Star Princess vs Carnival Miracle

[DcJohn]

I am a member of a large club and, we're looking for a cruise for President's week (February) 2007. We've narrowed it down to the Western Caribbean and narrowed it down even further to either Star Princess vs. Carnival Miracle. I've sailed both Princess and Carnival and like both lines very much. We have a huge mix of people from senior citizens to families with school age children. Our TA has both cruises on hold for us but, we need to make a decision very soon. Which ship would you select?

 

Email: john.ch.duncan@gmail.com

[Artemis]

Hi, John,

 

We've done both ships with extended family from kids to seniors and had a ball both cruises. Whoever did your research--the TA or you--and narrowed down the choices to these two cruises did a terrific job, and I think your group will be happy either way you go.

 

I'll try to add a few points that come to mind. Others will jump in with factors they'd consider.

 

Factors I'd Rate About Equal:

 

Based on our experiences and the reviews of both ships I've followed, I think it's fair to say that while different folks have their preferences on such a subjective matter as food, the overall food quality, variety and convenience of dining times/arrangements to meet all needs will be roughly the same. One question I would specifically ask your TA is how each line handles group dining requests. Do you want large tables? How important is it that everyone dines at the same seating?

 

We thought service on both lines was excellent, from dining to housekeeping and everywhere in between.

 

Our kids loved both ships. The structured children's program activities are well-run and -supervised on Carnival and Princess ships, and there are plenty of swimming pools, ping pong tables, board games, and pizza and ice cream to keep them happy during free time.

 

From most places, I believe flight pricing to FLL and Tampa is about the same, and ground transfer and hotel options in both cities are fairly comparable as I recall. Note, it is really important to encourage your group to fly in the day before your cruise departs, especially considering February winter weather patterns (a bad storm far from Florida and perhaps from where you live can disrupt air traffic across the nation...we almost missed a cruise due to delays in flying an easy non-stop hop from Texas to Florida once) and the Presidents Week crush of travelers. On the return side, don't create a stressful end to your vacation by booking your flights back home before noon if you can help it. Both ports have a somewhat higher incidence of delays than some others. Tampa gets fogged in a lot, and I don't know the reason, but FLL also seems to back up sometimes (the port terminal operations there are probably the least efficient I've ever experienced).

 

Differences/Unique Factors You May Want to Consider:

 

Style and ambiance are also very subjective, but I think most would agree the Miracle is a true Carnival "Fun Ship" featuring very creative decor, some of which is over the top!, and non-stop activities for one and all. There are singing/dancing waiters nightly, team competitions among the passengers promoted in the dining room, and a "loosen your tie, you're on vacation" approach. I didn't know if I'd like it, but hey, I jumped right into the pub crawl one night and had a blast, so you never know?!

 

The Star, by contrast, represents a nice blend of understated elegance and laid back amusements. Most interior spaces reflect Princess' signature Tuscan-influenced design--subtle, quiet and relaxing. There will be plenty of pool games and nightly entertainment, but the activites are a bit less raucous, and the carpets will roll up earlier, except for the casino crowd and a few die hard disco ducks!

 

The Star has Movies Under the Stars on the pool deck. Cool!

 

The Miracle's specialty restaurant, Nick and Nora's, is our personal favorite at sea. It's themed to evoke a 1930's New York supper club--I love the look, which is complemented by floor to ceiling windows to showcase gorgeous sunset views. A pianist plays Gershwin, Porter, etc., and the food served on Versace-designed Rosenthal china is delicious.

 

Many people complain about smoke issues on the Miracle, particularly in the casino and lounges. We are somewhat sensitive non-smokers and did not find smoking to be a problem anywhere. However, we didn't hang out in the bar/lounge areas that much, although we did give the casino some money! I think the smoke level may be a cruise-by-cruise factor, and perhaps during Presidents Week, with so many families cruising, the numbers of smokers would be lower.

 

Your port line-ups are slightly different, with both ships making Grand Cayman and Cozumel, but the Star visiting Princess Cays (gorgeous, great facilities) and Ocho Rios (mixed reviews) and the Miracle visiting Costa Maya and Belize (both receiving mixed reviews). However, I wouldn't get too wrapped up in choosing based on ports. What's not to like about being in the Caribbean in the dead of winter??! They all offer something for everyone. Also, it's important that no one gets too emotionally invested in visiting a certain place. You might miss a port due to weather, mechanical problems, passenger medical emergency, etc. Please make sure that your group understands that a cruise booking guarantees you only a comfortable bed, food, entertainment & lots of pampering on the seas...if the captain deems it necessary to deviate, that's bad luck, but you have no recourse. The best travelers know how to make lemonade from those little lemons that might be thrown their way, and when you're with a group, it's easy to do just that!

 

 

 

I can't think of anything else at the moment. I'll let someone else have the floor!

 

As always, my thoughts are worth just what you paid for them...good luck in your final research & planning, and enjoy the months of anticipation. I'm confident y'all will have a great group cruise regardless of your choice.

[can786]

Just one correction to the above post... the Star does not have MUTS

[Artemis]

Wow, thanks for your prompt correction, can. I thought she had it installed by now? Is she not going to get MUTS after all?

 

Both ships do have indoor movies, although I think on that point, the Star has an actual theatre vs. on the Miracle, they showed movies in a lounge.

[TorontoTL]

I believe that Princess has scraped plans to retrofit MUTS on current ships. I believe that the new build ships are the ones that will have MUTS installed.

[ldoc31]

Artemis

Thank you for writing such great information on both of those ships. As we live in Tampa we have thought about trying The Miracle. We've enjoyed Princess, Celebrity and RCCL.

[DcJohn]

Thanks so much! You people aren't making this decision any easier :o Isn't it nice to have such problems? :D Let me ask you this, since you said Tampa fogs in a lot, does that effect sailing times at all? Meaning similar to airlines that experience flight delays due to fog.

 

Thanks again!

John

[Artemis]

TorontoTL, thanks for the update on MUTS.

 

ldoc31, we had cruised with all of the other lines and were hesitant about giving Carnival a try, so I'm sure a bit of our enthusiasm over the Miracle reflects the fact that we boarded with low expectations. With that said, our Miracle cruise experience compared very favorably with past Princess, Celebrity and RCCL cruises, and in a couple of categories, I thought the Carnival cruise product and/or Miracle was superior! It's a no brainer if you live in Tampa--give it a whirl! If you'd like my complete Miracle review, feel free to email me at diana at ball dot net.

 

DcJohn, please do not let my Tampa fog comments play any role in your decision-making. My real purpose was simply to get you to think through logistics of your group's arrival and departure, as no travel is guaranteed to come off according to plan. Things happen! The best travelers are flexible in spirit and come prepared knowing their Plan B options.

 

Also, I'm no meteorologist, but I doubt fog is much of an issue in February?

 

Anyway, just so you know, what happens when a ship is late arriving in port is that the delayed passenger disembarkation process prevents all of the eagerly awaiting new passengers from boarding as early as they wanted! This means you might miss lunch on the ship and, if you choose to hang out at the terminal, may spend a few hours waiting in queues at the terminal. It also means that if you have anyone in your group who suffers health problems, they may need to be taken back to a hotel lobby, restaurant or other more comfortable location to wait. At *any* port, not just Tampa, I'd probably send an early scout over to the terminal at, say, 8a to make sure everything's working beautifully before transferring the entire gang.

 

More often than not, a morning fog-in or any other delay in clearing a ship from the prior sailing/delaying embarkation of new passengers will not delay your ship from leaving at the stated time period. Even if the sail time is delayed, once you are on board, it makes no real difference to you whether they set sail at 6p or 9p, except you might be disappointed to miss the sailaway experience out on deck.

[bubbadog]

my vote is for the star:)))):rolleyes:

[mississauga]

Great comparison of the 2 ships. Well thought out and very informative!