It was neither the best of times nor the worst of times
Written: Feb 04 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: The dining experience
Cons: Crowds, crowds, crowds
The Bottom Line: It was crowded, but great value for the money.
|
|
|
| beachkeefes's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas |
It was neither the best of times nor the worst of times, but it was our first and probably last cruise. To put my comments in perspective, my wife and I are in our late sixties and have traveled frequently; Japan, New Zealand, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, The British Isles, and all over the U.S. We usually travel independently by air.
I have been seasick in the past; in a fishing dory, returning from Catalina in a larger vessel, even on a Ferris wheel: but the Monarch had none of that queasy motion even when the sea was rough enough that they cancelled all of the water tours at Avalon.
Embarkation was easy. We arrived at 11:30, dropped off our bags, parked right across the street and were in the terminal in 15 minutes. There was a large crowd and we were given a number and told to wait for it to be called. Since we had reserved a Jr Suite, and our travel agent had said that entitled us to quicker entry, we asked and were escorted through a side entranceway to the head of the line and told to just merge in. That was a little awkward, but it beat standing in line. Once we got onboard however, we faced an overcrowded elevator lobby (3 of the 6 were roped off for luggage handling). When we were finally able to get on an elevator, we headed up to the Windjammer for lunch. There was an amazing array of food and all that we tried was really good.
Our Jr Suite 1552 was one flight down on deck 10. The suite was impressive, with plenty of storage space, a good sized balcony, large bathtub and a safe in the closet. We later found out that twin beds pushed together doesn't make a queen bed, it makes twin beds pushed together with an uncomfortable lump running the length where the edges meet.
Since it was quite warm I set the thermostat to its coldest setting...it ignored me and the room stayed warm for the entire trip. At least we could leave the door to the balcony open for relief.
Our room steward, Myron introduced himself. Throughout the trip he did an admirable job of keeping the suite clean and neat as well as supplying us with a new towel animal each night.
Announcements over the PA system were not piped into our room. Unless we were outside, we couldn’t hear them. We only knew tours had been cancelled because someone mentioned it. This was typical of the lack of communication on the part of the crew.
Our travel agent didn't tell us that we would be directly under the pool deck seating area and that the cleaning crew would wake us every day at 5AM by throwing chairs around directly overhead. It sounded like they were also clog dancing in a thunderstorm.
The mandatory lifeboat drill was a farce. We all donned our life vests, stood around aimlessly at our stations on deck 9, and were treated to an unintelligible PA announcement, possibly by the Captain. This was followed by an agonizingly slow crush of people back to the elevator lobby. There are 3 elevators on each side of a wide lobby, sometimes one stops at your deck, sometimes they all pass right by. Usually they are either packed solid or completely empty. There are two more aft that only go from deck 5 to 14. Deck 14 is where the Viking Crown Lounge is, but it was closed off for repairs for the entire trip.
We attended the first timer orientation, but it was poorly organized and not very informative. The Captain’s reception was held in the theater without the Captain.
Food : When we arrived for the first dinner seating at 5:30, the Centrum was packed with people lined up like cattle. We took a walk, came back at 6:00 and walked right in and sat down. The dining room experience was quite pleasurable. We were fortunate to be seated with 3 other couples of varied backgrounds which made for lively conversation. One couple were experienced cruisers who gave us several tips, including ordering extra desserts to pass around the table. Almost everyone dressed up for the formal night which was quite impressive.
The service was excellent; both our waiter, Sunil and his assistant, Damien were extremely competent and attentive. We bought a bottle of wine which they dutifully saved and brought back each evening. The menu was varied and extensive, and the presentation was impressive. The seafood was OK, but the beef was really great. I had prime rib one night and New York steak the next that were truly outstanding. The breads and pastries were equally excellent, but the sauces were lacking. The only resemblance that the sauce on the Eggs Benedict had to Hollandaise was that both are yellow.
We tried room service for breakfast the first morning, but it wasn’t too good. Breakfast the second morning in the dining room showed the weakness of freestyle seating. We spent the entire meal facing two very nice Japanese ladies who spoke no English and we were out of table talk after “Ohayo Gozaimus”. The Windjammer turned out to be the best place for breakfast and lunch.
Entertainment: The singers and dancers were energetic and possibly talented, but lacked direction and would have benefited greatly from the services of a good choreographer. My wife thought the dueling pianists were talented, I thought they were loud. We spent half an hour at the Art Auction listening to instructions on how it worked but left before any bidding took place. The art on display looked like it would have been at home in a cheap motel, but lacking any competing dealers or independent verification of value, it would be “bidder beware”. The professional photographs taken on board were very good and worth the price.
San Diego: If you get up early (we had no choice thanks to the 5AM cleanings) go up to deck 11 for the views from Cabrillo Point into the harbor. From forward on the starboard side you can look down on the Captain bringing the ship into dock from his tiny steering platform sticking out from the side of the ship. Anyone who has ever brought a boat into a dock will be impressed.
We’ve been to San Diego many times before, so we didn’t opt for any of the tours. Instead we walked about 2 blocks to the Aircraft Carrier USS Midway which is now open as a floating museum. The self-guided tour of the ship and aircraft was well worth the $20.00 admission.
Catalina: The seas were so rough that all water tours were cancelled. Our dinner tablemates who took the bus tour said most of it was in thick fog. We had the charges for our cancelled Kayak tour reversed with no problems.
Ensenada: The winery tour was good once we finished lining up on the dock to be herded onto the buses. They were clean and modern, the tour guide knowledgeable, and the wines we tasted were very reasonable. You are allowed to bring 1 liter per person back into the U.S. duty free. We bought slightly more, but when we declared them, the customs agents said it would cost more to collect the 10% duty than it was worth., so we brought our 4 bottles home free and legal.
Downtown is typical tinseltown tourist trap with beggars on the corners. The pharmacies, on the other hand, are clean, neat, and staffed by sharp, English speaking help. Their prices are outstanding and prescriptions may or may not be required. When we re-boarded the ship in San Diego we had to show picture ID, but not in Ensenada.
Debarkation: Anyone willing to carry his own bags was allowed to leave at will. We had too many to carry, and the published order of departure showed our color tags (Blue) leaving right after White and Orange. When they announced the departures however, they forgot Blue and went on to other colors. Once more we had a lack of communication.
When we finally left the ship there was a giant line of people waiting to go through customs, but our passports finally were of use. There was another, very short line only for people with passports! I think we saved at least 2 hours of standing in line.
Overall: This cruise seemed to require an acceptance of overcrowding and regimentation that I lack. Half the people in the Windjammer floated from counter to counter while the other half formed unnecessary lines and tried to intimidate everyone else to follow their lead . The dining staff were uniformly gracious, but the Guest Relations personnel were usually absent; physically or mentally. It was an interesting experience, but a lot like driving the freeway at rush hour.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
beachkeefes
|
|
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.