Carnival Miracle 12/01/07 Review - The Good, The Great and the AWESOME...

[TallyRockChick]

When we were quoted by Oscar (actually it is his sister Carol who lives in the states that handles the emailing I believe) it was $70. This price INCLUDES the zip lining price. The zip lining was $40 which we paid ourselves after we signed our lives away on a piece of paper. The rest of the money goes to Oscar for toting us around town. Considering gas is about $6 a gallon there, I think $30 is a steal!

We strapped up and were ready to get going!

After a brief (but in depth) lesson on how the whole system works, we loaded into the tractor to make the trek up the mountain and in the rainforest to start our zipping. People who were not zipping were also in the tractor because they drop us off at the zipping part and continue on the nature tour.

ALLWAYS keep your hands in the wagon....LOL

They took us up thru the mountain and we got to see lots of cool trees and plants and we heard but didnt see lots of birds. This is a HUGE bamboo tree:

We pulled up to the area where the zippers got off and the tour guide sent us on our way. Up a pretty high flight of muddy dirt steps to the first platform where a staff member was waiting for us. Each platform has a staff member on it to hook you up and make sure everything is attached properly. They asked who wants to go first. Who do you think jumped up?? DUH!! As I ascended the stairs to platform 1 with a quickness and a HUGE smile on my face, I heard Branden say "BIG surprise there!". I threw up a peace sign and got hooked up.

I am an adventurous risk taker. I have been skydiving twice and been parasailing and have bungee jumping as whatever else I can do on my list of things that are a must before I die. I have to say that this was probably one of the funnest of everything I have done. You are basically hanging from your belly but sitting and just sliding down across and thru the rainforest. The first zip I just sat and took in the scenery.

The second zip was when I started taking pictures!

As you can see in the pic the zip line is above me, as I was heading into the next platform.

and of course, a pic of me cheesin as Im zippin

The second zip is the longest zip in Costa Rica. We went over a river and it seemed like you were on there for like 5 minutes.

The staff does everything for you all you have to do is sit and zip and sometimes break with your hand. A couple of times since Im kinda light I didnt make it all the way to the end even without breaking. One time one of the staff jumped out there and pulled me back and the next time that staff member told me to turn around and pull myself back in. It was easy, no worries. They said I was like a pro!

[TallyRockChick]

some dirt stairs to the next platform

Lex was behind me so I waited for him so that I could take some pics of him.

Look thru the trees and that white dot is him zipping.

Lex getting hooked up

there he goes!

some more scenery as I was zipping by

[TallyRockChick]

Heres a good one of myself with the lines in the pic and you can see my breaker on my right hand.

Then it was all done! =( Back on the ground.

Time for cerveza...Imperial - beer of Costa Rica! And only $2!

In the gift shop they offered for free fresh Costa Rican coffee, fresh pineapple and bananas.

and we got to see some bats hanging out on the ceiling

Everyone with us had a blast. Even Susan who is afraid of heights had a great time. I recommend zip lining to anyone going to Costa Rica. Im not sure how Jungle Breezes is because we didnt go there, but Ranch Cedar Valley is a very legit and comfy business and they really care about what they do and it is totally safe. They really have a good thing going there. Im for SURE going on the crazier zip line next time though.

We loaded back into the van for our next stop....the Del Monte Banana Plantation!

[TallyRockChick]

Oscar took us thru to where they process the bananas and wash them. The workers work about 60 hours a week and only get paid about $650 a month. But they seemed to be having fun with their job and they were blasting spanish music in the area where they were boxing them up.

washing the nanners

Oscar then took us to the area where the bunches of bananas are all in a line ready to be cut off the stalk to be sorted and washed and we saw this! 2 bananas stuck together!!

Oscar telling us about nanners

Oscar then brought us thru the plantation and showed how the bananas are protected from bugs and insecticide and weather. Each bunch is wrapped in a special bag until its ready to be picked.

After we learned as much as we could about nanners, we were off again. This was the last leg of the tour. He took us up thru the "nicer part of town"...aka...where he chooses to live. He took us thru his neighborhood and then pulled up in front of his house and said he wanted to go say hi. Then out came 2 of his sons with his pitbull puppy (well it was big, but still a puppy) and he asked if we wanted to see his baby!

This is Adriana, Oscar's little girl!

After we said adios to Oscar's family (and gracias too!), he took us up to a restaurant that is at the highest point of Limon where we got to take some pics. It was BEAUTIFUL!

[TallyRockChick]

Heres a view with the ship in the background

After ooh-ing and aah-ing for a little while and taking more pics then were necessary, we decided we wanted to grab some food! Oscar said there was a really good place to eat real close to the port so since he never steered us wrong before, we hopped in the van and were off.

The original place we were going to go was closed so Oscar pointed us in a direction of a restaurant on the other side of the park square. As we unloaded we paid Oscar his money and tipped him PHAT! We called our tour the local/backwoods tour. It was the BEST!

This is the restaurant. It didnt have a sign or antyhing, we called it the red roof place.

After walking a little bit we noticed Oscar was walking with us! He wanted to make sure we got to the right place and let the people know he brought us there. He even helped pull a table up to make the table larger for the 7 of us. Before I get into the food I really really want to give mad props to Oscar. Yeah, at first we were a little sketched out, but who wouldnt be? It was worth the risk. He really was the best tour guide we could have asked for and he was worth WAY more then the money we paid. Not only was it a personal tour and not a caravan having to wait for 50 people to finish, but it really seems like he just LOVES his job. The dude took us to his house for crying out loud! I could not praise any tour that Oscar gives more and it is WORTH IT to venture out and not book with the ship. The man is great at what he does and is just a great man in general and any business that I can say I brought him will make me happy for the rest of my life. Its food in that cute little baby's mouth!

If anyone has any other questions about the tour, Oscar, or needs any contact info for him, I will be more then happy! Just let me know...even though his website is just a Google away!!

Now for the food...

This place is straight up authentic. The girl taking our order tried her best to speak her broken English just as much as me and Lex tried to speak our broken Spanish and it all turned out good.

Andrea ordered a Diet Coke and the girl looked at her crazy! She didnt understand. This is why:

In Costa Rica its called Coca Cola LIGHT! Who knew??

Lex got the Arroz con Pollo (chicken with rice) and it was seriously the best we have ever had anywhere.

The sauce he's putting on is homemade picante sauce. The guy that put it on our table said "picante....MUY picante" and I said "muy?" and he said "SIIIII". I guess its real hot. They put it in little mini Johnny Walker Red bottles which we cracked up about.

I got the fried plantains which when they came she looked at me like "is this what you wanted?" and I said "PERFECTO!" They were perfect. Delicious! Especially with some of the picante on um!

Not only was the food GREAT but it was CHEAP too! Both mine and Lex's meals, including 2 Cerveza Imperials were $6 each. 2 beers and a plate full of food for $6? The US needs to adopt that trend!

After lunch it was time to shop. Lex was looking for cigars, I wanted a tanktop with Costa Rica on it and some coffee for my dad. Upon leaving the restaurant we were attacked by various kids asking for money. They seemed to follow us down the street. One snapped my arm with something when I told him no, the little poo poo head!

We went into various stores and ended up finding everything we wanted. The kids were swarming, and at the end when we were about done a group of 3 crowded me as I was getting my change for my tank top. They were saying "one doller? Please" and I basically told them that if I give one of them I would have to give all of them and they were like "ok". I said SHARE and I gave them $1 and walked off. A couple secs later one of the kids said that the other kid took the money and wasnt sharing. I told him "sux for you, go beat him up".

Then we walked into the market place at the port and saw everything we bought in the street stores for cheaper, but it wasnt cheap enough to care much so we continued and went on to the ship.

When we were waiting in line to get back on the ship, there was a Carnival dude standing there with wet cool towels to cool off (which I had never seen before and it was a very nice touch).

Then we were back on the ship! But not before I could take this beautiful pic

 

Since it was still pretty early (we had to be back on board at 3:30) we decided to head out to the pool where I proceeded to take a FANTASTIC nap in the sun. After a couple hours it was time to go get some sushi and then go back to the room to get ready for the past guest party...

[TallyRockChick]

I forgot to mention that before my nap I decided to make a drink and used the free lemonade offered on the Lido. That was a big mistake. Im not a big sugar person. I hardly ever eat sweets and unless Im drinking some OJ or some beer/alchi I only drink water, so sugar drinks kill me. I get stomach aches from regular Red Bull. That being said, by the time it was time to go to the past guest party I had a mega headache and stomach ache. I know what you are thinking, and no I was no hungover. I didnt even get drunk. It was def the sugary lemonade because later in the week I remembered that was the reason why I brought the Crystal Light packets and used those (and drank more) and was fine.

We went to the past guest party and I drank about 1/2 of my glass of champagne and Lex drank his red wine.

Us at the past guest party

then it was off to dinner...

As soon as I got to dinner, I knew it had to be soup all the way! Whenever I dont feel good I just crave it. I think I created a monster in myself for soup on this trip...I like soup anyways, but Im usually a salad person and I just couldnt get enough soup this time around.

My broccoli soup which was so creamy and good and made my stomach forget what the problem was in the first place

Lex's fried shrimp which he said were good (he started eating before I could stop him to take a pic lol)

my second soup - chicken noodle. Dont let the oil slick on the top fool you, it was good. The noodles were great and there was the right amount of veggies and chickin compared to broth. I was THIS close to asking for another additional bowl of the brocc soup after this but decided not to.

Tonight they had penne ala vodka on the menu. This is one of my faves and since the last pasta dish was so good I decided to get it and had them add a grilled chicken breast to it. Let me tell you...this was the first dish that I had that was just plain out NASTY! The pasta was dry, the sauce had nothing to it and seriously no taste at all. It was no where near what vodka sauce should taste like. Even if it was close to near, I think it still would have been gross. The chicken was dry and rubbery and again was bland. I kept trying some more thinking that maybe it was just me being "sick" but it wasnt and I stopped. Yuck! It made me sad too because not only does it LOOK good but it looked like it would be good.

=(

[Froufie]

Love the review - I am salivating now (and NCT dibs on any extra smoked salmon 'lying around'!)......great pics too!

 

Can't wait to board!

 

Frouf

[myjulio888]

That excursion with Oscar sounds awesome! He included so much on his tour. You are lucky they let you take cameras with you on the zip line ..... I just went zip lining in cabo and they made us lock up our cameras before we hit the trail (but luckily they offered to sell us photos of ourselves for a small fee of $17 per photo!) I'm gonna need to get up the courage to book a tour myself NOT through the ship. :D

[TallyRockChick]

Lex went for a two-fer tonight...he had the snapper? I think it was snapper...it was fish and it was pretty tasty. The fried greenbeans were great and so were the potato chips on top.

He also got the Filet. I was going to get the filet as well but decided that it might be hard on my stomach so I didnt. I probably should have but I just really couldnt eat it. It was accompanied by my most hated (one of the 2 that I wont eat) of all veggies, PEAS! Just the sight of them made me gag not to mention they were in some sort of goo. Lex said they were good, I was NOT gonna go there. When Lex tasted his filet, I asked him how it was and he said "Its not Nick and Nora's!". It was good, dont get me wrong, but the fact that they can cook filet on the same boat in 2 different areas and it be SO much better tasting in one kitchen and still good but not as good in another is beyond me. It was still delish though and Lex was willing to let me have some bites, where I agreed with his statement. That cup of cheesey potatoes was good too.

Diet pumpkin pie for dessert for me, which was pretty good, but was missing something...probably because it was diet.

Lex got an apple crisp which he said was real good

Tonight we got some hot drinks too. Lex got cappucino and I got hot tea. Maryono came with his cute cheeks and presented me the box o' bags where I picked out my flavor of the day (Earl Grey). It helped settle my tummy and got me ready for bed.

Went back to the room to crash out and found our next animal! This one I DEFINITELY know what it is....a bunny!

Beddy boo time and gearing up for another fun day at sea!

[asader83]

TRC,

 

This has got to be my favorite review out there. I love the extraordinary detail!

 

Can't wait to hear about Belize and your final sea days!!

 

Keep it coming (my monitor thanks you!)

Amy

[djcellini]

Hello Brandy : You Rock, what good entertainment.... lolllll

 

The way you talk about everything and such is way too funny, very intersting and your so up front, esp with the old people and how you call the lil kids funny names....Not many young people talk this much about their vacation, its usally the older people... :D

 

I have 26 days until I'm on the Miracle,I can't wait... She truly an amazing ship, btw I had the same simliar room as u, set up the same way too Back in May... :D

 

Hope your having a good day........

[rubycruzr]

Thanks so much for the great review! Glad you had such an awesome time. We sail on the Miracle on June 2 to the Eastern Caribbean. It great to see such wonderful pics of our ship! Thanks again!

[TallyRockChick]

Day 6 - Fun Day at Sea

 

Since so many people raved about the Eggs Benedict in the dining room, I wanted to make it a point to make it to the DR for breakfast at least once this cruise. This morning was the day! We got up in enough time and headed down to the DR. We were sat with a couple that was about my parents age, maybe a little older, and a more geriatric couple. At first it was kinda quiet but then someone broke the ice with the "so where are you froms" and it started from there. Come to find out the parents age couple is from my hometown and lived basically right around the corner from me for 30 years till they moved to West Palm. Since I said we were from Tally, we got into a nice football talk about how the Noles sucked ass this year and threw out the "maybe next years" and then talked about what a massacre the UF/FSU game was and how amazing Tebow is (come to find out when we get back that he did in fact deservingly win the Heisman). Then breakfast came.

Of course, Eggs Benedict for me. Ya know, I wasnt really a fan. The eggs were cooked to firm for my liking and the hollendaise was almost solidified. I woulda asked for another order, but our server SUCKED! The geriatric dude ordered pancakes and the guy didnt even bring syrup. When we finally got his attention (the dude's wife had to get up) he blamed it on someone else not bringing it, and then went to get it. He left too fast for me to be able to ask him for ketchup. When he got back, I did and he kinda rolled his eyes. I mean really...I know you probably had to be up real early and all, and you probably had to go and fetch lots of stuff all morning, but an eye roll???

Anyways, heres my geletinized Eggs Bennie

I must say though they did a good job with my bacon. I ordered it well done and I have had to send bacon back before for not being done enough but this was great. Oh yeah and I also had half a grapefruit and some OJ. The grapefruit was cut for you, which I was happy about because I am so freaking maticulous about sectioning out my grapefruit, I was glad I didnt have to worry about it.

The poor service of the dining staff sparked a convo by the 2 older couples on how Carnival has gone down hill and how its messed up they charge you for bottled water in your stateroom because Celebrity doesnt and how the food wasnt up to standards and all that mess. We just sat quiet and listened, because other then my nasty vodka pasta the night before, we had been very happy with our food from all aspects. I guess the server wanted to get the eff out of there because while we were still talking and finishing up he started to take everything off the table which we took as a hint that it was time to go. The geriatric dude complained about how his new knee isnt working out exactly how he wanted it too and that 6 months of rehab hasnt made it any better as he was getting up and he shuffled off. We sat and talked a little longer to the other couple and then when there was absolutely nothing left on the table but the table cloth and they were sweeping the floors around us, we said nice to meet you and peaced out of there.

Oh yeah, Lex had an omlet which he said was good.

Off to the Orpheus pool for some more sunning and drinking and playing and reading (I brought with me Jillian Michaels' - the trainer from Biggest Loser - book Making the Cut...its a really good book about diet and exercise if anyone is interested..I love her training style on Biggest Loser so when I saw it I scooped it up. It gave me lots of new ideas on how to eat and work out).

Then it was time for the HAIRY CHEST CONTEST! We walked over to the main pool to watch the show. I started up on deck 10

...but decided that wasnt close enough to the action so I went downstairs and found an empty chair to catch the show.

Ladies and gentlemen...I would like to introduce you to HARD NINE (refer back to the craps learning session if you dont remember)!

thats his wife behind him in this next pic (by the way they had the CUTEST little baby too)

[TallyRockChick]

The line up to narrow it down to 4 (the guy all the way to the left should have been DQ'd because he still had a sweater on and I dont think that was very fair! ;o)) ..also, note the dude wearing the hat in his shorts next to the guy wearing a sweater. He was referred to on the ship by us as the drunk dude. You all know who I am talking about too. Every cruise has one. The one guy that no matter where you see him he has a can of Coors Light in his hand and flushed cheeks. He also ALWAYS wore those freaking blue or black socks with those freaking blue deck shoes! We got MANY a laugh from sitting back and watching this guy.

next round....FLEXING (why go for the 6 pack when you can have a KEG!)

Next round...the Tarzan yell...

they never had a chance! HARD NINE WINS BY A LANDSLIDE!

[djcellini]

I love Eggs Bennie I had it ever day but one day this past May and it was really good, I myself am young too being only 24 and such, and I sat with a few I mean a lot of diff older people with quite some weird and funny stories might I add.....

 

Hey I have a question for you Brandy, Do u rem who the current Matr'd However u spell it is and who the CD is, Is it still Brent Mitchell or something like that bc he was just ok and such....

 

Your the only person that i know that has ever taken that many pics of thier food thats really funny..... :D

[TallyRockChick]

And now for one of the best parts of sea days....ICE CREAM SUNDAE BAR! Lucky us, they used the ice cream machines that were at the Orpheus pool so they were easily accessable and I could wait till no one was there. Behold my frozen yogurt concoction!

what I was looking at while I was enjoying my sundae - its MELLLLLLTING

heres a pic of Lex eating his burger and fries

Then it was time for the waterslide again. This time I brought my underwater camera that I bought to bring on the cave tubing excursion in Belize (of course, more on that later). We also took video going down the slides of each other (the one not sliding would film the one that was sliding) and they were hilarious!

[TallyRockChick]

The Maitre D is Suresh and the CD is Brent. Brent was actually really good and quite funny. I liked having a younger CD. My fave people that were running things though were PeeWee and Beef. They were quite funny as well. Beef had this way of using making fun of people as his comedy relief which was pretty messed up but still funny. Peewee was just a cutie.

The Maitre D, well we saw him a couple of times throughout the nights and it kinda looked to us like he skipped our table. Like because we were younger he wasnt gonna come by. I was a little offended not gonna lie. Finally on the night before the last night (ya know, the night before you are supposed to bring tips for him) he finally came to our table to say hey. It was obvious. We decided to tip our servers really well instead of the MD. Im sure he wont mind.

[djcellini]

That water slide kicked my @ss, I tell you, it was fast, thats if one knows how to sit and cross there legs and arms and stuff like that lol, I was going so fast i was plz don't die lolll...... But it was fun...... Very cool pics might I add..... :D

[djcellini]

The last Matr'd was the best I have ever seen, his name was Stripe he was so nice and such, he came over to were I was all the time, and I was crusing with friends that are the same age as me and you, as younger coo people. Brent was ok he was kinda like missing in action at certain shows, I say he liked to hide a lot hehe lollllll.....

 

I know there is a new captain too.....

[djcellini]

Brent must not really like his job, or he puts on a really good act at it, one night he was sitting in front of us at one of the shows and he downed 2 mixed drinks and a glass of wine and a bottle of water in the matter of 30 mins I was amazed.... then he hide in the back when the show was over and he didn't bother to come out at all but talk behind stage, that a crappy CD you, his jokes were kinda boring too thats how I felt about him, lil weird I know.........

 

His asst. some aussie girl she was good I say ever better than him, she talked really well and it was funny listening to her too...... :D

[TallyRockChick]

Today we decided to catch the sunset. First this is a pic of the Orpheus bar from where we were sitting. The bartenders there (I dont remember their names but one started with an A....Andre maybe?? He was from Jamaica) were awesome and very attentive to everyone. They were really funny as well.

us and the sunset

Going...

...going...

...going...

...gone...

the sunset was quite a specticle. There were quite a few people out on the deck watching it too. Lex got it on tape and it was really pretty. There are more pics of this sunset in my album. I posted the link to the album earlier on and I'll post it again at the end.

[djcellini]

I saw all your pics very cool might I add, I like the pic of the wooden wennies lolllll, that funny right there......

[TallyRockChick]

The captains name was Allesandro, he was italian and I LOVED hearing his little chime in at noon to tell us about the winds and the seas and where we were located like we had any clue what he was talking about.

Brent's Asst was called Big Sexy and I didnt even know he was Asst. CD until like the 2nd to last day. I barely saw him. Brent however, I saw everywhere. Maybe he got some bad comments and had to shape up or something cuz I thought he was pretty good.

[djcellini]

You have a good weekend Brandy ok, thanks for your cool pics and storeies of your cruise ttys......

[eclipsegtf10mch]

The Maitre D, well we saw him a couple of times throughout the nights and it kinda looked to us like he skipped our table. Like because we were younger he wasnt gonna come by. I was a little offended not gonna lie.

 

This seemed to be the way it was for my boyfriend and I also... which happen to be very good tippers even though we are young people. He didn't even come to our table at ALL. It was all okay though because we had no envelope for him on the last night :)

 

PS i looove your review!