Thread: need some help making a decision!

hi everyone,

i am going on a 4-night cruise to baja, mexico at the end of april. i am having a very difficiult time choosing which ship to take: the monarch of the seas or carnival's paradise. i have been on crappy carnival cruises (on purpose ha ha) rci, and celebrity cruises. so i have had my feel of very nice, to not so nice...but we just want to have some fun and relax. also, im 21... so the rowdiness isn't an issue, i'll probably be one of those rowdy people! haha.

if anyone has been on both of these ships could you give me a comparison? thanks in advance!

Hi kornut! Welcome to CLF. I know someone who just got back that has been on both ships. I, myself have been on the Monarch and JMHO didn't care for it. I'll contact the ones that just got back from the Paradise and send them here

thanks for that!

I just sent her a private message to come here

yes, there's a whole group of people who just got off the "Ladies Only" cruise on the Paradise and many of them went on the same one on the MOS last year. I'm sure they'll be happy to fill you in.

Originally Posted by kornut145

hi everyone,

i am going on a 4-night cruise to baja, mexico at the end of april. i am having a very difficiult time choosing which ship to take: the monarch of the seas or carnival's paradise. i have been on crappy carnival cruises (on purpose ha ha) rci, and celebrity cruises. so i have had my feel of very nice, to not so nice...but we just want to have some fun and relax. also, im 21... so the rowdiness isn't an issue, i'll probably be one of those rowdy people! haha.

if anyone has been on both of these ships could you give me a comparison? thanks in advance!

Hi

I'm the one Chudley was talking about

I have done both. But to be fair, I am 50 yrs old not 21 so that may make a slight difference in our point of views

That said, I liked RCI Monarch best as there seemed more to do on the ship than drink. Drinking is great but it seemed like your choices were Bingo, drinking, and casino for fun other than eating.

The food seemed pretty equal to me except the buffet was better on the Monarch.

Room steward was great on both and once on the Monarch in 2005 not so good.

The cabins were slightly bigger on the Paradise but on RCI they have refrigerators in the Deluxe Outside cabins, but not on the Paradise.

The Paradise didn't have a corkage fee for the wines and champagne we brought on board and to dinner. RCI might, I don't remember sorry.

The Paradise no longer has a topless bathing deck anymore. Monarch never did!

Paradise only goes to Catalina & Ensenada with a sea day. The Monarch goes to Catalina, San Diego, and Ensenada with no sea days.

Paradise Formal night is Tuesday night after Catalina (Lobster night), Monarch has their formal night Wednesday night after San Diego (No Lobster nights)

Both have towel critters

I hope this helps, if there is something specific I can answer, let me know and I'll do my best to find the answer for you

Have a great time no matter what you choose!

PS, both were equaly rowdy so that part you will fit in fine hehehehe

I also just finished a cruise on Paradise. I have not sailed Monarch OTS, but I bumped into some women at the airport who had just disembarked from her and we compared notes.

It sounds like the evening entertainment was similar - shows, comedians, piano bars, etc., but Monarch had a band on the pool deck every day starting on sailaway, while Paradise only had music at the pool one nite, at a party after we left Ensenada.

The Casino on Paradise is no smoking, and I believe they allow it in the Monarch casino.

If you can think of anything else you would like us to compare, just ask!

Oh yeah forgot that part, No Saliaway Bands or Parties on Paradise waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

thank you to everyone that replied! i ended up getting a much better price with the monarch, so i am going to go with rccl. it's a little disappointing that the monarch OTS doesn't serve lobster, but i will just have to settle for filet mignon and shrimp haha. like many of you have noted they are just so similar it seems that you should just go for the best deal! however, the fact that there isn't any sail-away parties on the paradise or much entertainment near the pool deck sold me to the monarch.

Congratulations on booking.