Miracle to Alaska Review: June 26-July 6

[bluejay555]

We just got back from an amazing cruise and I thought I'd share.  When I was researching this cruise I had a hard time finding reviews...TxTeach had an amazing one, and we felt like we were on the cruise with them!  Spoiler alert, but mine won't be nearly as good as that one. I will do my best though, to give you a taste of what to expect on this cruise, with as many pictures as I have!  (I always forgot to take food pics in the dining room)

 

My husband, two teenage daughters, and I flew into San Francisco 2 days early to see the sights and stayed at the Riu at Fisherman's Wharf.  This hotel was the place to be!  It was near pier 39, only a block from the hop on hop off bus, and had a HUGE complimentary breakfast buffet.  Just be prepared to wait in a long line to get a table for breakfast, this hotel holds a lot of people.  I did meet some fellow cruisers in that line, so the wait wasn't all that bad!  

[bluejay555]

I am going to pause this review because every picture I try to attach is upside down. I have tons of pictures and it would be a nightmare to flip every single one.  I'd delete the original post but I'm not allowed to do that.  Oh well, I will work on the problem and hopefully come back- sorry!   

[snowballs mom]

I am looking forward to your review - we are on the August 21st sailing and are also staying at the Riu before and after.

 

 

[thenexus2k]

Looking forward to it as well. Just did this cruise last year and doing it again next year. Where did you stay in SF? Was the boarding process at the pier still slow?

[bluejay555]

3 hours ago, thenexus2k said:

Looking forward to it as well. Just did this cruise last year and doing it again next year. Where did you stay in SF? Was the boarding process at the pier still slow?

I want to do it again too!  We stayed at the Riu at Fisherman’s Wharf.  The boarding process was pretty fast once the line started moving.  

[bluejay555]

15 hours ago, snowballs mom said:

I am looking forward to your review - we are on the August 21st sailing and are also staying at the Riu before and after.

 

 

You are going to have the best time!!  

[bluejay555]

OK not sure what the deal is with my pics posting upside down? But if I use the snapseed app it fixes them so here we go! 😁

 

So I didn’t get any good pics of the hotel but trust me, it’s nice!  We had all day Sunday to tour the city and had tried to get Alcatraz tickets but they were sold out.  We didn’t realize that was a thing and shouldn’t have waited until the last min. But it’s ok because the Hop on Hop off bus was a block away from the hotel.  We were advised by the hotel concierge to avoid the bus because it was Pride Weekend and the bus route had some changes, and crowds would be “enormous”.  We decided to chance it anyway since we really had nothing else to do, and we are so glad we did!  They had plenty of buses running, and the stops they made were fine with us!  

[bluejay555]

We decided to ride the entire bus route once (2.5 hrs) and then figure out where we wanted to get off and explore.  Let me just say this: don’t be drinking a bunch of coffee before getting on the bus because bathrooms are hard to find!  I think most businesses want to keep the homeless out.  We had to get off at a random stop because we had to pee so bad 😂 and we walked all over before finding a restaurant that took mercy on us.  
 

We did see a lot of homeless people with tents, or sleeping bags, or just passed out on the sidewalk.  It was sad.  I hope it doesn’t seem insensitive, but I’ll post a couple pics just to show you what it’s like. 

[bluejay555]

The bus goes over the Golden Gate Bridge and they warn you that it’s a bit windy on top of the bus and hold onto your hats.  That was an understatement! 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by bluejay555
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[bluejay555]

There’s a stop on the other side of the bridge with nice bathrooms and lots of photo ops. And you can walk across the bridge if you like.  

[bluejay555]

After riding the entire route, we decided to get off at Chinatown and walk to pier 39 afterward.  Notice gas prices there- yikes!

 

[bluejay555]

Chinatown was pretty cool.  Lots of fish markets. 

 

squid meat anyone?

 

not sure about the unrefrigerated bags of fish we saw laying around here and there…

[bluejay555]

We walked from Chinatown to Pier 39 to see the sea lions.  All those docks but they choose to lay on top of each other 😂 

 

except for this guy

 

I should have taken more pictures.  There are quite a few restaurants and shops here.  We went into a Christmas store and were cracking up at the “sexy men” ornaments.  There were a bunch to choose from 😂  

 

We ate dinner at Pier 39 (I can’t remember which restaurant but it was really good) Afterward we walked back to the hotel to rest up for our big day- boarding the ship!  

 

[bluejay555]

Woke up and checked on the Miracle.  Looks like she’s waiting for us!  It’s go time!!
We took a cab to the pier and it was around $60.  Totally worth it, we just walked outside the hotel and there were several lined up and ready to go.  It was so easy.  We had 11am boarding and got there about 10:30 and it was already super crowded.  They have you line up in rows according to your boarding time:

There she is!  

[bluejay555]

As soon as we got on, we went to our floor and they let us drop our carry on bags in the room.  We then went to the lido and waiters were really pushing the funship drinks.  

 

Muster was so easy- we found a worker with an iPad and they scanned our cards, asked if we had any questions about safety and told us we could go. But the bars were closed very briefly.

[Drazil65]

You are doing a great job so far on your review and thank you for the info on the hotel you stayed in, definitely sounds like a good consideration for the future.  

[bluejay555]

We were supposed to sail at 4, and the party on the lido was going strong but we didn’t end up leaving until about 5:30.  I heard that a snag getting the luggage on board caused the delay.  Sail Away music and dancing got us so excited!  

 

We had Guys burgers for lunch and they did not disappoint!  


 

 

[bluejay555]

Just now, Drazil65 said:

You are doing a great job so far on your review and thank you for the info on the hotel you stayed in, definitely sounds like a good consideration for the future.  

Thank you!! 

[bluejay555]

One of the pools is covered and people took advantage.  As the days went on people were using the outdoor pool too.  Must have been heated!

[bluejay555]

When we finally started moving we raced up to the top deck!  Got some great shots of Alcatraz and going under the Golden Gate Bridge.  The ship horn blasted for probably 30 seconds straight as we approached, and then everyone cheered as we went under.  SO COOL! 

[bluejay555]

During all the excitement I thought why am I not recording this??  So I managed to get a little snippet of us going under the bridge just in the nick of time.  

 

 

[William142]

Two quick questions as we are on the July 24th sailing. 

1. How was 60 bucks from fisherman's wharf to pier 27? Isn't it like a mile and aren't the cabs in SF metered? I'm just curious how it cost so much?

2. How early can you get off when you arrive back?

 

Thanks!

[William142]

Also did your teenagers have plenty to do and were they able to make friends and hang out with then when at sea?

[bluejay555]

4 minutes ago, William142 said:

Two quick questions as we are on the July 24th sailing. 

1. How was 60 bucks from fisherman's wharf to pier 27? Isn't it like a mile and aren't the cabs in SF metered? I'm just curious how it cost so much?

2. How early can you get off when you arrive back?

 

Thanks!

1. OK yes cabs are metered.  Maybe it was an Uber…sorry we don’t use public transportation much.  There was hotel staff outside asking where you were going and pairing you up with drivers.  Our driver said his price was $60 and we took it.  I’m sure we got screwed 😂  

 

2. I am platinum, plus we didn’t check our luggage so we were off the ship by about 8am.  Debarkation for us started at 7:30am.  

[bluejay555]

10 minutes ago, William142 said:

Also did your teenagers have plenty to do and were they able to make friends and hang out with then when at sea?

Our kids stayed with us most of the time and enjoyed all the trivia and karaoke and board games.  My 18 yr old tried to go into club Frankenstein (you have to be 18 to get in) but they scanned her card and said she didn’t look like her picture so they wouldn’t let her in.  I was not happy and was going to go back with her but she shrugged it off and didn’t care to go back.  We saw packs of kids running around and heard some of them saying them met at club o2.  We had a rowdy bunch on our cruise.  I heard of all kinds of sketchy things going on with the teens.