Carnival Miracle Dry Dock 2022 - Radiance Takes Over

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, oyme said:

We always get the turd ships in LA, though (IMO). Getting Panorama was a real shocker for me.

 

It's funny there's always so many mixed opinions on the ships a lot of people seem to love Miracle but I read one person on FB saying they want it scrapped along with Vista. Any reason someone would hate those 2 ships so passionately? LOL.

 

"Turd ships?"  In the last twenty years, on the 7-night Mexican Riviera run we got the Elation brand new and Panorama brand new, and Spirit and Splendor when they were literally months old.  We also got most of the Fantasy-class ships -- off the top of my head, in addition to the Elation, the Ectasy, Paradise, Inspiration and Imagination.  And the Miracle has probably spent most of its time based out of LA/SD, although it comes and goes... sometimes filling in on the 7-day, sometimes providing supplemental capacity.  And now we've got the Radiance; I haven't had a chance to enjoy her yet, but many reports are that it feels like a brand new ship.

 

And I think people project dislike to certain ships so passionately because they have no business/ financial intelligence: in a few years, when a bigger & better ship replaces the Mardi Gras, they'll be complaining about that ship, too.  I'm literally stunned by the number of posters on here who believe that (logistics aside) Carnival could put the Mardi Gras at even Jacksonville and make tons of money.

 

 

 

[csm5986142]

On 5/25/2022 at 10:59 PM, pc_load_letter said:

San Diego native here. Carnival has never had a ship here for any period of time, seasonal or otherwise. We were supposed to get Miracle for some summer cruises but then covid happened and that killed it.

 

Beyond that, the last Carnival ship to stop here was on accident because of engine problems.

 

 

We are booked on Miracle over the 4th of July and San Diego is one of our port stops.  But I agree - I've been waiting for Carnival to base a ship out of San Diego, and finally gave up and settled for a port stop (and even that is pretty rare).

[JMKreno]

The West Coast seems to be getting more and more attention lately, which is good!

 

Panorama is about as new as it gets, Radiance looks great after the refurb and the Miracle has most of what people like on it. Now, personally, I wish they would take the Spirit class and do a full remodel akin to the Sunshine/Sunrise/Radiance. While I enjoy the "Farcus" uniqueness, the ship is really showing its age. I think refreshing the class would be a massive win as the layout is fantastic and size is just right. 

[silvercrikhix]

On 5/27/2022 at 1:04 PM, JMKreno said:

The West Coast seems to be getting more and more attention lately, which is good!

 

Panorama is about as new as it gets, Radiance looks great after the refurb and the Miracle has most of what people like on it. Now, personally, I wish they would take the Spirit class and do a full remodel akin to the Sunshine/Sunrise/Radiance. While I enjoy the "Farcus" uniqueness, the ship is really showing its age. I think refreshing the class would be a massive win as the layout is fantastic and size is just right. 

A Spirit class full remodel would be welcome, however, my concern would be they’d mess with the Vista Suites and that would be catastrophic. Those 4th floor VS’s are the best suites we’ve sailed in. Not the fanciest, not the most Perk laden, not the largest….but still THE best. We’ve never been in a Captains Suite on Carnival or a Garden Villa on NCL so we haven’t tried them all yet, but have had large 2 bdrm, 2 bath suites and we’ll take the Vista Suite hands down, any time we can snag one!! 

[Theo1429]

Booked on Miracle 10 days Alaska departing San Francisco May 2023 no changes yet

[hapytobehr]

I was on the Miracle for the May 2nd Alaskan Cruise.  I can tell you that it was the rockiest ship I have ever been on in all my years of sailing.  

 

The seas were rough some days, but certainly not rough enough to produce the rockiness that we experienced during this cruise.  

 

The first thing i said to my husband was that I wondered if there was a problem with the stabilizers so I am not surprised that it went to dry dock.

 

I do agree with the fact that the ship is showing her age because there certainly was a lot of wear and tear in many places.  I also can't imagine the mind of Farcus to come up with such a weird design.

 

Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time.

 

 

[ashkir]

I'm going on this ship for 10 days Sept 5 to 15th, right before the drydock. Hopefully we're smooth sailing before she gets some upgrades! 

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, hapytobehr said:

I was on the Miracle for the May 2nd Alaskan Cruise.  I can tell you that it was the rockiest ship I have ever been on in all my years of sailing.  

 

The seas were rough some days, but certainly not rough enough to produce the rockiness that we experienced during this cruise.  

 

The first thing i said to my husband was that I wondered if there was a problem with the stabilizers so I am not surprised that it went to dry dock.

 

I do agree with the fact that the ship is showing her age because there certainly was a lot of wear and tear in many places.  I also can't imagine the mind of Farcus to come up with such a weird design.

 

Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time.

 

 

 

Unlike the East Coast, the waters are typically rocky off the West Coast this time of year.  Probably one of the reasons why, historically, Carnival is the lone wolf in serving the region (via Los Angeles) during the spring/summer months.

 

Definitely wasn't your ship -- the Panorama was extremely rocky last month, and there's reports that the Navigator of the Seas (doing the same itinerary as the Radiance for now) is the same.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Itried4498

[trbarton]

I’ve cruised on Princess from San Francisco many times during different months & never experienced any real ruff weather. Perhaps I was lucky. I’m on the Miracle August 8, 2022 so I’ll see what the weather is like. 
 

Tom😀

[Itried4498]

7 minutes ago, trbarton said:

I’ve cruised on Princess from San Francisco many times during different months & never experienced any real ruff weather. Perhaps I was lucky. I’m on the Miracle August 8, 2022 so I’ll see what the weather is like. 
 

Tom😀

 

When's the last time Princess served San Francisco in the summer months? 🙂

[trbarton]

1 hour ago, Itried4498 said:

 

When's the last time Princess served San Francisco in the summer months? 🙂

They have many cruises to Alaska. Use this link….https://www.princess.com/search-cruise/results/ to see the Alaska Cruises from San Francisco on Princess. 

Many other cruises throughout the year with Princess from San Francisco. 
 

Next cruise to Alaska on Princess  on June 9, 2022. 
 

Tom😀

Edited June 4, 2022 by trbarton

[Itried4498]

7 minutes ago, trbarton said:

They have many cruises to Alaska. Use this link….https://www.princess.com/search-cruise/results/ to see the Alaska Cruises from San Francisco on Princess. 

Many other cruises throughout the year with Princess from San Francisco. 
 

Next cruise to Alaska on Princess  on June 9, 2022. 
 

Tom😀

 

I didn't know they operated summer cruises out of SF.  They're based in Los Angeles but haven't operated in the summer in ages it seems.

[trbarton]

20 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

 

I didn't know they operated summer cruises out of SF.  They're based in Los Angeles but haven't operated in the summer in ages it seems.

Since I live in San Francisco Princess  has been the main cruise line here. That’s one of the main ports in the West Coast, San Francisco.  Before the Pandemic San Francisco was the main port for Princess until they started moving other Princess ships here. Now with Carnival there a 2nd cruise line & they use our old cruise terminal, Pier 35 as Princess uses our new terminal Pier 27. 
 

If you look at the Princess site for cruises from San Francisco you will see many cruise including the Panama Canal throughout the year. I’m going to Hawaii in November on Princess. 
 

Tom😀

[Moviela]

On 5/25/2022 at 12:20 PM, n6uqqq said:

And then likely sent to Australia! 

Splendor is sailing Seattle to Sydney at the end of the Alaska season. Spirit is sailing Seattle to Miami at the end of the Alaska season. Miracle is being drydocked early, for possible relocation to Oz. My question is what ship will do the long thin routes from the West Coast? Perhaps a HAL, or Princess ship? Could Miracle stay on the West coast and a P&O Aus ship do the Carnival trips? I have 4 Journeys booked on Miracle through 2024, so I'd like to know.

[Itried4498]

4 minutes ago, Moviela said:

Splendor is sailing Seattle to Sydney at the end of the Alaska season. Spirit is sailing Seattle to Miami at the end of the Alaska season. Miracle is being drydocked early, for possible relocation to Oz. My question is what ship will do the long thin routes from the West Coast? Perhaps a HAL, or Princess ship? Could Miracle stay on the West coast and a P&O Aus ship do the Carnival trips? I have 4 Journeys booked on Miracle through 2024, so I'd like to know.

 

Is there any concrete evidence to suggest the Miracle is headed to Australia, or is it just wild speculation?  In another thread, a handful of posters were certain a certain ship would be deployed to Cuba... even though the "loop hole" Carnival used last time to serve Cuba (people-to-people) is still closed.  And even though they were successfully sued for using that loop hole (the trips were assumed to be vacations, not cultural exchange).

 

The cheapest cruises out of Long Beach status quo are in September & October.  During the "Memorial Day Sale," I booked a super cheap cruise on the Radiance that's now cancelled.  When was the Miracle's dry dock due?  It could very well be that revenue & bookings were projected to be slow in October.  The San Pedro Cruise Schedule shows quite a few ships operating in October, several performing the same itinerary as the Radiance.  It could very well be that the drydock was pushed forward, with the assumption that Carnival could generate far more revenue later (during its scheduled dry dock).

 

https://www.portsamerica.com/operations/cruise-los-angeles-terminal-schedule

[csm5986142]

15 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

It could very well be that the drydock was pushed forward, with the assumption that Carnival could generate far more revenue later (during its scheduled dry dock).

 

I agree - this has been my thought from the beginning, but of course just a guess.

[Colorado Cruzer]

My parents are on this cruise.  Carnival autobooked them into a balcony room on deck 6 which is above bonsai sushi, alchemy and two bars - red frog pub and piano bar. Definitley not how I booked them on the Miracle, I always book with cabins above and below. Anyone have experience with noise level in a cabin like this?  They are 6399 on Radiance.

 

Carnival also cancelled the steakhouse reservations and they specifically booked those reservations before they raised the price.  Now, Carnival won't honor the old price or give onboard credit for the difference...wow! It's only like $9 per person but still, I thought they could at least match the price for a situation they caused.  

 

If the cabin is going to be a noise nightmare for 2 weeks, I'm not sure they are going to want to go.  Final payment is July 18 so they have time to get feedback.

 

 

[CarnivalShips480]

18 hours ago, Moviela said:

Splendor is sailing Seattle to Sydney at the end of the Alaska season. Spirit is sailing Seattle to Miami at the end of the Alaska season. Miracle is being drydocked early, for possible relocation to Oz. My question is what ship will do the long thin routes from the West Coast? Perhaps a HAL, or Princess ship? Could Miracle stay on the West coast and a P&O Aus ship do the Carnival trips? I have 4 Journeys booked on Miracle through 2024, so I'd like to know.

 

18 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

 

Is there any concrete evidence to suggest the Miracle is headed to Australia, or is it just wild speculation?  In another thread, a handful of posters were certain a certain ship would be deployed to Cuba... even though the "loop hole" Carnival used last time to serve Cuba (people-to-people) is still closed.  And even though they were successfully sued for using that loop hole (the trips were assumed to be vacations, not cultural exchange).

 

The cheapest cruises out of Long Beach status quo are in September & October.  During the "Memorial Day Sale," I booked a super cheap cruise on the Radiance that's now cancelled.  When was the Miracle's dry dock due?  It could very well be that revenue & bookings were projected to be slow in October.  The San Pedro Cruise Schedule shows quite a few ships operating in October, several performing the same itinerary as the Radiance.  It could very well be that the drydock was pushed forward, with the assumption that Carnival could generate far more revenue later (during its scheduled dry dock).

 

https://www.portsamerica.com/operations/cruise-los-angeles-terminal-schedule

The theory is that Costa Magica which is going to join the Carnival fleet later this year would do Miracle's cruises while Miracle goes to Australia.

 

On the same day that they announced Miracle's dry dock, a message went up on the Carnival Australia website that a new ship will be named for Brisbane soon. It would make sense for Miracle to take what was originally Spirit's place (before it went to US) because they are in the same class so it would be easy to transfer to bookings over.

 

Miracle had its last dry dock in 2020 right before the pandemic, so it could have been due in 2023 but I guess it needs one earlier.

 

It is also possible that Miracle could go to Australia, then another Carnival ship takes its place, and then Magica takes that ships place.

[AQW]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:11 AM, silvercrikhix said:

A Spirit class full remodel would be welcome, however, my concern would be they’d mess with the Vista Suites and that would be catastrophic. Those 4th floor VS’s are the best suites we’ve sailed in. Not the fanciest, not the most Perk laden, not the largest….but still THE best. We’ve never been in a Captains Suite on Carnival or a Garden Villa on NCL so we haven’t tried them all yet, but have had large 2 bdrm, 2 bath suites and we’ll take the Vista Suite hands down, any time we can snag one!! 

 

I would be devastated if they did away with my beloved bowling-alley balconies. The *only* cabin on a Spirit class ship that I would consider potentially better would be those Vista suites (which I haven't tried yet).

[n6uqqq]

1 hour ago, AQW said:

 

I would be devastated if they did away with my beloved bowling-alley balconies. The *only* cabin on a Spirit class ship that I would consider potentially better would be those Vista suites (which I haven't tried yet).

 

Me too! 

[toad455]

18 hours ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

 

The theory is that Costa Magica which is going to join the Carnival fleet later this year would do Miracle's cruises while Miracle goes to Australia.

 

On the same day that they announced Miracle's dry dock, a message went up on the Carnival Australia website that a new ship will be named for Brisbane soon. It would make sense for Miracle to take what was originally Spirit's place (before it went to US) because they are in the same class so it would be easy to transfer to bookings over.

 

Miracle had its last dry dock in 2020 right before the pandemic, so it could have been due in 2023 but I guess it needs one earlier.

 

It is also possible that Miracle could go to Australia, then another Carnival ship takes its place, and then Magica takes that ships place.

 

The overall lack of information about the soon-to-be named Costa Magica is unsettling. What's Carnival waiting for?

[CarnivalShips480]

1 hour ago, toad455 said:

 

The overall lack of information about the soon-to-be named Costa Magica is unsettling. What's Carnival waiting for?

It might be low crew levels but i don't know. June 26 will mark one year since Carnival announced the transfer

[Linsuesue]

20 hours ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

 

The theory is that Costa Magica which is going to join the Carnival fleet later this year would do Miracle's cruises while Miracle goes to Australia.

 

On the same day that they announced Miracle's dry dock, a message went up on the Carnival Australia website that a new ship will be named for Brisbane soon. It would make sense for Miracle to take what was originally Spirit's place (before it went to US) because they are in the same class so it would be easy to transfer to bookings over.

 

Miracle had its last dry dock in 2020 right before the pandemic, so it could have been due in 2023 but I guess it needs one earlier.

 

It is also possible that Miracle could go to Australia, then another Carnival ship takes its place, and then Magica takes that ships place.

I hate to even think about this! We are booked on the Miracle in January 2023 for a 14 day to Hawaii. We are booked in our most favorite Vista Suite. I don’t know anything about Costa Magica but am guessing there are no Vista Suites to transfer our booking. One more uncertainty to add to the problems of flying and cruising now!

[Itried4498]

Wild speculation IMO.  The Costa Magica’s renovation will likely be minimalist (changing the ship’s branding to Carnival standards), as it’s more upscale than the Carnival fleet.  IMO, it’d be a major upgrade over the Miracle.  But I don’t see the point in replacing the Miracle – it’s a larger ship, and it isn’t like the Miracle’s itineraries need more capacity.  The Miracle spends 9-months based out of Los Angeles, and there’s more capacity than ever in the market, leading to heavy discounts.   Why not just move the Magica to Australia to begin with?

[silvercrikhix]

1 hour ago, Itried4498 said:

Wild speculation IMO.  The Costa Magica’s renovation will likely be minimalist (changing the ship’s branding to Carnival standards), as it’s more upscale than the Carnival fleet.  IMO, it’d be a major upgrade over the Miracle.  But I don’t see the point in replacing the Miracle – it’s a larger ship, and it isn’t like the Miracle’s itineraries need more capacity.  The Miracle spends 9-months based out of Los Angeles, and there’s more capacity than ever in the market, leading to heavy discounts.   Why not just move the Magica to Australia to begin with?

Yes, move along down under Ms Magica!