Alexv500

Your review has been amazing! I love all the detail and photos you’ve been sharing with us. Bummer you had a bad cabin location, I would’ve been really upset with all the noise lol. Funny enough, we were actually supposed to be on that same sailing as you but ended up cancelling for an 11 night Caribbean sailing out of Miami in May on the Joy as well! 
 

The Joy is a beautiful ship, she was my first NCL ship and I since have sailed the Bliss twice after that. I am so excited to be back on the Joy again soon. Can’t wait for the rest of your trip! Happy cruising to you and your family! 

1 hour ago, fpsphil said:

Unfortunately I don't think they can get the Discovery into the dock in La Paz. Even the Sapphire in Oct looked too big for the dock with the bow hanging off the front a long way. They would have to tender it and I think it would be a decently long tender ride. 

 

Loreto is too far north unfortunately for them to hit PV in 7 days BUT it would be cool if they overnighted in Cabo, made it up to Loreto and then went back.

True you’re right! I didn’t realize the dock was small in La Paz. Fingers crossed we can get an extra day in PV if Mazatlan gets taken off the itinerary! 

I’ll be boarding the Discovery on the 14th. I have a good feeling they will most likely cancel our call there. Super sad because Mazatlan is one of my favorite ports to visit and I was very excited to visit again. But of course, our safety comes first! 
 

Like others have said, as long as we don’t stop in Ensenada as a replacement I’ll be good. Hopefully we get something a little different like La Paz, that would be nice to to visit somewhere new. Or an extra day in Puerto Vallarta would be nice too. 
 

Hopefully a Princess lets us know soon on what will happen!  

1 hour ago, dobiemom said:

Yup, this is our itinerary for Nov 14 also. I have done several 7-day MR cruises and have never had Ensenada as a 4th port. I don’t like it since some of the other ports were cut short or port times changed. 🤨

But I’ll be on the Bliss and that’s all that matters! 😉

I agree!! I’ve done this itinerary multiple times so I’m not too upset about it, just not thrilled about the weird itinerary haha! Maybe because I’m just so used to the traditional Mexican Riviera itinerary. But at the end of the day, all that matters is we get to be on the beautiful Bliss!

My last cruise before COVID hit was actually on the Joy in January 2020 and I loved this class of ship, so I am super excited to cruise on the Bliss! 😄

24 minutes ago, BENNETT531 said:

I'm on the Christmas sailing.  Ensenada is our 4th port.  Times in port are shorter though 😞

 

I’m on the January 9th sailing and have that same exact itinerary. Not too thrilled about the short stops and the addition of Ensenada, would’ve preferred that to have stayed as a sea day like how it is on the traditional Mexican Riviera itinerary! Probably just going to stay on the ship in Ensenada, but nonetheless we will be on a cruise and that’s all the matters!!!

Do you remember who’s the cruise director on Splendor?

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Definitely look into doing Las Caletas in Puerto Vallarta, it’s a beautiful beach and we had an amazing time when we did it last year. Highly recommend it, it’s pricey but worth it!

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You’ll be getting off the day I get on! I’ll be on the 7/28/18 sailing, booked it like 2 weeks ago! I went on a cruise back in March on the Allure of the Seas, and usually I only cruise every spring break, but just like you, I couldn’t wait a whole year for another cruise either! Luckily, I only live about an hour away from LB so no flying for this one, which I’m happy about. This’ll be cruise #6 for me [emoji16]. I’ve been wanting to sail on Splendor ever since I was a kid, I remember seeing her back in Long Beach back in 2011 and thought, “one day I’m going to go on that ship” and head I am, Super excited with only 62 days left to go until it’s my turn [emoji41]

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So I am thinking that you pretty much like every food item better on royal than carnival.

 

 

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Nope, nothing can beat Carnival’s chocolate melting cake.

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I personally consider the complimentary food on Royal far superior to the one on Carnival. I think that, because Royal’s Oasis class ships cater to a vastly more diverse and international clientele, their buffet offerings tend to stray from the more “traditional” buffet fare in favor of a more diverse one in order to appease to different tastes. I also noticed a bigger effort towards offering healthier offerings. Because of all that, I believe that many selections may seem unappealing to the less adventurous palate.

 

With all of that said, one of the things that I appreciated about sailing on the Allure was having so many dining options. Yes, they do have many specialty restaurants for an extra charge, but they also have just as many if not more than Carnival that are free of charge. Because of that, we only set foot at the Windjammer buffet once or twice during the entire week. Instead, one day we’d enjoy breakfast at the MDR, the next day at Park Cafe, the next at Johnny Rockets (yes they do serve breakfast free of charge), the next at the Solarium, etc. Same for lunch and dinner.

 

 

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I 100% agree with you on this! I felt the same exact way about the Allure on our cruise we did on her this past March. So many choices, and everything we had was delicious, I loved the food on the Allure. We also hardly ever went to the windjammer too, maybe like 3 times the entire week. So much food, I loved Sorrento’s pizza. (I think it was a lot better than the Pizza on Carnival to be honest). We loved all the food we had onboard, Allure has been the BEST cruise and my favorite that I’ve done so far.

Side note, did you get a chance to do the up-charge lunch at Chops Grille?

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Definitely Allure. Just got back from a cruise on Allure a few weeks ago, and it was such an amazing experience!!! Was my first time on Royal, and it won’t be the last. By far the BEST cruise I’ve done in all 5 cruises I’ve been on. Allure is an amazing ship, would it all over again in a heart beat.

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Super excited! I’m super surprised they’re finally sending us a brand new ship, can’t wait to sail on her!! ...Now let some of the negative comments begin lol! [emoji849]

Were the SeaPass cards left outside your stateroom door on embarkation day?

I’ve been on both the Glory and Miracle, but hands down I would definitely choose the Glory, she offers better amenities such as a water park and Guy’s burgers. Don’t get me wrong the Miracle was a nice ship, but between the two the Glory was my absolute favorite and wouldn’t hesitate to sail again on her.

We like staying at the Hilton Miami Downtown, super close to the Port. About a 5 minute drive. Last time I stayed there back in June, I was able to get a room facing the port and got to watch the ships pull in! Very nice hotel too!

Started reading this because I am, a huge fan of Miracle (and all the Spirit class ships). Will keep reading because I love your style. Thanks!

Thank you! Miracle was a wonderful ship, very cozy and easy to navigate around! So glad I got to experience a Spirit-class ship!

Alex has returned!

Helllloo everyone! I am alive and well haha! I do apologize for being gone so long and putting a halt on this review; school and work just got in the way but thankfully I have finished school for the semester and now free from that lol. Now I have plenty of time to continue working on this review for you guys, hope everyone will continue to enjoy it as there is lots more to come. I'm also getting ready to go to Miami next Friday to board the MSC Divina on June 3 for a Western Caribbean cruise so I am SUPER EXCITED for this upcoming cruise! SO I will try to do as much as I can of the review between now and when I leave to Florida, but it might be a little tricky because we are also moving to a new house this weekend too, so between packing for the trip and moving, things are going to be very hectic here!

OH! And before I forget, just booked the Vista for next March on Saturday! Grandma and I will be sailing on an 8 day southern Caribbean on March 10, 2018, super excited for that trip! So if anyone wants to come along, feel free to join me haha!

ANYWHOOO on with the review, time to pick up where I left off over a month ago!

Day 2: Continued- Strolling around the Promenade + Getting ready for a special dinner!

So after a very relaxing afternoon of really just doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying our first full day onboard/sea day, it was almost time for dinner! Tonight was special, however, as I made reservations at Nick and Nora's Steakhouse and my grandma didn't know about it, it was a little surprise for her-I wanted to do something special for her and treat her to a good dinner, as she truly is an amazing grandmom and does a lot for me. Luckily, tonight was also formal night (which is why is why I chose tonight to eat at the steakhouse) that way it would be a lot easier to surprise her without raising suspicions. While grandma was getting ready for dinner, I decided to head down to the promenade and go for a stroll to take some pictures too. Strolling around the promenade deck on any cruise is one of my favorite things to do, just something about watching the ocean pass by you truly is magnificent and the view just never gets old, plus it's great for some amazing photos.

Here are some of my favorite pictures I took while on my little stroll:

This was taken on deck 9 fwd, there's a cool deck at the very front that lets you get this side view of the ship, another one of my favorite spots!

I truly loved the Miracle's promenade deck because it was very wide and spacious and wrapped around the aft section of the ship too, which allowed a close view of the ship's wake-something that the Conquest class ships don't have! The Miracle's promenade deck was somewhat similar to the Ruby Princess's promenade, however, Ruby's promenade is the best because it goes all the way around the ship!

I love watching the ship's wake!

After my little afternoon stroll, I headed back up to the room and got ready for dinner at the Steakhouse, can't wait to share my experience about that!

Up next: First Time EVER Eating at a Specialty Restaurant (Nick and Nora's)!

Again, I am very sorry for leaving you guys hanging!

Day 2 (March 12, 2017): Fun Day at Sea

Well everyone, I am back to add some more to this review, hope everyone is enjoying so far, sorry I am a bit slow with writing, I just am so busy with working and going to school at the same time, so I hardly have any me time!

After a great night's sleep, we awoke to begin our first full day onboard the ship, today was a sea day as we made our way down the coast of Baja California towards our first port of call: Cabo San Lucas. I'm not going to lie, I woke up like three times during the night because I was really excited to witness my first sunrise at sea from the comfort of my balcony! I'm not sure if I mentioned this already, but this was my first time ever staying in a balcony cabin, so I was super duper excited to experience having a balcony, it was amazing!! Prior to this cruise, we had stayed in just an inside cabin because it's cheaper, and when you have to fly across the country for a cruise like we did last time, well a balcony isn't very affordable when you got to add in airfare. So this cruise, since we didn't have to fly, we were blessed enough to have gotten a great deal on this cabin and were able to splurge on a balcony, which was a game changer and from now on I am going to have a hard time staying in an inside again (which I will be in June on my MSC Divina cruise!)

Finally, around 6:45am, day light began to emerge and it was so beautiful to just lay in bed all comfortable and admire the ocean passing by from outside my window, and just having natural sunlight in my cabin was just so amazing! I went outside and sat on the balcony for a little, but it was pretty gloomy this morning and a bit cold, but just listening to the crashing waves and the sound of the ocean was simply an indescribable feeling of soothing relaxation.

Good morning!

Tad bit gloomy outside

After waking up and finally getting out of bed, we got ready for our first breakfast! Ever since our cruise last year on the Glory, Grandma and I decided that we love going to the MDR for breakfast, we did so everyday last year on the Glory and did it again this year too. The buffet is crazy in the mornings, and you just get a better experience and in a much more relaxed setting in the dining room. Plus, I just love the breakfast in the dining room, especially the sea day brunch!

Breakfast in the Bacchus dining room wasn't open until 8:30, and luckily I checked the ship's time on the TV! The whole time I was an hour ahead, my phone jumped forward because back home daylight savings time kicked in, which explained why it took so long for the sun to come up! Luckily, I wasn't the only one who was thrown off, as many others heading to breakfast realized the time on our phones was all messed up, Lol! While waiting for breakfast to begin, grandma and I strolled around deck 2 and found a nice spot in the alchemy bar to sit down while we waited. While waiting, we were looking outside the window when we saw some dolphins swim by! It was quite a sight to see and just so cool to see the dolphins swim beside us.

The dining room finally opened up, and I was very hungry and ready to eat! I requested a table for 2 like we always do, but they sat us down with some other people which I didn't mind because I just wanted to eat, but it was nice to meet new people, I'm a very shy person but for some reason on cruises I'm really social and enjoy talking to and meeting new people, on cruises I am a very different person than the person I am here on land haha! I ordered a ham and cheese omelet w/ hash browns and some fruit, all of which was delicious!

After breakfast, we went back up to the room and got ready for the day, today was going to be a lazy day of relaxation and eating. Our room was cleaned by our wonderful room steward when we arrived, which was nice. I dropped off my cameras, and we headed on up to serenity to relax. It was still a bit overcast out and gloomy, but hey not gonna let that get in the way. Grabbed some towels to cover up since it was a little chilly, and I just laid down and rested on those amazing and comfortable serenity chairs, all while listening to some of my music on my phone, ahhh this was the life, couldn't get any better than this, just laying down with an ocean view, life is good. Oh! And we even saw more dolphins while we were at serenity, too bad I left my camera in my room!

Look who was in my room!

View of the Serenity deck

Up next: More Sea Day Fun & Relaxation

Very nice review. Love the photos!

Thank you! I loved your Valor review you did a while back ago!

Loving this review! Considering Miracle for summer :)

Thanks! Hopefully I can convince you to give the Miracle a try [emoji12]

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Are you going to finish this review? I noticed you had stated you didn't finish the last one you started [emoji85][emoji85]

Haha yes, it will be done little by little. I'm either at school or at work so it can be a little tricky to find free time! But hopefully tonight I will work on some more, so stay tuned for that.

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I love your attitude towards life and cruising! Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise on the Miracle with all of us. I love the Miracle! Also love the warm chocolate melting cake!

 

Thank you!! Hope you're enjoying! I loveee that chocolate melting cake [emoji23]

 

 

 

I have been taking my niece on a cruise every year since she was 6, she just turned 13 this year and we cruised on the Vista. So I totally understand how you feel about the memories you are making with your grandmother during your cruises, as I feel the same way with my niece. :)

Awww! That's so sweet of you to take your niece along with you. You're so lucky you went on the Vista! Grandma and I are looking into doing that one next year, hopefully!

I love your attitude about everything! I think it's absolutely adorable that you cruise with your grandma. I lost my last grandma (she was actually the only living grandparent i still had) just before Christmas this last year, and I truly wish I could still be making memories with her. Keep up the memory making with your grandma as long as you can!

Thank you![emoji4] I love cruising with my grandma, we have a great time together. And I'm really sorry about your grandma, it sucks losing someone so ever since what happened to my grandpa, well it just taught me to appreciate my family and grandma more and enjoy my time with her

Liking your review so far. We will going on the Miracle this September. This is our first cruise ever and on the Miracle. So Thank You for doing this review.

You're going to love the Miracle! Great cruise and I think it's a great ship to do your first cruise on, very easy to navigate around!

Loving this review. We went on this very cruise last year with our daughter and her family. Our two grandkids who were 8 and 12 loved it. I hope we get to do it again. Enjoy your Grandma, she's lucky to have you!

Thank you for reading!! It was such a fun cruise, I would so do it again!

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First Dinner Onboard!

It was finally dinnertime, and it 6 o'clock we headed down to deck 2 aft to the lower level of the beautiful Bacchus dining room. Grandma and I were both really hungry, we purposely didn't eat much at lunch just for fruit and salad so we could have an appetite for dinner. On our first cruise, we PIGGED OUT to the MAX! We ate like there was no tomorrow, and then on the Glory last year, we still ate like pigs but not as bad as the year before that, so with 2 cruises under our belt, we learned this time around to control our eating a little more, I did not want to go back home looking like a hippo again like last time, last year I thought they were going to have to roll me off the ship and somehow stuff me onto the plane back home to LA from Miami, no joke! Especially with all those amazing guy's burgers I ate on the Glory!

ANYWHO, enough with my ramblings, we arrived to our table and met our dining room team who were going to take care of us this cruise. Ellen was our main waitress, and she was great! Very friendly, addressed us by name, and took our order very quickly. Tonight I ordered my favorite Strawberry Bisque for my appetizer, and for my main I ordered the flat iron steak with a side of Mac N' cheese w/ Bacon and also some french fries as well. And for dessert... drum roll please...CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE! I had been waiting A YEAR to finally reunite with this amazing dessert that's pretty much like heaven in your mouth..ahhh I'm drooling on my laptop just thinking about it!!

Service was a tad bit slow at times during this cruise, but I didn't mind because I understand the waiters have a lot of guests to attend at once, so they have a lot to do in such little time, lots of hustle and bustle. I feel really bad for them, they work so hardand fast and carry a lot of plates at once, they truly do a lot for us and I very much appreciated the service. Their jobs are not easy, I can't even imagine serving all these guests at once onboard a moving ship!

Strawberry Bisque

My Entree of Steak, Fries,and Mac N Cheese

Chocolate Melting Cakeee!!(Should've asked for 2 Ice Creams to make it look like Mickey Mouse!)

Oh yeah, and I got thefruit plate too!

Dinner was DELICIOUS! Thefood was very yummy, I had read reviews that the food on the Miracle wasn'tvery good, however I found this to be false, and I'm a very picky eater so forme to actually say something is good, it must be really good! I was veryimpressed, everything tasted fantastic and fresh, not a complaint from thispicky eater! Great food, great service, and just spending time with mygrandma and talking to her is what I loved the most.

My grandma and I have always had a special bond, ever since I was little, I love my grandma very much, so going on these cruises together is very special to me because we get to spend much needed quality time together that we don’t always get to do back at home, since she’s always working and I have school, so life just gets in the way of these special moments. And, ever since my grandpa passed away a few years ago, my grandma and I have gotten super close and are pretty much like best friends in a way. I miss my grandpa a lot, him and I were also very close too, and on very cruise I do get a little sad that he is not there with us enjoying everything that we are doing. He never got to do a cruise and I really wish I could’ve done at least one with him, but he was never really too fond of the idea of being in the middle of the ocean, so we never got to doing one together. Since my grandpa passed, I also learned to appreciate my grandma more, so just spending time with her and creating new memories together, well I really cherish it and it means everything to me. Cruising is just not about being aboard a floating resort, it’s also about spending time with those you love and creating memories together and having fun together as well, that’s one of the many things that I love about cruising, just brings everyone together.

Geez, I am ranting a lotin this review! Anyways! After dinner, we walked around the ship and did some more exploring, it was pretty cold out and very windy and foggy so we just stayed inside the rest of the night. The Welcome Aboard Show was at 10 o’clock tonight so I wanted to go to that. However, my grandma was really tired and was ready for bed, so she showered and went to bed. I went to the show by myself and really enjoyed seeing the Playlist Production performers give us a little preview of what to expect during the week. Also the entertainment staff introduced themselves (aka the Fun Squad!) and they were all great. Our cruise director was Adam Cornes, however, we were told he was not feeling well that night so we did not see him until the next day.

After the show, I was pretty tired myself, embarkation day is a very busy day so it drains you out, and I was ready for bed myself! The ship was rocking quite a bit; the Pacific has some pretty strong waves. However, I oddly enjoy the feeling of the ship rocking and moving, I know many do not, but I do haha! Also, it just rocks you to sleeplike a baby!

Today was a great day, and I knew it was going to be another amazing cruise! Everything went well, and the cruise was off to a great start. Tomorrow was going to be a sea day, and I loveee my sea days!!

So with all that being said.. this brings an end to day #1

Also, here's a little video I put together with some footage I filmed on that day if anyone is interested in watching/seeing, sorry it's a little shaky! I do apologize about that!

Up Next: Sea Day #1!

View of Long Beach before we left!

I love sunsets at sea!

Another Whale Tail shot!

The water slide

Quick shot of one of the pools on lido

Here are some more pictures I want to share!

Got my red card!

One of my favorite views, the bow of the ship!

Our neighbor, the Queen Mary.

The Fun Continues! Muster and Sail-away!

So after settling in and some exploring, it was time for our muster drill at 3:30. On Princess, the muster drill is held in the comfort of a lounge and they scan your cruise card to make sure you actually attended the drill, and this is my one thing I don't like on Carnival is their muster drills. (I know I'm being a whiner, but this is my only complaint I have!) However though, I believe on their Dream class ships, they do the muster drills in lounges, so hopefully they can start doing that on all the ships too! For example, last year on the Glory, muster drill was HELL! Just imagine being packed like sardines smushed with all these strangers, in the hot Miami sun + humidity, yeah not a very pleasant experience LOL! And on top of that, last year on embarkation day I had a sore throat so I was not a happy camper! Also, my poor grandma can't really stand up for long periods of times, and I later learned on the Glory that they offered a muster drill in the comfort of a lounge for seniors and handicap who can't stand up, so I made mental note of that. Soo flash forward to this year, we were luckily able to do our muster drill from the comfort of Gatsby's Garden here on the Miracle, while everyone else got to stand outside packed like sardines haha! Grandma was very happy she did not have to stand this time, and I was happy also, #PerksOfTravelingWithGrandma.

My obligatory pre muster drill selfie for Snapchat

After our lovely muster drill, it was almost time for sailway! After the muster drill, is when the vacation pretty much officially begins, and everyone is in great spirits and just ready to set sail, truly a wonderful feeling. So with muster drill being over, let the vacation begin! We headed up to the lido deck to watch the sail away party and watch us set sail from Long Beach, so while we waited for that, we went around and explored the upper decks and I started shooting some pictures with my fancy new camera I got specially for this trip and for my next cruise I'll be doing in June on the MSC Divina.

Whale Tail!

What other homeport can you have snowy mountains in the background? You sure don't get this view in Miami!

Almost time to go!

After going around and taking some pictures and FaceTiming some my friend to show off the cool cruise I was on, we were finally moving away from the pier! As you can imagine my excitement to see we were finally moving, Mexico here we come! Meanwhile, my grandma was too busy laying by the pool watching the deck party, I wanted to go up and film our sail away from Long Beach on my GoPro, and just watch this beautiful moment, because to me, I just love watching the sail away, it's just a beautiful feeling you feel when you're about to escape land and home for a week and simply leave all your worries, stresses and troubles far behind you...well just for a week and then you gotta come back and just cry, BUT that's another topic!

We set sail around 5 o'clock, and it was truly a beautiful sail away, the sun was just starting to set as the Carnival Miracle departed Southern California for another trip down to the Mexican Riviera, with a brand new set of passengers, but this wasn't any typical voyage, why? Because me and Grandma were onboard, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! Adios California, Hola Mexico! All the months of waiting, and just imagining me being onboard already, the moment was here and it was real, finally. This was going to be a great week.

Aaaand we're off!

The coolest thing also happened as we departed Long Beach! Since the Port of San Pedro is pretty much right next to LB, I spotted an old friend of mine setting sail as well, the beautiful Ruby Princess! The Ruby is very special to me because she was my first cruise, so seeing her in the distance was very special to me, lots of memories on that ship! It was also very foggy as we left too, you could barely see anything and we were pretty much going right through the clouds, which was pretty cool too, and because of this the captain had to sound the horn every couple of minutes for safety, and I am not gonna lie, that dang horn scared me so bad LOL!

Ruby!! You can barely see her, but she's there!

We had assigned early dining at 6pm in the Bacchus Dining Room, since my grandma likes to eat dinner early. Tonight's dinner was going to be delicious, we took a peek at the menu for tonight and I saw my favorite: Chilled Strawberry Bisque! YUMMM! So we headed down to our cabin, I put on some pants since I was wearing shorts and didn't wanna get yelled at in the dining room, and fixed up my hair a little since I had some of that famous "Sea hair" from being out in the wind haha.

Up Next: Our First Dinner Onboard!