Carnival Miracle Nov 1 2015 Photos

[Lisah101]

Lots of people have posted pictures of the ship so I did not do that. But I have tons of photos of other stuff.

 

Here is our trip report of our last minute Carnival Miracle 6 day cruise out of California.

 

Link to webpage

[joeyancho]

Nice review. We went on The cruise after yours. We had some of the same feelings as you. We will not be cruising carnival again for the same reasons. Poor MDR food quality, sad entertainment, lousy buffet. Also the Miracle just screams dated. Agree with you that the new pizza is terrific. We have cruised Princess several times before this one and the difference is remarkable. A much better fit for us. Mainly the quality, variety and availability of food is so much better on Princess.

Edited November 30, 2015 by joeyancho

[Lisah101]

Thanks, I think there is a niche for everyone, this just isn't mine

[jlocole]

I wish my dog had a "Grandma Sharon"!

[Buckett]

Thanks for your review. The place you went to in Puerto Vallarta, was it La Palapa? Looks familiar. Thanks.

[Utahrd]

Lisah, do you ever head up the 93 to Las Vegas?

 

On a scale of Circus Circus to Bellagio, how is the Miracle's buffet?

[RaiderFaninNM]

NOTHING beats the buffet at the Bellagio!! ;)

 

 

 

Thanks for the review with those clear pictures!

[Utahrd]

I can drive to Vegas in about 6 hours and it's maybe 11 to Long Beach. If I have the willpower not to stop for too long in Las Vegas.

 

I want to go to Mexico during the summer for a week from a port I can drive to, so the Miracle is our only choice.

 

And my wife and I are on a weird diet so I figured that the buffet would be our best bet.

 

Are we talking Venetian here? Fiesta Henderson?

[vwrestler171]

Depending on which part of the buffet you choose, it is fair to good. I usually ate at Chopsticks or the grill. The hot dogs were pretty good for my cruise. The other areas of the buffet just didn't look very appealing to me. I took advantage of room service too. The BLT's are great.

 

If you are interested in the Miracle, I have an extra F&F voucher good for $100 OBC on the Nov 12th cruise.

[joeyancho]

I can drive to Vegas in about 6 hours and it's maybe 11 to Long Beach. If I have the willpower not to stop for too long in Las Vegas.

 

I want to go to Mexico during the summer for a week from a port I can drive to, so the Miracle is our only choice.

 

And my wife and I are on a weird diet so I figured that the buffet would be our best bet.

 

Are we talking Venetian here? Fiesta Henderson?

 

Palace Station

[Lisah101]

Palace Station

 

 

Yes!!!!!!!!

[Utahrd]

Palace Station? Well, that way, I won't be tempted to overeat. Thanks for the warning, everyone!

 

Carnival's website says that the Miracle does not have a Mongolian Wok? Is that right?

 

As long as I avoid the noodles, most Mongolian BBQ items are on my diet.

[joeyancho]

Yes to Mongolian wok. Panda express it ain't. I was not impressed.

[vwrestler171]

I never saw a Mongolian Wok onboard, there was the Chopsticks area which had different chinese dishes every day. They were ok.

[Lisah101]

i did not see a Mongolian Wok either. I wasn't excited about the buffet, most of it seemed to be some side dishes with a few entrees that were casseroles or chicken smothered in something. The burger bar outside seemed very popular but often had long lines. The Nacho chips/chili at the burger bar were always stale/crusty but maybe I was just going off peak times. I did post one photo of the nacho/chili on the trip review I wrote. For the rest, it was so crowded I could never get a photo of the buffet because the layout was so compact.

[joeyancho]

Yes to Mongolian wok. Panda express it ain't. I was not impressed.

 

Sorry, no Mongolian wok, Chopsticks.

[Geo.714]

We just got off the Miracle (Thanksgiving Cruise) and it was a sold out ship. Lots of families but it didn't seem too crowded. Yes, there were lines at the Lido buffet, but for the most part, not too bad.

 

I will agree that the food seemed sub-par. Very bland and plain. The best meal we had on the ship was Thanksgiving Dinner in Nick and Nora's Steak House. Spectacular dinner and service. The pizza was also special and I had one every day.

 

I did buy a small bottle of Siracha in our first port, Cabo, and used that in the main dining room to help put some taste into my dinners and also on the Lido deck at the buffet for lunch or breakfast.

 

My wife complained the main shows were very poor quality. Possibly because the stage is so small, but also because out of a cast of 6 or 8, only 2 could really sing. The others were horrible. We did stay and watch 2 sets of comedians and all were very good.

 

We've sailed this itinerary (7 Day Mexican Riviera: Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta) with Carnival several times and the embarkation and debarkation process was the worst we've ever experienced. We even had FTTF, but the only place that helped was in Cabo (a tender port) and at Guest Services where you have a separate line.

 

All in all, I'd give Carnival a 5 or 6 out of 10 for this cruise. Previous cruises I would have rated a 7 or 8, but Carnival seems to be diminishing. We cruised a similar itinerary on Princess a couple months ago and I would rate that cruise a solid 7 or 8.

 

We probably won't sail Carnival again on the Mexican Riviera itinerary out of Long Beach (we do love the ports in Mexico), but we may sail them out of Florida, or New Orleans just to see if they pay more attention to those cruise ports than they do to Long Beach.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Geo.714

[Utahrd]

That's a good idea, I will bring some Tapatio or Cholula or pick some up in the Cabo Walmart.

 

Geo, you said they were a lot of families on your cruise.

 

Did the kids seem like they were having a good time? And by "good time", I mean "willing to spend almost all their time in the kids or teens club so their parents can hang out in the Serenity area"?

[Geo.714]

As mentioned, there were a LOT of families on the Thanksgiving cruise. At dinner, there were 6 or 7 tables that I could count around us that were all families. Usually, if there's a table of 10, it's two families of 5. These were all tables with a single family at each one of them.

 

We were a party of 10 with teenagers 16, 17, and 18. Before we got on the ship, they groused that Club O2 was going to be "stupid" and "no fun" and they were not the least bit excited that we signed them up for Club O2.

 

By the way, this was each of their first cruise, so they had nothing to base their comments on. Just being teenagers. We just played along and hoped for the best.

 

Long story short.........THEY LOVED IT! From the time Club O2 opened up, they were off doing their thing with the friends they met at Club O2. They did scavenger hunts during the day, karoke and trivia among themselves in the club, games, and activities. Who ever ran Club O2 was well liked by the teens and did a fantastic job.

 

Each night at dinner, all 3 of them ate so fast so they could be excused and get to Club O2 before the next "so and so" started. It was something different every night. Club O2 was the center of their universe that cruise.

 

Because the Thanksgiving Cruise was a sold out cruise and so heavily family oriented, there were over 180 teens signed up at Club O2. Our teens said that they regularly saw about 80 at the Club.

 

We didn't notice the "little one's" running amok on the ship and the pool areas where the families were seemed very organized and calm. I ran into more kids at the ice cream machines than anywhere else on the ship, and even there, they were polite and well mannered. The Miracle is such a large ship that even at full capacity, it didn't seem crowded. You may have had to wait a few minutes to get your custom pizza made, or to go through the buffet area during peak time for breakfast or lunch, but for the most part, nothing to lose sleep over.

 

While we were waiting to disembark, it was heartwarming to see several of the teens from Club O2 stop by and give a hug to our teens and wish them a safe trip home. The last night, Club O2 gave all the teens a T-Shirt so that they could sign each others shirts as a memento. They also exchanged emails, facebook, and phone numbers.

 

I mentioned that there were 180 teens signed up for Club O2 on this cruise. That made it a fair number that would actually show up at Club O2. I'm not sure on other cruises where the teen numbers may be smaller if the teens have the same experience. I hope so.

 

The Serenity area was perfect. Adults only. Didn't see any children in this area the entire cruise. It was Quiet, and Very Relaxing. Having your own bar and shade area to chill if you wanted to get out of the sun or wind was really nice. The hammocks and "pods" (covered loungers that are round and large enough for two) go fast, but there's lots of regular loungers to lay out and relax on.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Geo.714