seas 2000

Viking Serenade 2001

Majesty of the Seas 11-2002

Norwegian Sea 11-2002

Vision of the Seas 11-2002

Mercury 5-03-03

Monarch of the Seas 6-09-03

Mercury 10-12-03

Monarch 11-17-03

Monarch 1-19-04

 

God bless the USA and all freedom loving people. May God protect all those who fight and die to protect those freedoms.

[daytrippertm]

Hi,

My 7 y/o son and I are taking our first cruise on the Monarch on 5-10-04.

Is there a way for us to get to Sea World on our own and how much would that run? Is it better to book it through RC?

Also, is there anything "fun" for him to do with me in Ensenada? I was told that would be a good day to let him hang out in the kids center and I could go shopping. I wanted the time with him but I also wouldn't mind shopping (it's boring for him).

I was also thinking about getting a massage on the ship. Do you know their prices?

Thanks for all the info!

 

5/10 Monarch of the Seas

[jkrislc]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by daytrippertm:

Also, is there anything "fun" for him to do with me in Ensenada?

5/10 Monarch of the Seas<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Sea World is doable on your own, but might be more cost effective through the ship as it will probably cost you an easy $20-$30 each way in transportation plus the cost of admission. As for Ensenada, there are probably two things that might interest a 7 year old. The first is La Bufadora (blow hole). The second is Fox Studios, which is like a very small Universal Studios. This is where Titanic was filmed, and they have sets from various Fox movies like Planet of the Apes.

 

KLC

UPCOMING CRUISES:

---------------------

MONARCH OF THE SEAS (04/04)

PRIDE OF ???????-HAWAII (01/05)

 

PREVIOUS CRUISES

-------------------------

RCI's Monarch of the Seas (01/04)

Star Princess (6/03)

RCI's Rhapsody of the Seas (4/01)

Carnival's Ecstasy (6/96)

RCI's Viking Serenade (1/94)

[daytrippertm]

How formal is formal nights on the Monarch? I have long formal dresses but should I buy a suit for my 7 y/o son? Is there a night to meet other singles? Also, I just got upgraded to a room I believe is in the front of the ship. Isn't that where the anchor is and will it be loud?

Thanks for all the help!!

 

5/10 Monarch of the Seas

 

[jkrislc]

I asked this question before I cruised as I expected it to be less formal than longer cruises, and to some extent it was. Although there were some dressed up, I'd say most on my cruise were not ultra-fromally dressed. They were dressed as if they were going to a wedding or church on a holiday. You'll see some in tuxes and formal dresses, so you won't be out of place if you really want to dress up. On the other hand, I wouldn't buy a suit for your son just for the cruise unless he has a use for it elsewhere.

 

As for the anchor, you'll only hear it in Catalina. Because the ship docks in San Diego and Ensenada, you don't have to worry about the anchor. It also depends how far forward you are and on what deck. Although you might hear it depending on your cabin location, it wont last long.

 

The best place to meet singles will be in one of the clubs: Boleros or The Circuit. Unfortuntaly, I can't remember if they had anything specifically for singles.

 

Happy cruising!

 

KLC

UPCOMING CRUISES:

---------------------

MONARCH OF THE SEAS (04/04)

PRIDE OF ???????-HAWAII (01/05)

 

PREVIOUS CRUISES

-------------------------

RCI's Monarch of the Seas (01/04)

Star Princess (6/03)

RCI's Rhapsody of the Seas (4/01)

Carnival's Ecstasy (6/96)

RCI's Viking Serenade (1/94)