Royal Caribbean's
Monach of the Seas
April 5 - 9, 2004
Cruise Review
by
John Worobetz
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:52:02 -0400
From: "John Worobetz" <funandfish@lycos.com>
Subject: Review
Monarch Contest Cruise Review
NHL hockey can be a good for cruise ship fans. While reading the LA
Times on-line when my Devils were playing the Mighty Ducks during the Stanley
Cup Finals last year I entered a contest to cruise out of LA on RCCL. I won! Picked
my school’s spring break week from teaching for our five-day cruise to San
Diego, Catalina, and Ensenada Mexico out of the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro.
Since we were going to arrive a couple of days before and after the
Monarch cruise we decided to fly in from NJ and stay in San Pedro at the Marina
Hotel to relax for a day or so then head to the ship. The former Hilton hotel
provided good services and its location on the marina, nearby ocean environmental
center and beach provided enough to see and do. You could take the local “trolley”
street and rail to the cruise ship dock or a 5 min’ hotel shuttle.
Embarkation was slow process cause’ the Monarch arrived late
and it took about 45 minutes to board. We saw two school groups lining up to board
and we shuttered, some spring break from kids. Turned out we saw very little of
them except crammed in the two pool deck hot tubs. When we got our first look
at this recently refurbished RCCL ship and were quite pleased. Our ocean view
stateroom was amidships on deck 6 was adequate. My one request to RCCL booking
was that I wanted a quiet location, not to be near any ice machines or elevators.
The agent who was excited I won the trip assured me she would get me in the right
place. Yup, the cabin was near both, and did not hear either! Our hallway was
three cabins long; it was very quiet with no late night foot traffic. The agent
knew the ship. The seas were smooth on our trip and we actually missed ship movement
rocking us to sleep.
We had main seating for dining our waiter from Hungary was very competent.
Eva could have been an LA movie starlet, she was stunning. The food was standard
cruise fare I would say a notch above NCL but not near HAL. Lets say better than
average. The duck was excellent, the end cut of the prime rib was great with the
desserts pleasing all at the table. We were surprised to see most people dressing
for formal night, it adds to the cruise experience. We did do the dinner buffet
one evening and found it adequate. Our tablemates from CA were wonderful people
were one of the highlights from the trip. We did not attend any of the ships shows
so I can’t comment on them. The pool calypso band was excellent and brought
me back to the islands with the sounds of the pans mon !
Other cruise highlights were Catalina Island with all it’s sights,
from the Avalon’s art deco Casino to the Wrigley Botanic Gardens. In San
Diego we took the Trolley around town to get a general idea of what the city has
to offer. We got off in Balboa Park came to the conclusion that we needed a few
days in San Diego.
Ensenada, Mexico well…if ya can’t say anything nice.
The crew on board Monarch were extremely accommodating and interesting,
another highlight. The ship’s size seemed to work, Monarch never felt too
big or too crowded on this sold-out cruise. The 360 degree view from the Viking
Crown lounge was just what we needed after a day of touring. We did miss the days
at sea with the length of this cruise being five days. This is a great first time
cruise and for people on the west coast who need a getaway. Monarch’s crew
does it’s best to provide a pleasant cruise experience and she is in fine
shape with last year’s refurbishments. I am looking different too, I gained
8 lbs. and that was taking the stairs the entire cruise. I shutter to think what
my waistline would have been if I had used the elevators.
With some time on our hands before our flight back too New Jersey we
stayed overnight in Long Beach on the Queen Mary. A stay on the QM is not to be
missed by cruise fans. That’s a whole other review………
Music is provided for personal enjoyment
only. This is not an official Royal Caribbean site. This non-commercial site
is maintained by Lois A. Evensen.
Ms. Evensen is not a travel agent. Please read
the Special Request from
the WebAnchor regarding the structure of this site, how you can participate,
postings, and E-mails. We'd love to know how you like this Cruisers'
Discussion Group; if you have questions or comments, click
here to tell us.
COPYRIGHT © 1997 - 2006 by Lois A.
Evensen.
No part of this web site may be downloaded or reproduced
in any form, anywhere.
You are welcome to link to this site at http://www.Evensens.net.
Do not link directly to images.
All content including images on this site are copyright protected
under United States of America and International laws.
If you have other questions or comments related to this web
site, links, or would like to purchase any of the Evensen images, contact
the Webmaster.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
United We Stand