Miracle Review 1/17-1/25 2013

[splintz]

i was on the miracle on the same cruise on jan 17. i had a great time also. first cruise without my kids so it was a good time. i used the cheers program and definitely got my money worth. i didn't realize that week was a holiday week for the ny private Jewish schools so there were a lot of kids on the boat which i was not expected during this time of year.

 

i also had a extended balcony room #6263. i also read before i went on the cruise that the rooms were not heated. but our room was fine and warm. no problems.

 

i gambled every night and had a great time. if anyone has any questions about the cheers program on the miracle i will keep a watch on the thread and answer any questions.

[izzy19]

Hi Splintz, we are going in 9 days and are thinking of getting the cheers program...we got the package on a Celebrity ship and it was well worth it...was espresso included on the package or just coffee...

[seahorse]

Hi Splintz, we are going in 9 days and are thinking of getting the cheers program...we got the package on a Celebrity ship and it was well worth it...was espresso included on the package or just coffee...

Not Splintz:).......but got the Celebrity package and we are sooooo glad we did not get the one on the Miracle (just got back) no coffee, just the cheaper drinks and there was no nice bar to enjoy. We ordered a bottle , brought V8 juice and tonic.........saved a ship load of money.

 

The coffee is not too bad.....made from real ground coffee and was just strong enough.

[splintz]

Hi Splintz, we are going in 9 days and are thinking of getting the cheers program...we got the package on a Celebrity ship and it was well worth it...was espresso included on the package or just coffee...

 

no premium coffee is included at all! also no bottled water is included! soda is included and does not count towards your 15 alcoholic drink limit.

 

on the first day you can not purchase the program on the miracle until the ship is in international water which is around 6pm. i was trying to purchase the program around 1pm and was told to come back around 7pm. when i got to my room and looked at the fun times it stated that the program can be bought at 6pm. when i went to the lobby bar at 6pm to purchase the program before dinner i was told they were not in international water yet. when i questioned this the manager of the bar came over and said they have not received the go ahead from the head manager of bars that they can sell the program yet. but he did say we can order a drink and sign for it like you would normal, then when i purchased the program later all previous purchases would be factored in and show up as $0.00 on your sign and sail. he stated that all the bar purchases are reviewed at the end of the day then put on the sign and sail account. i was skeptical of this but wanted a drink for dinner so i bought one for my wife and i. as we were walking away the manger ran over to us and said we could now buy the cheers program, so we did and he took off the previous 2 drinks. also you have to purchase the program only in the lobby bar.

 

besides that we had a few minor problems, but it was more of a bad waitress problem. i decided to keep every bar receipt so i could add up the total cost i would have paid for the drinks and to be able to keep track of my drink count. i would play craps every night in the casino and on the first night my wife bought a glass of wine from the waitress. she received the wine, signed for it without really looking at the receipt and i put it in my pocket. later that night we were in the main theater waiting for the show to start so i was counting the receipts to see how many drinks we had so far. i looked at one of my wife receipt and noticed instead of a glass of wine which would be $0.00 the waitress charged her for a bottle of wine which would be 25% off so the $33 bottle of wine was charged to our account as $24.75. so we went back to the casino bar and had it taken off without a problem but we definitely really looked at every slip we signed after that.

 

a few nights later i met a really good bartender mona at the 3rd floor gotham bar outside the dinning hall. she worked dinner hours there between 5:30-9:30(go see her if you are on board she is great and would make us great drinks. she would also ask what alcohol we liked and would make drinks not on the menu) i asked her about the 15 drink cut off and she showed us the computer screen that showed exactly how many drinks you have had so far when she swiped the card. she also said that at 15 you can no longer order a drink not even if you pay for it. i asked her about how the tips were working out with the cheers program since you pay 15% on the total price of the package up front. she said all the bar tenders and waitress and waiters on the whole ship have all the tips from the cruise put into a pool and the divided out equally to all of them at the end of the cruise. i never knew that and i am not sure if that is the same on all the ships or just this one. she seemed to like the system.

 

a few nights later while in the casino again playing craps i ordered a beer from the same waitress i had problems with before. she came back gave me the beer and asked me to sign the receipt. of course now i have been looking at all the receipts when i sign for them and i was charged for the drink. i told her i was not paying for the drink and that i was on the cheers program. she stated i was probably over the limit and now had to pay for the drinks. i said no i was only at around 5 drinks and i know after talking to mona i couldn't even buy a drink if i was over the limit. so i looked at the receipt again and she had charged my drink to someone else by mistake and was trying to have me sign for a drink that some other poor guy would have bought for me. i told her that it wasn't me and showed her my folio# again and she went and corrected it. so i only had problems with the one waitress.

[izzy19]

Thanks so much Splintz...some good info there that I didn't know...such as the 6 pm thing...

[splintz]

Thanks so much Splintz...some good info there that I didn't know...such as the 6 pm thing...

 

no problem izzy19. for my wife and i it was worth it since we were traveling without the kids. i added it up when i got home and we saved over $600 between the both of us. my wife was drinking $9.75 glasses of wine or the classic cocktails which are i think $8.75. so they add up fast.

 

the cruise i was on they ran out of captain morgan on the second day which was not cool. (apparently to expensive to restock in NY they had to wait to get to port canavarel) i ordered the drink a couple of times and the bartender would substitute the captain morgan with bacardi oakheart which to me doesn't taste the same at all. i don't know why they wouldn't just tell you they were out and see if you wanted something else. when they did it i told them i wasn't drinking that and they took it off my bill. a couple of times my wife had a bad glass of wine(sitting open to long) and sent it back also no problems they just took it off the bill and got her something else. apparently they keep a bottle of wine open for 6 days then throw it out, but my wife is a wine connoisseur and can tell when it was not right.

 

i did not have any problems getting a drink on the program.(no one ignored me like some others have implied) some nights when i was in the casino or at the disco late at night i would tip the waitress or waiter a couple of dollars for the round which they seemed to appreciate. but i definitely did not feel obligated to give them an extra tip. no bartender or waitress or waiter pressured us or made us feel guilty for not tipping extra. since all the tips go into the pool they seemed happy. not sure if they make less with tips now then before.