My first DIAMOND cruise! 7/1/11 Monarch pictorial with Coco Cay Cabana Club report!

Introduction: Right back where we started.

In December 2008 my wife and I took our very first cruise with Royal Caribbean aboard the Monarch of the Seas. I suppose it’s only fitting that our first cruise as Diamond Members be on the same ship we started on. Since it has been two and a half years since that first pictorial review I thought it would be nice to do an update, plus a few new things tossed in. Anyone wanting to check out that original Monarch trip can inquire here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=892719

Embarkation:

My wife and I arrived at the pier around 1:30 PM. The embarkation process was fairly smooth. The terminal was in full swing, so we were happy to make use of the expedited embarkation offered to Crown and Anchor members at or above Platinum level. Getting from the parking lot to the ship’s lobby took about a half hour. Not too bad considering we arrived during the busiest part of embarkation day.

Day 1:

After getting settled in, we headed to the Windjammer for some lunch. Nothing much had changed since last year, and the food was the usual buffet stuff. Later in the day I met up with the folks from our Cruise Critic roll call thread. After the muster drill, some of us met back up in the Viking Crown Lounge for sail away. They were also having the nightly Diamond Event there, so my wife got a few glasses of free wine, and I got 25% off a cocktail.

The main lobby, your first view upon entering the ship.

Lobby sculpture

Atrium and glass elevators

The grand atrium

The Royal Caribbean Online internet cafe, in the lobby.

The Library, also in the lobby

I'm going to cry! I haven't been on the Monarch since October 2008, her last week in Los Angeles. I now have a cruise booked for December, and I can't wait!

The Explorations shore excursion desk

Looking down into the atrium

An elevator lobbies

Deck sign in the elevator lobby

Cabin area corridor

I'm going to cry! I haven't been on the Monarch since October 2008, her last week in Los Angeles. I now have a cruise booked for December, and I can't wait!

You'll be happy to know that shes been well taken care of. ;)

That's good to know!

Was Danney the LA?

Boleros lounge

The Sound of Music main theater

The Circuit Lounge

That's good to know!

 

Was Danney the LA?

No, it was a lady named Dina according to the Compass insert. I never actually saw her, we missed the Welcome Back Party.

Great pictures!!!

The Monarch is looking just fine!!!!! ;)

We too miss her on the west coast!

***

Shopping area

In the evening we had dinner in the main dining room. We were originally supposed to have traditional dining, but decided to switch to “My Time Dining” so we could have a table for two. The food was very good, and the service was fairly quick. After dinner I went back up to t he Viking Crown Lounge and checked out the “Club 20” party. The same sort of event was held in the Solarium on Freedom OTS, and I felt that it worked much better as a deck party. I enjoy the VCL more as a calm place to relax to soft music, not so much as a noisy nightclub. I didn’t stay long, and enjoyed the rest of my cigar out on deck.

The Diamond Event in the Viking Crown

The Disney Dream docked next to us

The Viking Crown Lounge's new dance floor

Viking Crown interior

A small selection of cigars in the Viking Crown

As "Club 20"

Diamond Gifts

Always love to revisit the Monarch. More please!

More Diamond goodies

We booked a Monarch 4 day in January 2009 on a last minute deal with an outstanding price for an F2. It also helped that we found an extremely cheap airfare on US Air. We booked this so close to sailing date that we were 'stand by' on the RCCL shuttle to the pier.

This Monarch cruise was one of our most fun cruises ever. The Monarch staff and crew crammed seven days of fun into four days. Never a dull moment. Always lots to do. The saddest thing was that it was all over after four days!

Hope we can do another Monarch cruise before she leaves the RCCL fleet.

Rick and Deirdra

One of the two identical main dining rooms

The Windjammer buffet

The Schooner Bar

Our drinks in the Schooner Bar

The Casino

Day 2: My favorite way to enjoy Nassau

I would love to be able to provide a review of Monarch’s Diamond breakfast here, but we slept in late Saturday and totally missed it. Instead we jumped right into lunch in the Windjammer. Since the ship had not yet docked it was very crowded with folks getting a meal in before going ashore.

After lunch we headed up on deck to watch our arrival in Nassau. We joined Carnival Fascination, Disney Dream and Carnival Imagination in port. The Disney Dream and its new Aqua Duck water coaster seemed to be the talk of the ship though. I overheard several conversations over how amazing it looked.

Since we had been to Nassau several times, we opted to stay on the ship and enjoy its sparsely populated pool deck. My wife got some sun while I enjoyed the empty hot tubs. An empty hot tub is a rare occurrence on ship with over 2000 people sharing just two small whirlpools. Generally they become warm, bubbly kiddie pools. But not this day! I had one all to myself for the better part of an hour. I then had a nice long swim in the nearly empty pool. Enjoying the abandoned pool deck on port days is getting to be a habit for me. Therefore I encourage all of you to get off the ship and experience the lovely ports of call.

That evening was the Captain’s Reception, so I wore my formal jeans and a collar shirt. That’s about as elegant as I get on a three-night weekend cruise. After the Diamond event we had dinner in the main dining room again. I had multiple orders of the escargots, one of my favorite cruise dishes. The beef tenderloin was also excellent; I wish I had gotten two orders since the lobster ravioli wasn’t very good.

Arrival in Nassau

The Aqua Duck on Disney Dream

The human stew pots...err..hot tubs under normal conditions,,,eww.

The pool deck while in port, more my style.

The Rock Wall

The basketball court

Thanks for the pics. We sail her again in August. We sailed the Allure in January and the Freedom in May and the Freedom seemed small after having been on the Allure. We had not sailed the Monarch in a year. Wonder what it will feel like after those huge ships. I had forgotten just how small those standard inside and OV cabins really are.

BTW - There was another thread regarding the formal night dress suggestion. Last time we sailed the Monarch, it was listed as "smart casual" but another poster noted it was listed as "formal" more recenlty. Do you recall from your trip?

Looking foward to reading more.

M

Carnival test driving their life boat

Thanks for the pics. We sail her again in August. We sailed the Allure in January and the Freedom in May and the Freedom seemed small after having been on the Allure. We had not sailed the Monarch in a year. Wonder what it will feel like after those huge ships. I had forgotten just how small those standard inside an OV cabins really are.

 

 

 

Looking foward to reading more.

 

M

It does feel very small compared to Freedom, and even Radiance. But I kinda liked not having to walk ten minutes to get from my cabin out to the main areas. It also felt a lot more cozy, and it was nice to see the same folks more than once during the cruise. There is definitely something to be said for the smaller ships (odd to call a 70,000 ton vessel small!), I hope the cruise lines get out of this "bigger is better" mindset.

It does feel very small compared to Freedom, and even Radiance. But I kinda liked not having to walk ten minutes to get from my cabin out to the main areas. It also felt a lot more cozy, and it was nice to see the same folks more than once during the cruise. There is definitely something to be said for the smaller ships (odd to call a 70,000 ton vessel small!), I hope the cruise lines get out of this "bigger is better" mindset.

I agree! Can't wait to sail the Jewel in December!

M