Carnival Miracle to Alaska 5-27-14 to 6-3-14..... Disappointed :-(

[NCTribeFan]

Just because any one individual has never heard waves banging against the hull doesn't mean that no one else has either and that it's some fiction.

 

I have experienced it and it is very loud. It sounded to me like someone on the deck below was slamming a heavy, steel door. Then the cabin would shake a couple of times.

 

It wasn't particularly rough, either. It just depends on how the seas are at any given time, the ship's speed, their direction, all sorts of things that people just don't think about unless it happens to them.

 

Just because we don't all agree with everything OP said doesn't mean we're "bashing" him.

 

The whole point in responding is so that people don't read OP's post and think, "OH NO! I've booked this ship and it's going to be horrible and now I'm worried that maybe I should cancel!!!!" We're simply trying to let those people know that others have had very different experiences.

[SunshineCruiser24]

Sorry you were disappointed with your cruise, I hope your next one is better :-)

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

If the noise in your cabin keeping you awake was your main concern, why would you turn down their offer to relocate you?? I don't understand how lack of an upgrade would make you stay in the cabin that you were complaining about??:confused:

 

It makes it sound like all you really wanted was a free upgrade to a balcony which you did not pay for.;)

 

If noise was really your concern, you would have taken any other cabin to try to escape it.

[cruizinisthebest]

If the noise in your cabin keeping you awake was your main concern, why would you turn down their offer to relocate you?? I don't understand how lack of an upgrade would make you stay in the cabin that you were complaining about??:confused:

 

It makes it sound like all you really wanted was a free upgrade to a balcony which you did not pay for.;)

 

If noise was really your concern, you would have taken any other cabin to try to escape it.

 

That's what I say. If the cabin noise was an issue and they offered to move you, why expect a upgraded room? Please with all of that. The idea is to get a quieter room in a (hopefully) better location void of the noise that's keeping you up and being an annoyance. OP took it as a chance for a free upgrade.

[Cruise life]

You lost me when you refused the room change offered. We just got off Miracle 16 nt Hawaii repo end of April and had a fantastic time.

 

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[Budget Queen]

really?? are you serious or trying to be funny?

 

Been on several cruises with cabins in the bow area, Never heard waves or anything banging the hull of the ship.

 

Then you haven't cruised very often in rougher seas. Absolutely, there can be a LOT of noise from the waves hitting the hull.

 

Where have you cruised?

[Budget Queen]

I actually was on the same sailing, indeed there was some rougher seas and noise. He reports the noise on all the sea days. Frankly they chose the wrong cabin. This is good information for them with cabin booking on any future cruises. The noise could not have been that bad, for this person to try and hold out for an upgrade, then not trying the room change offered.

 

Unless there are some FACTS involved, speculation to stir the pot is something I totally ignore. And I would never consider any spa employee to have any inside information.

 

I was on this ship for 3 weeks. Absolutely not ideal, but a very enjoyable time for me.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Budget Queen

[missorahbaby]

Anyway, I agree with you about the dishonesty about the engine problems. I think this is all about money! Not the engine. I will enjoy my cruise on June 24th none the less.

 

Again, as someone already pointed out, the stop in Victoria is necessary as it is a foreign port. It has nothing to do with money but rules, regulations and laws. From what I understand, the cruise ships HAVE to stop in a foreign port, they can not stop ONLY in American ports. That's why cruises between the mainland and Hawaii do the same thing.

[Budget Queen]

Again, as someone already pointed out, the stop in Victoria is necessary as it is a foreign port. It has nothing to do with money but rules, regulations and laws. From what I understand, the cruise ships HAVE to stop in a foreign port, they can not stop ONLY in American ports. That's why cruises between the mainland and Hawaii do the same thing.

 

The details are fully available on line- Passengers Service Act

[CI66774]

OP- I feel for you with respect to the noise issue. I just got off a wonderful Princess cruise (26-transatlantic/Scandinavia/Baltics) and had a cabin at the bow of the ship. It was a wrap around cabin and was lovely. However, when the winds were high, the entire cabin vibrated (even the bed) and the wind produced a deafening droning noise that prevented me from sleeping soundly on a couple of occasions. I did receive flowers from Princess for this and the bridge altered the ship's direction slightly so that the noise/vibration was minimized/eliminated. Sorry you had this experience.

[sacnaillady]

Again, as someone already pointed out, the stop in Victoria is necessary as it is a foreign port. It has nothing to do with money but rules, regulations and laws. From what I understand, the cruise ships HAVE to stop in a foreign port, they can not stop ONLY in American ports. That's why cruises between the mainland and Hawaii do the same thing.

 

 

Did I say aaaaaanything about the stop in Victoria??? I suspect it's all about the $'s why they are not stoping in Ketchikan. I know why they stop in Victoria therefore did not bring Victoria up.

[bar1068]

Did I say aaaaaanything about the stop in Victoria??? I suspect it's all about the $'s why they are not stoping in Ketchikan. I know why they stop in Victoria therefore did not bring Victoria up.

 

Guess I'm curious about this assertion, could you give more insight, that could help explain why Carnival Cruise Lines, still feeling, some would say reeling from the effects of engine issues, both large and small, would site engine issues as reasons for altering one of their itineraries to mask a money savings effort?

 

This goes back to what..last month or April when citing propulsion issues Carnival changed its Alaska itinerary, eliminating the stop in Ketchikan? Didn't they offer OBC and discounts and guests the opportunity to cancel? So how are they saving $$'s by doing all of this..and not stopping in Ketchkan...dishonestly as has been stated here?, here being other posts in this thread?

 

I don't have a dog in this fight...not Alaska trips planned..but I'm curious to how things work!!

[kona_wahine]

All valid points but I do think you should have switched rooms if the banging truly bothered you. And not sure why you demanded an upgrade. As someone who always pays for a balcony room, that's just not right.

[sacnaillady]

I really don't want to get too involved in why I feel this as I aired my feelings back in April on one of the threads on this topic. And I really don't want to see yet another thread get hijacked and way off topic. I was agreeing with the OP as I felt the same way. As you have witnessed people will jump all over my case and declare that Carnival will never do anything just for the money.

 

That being said I will briefly state that when I was a manager in retail if we had an unhappy customer we would offer them a gift certificate to get them back in the store (to spend more money) and they went away happy because they got something for free. Our actual "cost" when the gift certificate was redeem was a fraction of that $25 gift certificate. Their happy and we're happy cause it only "cost" us about $10 maybe less to keep that customer, have them not bad mouth us and probably spend more money. Carnival in affect is doing the same. If I spend my $50 on booze, how much did that actually "cost" them? And they don't have to refund my cold hard cash. Like it or not that's my opinion.

[xbatt8]

It's not about attacking the OP, it's about disagreeing with them. Why do that? Because otherwise some people reading that ONE opinion might think the Miracle is a horrible ship with a horrible crew and horrible food. They might not try it for themselves. Opinions vary, and there is nothing wrong with countering one opinion with others.

 

For instance, I have 49 days on the Miracle, with 16 of them being in the past 2 months. I disagree with most of what was written. I think the pizza is the best of any ship I have sailed on. The food isn't 5 star, but it's pretty darned good. And you're not paying for a 5 star restaurant anyway. My burgers are usually coming right off the grill, and once when my bun was a little stale I asked for a different bun and they gladly replaced it. My MDR food is rarely "tasteless", but I am not one who normally automatically salts, peppers, and dumps Tabasco on everything. If someone does do that (and I'm not saying the OP does), they would certainly find the lightly seasoned food boring and tasteless. When you cook for 2,200 people, you have to go easy on seasonings. It's easier to add more seasoning to taste than it is to remove it.

 

Yes, there are set hours for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, if you just can't seem to find your way to the lido until a few minutes before closing, you might get the last of some things (or be out of others). For those times, there is a pretty good room service menu.

 

My dealings with the crew is that they are excellent. At least all the ones I remember. Sure, one or two may be having an off day, but it could also be the other way round...

 

Look, no OP bashing here. Just another differing opinion on what I think is a great ship with a great crew and pretty good food. Good enough that I am sailing on her again in 5 days. No reason why people should pass judgement on a ship and crew based on one opinion is there?

 

Bob

[Hotdog 52]

If the waves were high enough, the banging was the front of the ship hitting the waves. The front will slap the waves causing the banging. We have experienced this on several cruises. Especially sailing back from Cozumel to La. when a front is coming through kicking the waves up. Sounds just like a sledge hammer hitting on the hull.:)

[SoCalKJ]

Thanks. But I will still enjoy my cruise on the Miracle in 18 days. :D:D:D

 

Nothing...and I mean NOTHING is gonna deter me from having an amazing time when I go in 4 1/2 weeks! I booked this as soon as the itinerary came out last year. We don't actually mind missing Ketchikan since we didn't really care for it in 2011 when we went, so the updated itinerary is fine with us. :)

[Markmom18]

[quote name=Manny13840;42993029If you had a room in the forward of the ship the banging are the waves hitting the bow' date=' when i was on the carnival magic we had a room in very front of the ship on deck 2 we heard a lot of bangs but found out it was the waves hitting the bow...

 

 

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Thank you for that information. My son and I were on the Inspiration in March. In the very front of the ship,on one if the lowest decks. First time in this part of the ship, usually AFT. We immediately noticed a banging. I just turned up the a.c. And the problem was solved. I love an icy cold room, so no problem. IF it had been a issue though, I would have have taken the room change Carnival offered the OP.

[WindsorFred]

 

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Just because we don't all agree with everything OP said doesn't mean we're "bashing" him.

 

The whole point in responding is so that people don't read OP's post and think, "OH NO! I've booked this ship and it's going to be horrible and now I'm worried that maybe I should cancel!!!!" We're simply trying to let those people know that others have had very different experiences.

 

Totally agree. No "bashing" just different observations/opinions so others can make their own choices based on more than 1 observation/opinion, that's all.

[SmogMonster]

Then you haven't cruised very often in rougher seas. Absolutely, there can be a LOT of noise from the waves hitting the hull.

 

Where have you cruised?

 

I will be the first to admit I was wrong so I stand corrected. I guess we have been fortunate never to experience waves banging against the hull.

 

Good info to have. We will avoid the front area of the ship when selecting a cabin.

[Cruise life]

Hmm, wonder how massage therapists are privy to financial information regarding the differences between docking in Ketchican VS Victoria.

The OP is sarcastic in his own review where he LOLs at not taking the full refund or 25% off a future cruise (in retrospect) for missing Ketchican.

I realize some responses were more heartfelt than others; it's always difficult to reply to someone that says the entire crew seemed to have a negativity about them, especially to those of us that recently cruised and thoroughly enjoyed most, if not all, of our experience. Hard to imagine the OP does not have a major grudge against one particular person or group (guest services?) regarding the cabin noise issue. No one is ever "completely honest", either.

 

 

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[Cruising Rules]

This was my families second cruise and the first time we asked another couple to join us. Our first cruise was a couple years ago for 7 days to Mexico on another major cruise line. (I'll leave nameless because I want to be fair). After this cruise on the Carnival Miracle I am not likely to ever cruise with Carnival Cruise lines again. In an effort to be fair though, I will share the good as well as the bad.

THE GOOD:

(1)The ship was clean! Although the last cruise I went on was equally clean, It bears mentioning that this ship was clean, there were plenty of hand sanitizer stations all over and crew members could be seen cleaning often.

(2) Our room steward for room 1-171 (6A) which left from Seattle to Alaska on 5-27-2014, (Which should tell you who I am if anyone from Carnival wants to contact me), Louie, was incredibly friendly, professional and took the time to get to know our names, preferences, and ask how out excursions had gone.

(3) The food in Nick and Noras was delicious! except for a funky tasting apple pie that left my wife and two friends with the impression they had used old or fermenting apples... The steak and sides were delicious, the meat was cooked perfectly to our requests.

(4) Getting on and off the boat was relatively quick and painless.

(5) The comedians were hilarious... good job

 

OK, THE BAD:.......

(1) Beginning as soon as we boarded, there was a general sense that the crew were disinterested in their jobs and painfully going through the motions. The only exceptions to this we noted were John the cruise director and "Uncle Brucie" from the Mad Hatters Lounge. Katie who emceed several events was dull, and seemed completely unprepared and uninterested in being there.

(2) ***The NOISE*** Beginning the second night there was a very loud audible banging coming from outside the ship. It sounded as though someone was hitting the hull with a hammer and it was loud enough to prevent sleeping. first at around 11 p.m. I notified a crew-person in the hallway who briefly stuck his head in, remarked that he didn't hear anything and then walked away. Around 3 a.m. I called guest services who sent an engineer to our room. The noise had momentarily subsided and he left. I called again at 4 a.m. because the noise had returned and we did not sleep at all that night. this time when the engineer came, I asked him to wait until the noise returned and a minute later it started up again. He seemed surprised and said he would go investigate. He returned 10 minutes later and said he couldn't find anything. I spoke with our travel companions who were two rooms down and they said they could hear it as well but would wait to see what was done about our situation. The next morning I went to Guest Services to get the issue resolved. I made several video and audio recordings of the event which I still have and have confirmed the sounds can clearly be heard in the video. They offered to have me move 6 rooms down the hallway. I told the Guest Services crew member that if I was going to go to the trouble of repacking and moving I would like to be moved to a different floor and upgraded to a balcony since this was not my fault and I was being inconvenienced. the guest services said they would not upgrade my room because I had not paid for a balcony and if I did not accept the offer of the room down the hall, they would NOT OFFER ANY FURTHER HELP. I left feeling like they did not care about me and did not want me to return if there was a further problem. The noise returned on the final evening of the cruise as we went from Victoria to Seattle, but based on previous encounters I didn't believe they would do anything. VERY disappointing.

(3) The FOOD was bland. I mean completely flavorless. Every dessert seemed to have been made with not a teaspoon of sugar. Even the jello was completely flavorless. The chicken which seemed to be served every day was drippy and typically covered in soggy broccoli. One huge complaint about the food was the timing. On my previous cruises the meal times have been ample since they understand that people on a cruise may sleep in if they partied late the night before or were busy as a cruise show or event. Not so here. twice I arrived in the buffet area to discover that breakfast was being shut down at 9:30 a.m. and what was left was being slopped into one small area and was cold. The omelet bar was acceptable but had a very limited variety and if something ran out (bacon, onion etc), the cook just told people they had to choose something else. The asian food was honestly pathetic. Primarily noodle dishes except for one day which offered a chicken and peanut dish. Also, the white rice was dry and not remotely an asian style rice. The fried rice should have been called microwaved rice... sad and flavorless. The one good item at breakfast is the chocolate muffins.... I basically lived on them for 7 days. I did not enjoy any of the food, and my standards are quite low. The hamburgers which were available between meals were lukewarm and the buns which sat out in the open next to the grill were dried out by the time you received them. The pizzas which were available 24/7, were often undercooked at the center and had enough grease to power diesel truck from Seattle back to my home in Central California. The food seriously was an absolute disappointment. The "bubbles package" which I purchased at nearly $50 for one person for the week but every time I went to a bartender (the only place to get sodas is the bars), the bartender seemed put out that they had to stoop to serving me a soda instead of paying for an expensive drink.

(4) The ACTIVITIES: One huge annoyance my travel companions and I noticed is this... They have childcare which will watch your kids until 3 a.m. but two of three available Jacuzzis closed at 10 p.m. EVERY NIGHT! Why would I want you to watch my kids if I cant even go relax at the 21 and over Serenity deck after 10 p.m. The one Jacuzzi that was open the water was not very hot and the water coming from the jets seemed even colder...

(5) The scheduled EVENTS: Our whole group (all 4 of us LOL) was put off that on one day we went to the country line dancing class in the location and time indicated on the daily itinerary.... We waited 30 minutes and no one ever showed up, and we never heard any announcement that it had been canceled. Others nearby had waited for it also and were likewise disappointed. I cannot think of any excuse for this. Also, Katie and Benjamin who emceed several trivia shows and game shows seemed unprepared, unenthusiastic, and bored. They made no attempt to build enthusiasm or interest in the activities. Their attitudes made the shows painfully awkward and boring to sit through. We attempted to participate in a ship-wide scavenger hunt and after running our little group all over the ship for nearly an hour, we arrived back and Benjamin who was lazily sitting on the Lido Deck stage simply said we were 5 minutes to late because someone else had beaten us. Sad thing is, we made our own photo scavenger hunt later that day and had much more fun. Sad...

(6) DISHONESTY??? We had been told about 1 month prior to our ship sailing that there was an issue with the ship that caused it to not be able to cruise at maximum speed and so they needed to cut out Ketchikan from the itinerary. They offered a full refund then or 25% off a future cruise (LOL in retrospect). We took them at their word with a mind to enjoy the other ports even though we had to cancel one of the main excursions we had planned. Much to our dismay, our traveling companions brought up the speed issue to the massage specialists on the second day of the cruise in small talk and were told there was nothing wrong with the ships engines but that Carnival had cut out Ketchikan because it was more financially beneficial for the Carnival Miracle to dock at Victoria rather than Ketchikan. Whether this was true or not, I do not know but the seed of mistrust had been sown.

CONCLUSION: As mentioned before, this was not my first cruise though it was my first cruise with Carnival. At this point, it will likely be my last. The overall onboard experience was lackluster and dissatisfying. I wont even get into the idea of forcing me to pay mandatory daily gratuity for subpar service, then charging additional mandatory gratuities on every additional purchase whether drink or goods and constant suggestions that I further offer cash gratuities to staff members. All four people in my group are under 35 years old, enjoy cruising I felt horrible that our two traveling companions had such a miserable onboard experience for their first cruise. I know from past personal experience that its not that hard to deliver but Carnival failed big time. Based on this experience I cannot recommend this cruise line to anyone.

 

Josh

 

While I have been very disappointed in the evolvement of Carnival over the last couple of years, I think your review is a "plant". Breakfast never closes in the buffet at 9:30a, I have never had a bartender in 26 cruises on Carnival make me feel bad that I was using a soda card, I have never seen or experienced a event host who was not enthusiastic (in fact too much so sometimes). I could go on but I get the feeling this review of yours is some kind of vendetta or hoax. I am not a Carnival cheerleader, actually just the opposite!! But your review was a bit over the top and less than believeable.

[frayedend]

While I have been very disappointed in the evolvement of Carnival over the last couple of years, I think your review is a "plant". Breakfast never closes in the buffet at 9:30a, I have never had a bartender in 26 cruises on Carnival make me feel bad that I was using a soda card, I have never seen or experienced a event host who was not enthusiastic (in fact too much so sometimes). I could go on but I get the feeling this review of yours is some kind of vendetta or hoax. I am not a Carnival cheerleader, actually just the opposite!! But your review was a bit over the top and less than believeable.

 

I watched the bartenders ignore my kids for 10 minutes while helping new customers on the Dream last year. I was wondering why they were taking so long (they had left the show to go get soda in the Atrium. They had been gone for 15 minutes so I went out and stood far away and watched. There were 2 bartenders and one was helping someone while the other was washing glasses or some other mundane task. We had 3 kids all sitting there holding their soda cards out and patiently waiting. The bartender that was helping someone finished just as another couple walked up to the bar. They then helped the new person. Then another person walked up and same thing. Then it was about to happen again and I intervened and told the new customer, "I'm sorry but these children have been waiting for service." Oh they were all apologetic. They somehow didn't see 3 kids waiting at an empty bar. I was pretty pissed off.

 

I don't know about the buffet but I've seen food places closed prior to the scheduled time (Wok, Deli,). I've seen many employees not too happy on cruises and many that were very happy. These things may not be the norm but they do happen.

[Gypsywych]

While I have been very disappointed in the evolvement of Carnival over the last couple of years, I think your review is a "plant". Breakfast never closes in the buffet at 9:30a, I have never had a bartender in 26 cruises on Carnival make me feel bad that I was using a soda card, I have never seen or experienced a event host who was not enthusiastic (in fact too much so sometimes). I could go on but I get the feeling this review of yours is some kind of vendetta or hoax. I am not a Carnival cheerleader, actually just the opposite!! But your review was a bit over the top and less than believeable.

 

Gee, I've had only 5 cruises with a 6th coming up... and I've had a bartender ignore me for 15 minutes because I was holding a soda card, and grumble while he filled my drink order. I've also seen the breakfast buffet start being broken down before 9:30am, leaving only 1 section plus an omelet station open. Carnival crew people are human and have bad days. It's impossible for every single staff member to be UP and perfectly chirpy 24/7.

Stuff happens dude. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't make it untrue, or a 'plant'.

 

I thought the OP's review was pretty fair. He mentioned what he liked, what was good and what was bad. He didn't slam Carnival.

[Barbee524]

I wont even get into the idea of forcing me to pay mandatory daily gratuity for subpar service,

 

Josh

 

Out of this entire review this is the only item I really take issue with, the rest is the OP's opinion. You are NOT forced to pay the daily gratuity you can ask to have them removed from your account. However, it's MY opinion that anyone who does this is a subpar person.