Carnival Miracle Feb 6-14, 2012 Review with Pictures

[mosaic_mom]

This cruise was a gift for me from my 24-year-old daughter for my upcoming 50th birthday. It was booked for me, my DH, and our DD back in February of 2011. So there was an exciting year of planning and anticipation. This was the 5th cruise for me and DH and 3rd for DD. I am disabled and use a rolling walker, so it is important to us that anywhere we go should be accessible. The Carnival ships are very accessible and handicap friendly. There are decks that I could not access, but the majority of the ship was accessible. The crew members of the Miracle were always asking if they could help and always eager to help when needed. I became active in the CC roll call and came to know a fantastic group of people.

 

We live in Central Florida, so we drive to the port for our cruises. Even though we are only 4 hours from Ft. Lauderdale, I am not one to trust that everything will go smoothly on the drive down, so we always leave a day early and book a hotel for the night. This time we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Convention Center-Cruise Port on 17th Street. It’s about a half mile from the port. They do have a shuttle to take you to the port, but we didn’t use it so I don’t know if there was a fee for it or not. The hotel was very nice and clean and the beds quite comfortable. They have a buffet breakfast in the morning that is free of charge. Besides the continental buffet items, they also had hot items like eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Check in and check out were painless. The desk staff was very friendly. We would stay there again.

 

We parked our van at Park N Go right outside the port entrance. We have used them before and will use them any time we cruise from Ft. Lauderdale in the future. I found an internet special for $6.99 per day. Couldn’t beat that. This time it was raining when we got there and they had valet parking. We pulled under a tent and unloaded our luggage as the shuttle driver pulled up. In no time, we were off to the ship. The shuttle driver dropped us off right outside the terminal door. We arrived at Park N Go at 9:30 and were seated in the terminal at 10:15 after going through check in and screening and handing our bags over to the porter who rudely counted our tip after we handed him one. At 11:20, we were boarding the ship with other special needs passengers.

 

Being one of the first to board, we had no problem finding a seat in the Lido buffet area and going for that traditional start-of-the-cruise burger. Oh, it was good to be on a Carnival cruise again.

 

 

This is our cruise buddy enjoying his first soda onboard.

 

[mosaic_mom]

At 1:30, we were allowed into our cabin. We had booked extended balcony cabin 7256.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was our first extended balcony and we loved it. The cabin at first seemed small for 3 adults, but it soon became quite comfortable for us and there was plenty of room. We met our cabin steward that day, but I can’t remember his name. He and his assistant did a wonderful job of keeping our room up all week. We tipped him a little before the cruise started and a little more at the end. We had brought 2 bottles of wine with us and they kept them on ice for us in the cabin, and left us a cute little towel animal every day.

 

After getting settled in our cabin, we went to our muster station for the safety briefing. It was over quick and we were soon on our way to meet up with the people I had been chatting with on CC in the roll call. We headed up to deck 10 and met with them and watched sailaway. It was so much fun to put faces to screen names after all this time. Funship Freddy even made an appearance too.

 

 

We always have supper in the buffet our first night and this night did not disappoint. We found the food to be very good with a good selection of items. Later we went to the Welcome Aboard Show, which was very good. We went to see the comedian, Eddie Capone, who was very funny. We enjoyed his show. We went for our traditional late night pizza slice and headed off to bed.

 

This little guy was waiting for us in our cabin.

 

[Ladybug75]

Can't wait to read more! I just have a few more weeks to go before my Miracle comes for me.

 

 

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[mosaic_mom]

The next day was a sea day and I was up by 6 am. It was still overcast, but sunrise was beautiful. There’s just something about sunrise on the sea that is so awesome to me.

 

 

We had breakfast at buffet and it was very good. We are fond of the buffet breakfast and found many things to eat that were all quite good. At home, I drink coffee, and my dear DH brought me a cup of coffee and it was awful. Seemed very strong or something. I had brought some Bailey’s creamer from home and poured some of it into the coffee and no matter how much I put in there it didn’t help.

 

This morning, we attended the Fun Ashore and Fun Onboard show. It was really good. They introduced the Captain and 2 of his first officers and the Cruise Director (Malcolm) and others and told a lot about the ship and the ports. I really enjoyed it. We spent the rest of the day walking around the ship. We found a few sessions of Trivia and saw these places:

 

Dr. Frankenstein’s Lab

 

 

Trivia in Jeeves Lounge

 

 

 

Open deck 3, which was usually very quiet

[mosaic_mom]

Miracle Atrium

 

 

 

Mad Hatter’s Ball

 

 

[mosaic_mom]

Phantom theater

 

 

 

Yellow Brick Road - Fun Shops

 

Sam’s Piano Bar

 

 

[mosaic_mom]

This night was Elegant Night and our first night in the MDR. We had Your Time Dining, which we love. It allows us the freedom to go eat when we want to. We prefer to eat early and end up going when the MDR first opens. There was usually a line, but once the MDR opens, there is very little wait at all. We were shown to a table with waiters Wayan, Marcellino, and Anita. We ended up eating at this table every night for the rest of the cruise. They were fantastic waiters and made our dinners quite enjoyable. It looked like everyone was dressed up for Elegant Night.

 

One thing I was determined to get this time was the little Carnival shot glasses. I was able to get one after dinner and, at Host Mach’s suggestion, I tried my first B52 drink. Awesome ! Had a few more throughout the cruise. Ended up with green, yellow, and blue glasses.

 

 

We went to the show “Generations” and it was very good. We just love the production shows in the Phantom Theater. We also went to see the comedian who was very funny.

[KirkWN737]

We did that same itinerary back in 2009. It was wonderful. The Miracle is my favorite ship. Can't wait to hear more!!!!

[beanersmom]

Great review so far! We are sailing April 2 on the Miracle! These pics are getting me very excited:D

[Ladybug75]

Great review so far! We are sailing April 2 on the Miracle! These pics are getting me very excited:D

 

We are on the same cruise...check out our roll call...it is a great one!!!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1432368

 

 

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[tracyanns]

The coffee is definitely an acquired taste...trick that I have learned is half coffee half hot water then add sugar and cream or whatever...it is closer to regular coffee this way...

 

Loving the review...we will be on her again in October...

[beanersmom]

I have been lurking in there for a month...lol......looks like you guys have alot planned. We will be with our 2 year old so probably won't have alot of time for "adult" fun :rolleyes:

We are on the same cruise...check out our roll call...it is a great one!!!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1432368

 

 

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[e150club]

Mosaic-Mom : Thanks for the pic review. We love The Miracle. Does Malcolm still say Woooo Hooo all the time. He was CD on our Victory cruise. A good Gent.

[mosaic_mom]

Mosaic-Mom : Thanks for the pic review. We love The Miracle. Does Malcolm still say Woooo Hooo all the time. He was CD on our Victory cruise. A good Gent.

 

That's the same Malcolm. LOL. Always saying Wooo Hooo. He is a very good CD and quite comical at times. We enjoyed him a lot.

[mosaic_mom]

Great review so far! We are sailing April 2 on the Miracle! These pics are getting me very excited:D

 

Thank you. Hope you enjoy your cruise.

[mosaic_mom]

The next day was a sea day as well. Now my DH loves to get up early and go wander while DD and I get ready for the day. Today, he surprised us by bringing back some fruit and cereal and things so that we could enjoy breakfast on the balcony. He is so sweet !!

 

 

We spent the rest of the day exploring the ship, taking more pictures, going to trivia, walking the outside decks, and making donations to the casino. DD also discovered the Caribbean Breeze drink and made a few contributions to the bar staff. Here are some things we saw:

 

Nick & Nora's Steakhouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dancing bear]

Good review, Nancy, anad some outstanding photos. It was nice to meet you and the others from Cruise Critic on this voyage, and I'm envious that you're located in Florida where airfare is not an economic factor in going on even more cruises.

[mosaic_mom]

Slide - I don't think it was open much during our cruise because it was very windy most of the time.

 

 

Serenity Deck - This was a new addition to the ship during the recent dry dock. I've seen the Serenity area on another ship, but this one seemed much nicer in that the area was huge and there was a pool and hot tub and a huge bar area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mosaic_mom]

Good review, Nancy, anad some outstanding photos. It was nice to meet you and the others from Cruise Critic on this voyage, and I'm envious that you're located in Florida where airfare is not an economic factor in going on even more cruises.

 

Thank you, dancing bear. It was great meeting you too. Loved your review of the cruise too.

[mosaic_mom]

The next day we docked in St. Maarten. We were up early and watched as the ship sailed into St. Maarten. There were I think 6 ships in port that day including the Allure of the Seas, so it was crowded in port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We booked an excursion St. Maarten Cruise and Island Tour. We met on the pier and boarded a bus for the first part of the tour. The tour guide was very amusing and really knows her stuff about the island. We went from the Dutch side to the French side of the island so we could see both sides. The island is just beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

After the bus ride, we were dropped off at the marina to board a boat for a cruise across the lagoon. It was a double decker boat, and free rum punch and other drinks were provided. The views were amazing.

 

 

[mosaic_mom]

After the boat tour, we were dropped off back at the port area and then boarded the ship.

 

 

That night was the show 60 Seconds or Less. Passengers would be picked to do tasks in 60 seconds or less as many times as they could. It was really funny. Following that show, the cruise director Malcolm held the Love and Marriage Show. It was hilarious. Malcolm is really funny and does the show very well.

[mosaic_mom]

The next day we stopped in St. Lucia. We did not schedule a tour that day. We decided to just spend a relaxing day onboard and get off and go through the duty free shops right there at the port. We were up early and watching ship come into port from the open deck.

 

 

 

 

There were some beautiful sites from the port area and from the ship. There was a small airport right there with some pretty big planes coming in and taking off.

 

 

 

 

 

[mosaic_mom]

Our next stop was St. Kitts. This was the island we were most looking forward to. We had planned a Carnival excursion called Scenic Rail Tour. It is the train excursion that does not include a catamaran ride. This was our favorite excursion.

 

We were up early again to watch the ship pull into St. Kitts and got to enjoy the beautiful sites.

 

 

 

 

 

We boarded the tour bus right at the end of the pier. One thing to note for those with limited mobility – there was a man driving a golf cart who was transporting people for only a tip. We took this and it was a blessing for me since that pier was pretty long for someone with limited mobility.

 

 

 

The train ride was awesome. The views were amazing. The train is a double decker with a seat for everyone on both the bottom and top levels. The top was open and from what we heard it was quite hot up there. The steps to get up to the top were too small and steep for me with my disability, so we sat in the bottom air-conditioned area. There were rattan chairs and tables and it was quite comfortable. The windows were huge so you could see very well.

 

 

 

Quite often local children would run up by the train and wave:

 

[mosaic_mom]

The sites were amazing. Like a piece of artwork everywhere you looked:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were offered a local favorite of some type of sugar cake:

 

 

 

 

After the train ride, we were taken back to the port to board the ship. Even the port area was nice with a lot of shops.

 

[mosaic_mom]

We had an exciting few days on the islands and were now looking forward to 2 sea days of relaxing and having fun. On the day after St. Kitts, a lady got very ill and had to be evacuated by the Coast Guard to San Juan. We had already gone quite a distance past San Juan and the ship had to turn around to meet up with the helicopter. Watching the rescue workers hover that helicopter over a moving ship on a very windy day while raising and lowering people was amazing. They are to be applauded. Unfortunately, we found out later that the lady did not make it. I feel the ship handled the emergency quite well from a passenger’s point of view. They kept passengers informed and cleared areas they needed to and, from a passenger’s view, it seemed organized.