*Luv2Cruz* Posted December 16, 2012 #1 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Just got back from the November 30 8 Day Miracle sailing from NYC to Port Canaveral, Nassau, and Freeport. Having sailed on the Miracle once before we thought we knew what to expect but this cruise exceeded our expectations for many reasons!! Having joined a very quiet roll call a little over a month before the sailing I wasn’t sure how active this group was going to be but things quickly picked up and we met a great bunch of people and had the time of our lives!:cool: This was the first cruise we booked out of NYC in November. After initially having some concerns about the potential of bad weather, the much lower off season prices quickly got our attention and we booked our first every OS suite 6174 for less than any previous balcony! The room was excellent with almost twice the square footage, flat screen TV, a bigger balcony, lottsa room for storage, and a normal sized bathroom with a tub! We took the YankeeTrails bus from upstate which has always been a good way for us to get to and from the city dropping us off right at the port and our luggage is taken directly from the bus. Check in was simple with the priority suite boarding though the lounge was very simple and plain compared to the VIP lounge of NCL. Once on board we went to the Lido deck for a quick bite to eat and went right to the deli which serves hot corn beef, pastrami, reubens… as well as other sandwiches and sides. After lunch we checked out the ship then went to one of the bars for our first of two meet and greets at 2p. A nice bunch of people came and you must try the ThirstyFrog Red beer!;) Went to our room which I previously described, and if you’re interested, checkout my pictures via the link in my signature! Went back outside for a while, attended the muster drill before sail away, then back to the bar for our second meet and greet where some of the first folks returned and we were joined by even more!! What a great group of peeps!!:cool: We had early dinning and we were seated at a table for 8 with a real nice group of people. We looked forward to dinner each night and the food was so good each night we never got to, or needed the pay restaurant! We also liked the 24 hour pizza which was very good though tasted more like pizza hut to me which I like for a change. We ate breakfast/lunch in either the MDR or buffet (which was always crowded but maneuverable) and really enjoyed the Comedy Brunches in the MDR though the comedy, was very short during the brunch! At 1:30p our first sea day the party really started when 41 members of our roll call got together for a one hour open bar cocktail party which I organized! This once quiet roll called quickly turned into party animals and we all had a great time, held a gift exchange, and played LCR! I even invited Cory the CD who fit right in and joined the party!! Some of the shows we had seen before but the Ticket to Ride was great again! They also had a ventriloquist who was very good and a hypnotist who didn’t do it for us! What we really liked was the nightly comedy and with the adult shows starting at 9:45, even we were able to stay up. Get there early as the space is small and gets packed quickly!! During our sea days we spend most of our time in the Serenity Adult only area on deck 9 aft. We had good weather all week and what a nice setup with a small pool, whirlpool, lounges, hammocks, and awesome hard to get clam shells! See the pics link in my signature for a better view. And yes; they do monitor for “chair hogs” though I didn’t notice anyone’s stuff being taken away. We stayed onboard at Port Canaveral and had a great time at both Nassau and Freeport! In Nassau we went snorkeling with Stuarts Cove which was by far, one of the best snorkeling trips we’ve ever been on. A bus picked us up and we took a beautiful drive to their location which was the site of several movies and the location where flipper was filmed. Then had several different excursions and boats running at the same time and a really great setup and location. The ship and staff were excellent and we had three stops. A reef, and wreck, and snorkeling with sharks which was amazing!!!:eek: They dropped a bait box 40 feet below along with divers and we snorkeled above. For you divers out there, you too can dive with the reef sharks. When done; they pulled up the bait box and the sharks surfaced and they were much much bigger then they appeared while snorkeling! In Freeport when went to the Grand Lucayan Resort with a $10/pp day pass and a few other couples we met onboard. My DW and I had been to the resort 42 years earlier and though it looked a lot different it brought back many great memories! The resort had several pools including an infinity pool, a nice beach, reasonable bar prices, starbucks, and you could pay for parasailing, jet skis, sailing, snorkeling… Hard to miss with Stuarts Cove and the Grand Lucayan Resort!!:cool: Overall it was one of our favorite cruises for many reasons and one of the nicest and compassionate CC groups we could ever ask for.:D Hope to be cruising again soon and we’ll miss the Miracle as she leaves NYC and we look forward to checking out the Splendor when she comes to town! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMSACE6 Posted December 16, 2012 #2 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Thanks for your review! Sounds like a wonderful time:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floatingaway2525 Posted December 16, 2012 #3 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Ah we loved the Miracle too, will miss her!! Great review, thanks for writing!!!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica1988 Posted December 16, 2012 #4 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I respect your work.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copper6606 Posted December 16, 2012 #5 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Sailing on The Miracle in April- thanks for the great review and the heads up about the Thirsty frog red beer. We'll be trying it for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TITISSA Posted December 16, 2012 #6 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Do you know if there is a DVD player in the room? I want to bring something to watch on sea day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Luv2Cruz* Posted December 17, 2012 Author #7 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Do you know if there is a DVD player in the room? I want to bring something to watch on sea day.Thank you all for your comments and I didn't notice a dvd play but did notice some av inputs!;) Hope this helps and enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipq Posted December 17, 2012 #8 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Thanks for sharing your review. Love the Thirsty Frog Red Ale! http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hill6 Posted December 17, 2012 #9 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Nice review Barry. Can't wait to read the rest Hope you and Carol have a good holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathfinderEss Posted December 17, 2012 #10 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Thanks for your review, glad you had a good cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUPY48 Posted December 17, 2012 #11 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Happy holidays to you and Carol! And thanks for the review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djwood24 Posted December 17, 2012 #12 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Sounds like a great time....glad you had fun!!! All the best to you and Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillpra Posted December 17, 2012 #13 Share Posted December 17, 2012 We had Cory as Cruise Director on the Dream in July and love him! He is so much fun and truly enjoys his job! Wants everyone to have a good time! Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Thoughts Posted December 17, 2012 #14 Share Posted December 17, 2012 We did that cruise in the middle of the summer one year. OMG, we could NEVER cool off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drosphot Posted December 17, 2012 #15 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Thank you all for your comments and I didn't notice a dvd play but did notice some av inputs!;) Hope this helps and enjoy! On the Magic the new flat panel TVs have HDMI inputs on them. I unplugged the unit attached to the TV for the in-cabin info and plugged in the iPad with an HDMI adapter and the DW watched LOST episodes from the iPad while me and the boys dove in GC and Cozumel after her shopping excursions. I don't know if the Miracle has upgraded TVs in all cabins yet, they weren't in 2010 when we sailed her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Luv2Cruz* Posted December 17, 2012 Author #16 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Nice review Barry. Can't wait to read the rest Hope you and Carol have a good holiday. Happy holidays to you and Carol! And thanks for the review. Sounds like a great time....glad you had fun!!! All the best to you and Carol. Good hearing from all you guys and good to be back on the Miracle and say goodbye!:( Carol is doing okay and we hope to checkout the Splender next year and wish you all a great Christmas and Happy New Year!:cool::D:) And thank you all for teaching us how to party on the Miracle!:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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