LIVE from my recliner - MIRACLE review

[Crusin Karen]

Love your review. We were on the Miracle this past May for the 2nd time. We did the Nassau, GT and HMC itin and just loved it. Booked the same cruise and same cabin for NEXT May! :D

[VickiD59]

Three going out... two coming back. The first day or so after embarking some in the group thought three sea days were going to be too many. Three?? Why three??? Ummmm, because no one wanted to fly... remember??? :rolleyes:

After the first full day at sea no one cared anymore. We setted into the gentle (and at times, not so gentle) rhythm of the waves. As projected it was windy that first day. When standing on the balcony or the Sun deck you really had to hold onto your belongings like hats and sunglasses. The seas were a little rough and it was a new adventure in walking. Up and down... left and right... back and forth. There was only one time during that first day where I felt a tad queasy, but only for a moment; no dramamine necessary.

 

Our balcony overlooked the lifeboats. I know I've mentioned it before, but when we booked this trip we were under the assumption (from the TA) that our "extended" balconies were just that... extended, as in, because they were deeper than a traditional balcony they were on the bump-out of the ship and extended out further. Nope. It ended up not making a bit of difference, but I thought I'd toss that one out there. Mid-ship extended balconies on the Spirit class ships do NOT extended further than the other regular balconies. In fact the regular balcony rooms are the ones that are on the bump-out. Ok.. I got that out of my system finally. It bugged me initially.. as you can tell... but I'm over it now... really... I am :p

 

First days sunset... ahhhhh sea days :)

[VickiD59]

Afternoon of first day I won 125.00 on the Wheel of Fortune 1.00 slot machine on an initial 20.00 bet. I gave some back, won some back, and ultimately came out a winner of about 95.00. I'd win alittle more as the week went on. I'd always play with 20.00 and upload my winnings (if I was lucky enough to have any) on my S&S card. I never played with the winnings on the card, only cash, which then allowed me to cash in 218.00 the last day.

That evening my youngest son Matt won 250.00 on one of the Lucky 7 machines. Woohoo.. liquid gold.

Second day at sea while we were on the Sun deck I hear my oldest son Chris's booming voice declaring something about being on a free cruise. He had just come from the casino where he won 2500.00 :eek: on a slot machine. He lost 20.00 and was ready to walk away, but decided to invest 10.00 more and on the first spin.... BIG woohoo!

Of course everyone wanted to rush to the casino now.. 3 winners in a row.. all from my immediate family and the winnings were increasing. Ehhhhh, it wasn't to be. Small winnings here and there, but it was never the same after that. My philosophy about gambling is, bet only what you are prepared to lose. Thankfully Chris was smart and didn't give any money back to the casino. Senor Frogs is another story :p

[RnBluvher]

hey brewster and put valley, carmel here and we leave in 37 days!

 

 

Hey Carmel, enjoy your cruise! I have 29 more days!!!:D

[scdemers]

Loving your review. My family is booked for the Miracle in September. We are going the Bahamas route. Although I agree with you that St. Thomas and Magen's Bay are beautiful (been there a couple of time previously) it's too bad you didn't venture away from the dock in San Juan into Old San Juan. It is quite nice and the views from the forts are amazing. We have sailed out of San Juan a couple of times and were able to spend a little time there. Just thought I'd mention that for others reading this. Thanks for all the fun reading.

 

Susan

[Dave_&_Lisa]

Love your review and pics! Question........were there any negative aspects to the extended balcony? We have booked one for January. Thanks again for the review!

[smeck]

Afternoon of first day I won 125.00 on the Wheel of Fortune 1.00 slot machine on an initial 20.00 bet. I gave some back, won some back, and ultimately came out a winner of about 95.00. I'd win alittle more as the week went on. I'd always play with 20.00 and upload my winnings (if I was lucky enough to have any) on my S&S card. I never played with the winnings on the card, only cash, which then allowed me to cash in 218.00 the last day.

That evening my youngest son Matt won 250.00 on one of the Lucky 7 machines. Woohoo.. liquid gold.

Second day at sea while we were on the Sun deck I hear my oldest son Chris's booming voice declaring something about being on a free cruise. He had just come from the casino where he won 2500.00 :eek: on a slot machine. He lost 20.00 and was ready to walk away, but decided to invest 10.00 more and on the first spin.... BIG woohoo!

Of course everyone wanted to rush to the casino now.. 3 winners in a row.. all from my immediate family and the winnings were increasing. Ehhhhh, it wasn't to be. Small winnings here and there, but it was never the same after that. My philosophy about gambling is, bet only what you are prepared to lose. Thankfully Chris was smart and didn't give any money back to the casino. Senor Frogs is another story :p

I'm glad someone I know won some of my contributions!!!

[poptart]

We usually went into Frankie and Johnnie's Lounge at night to see them after dinner and the show. On the last night I lead a conga-line.. and unfortunately we didn't have the camera ;)

 

 

 

Hey! that's my job! :D:eek::D

 

I'm loving this review...hope you get some more recliner time this weekend to do some more!!

[VickiD59]

Love your review and pics! Question........were there any negative aspects to the extended balcony? We have booked one for January. Thanks again for the review!

No negatives whatsoever... we picked them because we thought we'd open up all the dividers and have a really big deck. But as it turned out, for whatever reason, they never were opened. I spent some time out there reading, and waiting for sunsets. But usually when I sat out there to read it was just a matter of time before I was hypnotized by the rocking motion and was ready for a nap. The guys would hang out there while we wives were getting ready for dinner-gave alittle more elbow room :p especially with the blowdryer in the draw in the room and not the bathroom.

[VickiD59]

Loving your review. My family is booked for the Miracle in September. We are going the Bahamas route. Although I agree with you that St. Thomas and Magen's Bay are beautiful (been there a couple of time previously) it's too bad you didn't venture away from the dock in San Juan into Old San Juan. It is quite nice and the views from the forts are amazing. We have sailed out of San Juan a couple of times and were able to spend a little time there. Just thought I'd mention that for others reading this. Thanks for all the fun reading.

 

Susan

I keep mistakenly referring to it as San Juan when in fact it was Old San Juan. I do have some pics of the tiny little streets and colorful buildings. It was late in the day when we picked a direction to walk. and... it had just rained and continued to drizzle for a bit as we walked along. Hot, sweaty, rainy with nothing to really see but trashy t'shirt shops mixed in with tiny jewelry stores, and we were interested in neither. Maybe we picked a wrong direction to walk; I'm sure the weather put us in a mood as well . Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. :(

[bash73]

You enjoy RNBluvher, we'll be passing each other upon your return and our arrival...have a great time! We'll compare when we get back!

[bash73]

Vicki, Your review is AWESOME!!!!! I get more and more excited (which I didn't think was possible) each time I read something new.

[scdemers]

I keep mistakenly referring to it as San Juan when in fact it was Old San Juan. I do have some pics of the tiny little streets and colorful buildings. It was late in the day when we picked a direction to walk. and... it had just rained and continued to drizzle for a bit as we walked along. Hot, sweaty, rainy with nothing to really see but trashy t'shirt shops mixed in with tiny jewelry stores, and we were interested in neither. Maybe we picked a wrong direction to walk; I'm sure the weather put us in a mood as well . Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. :(

 

Vicki, you like what you like. I was just offering my opinion. I thought maybe you hadn't ventured past the immediate area of the port and may have missed out but it appears you did. Just doesn't remind me of the Bronx. ha ha

[barbc61719]

Thanks for your review. We will be on the Miracle out of Fr. Lauderdale in March 2011. Can't wait. Love the pics of the ship. Keep them coming.

[VickiD59]

Vicki, you like what you like. I was just offering my opinion. I thought maybe you hadn't ventured past the immediate area of the port and may have missed out but it appears you did. Just doesn't remind me of the Bronx. ha ha

I used my comparism to the Bronx only as in.. if someone had never been to NY before, and the Bronx was where the ship docked and you walked off the ship and thought... hmmm, this is NY.. I would expect them to be disappointed. 'Nuf said ;)

[VickiD59]

Vicki, Your review is AWESOME!!!!! I get more and more excited (which I didn't think was possible) each time I read something new.

I wish I was coming with ya Bash.. you'll love the ship and the shows. We definately caught the cruise bug. The conversations on the car ride home were all about WHEN CAN WE DO IT AGAIN?? :cool:

[spacewoman]

Great review. We were just on back in September same itinerary( and the year before). We always choose this one because we never liked Nassau (same said, my opinion). I have customers who are from Puerto Rico, they really don't have much good to say about it. This time we come in to port and see ambulances. We're like oh no somebody on board must be really sick. Turns out there was a drug-related shooting minutes before we arrived:eek::eek:. We went up and down some of the shopping areas, stopped at Don Q's for free rum samples, picked up some beer and other goodies to bring back on (security told us we could bring 1 six pack each back on), the guys headed to the Sheridan to gamble while the rest of us brought the shopping stuff back. I couldn't reach hubby on cell phone so ventured out to get him, but I stayed with folks from the ship. Lots of beggars, lots of strangers approaching you. I, personally, do not like that.

 

On the good side of this however ----- there's many taxi drivers there and one guy named Hillbilly took us all around Old San Juan for something like $10 a piece. We were gone maybe 45 minutes. He stopped at various locations so we could take pictures, etc. We really enjoyed the trip with him. He told us what areas to be wary of, good advice and he was really a great tour guide.

 

Prior cruise to Grand Turk had family members tell us of the difficulties with rocks, etc. in the ocean there right off the beach. Carnival used to stop at Tortolla and I'd say the beaches there are better than Grand Turk.

 

The partitions on the balcony (compared to other ships) are a pain. We, also, had to go to pursers desk and request they be opened. Last sea day they closed the things at 3 p.m. That was a bummer with having 3 cabins together. But----- at least ours got opened. I'm truly sorry yours didn't. I don't understand what they were thinking when they designed the Spirit class ships on that one. They have to be latched by maintenance. Other ships we've done our cabin steward was able to open.

 

Your review instantly took me back to each and every day on board. Thank you.

 

Don't be afraid to go just to Bermuda either. That was our very first cruise and the two days there were simply marvelous. Unlike other islands they have a ZERO tolerance for crime and it is very clean and very safe to walk around. If you loved Megan's bay, you'll love the beaches in Bermuda even more

[vfangue]

Love your review --- we leave on Sunday on the Conquest out of Galvestons for the same reason your family sailed from NY. It's close to home!

 

Next time, try a Western Carribean itinerary. Grand Cayman is beautiful, Jamaica is OK, and Cozumel has a Senor Frogs!

[cv322]

I'm enjoying your review...thanks. We did the Grand Turk, HMC, Nassau itinerary in April and loved it...never having been to HMC before.

 

While at Grand Turk we spent the day (half-day actually ;)) at Margaritaville...but friends of ours went to the beach. If, at the end of the pier, you turn right rather than left there's no rocks going into the ocean. That's what they said.

 

I'm sorry that you were disappointed with Old San Juan. The first time we were there we toured El Morro, had dinner and mojitos (mortar & pestle prepared!) at El Convento, and then spent some time at Senor Frogs. The 2nd time we didn't get off the ship because there was torrential rain.

 

The last time we were there we had the best time...walked up the hill to the right and had the most fabulous dinner (AND excellent martinis!) at The Parrot Club. This restaurant was classicly elegant, old world latin-caribbean. Then we strolled back down the hill passing many artsy-type vendors, bands playing...just a fabulous night.

 

Keep the review coming!

[VickiD59]

Peeking in from work again. Thanks for the encouragement and I'm glad you're enjoying my first try at a review. I hope we have many more opportunities to cruise. I'm in awe of posters here on CC that have 3 or more pending cruises all lined up in their signature. We should all be so lucky ;). There are definately a few things I learned along the way so when we plan the next one I'll definately be better prepared. I don't think using a TA was necessary. Nice woman but she didn't do anything for us that we couldn't have done for ourselves. Sailing out of NYC was great, but.. the trade off is alot of sea days going out. Sailing from FL gives more ports and slightly cheaper fare, but you have to add airfare. Some people look down at Carnival.. I liked it. We had alot of age groups to satisfy and everyone truly, truly had a great time.

Move to come later :)

[HB Cruiser]

Vicki

 

I personally am a RCCL fan and cruiser (please don't bash me, it is her review) and am thoroughly enjoying you review. No particular reason other than it is nice to read a review as detailed as yours comming from a first time cruiser. Kind of reliving our first cruise through you.

 

THANKS

 

Tim

[VickiD59]

In no particular order, just random things that popped into my head while trying to decide where to continue.

Horatios (food court/buffet): VERY slippery tiled floor. Mostly due from folks walking in from the pool area with wet shoes, or carrying drinks as the boat sways and you spill a few drops (guilty), and toss in some humidity and you are slip slidin away. Rubber soled shoes seemed to be the worst. Be careful, and step lightly :eek:

Casino: Won consistently in the morning hours, after breakfast, when there was hardly anyone in there. And when I say won.. a few dollars here and there. I only play the 1.00 Wheel of Fortune machine (with a max bet of 3.00). Its the slot machine I will always search out in any casino. Also... the casino is VERY SMOKEY! My niece called it Cigarette City lol. Morning hours weren't so bad, but later in the evening... choke.

Formal Photos: Ours came out very nice. At first I felt fooliish standing there while people wandered by, looking. Never had a photo of the four of us before (other than family candids when the kids were young), glad we did it :)

Teenagers: I'll speak first hand on this topic. My niece's girls are 13 and 16. Because of the cut-off age for the teen clubs, they could not stay together. Neither one would go without the other, so therefore they didn't go at all. They met other teens throughout the week, so socializing wasn't the issue. Whether parents hadn't signed their kids up for a social clubs, or perhaps the teens just didn't want to go alone (like my nieces) or maybe not at all... but this resulted in clusters of teens everywhere. I felt like I was at the mall on a Saturday afternoon, minus the security guards to move them along. Maybe I noticed it more because my nieces were part of the pack. Don't know what the solution would be.. maybe reevaluate the age ranges? I dunno.

Raven Library: A nice lil' quiet nook if you want to get away from the Lido.

Maitre'D: I was alittle surprised to find a envelope delivered to our cabin just prior to our last evenings dinner, which was to be used specifically for his tip. Tip? Huh? All he ever did was interupt our dinner conversation with a loud, Helllooooooooooooooooo, over the PA system. Or he'd repeat his mantra of, "what happens on the ship... stays on the ship". We never saw him.. he did nothing personally for us.. it was not necessary to tip him.. period. I'm sure someone out there has had a Maitre'D who deserved gratuities and much more.. that's wonderful. This was not one of those times... just sayin.

Hand Dryers in the bathrooms HOLY COW these are powerful. They're so strong you can see the air move the skin on the tops of your hands! Cool :cool:

[VickiD59]

How would ya like this guy staring at ya while you ate? I was just so wrong.... so very, very wrong :eek:

 

 

I could barely even eat my Warm Chocolate Melting Cake... geeeeeez :rolleyes:

[DeeT]

Love your review! We'll be on the Miracle in 27 days and I can't wait! Our kids are 11 and 13 and will therefore be separated in the kids clubs so not sure how that will work out, like you were saying with your nieces not being together. Oh well, not too worried, they may just go about together or hang with us. Did your nieces use walkie talkies to stay in touch with parents? (sorry if you mentioned that previously).

[Biffer1997]

Enjoying your review! Trying to decide between Miracle and Liberty next summer, so I am trying to read reviews for both.