am+a

If you mean which pier, it is 4.

I just went on a tour with Rony. He was fantastic!  We knew we wanted to hold the sloths so we went to Manawakie Park and it was amazing!  He gave us a full tour of the island and we had a great day. Highly Recommend!

We just did this excursion. Had a great time!  There were 8 people doing the excursion. They did pick us up directly from the ship and returned us directly to the ship. We went to several places to fish and then to a private island that was completely empty to eat. One thing to think about, there was zero shade on the boat. 

We actually just did this excursion and they are absolutely fantastic!  We had 9(!) people on our boat. They really care about the rays and it shows.

Overall impression of the ship: Carnival Miracle is an oldie but we loved her. The layout is wonderful and the only time we ever felt crowded was sea day lunch. We actually liked the décor. It was old school and made us feel like we were really on a cruise. The Serenity area was very nice and we were able to find shade both sea days without resorting to chair hogging. Yes, it is showing signs of wear but nothing drastic and everything was very clean. There were very few dishes left in the hallway and the crew really seems to take pride in the ship. 

We had a great cruise but I'm not sure that we will be returning to Carnival. We are in our late 30s and we have no kids. I think other lines just fit what we're looking for and I certainly can't knock anything Carnival does as they have their audience.

I'm happy to answer any questions and I look forward to my next cruise: a 10 day Celebrity Equinox I booked for next May to celebrate a big birthday.

Embarkation in Tampa was super easy and quick. We were in a Suite so we were in the "Captain's Lounge" which is really just a roped off section of chairs. We had purchased Faster to the Fun as well which seemed to confuse the workers at first but I did it so that we could drop our bags off first thing and because of the dedicated Guest Services line. I absolutely hate lines; I am much too anxious all the time. 

Debarkation was another story. We met on Deck 3 of MDR. One side was for Platinum and the other was for everyone else with priority debarkation. There was only one guy working in there and the problem was that when people came in, he would leave the front to direct them where to sit (he was trying to form a sort of line with the tables) but more people would come in after and they would just seat themselves causing confusion. Also, we were delayed but all announcements would start in the room and then cut off to be replaced by  the music in the dining room. We could hear just a murmur out in the hallway so we knew they were actually making announcements but no one could hear anything! The guy in the room never let us know what was going on so we had no updates.

Ahhh, the Cheers package. A much-heated topic on this board. The last time we took a Carnival cruise it didn't exist so this was our first time trying it. Now this was a port-intensive(ish) cruise so we knew that maybe we wouldn't necessarily get all value out of it but we like the option of trying whatever we like without a surprise bill at the end of the cruise. We've been on a Norwegian cruise (never again) and two Celebrity cruises previous to this cruise, all with beverage packages.

First, we LOVED Alchemy bar. That group of bartenders were simply amazing! This was a stop before dinner every night. Watching them create different drinks on a whim was really neat and we had a lot of fun there meeting all of the other regulars. 

Cheers has too many arbitrary rules. We definitely knew the 15 drink rule and don't mind it and never came close any day, so that didn't matter to us. It was the little "this but not this" things and "here but not here" things that bugged us.  For example:

• you can get a bottle of water from a bar but not when leaving the ship even though it is the SAME EXACT bottle of water
• you can get a large bottle of water in the MDR but no where else
• you can get an alcoholic drink and a non-alcoholic drink at the same time UNLESS you are trying to get a coffee drink with alcohol and one without at the same time
• you have to sign for every drink (We hate this and much prefer Celebrity who just runs your card) except in the MDR which seems strange
• the Steakhouse runs your card each time you order a drink instead of just putting them all on the final bill at the end
• juices at brunch are not included. This is not mentioned anywhere in the terms and conditions

It was just frustrating at some points and is one reason why we probably will stay away from Carnival going forward. More to come.

Last Sunday we made it back from the final sailing of the Miracle out of Tampa to the Western Caribbean. All in all, we had a good cruise and really enjoyed all the ports of call.  Our cabin was a Vista Suite which was amazing! We were on deck 4. Very quiet. Crazy big balcony! Our stewardess Ida was fantastic and super friendly. 

We are breakfast, brunch and most dinners in the main dining room. We also did the Chef's Table and the Steakhouse. We had anytime dining and were lucky enough to have an amazing waiter the first night who we requested each subsequent night: Geraldo. This was my seventh cruise and he was the best waiter we have ever had. Even when his section was super busy, we never waited for anything. Also, my husband and I agree that the food was a step-up from our previous Carnival cruises. We had wonderful meals in the MDR. 

The Chef's Table was nice, but we didn't enjoy it as much as the previous time we had done it which was about 4 years ago on the Valor. The menu wasn't as inventive and the service was actually a little lacking. The Steakhouse was a disappointment. The appetizers were pretty good (I'm a huge fan of Ahi tuna and that app was one of my favorites!) but our steaks didn't taste like much. Also, we had early reservations for when the steakhouse opened but it took them about 10 minutes to even acknowledge us or seat us after the time of our reservation. Also, even though the restaurant was empty, they sat all of the tables right on top of each other including one with a small infant. We both wished we had just gone to the MDR that night.

Ports were all fantastic! In Grand Cayman we went to stingray city with Stingray Sailings. They are a smaller company and take a max of 25 people. We had a whole 9 people on our boat! They are wonderful. On their website, they state that they do not "wrangle" the rays and will not grab them for photo ops. I had had this type of experience in the Bahamas and felt bad for the rays so I was really excited to just get in the water and be around them. We had such a great time! As soon as we got in the water, the rays circled us and didn't leave even though there were multiple other groups around. Chip and Matthew knew every ray by name and personality and those rays knew them! Highly recommend.

In Roatan, we hired Rony's Tours as a private driver for the day. He was great! We had a tour of the island and then he took us to Manawakie Park so that I could hold a Sloth. It was an incredible experience! It is a smaller park and they also had monkeys you could play with but I was there for the sloth and they did not disappoint! We also toured a chocolate factory and then went to Bananarama and rented chairs to just chill at the beach for a while.

In Belize, we booked our only excursion through Carnival, which was a bottom-fishing trip. The boat picked us up directly from the ship and we went to several spots to fish. There were a total of 8 people doing this excursion because I believe they limit the number of people. After fishing for a while, they took us to the cutest little private island and cooked the fish for us. We were then returned directly to the ship. A great day!

In Cozumel, we did Mr. Sanchos and while it was a nice beach, they really pack people in there!  We still managed to have a good time though.

I know this is getting long, so I'll continue in another post. I have a lot to say about the Cheers package.

Just off the Summit and had the Aspen Coffee while on there. Delicious!

am+a, just read what I wrote. What's so funny is I'm the original 'rules are just suggestions' girl. I was way up on my horse with that one! Sorry.

 

No Problem! I'm really enjoying your review. Maybe I'm just a little jealous that you were on the B2B and I had to get off in Puerto Rico!

Just off the Summit in Concierge Class. We received all the products mentioned above except we had to ask for the lotion for some reason. Our friends in the next cabin received it but not us. We had to ask for the bathrobes and were told that they were late in getting them washed. There is shower gel not bar soap.

Ok, one last time. The Celebrity Today said that Bistro was being used exclusively for Aqua Class. We did not try to go there.

If you went and they served you, great but we decided to follow the rules and had our lunch elsewhere.

 

We did not intentionally try to "break the rules." There was no sign at the restaurant and we did not see that in the newsletter probably because we were too excited to get on board. Just wanted to let others know our experience.

I was also on this cruise. I agree on the MDR food. They had much better variety, presentation and taste on my Carnival Valor cruise last year. Qsine was outstanding though.

The staff could not have been more courteous and we always found things to do and stay entertained. We are in our 30's and were travelling with another couple who are in their 20's if that makes a difference.

I would be very unhappy if I wasn't able to have lunch in Bistro on embarkation, it's become a kind of tradition for all our family now :(

 

Thanks for the great review Gail xx

We were on this cruise and had lunch in the Bistro. We are not Aqua and we were not even asked nor was anyone else that came in (we were right by the hostess stand).

We took the bus from Phillipsburg to Maho. Didn't wait at all. What would have cost about $40 for the four of us was $10 total. I look forward to taking it to Marigot this time. Super easy to find in Phillipsburg.

OK, thank you for the input again. I get the difference now.

Carol, thank you for all the information. I was trying to get more info on possible fares from the Hilton Newark Penn Station and Cape Liberty. I saw in a previous post that you said it would be $100-150 (I'm assuming round-trip) but the taxi fare finder site says it is only $24 one way. That's quite a difference! Any additional insight on this would be greatly appreciated!

Update to our friends' situation: they called again and spoke to a third rep who was able to get them the upgrade at the correct price. The third rep said she had no idea what the other two were talking about. Fun times with celebrity customer service!

Friends of ours just tried to upgrade to the premium package over the phone and were told by two different reps that they had to pay the full price even though they already had the classic package included with their cruise fare. Oh, and the second person told them that they had just had a price increase and now the premium package was $69 per night. Anyone else hear this? We were just going to wait until we got onboard to upgrade.

Thanks for the review! I can't wait to read more. Did y'all ever make it to the piano bar or club? If so, how was it? Also, I've been going back and forth over transportation once we get to San Juan. Carnival is $12 pp both ways which is $48 not including tips and the taxis in San Juan are $19 plus $1 per bag. I know I'll have 2 suitcases for sure but do you know if they charge for backpacks? Just based on having 2 suitcases I'm looking at $42 not including tips. They're really both about the same as far as price but I wouldn't have to wait for the Carnival bus to fill up which is a PITA. I love your cabin by the way. I have an aft wrap on the Valor in August and I cannot wait!

I don't think I quite understand your math. To take a taxi in San Juan it would be $19 which would include up to 5 passengers and then it is $1 per bag. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that is from the Puerto Rico tourism site. Edited to Add: Nevermind, I now see you are talking roundtrip. I have used Carnival transport in the past and agree that it's time consuming. Taxi's for me!

Thanks gapearl and imsailing for the info about the steakhouse!

Love your reviews! Can't wait to hear this one as we're going in October. Did you happen to notice if they took Steakhouse reservations the first night?