My first review of my first cruise Miracle Aug 27

[Rummieq]

Hello all! Just got back today from my first cruise! I always had said that cruises weren't for me. So here we go!

 

I orginally booked in March but have been lurching on Cruise Critic since January! I bought the books and everything!

 

My family Dh 41, myself 36, Dd 13, and Ds 8. All newbies, been to the Carribean myself but not everyone else!

 

Day 1, Left Queens at 1230 arrived in the city at 1pm, on the boat by 130-ish. VERY impressed!!!! Made our way up to the Lido Deck for my first DOD, Funship special. The pool looked small but I had expected that. Its actually perfect size for the amount of deck chairs. If there are no more chairs, go to the other pool!

 

The room was ready but the luggage didnt arrive till about 5pm. Not bad!

We booked an 8k extended balcony, 8th deck. I am personally a balcony snob. If you can.... always try for one... so worth it. We spend time in the room, especially with 4 people, I need some space!!! We had 3 closets, one with 3 shelves, plenty of hangers. The desk also had 3 usable drawers, one was for the hair dryer. Bathroom had plenty of space for the toiletries on the shelves. I had no need for the over the door shoe organizer at all! Also under the sofa/bed were 2 drawers. I even brought the power strip, which we didn't use.

 

Time for the Camp Carnival and Circle C Meet and Greet! Finding Circle C was horrible. Everyone was going crazy trying to find it. It is behind The Phantom Theatre so you have to go the Deck 5 and take the stairs down by Camp Carnival or go to Deck 3 by Gatsby Garden and take the stairs up! No signs! Uggg!

 

Day 2- Day at sea. Morning consisted of breakfast at the buffet and Dh hitting the gym. Got to the pool around 9am, lots of chairs available! Dd and Ds went to their clubs. My 8 yr old hated it but the 13yr old loved. Camp Carnival was too babyish for him and I saw alot of boys his age at the pools with us so maybe he wasn't the only one? Word to the wise... walkee talkees are truly necessary but they should be programed before you leave otherwise you are hearing all of the other parents screaming at their kids at 11pm!

 

Will post more later!

[Rirruto]

I am from Queens too and sailing the Miracle on the 28th!

[Rummieq]

Rirruto we took Dial 7's 65 each way, very quick !!

 

Food

Ok back to the review, we had Anytime dining, loved it we only had to wait 15 min once because we had dinner with some friends we met so there were six of us. We got a pager and waited by the bar. We only ate in the dining room 3x. They had almost everything at the buffet except for the steak and seafood.

We also had Nick and Nora's one night. Recommendation, it is worth the 30 a head plus tip but try to book it for night 1 or 2. By night 4 or 5 you are so full of all of the food you have consumed you really can't enjoy it!

All of the reviews raved about the BLT from room service. Tried it, I guess no one has ever had a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich? Good, yes but its just a BLT. The Reuben and the Pastrami were very good. Pizza tasted like Freshetta but a little better. Pumpkin soup was yummy! Chocolate melting cake, ehhh, we frequent Applebees! Dh liked the fruit soups. The coffee was HORRIBLE!!!!!!! The cappucino in the dining room was even worse! I was scared to try it at Nick and Nora's but was surprised it was good. The last day they had a Chocolate bar!!! Yummy!!!

[Name Of The Game]

I've often wondered what could be so special about a BLT myself. :confused:

[CruisefromNY]

You left the ship early?

[Rummieq]

Ports

Gran Turk was great, did half the day at the beach and half at Margharitaville getting ripped at $10 a pop but they were strong!

Half Moon was really nice. Did the clamshell mostly for a meeting spot. They have 3 trampoline/slides in the water. My DH was hoisting everyone up!! I don't think the Cabanas were worth it unless you were with someone who had no desire to go in the water. Once you get in, its paradise!

Yes the Captain did cancel the Nassau port because of Earl. We had to turn around to make it to New York before Earl. Everyone got a 15% discount towrds a future cruise and port taxes returned. Big deal like 10 a head, but I would rather go home than stay in rough seas!

We were really looking forward to the Atlantis. We waited to buy souveniers because we thought Nassau would have a larger choice. We were stuck buying them in the 2 gift shops on board at high prices!! Thank goodness we booked the excursions through the cruise. We received a full refund, no hassles, no problems. Some people tried to save money by booking a room or separate with another operator and lost their money. Sometimes your get what you paid for!

 

On the way back the seas were kinda rough! And of course the lower you are the worse it feels (another good reason for a high floor). They had to cancel the show. But funny how people we still dropping off the kids at the Camp! HELLO!!!!! We walked by and saw maintence cleaning up after the children.

[Rummieq]

We were given the option once back to New York to stay on the boat or leave. Most people did leave. My sign and sail account was getting too high already and I wasn't even getting drunk!!!

[yogimax]

Yeah Queens! Subway to the ship on Monday!

[CruisefromNY]

We were given the option once back to New York to stay on the boat or leave. Most people did leave. My sign and sail account was getting too high already and I wasn't even getting drunk!!!

I probably would have done the same thing:p

[Dave_&_Lisa]

We are in an 8K in the Miracle in January.....what was your cabin # and did you like it? Was there a lot of noise from the Lido deck above?

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and sorry it got cut short!

[cruisetexas]

Most tour operators will refund your money if your ship doesn't come into port.

 

Also, I thought you felt more movement if you were higher up on the ship, not lower?

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise....nothing like a break before school starts!

[hunniebee724]

Most tour operators will refund your money if your ship doesn't come into port.

 

Also, I thought you felt more movement if you were higher up on the ship, not lower?

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise....nothing like a break before school starts!

 

I thought that was the case too, but we were just off the Miracle on the 27th and felt more movement in the MDR and Phantom Theater than the higher decks.

[jaixrx]

My 8 yr old son didn't care for camp either. The first day he was excited to go because they were going to "build a volcano". He came back with a piece of construction paper with a volcano drawn on it :o. Needless to say there was plenty of other things to keep him occupied on the ship!

[Rummieq]

We are in an 8K in the Miracle in January.....what was your cabin # and did you like it? Was there a lot of noise from the Lido deck above?

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and sorry it got cut short!

 

8177 was great, yes you heard them moving the chairs in the morning and the bass from the music in the afternoon. But it was the best, one flight up for food and drinks one flight down for laundry. We usually don't sweat the small stuff!

[Rummieq]

Parents please keep an eye on your teenagers! Circle C and above does not babysit. The kids use it as a meeting up place then wander around the ship. Some kids were caught having sex by the stairs at night. This is a family vacation! You should spend it with your family. Yes my Dd left and hung out with her friends that she met for small pockets of time. The two that got caught were also in her age group and just met! When you come back from vacation and say wow I never saw my teenager, just leave them at home then.

[Rummieq]

I dont want anyone to think that anything was wrong. I had a wonderful time! So did my family! The ship was great and I am liking the cruising world. I will be sailing again! To start a vacation withing 45 min of leaving house. Traveling to beautiful locations while being pampered all the way. Who wouldn't love it!

[Dave_&_Lisa]

8177 was great, yes you heard them moving the chairs in the morning and the bass from the music in the afternoon. But it was the best, one flight up for food and drinks one flight down for laundry. We usually don't sweat the small stuff!

 

 

Thanks for the info......sounds good to me!!

[I Luv Crusin]

Ports

 

On the way back the seas were kinda rough! And of course the lower you are the worse it feels (another good reason for a high floor). They had to cancel the show. But funny how people we still dropping off the kids at the Camp! HELLO!!!!! We walked by and saw maintence cleaning up after the children.

 

Hmm, actually it should be more stable the lower you are. On one of my cruises water was sloshing out of the pools but we were on the lowest passenger deck in an inside cabin and had no idea that the ship was rocking that much!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your first cruise!

[Crusin6]

Parents please keep an eye on your teenagers! Circle C and above does not babysit. The kids use it as a meeting up place then wander around the ship. Some kids were caught having sex by the stairs at night. This is a family vacation! You should spend it with your family. Yes my Dd left and hung out with her friends that she met for small pockets of time. The two that got caught were also in her age group and just met! When you come back from vacation and say wow I never saw my teenager, just leave them at home then.

here's another good reason to let your kids have a little freedom on the ship....because it is their vacation too and you have to cut the umbilical cord eventually....and look at all the nice kids they can meet on the ship.:rolleyes:

[Crusin6]

Parents please keep an eye on your teenagers! Circle C and above does not babysit. The kids use it as a meeting up place then wander around the ship. Some kids were caught having sex by the stairs at night. This is a family vacation! You should spend it with your family. Yes my Dd left and hung out with her friends that she met for small pockets of time. The two that got caught were also in her age group and just met! When you come back from vacation and say wow I never saw my teenager, just leave them at home then.

agree 100%