Just off the Miracle! Quick review.

[neongoddess]

Hubby and I just finished our second ever cruise! This time it was on the Miracle. We went to Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. Mazatlan was my favorite! But we did the Las Caletas beach resort excursion in PV and it was a blast! The Miracle was pretty nice but some of the decor was somewhat odd (Mad Hatter's Ball, anyone? And the dining room decor was like a grape nightmare! In a fun way, but still). Benjamin the cruise director put on a fun Bob Dylan tribute at the Red Frog Pub. The comedy shows were mostly funny; we saw 4 comedians total. 3 of them were very good. The fourth was super racist and I did not find most of it funny at all, but most other people were laughing like crazy so maybe I just don't have a normal sense of humor. The ship itself seemed pretty vibrate-y compared to the Inspiration (the only other ship I have been on) but overall not bad. Buffet food was awesome! Most of the food in the main dining room was also very good but I was not crazy about the steaks (they were alright I guess, but not cuts that I really liked). I did not try the actual steakhouse, so maybe that's where they hide the really good steaks. I have heard a lot of people on this board complaining about the decreased room servicing. Yes, they serviced the room once per day BUT if you put out your "please service" sign on your cabin doorknob, they would come back and clean again. Service overall was very good. In conclusion, we had a blast! Ask me anything.

Edited March 6, 2016 by neongoddess

[IDKaren]

How was the buffet? Was there room to sit down or was it crowded with people who stay at their tables forever even when done..watching people trying in desperation. To balance their food.?. CAN u tell I have had bad experiences?:o:rolleyes:

[Keith1010]

Glad you had a wonderful time and thanks for your feedback.

 

Keith

[desman01]

Did you do any excursions in Cabo or Mazatlan? We have booked the Las Caletas and have read wonderful reviews about it. Can you say what you liked best and least about it? Is there a ton of kids there or is it more adult oriented?

 

 

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[Rosefloater]

How was the buffet? Was there room to sit down or was it crowded with people who stay at their tables forever even when done..watching people trying in desperation. To balance their food.?. CAN u tell I have had bad experiences?:o:rolleyes:

 

Are you talking about the idiots that are playing games during the busy times in the buffet? That is our new #1 complaint.

 

OP - which comedian was the super racist one?

[neongoddess]

I thought the buffet was very good! The only time we had trouble finding a seat was on embarkation day (we boarded kind of late). Also during the hairy chest competition it was really difficult to find a table on Lido where you could actually see what was going on. Overall though the ship felt way less crowded than when we were on Inspiration. Ben-the-cruise-director explained that, while the Miracle holds a similar number of guests to the fantasy class ships, she is a lot roomier.

 

The racist comedian was named DiCrosta. He is a white guy and was very focused on making fun of accents. Besides being racist it just was not funny to me at all. At one point he put on slanty-eyed glasses to imitate an Asian guy. I can't remember his first name. We only watched (most of) one of his shows so I am not sure if they were all like that. I am not an easily offended person, but I was offended! If you're wondering, I am white. I just thought it was very uncomfortable to have a guy up there making fun of Asians and Middle-Easterners, considering that 99% of the staff serving us drinks were obviously from other countries themselves.

 

We did not do excursions in Cabo or Mazatlan. We basically just walked around those ports. Mazatlan has a blue line painted on the street that you can follow to the historic district. If you don't like walking, there were cabs everywhere at both of those ports. At Cabo like 5 dudes tried to sell my husband drugs which was kind of weird. We figured it might be because he has long hair.

 

Las Caletas was soooo nice. It got very good reviews on the Carnival site and most of those reviews were very accurate. There were some kid-themed animal encounters there but I hardly saw any kids (on the ship, and also on this excursion!). Probably because our cruise was right before spring break. There are free margaritas, beer, and run drinks on the boat ride there and back, as well as at the resort, but I did not see anyone get rowdy.

Edited March 6, 2016 by neongoddess

[GUT2407]

Thanks for the information.

[doneinne]

Thanks for the report. We are taking that same cruise the end of April.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[SadieN]

Azipod ships have a definite aft vibration. We think of it as a freebie. The Paradise was even more 'interesting' than the Miracle.

 

 

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[CRocks]

Name one Carnival ship who's decor isn't "odd"? ;) We're booked on Miracle to Hawaii this Jan.

[SadieN]

The theme of the Miracle is Literary Figures.

Caught The Thin Man (Nick and Nora) movies a few weeks ago on TV.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

Name one Carnival ship who's decor isn't "odd"? ;) We're booked on Miracle to Hawaii this Jan.

 

 

Breeze

[MaiTaiMary]

I have heard a lot of people on this board complaining about the decreased room servicing. Yes, they serviced the room once per day BUT if you put out your "please service" sign on your cabin doorknob, they would come back and clean again. Service overall was very good. In conclusion, we had a blast! Ask me anything.

 

How does this work? I thought you could fill out a form stating you would like room service twice a day? No? They only service your room in the morning, then you need to put the sign put in the evening if you want turn down service?

 

 

 

Thanks. We will be on the Miracle in six weeks. :)

[MaiTaiMary]

What time did you get to the port? Did you have FTTF? What time did you end up boarding?

[EagleRockers]

My DH and I were on the same cruise, I think. It was our first on Carnival, having sailed all the other major cruise lines, 22 in total.

While I was reluctant to book the Miracle, it was perfect as a last minute getaway and only a 45 minute drive to the port. Everything went smoothly and we rarely waited in a line for anything. The food was good, to my surprise and we ate every meal in the buffet.

Would I cruise again with Carnival? Based on this trip, yes. And when our friends raise their eyebrows when we tell them we cruised on a Carnival ship, I'll tell them not to knock it until they've tried it.

Wish I was still onboard!

[neongoddess]

MaiTai, I didn't see any kind of form for more frequent service. But whenever we hung the "Cruisin', Please Service" sign, we found our bed made, bathroom cleaned, and new towels when we returned. We did not have FTTF. I want to say it took maybe 45 minutes to an hour to make it from the parking structure to the ship. We got to the terminal parking at maybe 12:45pm.

[jazm2011]

We were on this same cruise and our room was serviced twice a day. No forms, no changes. Just the same standard twice a day service.

 

We also did Las Caletas in PV and enjoyed it. Not sure we'd do it again, and I wouldn't call it our favorite. But it was fun and enjoyable. They certainly work hard to cater to their clientele! And also certainly work hard to upsell everything. Thankfully, they are not pushy at all. Just a simple no thank you and they move pleasantly to the next person.

 

We've been to Cabo many times so decided it was time to do something besides check out the town or beach. We did the Whale watching photo safari, which was really outstanding. I'm so glad we strayed from our group to do something new. I would highly recommend it and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. (Provided we were traveling during whale season).

 

Comics on this cruise were not very good and the entertainment was even worse. Honestly, the worst shows I've seen on all of my 13 cruises, which was disappointing. It wasn't even so much the caliber of the singing or dancing, but the choreography and back drops of every show were just plain bad. It was almost like the performers were set up for failure. Many of the selected songs didn't match the range of the performer. Lack of audience feedback had to have been rough on them as well. Even with the larger crowds, the audience response was very lukewarm.

 

The other strange thing to us was how invisible the cruise director was. All 6 of us (that traveled together) commented on "who" and "where" the cruise director was hiding. It didn't affect our experience either way, we just thought it was unusual.

 

We completely lucked out with the weather being near perfection. I happened to notice that on the current sailing, they've had to cancel all water excursions because the winds are too high. That's a total bummer for those folks.

 

As always, we had a great time and can't wait to book our next one. (Sheesh its rough getting back to reality)! :)

[welldone60]

We were also on this cruise. Had a great cruise.

 

Our cabin was serviced twice a day. We met our room steward on the first day. He asked about ice or any other special request, never mentioned when we wanted the cabin serviced. Never saw him again for the rest of the week. Room was kept clean and always had a full ice bucket.

 

We did AT dining and only had a wait on the first elegant night. Food was good, only complaint I had was the Eggs Benedict at the sea day brunch. The sauce was terrible. Tasted like powdered cheese sauce from a cheap box of mac and cheese.

 

Did not see any of the comedy shows.

 

Did a whale watching tour with Ocean Riders in Cabo. Had fun, saw plenty of whales. Did the speedboat tour through Carnival in Mazatlan. Fun with a pretty good lunch at the end. Did a private ATV tour in PV. Lots of fun, got dirty, stopped at a great little place near the end of the tour for a tequila tasting and a snack.

 

Wish we were still on board, good thing is we are booked on the Valor for August so at least have some planning to do.

[john91498]

Thanks for the review. We'll be sailing on the Miracle for the first time this August.

 

Can't wait :)

[MaiTaiMary]

We were on this same cruise and our room was serviced twice a day. No forms, no changes. Just the same standard twice a day service.

 

That's good to know. Thanks. Seems to be a touchy subject on the boards here (for whatever reason), but I would really miss having the room serviced twice a day.

[corlyf]

New to cruising, will be doing this same 7-day cruise on 3/19. Few questions for all you veterans:

 

-How much is a reasonable tip for the room steward? Anyone else needs to be tipped?

-How do I know which night is a formal night (dont see it on the website)?

-No excursions planned for Cabo. TripAdvisor recommends El Arco and Lover's Beach... any suggestions?

-Anyone else needs to be tipped?

 

Thanks!

[jazm2011]

Since you're new and in case you weren't aware - your pre-paid gratuities covers tips to waitstaff and cabin stewards (among others that I don't recall at the moment). So you are not required to tip more. However, if you want to and/or feel the service was exceptional, you certainly can. (We typically do, but it's a personal choice).

 

We typically tip our cabin steward an extra $10-$20 depending on our experience. Seems our waitstaff has been a little "off" our past couple cruises so we have not given anything extra. But on prior cruises, we have also tipped an extra $10-$20 as well.

 

When you order drinks of any kind, an automatic 15% will be added to your receipt. You don't need to tip above and beyond, but can if you wish.

 

If you order room service, you should provide a tip when they deliver your order.

 

Plan to tip the porters if you drop your bags off with them.

 

Usually the folks guiding the excursions ask for tips. We are hit or miss on when, if and how much we give. Again, it's a personal choice.

 

As for formal night - you will have 2 on your cruise. I think the dates vary based on itinerary though.

 

Cabo is a very walk-friendly port and we often wing-it there. However, on our most recent cruise we did the whale watching photo safari (thru Carnival, which we don't often do) and I cannot say enough good things about it! It was one of my favorite excursions to date of all our cruises.

 

Enjoy and have a great cruise!!

[burtie]

Thanks everyone for the information. Spouse and I will be on the Miracle beginning 4/23. Will be celebrating our 50th anniversary. Looking forward to the week.

Burtie

[naterstaters]

We are cruising for first time 4/30. We book our excursions on carnival website. At cabo we are snorkeling at 11:30am. We are set to port at 11am. If ships late, bad weather, or have trouble getting off ship. Will we get refunded??

 

Also when on shore any drinking tips?? As far as what not to drink and what's safe? Margaritas?? Pop? Etc??

 

Thanks??

 

 

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