MONARCH OF THE SEAS MENUS FROM MAY 1994: memories from my first cruise

[volunteer cruiser]

I stumbled upon some mementos from my first cruise on Monarch in May 1994 when doing some spring cleaning: breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.

 

As I was reading, I remember sampling my first escargot with the insistance of a tablemate who also told me to get extra dinner rolls for dipping in the garlic butter. This same tablemate introduced me to pate.

 

Each night at dinner was a different theme. I remember at Caribbean night, the servers danced with Flaming Babalu on their heads. On French night, the headwaiters cooked Cherries Jubilee so close to our table that I could feel the heat from the flaming liqueur.

 

I remember dressing up and spending big bucks on an updo and mani and pedi just for the Captain's gala dinner.

 

Breakfast menu:

 

 

 

Lunch meus:

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

more lunch menus:

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

Wine List:

 

 

 

 

[aurelius180]

Thank you for sharing! Quite timely as well given the departure of the Monarch. :)

[psupa]

Funny you should post this. I came across the souvenir miniature dinner menus that I bought back in 1986 on the Song of America.

[volunteer cruiser]

Dinner, not only did each night have a special theme, the waiters did some little dance or song each night and the dinning room roared with applause, cheering and laughter. Soft drinks were included at dinner with no extra charge at that time. When I wanted hot tea, instead of coffee, the assistant waiter brought a large wooden box filled with specialty teas to me to choose from. The string trio went to tables and asked for requests. My dad always requested "Lara's Theme" from Dr. Zhivago. Dinner was definitely more of an entertainment.

 

Dinner:

 

 

[F27TW]

Wow ... this is fantastic .. thank you so much for finding and posting these!

How times have changed in under 10 years! Some of the things that caught my eye (that sadly we wouldn't see today in the MDR ) are things like:

Tomatoes Rockefeller (whatever that was, but it sounds fancy!); Pear Belle Helene; Crabmeat Neptune Canneloni; Stuffed Veal Cutlet

Very cool!

[volunteer cruiser]

more dinner menus:

 

 

 

 

[smoosh21]

Very interesting. i figured there would be a little less Asian influence in the older dinner menus. It is interesting to see how they keep up with changing tastes

[volunteer cruiser]

Funny you should post this. I came across the souvenir miniature dinner menus that I bought back in 1986 on the Song of America.

 

Isn't it fun to find things you haven't seen in 18 years plus and think back at all the things that use to be and will be no more :)

[psupa]

Filet Mignon. Now you have to pay for it:(

[volunteer cruiser]

more menus:

 

 

 

 

[volunteer cruiser]

Thank you for sharing! Quite timely as well given the departure of the Monarch. :)

 

Your welcome

[volunteer cruiser]

Wow ... this is fantastic .. thank you so much for finding and posting these!

 

How times have changed in under 10 years! Some of the things that caught my eye (that sadly we wouldn't see today in the MDR ) are things like:

 

Tomatoes Rockefeller (whatever that was, but it sounds fancy!); Pear Belle Helene; Crabmeat Neptune Canneloni; Stuffed Veal Cutlet

 

Very cool!

 

 

I was overwhelmed by all the foods I had never heard of. I was adventurous and tried all new dishes. I am glad I did, even the ones that were not to my liking :eek:

[volunteer cruiser]

 

 

[F27TW]

I was overwhelmed by all the foods I had never heard of. I was adventurous and tried all new dishes. I am glad I did, even the ones that were not to my liking :eek:

 

Heck, I'm overwhelmed right now reading all those amazing dishes! And I applaud you for being adventurous and trying new things ... I do the same thing - especially while on vacation and it usually pays off .. usually! :eek::p

[sharonlacey]

Thanks!;)

[mollanjake]

I stumbled upon some mementos from my first cruise on Monarch in May 1994 when doing some spring cleaning: breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.

 

 

Each night at dinner was a different theme. I remember at Caribbean night, the servers danced with Flaming Babalu on their heads. On French night, the headwaiters cooked Cherries Jubilee so close to our table that I could feel the heat from the flaming liqueur.

 

Thanks so much for posting. My first cruse was 1995 on Majesty. I LOVED the theme nights! Waiters had tie/cummerbund to match theme. That was my only cruise w/ the theme and I have missed it every cruise since.

[volunteer cruiser]

I also came across the Passenger List which included the names and cities of passengers on board.

 

 

 

 

 

[nycruiser80]

Blast from the past! Times have changed, you can see that back then dinner menus had an appetizer, soup, salad and entree section. Today most mass market cruise lines like RCI lump the appetizer, soup, and salad into one category called "starters". I think they did this so that people order less. Back in the day, when I started cruising we used to order a selection from each category. Today by combining categories on the menu people are more apt to choose one thing or possibly two. Of course it is better to order less there is too much food even today. But I am sure this was done as a cost cutting measure. I do remember the soda included at dinner on RCI. When I sailed the Sovereign back in 2000 soda was still included at dinner. I am not a huge soda drinker but it was a nice touch. Things where different back then and I know people will argue on here with me how we are better off today. And we are better off today in some aspects - we have unbelievable ships sailing today with amenities one could not envision back in 1994. But to get what we have today we gave up the hominess and the "upscale" feel cruises once conveyed. Cruising on the mass market lines today still have an "upscale" feel but something small is missing to me. Nevertheless, I am happy to be cruising but I do notice a difference. Not complaining just observing. Thanks for this post!

[kruzerci]

Thank you so much for posting. What a blast from the past.

[Iluvcruising2]

Thanks for posting this.

 

All I can say is, wow.

[anthk333]

I got a kick out the fact that Captain Johnny was the staff captain of the Monarch on your sailing.

[Coralc]

Gosh, they had good food back then (1992 Viking Serenade). The filets were every bit as good as Chops or Portofino, the lobster tails were huge...and it was in the main dining room.

We enjoy cruising as much, but the food was so good back then for an indulgent vacation! :)

[Philly Steve]

Brings back memories of our favorite cruise in '95. Thanks for posting. :) Be sure to add those beautiful menus to your scrapbook. :cool: