Monarch of the Seas from San Juan May 7th - 14th 2000
Who we are - Dave (41) and Sue (39) from Pennsylvania. We were celebrating our 15th anniversary and my 40th birthday. We left our kids at home with Dave’s parents. There was a lot of guilt shopping in the ports!
Pre Cruise Hotel - This was our first cruise and we decided to fly to San Juan 2 days before the cruise started plus we had free air ticket from USAir and couldn’t be greedy about the flights. We stayed at the Marriott in Condado. Our room overlooked the pool and the ocean and had a nice balcony. Marriott provides beach chairs at no cost, if you want an umbrella that is $5/day. The pool was very nice. They have a water slide but it is only open from11am-4pm. Not having our kids along we didn’t view that as a problem. Our rate ($169) included breakfast for 2. We chose the breakfast buffet. There was more than enough food to choose from. They offered the usual (fruit, danish, eggs, bacon, cereal and even made to order omelets and Belgian waffles). We also had dinners at the Marriott. Each night they offer a buffet for $22.95 per person. It included 2 soups, salads 3-4 hot entrees, a full dessert buffet and the special of the day. Friday night they offered meat, fish or chicken grilled to your liking. It was definitely worth the price. Saturday we chose to do just the cold portion of the buffet for $9.95 per person also very good.
All in all the Marriott was a very good choice - rooms were very nice (ours overlooked the beach), service was quite fine, food was very good, the beach and pool were perfect and the location was a good one (close to the airport, close to Old San Juan). It was fortuitous that we booked our flight two days in advance of the cruise since we had some problems getting to San Juan. Our original US Air flight was canceled and we ended up landing approximately 3 hours later than scheduled. We were lucky that we live in a metropolitan area with access to 4 major airports - we could imagine that if it was more difficult to get alternative flights, those 3 hours could have turned much longer. We would still book our own air fare (much cheaper and better connections than if booked through RCI) but you need to leave plenty of time between the planned arrival in San Juan and the ship’s departure time.
Old San Juan - Saturday we took a bus(50 cents) into Old San Juan. It dropped us off at the bus terminal and there were free trolleys to take you to various points within Old San Juan. Since it was a beautiful day we opted to walk around and headed straight for El Morro. The streets of Old San Juan are very narrow and reminiscent of Europe. There were many nice shops and restaurants. At El Morro we waited for the 11 am walking tour. English tours are at 11am and 3pm. Since it is a National Park we knew the walking tour would be worth the wait. We have always enjoyed the tours park rangers give. This proved to be no different. Our guide was very informative and clearly loved the fort and her job. The tour lasted an hour. We then wandered around the fort on our own for some picture taking. The fort gift shop sells cold bottles of water for $1 each and there is a restroom in the fort. After El Morro we walked to San Cristobal. We just walked around on our own there. At the top of the fort we got a great picture of the Grandeur of the Seas. We then walked further into Old San Juan and had lunch at a small local fast food restaurant called Le Messon (not exactly sure of spelling). We had cuban sandwiches that were pretty good. It was recommended by one of the tourism officials that are located all around Old San Juan. We then walked around a bit more and shopped in a few of the stores. Not to be missed is the butterfly shop. They mount butterflies in Plexiglas. Very nice but very expensive. We then took at taxi back to our hotel for a swim at the beach.
Old San Juan is a great way to spend a couple of days wondering around shopping, eating / drinking or touring. Its clean, safe and interesting. The views of the ships docked are also a nice way to get exited about your upcoming cruise.
The Cruise - We took a taxi from the hotel ($17.50 including charges for bags) to the port. We arrived at 12:15pm and there was a very long line. At 12:30 they started to board and we were in our cabin by 1pm. We put our things in our cabin (4598 deck 4), filled out our excursion forms and headed back off the ship to call our kids. Scam Alert: there are pay phones in the terminal but all were being used. After about 10 minutes I noticed that all the people on the phone were young and didn’t look like they were about to go on the cruise. Some were sitting down and not even talking. I got very annoyed when I noticed that there was a shop next to the phones that offered calls for 40 cents a minute. I figured out they these people were preventing us from using the phones on purpose. My husband did not believe me until I called over a security guard and told him that I did not mean to insult him but I believed that there was a scam going on and I needed to use the phone to call my kids. He said something in Spanish to the kid on the phone. He then told me that he would be off the phone in a minute. My husband watched the kid go to the entrance of the phone shop where a man gave him a few dollars. I was furious that they would allow this to happen. It was obvious that the security at the port overlooks what’s going on. When I got off the phone I made sure I handed it to a tourist and asked them to do the same.
After we got hold of our kids we then got back on the ship for good. We had booked 14 months in advance but somehow things got messed up and we did not have a table assignment and we were told we could take care of that at 2pm. Our cabin steward (Yvonne from Nicaragua) introduced herself and asked if we needed anything. We told her we would like extra towels and ice was important to us. She showed us where the ice was and told us to sneak some if she was not around. We went at 2pm to the dining room to get a table. We were assigned to table #28 main seating in the Brigadoon Dining Room. We were concerned because we were told that RCL would put us at a table with "compatible people" based on our profile. As it turned out we had a fantastic table and our Waiter (Ismail from Turkey) and Assistant Waiter (Taira from Japan) could not have been better. We toured the ship some more and went to dinner at 5:45pm. You go to dinner earlier on the first night because of the 10pm lifeboat drill. We were glad to get on the boat early - it allowed us the chance to tour the ship, get ourselves unpacked and enjoy all the activities the first day / night.
The seas were very calm. We hardly felt any movement at all. We were a bit disappointed because at times you couldn’t even tell you were on a ship. Our cabin was right behind the pursers desk and was very quiet. There was no shortage of alcohol on the cruise. We were offered drinks in every lounge and at the pool. We noticed in the lounges after you were asked if you wanted a drink the waiter put a napkin at your table even if you did not order a drink. This was a great idea because you were not constantly being asked if you wanted a cocktail. I had the drink of the day everyday except Monday. It was $3.39 including tip. My favorite was the rum punch. The other drinks offered were in the $5 - 6 each range - which is comparable to the cost on shore. (although we were surprised by the prevalence of alcohol on the ship, the fact RCI did not totally rip you off with outrageous prices was a positive as well as the fact that you never got hassled saying "no". )
We’re still not sure what the pursers desks is supposed to do other than cash traveler’s checks and safety deposit box access. When we heard a rumor (from a vendor) about potential the port date changes in Antigua we asked at the pursers desk and they denied any knowledge of a change. After the captain finally make the official announcement we asked if they could help us contact Scuba St. Lucia and the answer was no. I even asked if they knew anything about the islands and they seemed to know very little. I thought they were supposed to be like a concierge but I guess I am wrong.
The first morning when I went to shower there was no hot water. Also, our TV did not get the channels listed in the Compass. We told our cabin steward and within a few hours someone came to fix the TV and while we were out they checked our hot water. The hot water was pure stupidity on my part. There is a little red button you must push and turn the dial towards you to get hot water. Both problems were fixed before the afternoon of the first day. We were pleased with their response. We also got a call from the pursers desk the next day just to make sure that everything was fixed properly.
Food - Much had been said about the food on Royal Caribbean. Here is our opinion. We enjoyed just about everything that passed our lips. We ate in the dining room for breakfast almost every day. Lunch was served in the windjammer and was ready when we arrived onboard at 1pm. It was very good but you had to pick the correct dishes. I had a pasta with a red sauce that was very nice. There were of course cold cuts and there is not much you can say about them. Ice cream was served every day around 3pm and there was always iced tea, lemonade, coffee and ice available at windjammer. My favorite breakfast was eggs benedict. I also like the smoked salmon. Rolls and pastries were good but I think they fight a loosing battle with humidity. When we did eat in the Windjammer Café it was still enjoyable. The scrambled eggs were good and the fresh salsa was fantastic. We had lunch in the dining room a few times. They serve lunch buffet most days in the dining room as well as the windjammer. We had intended on the day at sea to eat a little in the dining room and then have ribs and tacos in the Windjammer. I ordered a bacon cheese burger in the dining room and it was so good I had to finish it and then had no room for ribs and tacos. The french fries were fantastic, they were crisp and hot. My husband had the vegetable napoleon and he really enjoyed it. Dinners were great. I am allergic to rosemary and only had to tell Ismail once. After that he made sure nothing I ordered contained rosemary, not an easy task since they use it frequently. My favorite dish was an appetizer, the greek plate that had stuffed grapes leaves and a cold calamari salad. On the second night I ordered fish stuffed with salmon mouse. I took one bite and knew I should not have ordered it. I was trying to be good since I knew the fish would have the least amount of calories. Ismail then brought me the most incredible steak I had ever had. No more being good after that. I really like the portion sizes. Many times I could not decide which appetizer I wanted to order so I ordered 2 or 3. After the first night Ismail brought extras for everyone at the table without our even asking. My husband had the cold soups every night and really enjoyed them. I just can’t get into cold soups but he said they were all very good. The lobster was great. I was expecting it to be mushy and overcooked but it was perfect. I had two portions and could have had more if I wanted. We were also impressed with the quality of the meats (Fillet mignon, NY strip steak, flank steak) - all were excellently prepared and melted in the mouth quality.
We ordered the wine and dine program it was $125.35 with the tip included. We really enjoyed having wine every night and our wine steward was very helpful in picking out our wines. The list is somewhat limited but we had no trouble picking out a wine each night. Our favorite was the Robert Mondavi Merlot. We were invited to the wine tasting at no cost because we purchased the wine and dine program. I won a bottle of RCL Chardonay. It is engraved in gold with a picture of the Monarch of the Seas, not a bad souvenir .
Desserts were my favorite. I ordered 2 on most nights. My favorite was the apple pie; the crust was fantastic. I also enjoyed the soufflés on each night they were offered. I know much as been said about the coffee - here’s my 2 cents. I like my coffee strong and really enjoyed their coffee. If it’s too strong for you just ask for a half cup and add hot water. They had a nice selection of teas as well.
Tablemates - We could not have asked for a better table. We were 10 people at our table. There were two couples from Texas, 2 from Ohio and we are from Pennsylvania. All but one of us were celebrating their anniversary or honeymoon. Conversations never lagged and they were all enjoyable. We exchanged addresses and I hope we will truly continue to stay in touch. A funny coincidence, when we toured El Morro in San Juan on Saturday, we saw a couple who were married at the fort. I told my husband that I would love to take her picture because she was so beautiful but I felt it would have been rude so I did not take the picture. The first night at dinner as we were introducing ourselves my husband kept saying that one of the couples looked very familiar. After they said they were just married in San Juan we asked if they were married at he fort. Sure enough that was the couple we saw at the fort. There were over 2500 passengers on the ship, we could not believe the coincidence. We looked forward to meeting our table mates in the shows after dinner and even started arranging to meet some during the day on shore.
Shows - We went to every major show. The main seating show was at 9pm and the late seating show was at 7pm. There were three comedians Kelly Monteith, Blair Shannon and Russ Merlin. Kelly Monteith and Blair Shannon both did stand up routines that had people nearly hysterical. The most entertaining was Russ Merlin. He is billed as a physical comedian. He picked 4 guys from the audience and put masks on them. He then had them do specific hand movements that were absolutely hysterical. The celebrity music guest was Herb Reed and the Platters. They put on an wonderful show. They also had a juggler named Dario Vasquez who was fantastic. Not only was he an unbelievable juggler but he was quite funny as well. My husband who loves jazz and plays the saxophone loved the Monarch Orchestra. We made sure we went to the lounges when they were playing. All in all the entertainment was wonderful.
Make sure you get to the not so newlywed game it was a real hoot. One older man (Stan) was asked what was the most unusual place he ever made love. He answered on a ironing board. Believe it or not his wife got it correct. The next night the cruise director said the pursers desk got many calls inquiring about ironing boards. If you are going to be on the Monarch any time soon ask Rizz (cruise director) if the Monarch has any ironing boards I bet she will not forget Stan for quite a while.
Generally, the shows were professional quality (no, not Broadway quality, but as good as any professional dinner theater or comedy club). Shows lasted about one hour and the performers displayed lots of enthusiasm. One note: we would NOT recommend that kids be brought to some of the shows - there were definitely some sexual innuendo jokes that would have been inappropriate for kids.
Ports - Thanks to the news group rec.travel.cruises we were well prepared for our port of call. We only did 2 ship excursions the rest we did on our own.
St. Thomas - Took a taxi ($20 round trip for 2 ) to Coral World/Coki Beach. We toured Coral World first, rented a locker for the day($3) and then went to the beach and snorkeled for the rest of the day. There were a ton of fish. It was fun to snorkel here because we could go back to Coral World and read about the fish we just saw. (we brought our own snorkel gear - they would have charged us something like 5$ each for gear). They have beach chairs to rent for $5 each and Coral World had showers and changing rooms free with admission. Coral World was $14 per adult with a coupon available on their site or from the taxi driver. http://www.coralworldvi.com/ p22about.htm We ate at the snack bar, nothing special just okay. All in all a nice, relaxing day at the beach. Be sure to mail postcards from underwater, especially since this is the first day of the cruise. No problem getting a taxi from Coral World. There is a shopping area right by the terminal. One taxi driver told us down town had better prices, the other told us the shops by the port were better. As we ran out of time, we chose the port’s shops. Nothing special here. The ship offered excursions to Coral World, but we felt going on our own was better since it was cheaper and much more flexible.
Antigua - We took Royal Caribbean’s kayaking excursion. Our bus driver gave us a wonderful tour of the island filled with lots of information. The kayaking was easy and fun. We kayaked for about 45 minutes and then had the option to snorkel or continue kayaking. We chose snorkeling and it was very enjoyable. We then were taken back to the dock for the rum punch and we were back on the ship in time for lunch. After lunch we went into town to shop. We bought a personalized map from Nick Maley the artist who created Yoda. He told us that our ships route would change because of engine trouble and we were going reverse ports and go to St. Lucia before Barbados. Antigua impressed us as a rather poor country that was geared toward taking advantage of the ships’ passengers. Shopping was OK, some stores were very expensive ( ex: a small Antigua shop charged $6 for a small flag; we were able to get flags in other ports for $2).
St. Lucia - We had arranged for Scuba St. Lucia http://www.scubastlucia.com/ to pick us up at the dock on Thursday. Because of the port change we were concerned that they might not be able to accommodate us so we tried to send an email Tuesday night. After $9 in charges and not being able to successfully send an email we asked for a refund of the $9’s from the pursers desk. They agreed without any arguments. When we arrived in port we went immediately to the tourist information desk and they offered to call Scuba St. Lucia for us. Every person we met in St. Lucia was very warm and friendly. They had already figured out the change and were on their way to pick us up. The cost was $59 per person and included lunch. We expected a sandwich for lunch but we were treated to the most magnificent buffet. Lots of salads and a few hot dishes. Each one was incredible. They also had an outdoor shower and changing facilities, lockers and lounge chairs included. The snorkeling was the best we had ever seen. There were thousands of fish everything from 1 inch to 2-3 feet. At one point there was a school of fish surrounding us that were at least 2-3 feet in length. They are a beautiful silver color. There were many parrot fish, yellow tangs and some black ones with an orange tip. The people at Scuba St. Lucia could not have been more wonderful. They could not do enough for us. The coral unfortunately had been damaged by Hurricane Lenny in November. We were still amazed at the colors. Yellow, orange and even purple coral. The sand is really black and very hot to walk on even for just a few feet without sandals. We are a little nervous about getting back to the ship on time but Hamil (an instructor) insured us that it would not be a problem. We left Anse Chastanet at 3pm and got back to our ship at 4:15pm. St. Lucia was my favorite port. My only disappointment was that I could not get some of the chocolate logs that everyone talks about. St. Lucia was a definite upgrade in terms of impressions relative to either St. Thomas or Antigua - the port area is neat and clean, the people were relaxed and visually the city seemed to enjoy a higher standard of living.
Barbados - We were scheduled to rent a car in Barbados but again because of the port change we were not sure what would happen. We had agreed on a price of $101 for the day. When we got off the ship we could not locate the woman with whom we had arrange the car rental. Since they did not have a deposit from us we were not concerned. We asked how much a taxi would be for the day and were told it was $150. I immediately said to my husband forget it we’ll rent a car. The price went down to $125 and we took the taxi. We first went to Glitter Bay resort where we spent our honeymoon 15 years ago. It looked pretty much the same just the trees were a little taller. We then went to Animal Flower Cave ($5 for 2). It is on the northern most tip of the island. We had forgotten how steep the steps were going into the cave. We really enjoyed the view and the cave was still beautiful. Our next stop was the wildlife refuge ($23 for 2). There were a ton of animals all around, tortoises, peacocks, iguanas, rabbits and much, much more. We did not see the green monkeys They say you need to be there between 3-4 in the afternoon to see them. We then asked the driver to take us to lunch. We went to a beach bar and had flying fish sandwiches ($22 for 2). They were as great as we remembered. After lunch we stopped for about an hour of snorkeling at Folkestone Marine Park. They had rest rooms and changing facilities and there was no entrance fee. The snorkeling was great we saw a ton of fish. It was very shallow, at times we were only inches above the coral. Our driver asked us to pay 2/3rds of our taxi fee because he said many people stiff him. Reluctantly we agreed and hoped that he would pick us up at the appointed time. Sure enough he was there as planned. We then went to Mount Gay Rum and took a very informative tour ($6 for 2). We would definitely recommend the Rum and the rum tour. After that we headed back to the ship. We felt Barbados was very expensive. If we visit again we will probably just spend the day snorkeling at Folkestone Marine Park. Since we had spend our honeymoon on Barbados there were many places we wanted to revisit.
St. Martin - We had planned on taking a taxi to Dawn Beach to snorkel. It was about $15 each way. As soon as we stepped of the tender we were offered a rental car for $40. I had tried book a car rental prior to our cruise , it would have been cheaper. In hindsight I am glad we didn’t because of the port changes we had that would have been messed up also. We drove to Dawn Beach. The car was an old Toyota with 100,000 miles on it, but the air conditioner worked fine. The roads on the Dutch side leave a lot to be desired, but we navigated with no problems. Dawn Beach is simply beautiful - there is a little restaurant with rest rooms and we rented beach chairs for $3 each. The snorkeling left a lot to be desired. Not much fish and pretty bland coral. We stayed for a about two hours and headed to Marigot. We got lost and ended up going back the way we came and around Phillipsburg in to Marigot. We had lunch at a little bar called the La Bar De La Mer. We had a great caesar salad, fried calamari and a snapper sandwich. All were very good and the total with tip was $30. We then shopped in the market. We bought tee shirts 3/$10 and a nice wooden bowl for $20. After lunch we drove to Baie Rouge. This was another beautiful beach. We snorkeled around the rocks on the right an saw a few fish. The best was behind the rocks to the right there is a little cave you can snorkel through. We would definitely spend more time at Baie Rouge in the future. We then returned the rental car and shopped in Phillipsburg for a while. There is a great belgium chocolate store on Old Street and we bought some color changing shirts for our kids at Del Sol. We looked at jewelry but I just couldn’t get excited enough to buy anything. We took a tender back to the ship. There was a bit of a wait but the comics made it go much faster. Both Marigot and Phillipsburg have excellent shopping. St. Martin was also an upgrade from Antigua - we were impressed not only by the beaches but by the amount of modern buildings in the cities. There is still some noticeable damage from hurricane Lenny in the Phillipsburg area.
San Juan - We took the rain forest excursion since our flight didn’t leave until 4:10pm. It was fantastic. The rain forest was so lush and beautiful. We saw tons of butterflies, flowers, salamanders and even a hawk. The view from the observation tower was breathtaking. We arrived back at the airport at 3pm as promised.
Negatives - Although everything went very well we do have a few comments. We posed for just about every portrait available. We did not like any of our pictures. Both my husband and I have glasses and there were reflections in each of our pictures. The next time we took off our glasses, my necklace was very crooked and my husbands shirt was twisted. These are easy fixes if the photographer notices. There was no line when we had our picture take so there was no excuse for the poor attention to details. When the photographer took our picture at the dining room table I had to remind them to remove the bottle of wine from in front of my face. Fortunately, our table mates took picture of us with our camera and they came out great. The midnight buffet - Everything was beautiful but he food was warm and not very tasty. The best part was the chocolate covered strawberries. I would not stay up for this again. Every night they have food in the lounges and by the pool at midnight called the midnight delights. How you could possibly be hungry is beyond my comprehension.
Pursers’ desk - they should have been better prepared for St. Lucia. The excuse was that they had only been there for 4 other times. This is not a valid excuse and is more consistent with a Holiday Inn than a 4 star hotel.
Luggage - we had to pack by Saturday midnight. Even with all the preparation time, our luggage ended up all over the terminal making it difficult to find and retrieve. Make sure you mark your luggage so that it is easily found. There are thousand of black bags. Luckily customs took very little time.
Other comments:
Cabin size - lots of people complain about RCI’s cabins. Yes they are small, but we got along fine. Even the bathroom was adequate. We really didn’t spend that much waking time in the rooms so who cares. Our luggage fit fine under the bed, there’s plenty of hangers, drawers and cubby holes to store things. The shower had good pressure and was sufficiently high up (we hate bending to take a shower as in many hotels).
Cabin location - we were very pleased with our location mid ship on deck four. We could always drop things off in our room enroute to another venue without any problem. We felt very little sway and never heard any sounds (no engine, no anchor, no neighbors, no elevators - we heard complaints from others about each of these noises).
Pool chairs - some passengers were discouraged because they could not find a lounge chair by the pool. We never had any problem, even during the day at sea. Although the chairs are very close together, we never had a problem finding a relatively isolated position.
Smoke - We don’t smoke and were concerned that the ship would be smoke filled. We had nothing to fear. While some lounges / bars were somewhat smoky, the ventilation system worked fine. Our favorite lounge the Viking Crown even had a no smoking section.
Overall Impression - Being our first cruise we did not know exactly what to expect. I was concerned that it would not live up to my expectations since I had always wanted to go on a cruise. It went well beyond both our expectations. We were very pleased with our cruise and look forward to our second cruise on the Enchantment in December 2000. We feel that Royal Caribbean did a great job. Even though one of the ship’s engine failed we still got to all of the ports, the entertainment was great as was the food and service. This is definitely the way to travel. Although we heard lots of good things from the passengers that took RCI’s excursions, we definitely recommend exploring the island’s on your own. This saves money, adds flexibility and is fun / adventurous in itself. It seemed to us that everyone on all the islands (from the guys hanging out at the beach parking lot to the shop attendants) took a class called "Cruise passengers bring lots of money into the island - treat them nicely otherwise they won’t come back". We would like to thank everyone who contributes to rec.travel.cruises The information you provided was invaluable. We were very well informed even though it was our first cruise. If you have any questions we would be happy to answer them. Our email address is dswolfson@yahoo.com
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