UPDATE to Pullmantur's Monarch (Oct 2016) - AMAZING Cruise

Well, first, let me preface MY review in that everyone has their own experiences &/or reality. Seemingly the last review of this ship was almost 3 years ago, so our review seems in stark contrast from "ancldaca's” review. OK . . . so all that being said, here is OUR review of our 7-night Pullmantur MS Monarch cruise, Cartagena – Cartagena

Reviewer background: My husband & I booked this cruise to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary. I have cruised many times (Royal Caribbean & Carnival), but my husband had never.

Pre-cruise expectations: Due to previous reviews . . . expectations were kinda low. I expected a less than currently renovated ship, below standard food & embark/disembark passengers everywhere.

Overall notes: OK . . . so, we were SUPPOSED to board this ship in Cartagena for our 7-nite cruise to include: Curacao, La Guaira (this was the visit to this particular Port), Aruba, Colon & 2 days at sea. However, we accidently had an incorrect Passport & were denied entry. We caught up with the ship 2 days later in Curacao. Everyone was amazing & referred to us as the “couple from Cartagena” . . . treating us like VIP’s the rest of the way.

We were in total amazement in how the Ships Captain maneuvered this ship as if it was a car . . . backed up & maneuvered out of the tight port in Venezuela with absolutely NO Pilot boats “tugging” us.

The Monarch of the Seas was launched in 1991 and at the time was among the world's largest cruise ships. Pullmantur operates an all-inclusive concept on-board including most alcoholic beverages. For example, the regular Scotch was included (Balentine's, Grants) while Johnny Walker Black was an extra charge ($1 to $2). But you could buy a wrist band for I think $10 a day.

However? Unlike the major review below? These drinks were SO heavy of the alcohol that I couldn’t even drink them. They would fill the glass HALF WAY with the alcohol, then ice & whatever space was left, got the mix. My husband brought me a Daiquiri, I took ONE sip & about gagged.

There is little waiter service on the pool deck, usually just cleaning away dishes & glasses only. There are no bar stools at the pool bars, you basically crowd the bar, ask the bartender what you want, and then get it. Most times the bar did have people standing around, but we were able to get in & order our drinks.

Water is $1 a LARGE bottle or FREE is obtained from any of the “beverage” locations (ie. Dining room, buffet, bars, etc.)

Even though this is an all-inclusive concept, Room Service is a chargeable menu, as well as eating any of the “snacks / water” in the suite/cabin (there is NOT a “complimentary” bottle of water in the suite).

Cabin:

Our suite was 1560 of the "Junior Suite" category. It was located in the middle on the port side, which was AWESOME to be able to actually SEE all of the ports from our balcony, there were no obstructions, looking straight out, on any of the balconies. All of the life boats were off of the deck directly below us. On one hand we didn’t like this, because it obstructed views of that area. We were stunned at the spaciousness & storage provided in this BEAUTIFUL suite. The balcony had 2 chairs & a table. Pretty large.

NOTE: Be absolutely sure you lock the sliding door to the balcony, whenever you are NOT in your room.

We had a King Size bed, sitting area (with a loveseat & chair) & the bathroom had a TUB . . . yes, seriously, a TUB. Plenty of storage & counter space in the bathroom, with plush towels.

We had a flat screen TV, yes, mostly Spanish channels with I think 3 that were in English & 2 of those periodically had movies in English.

One note: Our Suite Stewart admitted that they are experiencing a shortage of staff & thus, there is NOT the typical “Turn Down” service in the evening. We received the ONE appearance each day.

We actually saw ZERO signs of wear & tear either in our Suite OR anywhere else on the ship. The entire ship was just stunning.

The A/C was PERFECT, every day.

We also received poolside towels whenever we wanted. We just went to the location on deck that dispensed them & asked. Unlike the “cabins” . . . they were apparently requited to “SIGN” for any towels & if they didn’t return them, it was said that they would be charged $30 EACH.

Grand Class:

As we did not have the Grand Class, I cannot comment on the service. However, we DID check out the Waves Club & found it to be along the same lines as the 360 Lounge. They did have a small buffet, but it appeared the food had been there for some time. Our take on this supposed “PERK”, was that it wasn’t worth the upgrade from the Suite that we had.

In disagreement with previous reviewer . . . the Waves Club is NOT available to “Junior Suites”.

As far as an assigned table in the Dining room . . . we DID have this. It was great; a nice little table for 4 along the side, away from the huge tables & the service was THE BEST, complete with Wine service.

Embarkation / Debarkation . . . was a snap for us as well. We were the first to board (HA, once we caught the ship in Curacao) AND the first to disembark in Cartagena.

Aside from this . . . I’m afraid we cannot elaborate on anything else this “Class” may offer.

Check-in Curacao / Cartagena departure :

I’m actually kinda glad that we didn’t embark in Cartagena. I have NEVER in my life seen such a DISORGANIZED organization in all of my life. You’d think they had NEVER done this before. What a freakin fiasco. I’d actually suggest, if you could do it? Try & board the ship in Curacao . . . what a breath of fresh air THIS experience was. And the people there are just the best . . they took FANTASTIC care of us from the time we arrived at the airport, to the time we finally boarded the ship. As we actually had to globe trot to catch the ship in Curacao, you can imagine that we were pretty beat up & TOTALLY ready for our cruise.

We cleared immigrations at the airport about midnight & took a taxi to Denny’s. They allowed us to rest & catch naps before the shipped arrived @ 8, so that we would have to pay for one of the very expensive hotels for just a few hours.

As it turned out we were only 3 blocks from the cruise terminal, so we walked, with all of our “stuff”. When we reached the terminal security, at first she wasn’t going to admit us, as we had NOT actually boarded the ship yet. But then she let us put all of our stuff in with her & do the tourist thing until noon, when we were supposed to be able to embark.

We were back & retrieved our “stuff” about 11:30, but we were then told that the Ship’s Captain changed the embarkation time to 1:30 . . . yea . . . we were pretty deflated. The ship was RIGHT THERE . . . WE’D COME SO FAR ! ! !

Then the male Port Security guy came near us & motioned us to him. Next thing we knew? WE were being escorted directly through immigration & onto the ship . . . 5 minutes, tops! We kept all of our bags. I actually have a smaller “check bag”, but larger than a “carry on” that we packed in an attempt to be able to KEEP it with us, as I’ve seen on other cruises that sometimes the suitcases are just left outside cabins AND other times, people haven’t even received their suitcases by 8pm . . . I was NOT down for any of that. So it was awesome that we were able to keep everything & just “set up house” when we finally arrived to our Suite. Folks . . . that suite NEVER looked so good, as it did that day . . . LOL

Disembarking in Cartagena: WOW, what a stark difference from what would have been our embarkation experience.

Everyone was directed by the color of their baggage tags to a “staging” area somewhere on the ship to await hearing YOUR tag color & then proceeding to disembark.

As we had a suite, we were in the FIRST lot to disembark & we proceeded to the elevators. Given the strange layout on this ship, in that out can be on one deck & you either go UPstairs or DOWNstairs to access the elevators. Everyone was headed UPstairs, so WE headed down . . . we ended up being one of the first OFF of the ship.

Clearing immigrations & customs was a BREEZE & as we schlepped our own luggage, we were outta there in probably 15 minutes from ship to taxi.

I noticed that another reviewer made mention about Passports “being returned” . . . not sure what that is about, ours were NEVER taken.

On Board:

The biggest difference for me was that this was my first cruise whose primary language was not English. All announcements were Spanish first, then English, no other languages. However, most staff members knew English – language wasn't a problem.

Being that this cruise embarks/debarks passengers in every port it also means that there are supposedly muster drills after leaving each port, however, WE never attended ANY of the drills. Additionally, each drill was ONLY for the passengers that arrived from that particular port – So if you attended when you first boarded, you were done. We never experienced any closures during the drills, in fact, we never even knew when the drills were taking place.

We would have to agree with “ancldaca –Two special observations: It was so refreshing to be on a ship without the constant roving pods of the overly obese. This is something I constantly see on most of my US based cruises, especially those departing out of Florida and San Juan. On Pullmantur, the crowd was uniformly slimmer. On US ships I am a bit on the heavy side while here I was definitely one of the heavier ones around. Also, and interesting considering the all-inclusive nature, I did not see anyone completely drunk on-board. There was indeed heavy all day drinking but the crowd knew how to drink properly. The purpose to drink here is to have fun – not to get drunk as on most US ships when people go nuts.

I’m sorry, but I cannot address the percentages of boarding/unboarding in each port . . . they seem to keep this away from the other passengers. Likewise, we were NEVER inconvenienced by any of that activity either.

The ship is a Sovereign class ship if you are familiar with those when they were in Royal Caribbean's line-up. This line of three ships (Sovereign of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, and Majesty of the Seas) were the first true purpose built mega cruise ships. Up until these ships were built, cruise ships were - for the most part - still converted older ocean liners. If you like cruising on all the new ships out there, then these are the ones that gave birth to them including many features that we now think of as "standard" in newer ships such as multi-story lobby atriums.

Yes, we agree that this is an older ship, however, you would NEVER think this once you arrive onboard. This ship is absolutely stunning & a far cry better than the last Royal Carribean or Carnival cruises that I have been on. There are NO signs of rust or overabundance of paint build up anywhere. That being said . . . we do not know just who decided that this was a “2nd class outfit” – it certainly is FIRST CLASS to us. As far as balconies are concerned “to satisfy the modern US client” . . . all of the suites have balconies.

We AGREE . . . The whole point of their cruises is participatory fun when on-board. There is a special emphasis on getting passengers to join the activities. The parties are big, the events are big, and the theater was packed. The cruise director's staff is large, is everywhere, and is very enthusiastic.

I also agree on the many repeat cruisers, there was a lot of participation in the nightly "themes" for dinner/evening dress.

As far as the arrival & departure times in each Port . . . OUR itinerary was SNAP ON. If it said we’d be docked at 8am . . . we WERE & likewise, if we were to leave at 4 . . . that ship was pulling out AT 4.

The food aboard was surprisingly good. The dining room offered a special menu nightly with several selections of items we felt to be kind of out of the ordinary – but this is right up our alley, as we use our journeys to experience things & foods that we wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to when home. There is a pizzeria from around 1pm to 7pm as well.

Breakfast had a good variety of breads, eggs (always two types of scrambled plus pre-made omelets/fried eggs), and a constantly changing assortment of sausages/bacons. I saw mini pancakes as well as French toast. Of course you also have a wide variety of fruits and cereals (hot and cold).

We had most lunches, if we were onboard, at the buffet. Again, like breakfast, a buffet is set up inside; you just get to eat at a table with tablecloth. However, WE noticed that drinks were on US. The waiters seemed to be there strictly for clearing the tables. Whenever anyone asked them for something . . . IF you got a response, it was usually sluffing you off somewhere else.

Dinner was special as we DID seem to have a "Grand Class" table. The daily menu was sufficiently varied for everyone to be satisfied but there were also items that were only for that particular day. We usually ordered from that menu, as the items were things we wouldn’t normally get to try or enjoy. Our AWESOME waiter would take our Appetizer & Entrée order at once & then when we were finished, he would ask us if we wanted to see the dessert menu. We also had a very nice lady that would handle our wine servings.

We would disagree with former “quality of food” reviews. EVERY meal in that dining room was absolutely STUNNINGLY delicious. Definitely NOT Applebee quality.

There is also 24 hour room service, however, please take notice of “delivery” times. With the dining rooms/buffet only open at certain hours a day this could come in handy especially in the afternoon (lunch buffet closed at 3pm and didn't open again until 7pm for dinner). Hence the pizzeria from 1pm to 7pm. Room service items are all for charge.

Bars were open most of the day.

On this cruise, we did not go to the casino, but the disco was quite entertaining. There seemed to be different “themes” during the evenings.

The Ports:

The 7 day cruise has 5 ports and 2 days at sea. Had we been able to START our cruise FROM Cartagena, our itinerary would have been: Cartagena, day at sea, Curacao (ended up embarking here), La Guaira, Aruba, day at sea, Colon, Cartagena (disembarked).

La Guaira (Venezuela): We really do not have much to say about THIS particular port. Mostly because we had already decided NOT to disembark (my husband is Colombian & me US . . . we didn’t like the odds there . . . LOL), but then after purchasing our cruise, the Venezuelan govt. decided that US citizens needed a Visa to even leave the ship. We can report that several of the passengers that did venture in Caracas commented that they were uncomfortable with the ever present Policia . . . they were then informed that the Policia were there for THEIR protection, not to make sure they didn’t do anything. They felt better after that.

Colon (Panama): There were a lot of passengers boarding here. There were buses & vans awaiting passengers to whisk them away on tours or the duty free shopping, which a vast number of passengers did. We were fortunate to be approached by a tour guide that (we still haven’t figured out why) offered us his tour for only $10/person, while the rest of our little group paid $25. Our tour was to Gatun – the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, AND visiting the Duty Free Shopping area.

The canal was just amazing. On one hand I wanted to say that it’s not as impressive as Mira Flores (Pacific side)? But Mira Flores is impressive in that it has that amazing museum, theatre & observation platforms. But Gatun in impressive in that the channels & locks themselves are just fascinating. We were fortunate in that our guide took us actually THRU the actual canals. As we were driving we came face to face with the actual LOCKS full of water on the other side that would totally wash us away. Just awesome. The NEW canal is now fully functional & wider than the original canal, and does NOT function on the “lock” system.

We agree that the port facilities were not that impressive, but hey . . . whose going for the “terminals”? We actually arrived back to board with about 30 minutes to spare on the requested return time. Apparently everyone had the same idea because it was pretty crowded, with lines waiting to clear security & return to the ship.

Cartagena (Colombia): We really just hung out while we were here, we’ve already done all of the tours & adventures. We did venture back over to White Beach in the Rosarios . . . can’t not go if you’re in Cartagena.

We actually spent 3 weeks here on our Honeymoon, have returned 5 times since AND stayed in Cartagena 5 nites before this cruise. I absolutely LOVE Cartagena, Lagito area & Boca Grande barrio & beach. I swear, once you’ve been? It calls you back . . .

Conclusions:

Well, because of the previous review, we went into this cruise with rather low expectations as well. Maybe that’s why we enjoyed it so much. There was nothing “low” about it. I loved the latin atmosphere, the all-inclusive concept, and the itinerary. There's a very good vibe on the ship comprised of fun passengers and enthusiastic crew. The food was better than anticipated and meals enjoyable.

A previous review commented on passengers “camped out” while awaiting to disembark the ship. We actually never encountered anything like this. Maybe they’ve changed the way this is handled.

Our disembark itinerary advised us to meet at a certain place, at a certain time (by luggage tag color) & each tag color was given an disembark time. Everyone seemed to be in their locations & disembarkation was a breeze. Considering what we encountered when we attempted to embark in Cartagena, we were fully prepared for another totally unprepared fiasco. NOPE, we ended up being the first ones off of the ship & through immigrations within 5 minutes. A SNAP ! ! !

While my everyday "standards" are more than the Carnival vibe, if this cruise was a good sample of Pullmanturs, then we cannot wait to book another cruise.

The crew on the Monarch were amazing and made our stay MOST memorable & enjoyable.

Thanks for the detailed review.

I have booked Monarch for August and am really looking forward to it.

Are there shows nightly? Are they in Spanish?

Can you elaborate about the food on board?

Is it the same buffet itrms everyday for breakfast and lunch?

Is specialty coffee (espresso, latte etc.) served in the dining room?

Thanks a lot in advance.

What are the theme nights?

May be I can pack accordingly.:)

Is it from 3-7pm, food is only available from the pizzeria and room service?

Thanks a lot.

Hi "ace123" . . .

Well, I'm afraid I cannot shed TOO much more light.

As far as the "THEME" nights, we didn't pay any attention to those. There WAS of course the "Formal" nite & I believe a "Black & White" theme nite.

Maybe you can check with your travel agent OR send Pullmantur an email, however, on the email side, they ARE located in "SPAIN", so this may take a bit of time.

Food . . . we found the food to be WAY better than previous reviews.

The dining room had nightly "specials" if you will. Each nite provided an insert menu of items that would ONLY be available that nite. We usually ordered off of THIS menu . . . we like to be adventurous. ALL of the food was excellent AND you CAN order more than one item - we usually ordered 2 appetizers & often tried 2 different desserts.

The Buffet is open for around 2 hours or so during meal times . . . a little longer during dinner. We never had a bad item there either. Aside from the Breakfast buffet, which was pretty much the same daily .. . lunch & dinner offered different items each time.

Dinner DID seem to offer a "Mongolian Buffet" nightly . . . be adventurous & try different concoctions . . . I only wish they had several liquids/sauces to enhance the meal.

There are several "bars" if you will, to select items from.

There is a coffee service "area" as well as another area to pick up your water, sodas, juices.

I'm also sorry, but we cannot for the life of us remember if there was any sort of Specialty coffee vendor or area. The expresso, latte items did not seem available in the buffet area.

Note: We usually had difficulty locating seating on the main buffet deck, go upstairs . . . quieter, less crowded & better seating availability. You can also take your food out onto the pool deck.

There ARE nightly shows & they ARE in Spanish. Fortunately my husband is Colombian, so he could translate for me. A couple of the shows were pretty good, 1 or 2 were rather hokey & we left. The theatre is located behind the Casino & Sports Bars.

We particularly enjoyed the Sports / Piano Bar . . . relaxing.

We were looking forward to the Liquor Sale that most ships have on the first nite out . . . as THIS ship is an embark/disembark ship at EVERY port, they do NOT do this . . . just an FYI

And just in case YOU didn't realize this . . . we did NOT . . . This is an all-inclusive ship. And let me tell you . . unless you are super partial to a particular upscale brand? These "inclusive" drinks are powerful & you do NOT need to pay the $10 daily wristband price. I found that they would fill my glass HALFWAY with liquor, then ice & whatever area remained at the top, received the mix . . . I couldn't even drink either the Margarita or Daiquiri . . LOL

Well there you have it . . . I hope this additional info helps.

Have an awesome trip . . . BTW?

WE booked OUR excursions apart from the Cruise Line . . . MUCH more affordable AND excursions that are NOT provided by the cruise line. We did this on our Cozamel trip as well. The one particular excursion that we TOTALLY enjoyed & is NOT available through the cruise line, but IS available through both of the below vendors is . . . The Underwater Submersible Scooters in Curacao (& Cozumel) . . . check it out . . . totally awesome . . . an actual NOT TO MISS adventure & less expensive with Island Experience.

Viator is one option, although they were higher . . .

Check out "Island Experience" & see if you can deal with a Sharella(http://www.island-experience.com.) . . . her communication & taking care of us was AMAZING. We booked excursions in Curacao & Arube through her. We paid her the deposits via CC & final payment upon arrival. Transportation was right there when we came off of the ship & took us through the whole experience. I was also able to text message to her cell & she would email me back every time ! ! !

OK . . . I think I'm done . . . but I you have any further questions, please don't hesitate & we'll try to answer. There's SO much, ya know? LOL Enjoy

Hi f9ers55,

Thanks a lot for your comprehensive reply.

It'seems really helpful.

Wishing you a wonderful 2017!

Thanks for taking your time to write this long reply.

I'm sure cruisers will appreciate your helpful hints and notes.

Thanks for the awesome review. We will be going this summer. Do you know how much the pictures are or if they have picture packages?