Just back from monarch -- review

[Philly Steve]

Hi Steve, I like your (writing) style and I LOVE Monarch. Keep it comin' dude! :cool:

[dolfandude]

Hi Steve, I like your (writing) style and I LOVE Monarch. Keep it comin' dude! :cool:

 

Thanks! Getting ready to post Day 3!

[Tex_Jen]

Thanks! Getting ready to post Day 3!

 

YEAH!

 

Jen

[maritar]

Getting ready to post Day 3!

 

That's great! :) I enjoy reading your review!

[dolfandude]

Boy, has this been a lazy Sunday. I've spent all day on my laptop watching football and writing this review. I might need a vacation after this!!

DAY THREE – NASSAU

 

One thing I forgot is that we ordered a cheese plate and a chorizo chili dip from room service on Tuesday afternoon and it was outstanding. We decide that we HAVE to have it again.

Woke up around 9am by accident. I usually don’t sleep that late. We were scheduled to meet some of our CC group at 10am to go to Atlantis together. Called the 21’s and they were already up and ready to go! Told them to go ahead to the WJ and we’d meet them there. Got ready relatively fast. Out of the cabin at 9:40, up to the WJ and out of the ship and on the dock waiting at 9:57am. I’m really punctual. Some would say obsessively punctual. I hate to be late. Renee and Amanda were waiting for us. They’re mother/daughter from Minnesota. A few minutes later Bob, Lee, their daughter Erin and their friend Kevin showed up. We headed towards Festival Place. Spoke to a nice cabbie who offered to drive us to Atlantis for $4 (usual fare). We all jumped in a Mitsubishi extra long van and took off. Plenty of room in the van. I sat in the front seat! I tend to do that we I fly for a sales meeting and are shuttled to the hotel/airport. More comfort for the big guy.

DD21’s BF had not been to Atlantis before. I don’t think I mentioned that this was his first cruise. It was the fourth for our girls. Last year we ditched them and cruise with some friends from back home in FL. Got there fine. No traffic. Walked through the free part of the aquarium for about 30 minutes and then headed over to look at the casino. Went to the cashiers to break a couple hundreds. Dropped $20 in the slots. Let the girls take some spins. Gone in sixty seconds! Then headed outside to look around. We were stopped by an attendant who said we couldn’t go further without wristbands. Walked back a different way and we were done. Took all of 50 minutes. While back inside I noticed a logo on a guest meeting room from a company that my company owns. I walked in and found it was a dealer rewards trip meeting. They were not there but I did know several people on the departure manifest! It’s a small world (hey, I worked there many years ago in a galaxy far, far away!). Was going to walk to the convention meeting rooms and say hello buy didn’t want to leave the group. Walk out front and looked at the fantastic yachts anchored in the waterway. We had arranged for the cabbie to come back at noon. He showed up at 11:45. Rode back and had him drop us off at the Straw Market.

This was to be the highlight of the cruise for the girls. They are purse fanatics. They don’t care if they’re fake. Heck, some you can’t tell the difference by sight. We have a Coach outlet in our town’s outlet mall and the girls own some real ones. And DD21 owns many others as well. I think she owns over 100 different bags. The Straw Market is really cramped. If you’ve never been before be prepared. I think 75% of it was knock off purses and the rest tee shirts and Chinese trinkets. They managed to find a couple purses each. Dooney’s and D&G’s. I guess those are hot now. I don’t know, I still carry a wallet from 5 years ago! BF wanted a purse for his 17 yr old sister and found it. He also wanted some Cuban cigars. One of the vendors offered him some. He bought 4 for $30. They didn’t have labels on them. Rut Ro Reorge. Maybe fakes? He didn’t care. Later we stopped in a cigar shop and told the guy about his experience. He just rolled his eyes. He had real Cubans starting at $12. We then headed for a supermarket that I’d been to last year. Just a couple streets from the Straw Market toward the port. I had purchased some hot sauce there last year and wanted more. Found it. Bought five bottles and some ginger beer. Ginger beer is not really beer but like super concentrated ginger ale. It’s from Jamaica and I love it. Also got some cotton balls that the girls forgot to bring.

We decided to go back to the ship to drop off the purchases and have lunch. It’s only a 15 walk. Went to the WJ and it was great. About half crowded. By this time it was around 1:30 or so. Ate and headed back to go to Senor Frogs. DD17 stayed onboard. By herself! Yes, that’s right by herself. I read a thread last month about two teens that got off the ship in Nassau by themselves and their mother was mad at RCL. Mine knows she cannot leave the ship. Why would she? She doesn’t like Nassau anyway. She wanted to lie out in the sun. She’ll be on her own (sort of) at college next year. We trust her. In fact, when we departed the ship earlier that morning, she was behind me and the security guard asked her who her parents were. It was also stated in the compass that children under 18 would not be allowed to leave the ship without a parent or guardian. Good job RCL!

Senor Frogs is a dump! It’s right next to the Straw Market and is just as nasty. Yes, you heard it from me! Have you ever been down Bourbon Street in the daytime? Well, not quite that bad but not good. We ordered the 22 oz. yard of drink each for the four of us. It was $63 and the 15% tip was already billed in. I didn’t like that. Just like on the ship. What’s the difference between a bartender pouring a $4 beer or mixing a $15 drink? OK, he has to shake the drink once. Whoopi! So, the tip increases with the cost of the drink. It has nothing to do with service. And I used to be a bartender in college for a few years. I just don’t like to be told how much to tip. Heck, they’d probably get more from me if they didn’t automatically charge the 15%! Anyway, we stayed 20 minutes and took our 2 foot tall glasses out and headed for the shops downtown. There is no open container law in the Bahamas.

There are lots of shops on Bay Street which is on the other side of the Straw Market inland. We looked in a few jewelry stores and a couple tee shirt shops but didn’t find anything. Went to John Bull (store) where we’d bought DD21’s Tiffany bracelet last year and showed it to her. She saw a ring by David Yurman that Heather the Port shopping specialist showed her and John Bull had a dedicated shop for all David Yurman creations. Beautiful jewelry. Not too pricey. We didn’t buy anything. The ladies went to the Coach Factory store while BF and I searched for a beer and a chair. From there we headed to a liquor store near the port we’d seen before. The 21’s each purchased a bottle of their favorite spirits. After a couple more stores we headed back to the ship. We had originally planned to visit the Pirate Museum but forgot completely about it! At least the liquor was good from Senor Frogs!

Got back to the ship around 4:45pm. The C&A party was scheduled for 5:15 until 6pm. I didn’t really care about making it back to the ship for this but it happened that way so we went. I’m glad we did. RCL puts together a nice little get together for past cruisers. They had buffet tables out with mini desserts and hor d’oeuvres. Waiters were offering free drinks. The Captain, Rick Sullivan from Canada, was introduced and he took some questions from the C&A members. The Hotel Director, Terry Lunder, came up and introduced the heads of the various units onboard the ship. Then the Loyalty Ambassador, Fernando Andrade, spoke about the Oasis a little. And that was it. A very nice way to spend an almost hour.

Headed down to the Casino and play a little slots and Caribbean Stud Poker. Lost but had fun. Taught BF how to play. He lost too. Maybe someone else should teach him! Time to get ready for dinner.

DD17 had left a note saying she was going to Fuel. She had a teen club get together at 7pm. She would be eating dinner with them. The three of us headed for the MDR for our 8:30 seating. This was to be our last time in the MDR as tomorrow was the BIG GAME – the BCS Championship college game starting at 8pm. Prime Rib was offered tonight and DW and BF ordered it. It was full of fat and both had a lot of it left over. DW complained that she didn’t like having to work so much to eat! I had the pork medallions and they were very tasty. But the hit of the dinner was the World Famous Vidalia Onion Tart. Boy that’s good. I talked BF into trying one. He loved it. Their college is just 30 miles from Vidalia and I told them they could drive there and get them anytime! I’ve grown up eating Vidalia onions and really love them. Cooked anyway you can think of. I highly recommend this treat. Talked to Hita quite a bit as we were his only customers. Just the four of us. The MDR was only maybe 30% full due to many still being in Nassau or just too tired to come to dinner. Needless to say the service was at its best that night! We finished dessert by 9:25 and headed to the theater to get a seat for the Love and Marriage show. This has become a favorite of ours. NCL had it on their ships also. They picked a newlywed, middle year couple (married 20 yrs) and a couple that had been married 61 years. Oh, they were great. She revealed that they’d had sex on a rowboat in the 50’s and he got it right! More ways that one I guess. His name was Roy….Row boat Roy we yelled! It was hilarious. Definitely worth seeing. Afterwards, we headed up to Fuel to check on DD17 and realized the Caribbean Dance party was starting. That’s where we found her and her new girlfriends. Said hi and she said Bye! So we left! DD21 ordered a pineapple pina colada. They hollow out a real pineapple and make the drink inside. $10 and cool. The 21’s wanted pizza so we headed to Sorrento’s and had a slice. Nothing to rave above but not bad after midnight! I forgot that me and the 21’s went here before bed Monday night/Tuesday morning. They are open until 11:30pm and then reopen at 12:30am until 2am. Stopped in Boleros for a song or two and then went to bed. Tonight’s towel animal was a bat! That was a new one for us. Liked it. Mints on the pillows. Goodnight all. End of day three. More to come.

 

Steve

[dolfandude]

We were at Bunky's that night for the game, it was a mad house! I hope you enjoyed the meal! We're regulars there and couldn't believe the manager didn't have enough staff on for the big game that wasn't televised in this area unless you had the NFL package. Many fans were out that day to watch the game, all the restaurants were packed!

Hey Pat! I think you might be thinking about the Jets games the week before that the Fins won to get them into the playoffs. I was speaking of the playoff game with the Ravens on Sunday Jan 4th at 1pm. All the playoff games are broadcast nationally to every tv that wants them!

We loved Bunky's. Been there before. Natural FL oyster bar. I love it.

Cheers!

 

Steve

[dolfandude]

Well, here's the final installment of my new novel! Hope you enjoy it.

 

DAY FOUR – SEA DAY

 

Woke up around 8:30. Shower and shave. First cruise that I’ve actually shaved everyday. Don’t know why. Just felt like it.

DD21 called us around 9am and we went to breakfast in the WJ. We never ate in the MDR for breakfast. We’re not big breakfast people and the WJ is just fine for this meal. I just wish the coffee were better. Or that they had flavored creamers.

But they do not. At the end of breakfast DD17 came strolling in all bright eyed. We stayed a little while longer waiting for her to finish. We headed out to the pool deck to fine that wonderful and highly criticized RCL tee shirt sale going on. I love this. I bought a polo style shirt for myself and DW got a tee. Everything was organized and nobody was pushing their way in. They also were offering 15 minutes chair massages for $20. Ahhhh! Wonderful. I needed that. Then we headed down to the shops onboard and looked around a little more. DW found a nice ring and I told her I’d buy it for her for our anniversary next month. She was happy! I’ve always purchased some jewelry for her on each cruise. She found a bracelet for her sister who was house and cat sitting for us during the week. While we were there, the Captain and the Hotel Director were starting a casual question and answer session. This was phenomenal. One of the questions asked of the Captain was what was his worst experience related to weather. His answer started “how much time do you have?”. Well, he was really willing to talk this morning and he proceeded to tell us stories of his maritime adventures including getting a cruise ship out of dry dock in Mobile because Hurricane George was heading their way. Seems that they’d taken both props off and drilled multiple holes in the hull for work to be done. The Port Authority wanted them out and they got the ship seaworthy within 36 hours. They endured 120 knot winds and the ship listed 50 degrees leaving Mobile Bay. Quite a story. I’m trying to buy the movie rights! ;)

I have it all on video and will attempt my first YouTube posting this week.

The 21’s and DD17 decided to lay out on the pool deck. DW and I went back to the room, mixed a drink and then up to the pool deck also. DD21 saw that a towel animal presentation was scheduled for 1:30 and she wanted to see that so we left DD17 and went up to the Centrium.

Earlier in the morning, DD21 complained to me that her towel animals sucked so far! She really liked them. I asked our stateroom attendant Connie who did their cabin and she pointed her out. Barbara was her name and I asked her if she could do four animals for DD21’s cabin tonight and gave her $10. More on that later.

We were front row for the towel animal seminar. They had four stateroom attendants make various animals and even a baby! They gave a handout showing how to fold the towels for each animal. DD21 took ours. She’ll make me a copy and send it to me soon. I videoed it.

Headed to the Schooner Bar for team trivia. I love trivia and DD21 wanted to play. Got there at 1:50 and they decided to go up to the WJ to get some lunch and bring it back down. I held our seats. They showed up right as the first question was being asked. We ate and answered, ah, attempted to answer the 20 questions. We got 9 right. The winners were next to us and got 12 right. My team argued amongst ourselves over 3 answers and of course those of us let some of us know about that! It’s all good!

From there DW went up to the pool deck to read and the 21’s and I headed for the casino. Played slots for about an hour. Watched DD21 develop quite a slot regimen. She was funny. Bet one quarter push the spin button. Win and bet two quarters and pull the arm. Lose and go back to betting one quarter. She was up about $30 before losing it all! I sat at the BJ table for about an hour. Did good then lost it all. Oh well, it’s only…….$$$$$.

The 21’s had left me in the casino and showed up later with DW to get me! Seems I’m not trusted in the casino on my own. Too easy to get more money! It was about 5:30 by now and we went downstairs to see our pictures. We spent about 45 minutes sorting through them and ended up purchasing seven 8x10’s and two smaller ones for $114. Some really good pictures. As I said before, we use these as our family annual photos. In fact, they’re already out! The ships photographers do an excellent job.

We were planning on watching the BCS Championship game at 8pm so we headed to the WJ at 7pm for dinner. They offered complete Indian and Greek selections as well as American food. I tried a couple Greek dishes and an Indian one. Liked the Greek not the Indian. Nice presentation in the WJ. From there DW and I headed down to the Circuit Lounge for the pregame. DD21 and BF went to the room to change. RCL did a really nice job with this setup. A projection screen was set up where the dance floor is. A buffet table was on each side of the room with hot dogs and chili. Free. Smokers sat on the starboard side. It brought a really good crowd. I’m a die hard FSU Seminole but tonight I was an honorary Gator. Did I really say that? Please don’t tell my friends back in FL or GA! The signal was sporadic. We never actually lost it for more that a couple seconds but it was like that all game. The QB hands off to the RB and next thing you see is the RB being tackled 4 yards down the field. I actually got used to it.

DD21 and BF didn’t show up until 8:30pm or so. I wonder what they were doing????? When they showed up DW exited and went to the MDR to give our tip envelopes out. From there she retired to the room and packed for us. Her idea. How could I say no? DD21 tells me that when they got back to their room, they had a plethora of towel animals in their room. Barbara even took one of DD21 shirts and BF’s shorts and made a person lying on the bed. DD21 says they must have been making up for the subpar animals the first three nights. I just looked at her and smiled and she says “Daddy, you didn’t?”. Ah, I loved the look in her eyes. Remember the Chorizo chili dip I mentioned earlier? Well, I had asked the waiters and bartender if I could order room service and have it delivered to the bar. They all said no. So, I asked DW if she would order it when she got back to the room and bring it to us. I have the best wife in the whole world! What a gal. She brought it to us and we enjoyed it to the envy of folks around us. You have to try this dip. It’s one of the culinary highlights of the cruise! I’m not kidding.

One waiter seemed to despise the fact that we were watching American football in his lounge. He asked me at halftime how much longer and when I explained it was only half over he actually scoffed and walked into the service area room and I heard him telling others it wouldn’t be over for a couple more hours! It ended at 11:45pm. We headed to my cabin to get DW and go out partying. Last night and all. We get there and she’s all for it. What’s up with this? Anyway, we went to Boleros and danced to the classic rock. They took our requests with pleasure. They stopped at 1am and we couldn’t get them to continue! Sat for 10 minutes and headed to the Schooner Bar. As we walked in the piano player was playing Billy Joel and DD21 and I Love Billy Joel. We approached signing at the top of our lungs. There were only 5 people sitting at the piano and they seemed glad to have more company. After 10 minutes I approached the piano player and asked when he was stopping. He said very soon. I offered him $20 to continue and he gladly pointed out his song list! He played until 2am! A super great time. All the while DW is drinking White Russians like they are going out of style. You have to understand that she only drink one or two every three or four months! She’s feeling no pain now. She strikes up a conversation with one of the ladies sitting at the piano and the lady suggests we go back to the Circuit – she knows the bartender!! As we’re walking she says something about being here with her 19 yr old niece and her friend. This rings a bell with me and I ask her about Cruise Critic. It Chris from our thread! She didn’t attend the meet and greet. It’s a small world after all! We get to the Circuit and they have just turned on the lights but we all get drinks! Talk for about 20 minutes and retire for the evening. On the way to the cabins, DD21 and BF ask about room service. When we get to their room, I phone room service and ask when they close. He says two minutes. I say never mind but he insists it’s alright. He says order away. So I order them a few things and leave them alone. We head to the room and finally go to sleep. What time do we have to be up? Oh, sh….. That’s like 4 hours of sleep.

 

FRIDAY JAN 9TH --- DEPARTURE DAY

 

We overslept! It’s 8:30am. I call DD21 and wake her up. I open the door and tell Connie what happened. She says no problem, take our time. We’re out by 9am. I had left Connie her tip envelope (prepaid gratuities) along with $50 extra dollars. As we walked down the hall we realized that we’re the last ones to leave. All the cabin doors are open and all the cabins are already cleaned! Wow. They’re good. I apologize to Connie again and thank her for her super work. Drop the guest satisfaction survey off and we exit the ship. No waiting – I think everyone’s already gone! We head for the baggage claim. Get a porter. DD21 & I head out to get the car and pull it around. By the time I get to the car I realize my key is packed in one of the checked bags! I leave DD21 at the car, (she’s not feeling very good!), and head back to the terminal. DW and the others are already waiting outside with the luggage. DW has another key. Yeah! I take it and head back to the car. DD21 is not feeling very good! And she’s not very friendly when she’s feeling bad! We drive over and start loading the luggage and I notice that we’re missing a bag. Uh Oh! I go back through security and am escorted to baggage claim. There it is along with 7 other non claimed bags. No problem. I’m back at the car and off the Cocoa Beach and it’s only about 9:30am. That was an action packed hour! We’ve been very fortunate as we’ve always had fast boarding and fast departures on all of our five cruises.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Great crew. Best yet. Nice ship. We’ll be back. No major complaints at all. Other than the $637.92 that we spent on alcohol this cruise was by far the best value we’ve had so far. Thanks for taking the time to read this long winded detailed rambling by a self professed cruise addict.

 

My name is Steve and

I’m a Cruiseaholic.

See you on the seas!

[TwoWeebles]

The only complaint we had was that the shower curtain wanted to be your friend during your time inside the shower! I’m a pretty good sized boy (5’11” / 250) and I found myself slapping the shower curtain away and cursing at it! It didn’t work. Actually, it was kinda funny. Skinny DW had the same complaint. But she doesn’t talk to inanimate objects!

 

I was absolutely cracking up at your comments about the shower curtain. So I guess I should really bring the Duct tape in February, huh?!:eek:

[Clarea]

Steve,

 

Most enjoyable review I've ever read. I read the whole review out loud to Lee and we were both laughing quite a lot. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Hope we run into you guys again sometime.

 

Bob

[HARP]

The captain told us during the Q&A on this cruise that International Law requires a cruise ship to be able to help another cruise ship in distress. If a cruise ship picks up another cruise ship's passengers, they must have enough life boats to hold all the passengers - the original passengers and the newly rescued passengers. Hence the inflatable lifeboats.

 

Bob

 

I hate it when someone in authority gives stupid answers to questions.

There is no law that says you have to carry so many extra lifeboats/rafts in case you have to pick people out of the water. If a Voyager class ship sinks and they have to rescue people are they not going to pick up over 5000 people because they don’t have a liferaft position for them. No law is that stupid.

Here are some facts on the Voyager class ships. I know these to be true because I have them in writing.

Voyager class ships will hold 3840 guests and 1180 staff and crew so remember there can be 5020 people aboard.

Only assigned trained lifeboat crew (182 of them) will get into the lifeboats so they say. That leaves 3718 seats for 3840 guests. Somebody is going to get wet because there is not enough lifeboat space for everyone. There is going to be 122 guests fighting crew members for liferafts.

There are 26 lifeboats that hold 143 guests(143*26=3718) and 7 crew (7*26=182) crew. That’s a grand total of 3900 people.

Liferafts are for the crew, there are 68 plus 4 spares (68 required) life rafts that hold 35 people each. That’s 2380 people.

(Spares not figured they are mainly to help them be current on inspections and incase of accidental inflation or damage to one.)

So the Voyager class ships have a lifeboat/raft ability of 6280 people.

Now do you think that they are going to make sure every lifeboat has 150 people in it before they launch it. If you do dream on. When it gets close to full it’s going in the water.

There will be space somewhere for everyone but maybe not at your muster station, 122 passengers will have to fight the crew for space in a liferaft. There are 1260 unfilled spaces in liferafts available.

Ok enough back to the post.

To follow what was said to be said to be within the law.

If you’re the 1261st person in the water you better worry because they may not pick you up because they don’t have a lifeboat position for you. What kind of BS is that!:confused:

Harp

[caribbeancruiser90]

without a doubt,

one of the best reviews i have ever read!

keep up the good work, very very funny.

reading this review makes me want to sail monarch

i have only been on the mariner in november 2007, going to miss it out of port canaveral. but we did get to see cococay! loved cococay

thanks for the review!

[dolfandude]

without a doubt,

one of the best reviews i have ever read!

keep up the good work, very very funny.

reading this review makes me want to sail monarch

i have only been on the mariner in november 2007, going to miss it out of port canaveral. but we did get to see cococay! loved cococay

thanks for the review!

Wow! Thank you so much. I enjoyed writing it.

 

Steve,

 

Most enjoyable review I've ever read. I read the whole review out loud to Lee and we were both laughing quite a lot. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Hope we run into you guys again sometime.

 

Bob

Likewise Bob! Have a great trip on your next cruise soon.

PS-- I think the Captain may know a little more than some CC posters!:)

[newbiecruiser09]

Thanks Steve for a most amazing review. :) :) I really feel like I was there with you. Also gives me more of an idea of what to do/try for our first cruise in April. (really looking forward the that chorizo dip!) Thanks again!

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for the review Steve. Please let us know when you post your YouTube video. :)

[maritar]

Truly enjoyed reading this review! :) One of the best I have ever read! Thank you so much for taking time to write it. We are looking forward to our 2 Monarch cruises soon, Jan.30 and Feb.9.

[cawagner]

Thank you for the wonderful review! We leave in 2 weeks and we are so excited!! We will have to try that that chorizo dip! :D

[DaisyGirl55]

Thanks Steve for a very enjoyable and interesting review! I am sailing on the Monarch in a few months, and I cannot wait! It will be my 5th with RCCL, so the next time I will actually be Platinum! Okay - maybe not a big deal to some, but it is to me!!

 

I stand up with you and announce to the world: My name is Marylou and I am a Cruiseaholic!!

[dacsmom]

Thanks so much for that wonderful review. I enjoyed reading every word.

[hayesktrm]

Steve, my DH was in Calhoun last year for about 3 months doing consulting work. I would call him every night and he would be at the Longhorn Steakhouse. Needless to say, even though we have a Longhorn here, he has no desire to ever go back.

 

Great review. We are going on the Enchantment in July. Do you know how the Monarch compares to the Enchantment? We might try that one too sometime.

[Clarea]

... We are going on the Enchantment in July. Do you know how the Monarch compares to the Enchantment? We might try that one too sometime.

I've never been on Enchantment, but I've read mostly positive feedback about her. Enchantment is a newer, slightly larger ship than Monarch, with fewer passengers. She also was lengthened recently, I believe it was 2005. Enchantment also has a specialty restaurant (Chops) and a concierge lounge, which Monarch does not. I'm booked on Enchantment in August, so I've been interested in reading about her.

 

Bob

[hayesktrm]

We have actually gone on the Enchantment and loved it so much we are going back. I am wondering if we would be disappointed if we went on the Monarch after the Enchantment.

[gizzy15@iowatelecom.net]

Okay Steve, Letmy DH and I know the next time you go on a cruise-you sound like a ton of fun to go with:)

We sail on the Monarch next Christmas and can't wait. Thanks for the positive review! It makes me long for it that much more. Oh yeah and I too am addicted to cruising!

[TMEF]

Thanks! You did an awesome job capturing the memories of your cruise vacation in words. We will be sailing on the Monarch on February 20th, and reading your trip account made me even more excited to get on board.

[MissKise]

Well, here's the final installment of my new novel! Hope you enjoy it.

 

 

[

Great crew. Best yet. Nice ship. We’ll be back. No major complaints at all. Other than the $637.92 that we spent on alcohol this cruise was by far the best value we’ve had so far. Thanks for taking the time to read this long winded detailed rambling by a self professed cruise addict.

 

My name is Steve and

I’m a Cruiseaholic.

See you on the seas!

 

We miss the Monarch and I am happy to see others are enjoying her the way she should be~

[dolfandude]

Thank you for the wonderful review! We leave in 2 weeks and we are so excited!! We will have to try that that chorizo dip! :D

It's GRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!:D

 

Steve, my DH was in Calhoun last year for about 3 months doing consulting work. I would call him every night and he would be at the Longhorn Steakhouse. Needless to say, even though we have a Longhorn here, he has no desire to ever go back.

 

Hey! We love our small town in the hills! Centrally located to Atlanta and Chattanooga. I used to travel so I'm sure he hated being stuck in the hotel night. We just got the Longhorn 1 1/2 yrs ago! Before that, there was no place to have a cocktail! Really! Bible Belt!:eek:

 

 

Okay Steve, Letmy DH and I know the next time you go on a cruise-you sound like a ton of fun to go with:)

We sail on the Monarch next Christmas and can't wait. Thanks for the positive review! It makes me long for it that much more. Oh yeah and I too am addicted to cruising!

Oh Yeah! Monarch this coming December eh? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm! Maybe! What cruise?