Royal Caribbean - Monarch of the Seas Review

Monarch of the Seas - March 2007 - 5-day Baha cruise -ex LA

 My wife and I love to cruise and have done so for over 20 years, travelling to every continent in the world. Having cruised with most of the cruise lines during that time on some of the smallest to largest ships in their respective fleets we perhaps have some insight into what we like and dislike and what is good and bad. Twenty years ago the cruise experience was somewhat different to what it has now become and catered historically for upper middle class and above passengers. The classic seperate "Class" ships having different dinning rooms and lounges depending on what grade of stateroom you had booked still existed in the 1980's. The largest and fastest ship built during that decade was Cunards QE2, which is still in service until the end of 2008. 

The modern supercruiseliners still have different grades of staterooms depending on how deep passengers pockets are but apart from that, every passenger aboard enjoys the same meals, entertainment and fascilities etc. Therefore, these days there are some great bargains to be found especially as cruise lines have to fill there ships on every cruise otherwise they lose money.

Having said all that and probably bored you somewhat, the actual point I am trying to make is that nowadays we look to maximise our options by sometimes bolting together two or more cruises at a time.  We live in the UK and the most costly part of our annual trip abroad, especially outside of Europe, is the airfare. So now, instead of flying to USA and booking a hotel for a few days before we board a cruiseship (recommended to get over jet-lag especially when flying East) we look to book a short cruise from the same port.  Since 9/11 because of the fear of flying, the larger cruise lines offer 3,4 and 5 day cruises catering mostly for the American market and targetting first-time cruisers - giving them a taste of life on the ocean waves at a bargain price! On average, dependant of the grade of stateroom, it is fair to expect to pay upwards of approx £120 per day for a cruise. RCI especially discount this average on these cruises, expecting the younger (20 to 39) age group to spend more on board than the typical 40 to 80 passengers that take longer cruises. The theory being that in the long-run the £120 average is maintained. For us however, the low cruise price was much cheaper than booking a hotel stay and paying inflated prices for meals etc.

on the same day that the Monarch of the Seas cruise was due to dock in Los Angeles we were due to fly to Tahiti to board the Tahitian Princess - the Princess package ex the UK was an 11-hour flight to LA, then a 5-hour hotel stop-over, then a 5 1/2 hour flight to Tahiti.  Quite a daunting experience, at the end of which we were to have the first day sightseeing Tahiti before the ship sailed for Bora Bora. Being "mature" travellers over 24 hours of no proper sleep could take its toll and spoil the whole of the Polynesian islands experience. Princess cruise line were very helpful and allowed us to change the BA flight to one 5-days earlier without an extra charge - great - so we booked the Monarch of the Seas Baha cruise to relax and unwind. It must be said that not all shipping lines will be so helpful, however, it is often cheaper to arrange your the flights from and too the UK and make up your cruise only bookings yourself.

Our cabin on the "Majesty" was to be a standard outside one but when we arrived they had upgraded us to a much bigger one on a higher deck. We were very surprised at the size of the stateroom and although wardrobe space is very limited it was certainly ok for a short cruise.  Booking cruises back-to-back with different companies gave us an oppertunity to directly compare them.  What we found was that whilst the accomodation was certainly better on the Tahitian Princess the entertainment and food was better on the Majesty - also, excellent home-made lemonade is available free on all RCI ships.  We also found that the onboard arranged shore trips were better and more reasonable with RCI - this we have noticed on previous RCI cruises. Personally I have a liking to cheese and biscuits instead of deserts most days, with a preference to Stilton, the king of English cheeses. However, the current trend nowdays is for a pre-plated selection to be served and Stilton is rarely seen, plus the plate is allowed to stand for some time, getting stale in the process. With RCI there is no budging the pre-plated option no matter how hard you try.  With Princess I was first told that Stilton was not available by our waiter, but the next day we were invited to dine at the table of an American couple we had met and I asked their waiter again for Stilton.  He informed me that Stilton was available for the Captain and his officers, but as I had specifically asked for it he would do his best to get some.  From then on, even when back at our own table, I got Stilton whenever I wanted it.  The moral of this story is that all cruise lines, especially those owned by the Carnival Corporation, which are..Carnival, P&O, Princess,Cunard,Costa,Holland & America,Seabourn,Ocean Village and the German line Aida have the same financial goals whilst still tring to keep their own identity.  The consequence is that those cruise lines that previously had a high profile because of the freebees they gave away such as soft drinks at dinner, ice cream for the kids and a no-cost alternative dining experience in a different restaurant, had to bring their standards down to the Carnival ships level.  Where this was just not possible without alienating their old clientbase, such as with Cunard and Seabourn, booking prices have risen and small cost-cutting changes have occured. With RCI and her sister company Celebrity, who are not part of the Carnival group, they have had to be competitive against the giant of the industry, but they as yet have not been so aggresive.  Each time we cruise with them however, small changes have happened and some things cut, but overall the value-for-money and high standards remain.

Getting back to the "Majesty" - as always with RCI she was spotlessly clean in every area but in need of a refit soon.  All-in-all we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and also liked mixing with the younger first-time cruisers. Regarding shore excursions - if on a cruise visiting Esenada - recommended is the Fox Studio trip which was built specifically to film "Titanic" - fascinating and well worthwhile.