10/1/06 Miracle Review

[LMHSRN]

ok, I will try to make this short - fat chance!

 

We live in South Florida so we drove to the pier. We arrived about 11:30 a.m. and parked in the parking garage - $!2.00 per day (in advance). We were able to take our luggage to the terminal ourselves and checked it with the porters. Once we entered the terminal, it took about 15 minutes to check-in, get a number (14) and take a seat and wait to board. Boarding began about 12:00 and we were on board, in the lido restaurant by 12:30.

 

The cabins were not ready until 1:00 p.m. - We were in an extended balcony cabin on the Verandah deck (7176). This cabin was dead center of the cut-out so that we did not have any blocked views (only by the life boats that you looked down upon). The cabin was more than adequate with lots and lots of storage. The little frig never did get cold, but cabin stewart kept us supplied with ice and when he didn't, we just called room service and they brought a large bucket of ice to the cabin.

 

The first port was Grand Cayman - (Tendered to shore) - been there - done that - so we just did some shopping and were back on board before the rains set in - rained most of the afternoon (on and off).

 

Second port was Cozmel - (Tendered to shore) - did a little shopping and spent some time in Carols n' Charlies (a really fun place to pass some time).

Rained in the afteroon.

 

Third port was Belieze - (Tendered to shore) - rained all day while in port - did the City Tour and the Myan Ruins - rained so hard we had to rent umbrellas ($2.00) at the Ruins.

Shopped a little at the peir and re-boarded the ship. Purchased some "knock-off" handbags for really great prices. Chanel for $25.00 and Goucci for $30.00. Really well made handbags for that money!

 

Fourth port was Costa Maya - Docked at the pier - rained all day long - Not able to utilize the pool or pool bar. Food in the little cantinas was really nothing to write home about. Adult beverages were terribly expensive.

Did a little shopping and re-boarded the ship and took a nap.

 

Formal nights were Monday and Friday

 

Lido buffets were like all other buffets except they were sectioned off into about 6 different areas. Difficult to know what all was offered each day.

 

Sushi Bar was open daily for about 2-3 hours.

 

Casino was very friendly to me. I did really well at the slots. Came home with enough to pay for one of our passages......not bad! Did not do well at the tables so I kinda stayed away from them!!!!!

 

WARNING - WARNING

If you intend to purchase the adult beverage card (sodas and juices) do not buy it until after you have left the port. Not knowing any better, I purchased mine as soon as we boarded. The cost was $44.48 for 7 days - I was charged the 15% tip and the Florida Sales Tax (because we were still in port).

 

The ship was clean and odor free - the laundry facilities were very nice and efficient - the food was OK!, nothing really special to mention - everyone you encountered (crew wise) were very friendly and eager to please.

 

The only negative offering I have from this cruise is this:

On Saturday morning they made an announcement that there had been a report that someone had heard someone calling "man overboard". All the passangers were required to return to their cabins until the cabin stewarts could verify that all passangers were accounted for. They came to each cabin and you had to sign your name on the manifest. The crew all had to go to an area where they punched out (or in) to be accounted for.

This was not the problem as I saw it.

What bothered me was that even tho they were attempting to account for everyone on board, the ship never stopped, we continued to sail - It took about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to varify that everyone was accounted for. What if someone had been missing - we would have lost about 2 hours while we still sailed and then would have had to turn around and go back 2 hours to begin the search! Didn't seem to bother anyone else that I know of but it kinda bothered me! Why not at least stop the ship while the varification process took place? Oh well!

 

When we returned home on Sunday morning - getting off the ship was a breeze. After the VIP's were off, then the early flights erre next and then general call for everyone else to leave at their leasiure. We were off the ship and in our car by 9:15 a.m. and home in our driveway at 11:45 a.m.

 

Any questions, fire away!

[Lunur]

Wonderful review...Thank you. We are sailing on 11/26 and are soooo excited! Where is the sushi bar set up at?

[yogimax]

Thanks for a great review!

[lhall85917]

thanks for the review - makes us even more excited for our June trip!

[Ev1995]

Hi , you mentioned that you were in rm 7176, we are booked on the Miracle on empress deck, 6183. We have sailed her before and had a rm close to the front and could see directly down to the water, something I like to do.

 

I had forgotten about the lifeboats, how much do you think they will interfere with the view from one deck lower than you were. I assume you are looking down directly at the top of a lifeboat, and not able to see over the railing down to the water close to the ship.

 

Makes you wonder if the suites are the best view or not.

[LMHSRN]

Sushi Bar - behind the Casino - deck 2 by the fountainhead/speciality coffee shop. Served late afternoons/early evenings.

 

Life boats were directly below our cabin on the 7th deck and blocked all views of water below us. Only view of water we had was straight out. Yes, it does make you wonder if suites are the better value. You will be a deck closer to the boats than we were.