The Miraculous Miracle: a review with photos

[Lerin]

We had ordered the red wine and fruit gift basket for the cabin and used the bananas to make splits.

Speaking of bananas, the ones in the buffet were looking rather brown by the end of the cruise. Not so for the ones in our gift basket. Since they were wrapped, they did not ripen as quickly and we enjoyed still yellow bananas at the end of the week.

The basket was I believe about $40 and well worth it. The wine was fine but the fruit was quite good, and there was much more variety than what you can get elsewhere on the ship. Also you can keep the basket if you have a way to get it in your luggage.

It included grapes, bananas, cheese, crackers, kiwi, pears, nuts, dried fruit, apples and I think a few chocolates.

 

 

We also tried the taste bar twice. They feature samples of foods made in some of the specialty spots on other ships. It was quite good, never crowded and they were quite generous about giving seconds.

 

Here's a sample from one of the days

 

Back to the steakhouse for a minute(sorry this is a cut/paste from my blog, I'm not doing so great keeping it organized)

 

I watched a server clean the table next to us and noticed something-Granite tabletops! Beautiful. Ever since the new dining concept was introduced I’ve been a big supporter of keeping tablecloths, however I didn’t know any Carnival tabletops were beautiful. Honestly, I think they should get rid of the cloths in the Steakhouse. Those tables will look just divine in all their granite glory. Now the ugly tables in the MDR I do not share this sentiment.

 

Hello beautiful table!

 

Speaking of steakhouse I forgot to mention I ordered the chocolate sampler for dessert and my husband got some sort of apple turnover. I found the chocolates too rich, but it was all good and the presentation was lovely.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Lerin

[Lerin]

Activities and musings about on Board:

 

We did almost all the trivia contests as we like those.

Placed 2nd many times and won one.

One of the trivias we placed second by getting 2 questions right. The winner had 3. We suggested they get rid of that contest; it was some obscure western TV shows from the 1960s or something. In the fun times it said TV theme songs.

 

The trivia we won we played with a woman and her 8 year old. Though we answered most the questions the 8 year old really wanted the ship on the stick so we gave it to him.

They used to give these to everyone on a team, but I guess this is where Carnival is cutting costs. Bummer as we wanted the ship on a stick too and it seems like a cheap marketing tool for Carnival, but alas we came home ship-on-a-stickless. :(

 

Wanted to go to the salsa dance class, but it was held the night we all returned from PV so was attended by only about 6 people in the main theater.

On another Carnival ship we did the Thriller dance class which was quite popular and a lot of fun. That was sadly not offered on Miracle.

 

Up next: backstage tour-with photos!

[goduckies05]

Missed both the chocolate buffet and salsa dancing... also I love Karaoke but only did it once as i had late dinning and missed it for the most part!

 

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[Rosefloater]

Cabo:

 

Aside from the chaos of the first day, this was my least favorite day.

We had purchased the excursion “Salsa and Salsa” which was to depart the ship at about 9:45. The ship was in port from only 9-4. Early that am a note was delivered to our cabin that the excursion was being pushed back an hour and would depart about 10:30. We weren’t thrilled as we had wanted to spend some time exploring Cabo after the excursion, but were assured there would still be ample time.

 

This was a tender port and it was a mess.

Because we had an excursion we were to meet in the theater at a designated time and be escorted to the tender together. We arrived about 10:15 as we’d been told waited, and at 10:45 they walked us to a LONG line to go to the tender. We waited until past 11 when we were finally on the tender.

 

The people in line behind us had tender stickers number 14. I note this because the numbers went up to at least 28 and possibly higher.

By the time we got on the tender the ship had been in port 2 hours already.

 

When we were waiting in line to return a couple told us they had gotten off the ship after noon and people with tender numbers 28 were just being called! Noon! And you had to be back on the boat by 3:30. :eek: Terrible.

 

 

When we were on the Miracle in December, tender numbers were still being called at 12:30.:eek: Since we really don't care for Cabo, we stayed on the ship.

 

We had hoped ours was a one time thing. I guess not.

[Cruznjuly]

Oops, didn't realize we were limited to only 6 photos.

 

View from "my" closet. The curtain by the dresser is a window. The room has a large window as well as the regular balcony doors. Lots of light

 

 

 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR THE PICS OF 6279!!!

 

We are sailing 3/22 in that exact cabin, and have had the hardest time finding info about it. We will have our 2 kids with us, so I was worried about space! Looks lovely!

 

Is there a fridge?

[Lerin]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR THE PICS OF 6279!!!

 

We are sailing 3/22 in that exact cabin, and have had the hardest time finding info about it. We will have our 2 kids with us, so I was worried about space! Looks lovely!

 

Is there a fridge?

Oh good, I'm glad the photos are useful to someone.

The fridge is under the vanity area and kept our drinks fairly cold. Also the room steward keep the ice bucket filled.

There is also a bed that pulls out from the ceiling. It'll cover that picture of a tree you see in the above photo.

You're going to have a lot of space, 3 closets, dresser, long shelf, cabinet and a few drawers. Plus the bathroom has shelving which I didn't post photos of as it is the same as all the rooms.

 

It's a great room, you're going to enjoy it.

[Lerin]

When we were on the Miracle in December, tender numbers were still being called at 12:30.:eek: Since we really don't care for Cabo, we stayed on the ship.

 

We had hoped ours was a one time thing. I guess not.

Really!!! :eek: That is just awful. We too hoped it was a 1 time event.

 

If this is the norm, then Carnival needs to look at extending time in Cabo or not going at all.

[Lerin]

Backstage Tour

 

This was held the last sea day I believe. First Troy spoke to all of us in the theater(it was attended by several hundred) about the shows and logistics of dancing on a cruise ship.

Said they were currently short 3 dancers and 1 trumpet player. But said earlier in the season they were short about 5 cast members so had to scramble to re-choreograph everything.

Also said that everytime they get a new cast(which is every few months) the seamstresses have exactly 1 day to make all the new costumes! Wow, I can sew alright, but can’t imagine having to measure, cut and sew costumes for 10 people in 1 night.

 

Then we got to go backstage, it was cool to see all the sets and costumes. A few of the dancers were backstage to answer questions. After there was a Q&A session back in the main theater. One thing I found interesting is that all sets have to be pinned in place on the stage in case the ship happens to hit rough seas while they are performing. This includes the VW bug shell used in I think the Generations show. That shell is a real VW by the way, and not just cardboard or plastic.

 

Half of the double decker bus used in Ticket to Ride. The other half is on the other side of the stage.

 

 

Dressing area. Before each show they hang all unsnapped costumes and wigs by each dressing area in order since the dancers have very little time to change

 

 

More costumes-they have TONS, as well as a hundred wigs

 

 

There were many signs up all over about the show and performers. They talked about washing the costumes so I took this photo

 

 

 

The backstage tour is free by the way and was listed in the Fun Times. It took around 45 minutes total. If you are unable to walk stairs I'm not sure you could get up to the stage, but other than that the majority of the time is spent sitting in the theater.

[Lerin]

More random thoughts that keep coming to me:

 

Aside from the 2 Lido hot tubs and Serenity deck, there is also one in the fitness center. It’s in the dead center of all the machines and treadmills and stuff.

We went to this hot tub daily as it was quieter and less crowded than the ones outside which were often full of kids or people drinking.

 

This was the shortest cruise we’d ever taken and I guess there is no laundry package.

We had expected a paper bag to be delivered at some point with a fee for however much you could stuff in it. Didn’t happen so the last day I went to the laundry about 9am and did the wash. Not a big deal, the room was empty and clean. Somewhat hard to find though, I ended up asking a crew member where it was located.

[Lerin]

Missed both the chocolate buffet and salsa dancing... also I love Karaoke but only did it once as i had late dinning and missed it for the most part!

 

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We almost missed the chocolate buffet too! I don't recall seeing it listed in the Fun Times. Luckily we just happened to be passing through.

Pretty sure it was the last evening, so we will look for it on future cruises.

Glad you made it to Karaoke, that is always a lot of fun.

[WindsorFred]

You're very welcome. And I haven't even gotten to the good part. :cool:

 

I agree, we have only been on her twice, but a great ship and crew. Would love to sail her again but will have to wait till she returns to Florida as we've done west coast enough and miss the Carribean.

[Lerin]

More random musings:

 

When we first boarded we went to the lido and a waiter came around with the DOD. He asked, “How many do you need here? Two?” and began to set them down.

I knew they were not free and was about to tell him to leave, but my husband said, “Yes, two.” Though it wasn’t a big deal, I thought it was a bit sly the way he made it seem like they were free.

This was the only incident all week where something seemed pushed on us.

 

 

On the last sea day Troy made an "operation bright star" announcement twice. I know there has been speculation on what this means here though there has been no confirmation exactly. Aside from this we noted that there were several announcements throughout the week about crew drills. I'm glad to know CCL takes crew and passenger safety seriously.

 

 

We emptied the fridge in the room to store our Mt. Dews and ginger ale.

We left all of them on the counter in hopes that the room steward would put them somewhere (as has happened on all previous cruises), he did not.

But on the last sea day a steward popped his head into our room and took all the Vitamin water. Said he needed to change them all that day. I must say some of the ship supplied cans and bottles were looking pretty old and beat up.

 

 

We’ve had early dining on every cruise we’ve taken, but this was the first ever where we hardly ate in the MDR. Because we were never at our huge table we felt a bit rude. For our next cruise we’re going to give YTD a try. That sort of thing has always seemed very NCL and not our cup of tea, but we're willing to take a chance.

[Lerin]

 

Camp Carnival:

There were under 200 people under 18 on board, our child being one of them. He’s in the 2-5 year old group.

The room where camp is held is very small and looks like it was not originally built to be a children’s area. The photo above is pretty much the entire room. Most of the counselors were quite good, my son especially liked the woman named Kit Cat. There was an eastern European counselor who wasn’t quite a nurturing as you may expect with 3 year olds who some of the younger children seemed to be afraid of.

 

My only complaint about camp is that they move the counselors around.

Young children need structure and routine and it’s very confusing to them when a different person is greeting them at the door each day. Some days his favorite counselor would greet him at the door, and other days she would be in the 6-8 year old room.

 

Big kudos to whichever counselor was doing the face painting. Wow, I’ve seen prices of $15 to get entire faces painted to the quality she did. My son came back 1 day with his entire face painted like a tiger.

Aside from games, stories, movies and crafts, he also got a T shirt, coloring book, stickers, tons of candy, bubbles and I think a necklace from camp.

 

Funship Freddy came to visit on the last sea day which was a big hit.

We also did the family build a bear which my child is a bit young for. He enjoyed it for about 5 minutes but then my husband ended up building his bear. Older children seemed to be really into it.

We wanted to do the family photo scavenger hunt but my son fell asleep.

 

Oh we did do a regular scavenger hunt earlier in the cruise which was a lot of fun.

[Lerin]

Dress:

 

I know there has been a lot of discussion here on dress code, especially that of elegant nights.

As someone who enjoys dressing up I was worried that everyone would be in jeans. Boy was that worry for nothing!

The first elegant night I wore a cocktail dress and my husband was in Khakis and a Polo shirt. We were totally underdressed! Saw a few tuxes, many many long formal gowns, lots of suits with jacket and tie, and many beautiful sparkly and satin dresses.

 

The second elegant night I wore a long gown and my husband added a button down shirt with tie. We fit right in.

On non-elegant nights there were many cocktail dresses and the men also looked quite smart.

Perhaps things are different at different times of year or to other locations, but on this cruise people looked very lovely every night.

 

 

 

Speaking of people:

 

I really enjoyed our fellow passengers. We met people of all different races, religions, ages, orientations, etc… and everyone seemed to be having a good time and were wonderful to chat with. Didn’t notice any rowdy partiers or rude impatient people (not even in that hour long tender line at Cabo). Carnival really is a fun ship with fun people. :)

 

Door decorating:

 

 

We saw many doors decorated including this one right next to us. I think they were a part of a group as we saw others with the same type of sticker that said "love" "joy" and stuff like that. I'm going to use their idea to bring a magnetic hook on our next cruise. We also saw many with Happy Birthday or other celebrations and some that included magnets or something to write on. My favorite was the door with alphabet stickers on it. They spelled out "Mr. and Mrs. Someday" lol

 

Debarkation:

 

Because of FTTF we had zone 1 to leave.

The MDR was open for breakfast for FTTF and priority passengers. It took quite awhile for the self-disembark people to leave so we waited around about an hour.

But we were off the ship about 9, through customs and in a cab to the airport by 9:20.

 

Lasting impressions on FTTF:

 

While we didn’t get a whole lot of use out of it here, I would consider purchasing it for another cruise.

I do believe it would have been more worth it had we arrived around noon at the pier and insisted the porter put FTTF tags on our bags. If we still had the same bag issue we should’ve contacted guest services instantly to complain (which we never did at all).

As far as Cabo, had we known how long we were to stand in line to leave, we would’ve just used FTTF to get off the boat first, wander around and then meet up with the excursion group.

Same with debarkation. Since we didn’t realize there were so many self disembark, we should’ve just slept in an extra half hour and then there would’ve been minimal wait.

 

Did we get our moneys worth?

No.

Do we have reason to call Carnival to complain?

Yes.

Will we?

Doubtful, but we did already fill out the guest survey that was e mailed to us only a day or so after the cruise.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Lerin

[Lerin]

Final thoughts (until I think of others lol)

 

We had a great cruise and can’t wait for the next one.

We were going to do a Carnival cruise in June but due to scheduling had to change to a Princess cruise in July. My husband doesn’t like Princess so we’re trying to get things changed back around so we can do the Carnival one.

We have a month to decide. We shall see…

 

Hope you enjoyed this review. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

[browneyedwoman]

I enjoyed your review. What day and time was the Chef's Table dinner? We considered doing this but we were worried that it would cut into our port times. When we went to the table on our first day to lsign up for it, the worker couldn't give us a specific day and time it would be scheduled so we didn't book it. We would like to do one on our (hopefully) next cruise.

[Lerin]

I enjoyed your review. What day and time was the Chef's Table dinner? We considered doing this but we were worried that it would cut into our port times. When we went to the table on our first day to lsign up for it, the worker couldn't give us a specific day and time it would be scheduled so we didn't book it. We would like to do one on our (hopefully) next cruise.

 

If I'm remembering correctly it was the day we were in Cabo.

We were in line to tender back by 3:30 as everyone was supposed to, and were to meet in the main atrium at 6 for Chefs table. It did not interfere with any port time and we even still had time to take quick showers and get dressed. Most the men were in jackets and the women in nice dresses. I believe they said we had to have closed toed flat shoes.

 

They mentioned that there were 3 others registered for the dinner that had cancelled. You are not charged until after the dinner is over, so it doesn't hurt to go ahead and sign up. I believe they said they would hold the meal with between 6-12 people. Any less and they cancel and any more and they will try to add another day.

[fierce_angel_6000]

I reading through your review. This is great! Thank you for taking the time do this :)

 

I'm loving your details and funny commentary/observances

Edited February 16, 2014 by fierce_angel_6000

[KimberlyD]

Hi. I really loved your detailed review. Our cruise is in 5 weeks and never thought of doing an all day pass. Your comments about the crowne paradise have made me start looking for this deal. $70 for a family of three is totally worth it. I am having a hard time finding the all day pass offers online. I did a google search and can't find anything. :( Do you happen to remember which cite it was? I am a family of four and think this is a great option for my two boys!!

 

 

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[Lerin]

Hi. I really loved your detailed review. Our cruise is in 5 weeks and never thought of doing an all day pass. Your comments about the crowne paradise have made me start looking for this deal. $70 for a family of three is totally worth it. I am having a hard time finding the all day pass offers online. I did a google search and can't find anything. :( Do you happen to remember which cite it was? I am a family of four and think this is a great option for my two boys!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Not allowed to mention the site because it's a TA.

 

I went to Google and typed "resort day pass puerto vallarta" into the search.

 

There are many, many other resorts with day passes as well, though this is one of only about 3 that had watersides and children's areas, And Crown Paradise had the most.

I did read another review here at cc where someone paid about $100 at Crown paradise and hated it. They said they weren't allowed to use anything and the food was bad. *shrug* this was not our experience, but just wanted you to know.

 

Good luck

Edited February 17, 2014 by Lerin

[Lerin]

So I just went back to the site about the PV day pass and notice two things:

1) says the day pass is only good until 6pm.

We stayed until almost 8:15 and then walked the whole 2 minutes back to the ship to be on board by 8:30

2) says wi fi requires a paid card.

We used the wi fi at no extra cost.

 

Totally random because I cropped it out of the photo earlier. The children's playground also had swings.

[BabsinTX]

Thanks for your great review. Especially appreciated the cabin photos!

[skopgat]

I was on this same cruise and your review hits the nail on the head!

 

Cabo - a disaster!

 

Everything else? Wonderful!

 

Thanks for the lovely review.

[Lerin]

I was on this same cruise and your review hits the nail on the head!

 

Cabo - a disaster!

 

Everything else? Wonderful!

 

Thanks for the lovely review.

You're welcome. Glad you also had a great time. :)

[CWrightS]

Not much faster to the fun:

 

We had gotten an e-mail saying to arrive later than 1 but based on assurances here and elsewhere plus the fact that we had paid for FTTF, we opted to ignore it.

We'd stayed at a Marriott in town because they had a deal for only about $90 vs. $120 at Hotel Maya. Hindsight is 20/20 but I wish we'd paid the extra $30. Oh well. Arrived around 9:00 to drop off our bags. Twice I told the porter that we had FTTF and that they were supposed to put a sticker of some sort on it. He assured me it was all taken care of.

 

We left to get breakfast and returned around 11. There was a fairly long line for the regular check in, maybe 100 people or so, but nobody in the fttf/priority line. We walked right up and because we had already checked in online, the process took under 5 minutes.

 

Next came the wait in the priority section. We sat in the chilly January LA temperature while we watched them continue to unload passengers from the previous Hawaii trip. We waited almost an hour and finally the last Hawaii person left and they came out to give us boarding instructions.

 

Security was quick, though the workers there were far from pleasant. Barking orders at everyone and snide remarks to people who took off their shoes, “We told you this isn’t the airport, why did you do that?” We put our items on the belt including our child’s stroller, only to be rudely scoffed at because apparently you can just wheel strollers through the metal detector. While gathering all my things off the belt, I swung around and accidently bumped a woman with my purse and she yelled at me. Then she turned to her husband and commented about not wanting to cruise on “this trashy line”. Sheesh. I’m pleased to note that this was the only unpleasant cruiser I encountered the entire time.

 

Next we entered a large room where we stood in about 10 lines facing collapsible wall for up to 20 minutes. A guard came out and tried to lighten the mood by telling superbowl jokes. Finally the wall was opened and each line was allowed in. Because we had a stroller we were placed in a different elevator line which included people in wheelchairs as well as several that were lugging a few very large suitcases. I have no idea why they didn’t drop those with the porters?

Just past this line we could see everyone else stopping to get their embarkation photos. I’m a scrapbooker and always include this photo of our cruises in my books, however in order to get it we would’ve had to get out of our line, into another, and then back into the growing elevator line. Decided it wasn’t worth it as the elevator was slow and only held about 4 people. I probably saved a good 40 minutes in deciding mot to get the photo, but I am a little bummed as this is the first cruise ever where we don’t have one. :(

 

Once we got upstairs we were placed in yet another line where they were scanning the S&S cards for entry to the ship. About every 20th card was dinging "error" and those people (and their families) were being placed in a separate waiting section. Luckily our cards worked and we were on the Miracle! We stepped on the boat about 1:30-2pm, maybe should’ve listened to that e-mail? :p

At this point I’m not sure fttf was worth it?

 

I just got the email saying to board after 1:30pm. I also have FTTF. What do we do? I'm confused and wondering if they send this email out to everyone and say board after 1:30? It doesn't say anything about if you have FTTF and perhaps do otherwise? Thoughts?