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Name: Darrel Honigberg
Email: oscardcat@aol.com
Age: 26
Occupation: Law Student
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Monarch
SailingDate: 08/09/98
Itinerary: S. Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector:
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 85
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService:
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges:
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge:
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities:
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace:
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard:
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 22 Aug 1998
Time: 19:14:56
Remote Name: 152.163.204.191
Remote User:
Comments
My wife and I were married on August 8, and this was our
honeymoon trip to the Caribbean. Since we were married on
Saturday night, we did not fly out
to San Juan until Sunday morning. Although this was a long day of
flying from Los Angeles, we really liked getting to the ship at
7:30 PM because by that
time most of the passengers had already boarded the ship and we
only had a five minute wait to check in and get on board.
Once on board, we went to dinner and met out waiter and table
guests. One of our table guests said that they boarded the ship
at 3 PM and had to wait
3 hours in line before they were able to board the ship. Again,
my wife and I were very glad we arrived in San Juan late. Dinner
was very good and so
was our waiter and assistant waiter. Our waiter (Syed) and
assistant waiter (Gusti) were truly excellent. Gusti always knew
what we wanted to drink and
our glasses were never empty. Syed was also great by recommending
delicious dinners and joking with us throughout dinner. I always
went with his
suggestions, and I was never disappointed. On lobster night, Syed
told us not to get the lobster, but to go for the prime rib
instead. He said that the
lobster was not that good that night and that the prime rib was
excellent. Even though it was difficult, I went with his
suggestion. Others at our table did
not go with his suggestion and ordered the lobster. These people
were disappointed to find out that their lobster was not that
good. I, on the other hand,
really enjoyed the prime rib (some of the other guests actually
had Syed bring out a prime rib for them as well after tasting the
lobster that was brought).
After dinner we went to our room and picked up our life vests for
the mandatory muster drill. We were really pleased with our cabin
on the sixth floor (We
had cabin 6524 on the Tween deck). Although our cabin did not
have a refrigerator like some of the other cabins did, we did
have a good size window
and it looked like the carpet and furniture had just been
replaced. We also did not have any traffic walking past our cabin
because there is nothing but
cabins on the Tween deck, and our cabin was close to the front of
the boat. The cabin was very quiet and we were never woken up by
any unusual
noises. Although the cabins are pretty small, they are pretty
comfortable. My wife and I never felt scrunched, but do not even
think of taking a shower
together. There is only room for one in the shower, but I must
say it works pretty well. I would suggest, however, that you
bring a night light for the cabin
and a portable clock (battery operated) with a light for your
cabin. At night even the rooms like ours with a window get very
dark and getting to the
bathroom would be pretty interesting in the middle of the night
without the light. There is no clock in the cabins and only two
outlets in the entire cabin to
plug something in so the battery operated clock came in very
handy. We were able to pick one up at Target for $9 and it worked
great.
We ordered all of our tours on Monday morning and were able to
get all of the tours we wanted. A lot of people tell you that you
need to sign up right as
you get on board, but we did not find this to be the case. Only a
few of the tours sold out before the day they were scheduled to
depart, and we were
able to get the six tours we wanted.
If you like drinking soft drinks, I would suggest that you buy a
couple 6 packs at the duty free shop inside the boat terminal in
San Juan. This also applies if
you like beer, wine or other mixed drinks. If you order a soda at
breakfast, lunch or dinner there is no charge. However, if you
take one of the sodas
they leave in you cabin or you order a soda in one of the bars or
lounges, it will run you $1.50 per drink plus a 15% tip added on
to your bill. Alcohol is
never included at any meal and any order is charged to your super
charge card that you sign up for as you board the ship. We like
sodas so we brought
3 six packs of soda and a 6 pack of beer on board and our cabin
attendant always made sure we had fresh ice in our ice bucket to
keep them cold. Our
bar bill at the end of the 7 days was a whopping $3.45 (two
sodas) while one of our table guests had a bill of over $700
because they kept ordering
mixed drink after mixed drink in addition to the bottles of wine
they ordered for each dinner. They were really shocked on the
last day to find out just how
much all of their drinking had cost them over the past 7 days.
Here are another few suggestions that will make your trip a
little easier. First, when you get on board you do not have to
check in at the pursers desk.
You simply go directly to your cabin and the keys will be waiting
inside for you. Your cabin attendant will also probably stop by
as you are walking in to
introduce themselves to you. These attendants are truly amazing.
They always seemed to know when you were out of the cabin and
when to make up the
room in the morning and at night. The entire 7 days we never ran
into the attendant, and our room was always made up in the
morning and at night.
Second, there is no need to get to dinner before your time. You
will have assigned tables and by getting there early you will
just have to wait in a huge
crowd to enter the dining room. Third, you might want to watch
their “important” speeches like the de-embarkation talk
and tour descriptions in your room
on the TV. I found that it was usually not worth putting up with
the crowd to watch theses talks in person when they show them
over and over and over
again on the TV. Finally, you will want to make sure you have
plenty of one dollar bills for tips if you order room service (no
charge for room service unless
you order sodas or alcohol). Also, make change and cash you
travelers checks at the pursers desk on Friday instead of
Saturday for the tips you will be
giving to your waiters and cabin attendant. I did this and was
glad to miss the huge line of people on Saturday waiting in line
for change.
This brings me to my final point. I have no problem tipping the
waiter, assistant waiter and cabin attendant because they did
terrific work all week long.
Our service was so good that I tipped the waiter, assistant
waiter and cabin assistant even more that they recommended.
However, I do not see why they
give you an envelope for the head waiter. The head waiter
supervises the waiters and does little things like putting
toppings on your dessert. I think the
only reason that he puts the toppings on is just so that he can
get a tip at the end of the cruise. Well, this was the only
person who I did not tip. We only
say our head waiter three times during the week, and two of the
times he stopped by simply to say hello to the table. I can see
tipping the head waiter if
they do something for you during the cruise, but to tip him just
because they give you an envelope does not make sense. I actually
thought it was tacky
for them to ask for it and even tackier for our head waiter to
wait at the door of the dining room for his tip on the last
night. We simply said good night to
him and went on our way.
Overall, my wife and I had a great time on our cruise. This was
our first cruise together, and it defiantly will not be our last.
I would sail with Royal
Caribbean again and can recommend it to others looking for a
relaxing vacation. Please feel free to e-mail me with any
questions at oscardcat@aol.com.
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