Conference abbott::cruise_travel

	Judi,

        I toured the Monarch of the Seas when it was in Boston approx.
        3 years ago but I have not had the pleasure to sail on her.
        The Monarch was a spectacular site though and we enjoyed our
        brief visit.  I'm glad to hear RCCL's big ships provide the same
        wonderful service and experience that their smaller ships do.
        We have sailed on RCCL's Song of Norway and in a few days we 
        will be leaving for 11 nights to the Southern Caribbean on 
        the Song of America.  We are getting very excited about our 
        trip and it was fun to read the excitement in your trip report.

        Regards,
        Patty McL 

    
    
        With the best of intentions, I meant to post a note after our March 20
    cruise, but you know how it goes.  Anyway, better late than never.....

    This was our fourth cruise, so we had plenty to compare to.

    Food - one of the most impressive things to us was the food.  Every
    night was an experience.  After noticing that they were not big on
    sweet breads, I asked the matre de if they had a pastry chef.  He
    looked at me a little confused, seeming to not understand my question. 
    Then he responded that they have a chef for everything.  He then
    explained that there was a beef chef, a chicken chef, a pie chef, etc,
    etc!!

    Big - eight laps around the promenade makes a mile.  Over 2000
    passengers on board.  One of the ports could barely take the ship - it
    kicked up tremendous sand and sediment as there was just 4' clearance
    from the bottom.  The top bar is 13 stories above the water.  There is
    an open atrium lobby with exposed glass elevators.  We had no rough
    weather, so it would be hard to guess how the boat would ride in
    weather, but we felt very little movement all week.

    Clean - this may be taken for granted by some of you, but the rooms and
    boat were immaculate, and there was no smell of mustiness in the rooms
    or ship in general.  The rooms were very attractive and well maintained. 
    We had an inside room, and were still impressed.

    Older - the average age was above any other cruise we have been on, but
    given the price, I guess you would expect that.

    Costly - we figured the fare was about $1000 more for two people than
    Carnival, etc.  Notice though that I did not say expensive.  In looking
    back we both feel it was money very well spent.  It is worth mentioning
    that the recommended tips alone (not including any extras you may come
    up with) was $150.00.

    Itinerary - same as mentioned in previous note.  We loved the shopping
    in St. Martin and St. Thomas.  We wished we would not have taken the
    island tours in Barbados and Antiqua - you can look at just so many old
    churches and tiny shack homes.  
    Also, because the ship was full, people lined up to sigh up for tours
    immediately upon boarding.  We waited, and many excursions were filled
    up.

    Complaints?  Somehow our dining choice was lost, so when we came on
    board we had to get in line to get seating.  There was no organization,
    so it was he who was the pushiest got the first service.  Truly an
    example of the Ugly American.  This got us off on a bad note, but it
    faded quickly.

    Would I recommend it?  Definitely.  We both said we could not imagine
    anyone coming back from a cruise on "The Monarch" feeling that they did
    not enjoy themselves.

    Janet helped us with our bookings, and was very good.  From the time we
    decided to go, to the time we had reservations was a day and a half.

    It was a great vacation, and I hope this information is useful to you.

    steve

    On Monarch to do with price.
    
    The Monarch, the Majesty and Sovereign are all very similar. The
    Monarchs route however is much more popular. If you look at the
    brochure rates for each of the 3 ships 7 day cruises they are
    pretty close in price. The actual rate you pay can be very different.
    EAch time we booked cruises  the last few years on RCCL the actual
    price of a Monarch cruise was always significantly higher than
    either Sovereign or Majesty. $600 more for Monarch over Sovereign was
    typical. We always ended up on Sovereign because the price was so
    good and we like the 3 days at sea also. I do not like stopping
    almost everyday.
    
    RCCL plus many others will always have an older crowd than Carnival.
    
    					Harold
     

    One other thing that may be of interest.  
    
    We did not catch many of the shows, but those that did had very good
    things to say.  One that we made an effort to see was Phylis Diller. 
    She flew in for the show, stayed the night and flew out again from
    Barbados.

      Hello All,

   It is very interesting to read about everyones travel adventures,
  especially because we have never been anywhere! 

   We are getting married on Sept. 24th and leaving for San Juan on
  the 25th to begin a seven day cruise on the Monarch of the Sea. We 
  can hardly wait!  Going by what has been written about this cruise
  we should have a great time!  

   We have gotten alot of different opinions about the islands we will
  be visiting.  One couple told us not even to bother getting off the
  boat in Martinque. They said to use that day to enjoy the boat. 

   If anyone has any other helpful hints about this cruise they will be
  appreciated.  Also any tips on Aruba, that's where we are spending
  our second week.

   Thanks, from a couple of first time cruisers.

   Bob + Brenda

                                  

    Bob + Brenda
    
    Enjoys days on the boat when at sea, or maybe at some otehr ports, but
    Martinique has some lovely beaches. Visited there on a different RCCL
    ship (Song of America) last December, had a nice, relaxing day on a
    very nice beach. You probably should also consider looking in the
    NACAD::Holiday_travel conference for things to see/do in Martinique.
    
    Never been to Aruba, so I'll let other comment on it. You'll love
    RCCL/cruising.
    
    SteveS