|
My friend and I took a 4-day Bahamas cruise on Monarch of the Seas from Port Canaveral. Overall, everything was good to excellent until the final dinner. We had reserved a 4-seat table but our 2 relatives had to cancel at the last minute. The first night's dining was fine. The next 2 nights we used the Windjammer buffet. On the final night we arrived right at the beginning of seating only to find two women occupying our table. When we inquired we found out the women had been assigned to our table. They were rude and refused even to change chairs so my friend and I could sit side by side. Rather than create a scene, we left and got a snack at the pizza bar. Our cabin steward, hearing our tale, rushed up to the dining room to try to get things straightened out. About 30 minutes later, the dining room manager called to offer seats at the second sitting. By then, the evening had been spoiled. I explained to him we should have been notified beforehand if seating was going to be changed. We would have gladly moved to a two-seat table. This fiasco made a mockery of "reserved seating."
Other than that, the cruise was enjoyable and worthwhile. Quality of the food was above average, and nicely presented. We especially enjoyed a free galley tour and Q&A session with the head chef. A few quibbles -- Port Canaveral advertised a $60 parking fee, but charged us $75 for 4 nights; light switch in our cabin was defective, drinks were overpriced without any special deals, cabin TV was tiny with bad color settings, and we missed having a room safe. Crew members were polite and some were personable. I took this same cruise 15 years earlier, and this time the ship didn't seem as glamorous, but it was adequate as a mini-getaway. We cruised during the week, and there were relatively few kids, mostly well-behaved. The passengers were on the older side and thankfully, there were few loud, sloppy drunks. Boarding and disembarkation were quick and smooth. We put in a written complaint to RCL re the dining room incident but have not received a response yet.
|
