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So, this was my second cruise on the Monarch. I have loved each of them. The first time was a girls get away for college graduation. The second time was for my mom's 67th birthday. Both have been amazing for a short cruise on an older ship.
Embarkation: This was easy for us as my mom is disabled. She does not get around well so she uses a walker. As soon as we entered the cruise terminal someone got a wheel chair and she was wheeled everywhere. She was treated like royalty. I was very impressed with this considering she was treated like a criminal at LAX. We were some of the first on the ship so our room was not ready, but they had the buffet lines open. We sat in Wind Jammer for an hour or so and just enjoyed the view. Then we went and got our bearings and explored the ship.
After the muster drill...boring, but necessary...we headed back to the upper decks to get drinks and get ready to sail. There were a ton of activities by the pool during embarkation to keep everyone entertained.
Room: We had an inside handicapped stateroom due to my mom's walker, and it was nice. It was just prefect for her to move around in. It never felt crowded. One of the upsides to traveling with someone with a disability is that the showers and bathroom are huge.
Food: We ate dinner in the main dining room every night. I picked a big table because I know my mom likes to visit. Our waiter and assistant waiter were awesome. I wanted to take them home for my cabana boys!!! The food was excellent every night with many options. There was lobster bisque, strawberry bisque, escargot, duck, filet mignon, mahi mahi, and lots of other stuff. I do not eat any fish or seafood so, I stuck with the steak. My mom had never had mahi mahi, and she loved it. The desserts were fabulous. My mom is diabetic and she could not pass them up.
Ports: San Diego- When you come out of the terminal there are a lot of people wanting you to shop in their area and so they have free shuttles. We go to San Diego a lot so we were not there for sight seeing just shopping. We went to Sea Port Village. There is a ferry to Coronado beach and it is nice there.
Catalina Island- This is my most favorite place in the whole world. You get a golf cart and drive all over. There are not many cars on this island. There is also a trolly that goes around to different spots on the island and it is like 3.00 for the whole day. The walk from the ship to town is like 1/4 mi. My mom was able to do it with her walker. Catalina is fun for food and shopping. There is a place on the pier that has the best buffalo burgers ever.
Ensenada- I am not big on exploring by my self in Mexico so I did a ship excursion. We did the La Bufadora and Mexica Folkloric for $24. It was neat. La Bufadora is nice, but the Folkloric show was awesome. There is some traditional mexican dances and then there is a guy who puts on a show with his lasso. It was awesome to see this 70 year old man doing all these tricks with a very heavy lasso.
Getting off the ship: Again this was super easy because my mom is disabled. The longest part was getting through customs. Well more like waiting for the people ahead of us to get through customs. PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS DO NOT TRY TO SNEAK BACK STUFF YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE!!! It makes life hard for everyone else, and yourself.
Overall I love this cruise everytime. I know it's not the most glamorous ship but it always makes me think...If the Monarch is this nice just imagine how nice the other ships are....
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