03/26 Miracle review - First time Cruiser!

I should start by saying that this was the first cruise for my husband and I. We are both in our Mid 40’s. For months before the cruise I read every single word posted here for information about the Miracle ship and cruising in general.

If you’re reading this and looking for negative comments . . . read no further becasue you won’t find any. We loved everything about this cruise and my husband and I mutually agreed that this was by far the best vacation we have ever taken. Our only regret is that we lived only miles from Tampa for many years and never cruised before.

My husband in currently stationed in Kosovo (former Yugoslavia). I traveled from our home state of Montana and we met in Tampa five days prior to our sailing. We stayed at the Hard Rock Casino (we had a free room certificate that had been mailed to us) I was pleasantly surprise when I checked and was informed that we had been upgraded to a deluxe suite. It was wonderful! We took advantage of this time to just be with each other and visit with family and friends. We were very relaxed when we boarded the ship on Saturday.

Since we were going to be in Tampa for a few days I rented a car from Enterprise. When I returned the car the Skycap informed us that had we rented from Avis or Hertz they would have provided a free ride to the cruise ship terminal.

The embarkation process was a breeze. We took a cab from the airport and had arrived at the terminal at about 11:00. We had a Category 11 Suite so we had VIP check in privileges. The crew on the Miracle received an award that morning so they were a little later than usual (from the comments I heard) in letting people board. As soon as the ship was cleared to board they let a few wedding parties on and then they called fro VIP boarding. We were on board and enjoying lunch on the lido deck in a matter of minutes.

Our Cabin was beautiful (#6162). Our Cabin Steward was Bogdon and he was fantastic. We never saw his assistant. We had brought a small cooler that we kept water and soda in that we had brought on board and it was kept full of fresh ice the entire week. The room was kept perfectly in order the entire week. We would stop back in our cabin mid morning and it was always made up. We would see our room Stewart in the halls from time to time but never saw him in our room after the first day when he stopped by to introduce himself. I’m not sure how he did it but when ever we left our room (even for a short time) we would come back and the bed would be made freshly, any towels we had used would be replaced with new ones and the ice bucket had fresh ice in it. Needless to say, we were very pleased with the service Bogdon provided and tipped him handsomely throughout the week in addition to the standard tip that was included on our sail and sign card at the end of the cruise.

We were assigned the late dinner seating which we had requested at a table of four. We went to the dining room on the first day and they kindly changed our seating to a table for two. It’s not that we are unsociable, but rather my husband and I had not seen each other for several months and I wanted to have romantic dinners alone. We enjoyed the food and had no complaints. I can’t remember our waiters name but he was very nice and he and his assistant provided us with excellent service.

We dined at Nick and Nora’s on Wednesday evening. The food and service was excellent. My only disappointment was that our table was situated right next to the bar. So while I had envisioned a candle light dinner and being whisked onto the dance floor between courses. We actually kind of felt like we were eating in a well lighted bar. However, because the food and service was so wonderful we still had a very enjoyable evening.

I had read a wide range of comments about this ship. We found it to be quite nice and had no problems navigating our way around after the first day. I had also read many comments about the décor of the dining room and did not find it as offensive as many would have lead you to believe it to be. I suppose I just expected this ship to be very grandly decorated and it was.

Monday was a fun day at sea and we did not do much. We slept in late and had breakfast delivered to our room. It arrived within minutes of ordering it and we enjoyed it on our balcony. This acutally became a daily ritual. We spent a little bit of time up on deck and then checked out the casino.

The casino was VERY good to us. I won $1000 on a Wheel of Fortune Slot Machine on Monday and then another $800 a few days later. My husband won $500 on the same machine as well. I also got lucky playing roulette when it hit on my favorite number with a $5 bet on it!! Which was great because we racked up a pretty hefty bill on our sail and sign card.

For the first 3 ports of call, Grand Cayman, Belize and Cozumel we did not book any tours. We slept in late each morning, had our morning breakfast (room service) ritual on our balcony and then leisurely made our way downstairs to catch a tender to Port. We did not have any wait on any of these days and were at the port in a matter of a few minutes. We did some local sopping had lunch in port and then returned to the ship and had no problem finding a chair right next to the pool. On Friday, we had booked a tour to see the Myan ruins in Costa Maya. Since this was the day we docked at the port we easily made out way to the end of the pier to meet our group at 8:30 am. Our tour guide Tania was great and very knowledgeable about the area and culture. We were delivered back to the pier by 1:00 and still had time to enjoy the beach.

Debarkation was also a breeze. Our flights were not until later in the afternoon so we were not in any hurry. We slept in and then departed at about 9:15. We found our luggage within only minutes with the help of a porter and caught a cab to the airport.

We are hooked on cruising and I am sure this will be their first of many to come. We are already in the process of planning one for next year!

In closing I would like to sincerely thank all of you kind posters who answered my many questions before my cruise and also thank each of you who posted your reviews of your cruise. I cannot express how helpful this was to me in planning this trip. You are all awesome!

Thanks for sharing your review. It's nice that you and your hubby got to have a nice relaxing romantic vacation together. After being apart for so long I'm sure it was nice! :)

I'm so glad your husband was able to make it afterall! We (our roll call) sure did miss meeting you guys!

Glad to hear you guys had a GREAT cruise - that was a wonderful review!

Deb

So glad you had a wonderful time. We are headed out on her in October and can't wait!!!

I'm sorry we didn't have the chance to meet. Glad you had a great time.

Thanks so much for the review! Our first cruise is on the Miracle in September and I'm beyond excited!!!

Thank you for the fabulous review! I'm so glad your first cruise experience was trouble free. I sail the Miracle on Sunday and am counting the hours. Did you make Nick and Nora reservations the very first day? Are you able to see what they are serving in the regular dining room each night, so you can select a day for Nick and Nora's? I'm just wondering what is the best night.

We made our reservation when we first boarded the ship. We didn't know what the menu would be but I had read so many reviews with positive comments I felt confident I woul enjoy whatever was on the menu that evening. They do serve Filet mignon and Lobster every night.

As far as seeing menus for each day in the main dining room, I looked at the menue posted here to give us an idea. They posted the menu each morning in the main didin room lobby. We were tired one day and went to look and see if there was anything special being offered that night (we were thinking of ordering room service) But since they had featured of of my favorite dishes we decided to dine in the main dining room.

I am not sure if you can select your tale or not. We made our reservation in the ship's lobby and they did not offer that option to us.

Thanks for the great review!

Ok,

I am the one who is always

snake bit on the slots...

Which machine did you play on?

If you could describe where it

was I would appreciate it.

They have some set to hit,

and most set to take your $$$.

Please let us know where it was,

what were you feeding it?

Dollars, Quarters? all full bets each time?

We would love to hit 10% of what you

did...

I even had the Casino Mgr. On The

Mariner leading me around showing

me the loose machines... and at the end

he gave us two t-shirts! $300 each! (in donations

of course...)

Glad you had a great time...

Winning is so fun!

Ed, Deb, Sean and Amy Moore

Miracle 10/1/06

Cabin 8228 :)

Nice review! Thanks for sharing with us...it's really nice to hear that you both enjoyed yourselves. I'm cruising on the Miracle in Feb 07 and I have heard nothing but positive things about the ship and her crew. I hope all your future cruises are smooth sailing :)

Great review. Glad that you and your husband had a great time. We are sailing on the Miracle the end of the month. Thx for the information.

Ok,

 

I am the one who is always

 

snake bit on the slots...

 

Which machine did you play on?

 

If you could describe where it

 

was I would appreciate it.

 

They have some set to hit,

 

and most set to take your $$$.

 

Please let us know where it was,

 

what were you feeding it?

 

Dollars, Quarters? all full bets each time?

 

We would love to hit 10% of what you

 

did...

 

I even had the Casino Mgr. On The

 

Mariner leading me around showing

 

me the loose machines... and at the end

 

he gave us two t-shirts! $300 each! (in donations

 

of course...)

 

Glad you had a great time...

 

Winning is so fun!

 

Ed, Deb, Sean and Amy Moore

 

Miracle 10/1/06

Cabin 8228 :)

Okay . . . So here the scoop

All of the Dollar Wheel of Forturn Machines seemed to be paying off. We played becasue when we came into the casino there was a guy there playing two fo the machines and hitting something every few rolls. I think he finally cashed out and called it a night after winning about $1600 between two machines. They were dollar machines and you had to play $3 in order to play the "spin feature".

My husnad also did very well on the "Little green Men Machine that you saw right as you came into the casino. He probably won a couple of hindred dollars and sat and played on his intital 20 dollar investment for hours . . .

There was a nickle machine (I don't remember what it was called) but it had a bunch of musical instruments and I got all of the "Gold Records" for a payout of $300 on my second spin on it.

Hope this is helpful . . .Everyone told us not to bother with the casino, that it would be tight. I am glad we played . . . it paid off for us as we pretty much paid for our entire sail and sign account for the week plus half of our cruise cost.

Hi

Used our room # as a Search and got your posting.

We will be in that room Apr. 25.

Of course it is now an Eastern Caribbean Cruise out of NYC.

Still looking forward to it.

My husband and I were with you on the Miracle last week. We were in cabin 8175. I can't agree with you more. That was a fabulous cruise!

We are leaving Sunday on Miracle as well and have already booked our Nick & Nora nights. Our friends did this same cruise last year and said they couldn't get in on the nights they wanted once they boarded the ship. You might want to go ahead and make your N & N reservations now.

Safe travels and maybe we'll see you there!!

Can't wait!

We are leaving Sunday on Miracle as well and have already booked our Nick & Nora nights. Our friends did this same cruise last year and said they couldn't get in on the nights they wanted once they boarded the ship. You might want to go ahead and make your N & N reservations now.

Safe travels and maybe we'll see you there!!

Can't wait!

How do you make supper club reservations before you cruise?

Thanks.

How do you make supper club reservations before you cruise?

 

Thanks.

She's probably traveling today and won't answer. I'm going on the Miracle tomorrow and too would like to know how she made the reservation before boarding. Do you think VIPs get that privilege?