You have to try Royal Caribbean!
Written: Sep 07 '02 (Updated Sep 07 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good Value, Great Service, Excellent Food, Fun Activities
Cons: Small Cabin, Elevators
The Bottom Line: RC is top notch, if this is you're first cruise I would recommend that you try RC first!
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| tookoolkris's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas |
Our vacation started on Labor Day, 5 nights at sea on this big ship. We left from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and our ports of call were Key West, FL, Cozumel & Costa Maya, Mexico. If you have never cruised before my guess is you have a lot of questions about what to expect. I will try to help with that along with providing a review.
You really don't get a sense of just how big this ship is until you are boarding. If you are checking luggage it's just like curbside at the airport. We decided to just bring carry ons in hopes it would speed up the process. It doesn't really and it makes it harder to board when you have to carry things as well. I would recommend that you check as much as possible in order to be more mobile and to keep your hands free. I wouldn't bring too much luggage, as your cabins are pretty small, unless you're planning on staying in a suite. I would try to book a room on as high of a deck as possible as the elevator situation on this ship is less than desired. You can spend a lot of time climbing stairs on this ship. A hint would be to learn the layout of the ship quickly and use the elevators in the back of the ship as they are less crowded. Don't forget your passport or birth certificate as you will not get on the boat without it!
From the minute you arrive it's vacation time. Two steps on the boat and they were trying to hand me a pina colada. This brings me to the policy on alcohol. If you want to bring some keep it in your baggage and you wont have any trouble, if they see it they may take it and you will only be able to consume it at meal times with an added $9.50 corkage fee. You can purchase alcohol on the ship duty & tax-free and they will hold it for you until the end of your cruise. If you want to take it back to your cabin there will be a $9.50 consumption fee. You can get some really good deals on alcohol but don't go crazy because you are only allowed 1 liter per person without having to declare it when coming back. Anything you declare you will have to pay duty and tax on and then there isn't much difference between buying it at home.
One thing you wont have to worry about is food. There is more food then you can even begin to handle and you can eat whenever you like at no charge, it's inclusive. Your drinks are free as well unless you want alcohol or soft drinks. Soft drinks are $1.50 a piece, I recommend that you pack away a 12-pack if you plan on having alcohol in your cabin and need them for mixers, you'll save money that way. You will always have coffee, water, lemonade, iced tea and juices for free at any time. The food is excellent and you will never be hungry on this ship. Don't miss the "Gala Buffet" you won’t believe your eyes. You have choices when you dine. You will need to have at least casual dress if you want to dine in the main dining rooms at dinner. If you like to eat in shorts and t-shirts you will have to dine in an alternative dining area but you will have the same menu. We did this on 2 nights, as we didn't want to bring any formal wear. You can also rent a tux if you like. If you plan to dine in the main dining rooms you will have an assigned table and an assigned time in which to eat. If you go the other route you can sit where ever you like and eat whenever you want. The wait staff service we received was like no other; they treated us like we owned the boat! The word "No" was not in their vocabulary.
There are plenty of activities on the ship and a complete schedule of events will be sent to your room each day. This way you can plan your entire day the day before. When going to Mexico in the summer time I recommend that you take the excursions that are water based as it is very hot and humid down there. Also if you know exactly what you are wanting to do buy your excursion tickets ahead of time or you might miss out due to them being sold out. The ocean and beaches in Mexico are nothing less then beautiful. The water is crystal blue and you can see a good 50 feet into it. If you are a scuba diver Cozumel is where you want to be. The reefs are breath taking, you will not be disappointed.
If water is not your thing then going on the ruins tours is also something I recommend, just make sure you bring your mosquito repellent. If you aren't used to hot and humid weather you may want to wait and see if you want to spend 8-hours out in it first, just a suggestion. You can always just walk off the ship and do exploring on your own as well. As another suggestion I would eat before you leave the boat, remember that you're in Mexico. Most of the shops in Cozumel are the same; in my opinion if you go into one you're going into all of them. If you plan on buying souvenirs do so in Cozumel. I say this because Costa Maya has the exact same items as Cozumel only at a higher price. Costa Maya is a small and new town and there's not much competition between stores to keep prices down. Costa Maya is a Royal Caribbean exclusive town; only RC ships dock there.
You can always just stay on the ship as well; there are many activities that they have planned to keep you busy. There is a pretty good exercise facility if you like to work out and they have a full movie theater with new releases as well. The casino is pretty good as well; I'm strictly a poker player so I didn't spend much time in there. It's mostly blackjack and slots. The art auctions are something you might consider, you can get some really good deals if you collect art, especially if you're a Dali or Peter Max fan.
If you have children that will be going you wont have to worry about them having things to do as well. They have an entire program to keep them busy and you hardly even notice that they're even on board. We don't have children and we certainly didn't want to spend our vacation listening to them running around un-attended. RC has that taken care of. RC is more a couple oriented cruise line in my opinion, if you want more of a family oriented cruise I would look at Disney or Carnival.
Overall the ship is quite a sight and sometimes you forget that you're even on a ship. I don't have sea legs myself and I brought motion sickness medicine however I never had to use it. The ocean was very calm the whole time though so I don't know what it would be like if there were rough seas.
Something different that I would do next time would be to get a room on a higher deck. The elevators can be quite frustrating at times. The pool deck and the alternative dining areas are at the top of the ship so sometimes the whole ship is trying to get up there at the same time. You can wait on elevators for a while. We were on deck 5 and the pool and dining are on deck 11 & 12. Walking down the stairs is ok but walking up them is a workout. If you book on decks 1 & 2 you need to have patience or strong legs!
We will go with RC again next time; I think we are going to do the Alaska cruise next. Hope you have as much fun as we did :)
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
tookoolkris
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Location: Boca Raton, FL
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
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