Carnival Miracle - Mexico Review (Nov 1 - 7)

[kidlessatsea]

This is my first review and I want to be as detailed as possible (including dollar amounts). I hope that doesn’t offend anyone.

 

My dh and I have been on a couple of cruises together but we decided to surprise our son (15) and daughter (4) with their first cruise. I grew up in a cruising family and by my first RCL cruise I had 53 credits (almost Emerald). Thanks Mom! Anyway, we live in the Northwest and you think Alaska would be the way to go but we decided to go somewhere warm instead. We narrowed it down to Mexico from LA area and searched all cruises to find a good deal. We came back with Carnival Miracle 6 day Mexico on November 1. NCL was more expensive so we decided to try a new cruise line. Yes we would have to take DS out of school for a week but we decided to go for it. We booked the cruise on Christmas Day 2014. We booked a balcony cabin with an ES rate of $2179 for the four of us. My goal was to get it under $2k since we were also buying airfare. I can be kind of cheap and wanted to be under $3k for the entire thing (not counting onboard stuff).

 

I jumped the gun and bought 4 Alaska airlines tickets for $912.80 total (about $109 each way). The prices went down and up from the time of booking (January) until the flight time. Next time I will wait until tickets are $79 each way…lesson learned but I still think we got an okay deal.

January is also when I added on FTTF.

 

Sometime before May, Carnival had a promotion for the same price plus free upgrades so we were able to upgrade to an extended balcony and were able to secure room 6232 (the bowling alley balcony). In May, the prices dropped and we locked in for a total of $1969 with an onboard credit of $50 (not including gratuities). I continued to watch prices and rooms because I love a good deal. At the end of August I realized that hardly any of the suites were sold so I sent an email to my PVP letting her know we were open to upgrading again. I wasn’t ready to pay another $800 to get a suite but if they offered a deal, I just might take it. She said she would keep her eyes open.

In July, I also booked our transfers on Super Shuttle. I had a discount code and with tip I paid $129.56 round trip (LAX to Long Beach cruise terminal and back) for a private “business express service by execucar.”

 

All this time we still hadn’t told DS. Our DD knew but she is so young (4) she doesn’t understand it all yet. Our son is older and would probably go crazy if we told him too soon. His birthday is at the end of October so we decided to tell him around then. We contemplated arranging it all and just surprising him the night before but decided against that.

 

Near the end of September I noticed the prices dropping fast and one day I got the call. We had the option to upgrade all four of us to a suite for $500 total and I would get to keep my OBC I had. We thought for a while and decided to do it because the likelihood of this happening again might be small. Let’s really enjoy our first Carnival cruise. We decided to keep FTTF for the time being because there are so many other benefits to it.

 

As October rounded the corner we made two more adjustments. First, our airfare price dropped by $43 per person so I called Alaska and they credited us the difference to use on a future flight. Second, on one of my cruise apps, someone posted that they had extra spots in their shuttle van for $9pp each way. That would save us around $50. I called her on the phone and she lives near me and some of her party was taking the same flights so we decided to cancel our execucar and book with our new friends. The company refunded us fully.

 

More to come...

[Taters]

So far you are making great deals! I love it! What type of suite did you get? I love Miracle and have another cruise booked on her for January. Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

[kidlessatsea]

So far you are making great deals! I love it! What type of suite did you get? I love Miracle and have another cruise booked on her for January. Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

 

Hey, we got an Ocean Suite - there were four of us so a Junior Suite was not an option.

 

More to come - and photos - tomorrow.

[dogbert's mom]

Love your style. Keep it coming!

[kidlessatsea]

Embarkation Day:

 

Sunday morning came quickly after Halloween – thank goodness for the time change!! Our flight was at 6:45 with an arrival to LAX at 9:10am. We arrived early at LAX and met our travel group at the baggage claim. Ours was the first bag on the carousel so we made our way to the shuttle. There was very little traffic and we were to the cruise terminal by 10am! Since we booked a suite, we were able to go to the special check in area. They had cookies, lemonade and water waiting. It was nice to sit in some air conditioning but after we checked in, we decided to join the crowds because the energy was better. Around 11:30am they started calling weddings, priority, platinum etc onto the ship. We had priority boarding and we also had FTTF. I had to show my priority boarding slip at the gate because FTTF is AFTER diamond and platinum. Anyway, we were on the ship in a jiffy, found our room fine and unpacked quickly.

 

After unpacking, we headed to the buffet. Here is where I will warn you that you will get zero food porn from me and 9 times out of 10 I can’t remember what I ordered. I will do my best though. The lunch buffet was a sad thing. There is a Chinese line (Chopsticks), a deli line (that was always long) and two other lines that had a specific cuisine each day. Also, outside, there were two lines of burgers, hot dogs and fries. None of it looked good to me but I ended up getting chicken strips and fries. We also tried our first pizza of the cruise – that is some amazing stuff. I ate at least one pizza every.single.day. It’s that good.

 

After lunch we explored. I took each kid to their respective camp areas, we played one (of our many) rounds of mini golf, checked out the (very chilly) pool and chilled on the balcony until we left the dock.

*I have to say I was slightly disappointed in the entire sail away experience. On NCL when you walk on the ship there is music playing and staff dancing etc. On Carnival it was like, “oh, hey, you’re here….well, have fun.” We didn’t even get to watch us leave the dock because we did not realize we were moving. There was zero fanfare. * All that being said, my entire cruise experience was NOT affected by this at all.

 

Okay, so then we went to dinner. We had some lovely table mates, Holly and Dan from Nebraska and California respectively, and their two kids. It was nice to sit with another couple that had children because, well you know…

I ate the flat iron steak because nothing else looked good however I am told there was brisket on the menu (I must have overlooked it). The common theme was that all steaks were underdone the entire cruise. We started to order one level higher than what we wanted – for example: ordering medium will get you a medium rare steak. I did not order dessert but had a bite of my hubby’s vanilla crème brulee and my son’s warm chocolate melting cake, both were amazing. My daughter ate strawberry ice cream every night. It was homemade and tasted sooooo good.

 

After dinner we crashed. I felt bad we didn’t do more but we got up at 3:30am to make our flight so we were done.

[kidlessatsea]

How do I post pictures in my review so that they are part of the text rather than an attached thumbnail?

[kidlessatsea]

I think I got the picture thing figured out...

Day 1 – Sea Day

Today was our first sea day and our first sea day brunch. I am an early riser and still wasn’t adjusted to the time change so I was a little surprised that I could not get any hot food before 7:30am on a sea day. I woke up at 5am and waited patiently for the continental breakfast to open at 6:30am. Our family went to sea day brunch right at 8:30am. I do remember I ordered huevos rancheros and they were just as yummy as all the pictures I have been seeing. I also tried the lemon bread but was not a huge fan – it was a bit dry. My hubby ordered eggs benedict and did not like them at all (he ended up at the buffet for breakfast afterward). My son ordered pancakes and didn’t like them at all either. He said they were hard and not fluffy.

 

*I know what you are thinking – will she ever stop complaining??? Well, the food got WAY better, it just took a day so I promise to tell you what was good.*

 

At 10am we took our daughter to Camp Carnival. She stayed there until close to 1pm (when they closed). During that time she played and colored a t-shirt that she got to keep. She had a great time but was happy to be back with us. We took her to get some lunch then went back to the cabin to change into swimsuits.

 

We got her ready for swimming but before that, was the Dr. Seuss parade and story time. We met in the Atrium Lobby for the parade, they gave everyone something to carry. My daughter snagged a cowbell (purple of course) and pompoms. Our cruise director, Chloe, came out and introduced the Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and 2 and Sam I Am. They led the parade to the Phantom Theater in the front of the ship.

*In order to walk on deck 2 from forward to aft, you MUST walk through the casino. It was a bit strange parading little kids through the smoky casino but they didn’t seem to mind.*

Once we got to the theater, they asked for some volunteers to act out a few parts. Chloe read the Cat in the Hat while the characters acted it out. It was very cute and our daughter was mesmerized. Afterward we hit the pool until sundown (5pm) and went back to the room to get ready for our first elegant night. The pool is great because it has a really shallow area where kids can play then a deeper area for swimming. My daughter stayed in the shallow area and loved that the water moved with the moving of the ship.

 

 

 

I know for dinner I had prime rib and it was excellent. Otherwise I have NO idea what we ate. Our waiters were John and Jeyrold and the drink gal was Dewi (pronounced day – wee). My daughter loved her and she brought her some new origami or did a magic trick every night.

After dinner we went to the 80’s show. I love 80’s music so it was great to sing along. The dancing was decent and most of the singers were good as well. I’m an early riser so I went to bed afterward.

Edited November 10, 2015 by kidlessatsea

[kidlessatsea]

Day 2 – Cabo San Lucas

It was so nice to see land this morning and watch us come into Cabo San Lucas. The scenery is beautiful.

 

 

 

We ordered room service for today and my daughter and I ate on the balcony while we motored into our spot. About 9:30 was the first tender. We had FTTF so they had us meet in the Alchemy Bar and they took us on one of the very first boats. The ride was quick and we were off the tender in minutes.

 

*My daughter cried – she didn’t realize we were just leaving the boat for a little while. She was sad and said that she will miss playing mini-golf*

 

I was a bit taken aback by how pushy the tour people are. We met a friend at the dock who lives in Todos Santos and even she couldn’t shake the salespeople when she told them she lived there.

 

Our friend drove us up the coast and we spent the day at Cerritos Beach. It was so beautiful there! We sat at the restaurant for lunch (It was a little expensive - $18 for 3 fish tacos) but they let us bring our own drinks which was nice. The kids swam most of the day and I got a massage on the beach. They charge $25 for 50 minutes. I didn’t have that much time left so she made a deal. I think it was around $10 for 25 minutes.

 

We really loved the beach and the water conditions at Cerritos. It is very shallow for quite a ways out and the surf had zero pull to it. The waves were big enough to body surf or really surf. Cerritos Surf Colony is right there too (as is the Hacienda Hotel) and we may consider going there for a vacation one day.

 

 

After our time was up (we were only in port from 9:30 – 4pm and the last tender was at 3:15), we headed back to the tenders and back to the ship. This was the ONLY time I saw some rowdy people. We had a few younger gals on our tender who took a “show of hands, who’s drunk?” Otherwise, the cruise was fairly uneventful.

 

 

Now, here is where I tell you I cannot remember the rest of the night – not because of alcohol but I just didn’t write it down. Sorry. We did get to see the sunset twice, once while we were in our port spot and once after we left. That was pretty awesome.

 

 

[kidlessatsea]

Day 3 – Puerto Vallarta

 

Here’s where we just didn’t know what to do. We wanted to do Las Caletas but it’s expensive. So we decided to wing it. Turned out okay. We were in port from 9am to 9pm but we knew we didn’t want to be in the port after dark.

Coming into port was a bit misty/foggy in the morning but it cleared up quickly after that. The day was HOT. My daughter can handle heat but she just kept saying “Mommy, I’m hot”

Once we got on land we found a couple of others from our ship and decided to share a cab with them to some beach. I think it was Playa Los Muertos. We found a restaurant and ordered some drinks while we took over a few loungers. The kids swam in the ocean. It was much warmer than Cabo but there was this crazy undertow that kept pulling you under (on the way back I saw the water conditions were in the yellow).

We hung out for a couple of hours and decided to go back to the ship for lunch/rest because it was just so hot. We walked back along the Malecon and saw many pelicans!

We also found a man selling paletas (I LOVE paletas – Mexican popsicles) for 6 pesos. We bought 4 and found a shady spot to eat them. We walked for about another 30 minutes in the sweltering heat ducking in and out of shops and looking around. We took a taxi back to the ship after that.

It was hot so we spent a lot of time in our cabin this day. There’s not a ton to do on the ship during port days so it was pretty quiet. We did get an ice cream and play some more mini golf though.

[kidlessatsea]

Day 4 – Sea Day

 

We decided to skip the sea day brunch in the morning because we didn’t want to wait. We had breakfast at the buffet. We ventured up to find the towel animals out by the pool. We all loved checking them out.

 

 

My daughter and I went to the Joker Card Room and got a couple of games and played them in our room. The wind was super strong this day so everything from deck 10 and up was closed (no mini golf).

 

At around 10ish, our room steward Simon (female – See-moan) came by to remind us about the towel animal theater. We got there a bit late but in enough time to watch a few of the jokes. It was great and I wish we would not have missed any of it.

 

We walked around a bit more then did the sea day brunch for lunch. I ordered chicken mac n cheese but my waiter was confused. He brought me a chicken (a whole chicken) with a side of mac n cheese. Ha!

 

After lunch my daughter and I went to the 80’s music trivia. I happen to be really darn good at that stuff and thought I had a chance of winning until we started. People take their trivia very seriously. Anyway, I missed 4 out of 40 (who the heck knows the artist that sings The Neverending Story? I do now, and will never forget). During the trivia, CD Chloe had a little dance time to Whitney Houston and she grabbed my daughter to dance with her. They boogied down together for a few minutes and it was super cute. Chloe gave her a ship on a stick (my daughter calls it her trophy) and from that moment on started my 4-year-olds love affair with our cruise director Chloe. She asked about her all day but we didn’t catch up with her again that day.

 

We did catch tea time this day and my daughter loved it. Our dining room waiters were serving us there (by coincidence) and it was good to see them. They had cucumber sandwiches, a salmon appetizer and lots of sweet treats. They even got her a hot chocolate since she doesn’t drink tea. It was a nice time.

 

Afterward we caught the very end of the Hasbro Game show and decided to go again the next day.

 

It was another elegant night and we had chateaubriand. WOW was this good. I also was able to get the bitter and blanc for dessert. Yum. This was by far my favorite meal on the ship.

 

We all went to the early (all ages) comedy show. It was really empty but the comedian was funny. My hubby went to the late show and said it was packed with barely any standing room.

[kidlessatsea]

Day 5 – Sea Day

Today was the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast. We signed up on the Lido deck after getting on the ship Sunday so it was a long wait for us. The dining room decorations are spectacular. It was very well done. My daughter ordered Fruit Loops and got this:

I think there was a bit of miscommunication because we all ordered something (pancakes, French toast) but none of it was done like the menu said. My son just got a plain stack of pancakes while other people at different tables got colorful pancakes. Perhaps it’s because we were older but I really did want to try some of it. We did taste the red/white striped parfaits and the yogurt. Everything was really sweet so we didn’t finish it. The characters came around one by one. Thing One and Thing Two walked around and the professional photographer took pictures but you could take your own too. Once they visited ALL the kids, then they left…THEN Cat in the Hat came in and so forth. It really made the breakfast last a long time because we waited for all the kids to be visited before another character came in. My daughter waited like a trooper though.

 

 

 

 

We walked the ship again afterward and it was still very windy and a bit chilly outside so again, no pool for us and the mini golf was closed. I feel sorry for the people who wanted to use the track because it’s up by the mini golf and it was closed for almost 3 days!

 

Anyway, we just chilled until lunch time then my hubby wanted to head to Star Wars trivia. My daughter saw Chloe doing a Q&A session and freaked out. So we went and sat through that. We did not win Star Wars trivia either but had a good time.

 

After that it was time for the Hasbro Game show. Chloe came in and saw my daughter, came over and said hello and gave her a high five. She was stoked. None of us got on stage but we had a great time watching it.

 

Our last dinner brought us a yummy Grand Mariner soufflé that was amazing. I also had the bacon mac n cheese. Afterward we went to the Red Frog Pub with both kids and played shuffleboard, darts and foosball until the band started and it was too loud for the little one. I had to get one final pizza before debarking because I knew I would miss it quickly (and I do).

 

My son was in Club O2. I don’t mention him a lot in this review because he was gone most of the time. On the last night they give each kid a t-shirt and they get everyone to sign it. He was out until midnight so he was exhausted the next day.

[kidlessatsea]

Day 6 – Debarkation

 

This went so ridiculously fast I didn’t even have time to think. Deck 6 self assist should have been called around 8:45 but instead they called us around 8am! We were eating breakfast in the buffet. We finished up and left the room around 8:30. We were off the ship and through customs by 9.

 

Our shuttle took us to the airport where we waited for our flight home. While on the airport wifi, we were already looking for our next cruise.

 

 

 

Random Things

 

Go to the Taste Bar every day. You will miss out on something yummy if you skip a day (lesson learned).

 

You can get any breakfast food any time of the day, you just ask. We got milk, cereal and bananas even late at night.

 

Just because the Pizza Pirate sign is gone and it says Omelets does not mean that you can’t get pizza.

 

In order to get from forward to aft on this boat on deck 2, you must walk through the casino.

 

Run (don’t walk) to the Food Demonstration at the Steakhouse – this was on our first sea day (I forgot to write it up). The food is fantastic and the demo was much quicker (about 40 minutes) than I expected. They walk you through how to quickly make the dish and they already have some prepared to try. We had mushroom cappuccino, a spinach salad, chicken with mac n cheese, and tiramisu.

 

I have only been on 5 cruises (my first Carnival cruise!) but this was by far my best experience cruising. Every single staff person was happy and helpful and took such good care of our children and of us. I would never, ever hesitate to cruise Carnival again.

 

[luvcdays]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review! It was really helpful and I'm glad you had a great cruise.

[johnlcruise]

Very Nice. Thank You For Taking The Time to Report On Your Most Excellent Adventure.

[john91498]

Thank you for the nice review. My family and I are going to be on her in August of next year and this was a nice preview. :)

[mousey]

Thanks for the review. We're sailing on the Miracle during Christmas this year. Can't wait. You're review let me know that I need to pack some warmer clothes then I had planned so I won't be cold on deck.:D

[HawksFan74]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your review! We did the same cruise a year ago (although we missed Puerto Vallarta due to a hurricane - check out the link in my signature).

 

P.S. We also really liked the pizza on Miracle and are hoping it will be as good on our upcoming Splendor cruise!

[Island Hopping]

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing the Miracle in February. Have sailed the MR several times and love the ports. We will also visit Mazatlan on our cruise.

 

Thanks for the tips on the Miracle.

[rnoli32]

Thank you for taking the time to give us a review and pics! Me and the husband will be sailing the Miracle in Feb of next year .

[Buckett]

Thanks for the review, and the lovely sunset pictures! I've been on the Miracle a few times and look forward to sailing her again in March! :)

[john91498]

Quick question, I heard from some people that Carnival has replaced the TV's with flat screens, is that true on the Miracle?

 

Thanks in advance

[HawksFan74]

Miracle had flat screens in the staterooms when we sailed on her last year.

[john91498]

Thank you, Hawksfan.

 

My kids have a streamer and a harddisk with hundreds of movies and it's easier to attach to a flat screen then an old box tv.

[RC Dancers]

Who was the Cruise Director on your cruise?

 

Thanks

[shonandsuzie]

Thank you for the review!! Sounds just about perfect!