Crusin' - Wickedly Good Fun!

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

There’s only one word to describe a cruise to the Bahamas – luxurious, sumptuous, opulent! Oops! That was three words! Well, it can’t be helped because it truly was all those things!

We started out from Port Canaveral on a Monday at noon. When I drove up A1A and rounded the bend right before the Port, the ship suddenly came into view. Amazing! The Monarch of the Seas is the smallest ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet but it looked tremendous to me! What an awesome sight to behold!  It seemed to glisten in the sun and my tummy had that excited flutter as we drove closer.

Checking in was a breeze and we went right up to the “Windjammer” to meet two other friends for the fabulous lunch buffet. There was so much food: hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, cold cuts, hot entrees, a festival of fruits and an exquisite exhibit of desserts! I gained a pound just looking at it!

After enjoying the buffet, we went in search of our cabins. I had booked both rooms and explained to the travel agent that we wanted to be together both in location and in the dining room. Well, we had a problem! (Not Royal Caribbean’s fault at all!) My friend and I were on the 6^th floor in the absolute bow of the ship. Our other friends were on the 4^th floor center ship. I’m handicapped and since all 4 handicapped rooms were booked before I booked ours, I hoped to be at least near the elevator. The travel agent assured me that the room would be set up to accommodate me and my scooter and that all would be well. We wound up in the ONLY room whose doorway stuck out halfway into the hall because it was so far up in the bow. Needless to say, the scooter couldn’t get at an angle to get in the room. When we opened the door, there was one double bed made up and the room, while very nice, was miniscule to say the least! We also found that the 6^th floor is the most inaccessible deck on the ship. To get to certain places we had to go down or up a deck, across the ship to another elevator and down or up even further.

Down to Guest services we went, and met the sweetest, kindest young lady  you could imagine!  Her name was Liping and she was so upset for me that I thought she would cry! She tried to find another room but the ship was fully booked. Instead, she had the beds separated and allowed me to “park” my scooter right near my door in a little alcove where an air conditioning closet stood. She came personally to check out the room and space to make it as accessible as possible. We chatted and stopped by to see her a few times during the cruise. On our last night, the waiter came to our table with an expensive bottle of wine and a note. It was from Liping telling my friend and me that she enjoyed meeting us and that she would miss us!

Other than that little snag, the cruise was an absolute pleasure! We spent a day at Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean’s private island with pristine beaches, snorkeling in crystal blue waters, scuba diving, sailing, water slides, and so much more. They held a marvelous barbeque and had their own straw market filled with native crafts and items. I snorkeled and saw so many different species of fish I lost count! I even saw a lobster! There was coral of every color and type, a sunken airplane and boat, and special wooden fish scattered about. Each of the wooden fish had a number painted on it and if you found it, you could turn it in for a prize. I didn’t find a wooden fish, but I truly won a prize in spending such an amazing afternoon snorkeling this beautiful area with good friends!

The evenings consisted of gourmet dinners, fun in the casino, first class shows, trivia and comedy shows, and swimming in both salt water pools or relaxing in the hot tubs. Of course there was also dancing and clubbing the night away in several different lounges!

And that was only the beginning!    To be continued...