Miracle Review Oct 19-27 2009

[Luanne21]

I love your review, and so gald you had a good time.

[funinthsun]

Tonight was also the Captain’s Celebration/Meet & Greet along the Promenade Deck, they offered $1.00 off all drinks. We walked by but it was really crowded so we just decided to watch it from level three in the area overlooking the Atrium. ....

 

Do they charge for that now? In the past the drinks have been free as well as hors d'oervres........New Policy? What about past cruisers party? Do you know if they still have that. (I apologize if this was answered...i havent been able to get throught the whole thread.

[heatherandfred]

I'm only halfway through your review and I am loving it! Our wedding is on the Miracle next July! I'm so psyched..so is DF..lol. Thanks for the informative review and pics.

[TakeMeAway1001]

Tonight was also the Captain’s Celebration/Meet & Greet along the Promenade Deck, they offered $1.00 off all drinks. We walked by but it was really crowded so we just decided to watch it from level three in the area overlooking the Atrium. ....

 

Do they charge for that now? In the past the drinks have been free as well as hors d'oervres........New Policy? What about past cruisers party? Do you know if they still have that. (I apologize if this was answered...i havent been able to get throught the whole thread.

 

I know they have changed things a bit and I hope I get it right :)

 

On your first full Fun Day at Sea they had the Captains Celebration/Meet Greet, I believe the were attempting to make it more personalize and it appears that worked. Drinks are $1.00 off~

 

They still have a Past Guest Party however we didn't attend, I heard it was very crowded and difficult to get a drink so I don't think we missed much.

 

On the last night they have a Fun Farewell with Complimentary Cocktails, live music and dancing, this was in the show lounge from 5-6 pm.

 

I hope that was what you were looking for but if not please ask me to clarify anything :)

[TakeMeAway1001]

Today we woke up to another beautiful day, the sun was shining and we were looking forward to our island tour with Rose & Jim. We had read about this couple on the boards and after emailing them I knew I wanted to use them.

 

The tour was an island tour that ended at Cockleshell Beach, the tour was $48 per person but if you had more than two people it was $41 and included the fee to Brimstone Fortress. We found two other people from our Roll Call who wanted to join us so we were happy to get the discounted price, there was also another couple from another Carnival ship that was supposed to join us but no showed which really stinks since not only were Rose & Jim out the money but we had to wait in the heat for them for quite a while. Common courtesy would have been to at least come off the ship and let them know you were canceling instead of blowing them off but some people are rude!

 

A picture when we arrived in St Kitts

 

 

Jim waiting for us with his sign

 

The van we toured in

We waited a really long time for the no shows and I know Jim really was worried so Thenford Grey (another popular tour guide) agreed to watch for the missing guests and to call him or Rose if they showed up.

Both Rose & Jim were super nice and Rose took a group who was doing a tour and shopping and we went with Jim, Jim was super knowledgeable and really fun to tour with. We saw all sort of local sights like schools/churches/Sugar Cane fields/Jim's old neighborhood and the drive along the coast was beautiful. We made several stops along the way to take pictures and I found St Kitts to be very beautiful and the people were very friendly. This is the tour as listed on their website...

 

Island Tour & Cockleshell Beach

One of our most popular tours on St Kitts is the Full Island Tour. This starts at your Cruise ship or your hotel and includes a tour of Basseterre, Romney Manor (Batik Factory) Brimstone Hill Fortress*, Gibbons Hill (Caribbean & Atlantic) & the spectacular Black Rocks. The tour will then continue onto Cockleshell Beach, this will allow for a scenic drive over the Peninsula & swim in the crystal clear waters. This will also provide the perfect opportunity to relax and soak up some Sun before we take you back to your cruise ship or hotel. The indicative costs for this tour is US $48-00* per person. - Discounts given for parties larger than two!

 

 

[CruiserRose]

They still have a Past Guest Party however we didn't attend, I heard it was very crowded and difficult to get a drink so I don't think we missed much.

 

Hey Kristen, gonna agree with ya here.....

We went to past guest party. it was very crowded. Not enough waiters with drinks. Waiters couldnt even get to our seats. they would come into the theater and people would rush them to get drinks. we got one drink during the party and one on our way out the door.

[TakeMeAway1001]

While driving I took some pictures~

 

 

 

 

 

Jim explained that St Kitts has no public welfare system in place and that you either work or you get nothing and he said it works well for the island. People seem to take a lot of pride in their property for the most part and that was nice to see. During our drive lots of people were having cookouts and most everyone waved as we drove by or yelled hi to Jim, he was very well known.

[TakeMeAway1001]

I apologize, I took a lot of pictures while we were in St Kitts~

 

 

 

 

 

I thought the island was so lush and every where I turned I saw another beautiful sight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

The Batik Factory was really neat and the grounds were beautiful, the store inside has some really nice stuff and I bought a clutch and an eyeglass case. I think these were the only things I bought on this cruise, lucky for DH.

 

The drive into the Batik Factory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

More pictures of the Batik Factory...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

The Brimstone Hill Fortress was really nice and the views were breathtaking.

It rained while were there but we got to see this amazing rainbow afterward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grandmallie]

I have sat here and devoured these posts, thank you so very much:D

we will be taking the Miracle 11/27/10 for a 50th birthday cruise(mine)

its so wonderful to see all the pics, and read your reviews of everything,we have been to St Marteen, and St Lucia before , but this gives me a different perspective. thank you again!!!!

[TakeMeAway1001]

 

 

 

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

As you can see Brimstone was beautiful, hence all the pics~

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite pictures

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

After this we did some more sightseeing, St Kitts is truly a beautiful island~

 

 

 

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

I have sat here and devoured these posts, thank you so very much:D

we will be taking the Miracle 11/27/10 for a 50th birthday cruise(mine)

its so wonderful to see all the pics, and read your reviews of everything,we have been to St Marteen, and St Lucia before , but this gives me a different perspective. thank you again!!!!

 

 

I am glad you are enjoying it, it's so hard to believe we were there just over a week ago :)

[TakeMeAway1001]

After we finished the sightseeing we ended up on Cockleshell Beach where once again it began to rain, actually it poured out

There weren't any loungers left so we got a small table with an umbrella which worked out good since we were all pretty hungry by this time. We ordered some lunch and a few frozen drinks from the menu, lunch for two with two drinks each was $54 and we both got a sandwich

 

 

 

The food was good but I have to say I was a tad grossed out when I looked on the ground by my chair and saw a set of teeth/jaw bone and all, yuck!

 

DH guessed it belonged to a dog, I was simply grossed out! After we finished eating the others took a dip but I decided to stay with our stuff since it was pretty busy there and I didn't want to leave it unattended. This is the beach that has the huge pig living on it and while I was sipping my drink I spotted a little pink piglet rummaging through the sand but no sign of Wilbur the huge pig.

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

I also saw a little local girl carrying a puppy that was only a few weeks old, I felt sorry for it since it was hot out and it looked way to young to be away from it's Mom but DH said not to stress about it and thankfully we didn't see the puppy again so I was able to stop stressing.

 

I ended up spotting Wilbur out of the corner of my eye and got up to take his picture, he is absolutely huge! He tipped over a trashcan and started eating everything inside, someone came by to take it away and he was not happy.

 

There were other farm animals in cages which I thought was a tad odd and the smell was gross but everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

 

There was also a guy with a baby monkey on his shoulder but if you wanted a picture you had to pay him so I skipped it since I truly felt bad for the monkey, he looked petrified.

 

 

The group swam for about an hour and I sat and enjoyed my drinks and before you knew it 2:30 was there and Jim was waiting out front for us, we took the ride back to the ship and settled up with Jim.

 

 

This was a fantastic tour and Jim truly enjoys what he does and it shows, the island was beautiful and if we were to visit St Kitts in the future I would definitely use them again. I loved that we had a small group of four and had very personalized service and the price was very reasonable.

 

 

Here are some pictures as we got back into the port area

 

Covered shopping area

 

 

Sailaway~

 

Once we were back on the ship we showered and decided that we were going to get a massage with our Bingo winnings, however the only time they could do it was at 515pm so we would miss the Past Guest Party, we pondered and then decided to have the massage and it was a great choice! In the Capers today was the Top 2 Toe massage for $129 each/ 75 minutes and completely worth it. We both came out of the spa feeling like jello. There were some recommendations but no real sales pitch like in the past.DH however came out with a price list of things that his masseuse recommended for him.

 

Tonight was also the beginning of the Halloween Festivities and we wanted to be around to see the costume walk which was fun. Sadly the majority of my pictures didn't come out due to issues with the lighting and/or flash but there are a few that did. I am at my picture limit here so I will post them in the next post.

 

[TakeMeAway1001]

Halloween Pictures~

 

 

 

 

 

Malcolm the Cruise Director on the right

[TakeMeAway1001]

After the parade of costumes we made our way to the show lounge where they were having guest judging followed by a comedian Will Marfori. Will has Cerebal Palsy and incorporates that into his show, he was a nice guy and on our flight home I sat next to him. It was nice to hear his story and what his experience working with Carnival has been, if you read this Will best of luck to you in the future. Tonight they also did a silent film skit which I didn't care for too much and when the show was over I was more than ready for bed since it had been a long day.

 

Capers

 

I am off for a while, each installment takes me about two hours and I really need to get some stuff ready for work tomorrow. Have a great evening everyone!

[TakeMeAway1001]

I'm only halfway through your review and I am loving it! Our wedding is on the Miracle next July! I'm so psyched..so is DF..lol. Thanks for the informative review and pics.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, I am glad you are enjoying the review :)

[TakeMeAway1001]

Hey Kristen, gonna agree with ya here.....

We went to past guest party. it was very crowded. Not enough waiters with drinks. Waiters couldnt even get to our seats. they would come into the theater and people would rush them to get drinks. we got one drink during the party and one on our way out the door.

 

I am glad you confirmed it, Jay really wanted to go and I would have been a bit more agreeable if we didn't have that wonderful cocktail party on Weds. I definitely drank my fair share that night :)

[travelwitch23]

We leave on nov 12 on the miracle for the panama, belize, costa rica cruise. Very excited :D Thanks for taking all of your time posting!

I really appreciate it.

 

kim

[law638]

Enjoying your review very much. Could you tell us what night was the second formal night? We also leave on 11/12/09.