New Crown Monarch Sails Quietly From Florida through Caribbean

As the major cruise companies keep growing larger from new ships, mergers and acquisitions and bristle with superlatives in glossy TV commercials, it is a pleasure to discover a small, quiet ship that provides a pleasant on-board experience with no hype and little promotion.

Crown Cruise Line’s Crown Monarch provides personalized service, tasty food cooked in small quantities and sophisticated entertainment.

On the down side, this Palm Beach-based, one-ship line is almost unknown despite its dedication to quality cruising, and has rarely, if ever, sailed with its capacity of 550 passengers.

The new vessel was introduced last December concurrently with the retirement of its earlier, interim ship, the Crown del Mar. But the company’s limited advertising budget allowed the news to reach scarcely beyond Florida.

Then, in a bright-lights, big-city move, Miami-based Commodore Cruise Line began a joint venture with Crown Cruise Line, picking up the marketing for Crown.

And, in an inspired moment of largesse, Commodore decided not only to keep the Crown name but to give it to new ships in the building stages as well, making Crown its upscale label in a rapidly growing cruise field.

Commodore had been suffering from a multitude of image problems with its frequent name and itinerary changes. It was Bermuda Star Line (with no more Bermuda calls) when it turned the San Diego-based Bermuda Star into the Enchanted Isle, offering seven-day cruises to the Mexican Riviera from $645 (without air fare).

What all this means to the cruise passenger is that there are some great bargains to be picked up on the Crown Monarch if the itinerary appeals.

We checked it out late last month when it was about half-full and found it to be an excellent buy, with a moderate price range for midsized ships.

The ship sails every Saturday for seven days from the port of Palm Beach to Key West, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios and a specially developed out-island at Labadie Shores, Haiti.

While the vessel is brand-new (it entered service last December), the deck looks like a grizzled veteran of the sea, causing more than one passenger to remark that the ship looked older than its nine months, despite the considerable refurbishing that was going on while we were aboard.

Inside the ship, however, everything is sparkling clean. Top accommodations are spacious suites (400 square feet) with private verandas and walk-in closets, a sitting area and refrigerator, for a special inaugural price of $1,795 per person, double occupancy, now through the sailing of Dec. 14 (plus a Los Angeles air add-on of $225). After Dec. 14, the price jumps to $2,545 per person, double occupancy.

Extra amenities include complimentary champagne, a fresh-fruit basket replenished daily, a bottle of liquor and soft drinks, monogrammed terry-cloth robes to take home, a bathtub with whirlpool and complimentary round-trip limousine transfers between the ship and the airport.

Mini-suites are almost as gracious, with a separate sitting area and a bathtub, for $1,595 per person, double occupancy.

The basic bottom-line, double inside cabin goes for only $995 per person, double occupancy, through mid-December, including the fruit basket and the champagne. There are five cabins designed for disabled passengers, each with a wheelchair-accessible bathroom.

The secret of the tasty food aboard (even on the self-service buffet breakfast and lunch) seems to be that it is prepared in small quantities and replenished often.

And the room-service sandwiches, available without charge 24 hours a day, are some of the freshest and best we’ve sampled at sea.

Public rooms are handsomely decorated, with a penchant for purple.

Gigi’s is a small bar off the casino that goes full steam ahead on the color, but the elegant Visions Lounge also cashes in on purple. Visions is the setting for white-glove teas with sandwiches and cookies and piano music in the background, but after dinner a laid-back jazz duo performs into the late hours.

Despite being limited by a small stage area, Crown’s entertainment is fresh and new. A sophisticated team of singers and dancers almost nightly perform polished, original musical revues that are a welcome relief from the usual excerpts from “Chorus Line” and “Fiddler on the Roof” heard on other cruises.

The small spender is rewarded over and over again on this ship. Every day from 8 a.m. to noon, Bloody Marys are only $1.75 at the poolside Splash Bar, and everybody gets a bottle of champagne in the cabin at boarding time.

We particularly admired tea-time in the Visions Lounge, with cookies and sandwiches and a pianist playing light classical favorites. Then and after dinner, a rolling cart of liqueurs is offered as well.