Miracle Review 5/15/05

[destinydog]

Saturday 5/14/05:

 

 

Arrive at the jet blue terminal AT JFK airport in New York; the terminal is great tons of different restaurants as well as a few play areas for the kids that had large TV’s with cartoons on them. The check in was excellent, quick and very easy. Security was very tight but that is welcomed at this time. Our flight departed on time, was smooth as could be and we landed in Tampa on time. Jet Blue is great!

 

 

Once in Tampa we quickly hustled to the baggage claim, our bags arrived very quickly and we headed outside where we were met by our limo, it was an 18 passenger excursions from Patriot Limo(www.serviceaboveall.com ), very affordable and very good service. There were 11 adults, 2 infants and 23 bags, but we all fit easily!

 

 

We stayed at the courtyard by Marriott down town, it was 2 miles form the port but was a bit cheaper and they offer free shuttles to the port, as well as to any location within two miles of the hotel.

 

 

At night we decided to walk to the port for dinner, there is a benigans there which features the best strawberry daiquiris and long island iced teas I have ever had, dinner was great! The shuttle picked us up and took us back to the hotel.

 

 

Sunday 5/15/05:

 

 

We decided since we had s much luggage that the 4 men in the group would get up and take the shuttle to the port with the luggage at 9:30 am. The driver advised us he would have to leave us off in the parking garage since people were still disembarking, but we were fine with that. We were there by 9:45, and were just sitting there with our bags waiting, the rest of our party arrived by 10:30. One member of the group went across the street and got two porters and they came and quickly took our luggage and advised us where to wait for the doors to open. By 10:45 we were inside the port waiting to go through the metal detectors. This process went extremely quickly and by 11:15 we were sitting in the waiting area with SS Cards in hand waiting to board. At about 11:45 boarding began and we were amongst the second group to board so we were on the ship by 12:00. All in all the port of Tampa was great, the people running the metal detectors were not the friendliest, nor the sharpest group of people but other then that the port was great. I would go so far as to say it was the best experience I have ever had with boarding and this was my third cruise all from different ports.

 

 

Upon boarding the boat we quickly went to the purser’s desk and asked for our balcony barrier to be unlocked, we were lucky enough to be first on the list so she informed us it will be done before tomorrow night. We then headed up to the lido deck for some much needed lunch. The food was good as usual and we all were glad to be onboard. After lunch we headed to the spa, the girls booked seaweed wrap massages for the following day, our first day at sea. After the spa we headed to our cabins and luckily they were ready so we could drop off some bags. We met our cabin steward, gave him a very nice tip(which didn’t seem to affect any service), checked out the balconies, and changed into bathing suits for some pool time. We headed to the pool, water was very cold, but coming from New Jersey just being bale to swim was a welcomed treat, the kids loved it!

 

 

After lounging by the pool we quickly rushed down to get changed for the muster drill, the carnival staff was excellent during this drill and ran it very smoothly and efficiently. We then headed up to the sun deck to celebrate leaving departing Tampa. Much to our surprise it was boring, we had left from Miami and San Juan in the past which was like a giant party, but this was very boring…so we headed down to our rooms to see if any luggage had arrived.

 

 

Luckily we got all of our bags quickly so we were able to unpack and get ready for dinner

 

In the dinning room at 5:45.

 

 

Upon entering the dining room we were quickly taken to our table, it was nice round table near the front of the dining room near the staircase, which was nice because we could park our two strollers under the staircase and they would not be in anyone’s way. This first night at dinner defined the level of service we would receive all week. Our head waiter was Patrick and his Assistant was named Joanna, they were two of the finest servers we had ever encountered and together we had collectively been on more then 10 cruises. Keep in mind we were traveling with two infants one who was 17 months old and one who was two. The first night at dinner they were both exhausted from traveling, and the two year old was falling asleep at the table, the assistant waiter, Joanna jumped into action and turned two chairs into a small make shift bed, had us lay the child on them then she covered him with two dinner napkins so he wouldn’t get cold. This set the standard for our servers, every night they catered to the children, if one of the children were acting up when our meal was served, Patrick our head waiter would take the child and carry them around as he visited all his other tables. The 2 year old became the hit of the dinning room, and would receive visits each night from the matrede as well as the assistant matre de. In my opinion this was fantastic, these two people genuinely cared about us, each night after dinner they would hug and kiss us good bye. They were the best and our comment cards and tips showed how much we appreciated the extra steps they took to make us enjoy the trip!

 

 

This being very busy day we popped in the casino for a few minutes, then the wives took the kids to bed while a few of us went off to the piano bar. The piano bar was nice, assistant cruise director Karl with a “K” came in and we played some trivia and did some drinking. We headed off to bed by about 1 am.

 

 

MONDAY 5/16/05:

 

 

We got up early since the girls had 8:30 am spa treatments and headed up to the lido deck for breakfast. Breakfast was good as usual and the girls headed of to the spa so we took the kids to the pool. They were loving it and we were chasing them around when a security guard stopped me and told me there was children’s pool on board and we could let the kids run around in there and just keep an eye on them and not have to hold there hands all day. We quickly headed there, and he was right, the kiddie pool was fenced in, and was all padded, so all we did was sit on the edge of the pool and the kids were free to play, needles to say they loved it! Unfortunately since it was so early in the morning the breeze was cold and we didn’t stay all that long.

 

 

The girls opted for the seaweed wrap. They were covered with a seaweed scrub and then covered in foil wrap and a blanket. As the seaweed starts detoxing your muscles your body starts getting really cold. (The reasoning behind the foil wrap and thick blanket over you) As your body is wrapped up the masseuse gives you a foot massage and scalp massage. After this you shower. The shower is located in the same room. Then you come out and lay on the table again. Then they apply something else and as soon as you are all relaxed you have to get up and shower again. Then after that you lie on the table and receive your full or half body massage depending on how much you paid for. They only opted for the half body and with tip it was 200.

 

 

We spent most of this day at the pool, but headed down to the cabin at about 3:30 to begin getting ready for our first formal night. Dinner went well, we stopped and had our pictures taken a bunch of times, and still managed o have the tuxedos off by about 8:30. On this night we discovered one of the most important parts of the trip as well as we met the most important person on the trip. We discovered the babysitting service open from 10:00pm till 3:00am, and met the babysitter named Bernice. This service was great, they gave us a cordless phone to carry around incase anything happened while on board, and allowed us to keep it the whole trip even when the kids weren’t there. We decided we would put the kids to sleep and wheel them to camp carnival in there strollers and just allow them to sleep there while we went out. This plan worked very well, a few times the kids woke up, but Bernice was able to get them back to sleep. I still maintain she was the most important crew member on board!

 

 

With the kids fast asleep we headed to the piano bar! This would be come our daily routine. We became friendly with the piano player as well as a group of people who also went there every night, so this became where we went till it closed, then as a group we would head to the club, everyone was included even the piano player. I was surprised since I have never seen this before but a lot of the staff hung out in the bars and clubs, this was cool because we got to know them and they were fun, but I had never seen it before. The bars and clubs were never really busy as I guess there were not a lot of young people on this cruise. I have heard stories of the piano bars being filled up, but on this ship the bar had at the most 10 people in it, maybe it was the piano player, maybe it was the passengers I don’t know. The piano player was not great but it was fun to sit there and sing along. Had it not been for the passengers making it a good time it think the bar would have been empty.

 

 

Frankenstein’s was a pretty interesting club, the music was got good at about 2 am, and we were able to dance for about eh next 40 minutes till it was time to get the children from camp carnival. On this night we headed to bed at about 2:00 am, because three of us were due to go on the stingray city tour in Grand Cayman and we needed to be in the lounge at 7:00 am.

 

 

 

Tuesday 5/17/05 Grand Cayman

 

 

Well we started this day out early, we met in the Phantom Lounge by 6:45 for our excursion; stingray sandbar tour. It was a 7:30 excursion. Three of us went. We tendered to the port then followed a guide to a bus. The bus ride was about 10-15 minutes long. You could really see the damage the hurricane did to the island. There were hotels and other buildings that hadn’t been fixed. Many of the trees had seen better days. And because of all the vehicles they lost there were many new cars. We went on the boat and traveled about 30 minutes to the sandbar and 10 minutes of it listened to our guide explain about the stingrays and how to feed them and such. This was our second time doing this excursion in Grand Cayman. The water was cold getting in especially so early in the morning. We were the first boat there and you could see the giant stingrays under the surface of the water about to surround us. This was there first feeding of the day and they were really happy to see us. They were pushing people and rubbing against them but calmed down after they started being fed. The water was about a good foot higher than the last time we went. This is still a great experience we fed them and held them and posed for pictures kissing them. The digital pictures the boat staff took were $15 per picture and they gave it to you on a disk. The experience was good.

 

 

We then ventured back to the pier where we took a cab ride to the beach. We went to Sea grape beach which is part of 7 – mile beach. It was free to get in but 10 for a chair. Which was fine with us. This was a beautiful beach, there were not many people on the beach so it was great. We swam in the crystal clear water and did some quick snorkeling. There were wave runners to rent which we did and it was awesome, unfortunalty one of the wave runners broke down, but they offered us more time because of it but we refused as we had to get back to the boat. The wave runners here were a bit more expensive then other places but it was worth it to ride in this crystal clear water. They also had other non motorized water toys you could rent. There were bathrooms and showers to use as well. There was a place to order food from as well. This was a little pricey but our kids had to eat and everywhere in Grand Cayman is expensive. This was still the most beautiful beach and clearest water I have ever seen. I would go back to this very beach in a heartbeat.

 

 

 

Wednesday 5/18/05 Costa Maya

 

 

We docked at 10:00am and we quickly got of f the boat and made the long walk down the pier. We found a tour center and for $25.00 we were able to get open bar, lunch and use of the beach… in the town of Majahual. When we arrived the people were very nice and the area was easy to find.. We setup shop at a few tables,. Got some drinks and headed for the water. The beach was not very nice, the water was clear and warm, and however there were tons of these sea creatures that float around and sting, so we didn’t spend much time in the water. We rented wave runners for 1 hour for 60 bucks each, which was a great price, but 1 hour turned out to be like 45 minutes, but we were still happy and left pleased. All the people in this village were nice, it was a bit annoying how they kept reminding you that it was ok to tip them, but never the less it was fun. I would not recommend going t the beach here however…we spent half the day there and wished we would have stayed at the port. At the port they have a rather nice bar are and pool. This area was great! After the beach we went there and swam and had some drinks, as we wished we had been there all day. Mujahual was nice to visit but I would recommend just walking around there and then heading back to the port if you want to swim. We found the people here pretty friendly, yet they were constantly trying to lure you into there shops, also, watch them on pricing of items because they constantly would flip flop back and forth between prices. We threatened to walk away several times and got the prices dropped significantly. We tried to buy a bracelet for the 2 year old, at first they wanted $15, we said no walked away, he then said $8, we walked and he then gave it to us for $5, but kept hounding us for a tip, which we refused.

 

 

Some members of our party decided to go to the Mayan Ruins. I had booked them a tour with David and Ivan from http://www.chacchobenruins.com. On our day at sea these people went to the carnival talk on the shore excursions and came back to me and said they were not going to go on this tour anymore. I got mad and made it clear that they would be screwing over this guy, who was an honest business man if they didn’t take the tour they had me book for them. So they decided they would take the tour even though they didn’t want to. I ran into them at the port after there tour and they were all raving about how it was the best experience they have ever had. They claimed Ivan and David were the best guides, there trip was much better then people who went on carnivals trip and it was also much cheaper. They have been raving about the tour ever since and claim it is not to be missed if ever we were to visit Costa Maya Again. Good thing we didn’t allow them to cancel!

 

 

Thursday 5/19/05 Cozumel

 

 

We went to Playa Mia formerly Playa de sol. We did this on our own and

 

Not through Carnival because of price. Carnival's includes the open bar and we weren't interested in that so we just paid $12 for a basic package, and took a cab tot eh beach , it was $30.00 for the taxi for all 9 of us. The $12.00 included the pool (freshwater), use of non motorized water toys, hammocks, beach chairs. We did have to rent an umbrella for $5. We got of the boat by 8:30 am so we were the first people to arrive here for the day, so we had our choice of beach chairs. This day was perfect. Beautiful beach, and great weather. This is our second time to this place. And we are never sorry and never any regrets. There is also a restaurant here but we didn't eat at it. We decided to leave the beach by about 12:00 as the place started to get very busy and we wanted to have lunch on the boat and get showered before we went of the boat shopping. We went back to the boat for lunch then after lunch came back to do our shopping at the pier. We were able to get some decent deals on jewelry at the port as well as perfume and cologne. The prices on the perfume and cologne were the same as on the boat but they had a much larger selection. The only problem with this were the sales people work on commission, so they were constantly trying to help 10 people at once and always wanted to hold your products so someone else couldn’t ring you up. Another I found interesting was the drug store at the port, they sold prescription drugs over the counter. They ahd everything, *****, penicillin, amoxicillin. A lot of people were taking advantage of this. This port has changed drastically since I was last there 3 years ago, it has been built into a very nice area. Another highly recommended stop.

 

 

 

Friday 5/20/05 Belize

 

 

On this day we decided not to leave the boat, not because of the negative things we head about Belize but because we were just all so tired from the previous 3 days. Some people from our party decided to tender in and do some shopping. They stayed there for a few hours and came back and reported to us that Belize was wonderful, they claimed to have gotten some food deals on jewelry and such and claimed to love Belize. While we stayed on board the girls decided to get another message, they opted for just eh regular full body massage. They claim this is the best massage they have ever gotten, anywhere in the world.

 

 

Saturday 5/21/05

 

 

On this day we mainly lounged around the pool, finished purchasing pictures, went on the waterslide, played in the kiddie pool and packed. Nothing Exciting.

 

 

Sunday 5/22/05

 

 

Debarkation: This ship had something they called “relaxed debarkation”. I guess it means after the priority people get off, they just say you are free to leave as you please. We ate breakfast on the lido deck, watched TV in our room and decided at 9:00 am to leave, we made our way to the lobby and walked off the ship with no line what so ever. Gathered a porter got the luggage, walked through customs handed them the customs form and we were out of the port within 10 minutes.

 

 

The good things:

 

• Dinning staff was the best ever!
  
• Ship was excellent!
  
• Piano bar was a lot of fun!
  
• Drinks were plentiful
  
• $10.00 waterproof watch I bought in the carnival shop
  
• Port of Tampa
  
• Relaxed Debarkation
  
• The staff
  

 

The bad:

 

• Activities director “Sam” was rather annoying
  
• Having to get off the boat after only 7 days
  
• The rude passenger who decided if you stood up out of your chair to take an infant to the covered table area, 5 feet from the lounge chair, to feed them, that It was ok to throw your towel on the ground and use the lounge chair.
  

 

We didn’t have much dealing with Mark the CD or Karl the Assistant CD. Both seemed to enjoy making asses of themselves, but we had no interactions really so it was neither here nor there.

 

 

Some members of our group went to Nick and Nora’s super club, they claimed it was the best they had ever eaten and well worth every penny. Keep in mind this is coming from a highly critical bunch who would go to the pursers desk to debate a charge for $.50.

 

 

 

 

Any questions ask away~!

[LisaDoesEarth]

Great review! I was on the Miracle the week before you and I bet we had the same "round" table. 211? Patrick and Joanna were great. They both hugged all of us goodbye and were great with my sister's daughter and took a lot of care for my mother-in-law who was in a wheelchair. I've been on about nine cruises (seven with Carnival) and they have been the best dining room team that I ever encountered. There were a few slip ups, but there friendly attitude made everything a pleasure. I also tried the slip the steward something in the beginning for better service, but it was just standard. No complaints, it was good, but nothing spectacular.

[destinydog]

table 211 is correct!

 

It sucked for two nights joanna was ill and not at work so some oither girl filled in..she was no match for joanna! Patrick was great...as a team they deserve an award...we definatly marked them on our comment card!

[LisaDoesEarth]

table 211 is correct!

 

It sucked for two nights joanna was ill and not at work so some oither girl filled in..she was no match for joanna! Patrick was great...as a team they deserve an award...we definatly marked them on our comment card!

 

I thought so. The Captain's table was very near 211, but he only ate there on the first formal night. I gave them special kudo's on their sale and sign as they were wonderful. Joanna was especially good with recommending beaches to us. Not rocky and not too crowded. We even ran into her and her boyfriend at one on her day off.

[destinydog]

We Didnt See The Captaint Here Once...we Did See An Empty Table Kind Of Behind Us For The Whole Week, Kind Of A Round Maybe Oblong Table!

 

Could That Be It?

[Lemarier]

Great Review - thanks for sharing. We leave on the Miracle on 7/24. :)

[destinydog]

i will post a link to the 850 pictures we took a sometime today!