Carnival Miracle Review - May 6 -14 - Grand Turk, HMC and Nassau

[santacap]

Thought I'd try and get this up as long as the memories are still vivid, as this was one of our favorite cruises on a new favorite ship. We have previously sailed on the Valor x 3 and the Liberty x 1 so the Miracle was a new layout to learn but we were very pleased with the layout and how it suited us.

 

Sailing with us was myself, my wife and our son who is 22 months old. We travelled with my mother and her bf, and a group of friends that totalled 8 more people to our group. We booked about a year ago and counted down the days through a long winter in Toronto and the day finally approached.

 

4 of us flew into NYC the day before embarkation to see a little of the city and get settled into vacation mode.

 

The 3 of us were in room 6143, on the starboard side forward. We opened up the dividers between us and my mother and it was awesome to have a little larger balcony, especially with nap times etc. Our room stewards were excellent in accomodating moving the crib from room to room depending on the night and our requests.

 

I guess sticking with the theme of some of my other reviews, I'll talk about the ship and sea days first.

 

Ship

 

As I mentioned above, we loved the layout of this ship. What struck me the most was the different little hideaways to just sit back and feel like you had the ship to yourself. The Gatsby's garden was very nice to read, the lounges were nice and spread out and all in all the fact there were no dead ends was very nice.

 

I would say if there was one 'i wish they would have' it would be to find a better location for Camp Carnival. While Josh is too young, I did take him down one sea day (open from 8 - 10 AM on sea days for under 2 drop ins) and found it a little difficult to find.

 

Few pics...

 

Jeeves Lounge... this one my favorite place with my favorite bartender Percy

 

 

 

[golfadj]

Have been on the Miracle 3x w ith a 4th coming up in Sept. Gatsby garden nice place to get away.

 

Look forward to the rest of your review.

[santacap]

New York City

 

as I mentioned before, we flew into NYC a day early. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Chelsea on W28th and 6th Ave. We found this location to be perfect, it was a nice walk to Times Square, plenty of places to eat, and lots to see. The room was very reasonable for NYC (about 250 for a King room), while small in overall size the room was very well laid out, and was similar to anything found in NYC for that price. We would definitely stay there again if we needed a place.

 

We flew into LaGuardia at about 1:30 and the 30 dollar cab ride to the hotel later we decided to heard up to Times Square to see what Josh would think of all the lights, it was a 15 minute walk give or take with the little legs. We grabbed a bite to eat at a diner, which was overpriced (but what in NYC isnt, especially in Times Square). My wife hadnt seen NYC before so we hopped on a tour bus for 55 bucks (my disappointment as they kind of misled us) but the tour was fun just to see the city, we didnt the downtown loop and while the tour guide was pretty boring, it was fun to look around and see all the architecture.

 

After the tour we met up with friends of mine for a walk through Central Park... Josh having not had his usual nap cut this visit short with a meltdown but that was OK we were off to see the Miracle tomorrow.

 

Few NYC pics

 

 

 

 

 

[NJsharon]

Thanks & looking forward to the rest of your review!

[kparc]

:cool:We are WAITING & WAITING for Carnival to post the Miracle Cruise Dates for the Summer of 2012!:confused:

 

Thanks for the review.

[santacap]

I'm going to lump in all the sea days into one post as they were consistent for us. The activities gave plenty to choose from but with our little guy the only one we really did participate in was build a bear which for 23 bucks was still fun to do with him, and he loves his kitty.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived to the port at about 11:30 AM via taxi, and were greeted with the porter who explained the process from NY port, we gave him a tip for our bags and his services and we were off to the terminal where we were greeted with a very small line through security. The next lines were divided by cabin # to keep the process moving and IMO this worked to a tee.

 

After the check in was complete we were given a zone 7 tag and were on the ship within 40 minutes (i honestly dont know but that is a fair guess). We headed up to the lido deck to explore and walk about and get a lay of the land.

 

Our room were ready by 1:30 and Malcolm the cruise director kept us abreast of the time throughout, and even in the main terminal of what time we could go in. With our room on the right side to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island we decided to stay in our room to watch from the comforts of our 'home for a week'. It was quite the site to see both, and enjoyed that part thoroughly.

 

We then headed down to meet our waiters in the Bacchus Lounge, Wayan and Jose. I cannot say enough good things and have already submitted by survey to say as much. They treated our entire group amazing and had Josh's dinner before our appetizers to keep him entertained. They had his jello or desert out by main course and were always on top of filling up his sippy cup with whatever juice we needed. They were a big part of what made our cruise so memorable.

 

The first sea day was a little rough and cool so most activities were moved inside (kind of surprised they had the hairy chest on the first day, but whatever, I wasnt a contestant), just maybe move it back to the second day at sea when we are around Florida.

 

I think one thing that stood out for me that I hadnt seen before was on the way to the Bacchus Room there was Jeeves lounge where you could sit down and enjoy the brass band playing, and have a drink. Then on the way out they were playing for the late dinner and we got the best of both worlds. Lots of fun, and they were amazing.

 

Josh loved swimming in the kids pool up on 11, and again this was a great thing. It was away from the 3 main pool areas and enclosed, with a shade covering the pool for the kids and parents. The outside was covered with a sof flooring for any spills, and this was a place to take the kids to entertain each other and not bother any other guests.

 

I really can't comment on the other pool areas as we didnt use them, but they looked spaced out well enough to add to the layout of the ship that we enjoyed. Most of our other time was spent in the aft area.

 

The last sea day was very rough, and saw plenty of sea sickness. Sure it had nothing to do with vacation being almost over:D

 

Couple pics from sea days / dinners

 

First DOD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kparc]

Santacap: "We opened up the dividers between us and my mother and it was awesome to have a little larger balcony, especially with nap times etc."

 

 

Very interesting :cool: Lot's of posters said the Balcony Dividers don't open. Quess they do, at least for some rooms. :D Thanks!

[santacap]

Santacap: "We opened up the dividers between us and my mother and it was awesome to have a little larger balcony, especially with nap times etc."

 

 

Very interesting :cool: Lot's of posters said the Balcony Dividers don't open. Quess they do, at least for some rooms. :D Thanks!

 

They do, at our room at least, but call down to guest services early. We originally tried to do a super balcony with the room to our right as well, but were told they only have 30 of the clamps to hold the dividers open on the ship so they ran out.

[kparc]

They do, at our room at least, but call down to guest services early. We originally tried to do a super balcony with the room to our right as well, but were told they only have 30 of the clamps to hold the dividers open on the ship so they ran out.

 

 

THANKS!;) It'll be #1 on the to do list as soon as week get on board, IF, Carnival ever gets around to putting up the Miracle's Summer Schedule!:mad:

[santacap]

Grand Turk

if i had to rank the ports Grand Turk would be third. It just wasnt for 'us' and what we like overall... thats not to say there wasnt good parts, maybe next time we'd choose different things to do. Our day consisted of walking off the ship, and out to the road to rent a golf cart thinking we'd take some time to drive around before going to Jacks Shack, and in all honesty this is the part that soured me the most, the cost was 80 bucks for a cart and way overpriced IMO. We also had to fill it up upon return, not a big deal as it was 10 bucks, but still for what we got out of it, i wouldnt do it again. We drove the cart up the road for 40 minutes to the tip of the island, saw the lighthouse, then drove back. nothing really to see on the drive, so we wouldnt do that again,.

 

The highlite of the stop was Jacks Shack. If you don't want the big party of Margaritaville and want to sit back, have a few drinks and be treated amazing walk down to Jacks Shack and enjoy. The view was great, the water was great and the food served at lunch was good. I had the jerk chicken and it was amazing. Others had the hamburger, and IMO it was just something you could get anywhere.

 

The drinks were fairly pricey (about 7-9 bucks) but very enjoyable, and served promptly with a smile from Jack or his wife.

 

Jacks was the spot for us, and Josh played in the sand endlessly and it was a very layed back atmosphere with tunes from jacks ipod going.

 

 

 

 

[Cruiser_SG77]

Excellent review so far! Please keep it coming!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review and the pics, looks like a fun cruise.

 

Kirk

[Crusin Karen]

We were on the same cruise...I almost started crying when I saw Jeeves Lounge...you can't imagine how many times I walked down that "hallway." Oh, to be back there now...enjoying reading this!

[golfadj]

Great pics.

[santacap]

Excellent review so far! Please keep it coming!

 

Thanks, stupid work reality getting in the way :)

 

Thanks for the review and the pics, looks like a fun cruise.

 

Kirk

 

You're very welcome, I wanted to get one up since I had a hard time finding Miracle reviews when I was looking, it was excellent. If I wasn't married on the Valor, this one would be #1.

 

We were on the same cruise...I almost started crying when I saw Jeeves Lounge...you can't imagine how many times I walked down that "hallway." Oh, to be back there now...enjoying reading this!

 

Can you believe somebody else is sitting in Jeeves and sleeping in our rooms:mad: Hope you had a great time.

 

Great pics.

 

Appreciate that... need to find some more soon.

[santacap]

Half Moon Cay

having read the reviews and seeing the pictures, this was probably the port we were looking forward to the most, and one of the bigger reasons we booked. With that said, in the back of my mind there was a worry the island couldnt live up to the expectations I have built up for myself... and boy, I can put those worries to rest. This port was by far my favorite of the cruise.

 

We rented a cabana online, which was a smooth process and limited worry. When we boarded we made sure to get neighboring cabana's with our friends, we ended up getting #12 and 13 which for us was perfect. 5 minute walk to the BBQ and maybe 10 minutes to the ship... again time estimates with regular legs.

 

The spread prepared for us was excellent and the attendants stopping by to see how things were was very friendly.

 

I do feel bad for the employees, as this is a super long day for them, and our wait staff at dinner told us the details.

 

We also rented a sailboat for an hour, for the more than reasonable price of 50 bucks.

 

We didnt venture down to the kids park, Josh was more than happy to build sand castles, and float with us... or go in and out of the fresh water shower.

 

The cool mist fan was an amazing addition to cool down on a hot day.

 

Tendering was a breeze, especially with the tickets to get there on a priority. We met in the mad hatter room, and were on the tender within 15 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[santacap]

some more of our day in HMC

 

 

 

 

 

[jetsfan]

Just beautiful! We will be there in August. We rented a cabana and it looks so fun! Thanks for posting!

[santacap]

Just beautiful! We will be there in August. We rented a cabana and it looks so fun! Thanks for posting!

 

It was definitely worth every penny, for relaxation, and a place to escape from the sun, and to enjoy the scenery.

 

Definitely doing it every time we call on HMC, and wouldnt do it any other way... we're spoiled now :D

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[santacap]

Nassau

This was our 3rd time in Nassau, and my wife has always wanted to do the aquaventure at Atlantis, I always scoffed at the price for waterslides of around 150 pp. I'm not a cheap guy, but I definitely want value for what I spend, this time after hearing some things we went ahead and got tickets to the Aquaventure through Carnival that gave us transportation to and from Atlantis, and a lunch that we could choose from 4 or 5 different spots within Atlantis, all serving usual BBQ fare. Let me say this, the 150 bucks for the day we got out of if, was worth it and then some.

 

The water slides, each one of them was amazing and Josh loved the kids park, he didnt want to leave. The only problem, was the day was too short.

 

We got to Atlantis after boarding a bus with a crazy driver in about 10 minutes, and we were greeted by a guide who would walk us over to the water park and stop along the way a few times to point things out (landmarks to find your way etc)

 

We set up shop just outside the kids park, and were a short walk to the Mayan Temple (straight down through shark tank) and the lazy river. The 'Falls' and Abyss were a little further away but still reasonable.

 

The lazy river is named improperly... what lazy river has rapids and waterslides? lol... the water in the lazy river was bath warm by the end of the day, and it started off cool which honestly was a little uncomfortable for wanting to cool down.

 

The challenge slide was fun too with a clock on the bottom to race friends... set a personal record of 4.6 seconds on the last run :)

 

I wouldn't hesitate to do this again, as it was great for both kids and adults like us.

 

 

 

 

 

[santacap]

Guess I'll finish with some overall impressions.

 

Itinerary

 

We enjoyed our time at every port. The only drawback of sailing out of NYC was the 2 sets of back to back sea days, broken up by 3 straight port days. I felt very drained by Nassau, I kind of like the days to be split up to relax and recharge as we try to do alot with a little time.

 

But, you take the good with the bad, and the 45 minute flight and an 8 day cruise was a definite plus in my books.

 

Ship

 

as I mentioned before, we thoroughly enjoyed this class of ship, and I really liked the layout of all the public areas, with little hidden spots of the ship.

 

I also liked the lack of a stadium seating area found in the conquest class. It might be for some, but after seeing the Miracle, I can appreciate just a smooth flowing lido deck with 3 pools all offering different things.

 

We aren't one for anytime dining, but heard from a few people this was run very well by those who chose it.

 

Staff

 

From playing peek-a-boo with Josh to just remembering his name, people who weren't even responsible for anything with us were absolutely amazing with him. Then there were those like our steward and wait staff who went above and beyond what we expect out of those with us, they all touched our cruise in a certain way and made the trip what it was.

 

I spoke with Malcolm our cruise director, and he was very pleasant. he didnt bombard us with announcements, and from past experiences probably enjoyed him the most.

 

It's a shame he is leaving, but Greg Gallelo in the piano bar was amazing. I really appreciated a piano player / bar player that can adapt to the crowd, and improvise songs. That is talent, above playing from a play list that makes for a great atmosphere. Greg took time to learn songs requested, by either downloading them, or by listening to them on ipods the guests had. Simply amazing.

 

Overall

 

I wouldn't hesitate to book this itinerary, or this ship again. We had a blast and are looking at booking another one already.

 

Until next time :)

[santacap]

Few more from around the ship

 

Stairs up to steakhouse...

 

 

 

 

 

[santacap]

Somebody had asked about the crib provided, but I didnt have a pic and I was sure to snap one up on this cruise...

 

if you didnt want it up, it was folded up easily with the removal of the mattress and board, all stored under bed if needed.

 

[JaniceB]

Really enjoyed reading your review and viewing your pictures. Your son is very cute!

[my2monkeys]

Thanks for the awesome review....:) We'll be on her this time next month, and can't wait! My DS (8) is counting down the days with me, as I've turned him into a little cruiser already...:D