Miracel Review 1/1/2006

[BambiRumsey]

This is long (8+ pages in word) so I will break into several posts.

 

Traveling on this cruise: My husband, a 43 year old executive and me, a 35 year old home maker. It was his 7th cruise and my 12th, 2nd on Carnival for him and 4th on Carnival for me. First time for both of us on a newer larger ship though.

 

Due to January 1 being a black out date, we flew from BWI to Tampa on the 31st and stayed at the Doubletree Westshore Airport hotel.

 

Flight was delayed slightly due to an aircraft change out but uneventful. Ran into some trouble getting the hotel shuttle to show up at the airport and pick us up but finally after about an hour the manager said she would personally ride with the driver and even offered to buy us dinner. This seemed like a bit of overkill for a relatively minor offense but was a nice gesture (we declined her offer but did enjoy a nice meal in the hotel restaurant at our own expense - HUGE portions). The room was nicely appointed, the pool was heated and the hot tub was HOT. Not a bad way to spend New Year’s Eve. Our room rate of $139 included breakfast the next morning.

 

The Doubletree also offered a free shuttle to the cruise port which we used the day of departure around 11:15am.

 

I would have to say embarkation at Tampa is not my personal favorite. We arrived somewhere around 11:45 and found the ship was not docked at the check in area (from reading the CC boards I see this is common at the Tampa port). The line to check in moved quickly but we then had to wait about an hour until they called our group (#8) to board buses to get to the ship. The bus was nice and at least they did not stuff them to the gills but still, I would have preferred just getting on the ship. I do understand this was beyond Carnival’s control.

[BambiRumsey]

We were on board by 1pm and although we had been given a paper at check in saying staterooms would be ready at 2pm, the person on board calling the elevators for boarding passengers said 1:30 (it ended up being 2pm after all).

 

We nosed around the ship a bit and went to Horatio’s for a bite to eat.

 

Had heard the décor of this room was frightening but I did not mind it as much. I thought the mosaic tiles were gorgeous and while I might not have paired it with the other colors in the room in my own home, it did not ruin the experience for me. On the whole we found Horatio’s to be a good dining experience each day we went there. The Asian buffet line left something to be desired to our taste buds but we have excellent Chinese, Japanese and Thai food near our home. The burgers were always fresh and tasty and the fries were excellent. Horatio’s was very clean and well kept and someone pushes a drink cart around to refill your beverage as needed.

 

***I must apologize to my fellow CC folks who were on the roll call with me. Matt and I went to the pool bar about 10 after 3 and saw a bunch of people in yellow tee shirts (for a family reunion I think) and figured everyone had left already or we got blown off. It was not until Thursday or Friday of the cruise that I realized we went to the ULYSSES pool bar looking for people and not ORPHEUS! I am so sorry I missed the opportunity to meet everyone and hope you all enjoyed your cruise as much as we did!***

 

One nice note about embarkation: plenty of waiters milling about with lots of freely flowing champagne. This is a very classy touch and one we found sorely lacking on a recent RCCL cruise (you can see my review of that cruise on the CC member review page).

 

Finally it was time to enter the stateroom and we could not have been more pleased. We were booked in a category 8G extended balcony, cabin #7186, a little more forward of mid ship on the port side. The cabin was quite spacious and beautiful. Lovely wood tones on the closet and storage, nice lighting options, large sofa, the upgraded bedding everyone else has mentioned, robes in the closet. Nice sized bathroom with a wrap around curtain that gave you enough space to turn around, shave your legs, etc. As on our recent Imagination cruise, the shower had dispensers for Dove shower gel and shampoo. There was a basket of misc toiletries on the sink which I find to be a classy touch. Also, ladies pay attention, there is a hair dryer in the top drawer of the vanity and it actually WORKS! First time ever on a cruise ship I was able to use the dryer provided and have it actually dry my hair!!! Those of you who have used those provided in the bathroom on some other lines/ships know what I mean.

 

There has been some talk on the CC boards that the extended balconies are not worth it since you look straight down on the life boats and cannot see the bow or stern of the ship. Looking at our balcony and looking at the regular sized balconies the extended balcony offers one thing that is very important to us. We were able to sit in the chairs with our feet on the table and still have room to move around on the balcony. My husband and I are quite tall (6’5” and 5’8”, well HE’S tall anyway….) On a regular sized balcony we would have had to put the chairs all the way back to the wall/corner and the put the table against the plexi-glass and we still would not have been able to extend our legs fully. Plus, we spend a lot of time on our balcony sitting down, reading and watching the world sail by and our view was not obstructed in any way by lifeboats or other cabins. But if standing at the railing and looking down or to your left or right is important to you….

[BambiRumsey]

Muster drill was relatively painless, necessary evil and then sail away which we watched from our balcony. We went under the bridge around 6:30 and man did it look CLOSE to us, half expected the whale tail to get knocked off!

 

We had late seating dinner at a booth for 4 people. Enjoyed our table mates from Tennessee very much. Everything you have heard about the dining room is true. The food and service were both good, above average in most cases but the décor…. The purple neon piping was not bad BUT the giant pink mentoes?!?!??! I can’t even begin to describe the degree of blindness required to decorate a room this way. In this dining room it seemed like if there was a blank space, they filled it. The ceiling tiles were patterned with a lattice and grapevine motif. There were silver spray painted plastic pillars through out. The rest of the ship is a little more ornate than I might decorate my own home but okay – this room needs to be redone ASAP.

 

First full day was at sea and pretty non-eventful for us. We cruise to relax so this trip included a lot of time sitting on the balcony reading and a lot of mid afternoon naps!

 

First formal night was also Monday. Captain’s Cocktail party, etc, etc. Surprised at how young Captain is, his English is excellent. Dinner in main dining room. Prime rib and lobster. Prime rib was very good, the lobster was a little chewy.

 

Tuesday was Grand Cayman. We booked all of our excursions through the ship this trip and went on the Reef and Ray tour with Kelly’s Water Sports. This was the first time to the stingrays for my husband so it was fun to watch him interact with them. The reef part of the trip was jut ‘eh’ in my book. We have done better snorkeling in Cayman just walking into the water near the tender pier! This tour was okay, but we have definitely had tours that were a little more professional. I can’t really put my finger on it but something felt sort of shady about this operation.

 

Tuesday evening we dined at Nick and Nora’s, the supper club on the Miracle. The décor of this room is much classier and much more attractive. We had a nice quiet table for 2 on the balcony level. The service was very elegant and on the ball. My husband had the porterhouse and I had the surf and turf. The lobster was okay, not the best I have had but still better than most other places. They have live entertainment of a vocalist and pianist. I felt as though the volume of this music could have been a little lower to be more conducive to conversation. They told us dinner would take about 2 to 2.5 hours but we felt there was a little too much time between the courses. I suppose this may be to allow people to dance between courses but it got a little uncomfortable sitting in those chairs for that long. The escargot three ways was very good and the lobster bisque is maybe one of the best tasting things I have ever put n my mouth. My husband’s spinach salad looked very good too.

 

My only complaint about the supper club honestly was the price. $60 per couple plus we added 20% gratuity plus another $50 for wine. Considering we have already “paid” for food in our cruise fare and can get this quality of food on other lines (HAL and Celebrity come to mind) I felt the price a little too high for what we got. HAL’s specialty restaurant was not as pricey and the food in their main dining room was just as good….

[BambiRumsey]

Next day was Cozumel which for me was very very sad. We were there on our Imagination cruise in March of 2005 and to see the devastation is just heartbreaking. The people of Cozumel are in good spirits and they want to work and rebuild their island which is encouraging. We did the Fury Catamaran Sail, Snorkel and Beach Party on this trip and it was a very well run, organized tour. Not too many people and the snorkeling was very good.

 

On Thursday we went to Belize. We did a snorkel trip to Goff’s Caye which picked us up right at the boat. The weather was rainy and a little overcast most of the day but the water was fairly warm. My husband snorkeled off the boat while I did the snorkeling from the beach. When he came in he then snorkeled from the beach and said it was better than what he saw from the boat. He said it was a little too deep from the boat and being overcast not enough light penetrated the water and it was hard to see anything. I realize this is just a tiny (1 acre) island but some places to sit would have been nice.

 

Friday was Costa Maya, a new port for us. We were booked on the Jungle Beach Break excursion but when we went out on the balcony to drink coffee and eat Danish and we saw folks getting off the ship in jeans and long sleeves and we felt the cool breeze blowing we thought maybe a beach excursion was not the best idea so we skipped it. Costa Maya was a very nice port. Honestly, if you are cruising on a budget and don’t want to spend a lot of money on excursions this is one port you can just get off the boat and have fun. Lots of shops with the basic Mexico stuff. Two or three restaurants/bars a salt water pool, plenty of lounge chairs and hammocks. Some people got into the ocean but my husband said he saw signs saying not to. The water was gorgeous here, we could look down from the pier and see tons of coral and colorful fish, I bet the snorkeling was great. One thing about Costa Maya, the pier is LOOOOONG. They have a trolley but give yourself plenty of time if you have a tour that meets on the end of the pier.

Final day of cruise was a sea day. Played Scene It and won a ship on a stick (yeah!) and then at dinner found out I had been selected as a semifinalist for a contest I didn’t even know I had entered. Apparently by ordering a certain bottle of Shiraz with dinner I was put in a ship wide drawing and my name was picked. This is apparently a promotion they are running on 4 ships for 4 weeks (not sure which ships or which weeks though). I now have a 1 in 16 chance of winning a cruise for two including airfare on any carnival itinerary! My mind immediately went to Alaska or the Southern Caribbean because honestly it is the airfare that keeps us from doing that, but my Dad said what about Europe. Also not sure what class of stateroom they give you, but free is free is free. I will definitely have a lot of questions for them if I win!

 

Overall this was a very good cruise. The cabin was perfect for us, the food overall was very good. We had breakfast in our stateroom most days but did make it to Horatio’s for breakfast once and to Bacchus on the last day and found those to be very good as well. Lunched in Bacchus one day but hit Horatio’s most of the other times and both were also very good. On the 2 sea days they offered tea in Jeeves lounge around 3:30pm with music by the Chamber trio and we are sorry we missed the first one as we thoroughly enjoyed the one on Saturday.

 

We tendered in 2 of the 4 ports but did not find it to be a problem in any of them. Cozumel was probably the easiest with huge boats with airplane type seats and rest rooms. Three ships including us in both Cozumel and Cayman. One other ship in Belize with us. Since our Belize excursion was directly from the ship, I cannot speak to what tendering was like in that port.

[BambiRumsey]

We only made one show in the main lounge and that was Ticket to Ride and it was very very good. The male singer is better than the female by far but it was an enjoyable show. My husband went to one late night comedy show and found it to be raunchy for the sake of raunchiness and not very funny and we were both under whelmed by the late night comedy hypnosis show.

 

Overall the musical talent was quite good on this ship and I commented to my husband the number of live music acts they have on board. There is a full orchestra/band in the main show lounge. A piano player/singer in the piano bar. Music Unlimited who does your basic rock and pop cover tunes. A guy in the Casino playing guitar. Glenn in Jeeves and sometimes on deck playng guitar. The duo in Nick & Nora’s. The Chamber Trio. And the reggae band on the lido deck.

 

Staff and crew were very friendly and helpful. I would advise the cruise director Steve Knisley to SLOW DOWN. He talks way way way too fast. Being from NYC originally I know about fast talkers but he is just a blur sometimes, especially over the loudspeaker.

 

Disembarkation was probably the easiest and least stressful of any ship we have ever sailed. We were able to pull into the port which was nice, no buses. After putting our luggage outside the previous evening, Matt and I awoke at 7am, got showered and dressed and took my purse and one carry on to Bacchus for breakfast. We had a very relaxed leisurely breakfast with plenty of coffee and good conversation with our table mates. While we were eating they called for self-dismebark. When we finished eating we went out to Jeeves and found a comfortable place to sit. I don’t think we sat down for more than 10-15 minutes before they called the general disembarkation. We got up walk to the atrium, gave them our sign and sails to swipe and were off the ship. NO LINE! Walked downstairs and got our luggage, went outside and got into a taxi. We were at the airport, checked into our flight and waiting in line at Starbucks by 10am. I wish EVERY disembarkation could be like that.

 

We really enjoyed this cruise and will continue to cruise Carnival when the dates and ports appeal to us. They offer a very good product at an excellent value.

[BambiRumsey]

One thing I didn't mention above....and I am hesitant to honestly because I know I will get flamed....

 

I have never seen so many unruly kids on board a ship in my life.

 

I have taken my 6 year old daughter on 4 cruises in the last 2 years and have always paid attention to how other children behave to make sure my standards of good behavior are in line with the rest of the passengers and we are not offending or inconveniencing anyone around us. I never thought I would be one of those people who complained about kids on a ship but man...

 

I do NOT in any way blame the cruise line or the ship for this behavior I witnessed, I blame the parents. In 9 cases out 10 the parents were sitting RIGHT THERE watching or encouraging!!!! I am talking kids aged maybe 8-11 out of control. Climbing on tables in the dining room. Using the Mad Hatter lounge as their jungle gym. Weaving in and out of waiters carrying heavily laden trays while wearing those roller shoes. What really ticked me off is that I was certain that if one of these kids fell and hurt themselves these parents that were watching would be on the phone with their lawyer in a heartbeat.....

 

Okay off my soap box now...that was really the only thing that sucked about an otherwise great cruise.

[Safetyal]

Too funny. I saw the kid with the roller shoes as well. We had the earlier seating and didn't notice any unruly kids. Of course we were upstairs and way in the back. Only went to Mad Hatters for the Camp Carnival orientation so they could have been very well out of control there. The only unruly kid incident I knew of directly, was the case of some kids pushing all of the elevator buttons in front of DW. She said something to them and they just shot her a look. Oh well.

 

Tendering to Belize seemed fine to me once it got going. There were some delays due to custom officials. Nothing that Carnival could do about that. We did the Altun-HA/River Wallace tour. We really enjoyed it.

[kujobie]

Great review, thanks for the info. We are getting married on the Miracle in April and hope they have the embarkation problem solved by then. We live in the Tampa area and I know it's been going on for a long time. We're also hoping that Cozumel has bounced back by then. It is one of our favorite ports and I am scared to see how it looks now. I am sorry to hear about the problems with the kids. I guess that goes with sailing on holidays. It's sad that people are unwilling, or unable, to control their own children. How pathetic that is.

[nickjuly]

Great info, really enjoyed your review. We leave March 4th on Glory. Appreciate you filling us in on things.

 

nickjuly:)

[Synchronicity]

Quote: "Overall the musical talent was quite good on this ship and I commented to my husband the number of live music acts they have on board. There is a full orchestra/band in the main show lounge. A piano player/singer in the piano bar. Music Unlimited who does your basic rock and pop cover tunes. A guy in the Casino playing guitar. Glenn in Jeeves and sometimes on deck playng guitar. The duo in Nick & Nora’s. The Chamber Trio. And the reggae band on the lido deck."

 

 

Great review...thanks! The only thing to add to the above list of musical talent on the Miracle is the Montreal Jazz Trio, who performed nightly in the Gotham Lounge.....they were phenomenal! We were knocked out at the calibre of jazz and made a point to catch at least one set each night....fabulous! Anyone else impressed as we were?

[BambiRumsey]

Was Gotham Lounge the one outside the dining room on the 3rd floor? I think that was the Cigar/Smoking bar and since we both have asthma we pretty much avoided it....I do recall hearing something about a jazz trio though but never got to hear them.

 

If you are getting married on board I think they let you on first/early. There were I believe 2 weddings on board during embarkation that we saw. One in the Phantom lounge and another maybe in the Chapel....

 

The incident at mad hatters was during karaoke after the late seating dinner (so about 10pm) these kids were sitting in the teacups held by the white rabbit and mad hatter on the walls and their parents were helping them climb into them!

[Safetyal]

The incident at mad hatters was during karaoke after the late seating dinner (so about 10pm) these kids were sitting in the teacups held by the white rabbit and mad hatter on the walls and their parents were helping them climb into them!

 

Ahh. With young children we tried to get at least the youngest to bed somewhat on time (yeah right, like that worked). We never made it to the Karaoke.

 

Just as a side note. We saw the wedding parties taking pictures on embarkation day. Looked like the crew knew what exactly they were doing. I am sure you will be fine.

[momofzeke]

Jennifer, thanks for the review. It sounds like you weren't all that impressed with the Goff's Caye excursion. Did you happen to talk to anyone who took Carnival's Private Island Beach Break to Bannister Island? I'm trying to decide between these two excursions. Thanks!

[Ltvscout]

Jennifer, thanks for the review. It sounds like you weren't all that impressed with the Goff's Caye excursion. Did you happen to talk to anyone who took Carnival's Private Island Beach Break to Bannister Island? I'm trying to decide between these two excursions. Thanks!

Sue, if you're going to do a private island tour, I'd recommend the Passion Island private beach tour in Cozumel. They filmed some Corona commercials there. We're going to do that one ourselves. Come tubing with us in Belize!

[momofzeke]

Sue, if you're going to do a private island tour, I'd recommend the Passion Island private beach tour in Cozumel. They filmed some Corona commercials there. We're going to do that one ourselves. Come tubing with us in Belize!

 

Hi, Scott. :) I've seen all you guys posts on our Roll Call about the tubing, but that's not for us I don't think. We were planning on going to Paradise Island on our own in Coz ~ do you think Passion Island is better? In Belize, I want to snorkel and my family wants beach time.

[Ltvscout]

Hi, Scott. :) I've seen all you guys posts on our Roll Call about the tubing, but that's not for us I don't think. We were planning on going to Paradise Island on our own in Coz ~ do you think Passion Island is better? In Belize, I want to snorkel and my family wants beach time.

If you want more solitude, yes. You can only get to it as part of a cruise tour though. It does not have beach toys though if that's something you needed.

 

Sorry! Didn't mean to hijack this thread. Sue, reply on our roll call if you have more questions about this.

[CGAGE]

AWESOME REVIEW!!!

You answered all my questions...I hope we have as great time!!!

Thanks!

[Synchronicity]

Was Gotham Lounge the one outside the dining room on the 3rd floor? I think that was the Cigar/Smoking bar and since we both have asthma we pretty much avoided it....I do recall hearing something about a jazz trio though but never got to hear them.

 

 

Yes, Gotham lounge is the cigar bar. I didn't find the smoke to be too bad, though can understand why many would skip it. The ambience in there was great, and jazz trio first class. I kept heading back in there while my friends lost their money in the casino....haha.

[popcorngal]

Thanks for the great review! Just a few more days and it will be Our Turn...finally!:D

[lnew1gd1]

Thanks!!

 

Nice review. We sail on the Miracle Feb. 12 and I can't wait!

 

We plan on doing Nick and Nora's for our Valentine's Day anniversary. Do the reservations fill up fast? Guess we should book our reservation as soon as we get on the ship.

[BambiRumsey]

We went to Nick and Nora's on embarkation day and made our reservation for 8pm on Tuesday, no problem. I would say maybe a little over a third of the tables were full when we dined there. We also inquired about another reservation for 7pm on Friday (the second formal night) and would have also had no problem but decided against it.

 

My lack of enthusiasm for Goff's Caye has more to do with the weather than the excursion. The snorkeling was really very good. LOTS and LOTS to see. You just need to remember that the colors and visibility are not nearly as good when the sun is not shining. The tour operators were friendly, professional and knowledgable.

 

Goff's Caye is SMALL (think like a large suburban yard). Part of the island is rocky/brushy so unavailable for use. The sand is soft for walking. There are two very small huts. One where a guy has a table selling shell necklaces, etc, another table there with beverages, cookies, snacks and where you place your food order. The second hut had a very small grill (smaller than the one on my deck!) where a man was making lobster and chicken that smelled awesome.

 

They did not have prices written down for any of these so I cannot tell you how much it cost other than two 20 ounce diet cokes (bottles) and a package of 3 oreo cookies was $5 US.

 

There were only 2 picnic tables that I saw. There were some of those canvas foldable chairs (like you would take to tailgate) folded up in the corner of one of the huts but I did not see anyone using them. If you wanted to sit, you spread your towel on the beach.

 

There are a few ladies there who walk around asking if you want your hair braided in addition to another man who walks around selling necklaces, etc.

 

The only bathroom is a port a potty on the pier.

 

I enjoyed the excursion very much but would have liked a chair is all.

 

I did speak with people who did the Bannister Island excursion and they liked it very much. I spoke with folks who did the dolphin encounter in Costa Maya which was at the same place as the Jungle Beach break and they said that was very very nice.

 

We specifially did not do our usual in Cozumel (rent a jeep on our own and drive around to all the beach clubs we like - usually Mr. Sanchos is where we spend the most time) because we knew some of it may not be there. I fought back tears as I walked around the Puerta Maya pier area, I don't think I would have been able to stop them had we driven around. The excursion we did in Cozumel did snorkel from the boat a little bit but then we had over an hour at a private beach with open bar, food for purchase, kayaks, floats, hammocks, volleyball, atv and horses for hire.

 

I agree that I think weddings on board are something they do frequently. Our friends renewed their vows at sea on the Imagination last March and the crew was really professional and effiecient and on the ball about it, it seemed like old hat, they had the system DOWN.

[BambiRumsey]

One thing...the slots on this ship are TIGHT.

 

Now I am not a big gambler. I might take $20-40 and play quarter slots 4-5 days out of a cruise and usually I can play for a very long time on that money, it is sort of like an arcade game for me. If I double my money I cash out and come back another day. I usually only play one quarter at a time (as opposed to 3 or 5 or whatever). I don't think I won more than $5 ever. I hit for 2 credits, 5 credits, maybe 10 a couple of times but that was it.....

 

I didn't talk to anyone else on board who had any kind of luck with the slots, don't know about the table games....

[Synchronicity]

One thing...the slots on this ship are TIGHT.

I didn't talk to anyone else on board who had any kind of luck with the slots.

 

I usually don't do well with slots myself, but did manage to win $56.00 on a three-quarter spin!! I kept it all and came back another day, and won $11.00 on a single quarter spin. Spent about $30.00 overall....so ended up on the winning end. I saw another lady win $53.00 on a different machine. But yea, overall, no doubt that the house is always on top!...lol

[momofzeke]

Jennifer, thanks for your reply about Goff's Caye and Bannister Island. I think I would really like Goff's Caye because I want to snorkel, but my family will probably want to go to Bannister where there is a little more to do. Thanks again!

[hersheysmother]

Thanks for the review, Jennifer. My family and I were on the cruise with you. We had no complaints, and enjoyed ourselves very much. Due to timing, we did not get to meet with everyone the first day, but I think we saw Kay Renee a couple of times during the week! It looked like she was having a good time, too. I haven't been on a cruise since 1982 since I was on the NCL Starward. This was a very different experience for me. It was a first cruise for my husband and kids. The food was great, the ports were great, our excursions were great, etc. I was very pleasantly surprised with the size of our cabin. It was plenty big for 2 adults and 2 teenagers. We didn't do our excursions through Carnival, we booked them online after the suggestions of several CC members. We went to Stingray City with Captain Bryan in Grand Cayman. There were 16 of us on a 50 foot catamaran. Much less crowded, and much more individual time and attention. In Belize we did the Xtreme cave tubing. That was excellent also. We overheard someone on the Carnival cave tubing excursion complaining about all of the people, and how there were way too many people on their stingray excursion also. We are already looking to book another cruise!!!! I think we might be hooked.:) Thanks to everyone on this board for all the suggestions we read....we felt very well prepared.

Ruth