Miracle Eastern Review in Pics- First Time Cruiser! May 2011

[CruisinFamily_3]

So. . .I did a mini review right after my cruise here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1413675

 

I received a lot of responses and decided to do a longer and more detailed review. I read so many reviews while I was waiting for my cruise that I feel it is time to give back :D! It may take me awhile to do the entire review since I work full time, but I will try my best to complete it quickly. So, here goes!

 

Introduction:

My family consists of myself (turned 30 on this cruise!), DH (31) and DS (8). This was our first cruise, although we travel to a new destination every year for our family vacation. We are not rich by any means, but we cut a lot of expenses out of our daily lives (eating out, etc) to be able to spend a week or more together every year. This year we decided on the Miracle 8 day Eastern out of NYC May 6th-May 14th.

 

I HATE to fly! I have flown many times transatlantic and to various other states, but I have developed an anxiety and can't stand to do it any longer. I also hate the luggage restrictions. For this reason we chose to take Amtrak from Chicago to NYC. Chicago is a 2 hour train ride from where I live. We took the train into Chicago to transfer to Union Station for our Amtrak train. The Amtrak train ride was around 20 hours and we paid $420 roundtrip for the 3 of us. Here are a few pics of us in Chicago and on the train:

 

Wednesday May 4th, 2011

Chicago in the distance. . .

My son loving the tall buildings in Chicago. . .

And on the train! Look at all that leg room!

[CruisinFamily_3]

Leaving on an Amtrak train- On to NYC!

 

May 5th, 2011-

We arrived in NYC (on time!) stinky but excited at around 6:30 pm. Of all the places I have traveled, I'd never been to NYC. It was on my bucket list and here I was!!

 

I had made reservations and prepaid our hotel room about 2 months earlier. I wanted a hotel within walking distance from Penn Station and to Times Square. I finally found Hampton Inn Madison Square Garden. It had good reviews on TripAdvisor and the price was decent. We paid around $240 for a city view room. It seems like a lot, but it was a deal compared to other hotels I looked at! The hotel was decent. It wasn't the cleanest place or largest place I've stayed, but it did the job. The staff was friendly and helpful and the breakfast was wonderful! I would stay there again. We were on the 10th floor. Here are a few pics of our hotel:

 

 

 

 

[CruisinFamily_3]

Staying in The City that Never Sleeps!

 

Since we only had one night in NYC we decided to walk down Broadway, find a local pizza place to try some NY pizza, then make our way to Times Square. It was so surreal seeing Times Square for the first time- and at night! It was almost 11 pm on a Thursday night and everywhere was packed! It was really a vibrant and exciting place to be and everyone should see it at least once!

 

My son was overwhelmed by the giant Toys R Us store. . .lol! He even bought himself a little treat at the Willy Wonka section of Toys R Us :D!

 

 

 

 

[nytraveller53]

Great start! Isn't New York such a wonderful city?!

[CruisinFamily_3]

A few more NYC pics. . .

 

 

 

 

[CruisinFamily_3]

Great start! Isn't New York such a wonderful city?!

 

It's an amazing city! I wish we could have seen more of it!

[CruisinFamily_3]

I'm on a Boat!!

 

May 6th, 2011

 

After a fun night in NYC and a good breakfast at the hotel we jumped in a cab and were on our way to the port!! This is the moment I had been waiting so long for. . .I could see the Whale Tail!! It was around 11:30 am when we arrived.

 

Check in was quite easy. We did not have an assigned room yet, so we finally found out our room number. I had booked for an inside guarantee. . .and then they told me our room number. 4130. I knew from reading the boards that we had been given a french door room!!

 

The only small hiccup we had was the woman was a little confused with my husband's permanent resident card. He is from Scotland, so he had his card and also a British passport with him. After a few minutes (and some help from a supervisor) we were given Zone 5.

 

Finally. . .our zone was called, photos taken, and S&S card in hand. . .to the lido for a DOD!!

 

Mmmmm. . .my first Funship Special!!

 

 

I think the Funship Special is already affecting DH :p

 

 

Meanwhile DS is already checking out the pool!

 

[nytraveller53]

It's an amazing city! I wish we could have seen more of it!

If you liked that one night, you should definitely consider going to New York exclusively to be in the city for a vacation. I'm sure the kids would love a Broadway show, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, deli, etc. etc.

[CruisinFamily_3]

A Room With a View!!

 

I forgot to add that as soon as we were on the ship we went to guest services and put cash onto our S&S account. We then bought our soda cards. There was no wait for either of these lines.

 

I was too excited to eat. . .I couldn't wait to see our room! The announcement was made that our rooms were ready at exactly 1:30 pm. This is the only time it was hard to get an elevator because most were being used for luggage by the crew. Finally we had arrived. We put our card in the door, opened it. . .and saw our french doors!!! :D

 

 

They had our beds seperated. DH and I were going to ask them to put the beds together, but we actually slept in seperate beds the entire time. Hate to say it, but we both had the best sleep in our 10 years together! You can't see DS's bed in this pic, but it was the fold out sofa. The beds were so comfy!!

 

 

Yes, there is a lifeboat blocking our view. BUT, we could see the ocean from the bottom of the door. And the breeze and natural light were great!

 

And. . .the bathroom. . .

 

 

[CruisinFamily_3]

More room pics. . .

 

Here's the water you can see from the bed. It's brown now because we were still in the Hudson. When we got to the deep blue of the ocean I layed in bed and watched the waves. . .before I knew it 3 hours had passed!

 

TV and safe. . .to the left of the pic were 3 large closets. We had plenty of space for all of our clothes and luggage.

 

Free samples! I love free goodies- it's like Christmas!

 

Looking left from our door. . .

 

. . .and looking right.

[CruisinFamily_3]

If you liked that one night, you should definitely consider going to New York exclusively to be in the city for a vacation. I'm sure the kids would love a Broadway show, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, deli, etc. etc.

 

We have thought about it! We have also discussed doing a 5 day Canada cruise and them spending 5 days in NYC.

[oncruisecontrol]

Nice start; keep it coming. We were on the Miracle in 2008 and had the same type of cabin as you; very nice cabin.

[CruisinFamily_3]

Sail away, Sail away, Sail away!!

 

Muster drill was very easy. We had 2 or 3 rows of people behind us and one in front. It only took maybe 10 or 15 minutes. About 5 minutes after muster the Miracle began to back out of port. We were on our way!

 

For sail away we stood at the sports deck and had great views in all directions. It was very windy. . .but who cares! We were sailing down the Hudson and sailing past NYC on the way!

 

 

 

 

[momonthego17]

So happy you are writing your "expanded" review of your Miracle cruise! My family will be on Miracle this Thanksgiving and every picture with your commentary makes it even more real to me! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[CruisinFamily_3]

More pics from sail away. . .we missed passing under the bridge because we had to get ready for dinner (early seating at 6 pm), but I did get pictures when we returned.

 

I have to say that sailing out of New York was amazing. My grandma came to the US after WWII on a boat and went through Ellis Island. She passed away about 15 years ago, so it was a little emotional for me to sail down the Hudson.

 

 

 

[CruisinFamily_3]

Nice start; keep it coming. We were on the Miracle in 2008 and had the same type of cabin as you; very nice cabin.

 

I really liked our cabin. Carnival had a plan though. . .they knew once they gave us french doors we would want to upgrade to a balcony. Next year. . .a balcony for us :D!!

 

So happy you are writing your "expanded" review of your Miracle cruise! My family will be on Miracle this Thanksgiving and every picture with your commentary makes it even more real to me! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

You will love the Miracle! It never felt crowded even though our cruise was sold out. What a great way to spend Thanksgiving!

 

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment! I read every review for every ship that I could get my hands on leading up to my cruise (since it was all I could think about!). I just wanted to return the favor!

[jaixrx]

Loving your review so far...we just booked the Miracle today!!!!!

[CruisinFamily_3]

Dinner is Served!!

 

I was a little nervous about dinner the first night. I'm a little shy when it comes to meeting new people. Meeting new people while eating? I might spill and make a bad impression! I have to admit- I was relieved we were seated in the upper (nearest to the grape ceiling!) dining room at a booth with just the three of us. This worked out great since we only ended up making our dinner time twice in eight days. I would have felt horrible having table mates and leaving them alone!

 

Next time I think we will try anytime dining. It seemed 6 pm came so quick and we would look at each other and say, "Eh, let's just go to the lido." It was hard to have a set time to eat. We had brought all of our formal clothes and sadly didn't even make it to formal night.

 

I had a goal to take dinner pics (food p0rn) every meal. I only kinda had success at that. However, the first meal I did good. . .

 

 

My chicken tender app (delish!)

 

DS with his fruit platter- as you can see he couldn't wait to eat it!

 

DH had the salmon app (he said it was very good)

 

My dinner was the ribs (excellent!). Look at the size!!

[CruisinFamily_3]

More dinner. . .

 

DH and DS both had the flat iron steak. They loved it! DH said it was cooked to perfection. Sorry this photo is large. . .it wouldn't resize for some reason.

 

Dessert! We all had the black forest gateau. Yum!!

 

 

After dinner we went to the Orpheus Bar (aft) and enjoyed a soda while the sun set. It was windy- the sun deck was closed off due to wind. It was really hard to get a good sunset picture! Oh, and it was just moments after this picture was taken that a man was leaning over the railing and the wind took his hat. In the blink of an eye his hat was resting in the ocean. For some reason I found it really funny (probably those Funship Specials catching up with me!)!

 

And our first towel animal! Our cabin attendant was Alicia and she was great! We weren't messy, but we would sometimes (okay, DH and DS would) leave clothes on the floor. They were always neatly set on our beds. Ice and towels were always stocked. She was quiet but very polite.

[CruisinFamily_3]

Loving your review so far...we just booked the Miracle today!!!!!

 

Oh, you will love the Miracle! And you get Aruba. . .that's on my list! I'm aiming for March or April of next year for our next cruise but I want to wait until the NYC dates are posted. Thanks for reading!!

[CruisinFamily_3]

Sea Days 1 & 2. . .

 

May 7th & May 8th, 2011

 

Okay. Here is where I'm bad. As a first time cruiser I was very overwhelmed with all the activites going on. I felt a little stressed out. Because of this we spent the first two sea days relaxing and eating. These two days blur together for me, so I'm sorry if this part seems to skip around a bit. It will get better- I promise!

 

Sea day 1 was cold and windy. Even the Hairy Chest contest was held inside. We caught the end of it and it was pretty funny.

 

We had ordered room service for 9 am. It was right on time. However, this was the only morning we ordered breakfast room service. The danishes were a little bland and we preferred just to eat breakfast on the lido after that.

 

My son went to Camp Carnival for a few hour in the morning then returned that afternoon to make a t-shirt and have a Kid's Celebration at Dr. Frankenstein's Lab. He thought it was pretty cool to be in a "real dance club". He had a great time and wore his Camp Carnival t-shirt on his first day back to school.

 

This was also the night that my husband had been looking forward to. Tonight's show was "Ticket To Ride". He is a HUGE Beatles fan. We arrived to the show about 30 minutes early. We had great seats. About 10 minutes before the show a short video about the Beatles was played and it was very good. The show was very good. Was it Broadway good? No. But it was good. The singers weren't the greatest, but they weren't bad. And who doesn't love to sing along to the songs? The best part was the end. . .they pass around something to get the audience involved, but to those who haven't seen it, I won't ruin the fun.

 

I did not take many pics the first sea day. All of the ship pics I took the last two sea days so you will have to wait! The only pics I took this day was of our room service dinner food. This was formal night, but as I mentioned earlier we didn't end up going. We did walk through the photo area while everyone was getting their pictures taken and all of the people we saw were very dressed up and looked very nice.

 

Room service grilled cheese

 

Room service crab sandwich

 

Room service cheesecake

 

Room service chocolate cake

 

The room service lunch/dinner was decent. It didn't wow me at all, but it was good. And we didn't even have to leave our room!

[jetsfan]

We are going in August on the Miracle. I live in the Hudson Valley and was just in the city this week. I love seeing it through someone else's eyes. You will love spending more time and seeing the sights. I forget how truly lucky I am having NYC a 45 minute train ride away. Can't wait to read more. I am so glad the 3 of you had a great time. Your son is adorable.

[CruisinFamily_3]

Okay. . .forgot to post these from our first sea day. Here is our elephant towel animal before. . .

 

 

And after DS accidently knocked his head off!!

 

 

Our second sea day also happened to be Mother's Day! We awoke to sunny skies and warm weather. Finally- it felt like I was on a Caribbean cruise!

 

We had breakfast on the lido. The omelet station was amazing! We went at all different times during our days and there was never much of a line. I personally found the food on the lido to be good. It was better than I had expected.

 

My DH bought me a mimosa to start my Mother's Day off right. I then grabbed a book and headed to the sun deck. DS headed to the water slide. The biggest line I saw that day for the slide was 6 people. My son went down it probably about 50 times in a 2 hour period. He would have stayed even longer if I hadn't told him he had to get out of the sun and get something to drink!

 

We spent the afternoon relaxing and napping. They did have a few Mother's Day activities such as a special DOD and a picture they took from above of all of the mom's on the cruise.

 

 

Is there anything better than this view?

 

This night was the only other night we ate in the MDR. We loved our waiter. . .he was so funny! I really felt bad not going the other nights. Also, I forgot to take pics of our food until dessert. Here is the Mother's Day dessert (it was so good!). . .

 

And everyone knows what this delicious thing is. . .Warm Chocolate Melting Cake! So good! I didn't get my own though- just stole a few bites from DH. I'm not sure I could eat a whole one since it is so rich- but it was yummy!

[CruisinFamily_3]

Second sea day continued. . .

 

After dinner we went outside to watch the sunset. The entire way so far we had about 5 foot waves. It wasn't bad, but a little rocky at times. This night we walked outside and the ocean was so still it was like an ice skating rink. That, along with the cloud formation, made it seem as though it were fake. It was so surreal and beautiful. Everyone was just standing around in awe. Pictures don't do the scene justice, but here you go. . .

 

 

 

 

We also decided to see the "Rockstar Juggler" Mark from NY. This show was GREAT!! It was the best/funniest show of the cruise. It was more comedy than juggling. If he is on your cruise- GO!!

 

 

Next stop- Grand Turk!!

[CruisinFamily_3]

We are going in August on the Miracle. I live in the Hudson Valley and was just in the city this week. I love seeing it through someone else's eyes. You will love spending more time and seeing the sights. I forget how truly lucky I am having NYC a 45 minute train ride away. Can't wait to read more. I am so glad the 3 of you had a great time. Your son is adorable.

 

It's so funny how much we travel and take our own places for granted. I live an easy train ride of 2 hours from Chicago but I hardly ever go. My husband is from Edinburgh, Scotland and he never realized how beautiful his hometown was. When we were dating we would go on walks in the evening through the city and I would be like, "Look how beautiful the castle is all lit up" or "It's so hard to believe the history of these building!" But he took it all for granted.

 

We had an amazing vacation and can't wait for our next one.

 

And I think my son is pretty adorable too. . .usually :p!!

 

Thanks for reading and have a great time on your cruise!