The breakfast and lunches in the main dining room were good, but the quality of dinner varied, although the food was always edible. My worst meal was the one that I decided to choose what the server recommended rather than what I was originally drawn to. Of course, I could have ordered something else, but never felt the necessity to add yet another course to the already huge meals.

We had an assigned table at the second seating and sat with a couple and three siblings, whose company we enjoyed. We were lucky to have such pleasant dining companions. Our servers were very good and always aimed to please.

The Stateroom - We had been upgraded to a Superior Ocean View from an ocean view. Although this was a short cruise, we still enjoyed the extra space. The one odd thing about the room was that the desk chair had large arms that prevented it from being slid under the desk. It stuck out into the traffic path, but really was no big deal. It just seemed that somebody wasn’t thinking when they chose that style of chair.
The bed and linens were very comfortable and in good shape. The room came equipped with a refrigerator, which we only used to store milk for my tea.

The Public Areas – This ship is a smaller ship put still carries many passengers. We kept looking at the tonnage and the passenger capacity and compared it to the other ships. The reason seems to be that there are far fewer public spaces than on other ships. There are not many alternative restaurants at all. In fact Jade is the only alternative restaurant, which we never tried. The gym and spa areas are small. We never felt crowded on this ship, except the night of the chocolate buffet when people lined up for miles and screeched at every person coming off the elevator.

Although the ship is older, everything is well-maintained and clean. We did find a lack of rest rooms, especially on Deck 7, even though the conference room, Boleros and the upper level of the Sound of Music Lounge are on that deck.

The Entertainment The shows that we went to were good, but there was a real problem with seating. The first night, they only offered one seating of the show. What a mistake that was. We stood as did many others. The staircases became seating areas and people squeezed in wherever they could. The theatre is another poorly designed one, with poor viewing from much of the balcony. Sit on the main level or get some of the first row balcony seats, but be aware that even some of those have obstructed views.
Johnny O, the cruise director, ranks as one of my favorites. He is immensely talented and even plays with the musical groups onboard. His demeanor is that of a calm, yet enthusiastic person rather than of a carnival hawker.
I did not enjoy one of the lounge singers who played the piano well, but couldn’t sing at all. Some woman joined him in singing. At first I thought that it was karaoke. It definitely wasn’t.

The PortsMonarch of the Seas visits San Diego, Catalina Island and Ensenada. Although there were some jokes about cruising to San Diego, we found each port interesting enough to entertain us for the entire port call.

The Passenger Mix The shorter cruises have a reputation for their party atmospheres. There wasn’t any noticeable difference in the level of partying from longer cruises that we had been on. We met some very nice people on this ship, but we have never seen so many people who must have spent their money on the cruise rather than on the dentist. Each to his own.

Locals are bemoaning the fact that the Monarch will be moving to a new home port on the East Coast. It’s easy to understand that sentiment because this short getaway was definitely one worth repeating.

Sail away

Although we had booked an ordinary ocean view cabin, we got an upgrade to a Superior Ocean View, cabin 9572. What a bonus that was. Our stateroom seemed palatial. The Monarch is an older ship and it’s easy to see and compare the high style of the era when it was built with more modern ships. We found the ship clean, pleasantly decorated and very easy to navigate.

Once we dropped our carry-on in our rooms, we headed to the Windjammer for lunch and were struck by the difference between this buffet and the Market Cafe on the NCL Star. There were tables of all sizes arranged at different angles throughout the dining area. The many food stations offered every type of food, including lots of Asian obviously to appeal to that significant component of passengers. We tried the Asian, which was tasty. The only time we do buffet is when there is no other option, but we weren’t disappointed with this.

Monarch has a marketplace set up where you can get samples of food from the specialty restaurants, samples from the liquor store and demonstrations of products. They also have a raffle giving passenger one entry for each of the individual booths that they visit. We had nothing to do, so attended this and entered into the drawings.
I won something, but more about that later.

To win something, you had to attend an event in the theater, which was followed by a shopping seminar. At the first draw, I won a game of bingo. Not really my cup of tea, but I did go attend the big event. Of course, I didn’t win. There are lots of complaints about the cost of bingo and the poor payout for the games. I am always amazed at how much people spend on bingo, but that is because I am neither a big gambler or addicted to bingo. Obviously bingo makes huge profits for the cruise lines.

Not being big shoppers, or maybe I should say, not being jewelry shoppers, we weren’t sure if we would learn anything here or be interested in what they had to say. We noticed that the crowd expected to get prizes from the shopping guide who had several things to give away. He simply asked people to raise their hands if they wanted something. He should have paid attention because he gave one woman several prizes. That seemed a poor way to distribute his stock. We sat way in the back and would never been within tossing range of a prize.

What I did learn from this seminar is that you can get VIP certificates from the shopping consultant. One just happened to be for very good rates at the spa. This came as a surprise and I never would have expected the shopping consultant to offer such good rates. So, if you want a good deal on spa services, you might want to consider sitting through the presentation or even tracking down the shopping consultant. On the other hand, if you are a big shopper, you will see the shopping consultant frequently.

More next time.

Sail Away

I booked a guarantee on the Star, thinking that since there were so few cabins in Category C that there would be a good chance of getting an upgrade. After all, Category C is the highest of the oceanview categories so I could only move up. When I finally got assigned a cabin, it was in Category C, which is perfectly fine with me.

Now that brings up a bit of advice for booking a guarantee or any cabin for that matter. Be sure that you are happy with the cabin that you originally book and don’t book it hoping that you will get a better cabin. In the case of a guarantee, you book knowing that you will be assigned a cabin in that category or better. I was pleased with the deck that my Category C cabin was on and the fact that it was an oceanview, so I am happy with my cabin assignment.

When I booked the Monarch, the guarantees available were less expensive, but that category of oceanview was on a low deck, which I didn’t want. So, I chose a cabin on a higher deck that I would be happy with. Just the other day, I checked my reservation and saw that RCCL had upgraded me to a superior oceanview, which is fine with me. It’s still on an upper deck and has more square footage than my original cabin, which is especially nice because the Monarch’s oceanview cabins are only 122 square feet. I knew that from the start and we don’t spend that much time in our cabin, so the size didn’t matter. Having the extra 35 square feet will be a bonus that we will gladly accept.

Sail Away