Miracle Review - July 31st Sailing

Sitting here in Tampa Airport waiting for our flight to depart back to Islip.

The cruise was fantastic. I will write a detailed review over the next few days. Family of 5 (2 Teen girls 16) and Father-In-Law (78)

Just a few highlights...

Cabin 7298 & 7300...Aft Wrap-A-Round...Unbelievable. Cabin Stewards were awesome.

Skippers Club Checkin..On Board with drink in hand by 12:15

Dining Room and Service..Top Notch

Casino....Fair and Friendly...Slots were paying well all week

Grand Cayman...Hyatt Day Pass...worth every penny

Costa Maya....Fishermansg Village and Port...Excellent

Belize...Stayed on Ship...Girls did full Spa Treatments

Cozumel...Royal Dolphin Swim (Must be done!) and Paradise Beach (It was Paradise....Hey Tom...great to meet you...PB is the best!

This morning we were off the ship by 9am. No pain No strain!!

Will do full review later.

So glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise on the Miracle, Soccer! I look forward to your review!

OHHH hurry and post more!! We are going on our first ever cruise on the Miracle in two weeks and I just can't get enough info!! Glad you had such a good time. I would particularly be interested in what the girls liked the best as we are bringing our 16 year old girl also in addition to our 12 year old son. Sounds like you did interesting things in the ports.. can't wait to read more. Susan

We will be in cabin7298 on 9/11. Glad you had a great cruise are you going to post any pictures of the cabin. Also doing the royal swim . Did you get the video ? What was the charge?

Can't wait to read your full review to get some hints for ourselves.

Pat, SC

Would you please post more details on the Hyatt day pass at Grand Cayman? How did you arrange it, what did it cost, and what was included? Thanks much!

Sheree

Did you or any of yours try the waterslide? I'm mostly curious as to what it's hours are, if the lines are long, etc.

Glad it was fun!! I am also on othe 9/11/05 Eric. A group of us from Illinois intend on having a blast.:cool:

It will still be a few days before I am able to post a complete review, but will try to answer questions along the way...

Pjnc (Pat): Once you experience cabin 7298 you will never want another cabin. You walk thorugh the door into a living area with couch/daybed, tv, minbar..table and chair (this area is appx. 8x8) My Father-In-Law slept here. The way the cabin is setup, real doors close off this area from the bedroom (which is appx 10x15) Bathroom has full tub/jacuzzi and two sinks. Seperate makeup area wich counter top, mirror and chair. In the bedroom very large closet and the balcony...no word can describe. We had 3 regular and 3 lounge chairs with 3 tables. Happy Hour everyday on the balcony.

The girls did the Royal Dolphin Swim, lasted about an hour. DVD was $50 and worth every cent. It is personalized with their names and very well produced.

Oriolesfan22 (Sheree): The Grand Hyatt day pass was $35 per person. They did not charge for the girls and you receive a $15 per person bar/food credit. We docked in Grand Cayman at 7am (6am GC Time) We got off the Miracle around 8:30am and took a 5 minute cab ride to the Hyatt ($4 per person). Since no one was at the swim-up bar yet,,,we just enjoyed the facilities. Chevy (The worlds famous bartender from Canada) arrived around 9am and I payed him for the day passes and he went and got us towels to use for the days. The pools were great. Eastern Sports has the Watersports desk and the girls did JetSking and got floats for the beach. There is nothing to arrange to go to the Hyatt. Just show up and sya Hi to Chevy for me :)

Super89 (Susan): "I would particularly be interested in what the girls liked the best as we are bringing our 16 year old girl "........Starting off the Sunday night, they attended the O2 meeting (Teen Club 15-19). They met alot of people throughout the cruise. Their normal day was after sunning they would go to MadHatters for Karaoke then to the Disco and/or Frankie & Johnnies for the night. My wife and I saw very little of them except for dinner (late sitting) or when we were on the shore :) :)

Keep the cards and letter coming.

What exactly is the Grand Hyatt pass? I am going on the Miracle on 8/21 and it sounds like something that might be fun to do on shore...Any more details about it?

thanks!

What exactly is the Grand Hyatt pass? I am going on the Miracle on 8/21 and it sounds like something that might be fun to do on shore...Any more details about it?

 

thanks!

The Day Pass gives you access to the hotel facilities including showers, towels, their 2 pools and beach/chairs. When we were there last Tuesday, the beach next to the Hyatt was jammed packed and we had nice and quiet sand and beach.

Hey Soxchick, you should visit our roll call board! We have quite a group going! Thanks for the info on what your 16 year old did. It sounds right up my daughters alley!! Can't wait to read the rest of your review.

As promised here is my review of our Carnival Miracle sailing – July 31, 2005

Cast of Characters:

Yours Truly – 47 (Computer Geek)

My Exquisite Wife – 46

Father-In-Law – 70+

Darling Daughter and Her Best Friend - 16yrs each (or 32 divided by 2)

Philosophy for Cruise: :) “It’s only money….but we are doing the Vacation Dance!" :)

Pre-cruise – Flight into Tampa on Saturday via Southwest out of Islip, NY (Printing boarding passes on the internet at 7am) and stayed at the Tampa Marriott Waterside (3 rooms…Thank you Marriott Rewards). Our party of 5 with 14 pieces of luggage fit in a Taxi van and from the airport to the hotel was $30.00 Of course there was tipping for the Airport porter, Hotel Porter, Bell Captain, My Wife.… :) “It’s only money….but we are doing the Vacation Dance!" :)

After checking in, a democratic vote was taken (3-2….women!!!) we took the trolley from the hotel to Old Town to do some shopping. The trolley was $.50 each way and about a 10 minute ride. Went back to the Marriott after for the 1st of many cocktails at the hotels great Atrium bar and then to the Marriott’s Italian Restaurant for dinner (excellent)

Embarkation: We left the hotel around 11:15 am, again in a Taxi Van ($4 each) Arrived at the port at 11:20 am, gave the luggage to a porter (tipping again) and proceeded upstairs to the Skippers Club. Our cabins were 7298 (Cat. 11) and 7300 (Cat 8i). Check-in process was exactly 10 minutes. Boarding Photo’s was taken and we were on Deck 2 at 12 noon. Went right away to the Pursers Desk and became the 1st on the “Open Balcony” list and had holes punched in S&S cards.

Cabin: Again, our cabin numbers were 7298 and 7300. We went to our cabins at 1pm and found them all ready for us. Met “H” our cabin steward and “R” who was the girl’s steward. Made sure I gave them both a tip to start the week off ….remember philosophy… and the weeks service was impeccable. I had pre-ordered a few items to the cabins (Birthday Decorations and Chocolate Dipped strawberries for DD and Flowers, Champagne, Fruit Basked and Corona Cooler for EW.) All were setup and presented beautifully.

After dropping of our carry-on luggage, we headed to the Lido deck for a quick bite to eat. Since we had sailed on the Pride, we knew the layout of the Miracle. As expected, the food was great.

Luggage arrived at the cabin before 5pm. Muster drill was painless. Went back to our balcony to open our “homemade portable bar” (yes…brought from home) and had Champagne and Martinis (the olives make it!) Knock on the cabin door and the Canapés I ordered were delivered. Met the next door neighbors (Hi Sam and Meredith….Happy Honeymoon) who joined us for our sail away party. Watched the Skyway Bridge pass above us and yes…….We are Crusin!

The girls went to the O2 get together and started the first of many new friendships for the week.

Dinner was at 8:15….table 229. Met our waiter Aslam who I must say, was the absolute best!! Made sure I did my normal philosophy… and the week’s service was flawless.

I would love to tell you what we had for each meal, but alas I can’t. For the reason being Aslam made sure we tried almost everything listed on the menu daily. Our DD’s best friend….a somewhat finicky eater was served Filet Mignon and Caesar Salad every night (since this is the only thing she eats).

After dinner it was Casino Time for the adults and the Disco for the girls. (We beat the girls to bed)

Part 2 forthcoming….(I need to get some work done!)

soccer1: what a great read so far! i am really enjoying your review...from a fellow long islander's perspective!

I'll be in 7300 in October on Legend...so i would love to hear more about that cabin if you could....of course pics would be wonderful....:)

I'm so envious of your day at the Hyatt....i did that also in June and it was really the highlight of my trip...the most beautiful beach i have ever seen! I was on my own that day and spent a lot of that afternoon hanging out at the bar with Chevy...great guy... I have a few pics of my day at the Hyatt in the link on the bottom of the page if anyone is interested.

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Jane

The Saga continues……

Monday: First Day at Sea. Room Service delivered as pre-ordered. Coffee on the balcony, boy was it hot (the coffee too.) Tried to get my laptop to work on the ships network, but sorry to say their guest wireless network was down for the week. I was able to sign up the girls in the Internet Café to use the ships PC’s so they would not go through AIM withdrawal! (Special Thanks to Simon-Asst. IS Mgr for the Miracle for lending me a Crews account to use my laptop for some emergency work.)

The day was pretty much spent with EW, DD & BF sunning on the Lido, Eating, daily FuFu drinks, girls won the scavenger hunt, Casino, more eating, Happy Hour (Yes again!) on the balcony, more and more eating, Casino (Yes Again and Again…. Remember Philosophy for Cruise::) “It’s only money….but we are doing the Vacation Dance! :) “ ) then Disco for the girls.

Right now I need to make a special mention of the Gotham Lounge (3rd Floor in front of Bacchus. This by far was my favorite place to socialize. The bartender Sujetta (sorry to say left this past Sunday for a 2 month vacation) was fabulous.

Tonight was the 1st formal night and the Captains Welcome Party. Went to all to photo stops to have portraits taken.

Tuesday: Grand Cayman. Ship arrived at 7am (6am local time) Once again Room Service arrived as pre-ordered (loved those hang on door cards). Went down to Deck “A” to get our tender ride into GC. Took all but 10 mintues…

Special Remark…There will only be 2 negative comments in my complete review of our cruise. One is regarding the Salon on the ship (Not the Spa…but the Salon) which will be discussed later and secondly this one…The ships photographers who must take your picture every time you leave the ship. This creates such a bottleneck. Trust me, we bought out the Photo Studio ( :) “It’s only money….but we are doing the Vacation Dance! :) “ ) but they need to come up with some other way instead of blocking the gangplanks.

Loaded the clan on the bus/taxi waiting at the pier and was dropped off 1 door down from the Hyatt. ($4 per person) As stated in prior post, Hyatt was great.

Left the Hyatt around 2pm. The guy’s from the Sports Shack offered us a ride into town. Be aware of the road in Grand Cayman, if I did not know better I thought it was the Long Island Expressway during rush hour….Bumper to Bumper. Got dropped of at Little Switzerland in front of the piers and shopped for awhile.

Tendered back to the Miracle for yet another of many more to come Sail Away/Happy Hours on the balcony and another evening of the Miracle’s Fun.

Great review so far, Soccer1. Getting very excited for our Miracle cruise next July, even though it's a year away! Keep it coming!!!! Also if you have pics, please post a link for us!:)

Hi, your review is great, waiting patiently for another entry. We will be on the Miracle the first of January. I was wondering when did you have the formal nights? We have the early dinner and want to make sure we make it back on time to get all ready.

Thanks,

Brenda:o

Thanks for the great review so far!! Keep it coming. 11 days and counting!! I love your cruise slogan! Hope I can get hubby to think that way!:D

Wednesday: Costa Maya. Since Tuesday night was somewhat of a late evening. (I think we tied with the girls) We all slept in a little. My room service wakeup came and we were off the ship around 12:30.

Walked through the port and bought the bus tickets to Mahaual (the fisherman’s village). Tickets were $3 per person. They let you off at the beginning of the beach so we walked down to find Tapas Bar and Grill (Alas, Tapas did not survive the Hurricane) but we found Blue Lagoon. Alan (Hey Amigo) got us a table on the beach and…………….sorry, rest of the time spent here is a little blurry…I blame it all on Jose (Cuerovo) :)

The one thing I do remember is the lobster tacos….mmm…mmm…good!

Left Mahaual and took 2 cabs back to the port. Swam in the pools and spend the rest of the afternoon shopping. Bought some great chair hammocks ($30-40) a bunch of tee-shirts and the girls went nuts with the clothing.

FYI: There is a pharmacy in the port area…Has everything you could and “couldn’t” imagine.

Back to the ship area 6pm. Normal routine (see previous 3 evenings). If I remember correctly, this was disco night with Lido deck party.

Thursday: Belize. It was decided that we wanted to spend the day on the ship. We like to have 3 “days at sea”. EW, DD and BF spent the entire morning in the Spa doing multitudes of treatment. The spa and staff was great.

Spent the afternoon up at the Aft Adult Pool. There was a total of appx. 20 people. We had a blast.

This was the 2nd Formal night on the cruise but we opted for dinner in Nick & Noras. DD & BF wanted to have their hair done in the Salon prior so we could have more formal portraits done at the photo stops (:) Insert Philosophy here :) ). They had 4:00pm appointments. (Here is the 2nd negative comment on the entire cruise I promised you) (Authors Note: for all pessimists out there….if you can go through an entire 7 day cruise and have only 2 so-so bad things to say, then your cruise was perfect…I know ours was!!!) The 2 staff in the hair salon were not as accommodating as the rest of the cruise staff. The girls were rushed and kind of treated rudely. Without going into specifics, let’s just say EW cancelled 3 manicure/pedicure appointments for Saturday….called the salon, a manager was supposed to call back but never did. Oh well!

Enjoyed another glorious Sail Away on the balcony, thne dressed for dinner….photos…and arrived at Nick & Nora’s for our 7:30 reservation.

I recommend highly you try N&N for at least 1 night. Dinner was spectacular. Regarding other posts stating you can only have one starter….we did not find this. The waitress even asked us if we would like to try anything else.

After dinner it was more photos, and another evening of abusing the liver and carpel tunnel syndrome from the slot’s.

Keep tuned…same time…same channel…

As for Nick and Nora's, what did you try? I've seen the menu, and it all looks spectacular!

Also, were you able to make reservations ahead of time? Or, did you have to book them on board?

I highly reccommend the Surf & Turf, Cavier and Sushi also the Baked Potato with trimmings. We made the reservations when we boarded, but we know people were making them all week long.

As for Nick and Nora's, what did you try? I've seen the menu, and it all looks spectacular!

 

Also, were you able to make reservations ahead of time? Or, did you have to book them on board?

Do you have a link for the menu, please??? Thank you!!!

Thank you for your review. Very informative and entertaining.

Thanks for the Hyatt info. Nick and Nora do you have to book as soon as you board?

Why did you opt to stay on the ship in Belize as opposed to the other ports? Do you know if there are beaches in Belize within easy travel from the ship? We are in 6329 one deck below oposite side. I can't wait. It sounds fanastic. One week to go!

Jarora:

After research we found that we really did not want to do any excursions in Belize. There were no beaches easy accessable. A few people we knew got off this ship...tendered over..saw a few shops and then came right back to the ship (within the hour.)

N&N honestly can be booked anytime (of course this is dependent on the individual cruise) As an example...we had reservations for 5 on Thur at 7:30pm.N&N was only 1/3 full...Not everyone goes.

Pre-cruise – Flight into Tampa on Saturday via Southwest out of Islip, NY (Printing boarding passes on the internet at 7am) and stayed at the Tampa Marriott Waterside (3 rooms…Thank you Marriott Rewards).

How did you like the Marriott Waterside? We're considering that hotel for our pre-cruise.

The Marriott Waterside is a great hotel. Starbucks in the lobby as well as a very nice lounge. You can sit outside overlooking the Marina. Sunday morning just look left and you see the Miracle. Italian Restaurant was fantastic. There is also a Sports Bar (Champions) for pub style food.