Miracle "Behind The Fun" Tour Notes

[salty dingo]

Thought I would do a brain dump while the tour was still fresh in my mind from doing it yesterday. Overall, it was an amazing experience, and I do recommend it if you are interested in this sort of thing.

 

• It is held in the morning of the last sea day. Ours occurred while we were just off the coast of Cuba, which was in sight at the time.
  
• Our tour size was 19 guests and left at 9:30 AM. There was one other group of 19 that left at 9:00 AM. The group size has enlarged but is really limited by the size of the smallest space we have to visit (photo lab and supper club galley) so I doubt they will get bigger, and size could vary by ship.
  
• Security gives you a thorough wand down. If the wand beeps they feel the area but they politely ask permission first. The security guy disappears after that but re-appears when you are in a security-sensitive area.
  
• We visited the backstage area while a rehearsal was going on. They were in the middle of a cast change when the old dancers train the new ones. We got the lowdown on that area from a stage manager and a dancer.
  
• In the photo lab, we learned that all photographers are Carnival employees, not concessionaires. They all use the same camera model with the same settings, which never change, and are tuned for the processing equipment. All photos for a session go into a 1 GB CF card, which is transferred to the printers, and they work all night to have the evening pictures ready for the next morning. They are working on facial recognition technology which would identify your face and automatically link it with your onboard account so you can pull the photos up on your tv in the stateroom. It's not working yet. I think they are also using facial recognition technology in the security area... more on that in a separate thread.
  

... I'll post additional points in following posts. There are a lot more.

[wanderlust402]

Sounds very exciting. Did you run to the excursion desk to book this as soon as you boarded? I wonder how quickly it sold out.

[salty dingo]

Sounds very exciting. Did you run to the excursion desk to book this as soon as you boarded? I wonder how quickly it sold out.

Yes, it was one of the first things I did on board. The guy at the desk was pretty surprised that I knew about it. They do not advertise it much. This was only the 5th week it was run on Miracle. I don't know how fast it sold out but I think it took a couple of days for both tours to fill up.

[salty dingo]

Ok, on with more details. I hope I don't leave anything out, but there are no notes, so I only have my memory to go by. That's why I wanted to write this quickly.

 

We traveled in one group, with our leader, one of the trainers on board the ship. She was very articulate, knowledgeable, and entertaining.

 

• We did an extended galley tour. Entering through one of the "crew only" doors near the stairwell outside the dining room, we were in a part of the large, main galley. The chef de cuisine was our guide here. Soups for that night's meal were in early stages of preparation in the first area. The kettles they use are huge. They were simmering carrots and garlic on a large griddle and a few boxes/bottles of wine were visible. I can tell you they definintely do put wine in to the lobster bisque. I had it that night and it was very delicious.
  
• Next in the galley we went to the area where a large number of dessert cakes were displayed. There were framed photos on the tables and some other displays that are certainly there only for the group's benefit, but there were many people visible doing their actual work.
  
• The chef explained how the assembly line operation works. You place your order to the waiter, who then enters the order into a computer located near your table. The chefs see the orders in real time and start plating them as needed, on one side of the assembly line, while the wait staff queues up on the other side. In the middle is a raised platform with the finished plates. The waiter takes that, puts a top on, stacks it on his tray and continues down the line until he has all his orders. Then off to deliver to you!
  
• We had a chef teach us how to carve a variety of flowers out of vegetables. Edible tulips were made and given to each of the ladies. Men got nothing but it was fun to learn the techniques. They made it look easy.
  
• We toured the washing machines and learned he number of each type of bowl, plate, etc. held on the ship, plus the number that breaks each week. It's about $8 grand of plates, etc. each time they have to replace a batch of broken plates.
  
• The galley has several portholes so the chefs can see out and have natural light come in.
  
• The sanitation scores have been consitently high, according to our guide. From what I observed, it was spotless stainless steel everywhere.
  
• The chef promised to send everyone a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries, and they were delivered to my room during the tour. We then exited the galley and went down to A deck.
  
• We next observed the food storage areas. There is a separate, very large walk-in cooler for every type of food. Poultry, fish, etc. each had its own room. Being the last day, provisions were fairly low but some stock was being prepared for the next cruise. For example, we went into the beef locker which was fairly full. There was much frozen meat in a 48-hour thaw cycle, which was food for the next cruise.
  
• In the ice cream locker, I learned the ice cream is bought not made, as I had thought. It was 17 degrees below zero F and we did not linger in there for long.
  
• Just outside the ice cream room was the end of the hall and a door marked with familiar "Emergency Exit" signs, but also bearing an ominous red sign reading "do not open under any circumstances." Is an emergency a circumstance? I was puzzled, but what really got me was the noise coming from that room. It was like a jet airplane as it is throttling up and down during landing. I belive it was one of the generators, as the Miracle has no gas turbines onboard. It sure sounded like one, though. I asked our host and she said she did not know what the sound was.
  
• We went into the beer cooler room, which was a lot like I recall as a kid, opening your eyes on Christmas morning. Heaven must look like that, if drinking is allowed there.
  
• Next we went to the garbage disposal room. There, we saw large pulveriser and compactor equipment. There is an incinerator for combustible waste, and the ash is offloaded in Ft. Lauderdale (I actually saw the bags carried by a forklift to the the dumpster, from the deck this morning.)
  
• All food waste is put into a huge garbage disposal called a pulper, and when the ship is 12 nm or more from land, it is fed to the fish. Same for gray and treated black water. Our guide at this point was the ship's environmental officer, and he explained how Carnival meets all environmental regulations.
  
• Did you know that the lime in that Corona bottle means it cannot be used as recycled glass? Food and glass don't mix for recycling. Carnival separates all the Corona bottles and does not recycle them.
  

Next stop... the crew areas!

[salty dingo]

So far on A deck, we have been in the working spaces that most of the crew down there do not have a reason to go to. At the end of this space is the staging area where stuff coming on and off the ship is located.

• At this point in the cruise, the staged material was mostly trash to be offloaded. It was stacked neatly on stretch-wrapped pallets.
  
• Several fork lifts were present in the bays. They are electric, and are chained to the deck. The area is blocked off for safety when they are in use.
  
• This area is where your luggage enters the ship, and presumably where it leaves as well.
  
• Next, we proceeded on to I-95. This is the nickname for the main corridor in the crew area.
  
• The crew cabins were visble on either side of narrow corridors that branch off, perpendicular to I-95. They have a different numbering system than passenger cabins, but had similar door locks. We did not enter any crew cabins.
  
• We entered the crew galley, where food was being prepared for the crew meal. Our guide here was the chef in charge of this area. They have entire teams of crew dedicated to feeding the crew.
  
• All the crew eats from the same menu. While our 8-day cruise had a menu that repeats every 8 days, the crew menu repeats ever 28 days, to provide more variety. Some sort of battered chicken wing dish was visible as we went through. The galley is rather small compared to the main galley.
  
• We exited the galley into the crew mess. There were many crew members dining in there, so we did not bother them... we just sort of looked around as we walked quietly across the room and out the door back on I-95.
  
• The crew mess has similar juice, coffee, etc. machines that the guest have. They have a buffet line, and the same sort of signs were posted about the name of each dish, as the guests have at their buffet. From what I saw, the food looked pretty good.
  
• Back out in the hall, we saw some crew bulletin boards. There were some special events posted, like a special Thanksgiving event, and other socials, etc. There were also some charts with work statistics which we could study for a moment, but they were not discussed.
  
• I was impressed to see very detailed engineering drawings of the Miracle on the walls, in large framed sections. These were the actual blueprints for the ship, every nut, bolt, and every space on the ship. Carnival obviously wants the crew to know the vessel inside and out.
  

Next stop... the engine control room.

[2addicted2xmas]

I am really enjoying this... We sail in December and I wanted to do this tour! Thank you

[salty dingo]

Our security officer appeared prior to our entry into the engine control room. He watched us like a hawk but was never in the way.

• The engine control room is a highly secure and sensitive area, so I won't say exactly where it is located. Upon entering, the back wall contains a library of many books and binders, as well as a nice aquarium full of colorful fish.
  
• The sides and front walls are huge schematics. No words, really, just schematics and abbreviations. For example, engine no 1 is labeled DG1. They refer to the large Warsilla engines as "diesel generators" because that is all they really do. They do not produce propulsion directly, as engines on some ships do. I prefer the simpler term "engine".
  
• Only four of the six engines were turned on while we were there, and that was clearly inidicated on all the gauges. They only run as many as they need based on speed, weather, and other factors.
  
• There are two completely separate electrical grids, with three engines on each. If a major fault happened on one side the other would be unaffected.
  
• Engines are normally under the control of the bridge, but can be controlled from the engine room if the bridge were compromised.
  
• Large monitors offered views of the actual engines - we could see them on the screens. We also passed by one of the engine rooms as a crew member exited the door. It's noisy in there! Hearing protection is required of the crew.
  
• The three top engineers were present to give the tour and answer questions. They each have different duties.
  
• One officer is responsible for the fuel calculations. He will always keep enough fuel onboard to complete the cruise, plus enough to operate two more days at full speed, in case a diversion were necessary.
  
• Many of the guests' questions related to fire systems. They have a computer which he demonstrated how to drill down to identify exactly which cabin a fire is in. Depending on the type of fire, different extinguishing systems are used. Sections of the ship can be sealed off if needed.
  
• Stabilizers are used to controll roll, however, if there is a wind to one side, the stabilizers need help. They demonstrated the "heeling control" system which pumps water into huge tanks in the upper levels of the ship which can make it heavy on one side or the other, counteracting the force of wind and keeping the ship upright.
  
• Water production is controlled here also. Reverse-osmosis and evaporators can make more fresh water than the ship can use. However, fresh water is taken in at ports, because when near to land, seawater is not considered clean enough to use for making fresh water.
  

We could have spend hours there but when our allotted time (about 20 minutes) was up, our hostess tactfully got us moving out of there.

 

Next up, the crew's lounges...

[Kill@B3E]

Hello Salty Dingo,

 

Thanks for the in depth review of the ship tour. We're sailing on Conquest in two weeks and this is something I would love doing. I watch all the cruise specials on the Travel Channel, etc and so on, it would be awesome to see the behind the scenes stuff first hand.

 

Could you please tell us how much they charged for the tour.

 

Thank you and have a nice weekend,

Kill@B3E

[salty dingo]

After the intensity of the engine room tour, it was a good time to take a break. Our hostess took us into the crew training lounge. It was as nice as any library you have been in!

• Note: there are few chances to sit during the tour. This was one of them, and it was clear some people were in better shape than others. Folks with mobility issues are not going to be able to do the tour, but our group managed pretty well. We had a good mix from young couples to quite a few seniors.
  
• There were board games and a large chess set, among several tables and many chairs.
  
• There were about 10 PC stations with modern computers. Internet access is free to the crew. That must help in keeping in touch with loved ones at home. The PCs are open until midnight to accommodate the varying hours the crew works.
  
• Rosetta Stone software is installed on the PCs, with the languages of English, Spanish, and Italian. Crew members can also take classes online and get certified in various skills needed for advancement.
  
• Our hostess also trains the senior officers, and certifies them so they can in turn train their staff.
  
• We discussed crew work hours. Officers work 4 hours on, and 8 hours off, around the clock. Other crew works various hours depending on the job. If it is a front-of-house position, you probably know what their hours are.
  
• Employees sign on for contracts of various lengths, and Carnival lets them lengthen or shorten them as they need to.
  
• Positions receiving tips will not get a company-paid plane ticket at the start and end of the contract. Non-tipping positions do get complimentary air tickets.
  
• The various ship tours are open to crew if space is available, and they get discounted prices. There are some special crew-only tours that are occasionally offered.
  
• Carnival will work with married couples to make sure they get contracts of the same length and the same cabin.
  

Leaving the training area, we next visited the crew lounge. This is amazingly similar in appearance to one of the guest lounges you may find.

• There are tables and seats, in a nightclub-like decor. There's a bar (cheap beer and drinks, pay in cash only) and a foosball table. Sometimes they have a DJ and special parties. There are dart boards and rest rooms there also.
  
• A strict BAC limit enforced. Security gives breath checks to bar patrons, with or without cause. Makes sense since an emergency could require all hands at any moment. People who over-indulge face discipline.
  
• No drinking within a certain time of the next shift - I think it is 4 hours, to ensure there's no alcohol in the crew's system when they are working.
  
• Questions from tour guests in this area got pretty serious: has anyone ever jumped off the ship? (yes, it happens) If so, why? (because it is cheaper than a funeral, just drunk, lost everything in casino, etc.)
  
• One sure way to be put off the ship is to utter the phrase "I might jump." This is taken very seriously, like a joke about a bomb at an airport security check. No humor there.
  
• If someone jumps, and it is witnessed, the ship is put into an automatic manuever that aims to both move the ship quickly away from the person and also to return to rescue them. This action will likely cause many passengers to be tossed about and fall, and they do not want to injure passengers, thus the zero tolerance.
  
• If someone jumps and it is not witnessed, there's really not much they can do about it. They report the event and keep on going.
  
• Questions were asked about the brig - yes, just a padded room and used only if security cannot control someone. Also questions about the morgue - yes people sometimes die and they have a place to keep them. We did not see either.
  

Next up, we go down below the waterline to see the laundry...

[salty dingo]

Could you please tell us how much they charged for the tour.

Our tour was $95. I have heard that on some of the shorter cruises, they have a shorter version of the tour that costs less. Our cruise was 8 days so we had the longer version.

[klfrodo]

Great review of this special tour.

 

Thanks

[salty dingo]

We walked down to deck C, the lowest deck, except for the engine spaces at the very bottom of the hull, which we did not visit. Here we are below the water line so no portholes here!

 

• Our first stop was the huge washing and drying machines for the laundry. These are really just industrial-sized floor-to-ceiling) versions of the machines in your home. There's a bunch of them.
  
• All ship's laundry is done here: the tablecloths and linens, towels, etc., the crew's uniforms, and any laundry you send down, are all done here.
  
• The dryers are on automatic 40-minute cycles and are very hot.
  
• There is a very large machine that folds the linens. Two men feed a sheet into one end - you can see it is all wrinkled. Out the other end pops a neatly pressed and folded sheet, which is bundled together with other sheets by a third operator. You can get a glimpse of how the machine works as the sheet flows through it.
  
• Next is a towel folding machine. Only the blue beach towels are folded here. White bath towels are sent unfolded to the room steward who manually folds them or perhaps makes a monkey out if them.
  
• They let guests operate this machine (it must be safe) and some of us (not me) fed towels into it. The machine popped out a folded towel onto a conveyor. It stacked the folded towels in groups of five and the conveyor then moved. There was room for 25 towels before they needed to be moved from the machine.
  
• Damaged white towels are recycled into bath rugs or disposed of as trash. One of the men is a "seamstriss" who sews up the rugs. Old linens are donated to charities in the ports.
  
• Embarkation day is very challenging, as all linens have to be changed in a very short time window. They have 2 and a half sets of linen per cabin so there is always plenty.
  
• There is a lot more going on down there, and a lot more towels and linens than you think, trust me... there's a huge amount.
  

Next stop, the bridge...

[salty dingo]

Our security officer re-appeared again at the conclusion of the laundry, and escorted us up a service elevator directly from deck C to deck 8. Only half of us could fit into the elevator so it made two trips.

• We emerged through one of the many "crew only" doors and walked down the hallway on deck 8 to the front, and through another crew only door into the area near the wheel house. This is a sensitive area but everyone knows where it is already.
  
• The senior officer cabins are located just behind the bridge. They don't have far to go on the commute to work!
  
• There is only one door into the wheel house from the deck 8 area. There are some other stairs outside that lead to the bridge but we did not go there. The area is under video surveillance and we could see that on monitors. The security guy also watched us carefully, especially when some people leaned over the controls a bit too far. No one touched anything.
  
• The bridge is expansive and open. There are three rows of consoles with radars and computer readouts. The actual steering wheel is mounted on a small console right in the center, as you may expect. Little bitty wheel, like on a go-kart, not a fancy nautical wheel.
  
• On each wing there is an identical set of engine controls that I recognized from the engine room. This is the one place you really don't want to touch.
  
• We walked around and looked at a ship in the distance, and also at Cuba which was visible a few miles away. They were taking care to keep the proper distance away.
  
• The captain came in and chatted with us for a while. He took lots of questions from all over the map. He had been a captain on some Conquest class ships, and he compared and contrasted the Miracle to them.
  
• We all too a group picture with the captain. A ship photographer was present to do this. I forgot to mention we also had made a group photo earlier in the main galley.
  
• Next we each had an individual photo with the captain. Mine turned out really nice and I'm quite proud of it.
  
• A few more questions and looks about and it was time to leave. I guess we had about 20 minutes bridge time in total.
  

Finally, we'll visit the inner workings of the supper club, and wrap up with some parting gifts.

[aubreysmom]

Thank you so much Salty!! Great review :) My DD and I hope to do this tour on our Inspiration cruise in a few weeks :D

[salty dingo]

From the bridge, we walked back down deck 8 all the way to the center elevator stack, where we walked up a couple flights to Nick and Nora's supper club.

• Our host here was the chef responsible for this galley, which is separate from the main galley. All supper club food is prepared and cooked right here.
  
• The chef de cuisine was also present, but let his supper club chef do the talking. We went into the display grill area, where the steaks are cooked. This was a very tight space and any more people on the tour would not fit.
  
• It's interesting to note there are no open flames allowed for grilling. Too much of a fire hazard. Only electrical and steam heated grills are used.
  
• We went back into the galley area where staff was preparing meals for that night. By this time it was after 1 PM and preparations for dinner had started. Each staff member and his particular skill was introduced.
  
• We got a short lecture on the various grades of beef, and what it is that makes USDA prime beef so flavorful (marbling.) I knew this part already but the chef did a good job of explaining it for those who did not.
  
• Following the galley tour, we all were seated at tables in the supper club and were served beverages. Choices were icewater, orange juice, and champagne.
  
• At the start of the tour, we were each given an access badge on a nice Carnival lanyard. We were asked to remove the badge from the lanyard and leave it behind, but we were free to keep the lanyard.
  
• A few final words from the supper club hostess, the chef de cuisine, and our hostess were made, and then we got our gifts: a really cool "Behind the Fun" bag filled with stuff. I wish I could describe the bag - I'm looking at it, and there is a zipper, some grommets and cord like a duffel, and one end that closes like a duffel. But it's not a duffel.
  
• Inside is a baseball cap, with "Behind the Fun" on it. There is also a hard-cover coffee-table picture book titled "Team Carnival Picture Perfect." Also in there is a pamphlet with interesting statistics about the ship and the amount of food consumed per week of a cruise. On the back is the detailed recipe for the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.
  

We were asked to complete a short questionnaire about the tour, asking our opinion of it and what we thought might be improved in the future.

 

With a round of applause, we ended the tour, which took about 4 hours or so. I almost forgot to collect my cell phone, but I did remember to retrieve it. The hostess takes all phones, cameras, and keeps them in a backpack she wears at all time.

 

Later that night, our hostess delivered the photos. Two 8 x 10 of the group pictures and the 5 x 7 of the captain and I.

 

So, while I had some amazing tours on this cruise, this Behind the Fun experience was truly a highlight. I learned a great deal. And I assure you, I have only recalled no more than half of what actually happened. It's such information overload, I could only retain so much. I hope I have relayed the most important points.

[Ositabear]

Thank you so much for your detailed review of the tour! I was already hoping to take this tour on my cruise Nov. 29, and after reading your review I am so much more excited! I hope I can get to the excursion desk in time to make a reservation! Thank you again!:)

[salty dingo]

Thank you so much for your detailed review of the tour! I was already hoping to take this tour on my cruise Nov. 29, and after reading your review I am so much more excited! I hope I can get to the excursion desk in time to make a reservation! Thank you again!:)

Glad you enjoyed reading about it! I really think you will have a spot if you go to the desk when you board. It is such a new tour that not too many people know of it.

[Anni L]

WHAT an outstanding review and explanation! We will be on the Miracle sailing of 3/4/10, and we had already decided we wanted to do the "Behind the Fun" tour - this absolutely cements the plans! It sounds SO exciting, and so very informational. I adore tours like this - I've been through a commercial bakery, a cosmetics manufactory, a steel mill and many others - and I can't wait to do this one.

 

Thanks SO much for taking the time to tell us about it, SD - and so glad you enjoyed it so much!

[NCTribeFan]

I wish it were earlier in the cruise. I'll be on Miracle 12/14 and thought it was too expensive, but now I may consider it.

 

But with 4 sea days, I'd love to have it one of the first two. I think I'd like to spend the last day of the cruise (and the last sea day) relaxing (and, sadly, packing).

 

I'll have to talk to DD about it. If she wants to do it, I think we probably will. It really sounds interesting.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post.

[katiel53]

Of all the reviews of ships etc. this was the most interesting. I felt as though I were there looking at everything,.

 

Thanks so much for doing such a great job.

[misguidedangel]

Wow, that sounds aweomse! I will be on the Glory in January and plan on booking that tour when I book cabana for Half Moon Cay at embarkation. So, no going righ to Lido when I get on board, nope it is straight to shore tours desk!

[salty dingo]

WHAT an outstanding review and explanation! We will be on the Miracle sailing of 3/4/10, and we had already decided we wanted to do the "Behind the Fun" tour - this absolutely cements the plans! It sounds SO exciting, and so very informational. I adore tours like this - I've been through a commercial bakery, a cosmetics manufactory, a steel mill and many others - and I can't wait to do this one.

 

Thanks SO much for taking the time to tell us about it, SD - and so glad you enjoyed it so much!

You're welcome. From the tours you mentioned, you'll love this. It's probably on par with the steel mill in complexity but a lot less hot... except maybe for the laundry :D!

[salty dingo]

I wish it were earlier in the cruise.

With four sea days, I'm not sure why it was done only on the last one. That would have been a good question.

 

They are still learning as they go, it was clear they are making adjustments based on feedback, so maybe there will be alternatives offered in December. I hope it works out for you.

[salty dingo]

Of all the reviews of ships etc. this was the most interesting. I felt as though I were there looking at everything,.

 

Thanks so much for doing such a great job.

I appreciate that! With it being just yesterday, it's still very vivid in my mind.

 

I wanted to mention that all the other guests, as far as I could tell, were totally fascinated, people were mostly in silent amazement except when it was time to ask questions. They they asked very pointed and relevant questions. The guests were a big part of the tour.

[salty dingo]

Wow, that sounds aweomse! I will be on the Glory in January and plan on booking that tour when I book cabana for Half Moon Cay at embarkation. So, no going righ to Lido when I get on board, nope it is straight to shore tours desk!

Right after embarkation, I was the only person at the shore excursion desk. I think most guests save the tours for a bit later. So if you go when you arrive you should be fine.

 

On Miracle, the tour desk is right there in the lobby where you board the ship. I can't recall about the Conquest class, but it won't be far from where you board.

 

Everyone was indeed on the Lido chowing down. That was stop #2, and we literally had to flag down a staff member to get a chair...