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LONG Carnival Miracle Review Aug 13-20th

louanne93

By louanne93,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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joeyancho

joeyancho

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It's all very subjective I suppose. We love the Spirit class ships and found the food on Princess to be very bland, especially in the MDR. The crew on Carnival is much more high energy and FUN in our opinion, and the food has been great on all our Carnival cruises. No complaints other than we would like the tablecloths to come back. The standard balcony cabins on Princess are also smaller than Carnival's standard balcony cabins. I'm not saying we wouldn't try Princess again in the future but to date we have not been able to find a better price point for a balcony cabin when compared to Princess. Granted I can only speak for our experiences, just as you are speaking for yours.

 

The food on all my previous Carnival cruises had been good to very good. But on the Miracle it was not. Maybe just a one off. I have studied at the Culinary Institute and the New Orleans School of Cooking and in general the food on Princess is of higher quality and more ambitiously prepared. Especially at the buffet. The selection is much better. The evening buffets have a different theme each night. The German or Bavaria night is especially good.

The balcony rooms on Princess are smaller but better appointed. Especially in comparison to Carnivals older ships. To each his own I suppose. True a Princess cruise is much more sedate, but we prefer that. Our partying day are over. The best comparison is that of Vegas to a country club. Any cruise is a good cruise but Princess is now a better fit for us.

Edited by joeyancho
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Rosefloater

Rosefloater

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I've been on Carnival and Princess. Food is subjective. We and others have said the good food is Princess buffet and Carnival Dining Room. I love German night at the buffet. I also like that the Princess buffet is open in the mid afternoon after coming back from port.

 

The reason I don't like Princess is the crowd dynamics. Most are asleep early. We've been on the ships going to Mexico and the Coastal cruise. The times we have walked past the Piano Bar on Princess, it looked like entertainment day at an old age home. The piano player playing old show tunes and the people sleeping in their chairs.

 

But that said, we are going on a 10 day Princess cruise in January.

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louanne93

louanne93

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I've been on Carnival and Princess. Food is subjective. We and others have said the good food is Princess buffet and Carnival Dining Room. I love German night at the buffet. I also like that the Princess buffet is open in the mid afternoon after coming back from port.

 

The reason I don't like Princess is the crowd dynamics. Most are asleep early. We've been on the ships going to Mexico and the Coastal cruise. The times we have walked past the Piano Bar on Princess, it looked like entertainment day at an old age home. The piano player playing old show tunes and the people sleeping in their chairs.

 

But that said, we are going on a 10 day Princess cruise in January.

 

I agree with everything you have said! I would cruise Princess again as well. I enjoyed myself on Princess, but it was mostly the company (my husband is hilarious and so much fun to hang out with that HE is my entertainment!).

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sanmarcosman

sanmarcosman

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We and others have said the good food is Princess buffet and Carnival Dining Room. I love German night at the buffet. I also like that the Princess buffet is open in the mid afternoon after coming back from port.

 

We found all this to be true as well, in fact after one night in the Princess MDR we ate all our dinners in the buffet.

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Lndngrl

Lndngrl

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I just booked RC Harmony. I am super nervous that the ship is going to be too big! I like all the attention you get on smaller ships!

 

It sounds to me no matter what the ship, you will always have personalized service. Some people just have an openness about them that welcomes interactions with other people. I love meeting new people and learning about them but I haven't always found that connection on cruise ships but really I would blame myself for the times I didn't. My husband and I did Carnival Pride in 2008 and while we had a great time and service was great there was nothing personal about the trip. BUT looking back I also just left my kids (10 months and 3) for the first time and had a lot of anxiety. We did not meet a single other couple, or get to know any of the people serving us. Last year I did the 3 day Inspiration with my in-laws and while the 3 days are so quick I also had all my focus on pleasing other people that again I wasn't open for new people and experiences. That is why I loved my time on the Miracle I am sure service was phenomenal as you seemed to agree but I think I was more open to the whole experience. I think no ship, no service is perfect but if you go in looking for perfection you are more likely to be disappointed.

 

I am curious as you seem to have a lot of upcoming cruises...do you really find the early booking price to be better that waiting? The friends we met on the Disney Cruise we took two years ago seemed to get a better price on cruise and they booked only like a month out. But I had stalked Royal Caribbean the year prior to booking Miracle as we were originally going to do Western Caribbean out of Galveston but chose to stay local and save on airfare. Anyway, I saw them basically rotate the same sales every 3 months or so and seemed to only be a couple hundred dollar difference. My Carnival Inspiration I saw no price change in the year I watched prices, the only difference was on board credit. We are doing Imagination 3 day over Thanksgiving this year and it was the exact price that our Inspiration was last year. I really do not notice many sales on Carnival. What are your tips for future cruises???

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louanne93

louanne93

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It sounds to me no matter what the ship, you will always have personalized service. Some people just have an openness about them that welcomes interactions with other people. I love meeting new people and learning about them but I haven't always found that connection on cruise ships but really I would blame myself for the times I didn't. My husband and I did Carnival Pride in 2008 and while we had a great time and service was great there was nothing personal about the trip. BUT looking back I also just left my kids (10 months and 3) for the first time and had a lot of anxiety. We did not meet a single other couple, or get to know any of the people serving us. Last year I did the 3 day Inspiration with my in-laws and while the 3 days are so quick I also had all my focus on pleasing other people that again I wasn't open for new people and experiences. That is why I loved my time on the Miracle I am sure service was phenomenal as you seemed to agree but I think I was more open to the whole experience. I think no ship, no service is perfect but if you go in looking for perfection you are more likely to be disappointed.

 

I am curious as you seem to have a lot of upcoming cruises...do you really find the early booking price to be better that waiting? The friends we met on the Disney Cruise we took two years ago seemed to get a better price on cruise and they booked only like a month out. But I had stalked Royal Caribbean the year prior to booking Miracle as we were originally going to do Western Caribbean out of Galveston but chose to stay local and save on airfare. Anyway, I saw them basically rotate the same sales every 3 months or so and seemed to only be a couple hundred dollar difference. My Carnival Inspiration I saw no price change in the year I watched prices, the only difference was on board credit. We are doing Imagination 3 day over Thanksgiving this year and it was the exact price that our Inspiration was last year. I really do not notice many sales on Carnival. What are your tips for future cruises???

 

I mostly book so early so I can have lots of time to pay it off! Lol! No hidden agenda....

I cancelled the Harmony cruise the same day I booked it. I read so many negative reviews and only 55% recommend it. I will stick to a ship that at least 80% recommend.

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Lndngrl

Lndngrl

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I mostly book so early so I can have lots of time to pay it off! Lol! No hidden agenda....

I cancelled the Harmony cruise the same day I booked it. I read so many negative reviews and only 55% recommend it. I will stick to a ship that at least 80% recommend.

 

Okay, thank you! I wish that we had more cruise lines cruising out of Los Angeles, I feel like Carnival owns the market and doesn't have to be very competitive on the West Coast. Awhile ago there was Royal Caribbean and Disney too. I am hoping Royal Caribbean comes back because I would love to try them out. Princess offers them but off season and when you have kids in school it makes it difficult. Aside from our 3 day cruise coming up we will probably not be cruising until 2018 :( so I will just continue lurking on the website looking for best specials LOL

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fredlow1

fredlow1

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Forgot to mention that we slipped Tucker $20 and told him we were in and out kind of people. Even if we were the last people to show up, we still went first! Service was fabulous

 

Was Tucker your head/lead waiter? Do you think this would work on other wait staff? We are also hate waiting for ever to get through diner and in April it will be my first cruise with the kids (10 and 12) and we have "your time" for the MDR and would like to try this trick. Any thoughts, suggestions. Thanks in advance.

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JLee1973

JLee1973

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Disclaimer! I heard a lot of complaining about our ship. Too old, not enough to do, etc... I LOVED her!

 

 

My wife and I are in our 40's as well and we absolutely love the Miracle. We are sailing on her in October which will be the fourth year in a row we have sailed her. No she doesn't have the bells and whistles (Guy's Burgers or Blue Iguana), but she is not so small that you feel crowded and not so large you feel lost. The crew has always been exceptional on her.

Edited by JLee1973
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louanne93

louanne93

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$500 in cruise cash, and $200 in bar cash.

 

I have never used cruise or bar cash but doesn't cruise cash also cover the bar? And is it automatically credited to your account? Thanks

 

Yes and yes. The reason I did both is that you are only allowed to buy $500 in cruise cash. I wanted the whole cruise paid off beforehand so I purchased the $200 bar cash!

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louanne93

louanne93

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Forgot to mention that we slipped Tucker $20 and told him we were in and out kind of people. Even if we were the last people to show up, we still went first! Service was fabulous

 

Was Tucker your head/lead waiter? Do you think this would work on other wait staff? We are also hate waiting for ever to get through diner and in April it will be my first cruise with the kids (10 and 12) and we have "your time" for the MDR and would like to try this trick. Any thoughts, suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

Yes he was and I do think it would work with other wait staff. I actually got the idea from CC. Not necessarily the Miracle.

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louanne93

louanne93

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My wife and I are in our 40's as well and we absolutely love the Miracle. We are sailing on her in October which will be the fourth year in a row we have sailed her. No she doesn't have the bells and whistles (Guy's Burgers or Blue Iguana), but she is not so small that you feel crowded and not so large you feel lost. The crew has always been exceptional on her.

 

I am going again in March. I absolutely loved her!

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fredlow1

fredlow1

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It's all very subjective I suppose. We love the Spirit class ships and found the food on Princess to be very bland, especially in the MDR. The crew on Carnival is much more high energy and FUN in our opinion, and the food has been great on all our Carnival cruises. No complaints other than we would like the tablecloths to come back. The standard balcony cabins on Princess are also smaller than Carnival's standard balcony cabins. I'm not saying we wouldn't try Princess again in the future but to date we have not been able to find a better price point for a balcony cabin when compared to Princess. Granted I can only speak for our experiences, just as you are speaking for yours.

 

While I have never been on the Miracle I have cruised with Carnival in the past and I will second your assessment. I have not cruised with any other cruise line mainly because I found Carnival gives me what I look for in a cruise. FUN and good Service. The crew is always great and while the food is not 5 star I wood not say it is bad. Hell, l I like the food but Im a simple dude not some uppity kind of guy. Its the simple things in life you know

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louanne93

louanne93

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While I have never been on the Miracle I have cruised with Carnival in the past and I will second your assessment. I have not cruised with any other cruise line mainly because I found Carnival gives me what I look for in a cruise. FUN and good Service. The crew is always great and while the food is not 5 star I wood not say it is bad. Hell, l I like the food but Im a simple dude not some uppity kind of guy. Its the simple things in life you know

I think you will love the Miracle! It's all about the people and the service. We talked to more people, laughed so much and played more games! Enjoy!

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