Miracle Review 10/20/08 - 10/28/08

[wegiekat]

Just got off the Miracle's 8 day Southern Carribean. Great cruise and great ship, but then I love the Spirit class ships having previously sailed on the Spirt and the Legend.

 

I had my 1st ever embarkation wait as when we arrived at the port and 11:45 am - the Miracle was just reaching dock in Ft. Lauderdale. They had experienced bad weather when repositioning from New York.

 

Once boarding began at around 1:30 - all went smoothly and we were aboard in no time. I did stop by our roll calls meet and greet and everyone was in great spirits. We did sail late, after 6 pm (was supposed to leave at 4 pm) and the 1st night was pretty choppy but after that it was all smooth sailing.

 

The 1st two days were at sea and there was plenty to do to fill everyone's time. Plenty of activities from Trivia to Bingo to deck games.

 

The next three days were filled with visits to St. Maarten, St Lucia and St. Kitts. Just did a little shopping in St. Maarten as that was our 2nd time there. St Lucia we took and independent tour that we arranged once we docked and the driver couldn't have been more pleasant and gave a great tour. St. Kitts we took the island Train Tour through Carnival and we enjoyed this as well. We did see some of the damage to the Island from the Hurricane that passed by the week before we arrived.

 

The last two days at sea were relaxing and pleasant. A good way to wind down from 3 consecutive port days.

 

Dining is not a big deal for me on a cruise but I did go to the dining room everynight for dinner, but mostly ate off the alternative menu that they have every day. Breakfast and lunch was at the Lido everyday.

 

I did take notice of dress in the dining room (mainly because of this site) and I will say that I saw very little in the wearing of jeans and almost no shorts. On the two elegant casual nights, I would say the vast majority dressed accordingly. (Our table was right as you entered the dining room so I had a good view of those entering)

 

The grapes in the dining room did not bother me at all. Just can't understand what all the fuss about that is. I also don't mind the fun in the dining room and everyone from guests to the waiters seemed to enjoy themselves.

 

I did enjoy all the shows, especially Ticket to Ride. Some friends that came with us were one of the 4 acts in the guest talent show and were also one of the 10 finalists in the costume contest for Halloween. The Cruise Director - Brent - seemed to be a nice guy and all the activities seemed to run smoothly.

 

We had an aft cabin (my 1st and my last) 6333. The cabin was fine but I am not enamored of the location. I think I will go back to midship balcony cabins.

 

Debarkation was delayed an hour and a half as the ship was not docked correctly and they could do get the gangway in place. We went to our friends cabin, which was directly above the gangway and it was hysterical to listen to a dock worker tell the Carnival Officers that nothing was going to happen until they move the "Dang" ship, which we did.

 

We chose not to do self-debarkation, but watched quite a few that did. Our flight was not until 2:30 so there was no rush. I can understand those that might have had an early flight were a little nervous, but after 9 cruises I have learned my lessons. Fly in the day before and book a flight after 2 pm. As it was, we left the ship at 11:00 and were at the airport by 11:30.

 

It was fun listening to all the griping about the delay - Oh my goodness, we will never sail Carnival again. I feel sorry for people who let this small delay color their perception of the whole cruise. Like delays do not happen to other cruise lines:rolleyes: .

 

If you have any questions, give a shout and I will try to answer them.

 

Mindy

[sunkey1]

Mindy,

 

We sail on the Miracle in three weeks, doing the same run you did. Any chance you still have your capers or remember which nights they did any of the deck parties, special events? I know the two formal nights will be the big shows, but was curious about the other nights.

 

Thanks so much and glad you had a great time - we love the Spirit class ships and are really excited about our upcoming cruise!

 

Kathy

[pmoniz]

Mindy - Nice review! So glad you enjoyed your cruise. I, too, don't understand why people let little things ruin everything. Great to see you have an open mind! We sailed on the Miracle out of NYC in April 08 and will sail on her again in May 09!! Can't wait!! We had so much fun on our last cruise and loved this ship too!!

[franksandy]

Great Review...I also will be on this ship in 3 weeks...My Question is on the Casino...On sea days are the slots open 24 hours? Or what time do they open? I'm a early riser and enjoy my slots very early...Also Does this ship have Penny machines?

 

Sandy

[SheilaS]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. A labor of love, I know;), but still time consuming. I like your style, too - you like to people watch and you don't sweat the small stuff. I would be glad to cruise with you anytime!

 

We will have our first aft balcony on our Miracle cruise in January. I think we will like it, but even if we don't, after all the passionate declarations from aft lovers on CC, I would never have been happy if we hadn't tried one. :p

 

You said there were only 4 acts in the guest talent show. Is that normal?

 

So the grapes weren't so bad? I have my eye on a grape necklace to wear to dinner one evening. I figure, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! :cool:

 

We also like to fly in the day before and book returning flight after 2pm, but the airlines are really working us this go round. After 8 flight changes, my return flight (as of right this minute:rolleyes: ) is at 11:10am. I'm not thrilled with it, but my options are dwindling fast. Push come to shove, I hope they don't force us to fly out the next day and use up another of my precious vacations days from work. It sure bites that paying premium fares and booking early, to get what you need, doesn't work anymore. (Isn't that kind of a bait-n-switch tactic? :p ) Oh, well...I am trying to just roll with the ~~~~flooooow~~~~:D

 

Can you tell me a little about St. Kitts? We haven't been there. What are the tourist sites? Is there a local market for shopping?

 

Thanks again for the review.

 

Sheila<------------daydreaming of blue water, bluer skies, and cool breezes

[jkmmah]

I'm interested to know which two nights were the formal nights? Was it the first sea day and the next to last sea day? That's what my hunch is but I'd rather hear your confirmation to be sure.

 

Also, capers would be great if you have them available to post or email out.

[kgm0612]

Thanks for the great review of the Miracle & its Southern Carribean itinerary. We sail her on March 13th and I'm getting excited.

 

I was happy that you mentioned there were plenty of activities going on while at sea. How was the poolside music........any steel bands playing?

 

Karen

[wegiekat]

Great Review...I also will be on this ship in 3 weeks...My Question is on the Casino...On sea days are the slots open 24 hours? Or what time do they open? I'm a early riser and enjoy my slots very early...Also Does this ship have Penny machines?

 

Sandy

 

 

Hi Sandy,

 

The casino is not open 24 hours. It opens every morning at 9 am. I am at work and don't have my capers with me so I'm not sure what time they close.

 

There are penny slots but not very many. There is probably a total of 20 altogether and they are tough to get. 10 of those are multi-demoninational that you can make 1 cent, 2 cents or 5 cents. There are also about 5 two cent slots and I could never get on those. I found that 1st thing in the morning when the casino opens and mid-day is your best shot at the pennies. Forget it in the evening.

 

I also found the casino very smokey in the evening. Hope that helps.

 

Mindy

[wegiekat]

I'm interested to know which two nights were the formal nights? Was it the first sea day and the next to last sea day? That's what my hunch is but I'd rather hear your confirmation to be sure.

 

Also, capers would be great if you have them available to post or email out.

 

 

The two formal nights were indeed the 1st sea day and the 3rd sea day. When I get home tonight I will attempt to scan the capers and try to figure out how to post them Friday.

 

Mindy

[wegiekat]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. A labor of love, I know;), but still time consuming. I like your style, too - you like to people watch and you don't sweat the small stuff. I would be glad to cruise with you anytime!

 

We will have our first aft balcony on our Miracle cruise in January. I think we will like it, but even if we don't, after all the passionate declarations from aft lovers on CC, I would never have been happy if we hadn't tried one. :p

 

You said there were only 4 acts in the guest talent show. Is that normal?

 

So the grapes weren't so bad? I have my eye on a grape necklace to wear to dinner one evening. I figure, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! :cool:

 

We also like to fly in the day before and book returning flight after 2pm, but the airlines are really working us this go round. After 8 flight changes, my return flight (as of right this minute:rolleyes: ) is at 11:10am. I'm not thrilled with it, but my options are dwindling fast. Push come to shove, I hope they don't force us to fly out the next day and use up another of my precious vacations days from work. It sure bites that paying premium fares and booking early, to get what you need, doesn't work anymore. (Isn't that kind of a bait-n-switch tactic? :p ) Oh, well...I am trying to just roll with the ~~~~flooooow~~~~:D

 

Can you tell me a little about St. Kitts? We haven't been there. What are the tourist sites? Is there a local market for shopping?

 

Thanks again for the review.

 

Sheila<------------daydreaming of blue water, bluer skies, and cool breezes

 

 

Hi Sheila,

 

As far as your early flight - Self debarkation was supposed to begin at 7:30 AM, but did not happen until 9 am because of the gangway trouble. Regular debarkation then began about 10:15 or so. It was supposed to start at 9 am.

 

St Kitts has a very nice pier area. Of course you have the all the traditional cruise ship shops to get through 1st, but behind that is the Pelican Mall which is more local, then down the road further was an open air farmers market type thing.

 

I'm not really sure about tourist sights as such. The train ride we did took us around one side of the island. The train ride was 2 hours, you could either sit on the 2nd level which was open air or the 1st level was air-conditioned. You received free drinks and some ladies came around each car to sing. They were very good. Along the ride when you went past the small towns, the kids would come to wave at the train.

 

I did discover that had we booked the excursion online before we left it would have been $10 cheaper.

 

Hope this helps - Mindy

[wegiekat]

Thanks for the great review of the Miracle & its Southern Carribean itinerary. We sail her on March 13th and I'm getting excited.

 

I was happy that you mentioned there were plenty of activities going on while at sea. How was the poolside music........any steel bands playing?

 

Karen

 

 

Hi Karen, There was a 1 man band playing Carribean style music at the pool around 12 -12:30 every day. He was very good and thank goodness was not so loud that you couldn't hear yourself think. I enjoyed listening to him at lunch everyday

 

Mindy

[wegiekat]

Sorry - forgot the talent show question.

 

I was surprised as well that there was only 4 acts as I seemed to recall on earlier carnival cruises that there were 10 or so. All 4 acts received certificates and a bottle of the bubbly.

 

Mindy

[wegiekat]

Mindy,

 

We sail on the Miracle in three weeks, doing the same run you did. Any chance you still have your capers or remember which nights they did any of the deck parties, special events? I know the two formal nights will be the big shows, but was curious about the other nights.

 

Thanks so much and glad you had a great time - we love the Spirit class ships and are really excited about our upcoming cruise!

 

Kathy

 

 

Hi Kathy,

 

I am at work and don't have the capers with me, but the other shows were a Hypnotist which was actually quite a funny show, a couple of comedians on various nights and a duo called the Village Idiots which did juggling and comedy and again I was surprised at the quality of their show. It was very entertaining.

 

The only deck party and late night buffet was the 3rd sea day which was for our sailing a Haloween party. It started at 11 pm and the buffet started at 11:30 pm.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Hope that helps - Mindy

[stargate fan]

Great review, thanks for sharing. We are sailing this exact itinerary next October. I am trying to be excited, but it is sooo far away.

Regarding the aft balcony, was it very noisy from the wake on sea days? On our last cruise, we stood at the back of the ship and watched the wake, then commented on how loud it actually was. So, we were nervous and booked an extended balcony, midship, on deck 7, Panorama. We use our balconies so much and we are hoping the little bit of extra room allows for stretching our legs.

[wegiekat]

Great review, thanks for sharing. We are sailing this exact itinerary next October. I am trying to be excited, but it is sooo far away.

 

Regarding the aft balcony, was it very noisy from the wake on sea days? On our last cruise, we stood at the back of the ship and watched the wake, then commented on how loud it actually was. So, we were nervous and booked an extended balcony, midship, on deck 7, Panorama. We use our balconies so much and we are hoping the little bit of extra room allows for stretching our legs.

 

I know it is hard to get excited when it so far away - but I booked mine last November and now it's done. :( Time will just fly.

 

The noise of the wake didn't really bother me, even at night with the balcony door closed you couldn't hear it at all, but there is a constant thrumming of the engine in the background that, for me, was hard to get used to. I am not prone to seasickness, thank goodness, but it seemed to me that there was a different ship motion that what I am used to and the 1st night was extremely rough.

 

I also like my views off the balcony and in St. Maarten, we had none, St Lucia, we could see the city and St. Kitts we had none. It was also too hot in the direct sunlight as you got no breeze on the aft.

 

We also use our balcony alot so I know you will enjoy the cabin you booked. I am glad I tried an aft, but now I know it is not for me.

 

Mindy

[DqALEX]

Glad you had a good time. The Miracle is my favorite ship so far

[rebeljohn]

Enjoyed reading your review............Thanks for posting it...........

The Miracle was our best Carnival cruise to date..............

[celticd1]

Thanks for posting your review! Sounds like you had a great time! We love the Spirit class ships too. Will you have your pics posted soon?

 

Hi Sheila! Yep, I agree about the "bait and switch" airfare...it just doesn't seem right...on the other hand, I'll be cruising in 85 days and will forget all about it then! :p

 

(Hi Kathy (Sunkey)! Tim and I had a great time with you and DH on the Legend a couple years ago, awesome cruise! Did you snag cabin 6232 again?? :) )

[REDZONE]

Thanks for posting. Sorry you did not like the aft, that's our favorite. I will be in my aft wrap soon.

[franksandy]

I'm alittle disapointed the casino won't be open till 9am....I did a 15 night Hawaii RT cruise last Nov. on Princess and the slots were open 24 hours gaming started at 10am.

I guess I will be seeing alot of Sunrises on Deck.

But I'll be saving lots of penny's!!!! Carnivals lost wages.

 

Sandy

[Payd]

Just got off the Miracle's 8 day Southern Carribean. Great cruise and great ship, but then I love the Spirit class ships having previously sailed on the Spirt and the Legend.

 

I had my 1st ever embarkation wait as when we arrived at the port and 11:45 am - the Miracle was just reaching dock in Ft. Lauderdale. They had experienced bad weather when repositioning from New York.

 

Once boarding began at around 1:30 - all went smoothly and we were aboard in no time. I did stop by our roll calls meet and greet and everyone was in great spirits. We did sail late, after 6 pm (was supposed to leave at 4 pm) and the 1st night was pretty choppy but after that it was all smooth sailing.

 

The 1st two days were at sea and there was plenty to do to fill everyone's time. Plenty of activities from Trivia to Bingo to deck games.

 

The next three days were filled with visits to St. Maarten, St Lucia and St. Kitts. Just did a little shopping in St. Maarten as that was our 2nd time there. St Lucia we took and independent tour that we arranged once we docked and the driver couldn't have been more pleasant and gave a great tour. St. Kitts we took the island Train Tour through Carnival and we enjoyed this as well. We did see some of the damage to the Island from the Hurricane that passed by the week before we arrived.

 

The last two days at sea were relaxing and pleasant. A good way to wind down from 3 consecutive port days.

 

Dining is not a big deal for me on a cruise but I did go to the dining room everynight for dinner, but mostly ate off the alternative menu that they have every day. Breakfast and lunch was at the Lido everyday.

 

I did take notice of dress in the dining room (mainly because of this site) and I will say that I saw very little in the wearing of jeans and almost no shorts. On the two elegant casual nights, I would say the vast majority dressed accordingly. (Our table was right as you entered the dining room so I had a good view of those entering)

 

The grapes in the dining room did not bother me at all. Just can't understand what all the fuss about that is. I also don't mind the fun in the dining room and everyone from guests to the waiters seemed to enjoy themselves.

 

I did enjoy all the shows, especially Ticket to Ride. Some friends that came with us were one of the 4 acts in the guest talent show and were also one of the 10 finalists in the costume contest for Halloween. The Cruise Director - Brent - seemed to be a nice guy and all the activities seemed to run smoothly.

 

We had an aft cabin (my 1st and my last) 6333. The cabin was fine but I am not enamored of the location. I think I will go back to midship balcony cabins.

 

Debarkation was delayed an hour and a half as the ship was not docked correctly and they could do get the gangway in place. We went to our friends cabin, which was directly above the gangway and it was hysterical to listen to a dock worker tell the Carnival Officers that nothing was going to happen until they move the "Dang" ship, which we did.

 

We chose not to do self-debarkation, but watched quite a few that did. Our flight was not until 2:30 so there was no rush. I can understand those that might have had an early flight were a little nervous, but after 9 cruises I have learned my lessons. Fly in the day before and book a flight after 2 pm. As it was, we left the ship at 11:00 and were at the airport by 11:30.

 

It was fun listening to all the griping about the delay - Oh my goodness, we will never sail Carnival again. I feel sorry for people who let this small delay color their perception of the whole cruise. Like delays do not happen to other cruise lines:rolleyes: .

 

If you have any questions, give a shout and I will try to answer them.

 

Mindy

 

 

That Miracle itinerary was one of our favorite cruises ever. The ports are just amazing and the 4 ship days are so relaxing!

 

Glad you had a good time!

[wegiekat]

Thanks for posting. Sorry you did not like the aft, that's our favorite. I will be in my aft wrap soon.

 

 

I don't know, I might be convinced to try an Aft wrap - that way I would at least have some type of side view.

 

Enjoy your cruise - Mindy

[wegiekat]

I'm alittle disapointed the casino won't be open till 9am....I did a 15 night Hawaii RT cruise last Nov. on Princess and the slots were open 24 hours gaming started at 10am.

I guess I will be seeing alot of Sunrises on Deck.

But I'll be saving lots of penny's!!!! Carnivals lost wages.

 

Sandy

 

 

Hi Sandy,

 

I know what you mean - I would love the Casino to be open earlier as I am an early riser as well. Of course what I didn't spend in the Casino, I spent on Bingo.:(

 

Mindy

[wasiii]

Thanks for posting. Sorry you did not like the aft, that's our favorite. I will be in my aft wrap soon.

 

.....how dare you don't include me and the rest of the Aft Miracle Maniacs in your post! Blasphemy I say!

 

:rolleyes:

 

wasiii

[franksandy]

Mindy,

So how much does Carnival Charge for Bingo now?

 

Sandy