Back from Monarch of the Seas Cruise

First, let me thank people here for all the answers to questions I had
before we took this cruise. Being first timers, we didn't know what
to expect.

This doesn't really qualify as a trip report but just some rambling
thoughts.

Mom had no problem at all with the heights, except for just a few
times when something sneaked up on her. That was very good!

We enjoyed the cruise. The service was superb! The weather was not
superb but Feb/March is going to be hit and miss. We got more blue
sky than rain but a lot of cold wind. We ran into a little morning
rain in San Diego but that was it. Mom and I both ended up buying
jackets on Catalina--but we needed souvenirs anyway, right?

The food was okay but not special. We ate in the dining room a couple
of times but most of the time we ate in the buffet. It was so
convenient for us since we were on deck 10 and the buffet was just
right over us almost on deck 11--a very short walk. Even Mom, who has
limited walking ability, went up the easy stairs a few times. But the
food was just mediocre. We weren't impressed in Vincent's dining room
either. Nothing was awful, but it was just mediocre. One exception;
we loved the sourdough rolls. Hey, little things make a difference.
Mom and my brother got steaks the first night and neither were very
tender. The second time, we all got prime rib and it was reasonably
tasty but took a fair amount of sawing to get through them. And seems
to me that the service was very slow. I know that Americans tend to
rush through meals but we had fairly long waits between courses.
Nothing to really complain about, but certainly not getting any raves
either.

We were very happy with our Jr. Suite and balcony and would certainly
go the balcony route again. The room was a decent size and very clean
and not one thing in disrepair or old-looking or battered. I was a
little concerned after a few discussions here right before we left.
The ship was in dry-dock a few weeks before our cruise so maybe they
fixed up the problems. Maybe just different expectations. I did
notice that they seemed to have some trouble keeping some of the
public restrooms functioning--either the whole thing would be closed
or one or two stalls closed off. And one of the few gripes I had was
that finding the restrooms was difficult. They sure don't give many
clues. Luckily there was a lot of staff around and easy to ask
someone to point us to the nearest.

We thought we might have trouble with our neighbors but that died down
quickly. Within an hour of getting to our room loud teen/rap music
started up. My brother called down to the desk and within minutes it
died down. We were out on the balcony and a couple kids next door
came out and said they hoped they hadn't bothered us. My brother told
them that we had complained. They were nice acting about it but
warned us that they planned on having friends to their room and
partying late into the night that evening. My brother talked to
someone at the relations(?) desk who said that they wouldn't do
anything but if it became a problem late, we could call security. We
weren't very happy with the answer but when we got back to the room
that night there was no noise at all. We never found out what
happened, if maybe others complained as well or if they just went
elsewhere on their own. But they never did become a problem after
that.

I didn't have any problem with seasickness but Mom did. Odd, because
I have a little trouble in cars and she can read a book while going
around winding roads. The water was really choppy as we left San
Diego and the ship was really swaying with it. A lot of people we
talked to said they'd had problems also, and several people got up and
left their dinner sitting on the tables. My brother went down to the
atrium area and they were handing out some kind of pills so he and Mom
took them and went on to bed real early. Left me stranded for the
evening so I read awhile and went on to bed also. The strange thing
is that it's taking me forever to get over the "sea legs". I've been
on small boats where I had trouble that evening and maybe the next day
but we've been back over a week and I'm still feeling earth moving
under me once in awhile. Not a problem, but it a little bit of a
nuisance.

We only went to one show. It was pretty hokey but okay to kill an
hour or so. I didn't go expecting a Broadway production. I wanted to
see the comedian but that was the night everyone else got sick.

I did post a bunch of pictures: http://chacharu.phanfare.com/ It's a
good site but has a few niches. On the right top of the main picture
you can make the images bigger and it takes about the same amount of
time to load. The little s you click to move to the next picture
aren't very obvious but they are over the big picture itself. There
are others over the thumbnails and easy to hit the wrong ones. I like
the slideshow option but usually use the little forward and back
arrows to read captions and then move the pictures when I'm ready.
DON'T hit the little rounded arrow or it starts over. I hate where
they put it where it's way to easy to accidentally click and throw you
back to the beginning. But if you do, just go back to where you were
and click on slideshow again. Or it scrolls very quickly. Otherwise,
it's the best photo site I've seen. Right now, I just have the 3
cruise albums on it.

That's all I can think of right now but this has gotten long and
rambling anyway.

cha

cha wrote:

The strange thing
is that it's taking me forever to get over the "sea legs". I've been
on small boats where I had trouble that evening and maybe the next day
but we've been back over a week and I'm still feeling earth moving
under me once in awhile. Not a problem, but it a little bit of a
nuisance.

Cha,

Thanks for telling us about your first cruise and glad you enjoyed it.
I don't get sea sick, but have had the "sea legs" after getting home a
couple of times. If it is still botherig you, you might want to try
some bonnine or an antihistamine or maybe even ginger. I didn't know
about these things, but I think it is worth trying. Hope the sea legs
go away soon!!

sue

It's very odd. I'm still having just a little problem with it once in
awhile. I figure it's probably for gloating about how I wasn't
bothered when everyone else was or it's just my body telling me to to
spend more time on the water.

cha


Thanks for telling us about your first cruise and glad you enjoyed it.
I don't get sea sick, but have had the "sea legs" after getting home a
couple of times. If it is still botherig you, you might want to try
some bonnine or an antihistamine or maybe even ginger. I didn't know
about these things, but I think it is worth trying. Hope the sea legs
go away soon!!

sue

LOL......I think it is your body telling you to book another cruise!!

sue

cha wrote:

It's very odd. I'm still having just a little problem with it once in
awhile. I figure it's probably for gloating about how I wasn't
bothered when everyone else was or it's just my body telling me to to
spend more time on the water.

cha



Thanks for telling us about your first cruise and glad you enjoyed it.
I don't get sea sick, but have had the "sea legs" after getting home a
couple of times. If it is still botherig you, you might want to try
some bonnine or an antihistamine or maybe even ginger. I didn't know
about these things, but I think it is worth trying. Hope the sea legs
go away soon!!

sue

cha wrote:

It's very odd. I'm still having just a little problem with it once in
awhile. I figure it's probably for gloating about how I wasn't
bothered when everyone else was or it's just my body telling me to to
spend more time on the water.

cha


Thanks for telling us about your first cruise and glad you enjoyed it.
I don't get sea sick, but have had the "sea legs" after getting home a
couple of times. If it is still botherig you, you might want to try
some bonnine or an antihistamine or maybe even ginger. I didn't know
about these things, but I think it is worth trying. Hope the sea legs
go away soon!!

sue

When we are cruising on our own boat, Bob and I have differing amount
of times that we need to get our land legs back, and it differs from
cruise to cruise. He has complained that he can't close his eyes in
the shower without falling over. I don't have as much of a problem
usually, but I also have attacks of vertigo which I think are
unrelated to the land legs problem (because I've had one while lying
in bed).

grandma Rosalie