Miracle Alaska 6/18 to 6/25 mini review

Just a short overall review of the Miracle Alaska cruise June 18 to 25. Cruising is was a warm weather sport not a cold one.

This was a last minute cruise that we booked right around final payment. Mom had always wanted to cruise Alaska but I don't like to be cold but the prices were just to good to pass up so we cancelled our October cruise on the Freedom for this one.

Day 1.1 - Embarkation was a breeze. We left the Hampton Inn Downtown Seattle around 10:30. Arrived at the port - luggage was taken by a waiting porter, walked right through security with no wait, walked right up to check in desk where we were given a zone 2 boarding pass. Boarding began around 11:20 and by 11:30 were enjoying lunch on the Lido. Yum, my 1st cruise cheeseburger and fries. Weather was great.

Day 1.2 - Cruising. Cloudy and cold. Brrr.

Day 2 - Cruising Tracey Arm Fjord. One again cold and cloudy but beautiful. Saw eagles and seals. Even caught a picture of an Eagle sitting on an iceberg, something the naturalist doing the narration said you very rarely ever see.

Day 3 - Skagway - Beautiful weather - Sunny and in the low 70's. Because we booked this last minute there was no money in the budget for shore tours but it was very enjoyable just walking around town and browsing the shops. The Miracle and a Norwegian ship were the only two ships in port. The stop was a long one, 7 am to 9 pm which was great if you had a tour but a little long if you did not.

Day 4 - Juneau. 7 am to 3 pm was warm and rainy. Was in port with two Princess ships and the Regent Seven Seas Mariner. We had planned on just shopping and taking the tram to the top of Mt. Roberts the cloud ceiling was so low that we opted not to.

Day 5.1 - Ketchikan. 7 am to 1 pm. Beautiful sunny morning. I was taking my morning walk around around the deck at about 6 a.m. and there were 3 whales passing by very close to the ship. Awesome sight. I was very glad a lugged the camera along as I usually do not while walking my laps.

Were in port with the Celebrity Millennium and the Celebrity Solstice.

Day 5.2 and Day 6 - This is the one thing I did not like about this cruise as we had to leave Ketchikan so early in order to reach Victoria BC for our distant out of country port by 7:30 pm on day 6. Once again cold and cloudy weather the whole way and by 3 pm on day 6 the shops and casino had to close for the duration of the cruise. That much time at sea would be wonderful if the weather was conducive to outside activities but it was not and for the 1st time I actually felt cooped up on a cruise ship.

On the plus side I did win my 1st Ship on a Stick after 8 Carnival cruises by answering 25 of 25 questions correctly at the the where are you now trivia.

Day 7 - Arrival to port was on time and easy peasy. We did participate in the luggage express program. For $20 a piece, Carnival delivered our boarding passes and airline luggage tags. we were flying Southwest. We placed our luggage outside our room the last night and picked it up in Indianapolis. I know we can do self assist debark but it is much easier on my mother to do it this way. Besides, when we arrived at the Seatac all we had to do is go through security and we were done.

Dining - Food is subjective folks and I am not a real fan of cruise line food. We had anytime dining which worked out perfectly for us. We ate in the dining room 4 of the 7 nights and the other 3 in the Lido. Overall the food was fine both places. The service in the dining room was top notch. The food itself ok.

My cruise before this was a Med cruise on Royal and for selection and quality of food in their Windjammer vs Carnival's Lido this is where Royal wins. There was a much larger selection of foods on Royal than on this cruise if you chose not to dine in the dining room.

We also noticed the slight decline in the service on the Lido including breakfast, lunch and dinner where it took a very long time for the servers to clear tables so that others could sit down. Several times we removed our own trays and dishes so that others did not have to eat surrounded by our dirty dishes. This is not a major complaint just a decline I noticed since our last cruise on the Freedom. For example, on debark morning there was a slice of pizza laying on the deck that no less than 5 or 6 Carnival employees walked by without bothering to pick it up until we told them and believe me it was not hidden and was in plain view of anyone that walked by.

Our room steward was fine. Room always cleaned well but could never get him to bring us ice, so we just gave up and stopped at the Lido and picked up glasses of ice to take to the stateroom with us.

While the cruise was fine and the scenery awe inspiring, this is not a cruise I would do a 2nd time. I have told everyone that this a must do at least once but for the 1st time in 12 cruises I was ready to get off.

Any questions feel free to ask. I have no idea how to post pictures of I would. Sorry.:(

Mindy

Loved your brief review. We depart on 6 Aug and can't wait. We have sailed on the Miracle so we look forward to meeting old friends on the crew and seeing Alaska again.

Thx

I know you will love the cruise. We also had sailed the Miracle before and it is like coming home when you sail on a familiar ship. I just love the Spirit class ships.