Dot

I posted a message on 8/5/98 - and posted the wrong ship that we will be taking - It's Monarch of the Sea - not Majestic. Any info would be appreciated regarding dress-what to do and off ship tours. thank you so much, sorry.

Ted Rosenberg

We were on the Monarch in late June 1997 and found it to be just wonderful. The food was quite good. You can eat 12 times a day if you wish. The shows at night were very entertaining. You need fancier clothes for 2 "formal" night, good casual clothes for 2 other nights, otherwise no bathing suits in the dining rooms. Stopping at all those islands were a lot of fun. DO NOT take any of the ship's excursions!! They are expensive! It can be done for a lot less on your own with a taxi. As far as shopping, the best prices are on St. Martin - not St. Thomas! Be prepared to haggle!! Make sure you sit at a large table (8 or 10) for dinner - it is the best way to meet many other people. On Barbados ask one of the taxi drivers to take you to one of their smaller beaches on the Western shore. He come back & pick you up when you want - & then you pay him when he drops you off back at the ship. Make sure you get to some of the great beaches on St. Martin also. They are beautiful! We were on Celebrity's Mercury in January 1998 to the Western Caribbean, & enjoyed the Monarch better. In fact, we are now booked to go on the Monarch again in January 1999. Enjoy!!

Maureen

Ditto on what the last person wrote! My husband and I went on Monarch of the Seas January 97and loved it!! This was our 3rd RCCL cruise and were very happy with everything. I also agree with the shore excursion info. We used Fodor's Cruise Guide and it was extremely helpful in planning our days on the islands. Hope you have a great trip. We just booked our 4th RCCL cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas for February 99 and can't wait!! If you have any other questions please feel free to e-mail me.

Monica Richards

I actually disagree about the shore excursions--I say take them! Not the shopping trips, etc., because those you can definitely do on your own, but if you want to go snorkeling or boating it's just a lot easier to do it with the ship. The first stop on our cruise (St. Thomas VI) we didn't take the shore excursion and instead took the public ferry to another island where we went to a State Park and a private beach. It was really nice, but I was soooo paranoid that the ship was going to leave without us (we cut it really close) that I didn't really relax. I may have spent a couple bucks more to go snorkeling with the group or whatever, but I got to know people on my ship and didn't have to worry about being stranded.

Anna

If it is your first cruise, definitely take the off-shore tours sponsored by the cruise line. We took several snorkeling excursions, a jeep safari, and a canoe safari. We really enjoyed them all. On our next cruise, we may do some things on our own, but for first time cruisers we were very happy.