Reflections on the Miracle - May 6-14, 2012

[djwood24]

soooo agree on the coffee...it was the worst. We frequented the Starbucks like place...think it was International Cafe...we made friends with the gal that worked there most of the time and we got extra special treatment and she remembered our names from day 1...

 

LOL my money went to drinks...not coffee...we were told the Lido coffee was upgraded...what upgrade...just as bad as last year.

Th weird part was when you went to a different coffee station...it was always different....you would think they measure the same amount.

 

We love N&N...the meals are always great...but stay away from the lobster Ravioli....stick with the steak/lamb....yum

 

As for Serenity...we smoke so....not utilized...but I went back there to check it out....towels everywhere...no people

[LUPY48]

Cruisin Karen, 2 years ago, the singer was Bill. Friendly guy.

[Maraprince]

Maybe if a charge was imposed to use the Serenity area things would change for the better. On Princess, you can reserve for 4hrs. max. Then you must vacate and another passenger comes in for their reserved time.

 

Very sad that some people would be so inconsiderate to put things on the chairs and never come back and actually use the chairs. If more passengers took to removing the items as either "found/lost" and handing them in to the attendants, bet there would be space for more people to sit.:)

 

One thing to go and grab something quick and then return to your chair, but if no one is showing up after 1 hour or more, items should be removed and make them go through the trouble to find out where the items went to. :D

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[Irishlinny]

I want to say that I did not mean to discount the OP's original post about their experience in the Serenity area. I would have been frustrated as well had I experienced that.

 

Maybe next time it will be better...hopefully. :)

Not a problem:) It doesn't matter much anyway, as I wouldn't have chosen to hang around back there anyway (being a smoker). I just thought it was very odd that people felt the need to lie down and go to sleep on the couches back there:confused: Saw the same thing on the Freedom.:rolleyes: Maybe I should bring my camera around and try to get a photo of someone drooling in their sleep:p LOL!

[Crusin Karen]

Cruisin Karen, 2 years ago, the singer was Bill. Friendly guy.

Darned that I can't remember, and I am not even that old either lol. :confused: I thought I had a picture of him with his name, but can't find it. I really think his name WAS Tony...I was leaning toward Joe, but the minute Linny said Tony it struck a chord. We were on 2 cruises with him so I don't know why it's such a blocked out memory! He was mostly at the casino bar. Couple times he dressed up like Elvis. :eek::rolleyes: He was very funny and a really nice guy. We bought him a lot of drinks! :);):p

[Irishlinny]

Maybe if a charge was imposed to use the Serenity area things would change for the better. On Princess, you can reserve for 4hrs. max. Then you must vacate and another passenger comes in for their reserved time.

 

Very sad that some people would be so inconsiderate to put things on the chairs and never come back and actually use the chairs. If more passengers took to removing the items as either "found/lost" and handing them in to the attendants, bet there would be space for more people to sit.:)

 

One thing to go and grab something quick and then return to your chair, but if no one is showing up after 1 hour or more, items should be removed and make them go through the trouble to find out where the items went to. :D

 

 

MARAPRINCE

Hence why I say they need an attendant on Lido (not just Serenity) to monitor these things. It's unfair to leave it up to the passengers to police and possibly end up in altercations with people. Just would make for a much better experience for all:)

[hill6]

Linda, they used to have an ice cream machine right near that bar...by the bathrooms/stairs leading up to deck 10 and I discovered quite by accident that every day about 3pm they would lay out assortments of ice cream toppings. They never put this in the Fun Times...I was a "regular" back there every afternoon! :p

 

The ice cream is gone. They have someone there for towels now.

[Irishlinny]

The ice cream is gone. They have someone there for towels now.

It's actually not gone...just moved. It's now right where you start the line at the grill on main Lido...tucked back in a little hallway area. (That's why I'm pretty sure there are no more sundaes...I don't know where they would put the toppings)...

[hill6]

It's actually not gone...just moved. It's now right where you start the line at the grill on main Lido...tucked back in a little hallway area. (That's why I'm pretty sure there are no more sundaes...I don't know where they would put the toppings)...

 

True, I had meant it was gone from the back. Didn't see any sundae toppings during the week. We had ice cream during the week. :rolleyes:

[Mrs.G's Mr.G]

Darned that I can't remember, and I am not even that old either lol. :confused: I thought I had a picture of him with his name, but can't find it. I really think his name WAS Tony...I was leaning toward Joe, but the minute Linny said Tony it struck a chord. We were on 2 cruises with him so I don't know why it's such a blocked out memory! He was mostly at the casino bar. Couple times he dressed up like Elvis. :eek::rolleyes: He was very funny and a really nice guy. We bought him a lot of drinks! :);):p

 

Tony Ray. The man with the key board. He has been on every cruise my wife and I have been on. Funny coincidence.

[BabyJacks17]

I experienced a few of the same issues when I was on the Miracle back in Jan/Feb. This was my first time on a "spirit" class ship & while I did enjoy certain aspects of the ship one of the things I did NOT enjoy was the Serenity area. My mom & I have a tradition where we head to the gym early in the morning and then find a quiet area to have some coffee. We thought the Serenity Area would be perfect for this & while it was a quiet area the chair hogs would be out in FULL FORCE by 7am every sea day. I remember on the last sea day we tried to find a clam shell and they were all filled with peoples belongings (not actual bodies) by 645 in the morning.I've personally never seen anything like it - clearly I we were cruising with professionals who knew a thing or to about claiming a spot in a prime location.

[Crusin Karen]

Tony Ray. The man with the key board. He has been on every cruise my wife and I have been on. Funny coincidence.

Yea, that's him! If you see him on this cruise tell him Karen and "Oscar" say hi! ;) Have a great cruise! :)

[LizaMM]

Tony Ray. The man with the key board. He has been on every cruise my wife and I have been on. Funny coincidence.

 

Oh funny! I had Tony Ray on one or two of my cruises also! I guess we will have to listen to a couple of songs and toast to that next week ;);):D

[Mrs.G's Mr.G]

Oh funny! I had Tony Ray on one or two of my cruises also! I guess we will have to listen to a couple of songs and toast to that next week ;);):D

 

You are on, as long as it's not when he is wearing his Elvis hat.

[Mrs.G's Mr.G]

Yea, that's him! If you see him on this cruise tell him Karen and "Oscar" say hi! ;) Have a great cruise! :)

 

Thanks, will do!

[Irishlinny]

I experienced a few of the same issues when I was on the Miracle back in Jan/Feb. This was my first time on a "spirit" class ship & while I did enjoy certain aspects of the ship one of the things I did NOT enjoy was the Serenity area. My mom & I have a tradition where we head to the gym early in the morning and then find a quiet area to have some coffee. We thought the Serenity Area would be perfect for this & while it was a quiet area the chair hogs would be out in FULL FORCE by 7am every sea day. I remember on the last sea day we tried to find a clam shell and they were all filled with peoples belongings (not actual bodies) by 645 in the morning.I've personally never seen anything like it - clearly I we were cruising with professionals who knew a thing or to about claiming a spot in a prime location.

That's a shame:( And apparently the problem continues to worsen since people know that Carnival doesn't enforce their chair saving rules:mad: John Heald said they were going to concentrate on fixing this, but I saw no sign of that happening anywhere on Lido:rolleyes:

[LUPY48]

Karen, Tony IS the guy who dresses up like Elvis, Elton John, etc. He's a lot of fun.

[Crusin Karen]

karen, tony is the guy who dresses up like elvis, elton john, etc. He's a lot of fun.

:d:d:d

[CTCruisers]

Howdy, CT! I used to live in W Haven years ago!

 

If you can find seats in the Serenity area, the couches and the tables are pretty much shaded all the time. Unfortunately now your view becomes interrupted by the big round clamshell seats they have back there:rolleyes: The tables on Lido near the windows are in the shade (and some of them slide open for a breeze) but it's more noisy there (forward Lido is better). Up on deck 10, there are a good number of lounges, and the ones near the whale tail should be shaded for part of the day, depending on which direction the sun is. There are also places inside (the lobby area and the Enchanted Garden) which have chairs and tables next to the windows, as do some of the lounges. We really enjoyed our balcony at the times it was in the shade!

 

We love Jack's Shack...they also have shaded areas on the deck, and umbrellas for the lounges...very relaxing there!

 

We returned from our cruise on the Miracle. We had a great time. We made it over to Jack's shack and spent a few hours chatting with Janet and Jack under the tiki hut.

 

You were right about the Serenity area. Those silly clamshells take up a lot of space and block the view of the water. We spent time there playing cards at the tables near the bar, so we had plenty of shade and it was quiet compared to the mad house on the lido pools that were filled with tons of young kids and the DJ's playing all kinds of annoying music. ;-)

 

We wished they had chairs on the promenade deck. That was like a ghost town. That is usually our favorite place on a ship to chill out with a bucket of beer and watch the waves go by.

 

Here is a review I posted:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1645454

 

 

Thanks for your helpful information.

[Irishlinny]

[quote name=CTCruisers;34036563We returned from our cruise on the Miracle. We had a great time. We made it over to Jack's shack and spent a few hours chatting with Janet and Jack under the tiki hut.

 

You were right about the Serenity area. Those silly clamshells take up a lot of space and block the view of the water. We spent time there playing cards at the tables near the bar' date=' so we had plenty of shade and it was quiet compared to the mad house on the lido pools that were filled with tons of young kids and the DJ's playing all kinds of annoying music. ;-)

 

We wished they had chairs on the promenade deck. That was like a ghost town. That is usually our favorite place on a ship to chill out with a bucket of beer and watch the waves go by.

 

Here is a review I posted:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1645454

 

 

Thanks for your helpful information.[/quote]

You're welcome! So glad you had a great cruise!

 

I love Jack & Janet...they are good people...glad to hear you got over there. Did you enjoy watching Topher digging for crabs?:p

 

It still makes me sad that they put Serenity in...that was such a fabulous area before. Wish they would have put it on an upper deck like they do on the other ships. I agree that there should be seating on Promenade...that's where they had seating on the ships of old...thinking back to those great wooden loungers. And yes, the Lido can be very loud and annoying...especially that female assistant CD...for some reason her screachy voice would just go right up my spine (and unfortunately we could hear it all from the forward Lido as well). None of it ruined my cruise, but definitely wasn't my favorite due to the Serenity changing it all around...

 

Looking forward to reading your review!:D

[DEBnGAB]

Hey Linny...great review! With the sheer size of the Breeze, I am hoping something will be put into place regarding the chair hogs for Nov. I know I wont be getting up at 6am to go sit in a chair on the Serenity!

 

Also, god tip about the cab to/from Jacks Shack...the walk there isnt so bad, but the walk back (after a few sandy vagina s) is KILLER!

[Irishlinny]

Hey Linny...great review! With the sheer size of the Breeze, I am hoping something will be put into place regarding the chair hogs for Nov. I know I wont be getting up at 6am to go sit in a chair on the Serenity!

 

Also, god tip about the cab to/from Jacks Shack...the walk there isnt so bad, but the walk back (after a few sandy vagina s) is KILLER!

Thanks, Deb! Yeah, I won't get up at 6 am on a cruise ship unless the emergency siren sounds...LOL!;) Will be interesting to see how the Breeze is with chair hogs.

Yes, that walk back from Jack's is interesting at best...LOL!:eek::p If you look back at your footsteps, it's pretty amusing!