Monarch of the Seas Cruise Review by dpierce50

1. Soon after boarding, we were assembled in toe to heel formation like sardines for a safety briefing on deck. As we stood waiting in the stifling heat, employees nonchalantly joked in front of us and tried to figure out if there were people missing. Finally we were given a brief demonstration of how to use a life vest, followed by non-safety chatter over the loud speaker by the Captain. Observing how difficult it was for them to assemble people for a briefing makes me wonder what would happen in a real emergency.

2. We selected the 5:45 dinner seating. We would be there before the doors opened and some of the first seated, but somehow, every night we could not get out of there in time to see the show. We would go directly to the theater and it would be full. One evening we stood through the entire show in order to see. During the third and fourth dinner, we started watching and sure enough, others came in after us, were served and left before us. Although we enjoyed our dinner guests, the waiters, and the food, it took too long to be served.

3. We often could not find a seat to watch a show or participate in an activity. We literally would be walking toward seats and the room would fill up in front of us like musical chairs. The day that we were at sea, the few loungers that were empty on deck were either wet from rain, positioned in front of a loud exhaust or speaker or broken. I soon figured out that if a seat was empty, something was wrong with it. Frustrating.

4. Coco Cay was beautiful and I'm glad I took my snorkel gear. I saw some large barracuda, rays, grouper, shark, conch and various schooling fish, which was surprising for the shallow expanse (we stayed to the right, "Barefoot Beach" I think it was). We returned to the ship to eat instead of waiting in a non-moving line for the pulled pork buffet. It was one of those lines where you could not see where it led. The tenders ran to and from the ship often though, about a 10min ride.

5. Nassau Bahamas was a bummer. We took a bus tour in hopes of learning about the history. Again we were made to stand around waiting for late comers. The first half; two forts, the queen's stairs and a wild ride through the poor part of town was semi-interesting. But the second half; a ride through the wealthy part of town with narrative of how much Michael Jackson, Oprah and Whitney Houston spent on their condos was in my opinion bad taste. We were then dumped off at the Atlantis resort casino for thirty minutes. Ridiculous.

6. The food and most employees we encountered on the ship were very good. I do not recall hearing the word "no" the entire trip. Aside from the life vest debacle, communication via loud speaker, television and news print left in the cabin are exceptional. Good job on that RC!