Hawaii Cruise on Carnival Miracle

[Jackytar]

Haven't even done my first cruise yet, but Herself is already making noises about a Hawaii trip. I see that in September, Carnival Miracle's doing a 16-day that sails from Vancouver BC, spends 5 days in the islands, then fetchs up in Long Beach, CA.

 

Anyone with previous experience of this passage? I'd welcome your thoughts.

[champagne123]

I did it round trip from Long Beach. We loved EVERY second of it.

[Taters]

We did it round trip from Los Angeles 10 years ago on the Island Princess and we've booked that itinerary again for this coming December on Miracle, sailing round trip from Long Beach. Can't wait! We love the days at sea coming and going and of course, those days in the islands are amazing! I can't say anything bad about my previous cruise to Hawaii.

[Therese S.]

We've sailed 3 times now roundtrip from LA/Long Beach to Hawaii. Once on Princess and twice on Carnival. Would love to try Princess again, but for some reason they dropped Kona as a port. Been waiting for Carnival to release the Fall 2015/2016 Hawaii cruises, looking forward to sailing again for the 4th time.

 

It's our most favoirte cruise. Love It, It's Paradise :)

[MissKIA]

There are A LOT of seas days. I thought I wouldn't mind that many, but I did get bored I hate to say. I don't think my husband minded too much, since he is perfectly happy to just sit around all day and watch tv, but I can't do that. It would have been better if we had nicer weather on the sea days, but it was never nice enough to lounge out on deck and soak up the sun. It was cold, windy and rainy for most of the sea days. (and I am from Canada, a little cold doesn't scare me) We played lots of trivia & saw lots of shows. We watched A LOT of Law & Order. lol We had a big roll call and lots of activities planned which definitely break up the days, but most of the activities were during the first half of the cruise. It was really the last 4 of 5 days where we were ready to get off. Every morning I would wake up and think "only __ more days". :o

 

That being said, I don't really discourage taking this cruise, we enjoyed it and are glad we did it. It was definitely an experience. It's funny, by the end of the cruise you recognize everyone around the ship. We had nicknames for all kinds of people we saw every day..:D It's a nice community kind of feel. Just keep in mind all of those sea days. It would be better if they were broken up, but obviously that is not an option.

 

Hawaii was beautiful and we loved it! We saw whales and dolphins every day off the ship on the days that we were in and around Hawaii. We are planning on a land vacation there next year so we can experience it some more. We are going to Kona since we missed that port (which added another unexpected sea day at the beginning of our trek back.)

 

I say go for it! Just be prepared and maybe bring some books or games to keep you occupied for all of the down time.

[Jackytar]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I'm not too worried about the sea days; 25+ years in the Navy have taught me how to keep myself amused at sea :) Mainly trying to get info on what people thought of the alongside time - enough? too much? too little? - and generally the quality of service and so forth on Carnival ships. Nothing but naval service to compare them with so far, but the first trip (just a bit over a month) is on the QM2, so that will no doubt influence my future perceptions :)

[Cushing985]

We did a R/T out of San Diego on the Spirit in 2012 and can't think of a bad thing to say about it. The weather was cool the first couple of days out that minimized deck time but it was so worth it. I love sea days and just being able to do anything...no email, no internet makes the trip so worthwhile. If relaxing for 15 days is your kind of dream (as it is mine) then go for it.

[CRUZBUDS]

We've done 8 or 9 Hawaii cruises. They are the best. We love sea days and Hawaii!

 

Aloha! :)

[flahagan]

We did the 15-nt Miracle cruise Vancouver - Hawaii - Long Beach last September and it was the roughest seas we've ever encountered. We thought it was sort of fun at first, but after days of not being able to go on an outside deck and having to hold on to furniture and people's shoulders to walk through the MDR, it got a little tiresome.

Out of all those sea days, (9 or 10, I've lost count), we had only 3 that were doable to be out on the decks, and even then it was so windy you had to hold on to your things for dear life to keep everything from blowing overboard.

We've done transatlantics and Med cruises and never experienced anything like this. It was a unique experience but I wouldn't do it again. Just my opinion.

[minniegidget]

I did the round trip out of San Diego about 5 1/2 years ago. It was one of the best cruise that I have ever done. A lot of people were telling me that by the time I got off the ship the last day I would be kissing the ground, but they were wrong. I loved the days at sea. I am waiting for the 2015/2016 season to open up so I can book it again.

[GranysT]

I also did the round trip, out of San Diego, on Spirit in 2012. We had a great roll call group, and lots of activities. But, the weather, both going over and coming back, was pretty rough. This was in April of 2012, and usually the weather is much better. It was cool and windy, most days, and most nights they had the doors blocked, and weren't letting anyone out on deck. Because of winds. Thank goodness, the weather was great while in Hawaii.

 

I just got off the Indy, this past April 26, and the sea was so calm all week. You had to look at the water, to believe you were actually moving.

 

I know you can't predict weather, you just pay your money and hope for the best. BUT, if it was me, I would seriously reconsider doing the Hawaii cruise in September. That tends to be one of the worst months, for hurricane's. I would advoid both Aug and Sept actually.

[eliminnowp]

Not sure if you heard, but the Carnival Miracle is currently experiencing an engine problem that they aren't fixing until a drydock in 2015. There is an article about it in the news section - it was announced mid-April. We are booked on it in June and they've cancelled one of our port days due to the propulsion problem.

[MissKIA]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I'm not too worried about the sea days; 25+ years in the Navy have taught me how to keep myself amused at sea :) Mainly trying to get info on what people thought of the alongside time - enough? too much? too little? - and generally the quality of service and so forth on Carnival ships. Nothing but naval service to compare them with so far, but the first trip (just a bit over a month) is on the QM2, so that will no doubt influence my future perceptions :)

 

We had great service on the ship. Our waitstaff was the best we've ever had.

 

We had plenty of time in port each day. We were in most ports from morning to night - although we go into Maui, which was our first port, a few hours late because of the storm we sailed into the previous day.

 

Everything about the cruise was great other than the weather and my boredom of the sea days. It wasn't anything that Carnival did. The lunch offerings on the Miracle aren't as good as on some of the ships, especially those with 2.0 upgrades. That would probably one thing that could have been better, but there was still plenty to choose from.

[SadieN]

The Hawaii cruises haven't been affected by the propulsion problem. Spoke to friends on the just completed HI cruise on the Miracle. They had no idea that there was a problem.

[K&P Luv2Cruise]

The Hawaii cruises haven't been affected by the propulsion problem. Spoke to friends on the just completed HI cruise on the Miracle. They had no idea that there was a problem.

 

I so agree with SadieN...we just disembarked the Miracle on April 28th in Vancouver, and we didn't see anything wrong with the propulsion...Captain Vito kept it at a steady 19 or 20 knots and we were not delayed getting into any port, nor did we miss any.

 

Our weather was decent, but the seas were a little rough and it was cool. They did have the cover over the Lido pool with the stage, and it was warm enough in there to enjoy the pools should you wish. Some decks were affected by the high winds, so they were closed every now and then. Weather on the islands was good, with mostly sunny skies and warm temps.

 

We did find that while we were in port(s) all day, it wasn't quite long enough to see everything. We had an overnight in Maui (8am Day 1 to 6pm Day 2), and had rented a car in this port...this allowed us to tour the coastal highway up to the north coast on the west side of the island, attend a Luau of our choosing, and the second day we took a trip up to the crater and then over to the Iao Valley near the ship.

 

While the sea days did not bother us, as our roll call had lots of activities planned plus those done by the ship during the day and evening, we went prepared with our books/e-reader and we played cribbage and yahtzee on our own.

 

The Spirit Class of ships are our favourite, and specifically the Miracle (6x for me). We had also done Miracle's 15 Day repositioning cruise from New York to Long Beach, and loved it so much we booked Hawaii a couple weeks after that cruise.

 

I too would be leary of sailing during the September period, and to me even December would be iffy (given that this past January's cruise had less than stellar weather).

 

Wishing you a great sailing in a few weeks, and hopefully you get to Hawaii as well.

Edited May 8, 2014 by K&P Luv2Cruise

[MammaMia619]

For K&P Luv2Cruise...

Sounds like you are very experienced on the Miracle ship. Please explain why you would be leery about the September cruise. That is the one we are taking our family to Hawaii on in a month... just wondering what we should be prepared for.

 

Also... do you know what drinks are included if you don't buy any kind of drink package? Is juice an option?

 

Thanks!

Edited August 16, 2014 by MammaMia619

[SadieN]

KP was leery about the weather.

 

Juices are available in the morning in the buffet and MDR. Hot Coffee, Hot Tea, Iced Tea, Lemonade, Hot Chocolate are all available.

 

Carnival allows 12 20oz bottles of non alcoholic drinks and 750ml bottle of wine to be carried on at embarkation. We bring on a few water bottles, Sunkist and A&W.

 

Also they allow non alcoholic beverages to be brought onboard at any port. Alcoholic beverages will be held for you til the end of the cruise.

[mumofsons]

We did the Vancouver to LA last September - we count it as one of the best cruises we have ever done. I do love sea days, and we had a great CC - group and had many organized meetings and many sat together for dinners. We also had excursions that people organized so it was fantastic!

It was quite cool for the first few days. I don't think there was anything that disappointed us at all. The check in in Vancouver was probably the easiest one we have had.

Vancouver is a beautiful city - we spent a couple of days touring and took in a BC Lions game. (just realized that you are from BC - so you wouldn't be touring there:0!)

 

Since you are waiting for your first cruise experience - you may want to wait to see if you like being on the ship for an extended period.

Good Luck!

Edited August 16, 2014 by mumofsons

[MammaMia619]

KP was leery about the weather.

 

Juices are available in the morning in the buffet and MDR. Hot Coffee, Hot Tea, Iced Tea, Lemonade, Hot Chocolate are all available.

 

Carnival allows 12 20oz bottles of non alcoholic drinks and 750ml bottle of wine to be carried on at embarkation. We bring on a few water bottles, Sunkist and A&W.

 

Also they allow non alcoholic beverages to be brought onboard at any port. Alcoholic beverages will be held for you til the end of the cruise.

 

Thanks so much for the info SadieN!! Good things to know!