Back from Monarch of the Seas...
John Szeto
Just returned from a short 3 night cruise on the Monarch of the Seas out
of LA to Ensenada. BTW, I am going next week again to escort another
group so if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask! Here
are a few comments.
Been to Ensenada many times and nothing to do there so just stayed on
the ship. I had seen the ship on June 5th for a one night TA preview.
Now, the Windjammer is mostly done but there were still some areas that
they were working on. Missing floodlights in some areas, stairs to the
second level needs to be revarnished, etc.
This is the best ship in the 3/4 night market right now and best bang
for the buck! However, recently back from the Dawn, I couldn't help but
still find the ship old.
The cruise director was British, Becky which was recently promoted. She
is very annoying as well, with constant bantor (Hey Love!!!, Whatever
you do, do it with a SMILE!). Constant annoucements as well.
All the cruise staff were from the USA surprisingly. I ran into one
member of the cruise staff that was the rudest I ever encountered.
Annette Benton. During the 2nd day, there was an internet class at 10
AM so I went and she was running it. I asked her what the class was
about, was there any free time to use, etc? She said, no, and I left.
Next was trivia, then I asked her what prizes were we playing for as
motivation as I always do in a jokingly way. She replied, there are no
prizes and to stop asking her and why I am so close to her. Also, she
told other guests that I was bugging her all day and tried to get free
internet minutes from her. That was totally inapproriate and our trivia
teammates commented the same. We won the trivia and she did give us
prizes at the end but remarked that I shouldn't be asking about it.
Also, I showed up for the ping pong tournament the same day on time and
she wouldn't let me join saying it was full already, although I see
space on her list. I made sure to comment that on my comment card, and
also told the CD during the Platinum/Diamond party which was one hour
and truly open bar.
In the main restaurant now, bread is served by the assistant waiter. It
was explained that's what they do to save costs because there was too
much waste, and people eat less bread this way too. Also, talking to
the waiters and room stewards, they say tips are bad now compared to the
4/5 night Caribbean on the Monarch before or other 7 night cruises. 99%
of the staff want to move. A lot of people are stiffing them or not
tipping the full amount. Usually, they average about $4000 a month in
tips. Now, only $2000. Not surprising considering the # of first time
cruisers onboard, they even have a first timer cruiser's club meeting
onboard. It's not surprising though for a 3/4 night market ship. For
the benefit of Charles, I will put it in more detail than the generic
"Carnival crowd" statement. This was a lot worse than the NCL Dawn
crowd probably because of the price point and duration. It was really a
"rift raft" crowd. Probably, a lot of people that can barely afford to
take the cruise, and don't have the money to tip. A very high number
working class crowd. I overhead someone from the cabin next door
saying, "$30 per person, I can't believe it, where are we going to get
the money to pay for that?? There was even a fight outside the
restaurant waiting for the midnight buffet. The headwaiter also told us
there were a few guys in his section that would come in drunk every
night and touch young girls. BTW, I found out that headwaiters make
$1200 a month in salary plus whatever tips they get. Waiters, room
stewards, and assistant waiters still get $50 a month.
On the plus side, they still did a Gala buffet for a 3 night cruise.
Lobster was not served though. I am glad to report that they do have
carving stations at the buffet everyday including breakfast which had a
spiral ham. There were whole fruits available all the time including
oranges, plums, pears, apples, and peaches. They also served Hawaiian
gold pineapple, kiwi, papaya, and strawberries, and grapefruit.
Although not really exotic, still better than the NCL Dawn. There were
chololate covered strawberries in either white chocolate or milk
chocolate at the midnight buffet as well. Impressed for a 3 night
cruise.
Entertainment wasn't bad for a 3 night either. We had a comedian,
impressionist doing spoofs of famous singers, and a juggling comedian
team along with one Production show, Star Struck which I have seen
before.
--
Best regards,
John Szeto --------------> We treat your cruise booking as if we were
going ourselves.
Cruise and Travel Company
If you don't book from us, you're paying too much!
E-mail me at: webm...@cruisereview.net
Cruise Review Library http://www.cruisereview.net
John Szeto
Just returned from a short 3 night cruise on the Monarch of the Seas out
of LA to Ensenada. BTW, I am going next week again to escort another
group so if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask! Here
are a few comments.
Been to Ensenada many times and nothing to do there so just stayed on
the ship. I had seen the ship on June 5th for a one night TA preview.
Now, the Windjammer is mostly done but there were still some areas that
they were working on. Missing floodlights in some areas, stairs to the
second level needs to be revarnished, etc.
This is the best ship in the 3/4 night market right now and best bang
for the buck! However, recently back from the Dawn, I couldn't help but
still find the ship old.
The cruise director was British, Becky which was recently promoted. She
is very annoying as well, with constant bantor (Hey Love!!!, Whatever
you do, do it with a SMILE!). Constant announcements as well.
All the cruise staff were from the USA surprisingly. I ran into one
member of the cruise staff that was the rudest I ever encountered.
Annette Benton. During the 2nd day, there was an internet class at 10
AM so I went and she was running it. I asked her what the class was
about, was there any free time to use, etc? She said, no, and I left.
Next was trivia, then I asked her what prizes were we playing for as
motivation as I always do in a jokingly way. She replied, there are no
prizes and to stop asking her and why I am so close to her. Also, she
told other guests that I was bugging her all day and tried to get free
internet minutes from her. That was totally inappropriate and our
chocolate covered strawberries in either white chocolate or milk
John Szeto
Oops, sorry for the repost. One got sent accidentally before I ran the
spell check.
Cathy Heidemann
On 7/1/03 1:09 AM, in article 3F012591...@cruisereview.net, "John