Miracle Review - 5/8 Sailing _ LONG

[jetsguy28]

You may have seen some of my other posts - we were on the 5/8 miracle with jayme 4 1/2 and sam 2 1/2...

 

We already talked about the dining room experience, so I did not include this here.

 

Gary

 

Carnival Miracle Review

 

May 8 – May 15

 

 

 

Day 1 – Sunday Embarkation..

 

 

We were on the shuttle from the Hilton Westshore at 11:15 and after Dean stopped at the gas station for us for beer, we were on our way to the port. As we pulled up, the Miracle was not docked in station 2. The Miracle had to dock in an auxillary pier, so we were forced to check in on Dock 2 and be bussed over to the ship. With a Cat 11 room, you are granted Skippers Club access, which is worth it… To us, embarkation was not an issue, and we were on Lido Deck by 1pm if not sooner.

 

 

After setting sail on time, we went to dinner, remember, we are a family of 4 sailing with a 2 and 4 year old… Now, we were placed in what I like to call the auxillary dining room. We did not have access to any of the waiter shows or anything like that – we were in a back room where many of the families sit..Vlado our waiter did an excellent job dealing with the kids, however, we were rushed through our meals by our kids, so did not make it to dessert.. We did not know what team we were on until 3 days into the trip.

 

 

After Dinner we went to the Camp Carnival meeting to get acquainted with the staff, and sign our kids up, this is a must if you are going to use the camp facilities. Then on to the Frankstein tlab for the kids dance party. We won a ship on a stick then went to bed. An early nite but prepared for the rest of the journey.

 

 

Day 2 – Monday At Sea

 

 

A typical day at sea, with nothing much to report – kids spent a few hours in camp, then it was time to get ready for formal night. A nice, uneventful day at sea. Monday nite was the first bar crawl, but we decided not to participate. Hung with the kids, early nite.

 

 

Day 3 – Tuesday – Grand Cayman

 

With young kids, we did not prebook any excursions here. After tendering over to Georgetown, we took a cab to SEA GRAPE BEACH. Sea Grape is a public beach with no cost to get on. We rented chairs ($5 each) and an umbrella (another $5) and spend a beautiful morning on the beach. They have a little hut there with a bar and serve food, if you don’t have anything booked, Sea Grape is the beach to go to, as its free. They have bathrooms there too, and they were quite clean. The beer at the bar was very cold, the food was good too. After the beach, it was back in a cab, to the pier. At the pier there is a dive shop called ATLANTIS. We went in there when we first arrived and booked a 12:30 Glass Bottom Boat tour. What a great choice we made with this. It was an hour long tour, which was perfect amount of time for the kids, and we went to 2 shipwrecks, and 2 reefs. The sea life was amazing, and the tour guide was unflappable. We did not prebook, but it was a great trip. We highly recommend Atlantis.

 

 

Day 4 – Wednesday – Costa Maya

 

 

This might be the port I was looking most forward too, because it was new to us. We were off the ship early and went right to the pool at the port. We were surprised by its cleanliness, and had a great time swimming in the pool. A few showers passed through, but nothing major. The kids had a great time swimming, and by the time we were ready to head into town, the pool area started getting crowded. We made a good decision by doing it this way. Originally we wanted to rent a golf cart to go into town, but decided it wouldn’t be the best idea with 2 small kids, so we simply took a cab to Tapas. Once at Tapas, we had one of the highlights of the cruise. We pulled up 2 beach chairs to our table, and the kids were out in 5 minutes flat. Mom and I had some time to ourselves!!!!!! Tapas is the place to go if you want a snack in Majajhul – food was decent and reasonable – the staff is very nice. A small shower came through, and the waiter quickly helped us move the kids under our umbrella. It’s a neat little town to walk through, my 4 year old got her hair braided, and we thought it was a neat little port. I am sure in another 5-10 years, its going to look like Cozumel – in terms of commercialization.

 

 

Wednesday nite was the best nite of the cruise…. Wife and I sent the kids to the kids dinner, and we headed to Nick and Nora’s our first dinner w/out the kids for the week. N&N is well worth the $60 – 30 per person for the meal, drinks work the same way as in the dining room, tip is not included. The kids were already sleeping in the club by the time dinner ended – it was party time! We started out in the casino, playing, laughing and having a general good time. From there it was up to deck 9 for the reggae music. Most people were at the show during this, so there were only a handful of us up there, what a blast! Then, it happened, people in bathrobes start showing up. It seemed that everyone was drinking on the ship this one nite. I must say, I did not have my robe on, in the end I was just too lazy to go back to the room for it. Dancing, singing, limbos, just a good time. Don’t miss the bathrobe party – and I specifically liked the people who travel with their own robes. Take a look at the photos!

 

 

Thursday –

 

Cozumel – we had prebooked the Beach Break at Nachi Cochum… $32 pp for adults can’t remember what they charged by 4 yo, but my 2 yo was free. Coronos, and mixed drinks were included, plus a buffet which was ok at best. You also get either a non motored water toy for an hour. You also get a little carribbean umbrella thing that gives you shade, along with chairs. We spent most of the day at the pool it’s a nice place, no real crowds, so if you are into a nice relaxing day, this is the place. You can also just go there, and they have a day rate, which is pay as you go, but I am not sure how much it is. Just take a cab at the port to Nachi Cochum Beach Resort. Their restaurant did have a full menu.

 

 

Thursday nite we went to see Duane in the piano bar. It was Duane’s last week on the cruise. We had a good time – but this is so far below the dueling pianos from Vegas, its funny. Its pretty much like Piano Karakoke, but its still a good time. I guess the guys from the show were in the bar that nite, because he turned the Piano over to a guy named Micah, I had to hold my wife down when he want, and I wasn’t alone… I believe Micah is the piano player for the orchestra on the ship. He’s about 26, and he rocked the place. Lot’s of fun, I started a trio of National Anthems being played… Canada, US, and UK. Lots of fun…

 

 

Now I am just going to hit on a few more things. As we spent the rest of the nites with the kids – just hanging out. We did not even get off in Belieze. Just did not think it was appropriate to bring the kids, and the wife and I really did not hear good things, so we just hung at the pool, kids went to camp for a few hours.

 

 

Saturday just another day at sea… Sunday – boat is in port when we awake. Bring breakfast back to the room from Lido, dress the kids, and head to the Casino to wait. We waited for about 20 mintues tops before we were off the ship, and looking for luggage. We had a few pieces that we had to search for, but all was good, about 15 mins total. Here is a tip, after one person has searched the aisles for your bags, and comes up empty, switch places, let the other person look. As they say many bags look the same.

 

 

Our final summery of the Miracle –

 

 

Definitely a great family vacation with our kids. There was a good balance of nites for Mel and I to go out alone vs. with the kids. Our 10th anniversary is Thanksgiving Week, and we are considering a cruise just the 2 of us won’t be Carnival – looking at RCCL or HAL.

 

 

Camp Carnival is great, those are the hardest working women on the ship, and they were awesome. There was one nite when they were a little quick with their fingers heading to the cell phones, but there was one little rebel rouser on our ship. We gave the women a nice tip at the end of the cruise. The talent show was cute, but not too many kids on our journey.

 

 

Food – I can’t personally comment on the food, because I did not eat in the DR enough. The Lido is adequate at best – I found the best food at the grill each afternoon – I had a cheeseburger at least every day from there, and the fries are great. N&N is definitely worth it. It’ll cost you less to eat there then in any retaurant in your town.

 

 

At some point, our pictures will be up… I will post them, I do have all the capers too, if you want them, you’d have to email me your address, when I get a chance to make copies of them, I will drop a set in the mail… jetsguy28@yahoo.com

 

 

I’d be happy to answer as many questions as you like, especially if your traveling with little kids.

 

 

Gary

 

 

[medalian1]

 

 

Just kidding, good review. Thanks for sharing!

[eggy5404]

Hi,

Can you give me your opinion on the Hilton Westshore. I am also booked for this hotel prior to our cruise on the Miracle in August.

 

Did they pick you up from the airport and also shuttle you to the port on the day of sailing?

 

Was there a fee for the port shuttle? Did you have breakfast and if so was it any good?.

 

Thanks,

Michelle

[jetsguy28]

The Hilton Westshore is your normal run of the mill hotel... .Nothing spectacular, nothing horrible... Its definatly fine for one nite. When you get to baggage claim at TPA, you call them from one of the courtesy phones, and they send the van right out to get you no matter what time of day it is...

 

The shuttle to the port is $5pp definately the way to go - make sure you ask about it when you check in - they put you on the list. Tell Dean we said hi.

 

One thing you should no, is that they WILL NOT pick you up after the cruise. We took a car rental shuttle to the airport and rented a car for the day, as we stayed that the westshore on sunday too, and drove to clearwater bch for the day.

 

GS

[Bookbug53]

You may have seen some of my other posts - we were on the 5/8 miracle with jayme 4 1/2 and sam 2 1/2...

 

We already talked about the dining room experience, so I did not include this here.

 

Gary

 

Carnival Miracle Review

 

May 8 – May 15

 

 

 

Day 1 – Sunday Embarkation..

 

 

We were on the shuttle from the Hilton Westshore at 11:15 and after Dean stopped at the gas station for us for beer, we were on our way to the port. As we pulled up, the Miracle was not docked in station 2. The Miracle had to dock in an auxillary pier, so we were forced to check in on Dock 2 and be bussed over to the ship. With a Cat 11 room, you are granted Skippers Club access, which is worth it… To us, embarkation was not an issue, and we were on Lido Deck by 1pm if not sooner.

 

 

After setting sail on time, we went to dinner, remember, we are a family of 4 sailing with a 2 and 4 year old… Now, we were placed in what I like to call the auxillary dining room. We did not have access to any of the waiter shows or anything like that – we were in a back room where many of the families sit..Vlado our waiter did an excellent job dealing with the kids, however, we were rushed through our meals by our kids, so did not make it to dessert.. We did not know what team we were on until 3 days into the trip.

 

 

After Dinner we went to the Camp Carnival meeting to get acquainted with the staff, and sign our kids up, this is a must if you are going to use the camp facilities. Then on to the Frankstein tlab for the kids dance party. We won a ship on a stick then went to bed. An early nite but prepared for the rest of the journey.

 

 

Day 2 – Monday At Sea

 

 

A typical day at sea, with nothing much to report – kids spent a few hours in camp, then it was time to get ready for formal night. A nice, uneventful day at sea. Monday nite was the first bar crawl, but we decided not to participate. Hung with the kids, early nite.

 

 

Day 3 – Tuesday – Grand Cayman

 

With young kids, we did not prebook any excursions here. After tendering over to Georgetown, we took a cab to SEA GRAPE BEACH. Sea Grape is a public beach with no cost to get on. We rented chairs ($5 each) and an umbrella (another $5) and spend a beautiful morning on the beach. They have a little hut there with a bar and serve food, if you don’t have anything booked, Sea Grape is the beach to go to, as its free. They have bathrooms there too, and they were quite clean. The beer at the bar was very cold, the food was good too. After the beach, it was back in a cab, to the pier. At the pier there is a dive shop called ATLANTIS. We went in there when we first arrived and booked a 12:30 Glass Bottom Boat tour. What a great choice we made with this. It was an hour long tour, which was perfect amount of time for the kids, and we went to 2 shipwrecks, and 2 reefs. The sea life was amazing, and the tour guide was unflappable. We did not prebook, but it was a great trip. We highly recommend Atlantis.

 

 

Day 4 – Wednesday – Costa Maya

 

 

This might be the port I was looking most forward too, because it was new to us. We were off the ship early and went right to the pool at the port. We were surprised by its cleanliness, and had a great time swimming in the pool. A few showers passed through, but nothing major. The kids had a great time swimming, and by the time we were ready to head into town, the pool area started getting crowded. We made a good decision by doing it this way. Originally we wanted to rent a golf cart to go into town, but decided it wouldn’t be the best idea with 2 small kids, so we simply took a cab to Tapas. Once at Tapas, we had one of the highlights of the cruise. We pulled up 2 beach chairs to our table, and the kids were out in 5 minutes flat. Mom and I had some time to ourselves!!!!!! Tapas is the place to go if you want a snack in Majajhul – food was decent and reasonable – the staff is very nice. A small shower came through, and the waiter quickly helped us move the kids under our umbrella. It’s a neat little town to walk through, my 4 year old got her hair braided, and we thought it was a neat little port. I am sure in another 5-10 years, its going to look like Cozumel – in terms of commercialization.

 

 

Wednesday nite was the best nite of the cruise…. Wife and I sent the kids to the kids dinner, and we headed to Nick and Nora’s our first dinner w/out the kids for the week. N&N is well worth the $60 – 30 per person for the meal, drinks work the same way as in the dining room, tip is not included. The kids were already sleeping in the club by the time dinner ended – it was party time! We started out in the casino, playing, laughing and having a general good time. From there it was up to deck 9 for the reggae music. Most people were at the show during this, so there were only a handful of us up there, what a blast! Then, it happened, people in bathrobes start showing up. It seemed that everyone was drinking on the ship this one nite. I must say, I did not have my robe on, in the end I was just too lazy to go back to the room for it. Dancing, singing, limbos, just a good time. Don’t miss the bathrobe party – and I specifically liked the people who travel with their own robes. Take a look at the photos!

 

 

Thursday –

 

Cozumel – we had prebooked the Beach Break at Nachi Cochum… $32 pp for adults can’t remember what they charged by 4 yo, but my 2 yo was free. Coronos, and mixed drinks were included, plus a buffet which was ok at best. You also get either a non motored water toy for an hour. You also get a little carribbean umbrella thing that gives you shade, along with chairs. We spent most of the day at the pool it’s a nice place, no real crowds, so if you are into a nice relaxing day, this is the place. You can also just go there, and they have a day rate, which is pay as you go, but I am not sure how much it is. Just take a cab at the port to Nachi Cochum Beach Resort. Their restaurant did have a full menu.

 

 

Thursday nite we went to see Duane in the piano bar. It was Duane’s last week on the cruise. We had a good time – but this is so far below the dueling pianos from Vegas, its funny. Its pretty much like Piano Karakoke, but its still a good time. I guess the guys from the show were in the bar that nite, because he turned the Piano over to a guy named Micah, I had to hold my wife down when he want, and I wasn’t alone… I believe Micah is the piano player for the orchestra on the ship. He’s about 26, and he rocked the place. Lot’s of fun, I started a trio of National Anthems being played… Canada, US, and UK. Lots of fun…

 

 

Now I am just going to hit on a few more things. As we spent the rest of the nites with the kids – just hanging out. We did not even get off in Belieze. Just did not think it was appropriate to bring the kids, and the wife and I really did not hear good things, so we just hung at the pool, kids went to camp for a few hours.

 

 

Saturday just another day at sea… Sunday – boat is in port when we awake. Bring breakfast back to the room from Lido, dress the kids, and head to the Casino to wait. We waited for about 20 mintues tops before we were off the ship, and looking for luggage. We had a few pieces that we had to search for, but all was good, about 15 mins total. Here is a tip, after one person has searched the aisles for your bags, and comes up empty, switch places, let the other person look. As they say many bags look the same.

 

 

Our final summery of the Miracle –

 

 

Definitely a great family vacation with our kids. There was a good balance of nites for Mel and I to go out alone vs. with the kids. Our 10th anniversary is Thanksgiving Week, and we are considering a cruise just the 2 of us won’t be Carnival – looking at RCCL or HAL.

 

 

Camp Carnival is great, those are the hardest working women on the ship, and they were awesome. There was one nite when they were a little quick with their fingers heading to the cell phones, but there was one little rebel rouser on our ship. We gave the women a nice tip at the end of the cruise. The talent show was cute, but not too many kids on our journey.

 

 

Food – I can’t personally comment on the food, because I did not eat in the DR enough. The Lido is adequate at best – I found the best food at the grill each afternoon – I had a cheeseburger at least every day from there, and the fries are great. N&N is definitely worth it. It’ll cost you less to eat there then in any retaurant in your town.

 

 

At some point, our pictures will be up… I will post them, I do have all the capers too, if you want them, you’d have to email me your address, when I get a chance to make copies of them, I will drop a set in the mail… jetsguy28@yahoo.com

 

 

I’d be happy to answer as many questions as you like, especially if your traveling with little kids.

 

 

Gary

 

 

 

 

Just found your review and found it very interesting. I had originally asked (long time ago) about the Miracle and Camp Carnival in particular for some friends sailing soon. Their cruise was delayed because of an injury but they are now good to go!

 

Where and when was the first meeting held for Camp Carnival info? If they don't attend can they still use the facilities or do the kids have to be registered the first day? Did you use Camp Carnival exclusively or did you need to use 'babysitting' services? During what times is Camp Carnival not available? Can children be left on the ship while in port?

 

O.K. enough questions! Whatever you have time for is greatly appreciated!

[jetsguy28]

As it relates to Camp Carnival.. You should go to that meeting on the first nite.. it's quite informative, and right after there is a dance party then ice cream for the families... my dd got to know a few of the other kids just from the dance party - which was in frankenstiens lab, the meeting was in the mad hatter? room on deck 1 but not sure.

 

after 10pm at nite, the babysitting services kick in... $6 1st kid $4 for each additional child... no more scheduled activities after 10pm... it really becomes a slumber party pretty much. we used this about 3 or 4 nites. one nite the women had a quick trigger finger and were calling a bunch of times, so we picked up the kids that nite... but i think there were a few rebel rousing kids there that nite.. the cc staff does a great job.

 

the camp closes for a couple of hours both before lunch and dinner - you can leave your kids there while you go in port - but we did not do that...

 

if you have any other questions - shoot me an email at jetsguy28@yahoo.com

 

GS

[Allison&Eric]

Was there alot for the kids to do? I am taking my stepson and I just want him to have the best time he can. He will be fine as long as there are video games.

 

Also, do you know at what age they stop giving out the cell phones for the kids. My stepson is (.