campdaan Posted March 18, 2012 #1 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Hi Everyone This was my 9th Carnival Cruise and second cruise on the Miracle with the same itinerary. My group consisted of my S/O Sharon, her sister Paula, and my Mother, Jane. I had a 9B Premium Balcony on the Verandah Deck 8737 which I will extensively review in a later post. We went to St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. Hang-on... Here goes... 4:30 am. the Limo arrives. we like to take the limo because Boston sucks to get in and out of and I could'nt dream of ever parking there. I bring my Garmin. it works on the plane and on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 18, 2012 Author #2 Share Posted March 18, 2012 We got into Fort Lauderdale about 11, and called the Hotel for information on their shuttle. We chose to stay at the Ramada Cruiseport Hotel on SR84 Marina Mile Rd. This was our 5th stay there and find the facilites and accomodations to be worth the price we paid. We stayed 4 in the room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 18, 2012 Author #3 Share Posted March 18, 2012 The hotel has a restraunt and bar, and a tiki bar outside in the pool area. It had rained and was overcast, so the tiki bar was closed during our entire stay. We took the complimentary shuttle to the local shopping area for a 2 hour time. They have a Winn-Dixie, Bell's Outlet and a Payless shoes among other things... and a Dunkin' Donuts. Where I got a mocha coffee coolatta. We also got wine and soda for our carry-on. 1 750 ml, each and 2 6-packs of 20oz. Diet Cokes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona cruisers Posted March 18, 2012 #4 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Yay..glad you are doing this! We will look forward to seeing your review. It sure was fun meeting everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 18, 2012 Author #5 Share Posted March 18, 2012 That evening, our good friend from CC "Letssailaway" picked us up and we had a lovely dinner at Lester's Diner. I had googled something to the effect of "Best of" and Lester's came up as a local favorite. I had the meatloaf... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 18, 2012 Author #6 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Yay..glad you are doing this! We will look forward to seeing your review. It sure was fun meeting everyone! I took 970 pics... I hope you all have a few cocktails on hand. This may take a while... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPete Posted March 19, 2012 #7 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Enjoying it Daan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelo7 Posted March 19, 2012 #8 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Great start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girlscruise2011 Posted March 19, 2012 #9 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I would love more info on the Ramada you stayed at. I'm waiting for Jet Blue to open up for Thanksgiving and might be flying into FLL from Boston. I noticed they have a shuttle to the Port of Miami where I'm sailing out of. Did you enjoy the Ramada? I'm a family of 5 so other then the shuttle to the mall, did it have anything else around there to do? Depending on air costs, I may go down 2 nights prior so will need something to do for 1 whole day. Anything you would like to share would be great...thank you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #10 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Enjoying it Daan! My dream CC cruise... Mr. Pete and Cigar Dude... But thats a whole thread in itself ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Great start. Thanks... This is my tribute to the people who post those great reviews, loaded with pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I would love more info on the Ramada you stayed at. I'm waiting for Jet Blue to open up for Thanksgiving and might be flying into FLL from Boston. I noticed they have a shuttle to the Port of Miami where I'm sailing out of. Did you enjoy the Ramada? I'm a family of 5 so other then the shuttle to the mall, did it have anything else around there to do? Depending on air costs, I may go down 2 nights prior so will need something to do for 1 whole day. Anything you would like to share would be great...thank you :) The Ramada is pretty OK. It's not swanky, or a great location, but it's a great value. The facility is nice and clean and the rooms are standard hotel set-up. The breakfast is an additional $5 pp, for hot selections, but it's a great breakfast ! If you have good weather, the pool is great and the tiki bar has pretty good food. I'll stay there again, no problem. If you stay an extra day, they have a car rental desk at the hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #13 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Embarkation Day We had the buffet breakfast at the Hotel. They cooked eggs to order, and had the standard fare for hot and cold items. coffee and juice. We had our luggage tagged and ready, and I had the desk clerk call us a cab and specified a van for 4 people. The cab arrived and it was a flat-rate $10pp to the port. He had an SUV and the luggage fit in just fine. I coul'nd get the "First funnel" pic, because I was hanging on for dear life. But I made up for it during the entire cruise, taking several funnel pics ! We left the Hotel around 10 and entered the atrium Deck 2 about 11:30. Check in was very swift. We went straight to the new Serenity Deck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #14 Share Posted March 19, 2012 The roll-call was well attended and everyone looked excited to be on vacation. I used the entrance to the staircase from Serenity, and went down to Panarama Deck to see if my room was ready and I was able to sneek in... I had room 8237... :D:D:D The room was AWESOME !... Check out the Balcony.... We were right under the pizza and did hear some regular noise, but nothing disturbing. Our door was at the Aft elevator lobby, and the stairs that go into the back of Horatio's. Which was great because the pizza counter was turned into an omelette station in the morning. And the premium coffee was next to that ! Every morning I got coffee and and 2 over-easy with out any lines, just a person or two, I'd go through the buffet line for toast and bacon and then stop at the salad bar for fresh citrus sections... yum ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolyroger Posted March 19, 2012 #15 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Ok the suspence is killing me !!!! Loving the review so far!!! KEEP IT COMING! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #16 Share Posted March 19, 2012 We set sail on time and got a few sailaway pics... And the first "Funnel Shot"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #17 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Ok the suspence is killing me !!!! Loving the review so far!!! KEEP IT COMING! Another New Englander ! ... ;):D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolyroger Posted March 19, 2012 #18 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Another New Englander ! ... ;):D LOL, I have a feeling there is gonna be quite a few on my cruise which leaves out of NY next month I really can't wait to see this ship in person!....You came back just in time for some great weather, Welcome back and thanks for there view! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #19 Share Posted March 19, 2012 A few food-porn pics... The food was pretty good. We tried some of the new stuff and liked pretty much everything. No complaints here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #20 Share Posted March 19, 2012 And we finally got to meet our Cruise Director Malcolm "woo-hoo" Burn. Malcolm seemed very nice, and we saw him around. He did'nt do many announcements and was kind of low-key. After some of the production shows, he just did voice-overs from the sound board at Deck 3. The ladies from my group found that the kareoke host was one of their previous hosts and everyone remembered everyone. So they were all set for the week. I hit all the production shows, except Legends. And liked them all, even though I had seen them before. Christopher Alan Graves "Singin' with the Big Band" was tremendous as always and is a favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 19, 2012 Author #21 Share Posted March 19, 2012 That pretty much wraps up Day 1... The room had dimmers, and lights in the closet. GAWD !... I LOVE THAT ROOM ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Geegitz Posted March 20, 2012 #22 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Wow Great room. Thinking of booking the Miracle out of NYC. Keep it coming!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riclop Posted March 20, 2012 #23 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hi Everyone This was my 9th Carnival Cruise and second cruise on the Miracle with the same itinerary. My group consisted of my S/O Sharon, her sister Paula, and my Mother, Jane. I had a 9B Premium Balcony on the Verandah Deck 8737 which I will extensively review in a later post. We went to St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. Hang-on... Here goes... 4:30 am. the Limo arrives. we like to take the limo because Boston sucks to get in and out of and I could'nt dream of ever parking there. I bring my Garmin. it works on the plane and on the ship. There is no 8737 on veranda deck all room numbers start with 7 and on the deck above there is still no 8737?????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.G's Mr.G Posted March 20, 2012 #24 Share Posted March 20, 2012 There is no 8737 on veranda deck all room numbers start with 7 and on the deck above there is still no 8737?????????? He said 8237 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campdaan Posted March 20, 2012 Author #25 Share Posted March 20, 2012 There is no 8737 on veranda deck all room numbers start with 7 and on the deck above there is still no 8737?????????? Sorry about the typo... it was 8237 ...and it was Panorama Deck... Deck 8. I hope flowers make up for the mistake... :D:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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