Second time around - Miracle 7/1-7/9

[VickiD59]

Try as I might last night, CC would not let me post a new thread. I could type it up and preview, but when I hit post.. it never posted. Then I was afraid that it posted like a bazillion times... but low and behold this morning, still nothing. So.. I try again :rolleyes:

 

This is not a lengthy review like the first time.. more or less comparism between the two Miracle cruises we've been on.

For our first cruise we just happened to arrive at the pier by 11:00 and never had to wait for a zone. We were checked in, through security and with S&S card in hand, were on the ship in what seemed like minutes.

I kept reading all about these mysterious zones... zones??? What's a zone?? Well, this time we arrived about 11:30; checked in and was handed Zone 17. We met up with others in our party that had arrived before us; they were zone 5. We were ZONE SEVENTEEN!! :eek: There wasn't anywhere to sit, so we stood with them for about five minutes when their zone was called. Goody.. we took their seats and waved goodbye. With zone 17 we'd surely miss sail-away and would probably have to be air-lifted in. They started calling zones more rapidly and it really went pretty quickly - zone 17... YAY!!! I don't know why we didn't have a zone last time.. beginners luck I guess.

Our family did the exact same cruise/ship two years prior. It was our first cruise and we had a blast. This was our second cruise, and everyone of the 22 traveling with us were mostly first timers cruises with only a handful that had cruised before, but never on CCL. We loved it so much our first time we recruited just about everyone we knew to come join us again. Most of the group was made up of our two sons friends and gfs (age range 22-27) and my and hubby's friends and parents of some of the "kids". They all loved it.. we all did. But.. this time.. I was a bit ... (and I feel badly saying it).. I was a bit bored the second time around. Don't know if it was all too familiar, or it was just me.. but I wasn't as jazzed this time. The initial excitement wore off fast. I found myself very bored on sea days. I can only bake in the sun for so long.. I finished my book on day two. Tried bingo twice (too expensive for such a short game).. watched the pre-bingo dance classes (okay, they were fun!!). There was a funny couple that we named "Fred and Ginger".. we loved seeing them give it their all each day. Thriller was the best! But as I said.. I felt like I just wandered from place to place.. cabin, lido.. serenity.. casino.. lounge.. cabin.. lido.. it got, well.. boring after awhile. Familiararity breeds contempt?

I did prefer the cabin location this time (starboard aft) over our extended mid-ship. I liked not having a lifeboat view when looking out over the railing. Would select this location again in the future.

Last time I disliked San Juan.. this time we all headed to Senor Frogs from 6p-10p and had a GREAT time. A storm blew through while we were inside, and there was some residual lightning as we walked back to the ship. Also, it was July 4th and there were fireworks in the sky over the water. There was to be a big July 4th deck party for our midnight sail-away, but because of the lightning, they moved it inside. The BBQ buffet was moved to the Lido, and a DJ was in the atrium. It think might have been better attended if the weather was better, but you can't fight Mother Nature.

And speaking of July 4th. Earlier that afternoon, the CD announced that he'd like all veterans and active duty military to join him in the atrium. There was a big flag hanging, and they had a big cake for all the veterans. It was a nice touch.. very thoughtful. I even got a little misty-eyed :o

After such a late night in San Juan.. early morning in St. Thomas was tough to get up for, but we had a driver waiting for us at 8:30 to take us to Sapphire Beach. Last time we went to Magens Bay. I liked SB (if you like to snorkel), but prefer MB much more. The iguanas were cool though. St Thomas still remains my favorite port of the three.

Grand Turk was pretty much the same. This time we ventured away from the immediate port area, and moved down the beach towards the local bars. I don't care for the rocky water in GT (bring water shoes).. but.. it's a nice wind down day. Our weather was pretty good throughout; alittle overcast on port days, but no rain. Late each evening you could usually see lightning off in the distance. It was neat to sit on the balcony and watch it light up the sky.

We liked our MDR staff better the first time; they weren't quite as friendly this time. Not rude or anything in particular.. just not as warm. I found the new menu changes to be so-so. I found less pasta choices this time. No one in our group ordered any did'ja selections. We did try a few comfort food items; they were okay. The soups are always outstanding. I think there was only one night that I didn't have soup, though I can't recall why.

New things:

We went to the Punchliner brunch the first day.. we must've timed it just right (unintentionally) but we managed to eat and never see a comedian. We didn't go back. Our kids and their friends would go each night to the 11:45 comedy show.. they thought the comedians were good. I never managed to stay awake that long. Hypnotist was good.. "the deeper you go, the better you feel, the deeper you go.. the better you feel". That's some mantra ;)

The first morning I woke up at 5:45 and couldn't fall back to sleep. I got up, grabbed the camera and roamed the ship. I went to the Serenity Deck and it was the only time where I'd find empty chairs. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd have sworn that the lounges and chairs came with people already in them. Any other time I ventured back there all the chairs were always full. I didn't have the determination, nor the desire to try and snag one. I was just as content to move one deck up and have my pick of chairs. But again.. I had had my full share of suntan by day two and pretty much kept out of the sun except on our port days. Hubby did win 500.00 on slots. It was a penny machine with a wheel of fortune type spinner on top. It landed on 50,000. You should have seen the two of us trying to figure out how much 50,000 pennies would be (DUH!).. I'm like.. it's either 50.00 or 500.00. The sea air affects my math skills :p

Two sea days coming home flew by. Maybe it wasn't boredom.. maybe it was depression that a long planned vacation was now almost over

We had a starboard cabin - the morning we arrived back into NY, we were watching our arrival from our balcony. As we were getting close to Pier 90 we noticed that we were kinda close to the docks and coming in at a weird angle. The thrusters came on and the captain (or whomever is piloting the ship at this point) was really trying to move the ship back out into the Hudson. We watched as the tug boat had to position itself mid-aft, between us and the pier and try with all it's might to push the ship away from the pier. The black soot coming out of the top of the tug reminded me of the scene from JAWS when Quint's boat is pouring black smoke as the shark is pulling the barrels down. "Not with three barrels.. he can't go under with three barrels". A second tug was in route to help as well. Seemed the current pushed the ship in too close to the pier and it was unable to make the turn to pull into the slip without almost crashing into the dock. It took about 20 minutes or so for the single tug to move us out. That added to the excitement alittle. Especially coming home and finding out that the NCL ship hit the Intrepid pier the day before probably from the current as well.

We had Zone 9 to disembark and we were all off the ship, found our luggage, went through customs and on the curb looking for our bus by 10:05. We had pre-arranged for our bus to pick us up at 11:30. It was our lucky day when we came out to find that our driver was there early.

The ride home was quiet. Vacation over. One year of planning and waiting.. done. I definately have the post-cruise blues. Didn't have them last time.. I had a first cruise high.. but this time.. definately the blues

The west coast will enjoy the Miracle.. she's a lovely ship and I'm glad she was our first ship; it was a nice introduction into cruising. Next time we'll be willing to fly for a change of flavor with new ports and definately a new vessel.

Any questions, I'd be happy to answer :)

[kicker]

Thanks for the review, nice, honest opinions. For whatever reason there aren't many Miracle reviews on here (at least compared to some other ships), so yours is appreciated. I think it also points out what a lot of people know:cruising (all cruise lines) isn't all it used to be, but it's still a great way to go for many of us.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Thanks for posting we are on Miracle in Sept.

[MOMofONE]

Thanks for the review; as stated not alot of recent Miracle reviews so definetely timely.

Was wondering about dance classes. Were there different ones offered different days? Were these all line/group dance type or also slow dancing?

Were they all the same time of day (before bingo)?

Our 9/3 itinerary out of NY has 4 sea days so making a list of possible activities to check out.

 

Thanks again for taking time to benefit other cruisers,

Tina

[VickiD59]

The dance classes were everyday for the hour proceeding Bingo, so 2:30 each day. We stumbled upon it the first day just because we were early for Bingo which began at 3:30 everyday. There was a different themed dance every time; disco, country line dancing, a ballroom dance, and THRILLER etc. As I mentioned before, there was this couple :rolleyes::eek::rolleyes: that.. well... you had to be there :)

They totally made it worth it to sit there for the hour before.

[MOMofONE]

The dance classes were everyday for the hour proceeding Bingo, so 2:30 each day. We stumbled upon it the first day just because we were early for Bingo which began at 3:30 everyday. There was a different themed dance every time; disco, country line dancing, a ballroom dance, and THRILLER etc. As I mentioned before, there was this couple :rolleyes::eek::rolleyes: that.. well... you had to be there :)

They totally made it worth it to sit there for the hour before.

 

thanks Vicki, I'll look for this on our cruise and maybe we'll luck out with one of those 'had to be there' experiences too LOL

[nlktx49]

So how did the first-timers that went you like it? Did you get any feedback from them? Sorry this time wasn't as good as your first cruise.

[VickiD59]

So how did the first-timers that went you like it? Did you get any feedback from them? Sorry this time wasn't as good as your first cruise.

It wasn't that it wasn't as good.. don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but not as great as the first time; but I think that's because it was our first time.. Everyone had fun, and the first timers definately want to cruise again. The only "feedback" I got was when I overhead a conversation one of my son's gfs family was having. It was something like their next time would not be on Carnival. They had previously sailed RCCL and NCL. Oh well.. to each their own.

Our kids (23 and 26) had a GREAT time because they each had their gfs and a bunch of friends. Maybe us "old folk" needed more companions too LOL.

[Irishlinny]

Vicki, glad you had a good cruise, despite the fact it was not quite as great as your first...there's something about that first cruise that's magical, before, during and after! If you would consider cruising in October, there is a big group cruise doing a back to back (different ports for each leg) in 2013. Many of them were from the Saints & Sinners group I sailed with a couple of times. I can guarantee you, you won't get bored on that one!:eek::p Email me if you're interested.

I still love the Miracle...going to miss her:(

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write and post your review.

Glad you had a good cruise.

[I <3 To Cruise]

Vicki! I wish I could have written my review like this, but I am too overly obsessive with details!! EEk! Although this was not my first cruise, it was my first time on the Miracle. I think it was the adventure of the new ship and cruising with people other than my family that kept it interesting for me! 'Fred & Ginger' or 'Mr. & Mrs. Creeper' as we called them definitely kept us entertained! I will forever think of them while remembering this cruise!! I too am suffering from the post cruise blues...I think it began as we got off the ship! However you'll have to keep reading my review to find out why :)

 

Peace, Love & Cruising

AlyK

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=34559777&posted=1#post34559777

[smeck]

I know why the second time around wasn't as exciting as the first. You were missing one key ingredient the Smecks, LOL. :)

[VickiD59]

I know why the second time around wasn't as exciting as the first. You were missing one key ingredient the Smecks, LOL. :)

I KNEW IT! Something just didn't seem right and now I know what it was :p