Royal Caribbean International
Monarch of the Seas Cruise Review
Ensenada

Christiana J.
Age: 25
Occupation: Mom
Number of Cruises: 1
Sailing Date: January 14th, 2008

This was our first cruise, so I have a lot to say in regards to the pricing of certain things, and the quality of the cruise, which was outstanding!

ROOMS –
Our stateroom was on deck 2, all the way at the end of the ship.  The rooms were small but very clean.  There is a closet with several hangers and enough room to put a small suitcase in the closet.  We had a vanity with 4 small drawers and enough room to put some of our luggage under the bed.  The bed was much more comfortable than I expected.  There were plenty of pillows for me and my husband.  We had a small TV to watch, along with several new released movies. They do not allow irons in your stateroom, although you can take advantage of their expensive dry cleaning.  (We didn’t)  They also have a blow-dryer in your room.  I wondered about this before we left.  Please don’t take the blow dryer, they charge you 25.00 for it.  The bathroom is definitely tiny, but hey, it’s a ship.  It did the job.  We had an interior stateroom and it was awesome for sleeping, no light at all.  One recommendation is to get a room close to the elevators, if you can; it makes all the difference when you get tired from all that walking. 

DINING –
Dinner consists of two times; 5:30 and 8:00.  Our dinner was at 8:00 and we were usually VERY hungry by then.  Although having a late dinner did have it’s pluses since it allowed us to do more during the day, and kept us up later for the shows afterwards.  The food is absolutely awesome!  I’ve never eaten so much in such a short period of time.  One of the tricks that we learned from other cruisers is that you can order whatever you want, and the quantity doesn’t matter!  If you want 3 appetizers, 2 entrees and 4 deserts…They’ll bring it to you.  No questions asked. I think that’s where we got ourselves into trouble. LOL. For dinner you can choose to dine in, or you can visit the Windjammer buffet.  I recommend dining in.  The experience is awesome.  On all 4 days you can dine in the dining room for breakfast and dinner.  Lunch is only on day 1 and day 2.  For day 3 and 4 you will have to rely on room service or the buffet in the Windjammer. We never visited the Jade Sushi bar, it costs extra, plus I don’t like sushi.  On day 4 they had bbq out by the pool.  When we got out there we realized that we got in the wrong line.  One was for bbq and the other line was for Mexican food.  So be careful of which one you choose.  On day two at 11:30 at night they had a chocolate buffet.  I seriously suggest not missing out on that one.  It was awesome. 

PORTS - San Diego, Catalina, and Ensenada. 
When we arrived in San Diego (day 2) we decided to ride the MTS trolley around town.  It’s 5.00 a person for all day.  We bought our tickets, and they NEVER checked to see if we had one.  You never see the driver, and we never saw anyone checking for passes.  Along the ride we didn’t really see a whole lot to do.  We stopped off and did a little shopping at Ross and the Everything’s 5.99 store.  Other than that, we ended up riding the trolley into some scary unknown territory and tried very hard to get back to the ship quickly. 

Day 3 we ended up at Catalina Island.  From here we had to take a smaller boat to the shore since they don’t have a dock suitable for the large ship.  If you get sick on the ship from the movement, I recommend staying on the lower deck of the barge when traveling to the island.  On the island we decided to rent a golf cart.  You only options are to walk, rent a bike, or rent a golf cart.  I’m not sure how much the bikes are, but no amount of money is worth me dying trying to pedal up a mountain on a bike.  We decided to get one of their golf carts.  If you can, split the cost with another couple.  It is 40.00 for the first hour and you have to put up a 40.00 deposit.  So you’re looking at 80.00 up front.  If you return the cart before the second hour you will get your deposit back, however there is no way to see the entire island and take pictures in just one hour.  They also offer a 3rd hour for free if you pay for the 2 hours.  I enjoyed Catalina Island.  We took some beautiful pictures there.  They have several shops and gourmet caramel apples (6.00 for one, but they are HUGE).   If you visit the Island during the winter season, I would suggest taking a jacket.  It can get cold on the mountain riding around. 

Day 4 was Ensenada Mexico.  If you have ever been to Mexico it looks the same no matter what part you visit.  There are mostly a lot of vendors on the street trying to sell you useless items.  Most people go to Mexico to buy alcohol, however we found that it was the same price as the USA.  We did buy a few things there, mostly souvenirs for our friends and family.  They do offer a tour of Ensenda.  The normal cost is 20.00 however if you ride the little shuttle to the main strip they give you a coupon for 5.00 off.  We didn’t go on the tour of Ensenda, but it sounded fun.  They include margaritas in the tour…bonus!  The shuttle ride for the mile there is 2.00 per person and 1.00 per person if you ride it back to the ship.

ON BOARD SHOPS –
Getting settled was important for us. We decided to unpack and then head up to deck 5 to visit all the shops after we set sail.  On deck 5 they had various shops from jewelry to alcohol.  The alcohol was fairly cheap however if you purchased any of the alcohol in the shop, you were not allowed to take it back to your room.  They store your alcohol until the 4th night around 7pm.  The trick to that is, to buy your alcohol on the 4th night at 5:30 pm and then you can take it back to your room with you.  The jewelry stores were nice but still overpriced to me.  They had a spray on tattoo artist, a drawing for the spa, free alcohol tasting…

ENTERTAINMENT –
The casino opens at 7 every night.  It was fun to go and play since this was my first time gambling.  I mostly played the slots. 
There are several shows to attend.  Dancing musicals, comedy shows, adult shows etc.  If you get a chance to see the comedian Derrick Cameron, go!  He is freaking hilarious!  We also attended the adult game called Quest, and the marriage game.  Those were awesome.
They have the sexy legs contest, belly flop contest, dancing out by the pool etc. 

Drinks
Sodas range from 1.75 – 2.00 plus gratuity.  The sodas and bottled water in your stateroom are not FREE.  (You can buy bottles of soda in the alcohol shop for 2.00 no gratuity, no tax when the shop is open)  I would suggest either buying the coke card which is like 20.00 per person, and you get unlimited sodas if you’re a big soda drinker, or buy one of the souvenir cups…however if you buy the cup you have to carry it around the entire time. 
Alcoholic drinks range from 5.95 and up. Be careful otherwise you’ll run up a huge tab at the end of your cruise. 

Excursions
San Diego the cheapest one we saw was harbor tour for 22.00 for adults and 11.00 for children.  You can do this on your own if you want to save the money.  They also had the San Diego zoo, 53.00 for adults and 41.00 for kids…There were 12 excursions to choose from.
Catalina Island had 12 excursions as well.  The cheapest was the Avalon Casino tour.  16.00 for adults 8.00 for children. They also offered the Glass Bottom Boat tour for the same price. 
Ensenada Mexico had 15 excursions.  The cheapest excursion here was the La Bufadora Adventure.  21.00 for adults and 13.00 for children.  All excursions here require that you find your own transportation back to the ship.  (You can do the shuttle for 1.00 or a taxi for 5.00)

Pictures
1 8x 10 picture is 19.99, the smaller ones are generally 6.95.  They also have DVD’s you can purchase of the cruise.  I am not sure how much those were.

ACTIVITIES
Bingo, rock climbing, night club dancing, fitness room (which we never saw)…

Overall we had a great time.  The passports (which are required now) made it very easy to get on and off the ship in a timely manner.  When departing from the ship, if you can handle express departure do it.  This means you carry your entire luggage off the ship, instead of having someone else do it.  (You can leave at any time if you decide to take this option) 

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