Carnival Miracle July 15th- Our Dream Cruise!

[lostaddict]

I wanted to write up a review of this fantastic cruise- I've never posted pictures before, but I will try once the review is posted. :) I was very involved in the ship's activities as well as most of the ports, so I have a lot to talk about!

 

My family and I (a group of 17 of us!) just returned from the July 15th Miracle voyage to Alaska. This cruise was a gift to the family from my parents-in-law. How lucky we all were! My own family unit traveled with me and my DH, twin 14 year olds and my four year old daughter. We drove up to Seattle from CA.

 

SEATTLE- The weather in Seattle was incredible, if not a little too hot. A few highlights of the trip:

 

A walk through Capitol Hill- We took a lovely walk through the Capitol Hill section of the city, which had some great food, and very interesting people watching. I was visiting friends, and when it was time to go back to the hotel, I used the "Lyft" app, on the iphone, which was awesome- someone in a pink mustachioed car picks you up for less than a taxi. A lot of fun and much more conversational than a taxi.

 

Seattle Center- We did a lot here- Space Needle, EMP Museum (this is a MUST if you love music. A Nirvana exhibit, Jimi Hendrix memorabilia, and upstairs you can play instruments and sing on a mic. For me, heaven.) We also "rode the ducks" which is an amphibious tour bus that also tours lake union. It was relaxing and entertaining- well worth the money!

 

Pike Market- This was an interesting, colorful and crowded place to visit. There's a fun little arcade on the pier to waste time at, as well as fish-throwers and shops galore. Not to mention the very first Starbucks EVER. For the coffee aficionados, this is a real treat.

 

Things I learned about where to stay:

If you stay by the airport, it might not be a nice area. Likewise, this time of year, the city is a huge hotel cost. Bellevue is a nice middleman that has nice hotels at a lesser cost. I wish now that I'd not booked an airport hotel. We stayed at "America's Best Value Airport" and OH DEAR- it was awful. That's a review for a different day though. :p

 

 

I'll continue on with embarkation day and more on the next post. :)

[lostaddict]

Arriving at the pier around 11am, it was clear to see that there is no need to purchase Faster to the Fun for this cruise. We didn't, and I'm glad. They have their "stuff" together, and are able to move people through the embarkation process rather quickly.

 

However, I will say to my smuggling friends- Seattle Embarkation folks are SERIOUS about the alcohol. My two bottles of wine were noted in my carry-on and I was summarily grilled about the contents of those bottles- they were shaken... for what? Maybe to look for bubbles that would show up in a stronger liquid? Who knows. Either way, if you plan to smuggle, better get creative. :p

 

We very smoothly got onto the ship and began to enjoy our customary Lido Deck burger and FunShip special. We've learned quickly that if you don't have a drink placed in front of you, every Lido waiter will approach your table about every 5 seconds. But boy are those drinks good!

 

We took a spa tour, which was very quick- and unfortunately didn't win the raffle. We never did return to the spa, although I might have liked a facial.

Muster Drill was an absolute breeze, and after 8 cruises, this one was handled the most quickly and efficiently.

 

The Welcome Aboard show was awesome. Because honestly, John Heald was like 90% of the reason we were excited for this cruise. However, I was a little disappointed to see today that John's used the Dick and Anita Little joke on previous cruises. We met these "actors" and their Sail and Sign cards actually had those names... what's the deal with this? Oh well... it was still comedy, but I wish it had been unplanned.

 

to be continued...

[clanwrynn]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are going on the 26th of August. Do you have your fun times? Could you post or scan to me?

[lostaddict]

Clanwrynn- congrats on your upcoming cruise! I'm sure the weather will be just as gorgeous for you!

 

Sadly I didn't keep any of my Fun Times- but I do remember a lot of them. Like I said, I was getting myself involved with all of the activities so I can pretty much remember what was happening on the ship- ask me anything! :)

[lostaddict]

The food:

 

I have very few complaints about the food, save for a few. Number one, breakfast was an awful disappointment, specifically on the Lido. Carnival, please take note: your scrambled eggs are not ok. I think I died a little bit trying to eat them. And please don't think I didn't notice you took the panko-encrusted boiled eggs off the menu. Those were a true joy.

 

Outside of that, meals were enjoyable. Pizza was better than it's been in the past, and meals were well prepared. I had hoped that American Table/Feast would have been featured in the MDR, but no, same old, same old. I will say though, our wonderful, wonderful waitstaff went above and beyond for our group. Some highlights were the Bitter and Blanc, Chateaubriand. Some not-so-good... the fried chicken and the redfish. And after an Alaskan cruise, I can safely say that my love affair with salmon is over. Too much of that!

 

Tea Time was an absolute joy- 3 seperate days on the cruise and wonderful treats!

 

I also recommend the the Taste Bar- we got to try quite a few of the foods featured on other ships. A personal highlight was the Pumpkin Bisque... delicious! However, I will say that I miss the sushi bar quite a bit.

 

I won't lie- my family and I were some gluttons on this cruise. My son admitted to having 45 hot chocolates in 7 days. My husband and I once treated ourselves to "pre-dinner hamburgers". And of course, my wonderful waitress brought me two of my favorite desserts. That, sadly, ended up in a very bad tummy ache, but it was soooooo worth the effort. :)

 

More to come on the ports...

[clanwrynn]

Leslie

Sounds fun so far. Can you upload your fun times for the cruise?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[twinmom38]

leaving on this cruise, Aug 12.. anxiously waiting for the restt :)

[cruises42]

leaving on this cruise, Aug 12.. anxiously waiting for the restt :)

 

Looking forward to hearing more. We go next week!

[vrock]

Cannot wait to read your review we are going next month. So excited.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying the report.

 

Keith

[lostaddict]

Sorry for the delay- had a few days of needed rest and haven't been back to my computer. So... on to the ports! :)

 

Tracy Arm Fjord- We did not take the excursion for this port. I spoke to some who did, and they all called it incredible. However, having not gone on the excursion, I can say it was incredible being on the ship as well. We went very slowly through the passage, with most of the guests relaxing up on the 10th deck, enjoying many of the "special" alcoholic coffees they had to offer. (There's quite a few options- I recommend one of the special hot chocolates!)

We were treated to sights of Eagles, Humpback Whales, small icebergs, and ribbon waterfalls cascading down down the surrounding mountings. The naturalist was on the speaker much of the time pointing out wildlife. Very enjoyable day!

 

Skagway- We went back and forth on whether to purchase an excursion for this port. Most of the offered excursions require a passport as you venture across the Canadian border (by train). Since we didn't have ours, we were somewhat limited. Instead, we chose to take the 15 minute walk into town (and you may notice a restaurant featuring King Crab to your right, this is an excellent choice!! A little pricey for the crab but well worth it).

One thing I would recommend for those wishing to take the "Brothel Tour". It's not worth paying the Ship's prices. It's only $10, you pay at the cashier and they lead tours at intervals. Hands down, one of the best part of the ports for us. We learned a lot about the woman's way of life in those days and had some laughs as well. (And you get the free garter with the $10 tour!)

 

Juneau- DH and I purchased the Best of Juneau tour for ourselves and Glacier Sea Kayaking for the twins.

For Best of Juneau, it was well worth it. We began with a ride to Mendenhall, with 1 hour to hike to the waterfall, or sightsee from the visitor center. It was magnificent! You get quite close to the glacier. We then rode to the pier to take a long whale watching excursion. It was a lucky day for us, and we got to witness NINE Humpbacks doing something called "Bubble Net Feeding" (Google this!) and saw all 9 breeching at once. We then finished up with a salmon/chicken lunch at a lodge on the beach. I absolutely recommend this!

The twins didn't fare as well. For those purchasing "Glacier Sea Kayaking", the description is misleading. You don't come close to the glacier at all, and in fact, my SIL reported this issue (along with quite a few other guests) to the Guests Services desk on the ship. The description of the tour given by the ship is MUCH different from the one given by the tour company and they showed no concern for changing it. Money not well spent.

 

Victoria- Sadly, there's not much I can say for Victoria. After all of the fun had in Alaska, we were exhausted. We ended up going out to the pier gift shop for our requisite goodies (aka "Maple Caramels" and lots of 'em!) and back to the ship.

[lostaddict]

The activities on the ship were a lot of fun. One of the biggest concerns I hear from people regarding cruising is that there's not enough to do on the ships. I'm one that prefers to have lots of organized activities, but there's those that like to relax as well. There's definitely opportunity for both.

 

My family and I are all trivia nerds- you will find no shortage of it on this ship. The entertainment staff on this ship are hands down the best I've ever had. They have Super Trivia, which is done over four seperate days on the cruise, and is a team effort, with lots of competition.

 

Some of our family members went to the cooking demonstration and loved it. There's also some entertaining opportunities with John Heald. We especially loved his Fun Ashore talk, as well as cigars under the stars evening. I made a fool of myself with that one, having never smoked a cigar before- they have a long menu of cigars to choose from, and of course I chose the fattest one. John himself had to approach me to help light my cigar, as I was completely helpless. :D Still a wonderful evening.

 

I was very pleased with the karaoke scene, however it's just not what it used to be. There was no trace of Superstar Karaoke, and they seemed to change the venue and times on a daily basis. It's a shame that they no longer have actual Karaoke hosts, but the Social Hosts do a good job. It would be nice if they would have a cutoff time for children, however. It usually states "adult karaoke" in the Fun Times but it's not enforced. I had to listen to a lot of accapella church songs and I was more in the mood for something a little more upbeat. :cool:

 

The casino didn't treat me as well as I'd like, but the guy that plays guitar in the casino? Amazing. He was pretty much able to pull off any request, and interacted well with the guests. The bar staff at the casino was the best on ship as well. For instance, you could walk up to them and ask for something random (aka not on the menu) and you wouldn't get the blank stare that so much of the staff offer you when asked to think outside of the box. They would just make you and awesome drink and continue the party.

 

My least favorite bar was the Atrium. They'd listed the "Spicy Mango Margarita" in the Fun Times, in THAT bar, and when I asked, they actually had to CALL someone to find out how to make it. Come to find out, it's not a "spicy" drink. It's a "spiced" drink, using spiced rum. And here I was thinking "Habenero". Suffice it to say though, I was clear about what kind of drink I wanted, they had the tools, but just couldn't make it.

 

The ship had all of the other things we've come to love (or perhaps not love) about Carnival. The Men's Hairy Chest, Ice Carving demo, ect. There was even a hypnotist, who did an excellent job. While I'm always skeptical, I was very entertained. Aside from the Dick and Anita Little debacle, (which I'm still a little sore about, clearly), this was the best time I've had in eight cruises.

[lostaddict]

So one final post for this review, and then I will make an attempt to post some pictures soon- I'm not tech saavy, so we'll see.

 

So my final comments are on Camp Carnival, and Debarkation.

 

I've used Camp Carnival all of my eight cruises, first with the twins, and now with the little one. The amount and quality of activities they offer get better and better, and I can see they put a lot of focus into giving these kids a good cruise.

With that being said, I had a few issues. I felt the staff was a bit cold and defensive with parents. I always had this feeling they always felt their jobs were on the line. We picked up DD who was in a corner, crying. The staff member said she was cranky and needed to be picked up. We did, only to find out she was kicked and stepped on by another boy. What I noticed about the whole situation is that they put the age groups together (meaning age 2-8) and had a dance party. There appeared to be not enough staff to manage all of those kids, and the smallest ones were really at a disadvantage.

 

Also, one night we were at a comedy show, and DD was the last child in the room, and fast asleep. Pick up time is 1:00am, however the staff insisted we pick her up (and I'm guessing they wanted their night to be over). This is the first time I've ever dealt with attitude or issues with Camp Carnival, so maybe it's only this ship. Either way, I can't wait till DD grows up and I don't have to deal with their crap! Circle C on the other hand- wonderful!!

 

Debarkation was a breeze. We chose self-assist, as always. I'm a little traumatized from when the Spirit lost my luggage in 2008, so we like to take our luggage off these days. We enjoyed breakfast, quickly left the ship, and dealt with the friendliest of customs officers.

 

So, in closing, if you're even considering an Alaskan cruise- this is an amazing choice. I'm sure there's fancier cruise lines to do it on, but honestly, this was pretty great. The staff did their absolute best to make it special, and the views were the most majestic and awe inspiring I've ever seen!

[Rock712]

Great report. We were on the 06/25 sailing and like you had a wonderful time. We also had Dick and Anita Little front and center in our Welcome Aboard show and I wondered why John does it every week , but after thinking about it he's like any other entertainer , if it's funny , keep doing it. If you didn't know any better and bought into it , it was very funny. It is a nice touch to give them sail and sign cards with those names. One thing that does give it away though is that usually the people picked to go on stage for the Welcome aboard show become " stars " for the rest of the cruise and you end up running into them once or twice during the week. After that first night , we never saw Dick or Anita again.

 

Glad you and your family had a great time. We're going back next year on the Legend.

[nybumpkin]

lostaddict, thanks for your review. We were on the 7/15 sailing as well (still writing my review and downloading photos) and had a great time. We certainly lucked out with the weather! Like you, we didn't do much in Victoria - we had early dining and didn't want to miss the last night's dinner. We walked along the breakwater. We did get some really great photos of a baby harbor seal who swam up to where we were standing.

 

If you like spicy drinks, try the spicy chipotle martini that they serve as part of the martini grouping. You can get it in the group or order it on your own. Only problem - when you have it in the evening, it can cause really weird dreams.:p

 

Our sons have aged out of Camp Carnival - the older one is 18 and the younger one is 14 (he loved Circle C as well on this cruise). In the years that we used Camp Carnival, though, we generally had very good experiences. There was one cruise, though, on which both sons had a less-than-great time. They both complained about being bored and it seemed to us that the counselors couldn't wait to close up shop. Since they were in different age groups, I think the problem was a poor director. Fortunately, that seemed a once-only experience for us.

 

In Seattle, we also stayed closer to the airport, at the Hampton Inn Southcenter. Like you, we found that the downtown hotels were pricey. The main drawback of this hotel is that you cannot walk to much of anything. However, they had a very good shuttle available to take you to restaurants, stores, and the light rail station at Tukwila. The staff was incredible - some of the most helpful folks I've met in a hotel. They had several choices of restaurants that would deliver right to your room. And they had a really nice pool and hot tub with chairs and tables that made for a nice dinner area. I'd stay there again.

[twinmom38]

Do you happen to remember when the formal nights were ?