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Gobble, Gobble, Thanksgiving on the Miracle Review!

momonthego17

By momonthego17,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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Third port day – St Kitts

I woke up to the delivery of room service breakfast. I had a nibble then went to the gym for some cardio and yoga. We got cleaned up and exited the ship. We met up with Jessica from Leeward Charters who suggested that we talk to Liz Perriera with regards to an excursion. Liz contacted Calvin who was ready to drive us to Cockleshell Beach. Jessica called Heidi at Reggae Beach restaurant on Cockleshell Beach and secured us two chairs with umbrellas. All in all, we were taken care of by both Liz and Jessica and I would recommend their services. Calvin told us about St Kitts and was a charming driver. We arrived at Cockleshell Beach and Heidi from Reggae Beach came and greeted us. Our chairs were ready and located at a prime spot near the water. The snorkeling was okay, not a lot of fish. The big and I mean BIG highlight was Wilbert the 900 pound pig. He was snoring as we approached his shaded sleeping area on the beach at Reggae Beach. Cat and Sky happily scratched him behind the ears.

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Sky with Wilbert

Behind Wilbert were two large cages that each held a monkey. These two monkeys would stretch out their little paws and hold the girls hands. Let’s just say, all you need is a pig and monkeys to make an excursion great for my two girls.

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Cat with monkey

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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Sky with monkey

Before we left we picked up some t shirts and then found Calvin. On our way back to port we stopped for a photo op where the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean are divided by a skinny strip of land. At port we picked up a few more t shirts then got to the ship. We ate some late lunch as we hung out at the pool. Relaxing around the pool was nice after three days of port excursions. Eventually we got ourselves cleaned up and went to the MDR for dinner. We were happy to see our friendly wait staff after not eating dinner for a few days in the MDR. I’m not sure what we ate but I’m sure it was yummy. We were happy with all of the cuisine served on Miracle.

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Dancing waiters

After dinner, Craig took the girls to the Joker Room and I tried my luck at the craps table. Now I know why its called a “craps” table because my luck was total crap. My twenty dollars flew off the table and I went back to our cabin to change into jammies and read. Craig and the girls arrived having had a fun time, and we settled down for the night.

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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Third Sea Day

I woke up at 1:15am and tossed around for an hour. Ugh. Woke up with a start at 6:45 and got things ready for room service. Got a slow start but I did hit the gym (yay!) then we all got ready to relax by the pool. The day drifted by which was nice and then the girls and I watched an Ice Carving demonstration. We first guessed a turkey due to the feathers carved in, but by the end a bust of an American Indian chief gleamed in the tropical sun.

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Ice sculpture

Looking for more diversion, the girls and I went up to the Sun deck where Cat and Sky played mini golf and I cheered them on.

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Cat and Sky playing mini golf

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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Around 4 pm we had enough of the pool and decided to hang in the room and watch the movie “Silver Surfer”. Afterwards we got ready for our second elegant night. Craig looked like 007 again in his tux. Cat looked almost 15 in her strapless dress (yikes!) and Sky was a twirly vision in her sparkly red dress. I was simply thrilled to be able to squeeze my body into my sparkly green cocktail dress. Oink. We took some family pics on our balcony with our tri-pod and also posed for some ship portraits.

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Elegant night 2

Dinner was fun with the waiters dancing for us. We started out with Oysters Rockefeller, and other appetizers. I can’t remember the rest of dinner but I’m sure it was tasty. Of course, one of our desserts was WMC. Can’t pass that up! We finished up quickly so we could get to the theatre early and get good seats. Tonight’s show was “Ticket To Ride”, a Beatle tribute and an announcement was made earlier in the day that seats would go quickly. We were there 30 minutes before curtain and had our pick of seats. There were still seats available at show time, but I’m glad we scored our seats with a great view. The show was great with wonderful singing, dancing and once again the 13-piece orchestra. I was impressed with a special effect that made the performers look like they were part of an animated movie and then they jumped through to the live stage.

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Cat snoozing on Craig’s shoulder

We crawled back to our cabin and sawed logs.

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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Last Sea Day

I woke up to the delivery of room service breakfast, then crawled back into bed and slept till 7:30. Nibbled on the food and had some coffee then Cat woke up and wondered when we were doing yoga. Oh, now she wants to workout! I suggested that we go out on our balcony and she was up for it. There is something very zen about performing yoga overlooking the water. After our yoga class, the girls wanted to watch a little TV so I said I would be back to the room around 10:30. I found Craig holding down chairs by the pool and we enjoyed our moment of zen sans yoga . Picked up the girls at 10:30 and we all enjoyed the pool. Lunch was an assortment of asian food and then Sky and I found the chocolate fondue bar. Pieces of fruit, cake, and cheesecake were dipped in liquid yumminess. We brought it back to the table and found that the chocolate hardens quickly. Well, that just means I needed to eat faster!

Around 3:30, Sky and I got ready for her rehearsal for the Talent Show in Club Carnival. We arrived at the Mad Hatter’s Ball and found we were the only ones there till 4. No rehearsal so we got seats (Craig and Cat had joined us by this time) and waited for Sky to be called up. The show started off with the youngest kids and progressed to the older ones. Sky did a great job singing Justin Bieber’s “Baby” acapella! We decided to celebrate and quickly hurried to the Aft Lido deck where an ice cream sundae bar was set up. There was a selection of hard ice cream as well as soft serve and you could top it with different sauces, chopped nuts and candies. Fortunately, I had planned ahead and brought along as outfit for dinner that I could wiggle into and still be able to breathe. Not a muu muu, but close.

We had the girls go to the Joker Room while we attended the Farewell Party. I didn’t know there would be singing and band music or I would have had them stay. I tried the blue margarita (not good) and then stuck with champagne. The waiters came around often and the entertainment was fine. The best singer was saved for last and she rocked! She was an asst CD and she would be a terrific CD of her own ship.

Our last dinner was fun but also a bit bittersweet. We had come to really enjoy our wait staff and I really was going to miss having food magically appear and no clean up. Back to real life tomorrow! We got back to our cabin and Craig packed our stuff. Craig is an expert packer so we got out of his way and he did his magic. The last show was “Legends” and we decided to pass since we were pooped. Craig and I enjoyed our mammoth balcony for one last evening. It was time to go to bed.

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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Disembarkation

Our bags had been whisked away during the night. I woke up to let room service in and we had a nibble while we got ourselves together. Sat out on the balcony overlooking Port Everglades, which was a depressing sight. Check the room a couple times then rolled our carry on up to Horatio’s to wait for our zone 15 to be called. We all thought we would feel happier if we ate more food so I had an omelet made (yummy) for the first time this cruise. I need to do that more often next cruise. At the time that was estimated, our zone was called and we exited the ship. Customs was a bit of a wait but painless. A cute beagle was sniffing for contraband which of course charmed the girls. I was just hoping the sweet doggy wouldn’t mistake us for drug mules. That would be bad.

Grabbed a cab to our hotel where our car was parked, the fare was $13 including tip. We had a long drive ahead of us and didn’t want to waste any time waiting on shuttles. Eleven hours later, we arrived at our home.

Last thoughts:

 

The staff on the Miracle were always pleasant and doing their jobs. Tables were picked up, windows cleaned, floors mopped.

 

Our stateroom attendant “Lucky” (nickname) was charming and helpful. Kept us in ice!

 

Bed was firm, but I like a firm bed. Girls were happy with their sleeping arrangements. The Pullman was never put away but that was fine since Cat liked to have her own space.

 

Malcolm “WooHoo” Burns the CD did a fine job and when he walked by me during the cruise, he would smile and ask “how’s it going?”.

 

The food in the MDR was good, served at the correct temperature and at a good pace. The wait staff team was very pleasant and made sure we were happy with our dinners. One dinner Craig was not happy with his entrée and within two minutes, he had another choice in front of him.

 

Horatio’s was busy but I could always get what I wanted within 5 to 10 minutes. I could always find a clean table to sit at.

 

Didn’t notice any “chair hogs” on the Lido. We always were able to secure chairs where we wanted and had a member of our party hold down the fort, so to speak.

 

The girls had fun at Camp Carnival, but this cruise was more about being independent. They had lots of fun playing games in the Joker Room.

 

We loved our cruise and can hardly wait (almost a year away!) for our next one. Let me know if you have questions and if I can, I’ll answer them. Thanks for reading my review!

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Ready for our next cruise!

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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Wow what a beautiful family. Thank you for the awesome review and pictures. It looks like you had a wonderful cruise. I will be on the Miracle in March and I can't wait!!

Thanks littlescupper! I'm glad you enjoyed my review and I appreciate the nice complement. Have a wonderful time on Miracle!!

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Wags67

Wags67

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We had Lucky as our cabin steward, too! Isn't she a Gem?! She was so sweet. Each time she seen us in the hallway, she'd greet us with a smile and ask us how are day, night, or port was...Karma was the same way...We were very 'lucky'.

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NeuroQueen

NeuroQueen

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What a beautiful family!!! We also cruised over Thanksgiving, on the Carnival Dream. Wasn't Bernard's tours great in St Maarten? We loved Maho Beach watching the planes. Thanks for such a fun review and have a great cruise next Thanksgiving. It's a great time to cruise!

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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What a beautiful family!!! We also cruised over Thanksgiving, on the Carnival Dream. Wasn't Bernard's tours great in St Maarten? We loved Maho Beach watching the planes. Thanks for such a fun review and have a great cruise next Thanksgiving. It's a great time to cruise!

 

Thank you NeuroQueen! Yes, that was a fun-filled (and rum punch filled:eek:)

day on St. Maarten! Only 339 days till we cruise again!

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