"VALENTINES DAY AT SEA" a cruisin USA "LONG and LENGTHY" review

[NotWthOutablcony]

LOVING your review!!! As always of course :D

[cruisin USA]

Hello to all.

 

Sorry I havent been able to get back to finish. It's always hectic at the bar during St. Pats and March Madness(Go State!). I intend to have the review finished by tomorrow. I do have to meet the hood cleaning guys here Monday at 8am, so I'm making Mon am the official deadline.

 

 

Thank you all for your patience. it's almost over

 

 

 

Gary

[cruisin USA]

....resuming....

 

 

Behind the Fun

 

 

 

We were up(easier for Mary Ann than me), and down to the Jokers card room by 8:45. There were already quite a few people there. We were met by a woman named Colleena who would serve as our guide through this tour. Colleena, as it would turn out is the Human Resource person aboard the ship. She, like Kelly(our tour guide aboard the Destiny) was good with people. Along the tour she knew just about everyone we passed. She asked about us not having any cameras on us as others started to file in behind us. I looked over to where they had juice and coffee. Grabbed one each for Mary

Ann and myself. No Danish this time....Just 2 trays of chocolate chip cookies...sigh. After we're all accounted for(I count 16), We're told we're going to have a security guard come down, and we're going to have to be "wanded" to check for any metal. One by one we're wanded and sent out into the hall. When everyone's ready. Colleena leads us into the Phantom Theater, and up onto the stage. Here the head technician is waiting for us. He introduced himself(American....Hurray!). He tells us about the auditorium. He explains that basically there's 4 technicians running the shows. The Lighting Tech(self explanatory), The Sound Tech(same), The Backdrop Technician who handles all the backdrops during the shows. and the Automation Tech(which the stage manager also currently was) who handles all the objects moving onto and off the stage. He points up and we can see the various backdrops. In the very back area we can see the bus and the taxi(tied up, and in a corner) from last nights show. The technician explains that each ship has it's own shows, and "Ticket to Ride" demanded that Bus would be built ON the ship. By then, a young gal has walked up. She's the dance captain. She leads us backstage into the dressing room. At the front of the room are 2 dressing tables. I assume(yes, I know) that these are for the 2 singers. The rest is just one large room. Wigs are all over. Filling about half the room are rows and rows of costumes. The other half is walled with mirrors. Looks like each dancer has a little space of there own. The dance captain explains that on other ships they usually have 2 dressing rooms, but on the Miracle they have 1 big one. She goes on to tell us that she's proud that their dance troupe has a 6 month contract. It sounded like people get transferred from ship to ship all the time(and I'm sure they do, although I really thought about it). She explained that her troupe stays together no matter what, (Unlike the gal on the Destiny who was constantly breaking in new dancers). It was an interesting talk. She explained how the dancers would pile their costumes in layers, and peel the layers back one by one through each costume change. It was here that we found out that each ship has it's own shows, and that you wouldn't see that same 2 shows(in combination) on any ship in the fleet. Not too many questions asked. We thanked her, and Colleena led us down some stairs, through a doorway,.....right into the middle of the horseshoe shaped pathway that is Gatsby's Garden. We worked our way out and back through the ship. We ended up by the back elevators. Colleena explains that we're going to go in through one door and come out this other one(on the other side of the room). She says the floor is always a little greasy coming out, so be sure to wipe our shoes on the carpet by the stairway(That must be some greasy carpet by now). We enter. The kitchen is HUGE!! Right now, they're serving the dining room breakfast. I notice how spotless the stainless steel is throughout the kitchen. It wasn't very busy, but cooks were working on this an that. I see a waiter taking out an Eggs Benedict. We are met by the head chef of the ship the "Chef de Cuisine" Wellington Dias. Colleena introduces him, and he starts talking about what it takes to run the kitchen of a ship. This is basically the same talk we heard on the Destiny. Just like Porvin Gama on the Destiny, he was hard to understand at times. He walks us through the various stations of the kitchen. He says "This is where they make the desserts"(Nobody there). I look across the aisle. There's a guy there carving an ivory soap bar into a swan. Wellington show us the "cooking" line and I spot the photo sheet of ALL the dishes prepared by this kitchen that helps the waiters actually see what the dinner is supposed to look like on the plate. Wellington takes us past the utensil shelves. TONS of pots, pans, and everything inbetween. We end up at the dishwasher station. We stop. Wellington asks if anyone has any questions? Nope. We ended up getting a group picture with him in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

Colleena motions for us to start heading out the door in front of us. Yep, I can feel that the floor is slightly greasy under my feet. It's a non slip type floor, but Colleena reminds everyone to be careful going out. We come out to see folks wiping their feet on the carpet at the base of the stairs. We follow suit. After we're all out. We follow Colleena back into the kitchen, but then right out to a main alleyway. She leads us through a door. I notice a citrus fragrance. "Nice Smell" I thought to myself. Ended up we were in the waste extraction plant.....hehe All sorts of bins with cardboard, glass. etc.. Machines that I assume were for breaking it glass. Colleena explained that everything that can be recycled. is recycled. Not a long stop. Along the alleyway, there's lots of peeps working onthis or that. We are met by Manuu the ships person in charge of stocking the food and beverages for each voyage. He explains a bit about his job. He says that they keep an extra 3 days of supplies "just in case". He's the guy with the keys, and he takes us to this door. He says that this is the freezer, and that this is where they keep the ice cream. He then asks "Does anyone have a spoon?" Too funny, and I can tell he's used that one before. We go into the room....Sure enough, It's FREEZING!! I see the tubs of ice cream on the racks in back. Up front are 4 350 lb. blocks of ice that Manuu explains is for ice carving. We quickly exit. Next stop is the meat locker. It HUGE, and full of all sort of cuts of meat. Manuu shows us first the meat room, and then the "thawing room" He explains that it takes 3 days for the meat to thaw completely for use. There's lots of meats thawing there. "So all this is for the people on the next cruise?" Manuu says "Yes". Next stop. The beer/pop cooler. What can I say? Lots of cans and bottles. Colleena Thanks Manuu for his time and we're off again. We follow her to the crew galley. Another BIG kitchen. I see a tray of chicken being put into an oven. Cooks are working all over the place. From the crew galley to the crew mess hall. We find out there's a pecking order to mess here aboard Miracle. First we were led to a dining room, that was for the lowest order. It was basically a buffet. Colleena explained that it was open all day long, and that most of the crew ate here. Just then I see Lula(our waiter) at the buffet. He see me, smiles, and says "Hello Mr. Gary", then he's off to eat. Across the hall and a little down the way we see where the "uniformed" people eat. A smaller, more intimate room, with a condiment table. Inside this room, an even smaller room with a nice dining table. The "Captains" table.....VERY NICE!! TRES ELEGANTE!!! So........Now we ALL know why the captain hardly ever dines with us!!!

 

To the beards............I know he's the captain of his vessel. PERIOD... But he also is an ambassador of YOUR brand. It would be nice if you had officers mess shut down 2 nights per cruise, so that we ALL could have dinner with the captain(an early and a late seating), instead of you wasting that big table in the dining room EVERY night. In other words...What's the point of having a captains table if the captain won't dine there???

 

We continue, but they're having a drill, and we can't go through the area we need to continue to HR. It's here that we find out that Colleena is pretty new to the ship. Fortunately, she knows EVERYONE. Pretty soon, we're working our way down stairs. We exit into another alleyway. She leads us to HR. She doesn't mention that this is her office. There's about 8 stations on a wall. There's also a big TV in the corner that she explains when it isn't being used to teach English, they play Wii on it. Colleena, now talks about her role on the ship. She says primarily, she teaches everyone English, but she's been big sister/counselor to many. She explains that a ship is like a big city. That there's sexual assaults, and all types of crimes that happen. There's a doctor in our group. He had asked earlier about seeing the infirmary. She took the time to tell him that they did have a medical emergency on the last cruise(the one that made the ship late getting into port for our cruise). It turned out that someone had complained about back pains, went to the infirmary, and it turned out there was internal bleeding!! It was at this point that we found out they didn't make it....sigh. We left, and worked our way to the crew "BAR". Really nice place. Dim lights. The bar was locked up. There was juice, and 2 really familiar looking trays of chocolate chip cookies....hmmmm This time I took 1. This was our rest stop. Someone asked Colleena about wages aboard ship. She replied that although, ships personel didn't make as much as same sector jobs elsewhere, the crew didn't have to pay room or board. Think about that....No Rent, No Paying for food...No gas/electric/cable/gasoline/etc...........I'm sure they have some sort of health plan. Colleen said that she get's roughly 2500 a month(and she's in management). I asked her what "wipers" made. She looked at me. She asks "What do waiters make?" I reply. "No I said wipers" (Wipers, are what Kelly explained on the Destiny were the lowest class of workers on a Carnival ship). Totally ignoring me, she said that "Waiters make about $400.00 a month, but that they also get tips added to bring it up" Soon, everyone has rested, and we're on our way to the Engine Control Room....

 

 

.....to be continued....

 

[cruisin USA]

....continuing....

 

 

 

We all filed into the Engine Control Room. It was about the same size, but more modern than the one on Destiny. The schematics that filled the wall had different colored lines that led through the various stations. The tech there spoke good English, and was easy to understand. First thing he says is that the chief engineer had been called away, and that he was going to be the one to speak to us today. He explained the various schematics on the walls. The 2 engines were clear, and there lights and gauges that led away from them. The ships Generators were easy to make out also. He went on from one station to the next. From the control room, they controlled the ballast of the ship, as well as all of the ships basic functions. There were computers on a "workstation" in the middle of the room. I saw another set of old style "dot matrix" printers lined up against the back wall. They even had 2 fish aquariums built into the wall. One was dark, and one had the light on. The tech explained that for one it was day, and the other it was night. There were manuals all across the back wall. Someone asked if the manuals were written in English? The tech said "Yes they are in English". Someone asks about how the engines worked. He went into this piston-gas-combustion talk explaining the basic workings of any engine. We headed out pretty soon. Next stop. The Bridge!!! We all took 2 elevators up to the 8th floor. When we reassembled, we headed frontwards to the bridge. We were welcomed at the door by an officer. He let us all walk in. We all congregate towards the back of the bridge. The first thing I notice. The BEAUTIFUL forward view out the crystal clear windows. I wonder how they keep them so clean, and then I spot this catwalk outside parelleling the windows. I would hate to have that job. I see the windshield wipers. The bridge is similiar to the 1 on the Destiny. Not as many stations in the center.

There's a monitor hanging down from the ceiling telling ships speed and direction. I see 3 officers standing at a station at the other side of the bridge. I do spot a couch and table off to the side. At some point, Colleena pointed out that there were 2 windows(1 on each side) up front that had fans on them, that kept the windows cleared off no matter how much it rained on them. We go off into one of the wings. On the Miracle there's a hole/window right in the floor at the station. Bet it helps them guide the ship in on some ports. Colleena remarks that we should see this room at night, cause they leave the lights off, and it's pretty pitch dark. She explains that they can't read the monitors with the lights on. Pretty soon, we see this short(5'5)man in uniform come in and talk to Colleena, and then goes over to talk to the officers. Colleena explains that it's the captain, and that he'll be over in just a little bit. After talking with the officers, he comes over to us. He says "Welcome to the Bridge, I am Vito......I am the captain of the ship" He speaks english well. He starts talking about the ship. That it takes hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel each cruise. He also adds that he'd like to be able to put it on his gas card and get the points(Love a funny Captain!!)...He asks if there's any questions? He also adds that he knows nothing about how many gallons of milk are used on each cruise. Another laugh. No questions. We then are going to get our group photo with the captain. The photographer is here again. He guides the group with "shorter up front, taller in the back" The captain remarks that in his village it is said the the "Smallest kegs, carry the finest wine"....Love this guy!!!! The photographer takes our photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colleena says that today we're getting something special. A personal photo with the captain at the steering wheel of the ship!!! She says where's Gary .........? Of course, I was the first one to sign up, so my name was first. Mary Ann and I stepped up. We got next to the captain, and quickly got our photo, followed by everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After everyone got their photo taken with the captain it was time to go. We head out down the hallway, and out the door. We're right at inside cabin 802. Next stop...Nick and Nora's. We were at the front of the ship, but made it to NnN in no time. I was suprised. We go through the dining room,(the sun is shining through the atrium like glass. We proceed back to the kitchen where we meet the chef, we had met on our night there. He remarks that he's met most of us through the cruise, and adds that there's still openings for tonight., He show us the same tray of sample cuts of meat that were offered in the steakhouse. This is a small kitchen. There's small stations in every space. He gives a small talk. It's been a long tour by now. He hands everyone in the tour an ivory soap swan like we saw the guy making in the main kitchen earlier. Too Cool. We head back to the dining room. There's champagne, and juice. I took a champagne. At each table were questionaires to fill out about the tour. Also we got a BtF Hat, and small knapsack. We also got another Miracle pamphlet that explained how much of everything is used aboard Miracle in a single cruise. On the back was the recipe for WCMC. I did publish it in my "We Missed the Boat" review.(Not this time though).

 

 

 

....to be continued(tomorrow)....

 

 

 

Authors note. Man.....What a weekend. We were CRUSHED for St. Pats. Hang on dear cruisers, we're almost there.

[cathyoo]

loving the review and the PICTURES....

[cruisin USA]

....continuing....

 

 

It comes to mind that I failed to mention our little tour of the laundry room. It was just like last time, (checking out the washing machines and seeing the towel folding machine)except the towels kept getting stuck within the machine.....too funny. (Colleen quickly added that they've found out that 3 "folders"(people) can do 1000 towels in an hour.....(whew).. Also, during the tour, I had "peeked" at Colleenas clipboard. There was a sheet showing an activity along the tour and time alloted for that stop. I saw "Photolab....5 minutes" I would have liked to have checked it out for sure). We filled our questionaires out pretty fast. Pretty simple stuff. Would you recommend this tour to others? Did the tour guide do a good job?...blah blah blah.

 

 

 

The last question asked "What would you recommend we add to the tour?" 2 things came to mind.......1. The Engine room!! Of course there's some kind of mystique about the engine room being off limits. A couple of reasons come to mind. Maybe it's a hot, steamy, messy, smelly place, that is the most vibrating part of the boat? Maybe the engines are smaller and less impressive than you would think for a ship this size? I doubt that they're really worried about industrial espionage. The 2nd thing I would recommend....10 minutes of the cruise director's (In this case "Malcolm's" ) time. I know a CD is a busy person, but.....He could explain his job, have a short q/a, and have everyone get a photo(ok, group shot Malcolm), just like with the head chef and the captain. With only 2 of these groups per cruise, it would only take up 20 minutes of the CD's time each cruise. Even better, have the cruise director "start" the group off at 9:00 am so that he's in, done, and sending them on their way by 9:10. I think if you did that, there would be LOTS more people signing up.....ok, off the soapbox again..........People were still asking Colleena questions. We headed off to drop our stuff off and rest at the cabin.

 

 

 

 

On our last BTF tour, we missed the disembarkation talk in the showroom. Nowadays, they just have a program run on tv all day, with Malcolm explaining the various aspects of leaving the ship. "Early Departure" "Self Assist" "Filling out the Customs form".....i.e. "the usual". I did like the disembarkation show with all the service people of the ship getting a big round of applause as they were announced, and entered the stage. But I can see this way is much better. Watch at your leisure.

 

 

We were a little tired, and certainly HUNGRY!!! Up to lido. They had turkey and all the fixins in the "American Grill" section today. That, combined with a salad was just what I needed. After lunch, we headed back to the Serenity deck. It was another glorious (mostly sunny) day!! We sat and dipped our toes again. Soaking in what we could of the Carribean sun that we had left. We stayed for over an hour. We had timed our supplies" just about right. 4 bottles of Corona left. We weren't going to be able to finish the Jaeger.....Oh well..... I had to assemble the tux. It had to be taken back before Formalities closed. While we were down there, we'd also go to the photo gallery for our "final answer" on the photos we were going to buy. There were LOTS of them. Figure if we took 5 shops at each scene x 10 scenes = 50 shots to decide from.

It took us over a half hour deciding. We had the first cut that were shots that went right into the waste can. We were left with about 2-3 shots per scene. Then we did a second cut "waste bin", keepers, and maybes. Eventually, we settled on the photos you've seen here. We had 3 photo credits, so we used them up. We picked another photo album. Ours is getting filled up. They sealed up our photos, and we headed forwards, towards the shops. We stopped in the souvenier shop. I'm still suprised that Carnival makes money selling liquor aboard. 1st...You don't get it till you leave, and 2nd......You won't get past security at the airport with over 3oz. of liquid anymore, which means you'll have to mail it or pack it....To me, it wouldn't be worth it(but then again, I own a bar). I think the space at the store would be better served as a Carnival "Logo" shop. Carnival Playing Cards, Carnival Mini License Plates. Carnival Pens, Lanyards, Luggage Tags, T shirts, (How come you've never used the "Ship Happens" slogan guys?...It would be as big a hit as "Got Fun").. Carnival Bottle Openers, Kid Armband Floats,(featuring Freddie) ......I could go on like Forrest Gump and the shrimp. You've got a BIG brand name, and a BIG following....You should be using that Name and Following more to your advantage!!!!(Hey...I'm a stockholder, and I'm trying to help). I have never seen anyone purchasing alcohol in your store, (although I've seen a few browsing the low prices).

 

 

As it was, I did have the lanyard they were selling. I did look for a $4.95 Funship Freddie plush toy, but none were to be found. We didn't see anything we wanted to buy, but we went over to the jewelry side(just to look.....hehe). Went back to the cabin to drop off the photos. and hang out on our balcony for awhile.

 

 

 

....to be continued....

[nybumpkin]

The last question asked "What would you recommend we add to the tour?" 2 things came to mind.......1. The Engine room!! Of course there's some kind of mystique about the engine room being off limits. A couple of reasons come to mind. Maybe it's a hot, steamy, messy, smelly place, that is the most vibrating part of the boat? Maybe the engines are smaller and less impressive than you would think for a ship this size? I doubt that they're really worried about industrial espionage.

I suspect it's more a safety issue than a security issue - after all, there is a video that runs on the ship TV channel that shows a tour the engine room (the generators especially are huge). However, if it's anything like the engine rooms on my son's ships, it's hot and noisy:

 

My son in an engine room. Note the boiler suit, makeshift headband (to keep the sweat out of his eyes) and earplugs.:D

 

I've really enjoyed your review - that you so much for sharing your trip with us. Miracle is a great ship - I'll be sorry to see her leave for California.

[cruisin USA]

Authors note........1000 apologies my cruise friends. I am now poised to get the review done in the next 2 posts. I'll post the 1st tonight, and the 2nd tomorrow. Just a few more pictures. Just a few more things to say.

 

 

 

....continuing....

 

 

 

All Good Things......

 

　

 

 

Wouldn't you know it? When we got back to the cabin, there was yet another set of disembarking instructions with Zone 1 luggage tags. .....sigh. Our flight out of Ft, Lauderdale was at 1 pm. I wasn't certain of the transportation situation. This was the first time ever we hadn't booked some sort of transfers either to, or from. I thought we'd be ok (disembark early enough)with the Zone 2 tags, so we left it at that. The 8 days had speeded by in a blur, but in some ways it seemed like sooooo long ago we were "waiting" at VIP to board the ship. We pushed it all aside for now. There was still another FABULOUS night to cruise! We decided we had enough time to try out our whirlpool tub before dinner. I had brought some bath salts and it sounded like a great idea. Filled the tub with warm water and bath salts. Got undressed, turned on the whirlpool.........NOTHING!!! I tried everything......STILL NOTHING!!!! Made me pretty angry..... That made 3 things advertised about this room that didn't meet my expectations. #1. Advertise a whirlpool tub, and it doesn't work. #2. Advertise a refrigerator, and it ends up being nothing more than a "slight" cooler(then fill it full of things we have to take out for the duration of our trip)(I will say that at least Miss SaiJai had us covered in the ice dept).

 

 

(at least the whirlpool tub was good for one thing)

 

I understand that electricity is at a premium on a ship, but if you advertise a "refrigerator", I expect it to be able to get things down to 38 degrees. And no, there wasn't any adjustment knobs. #3. Advertise 24 hour room service, but don't provide any other menu except for continental breakfast for the morning.(I guess if they did provide a 24/7 menu, people would actually use it...hehe).

 

We drained the tub......PO'd would be the phrase!!! We got ready and headed to the dining room. Opened the door to see Miss SaiJai doing her nightly duties. Handed her an envelope, and thanked her for doing a great job. (I didn't bother telling her about the tub. That's all we needed was workers in there all night the last night of our cruise). She thanked me. That was the last time we saw her. Thank you again "Miss" SaiJai!! We headed off to dinner. Walked through the doors of the Dining room. Had to get a picture of the Bacchus and his wife statues.

 

 

 

 

 

Dropped off our customary envelope at the podium, for Yusuf, and off to our table. Menus were passed to us, bread basket brought over. Lula came over to take our order. He asked if we enjoyed our tour this morning. We sure did!! Tonight, I had Sweet Potato Soup, Prime Rib, and Gran Marnier souffle(soooooo light, eggy,with just a hint of the orange flavor of Gran Marnier)for dessert. Tonights didja?....Frog Legs..Er, "No thanks Lula". Coffee/Cappucino....ahhh to be spoiled. The lights flicker once again. We hear Yusuf whisper.......Let me elaborate this a little more ......The way Yusuf says it.....He whispers.... "It's Shhhhhhhhh(Like your telling someone to be quiet at a movie, but stretch it a little longer)ow time" I know what's coming up. I promise myself I'm not going to tear up this time. The waiters all gather round, and sing that version of "Leaving on a Jetplane" again. I feel the lump in my throat, and sure enough, a tear starts welling up. Especially, as they're singing "We hate to see you go" "So wave to me, and smile at me, say that you'll come back for me".......sigh. The music ends. This is it for our dining room experience. 8 TERRIFIC meals!!! Had we went out at night at home and had a meal like here each night, we'd surely have paid $40 per person per night(ave).(I'd sure like to think that I'd gotten $320.00 back(each) of what the trip had cost). And NO waiters at home are going to sing for you. I hand Lula, and his 2 helpers an envelope. Not much, but something to show that we appreciated their GREAT service. We had to get back to the room. We had to get our bags packed and outside our door between 11 and Midnight. Packing = "NO FUN".......Had to make sure we had our documents and clothes for the next day with us. The bags would be waiting for us at the #2 carousel at customs when we disembarked. We really hated taking down the decorations,

 

 

(although Mary Ann brought back a lot of them with us).

 

 

Had time for our last Coronas and a Jagerbomb each before we headed out to the show.

 

 

 

.....to be continued 1 more time....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing....

 

 

 

Tonight we decided to go to the "R" rated comedy show at 10:45, featuring Vic Capone. The Legends show just isn't our cup of tea. We arrived just a little early to theThe Mad Hatter lounge.

 

 

 

 

It wasn't full, but there was a good showing. A cool intimate atmosphere comedy club. We try not to sit too close at comedy shows. Just a little farther back.

 

 

 

 

Brandon, the assistant cruise director took the microphone and stage. He starts off with a pretty good dirty joke. Then he announces that what he's going to do could get him fired. He then pull the stool up to him, and asks us to pretend that this is the girl. He also adds that "If any gal wants to volunteer?", but also adds that could get him fired too, "but he'd feel better just knowing". He then goes into this Donald Duck, humping Daisy from behind routine....Just Frickin Hilarious!!!! Had the whole crowd in stitches. Brandon then introduces Vic Capone. Vic's an older, balding, guy. He's got a pretty good routine, and we were constantly laughing at one thing or another he'd point out. It was HILARIOUS when he jumped up on the couch and lap danced for this gal. (Even funnier was the way she was enjoying it!) A fun, entertaining night!! Vic was done by 11:45. We stopped by to see Music Boardwalk in Frankie and Johnnies. As I walk in, I hear, "There's the bass player from Lynyrd Skynyrd". It's the guy in the band, and he's talking about me. I just wave. They played a couple more songs, and called it a night. We went back to the cabin. Mary Ann was ready for bed. I wanted to go out one more time. I headed down to the casino. In the Farcus video, he explained that gambling "riverboats" used to leave New York harbor for international waters.

 

 

 

 

In the Miracle's casino, he tried to recreate that riverboat theme. He mentioned that he made sure all the portholes overlooked the skyline of New York.

 

 

 

 

 

The ship was pretty quiet. I took some last minute shots. I saw Jim and his gang over at a blackjack table..."Last of the Red-Hot Blackjack players" I said as I walked up....They laughed....We all knew that this was pretty much the end of the line. We spoke for a couple of minutes. I told Jim that I was looking forward to his review. A guy at the table said something to the effect of "Good Luck, cause we're still trying to get the review from last cruise"

 

I DO understand.....Publishing this review has taken alot out of me, and I do believe that this is the last one I'll publish for CC. (I always write the review for myself though. "We Missed the Boat" sat on my computer for months before I rediscovered it, and decided to publish it. In that review I said that I hoped I'd paid back for all the good advice I'd gotten on CC. I'd say now we're even).

 

 

Anyway.....I left the casino, and headed up for 1 more slice of pizza to take back to the room. I ate out on the balcony as the ocean passed by. I was asleep by 2am. At some point I looked out the window., It was light, and we'd stopped moving. We were in Ft. Lauderdale. (Back to sleep for a little).

Before I knew it, the announcements start coming on about starting disembarking. We didn't even make it down to breakfast. Our Zone was called first. We headed down to the atrium. There wasn't much of any line. We just walked up for our final "ding" of the trip. Out across the gangplank and into the cruise terminal to get our luggage. We headed for the customs desk, passports and custom slips in hand. I did ask a lady where we could find a cab. She said head to the left as we exited, and there would be plenty of them. Gave our slips to the agent, and we were on our way. Found a mini-van heading to the airport. We were there in 10 minutes. We had to keep our luggage till 2 hours before the flight when we could check it in. LOVED the free wifi in the Ft. Lauderdale terminal. Caught up with a lot of the e mail/ facebook stuff. I know that a LOT of you would say the worst part of a cruise is having to leave at the end. That's a close second for us, but the worst part of our cruise is having to leave our ULTRA CUTE(and lovable) doggie Chanel....

 

What a fabulous reunion we had when we got back!!!

 

　

　

The End

 

　

Authors note.....To all that made it to the end of this review. I will raise my glass 1 more time to you all and say.....

 

 

 

YOU CAN GET JUST AS DRUNK ON WATER

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AS YOU CAN ON LAND

 

 

 

Oh.......There are just a couple of tiny last "details" I wanted to mention. When I started the review I told you that we had 2 Future Cruise Certificates. We used the other one, and we'll be sailing on the Carnival Breeze next December, with John Heald as CD, before Christmas.

(That's why we can't make the trip on the Conquest with the kind folks who asked).

 

And I guess the ULTIMATE good review of a ship would be if you booked that ship again. I will tell you that I was pretty intrigued when we heard about the Panama Canal, Alaska, and Hawaii trips the Miracle would be sailing next year. And, at this point I will tell you, we DID book one of those trips AND we DID book our aft wrap this time!! I won't say which one we're going on, but I will end this review by merely saying........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

　

"ALOHA"

 

　

　

This is your humble and lovable reporter on the high seas....fading into oblivion once again......Peace

[vhlh07]

Thanks for the awesome review and pictures Gary! Can't wait until the next one ;).

[IsItTime]

Thanks again Gary! I looked forward to your posts daily. Loved reliving the cruise through your writing.

 

I hope, hope, hope that you will reconsider and post reviews of the Breeze and Hawaii! So jealous! You have a way with words!

 

I still haven't been able to start a review of our experience....so I really appreciate the time you have spent and for sharing it with us.

 

Thanks again! :D

[Lady_Jag]

Thank you for the wonderful review. I enjoyed it immensely! Love the Miracle and am looking forward to this itinerary in June on the Freedom.

[SoundDawg]

Thank you for the great review! I loved the Miracle when I sailed on her and will be enjoying her again this September out of NYC!

[LynnAnne]

Thanks again, You rock!!!

[lotusbogardi]

I know this review took a lot out of you, but all in all, it was well thought out, well written, and a pleasure to read. Thank you.

 

I hope you change your mind about not writing another review for CC.

 

Perhaps it will be less stressful/easier for you to write the whole review out first, and the c/p all on one day (though, for me, the pressure of "keeping people waiting" would inspire me to write faster).

[vanislandcruisers]

　

"ALOHA"

 

　

　

This is your humble and lovable reporter on the high seas....fading into oblivion once again......Peace

 

 

Great job Gary!!!!!...loved reliving the Cruise with you and your words...and hope the both of you very much enjoy your upcoming Cruises...but we still wish you could join us in January!!!;)

[New2Cruising24]

Great job and thanks so much for taking the time to share! :)

[Jifner]

What a great review, thanks so much for sharing it with us Gary. I truly hope that you will reconsider and do another one some day.

[beanersmom]

Booooo its over :(

[wayland168]

Thank you somuch Gary for your fabulous review. I really enjoyed reading it and I hope this will not be your last! Maybe you will reconsider after your "ALOHA" cruise...ppppllleeeaaasssee ;) Have a fantastic day!

[keene state mom]

Thank You Gary so much for taking the time to write this , you have no idea how much this brought closure to me for not being able to be on the Miracle for this week, I had so many questions and you answered everyone of them in your review good luck to you and Maryanne!

 

Gail

[LUPY48]

Thanks Gary for the GREAT review!

I'll be seeing you on that Hawaii cruise next year, also in an aft-wrap!

[teacher34]

I really enjoyed reading your review! It was fasinating to hear all about the behind the sceanes tour. One day I hope we can take that. You have a great writing style that makes for great reading. I do hope that you will post another review after your next cruise. Your descriptions of the Miracle make me want to sail on her, but with her moving to the west coast, that will never happen for us. The airfare would be too much. Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to write this and post the wonderful pictures. I loved reading this!

[LizaMM]

Great review and photos!!

 

THANK YOU for taking the time to post.

[Seniorstallion]

Amazing review and photographs. Thank you very much for keeping us all entertained and in suspense. Hoping you reconsider and do many more reviews in the future:)