|
I have always wanted to cruise but my husband...not so much. However, I wanted to do this to kick off my 40th birthday year! So, he agreed and we got my mom on board (it didn't take much for the 16 year old to want to come!). We drove down to Port Canaveral the night before and stayed out about an hour or so. We did use the Radisson Hotel to park our cars. We paid under $60 for 2 cars for a 3 night cruise. The shuttle service was great and they handled all of our bags.
I had been reading and rereading on here about Monarch of the Seas so I felt I knew more of what to expect, thank goodness!! I knew our ship wasn't "young" and was getting ready to be sold. That being said my expectations were low. Well, I was FLOORED by the service we received it was OVER the top!! Our Cabin Attendant was Lincoln he was so nice and helpful. Once we got to our room I was kinda scared to open the door (they are small) but once I did,I laughed..it was bigger than I expected. I had read on here about taking a shoe organizer and placing it over the bathroom door VERY good idea! We did take our allowed 2 bottles of wine with us and my mom took hers (we never opened them)we just drank cocktails that were very tasty.
Dining, We did the Dining Room for breakfast one morning, not impressed. The service was off..way off. We went to the Windjammer and it was great. We did enjoy our meals in there. Word of advice, sit upstairs and have a person hold your table, it is busy and a little crowded. The pizza wasn't all that but worked when you needed something. Our Dining room was Claude's. We did the My Time Dining and are glad we did. We had the most fabulous wait staff EVER. We had Don, Craig, Andrew, and Iputu. I LOVED them!! We just really enjoyed them and ate late each night just to chat with them. Most were getting ready to go on vacation. They work 7 months or so then get 2 off after their contract ends. These guys are being moved all over now since the ship is being sold. I would love to find them on our next cruise!!
Our first stop was Nassau, it was okay. We have been to Bermuda (by plane) so this didn't impress us much. We enjoyed some great cocktails and a little shopping. We did go to the Queen's Staircase and the Pirate Museum. We were back on the ship within a few hours. We watched the chefs present some things they do and an ice carving, pretty neat. The next stop was Coco Cay. We did rent a Cabana and ordered the lobster plate. We also rented a paddle boat and my husband and teenage son kayaked. We totally enjoyed this little island. We all snorkeled (it comes with the cabana) and saw some pretty fish and rays. It was windy so the water was a little rough. We also had 2 floats that came with the cabana, we used one. The service in our private area was great. I wouldn't waste the money on the lobster plate again.
We had our 16 year old with us who greatly enjoyed playing basketball and meeting other teens on board. There were not a lot (we went in January) but he had a great time and didn't even eat with us the last night.
The shows that we attended were great. There was just so much to do we couldn't make them all. We really liked the Love & Marriage show. We did catch a few things on the TV when we were going to bed. Which by the way, we fell right asleep..best sleep we've had in a while!
We decided to take our bags off the ship ourselves and left around 8:30am we were off the boat and through customs by 8:45. I was so sad to leave but we are already planning our next cruise for this year! My husband, who was SO against cruising...was planning it before we left the ship!
Thanks to everyone who post on here!! It was great reading things and having so many tips before we went. I followed most of them and things were perfect for us.
|
