Carnival Miracle Cruise Review with 89 photos & 8 videos

[Spaniel Lover]

My Viral Carnival Cruise Video

 

As you may know, the Carnival Miracle is a Spirit-class ship. In other words, it's a sister ship to the Carnival Spirit... and the two ships have nearly identical layouts. But the Carnival Spirit has one important feature that the Carnival Miracle doesn't have: an amazing vertical-drop waterslide known as the Green Thunder waterslide.

 

Three years ago, I cruised on the Carnival Spirit right after they installed the Green Thunder slide... and when I got home, I posted a funny video to YouTube of people experiencing this scary waterslide for the first time. I had posted over a hundred videos to YouTube before this one, and none ever got more than a few thousand views. But the Green Thunder waterslide video totally surprised me by going viral! It has now been viewed over 59 million times, and the advertising revenue I now get from that video is an important part of my cruise fund. Let's take a look at that video that I shot on Carnival Spirit three years ago...

 

[YOUTUBE]aPMfe1vMZuE[/YOUTUBE]

 

I'm really proud of that video! With over 59 million views (so far) it's been seen more than any other YouTube video about a cruise ship. And that's 58 million more views than any video on Carnival's YouTube channel has received!

 

I've spent a LOT of time over the last three years trying to figure out why that video went viral on YouTube. What is it about that video that has caused it to catch on? All I can figure out is that first off, it's just plain fun. Also, I think a lot of YouTube viewers are teenagers... and teenagers really like waterslides. I think it probably also helps that the still picture which is displayed to represent the video on YouTube (a.k.a. the "thumbnail") is a picture of a girl in a bikini top. YouTube people seem to really like bikinis!

 

In the video, the girl in the bikini top is so amazingly hyped up about the experience! It's just hilarious to see her excitement level, the terror on her face in anticipation of the start of the ride, and her shocked reaction (and scream!) when the floor of the waterslide falls out from below her. I also think my laughing reaction behind the camera to her terrified reaction on camera adds to the whole thing... kind of like the laugh track on a TV comedy.

 

After the advertising money started rolling in from that viral video about the Green Thunder waterslide, I started posting a lot more videos to YouTube... in hopes that lightning would strike twice and I'd come up with a second viral video which would pour even more ad revenue in to my vacation fund. As luck would have it, I've managed to do just that... and believe it or not, my second viral video is remarkably similar to my first one. It's a video I shot of another vertical-drop waterslide on a cruise ship... this time the "Free Fall" waterslide on the Norwegian Getaway. Take a look at that video...

 

[YOUTUBE]v5uC2hbsKpo[/YOUTUBE]

 

With over three million views so far, my second viral video is not quite in the league of the 55-million-view video from the Carnival Spirit... but three million views is certainly nothing to sneeze at! And now you know the back story to why I always shoot at least a few videos when I'm on a cruise! I'm going to keep trying to come up with a third viral video, for sure!

[Spaniel Lover]

Internet Access

 

You may have heard that Carnival recently made some improvements to the Internet service that is provided on their ships. I'm happy to tell you that Carnival's Internet service really is a whole lot better than it used to be in the old days... and cheaper, too. Bravo to Carnival for realizing that in this day and age, having good Internet access while on a cruise is kind of a big deal for many of their passengers.

 

Carnival offers several different options for purchasing Internet access. First off, you don't have to pay by the minute anymore like you did in the old days. So, you're never rushing to quickly disconnect to save your minutes for later. Now you can either buy Internet access for an entire day, or for the entire cruise. Also, you can buy full Internet access or buy a very inexpensive plan that gives you access to only Facebook, Instagram, and What's App. I scanned a sheet they gave me that details the pricing of their various plans.

 

For a guy like me who uses the Internet a lot even when on vacation, the only question is whether to choose Carnival's "premium" plan or to save a little money and go with the "value" plan. Earlier this year, during back-to-back cruises on the Carnival Breeze, I did a little test to see for myself what the real difference was between the two plans. I purchased the premium plan during the first week of the cruise, and then purchased the value plan during the second week. The surprising result of my tests was that I could see no difference at all between the quality of my Internet connection on the two plans. I did a number of objective measurements at Speedtest.net, and got similar results on both plans. The "value" plan seemed to work just as well as the more expensive "premium" plan. The Speedtest results were all right in the same ballpark, and both plans just felt roughly equal in my real-world usage. I could detect no benefit to the more expensive premium plan whatsoever.

 

So, on my Carnival Miracle cruise to the Mexican Riviera, I signed up for the $60 value plan so that I would have unlimited Internet access during the entire cruise. While it was a hugely worse Internet connection than I'm used to at home, it was useable most of the time. There was just one day during the cruise where the Internet connection was so slow that I decided to turn my computer off and come back to it later.

 

If you're not familiar with Internet Speedtest results, this next part won't mean much to you. I did a number of Speedtests throughout the week, and got a ping time right around 650 ms almost every time. Download speeds were typically right around 1 or 2 mbps, although once I got as high as 15 mbps and another time I got as low as .5 mbps. Upload speeds were right around .5 mbps most of the time. I did successfully upload a short video to YouTube during the cruise, but it took about 45 minutes. A longer video upload went on for almost two hours before I finally gave up and finished it when I got home. Beyond the numbers, the more important thing is how well did it seem to work? The bottom line is that it was good enough. Not great, hugely slower than home, but good enough for doing basic Internet stuff like posting pictures to Facebook and reading the news.

 

One last thing about Internet access:

If you want to experience the state-of-the-art in Internet connectivity at sea, you have to cruise on Royal Caribbean's newest ships, such as Allure Of The Seas or Anthem Of The Seas. They use

than Carnival does. Royal Caribbean uses the O3B Networks system of low-earth orbit satellites... and it provides a significantly better connection than you can get on Carnival. On Allure Of The Seas, I got a consistently fast Internet connection during the entire cruise, with a ping time of about 185 milliseconds, a download speed of about 4 Mbps, and an upload speed of about .9 Mbps. That's the fastest Internet connection I've ever experienced at sea.

[Spaniel Lover]

The March 2015 Dry Dock

 

I already mentioned that the Carnival Miracle went in to dry dock in the Spring of 2015 and that a number of new features were added to the ship at that time. Here's the list of all the features that were added during the March 2015 dry dock:

 

Seuss At Sea

Skybox Sports Bar

Spin U (a DJ academy for ages 15-17)

Cherry On Top

Hasbro The Game Show

Playlist Productions

Alchemy Bar

Red Frog Pub

 

Those are some nice additions, but it's also important to note some very popular Carnival cruise features that you will NOT find on the Carnival Miracle... such as Cucina Del Capitano, the Red Frog Rum Bar, the Blue Iguana Cantina, the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, the ropes course, Carnival Waterworks, Fat Jimmy's C-side BBQ, the Green Thunder vertical-drop waterslide, the Dive-In Movie screen, and most importantly Guy's Burger Joint.

 

"The Ringer" from Guy's Burger Joint on Carnival Breeze

 

So, if you'll be cruising on the Carnival Miracle, be aware that you won't be seeing all of the features you may have seen on other Carnival cruise ships. If you want to experience as many of the latest Carnival features as possible, I'd recommend a cruise on the Carnival Breeze or the Carnival Sunshine. But the Carnival Miracle does have one big advantage over those two ships: the Carnival Miracle only carries about 2000 passengers, compared to about 2600 on the Sunshine and about 3700 on the Breeze. So, it does tend to seem less crowded.

[Spaniel Lover]

Maintenance Issues

 

While it was nice that they put the ship in dry dock in 2015 and added some new features, it appears to me that they completely missed the opportunity to refurbish some parts of the ship that are showing their age.

 

I snapped a few pictures of things I noticed during our cruise that looked like they needed to be refurbished or replaced. If I were in charge of the Carnival Miracle, this is the stuff I would never allow to stay this way!

 

Horribly stained cushions and pads on the lounge chairs in the Serenity Retreat.

I think these black stains are from soot from the engine exhaust.

 

 



Worn out grout in between the tiles of the Serenity swimming pool.

See how there's orange grout between some of the tiles, but not most.

 

 



Worn off white paint inside the Serenity whirlpool.

All the grey stuff you see used to be painted, but most of the paint has worn off.

 

 



A horribly stained lounger on our balcony, and stained wood decking.

I think these black stains are from soot from the engine exhaust.

Also, notice how grungy that blue area at the foot of the lounger looks!

 

 



Rust on some metal material on our balcony.

[Spaniel Lover]

Downloads

 

If you're researching the idea of taking a cruise on the Carnival Miracle,

here are a few documents you might want to download:

 

Carnival Miracle Deck Plans

Fun Times daily newsletters - All 7 days

Entertainment schedule

Disembarkation information for all guests

Disembarkation information for Platinum guests

Benefits for being a Platinum guest

Room Service Menu

Price list for Internet access

 

 

These "mini deck plans" might help you visualize the layout of the ship...

 



 

If you click on the mini-deck plans, a larger more detailed version will open up in a new browser tab.

[Spaniel Lover]

Carnival Cruise Sounds

 

Have some fun with these!

 

Listen to the Carnival Cruise theme, or play the sound of a Carnival ship horn.

 

If you're a true cruise junkie, download the audio files (by right-clicking, and saving) and then set your computer to play the ship horn when you get a new email, and to play the theme song when the computer boots up and/or shuts down!

[Spaniel Lover]

Our Future Cruises

 

We've had an amazing year, as far as cruising goes. We spent a total of 47 days at sea in 2015, shattering our previous personal record of 39 that we set in 2014. Perhaps you're wondering what we've got coming up in the new year. I can tell you right now that we won't be beating that 47-days-at-sea record in 2016. With the exception of our 7-day Carnival Miracle cruise, our focus in 2015 was doing long cruises. In 2016, we'll be trying a different strategy and focusing on cruising on some of the world's newest and most amazing cruise ships! Cruising on the newest ships is always a little more expensive, so to make it all work with our cruise budget, we probably won't be doing any back-to-back cruises in 2016.

 

In the first quarter, we'll be cruising on Norwegian Cruise Line's brand new ship, the Norwegian Escape... and to make it even better, we'll be staying in The Haven! We did a cruise in The Haven on Norwegian Getaway last year, and it was the best cruise of all the ones we've ever been on. So I'm REALLY excited about getting back in to The Haven on Norwegian Escape. I'd actually cruise on NCL a lot more often... except for the fact that they offer very little variety in their itineraries. If Norwegian Getaway or Norwegian Escape did some different itineraries from time to time, I'd surely cruise with them more often. But it's pretty much just the same ports over and over, every week. Boring. Carnival does a much better job of offering a variety of Caribbean itineraries. Nevertheless, I can't wait to experience Norwegian Escape in 2016! I have no doubt that it will be the most amazing cruise we've ever been on. Allow me to explain exactly what I'm so excited about, in this video I put together:

 

(Please make sure you have your sound turned on for this narrated video)

 

[YOUTUBE]6kZRWSH-clE[/YOUTUBE]

 

In the second quarter of 2016, we'll be cruising with Royal Caribbean on their newest ship: Anthem Of The Seas. That's the one you may have read about with the robotic bartender, the bumper cars, and the skydiving simulator. After a great cruise earlier this year on one of Royal Caribbean's older ships, I'm really curious to see how the next generation of RCCL ships strikes me.

 

You may be wondering when we'll be sailing on the brand new Carnival ship, the Carnival Vista. It will probably surprise you to learn that we don't have a cruise on the Vista booked at this time. I'm sure we'll eventually do so, I just don't know when that's going to be possible yet. I think those Havana staterooms at the back of the ship, with their own private pool area, look pretty cool! I hope they're not all booked up by the time I'm finally ready to book.

[Spaniel Lover]

Packing List & To-Do List

 

Here's my official packing list.

Perhaps this will help you think of things to pack for your cruise.

On a few of the unusual items, I'll provide a link to the exact version I recommend at Amazon.com

 

Passports

Airline boarding pass

Cruise boarding pass

Luggage tags

If driving, printed directions to the hotel & cruise terminal

Wallet (I actually forgot this on one cruise!)

Swimsuit

Flip-flops

Waterproof beach shoes

Sunglasses

Underwear & socks (incredibly, I actually forgot to bring socks on one cruise)

One dressy outfit

Shirts

Pants

Shorts

Sweatshirt

Deodorant

Q-tips

Hair brush

Nail clippers

Razor

Medications

Toothbrush & toothpaste

Sun block

Hand lotion

Travel-size Kleenex for the airplane

Lint remover

Lawry's seasoning salt

Laptop computer or tablet computer, including charger

Digital SLR Camera

Waterproof camera

Camera tripod, or selfie-stick

Binoculars

Wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer

6-outlet power strip

MP3 player

Noise-cancelling headphones

A Sewing Kit for making emergency repairs to damaged clothing

Cell phone & charger

Waterproof wrist watch

Clothes hangers

 

My pre-cruise to-do list:

Stop newspaper and mail delivery

Book shore excursions

Send an email to family members with my travel plans & itinerary

Turn off water to the house to prevent the chance of a pipe break

Turn down (or turn off) the water heater to save energy

Make sure garden sprinklers are on

Make sure house is locked and alarm system is active

 

On the last day at work:

Update voice mail message to indicate my return date

Update out-of-office email message, and turn it on

Make sure my temporary replacement has an updated desk guide

Put a sign at my desk indicating my return date

[Spaniel Lover]

What Camera Do I Use?

 

Whenever I post these cruise reviews, I always get questions about what camera I used to take the photos. I actually bring two cameras with me on a cruise, plus my cell phone, and on this particular cruise I also brought along a very unusual stabilized video camera. More about that in a minute. Let's start with my main camera.

 

Most of the pictures you've seen here were shot with my Canon EOS-70D digital SLR camera. I bring several different lenses with me on a cruise, too.

 

Canon EOS 70D

 

The 70D is probably too much camera for most people... so if you're in the market for a very high quality digital SLR camera, the one I actually recommend for most people is the Canon Digital Rebel T5i. If you get one, make sure you get the T5i with the 135mm lens, not the cheap version with the 55mm lens.

 

I also like to have a Canon EF-S 10-18mm lens with me when I'm on a cruise ship. This is a wide angle lens, which is extremely useful when trying to shoot in small spaces (for example, shooting a photo of a bathroom in a cruise ship cabin) or when shooting something very large... like a cruise ship, when you're standing on the pier next to it.

 

Every now and then I see something photo-worthy when I don't have my Canon DSLR with me. When that happens, I'll shoot with my cell phone, as a last resort. The photo of Bubba Gumps in Puerto Vallarta was shot with my cell phone, as was the photo of people standing in line at embarkation.

 

One important technique that I use with my Canon DSLR, since I'm looking to getting the highest quality photos possible, is to shoot in RAW format rather than JPG. This preserves the photos with the highest possible quality, and gives me the greatest ability to tweak them after shooting them. However, it does require a lot of extra work. Any photos which I want to share (via email, Facebook, or on this web site, for example) have to be converted from RAW to JPG. This takes some time and effort, but it's worth it to me in order to get the best end results. Just about all the photos you see on this page have been tweaked to some extent to give them the best finished look. For most photos, I do some sharpening and color correction. On some photos, I have to do even more tweaking than that to get them to look just right.

 

I also bring along a tripod with me, to allow me to shoot long-exposure shots in low-light situations. It's also handy to have for shooting "selfies". I've got a tripod that is just the right size to fit inside my big suitcase but which is heavy duty enough to be stable. It also has a fluid head, which is something that's very important to look for in a tripod if you intend to use it when shooting video.

 

This selfie was shot in our cabin with the camera on a tripod and using a 10-second delay

 

On our Caribbean cruises, I do a lot of snorkeling. I shoot underwater photos and videos with a fairly inexpensive waterproof camera... the Olympus TG-830. However, that's a slightly older model now... and if you're in the market for one, you should get the new version which is the Olympus TG-850.

 

Olympus TG-850 waterproof camera

 

Finally, there's an interesting new stabilized video camera on the market called the DJI Osmo. It has a gimbal built in to it, which smoothes out all the shakiness you typically see in videos shot with a hand held camera. In the professional video world, they use a Steadicam to create smooth handheld video shots. The DJI Osmo is a way to get somewhat similar results without spending a lot of money.

 

DJI Osmo, stabilized handheld video camera

 

DJI is famous for making the most popular quadcopter drones on the market today... such as the DJI Phantom and the DJI Inspire. DJI developed their gimbal as a way to smooth out the video when a drone is bouncing all around in the sky. Someone at DJI got the bright idea that if they skipped the drone but kept the gimbal and the camera, and mounted it on to a hand grip, they would have a great device for taking smooth looking videos while walking around. That's how the DJI Osmo was born. It sounded like a cool idea to me, so I bought one of the first ones on the market and took it along with me on the Carnival Miracle to see if it would be useful to me. I used it to create

.

[Spaniel Lover]

And that's it! We're done. (Finally!) That's my review of our Mexican Riviera cruise on the Carnival Miracle. It wasn't the best cruise I've ever been on, but it was far from the worst. Any vacation that results in one of the best days of my life has got to be considered a success, for sure.

 

The shaky squeaky cabin was a disappointment, and getting food poisoning that one night was certainly a bad situation... but on the other hand I got over the food poisoning extremely quickly and didn't come home sick from my vacation and have to take additional time off from work... so I figure I dodged a bullet there.

 

I think I'll be cruising more with Princess and Norwegian in the next couple of years, but you can definitely still consider me a Carnival fan.

 

Feel free to jump in now with your questions and comments.

 

If you want to read about some of the other cruises I've been on, just click on the links in my signature, below...

[Uncwrn93]

Awesome review.

[caitmac1]

Just one note on the cabin - that sofa actually *can* be converted to a bed- rather than it being a pull out, the bolsters that form the back are taken off and voila, twin bed. I believe some rooms with the sofa they don't allow it for numbers reasons, but I know that some of the aft-view balconies on the Miracle allow a third person with that layout, so... yeah.

 

Looks like yo uguys had a super fun trip!

[jimbri]

Great review!

[trishnmike]

Awesome review!!!

[SDcruiser66]

I am really enjoying your review.

[riffatsea]

Hi,

Your review has to win the prize for the most comprehensive one ever written!! I have been on the Miracle several times and will be on her again in March! I am sad to think this will be my last voyage on her since she is set to go to China in 2017!

We have been on larger ships but we really prefer the Spirit class even without Guys!

I hope you continue to enjoy your cruises but perhaps get just a touch braver in what you will try on shore!

Keep sailing and writing!! I really enjoyed reading your story!

[SenatorsFan]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I especially enjoyed the time-lapse videos. :)

Heather

[Spaniel Lover]

I'm looking forward already to your review of your Haven experience on the Escape. NCL isn't on my radar, but maybe your review will change my mind.

 

You should take a look at my review of a cruise I did on the Norwegian Getaway last year. It was my first experience in The Haven, and it was absolutely the best cruise I've ever done. The review is at http://www.jimzim.net/NorwegianGetaway.html

 

NCL wasn't on my radar screen for a long time, either. I gave up on them after a cruise on the Norwegian Star in 2008. The "freestyle" concept sounded interesting to me, so I gave it a try there in 2008... but I found that cruise inferior in many ways to the Carnival experience that I was very comfortable with... so I didn't give NCL another try for 6 years after that.

 

What got me to try NCL again was The Haven. I started reading about it, and looking at the amazing pictures of the luxurious Haven courtyard, and I totally loved the idea of an exclusive, un-crowded VIP area within the ship. Cruise ships are always crowded and I'm always having to zig when everyone else zags just so I can get a Jacuzzi or a day bed or a good seat at a show. I really liked the idea of knowing that guests in the Haven had their own sun deck, their own Jacuzzis, their own swimming pool... even their own restaurant. And not only did the concept sound great to me, but when I actually got onboard and did it... it was everything I wanted it to be. The reality lived up to the hype.

 

But here's the thing...

NCL has new management now, and they're out to make money. They've jacked the price of entry in to The Haven WAY up. When we did our cruise in The Haven on Norwegian Getaway last year, it only cost us a total of $3000. Not $3000 each, but a total of $3000 for the both of us. Now that was travelling off-peak, in January, when prices tend to be the lowest, but still... you can't get in to The Haven for anywhere close to that now. They've masked the price increases as best they can by throwing in the Unlimited Drink Package, the Unlimited Specialty Dining Package, pre-paid gratuities, and some onboard credit for Haven guests... but still, the days of a $3000 Haven cruise are gone for good, I'm afraid.

 

If you can afford it though, it's an amazing cruise experience! I definitely recommend it.

[riffatsea]

The Escape is too big for us with tooo many people!

The All Inclusive price concept is like the European river cruises on small boats.

You were lucky to experience that luxury for such a low price! We really disliked the food on our NCL cruise to Alaska! We don't like making restaurant reservations each night and really enjoy having good food on the menu in the MDR.

We have enjoyed Royal Caribbean a lot but when they moved out of California we became loyal to Carnival. Who knows what will happen next year?? We shall see??

[vwrestler171]

I was on the Miracle a week or 2 before you and I agree that Chloe is a great CD. I spent a lot of time with Ben Gentry in the piano bar. I'm glad you got so many pictures asd I didn't get that many and I'm taking my wife on Miracle next year.

[RC Dancers]

Thank you for your review and pictures. I was actually not that excited about my upcoming NYE Miracle cruise but your review brought the excitement level back.

 

My wife and I took our first NCL cruise a few month ago and really enjoyed it. We took the Breakaway from NYC to Bermuda. It was very enjoyable. The people in Bermuda were really nice and Horseshoe Bay is now my favorite beach.

 

I really enjoy your pictures. I have been using an EOS M2 because it is so easy to carry. I recently ordered an SL1 from the Canon refurb store for under $300 and am looking forward to trying it out.

Edited December 3, 2015 by RC Dancers

[mousey]

Thanks for the review. We'll be on the Miracle Christmas week.

[Cruise Traveler Susan]

Wonderful review as always - love your pictures.

[LaCal]

BEST review I've ever read......Thx for taking the time and Loved the photos and videos as well....And the extra touch of adding your lists of things to do etc at the end

 

I copied them to use for my future cruises 😜😃🍹🍹

[john91498]

Jim,

 

That was an amazing review!!! Thank you so much for taking the time and effort.

My family and I will be on the Miracle in August of next year and you've given me a lot of insight to the ship.

Edited December 10, 2015 by john91498