Pam O

Age: 46
Occupation: Public Relations
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Monarch of the Seas
Sailing Date: May 23rd, 2005
Itinerary: Baja, Mexico

My husband and I took our daughter and her girlfriend as a high school graduation gift.

Overall it was great. The ship was well maintained and the layout was easy master. Though the ship was full, it never felt crowded and everyone was well-behaved and happy.

It was great. The entry to the ship was as simple as it could be. We did have a short wait while the ship cleared customs, but the waiting area was nice and I had a good book to read.

We ate a late lunch at the Windjammer Cafe. The food was good, plentiful, and fresh. The bakery items on the ship were consistently great. The oatmeal cookies, multi-grain bread, and a sugar-free coconut cake were outstanding.

Our cabins were small, but efficient and well attended. My husband said the bed was more comfortable than our bed at home!

We had early seating at dinner, which may have been a mistake as we had to rush back on to the ship to dress for dinner. Not really a big deal as people didn't really dress up too much for dinner anyway.

The entertainment was so-so; the captain's party was fun. He was really cute and had a dry sense of humor.

We were tired, so we watched movies in our room most evenings and went to bed early.

We got a separate room for the girls. There wasn't much 18-year-olds could do on the ship, but they enjoyed their independence.

We walked to Seaport Village in San Diego. My husband toured the Midway and I went back to the deck to read and sun. Catalina Island was beautiful. We took a motorbus tour for $15 each. We didn't eat anywhere except the ship, we weren't hungry. Breakfast was always good: We ate in the dining room the first day and at the buffet the other days. The last day, the breakfast was just as good as the first day, so they weren't rushing to send you off hungry or trying to unload leftovers.

Dinner had great appetizers. (The garlic soup and tomato bisque were wonderful.) The rest of dinner was fine, but nothing noteworthy. We did sample the pizza one afternoon and found it to be pretty good.

Ensenada was your stereo-typical industrial, dirty Mexican city. We went to the Blow Hole, but didn't buy anything. The girls said the food was great and it smelled wonderful. (We weren't hungry.) The blow hole was rather uneventful, but it was pretty.

Our service at dinner was great!

Most of the folks we met were from CA. It was the best cruise line I have traveled. We are ready to go again, even on the same ports of call.
 

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