Spinnies finally stopped - 6/18 Miracle Review

[batzmaru]

It's hard to believe we've been back a week now, but the spinnies have finally gone away... We'd never cruised before, and for four days afterwards, it still felt like I was on the boat! Maybe I was still drunk...

 

Anyway, I read tons of reviews on here before we went, (DH and I for our honeymoon) and about day 3 of the cruise he says "I'm really glad you read all that stuff (on cruisecritic!)" I've returned now to pass along what I did learn (yes, it was the honeymoon, but we did want to see more than the cabin. at least some of the time.)

 

We flew down to Tampa from lovely Toledo, Ohio the day of. Carnival people found us coming down the escalator, and directed us to the bus. We waited in a nice air conditioned room for about five minutes until the bus came. Bus driver thought he was a comedian. It was fine going there, but coming home, we just wanted him to drive!

 

We stayed in cabin 8217. I'm really glad we got the balcony. It was nice to be able to go outside without having to go out of the room. We did go up on deck when they announced we were going under the bridge. I thought that was cool, DH just wanted to get in the pool. Sampled the drink of the day - Funship something. It was good. Beer is definately overpriced, but at least they didn't skimp on the liquor in the mixed drinks. I only had one margarita the whole time (In Sam's Piano Bar) that I thought was weak.

 

Monday we had a fun day at sea. The adults only pool and whirlpool were nice, but I didn't think there were *that* many kids on anyway... they were well contained in the other pools. Once, kids and their parents came to the adults only pool (probably didn't know it was, just came 'cause it was less crowded). Everyone in the pool starts to look nervous (oh no! kids!) Two of the kids got in the pool, and out of nowhere comes a Carnival Cop (dunno what she really was... employee of some sort) quietly asked the parents if the kids belonged to them, parents said yes, CC said 'this is adults only' and the parents took the kids and left. I thought that was handled very quietly and nicely. I don't even think many people noticed. I think it really was just an honest mistake, and it was handled appropriately.... the parents weren't embarrassed, kids didn't care, people in the pool relaxed again.

 

Formal night - we had great service from Komang and I Komang. We had the late seating (8:15) and as others have said, don't show up early, you'll just have to wait. We left our room at 8:15 most nights and walked right in. We had a table for two in the back - don't know how we scored that, but after having to postpone the whole wedding/cruise from October due to hospitalization of DH, somebody was smiling on us finally! We were surrounded by a big group of women and teenage/college age looking girls. They were loud and crazy, but we hardly noticed them, even though they kept apologizing. Still not sure if they were there to get away from the men or to look for them...

 

Tuesday was Grand Cayman. We got up early and got on the first tender, since we weren't sure what the situation would be like, and we were booked for Captain Marvin's stingray tour. Got on the island before much had opened, but found a breakfast place, and looked at some shops before the tour. Bought some coconut rum and mango rum. The shop lady would have let us taste test all morning, but we declined in favor of still needing to swim for the snokel/stingray tour.

 

Captain Marvin's was great - very professional. Our guides were great, and the stingrays were amazing. Also, I had never snorkled before, and had a rough start, but then got the hang of it. I just can't breathe out of my mouth! That's so weird to me. Anyway, cheaper than the Carnival tour, and well worth it. We had a little time for shopping after, and then got back on the boat.

 

Wednesday (Cozumel)- They were handing out tickets for tenders, but they were calling the numbers as they were handing them out, so it didn't really seem necessary, but it wasn't a big deal. We took a cab to Paradise Beach, paid our $8 and had an awesome time! Started out with the "American size" margaritas (regular cups), then ended up going with the "Mexican size" yard cups. They give you a discount if you get a refill on those!!

 

DH really wanted to rent the waverunner, so we did, but it was $55. I now recommend waiting until you get to Costa Maya when people were offering it for $35. Also, make sure you rinse ALL the sand off you before you go!!!! I must have had some on my leg, and when I sat behind DH, leg rubbed on his back/seat of waverunner with sand in between causing huge burning rash. NOT FUN! It calmed down after some aloe gel and a day or two.

 

We were hoping the obnoxious drunks would push each other off the tender on the way back to the boat. They came close!

 

Belize - "cave-tubing!" "DOT COM" (some of you will appreciate that!) We had a great time!!! Our group was met by Yhony and everyone, and he even remembered that I had booked a few months ago, cancelled, and was now finally there! He stayed behind to wait for other people to get off the tender, but we went ahead with Raton, Johnny and Richard. They were hilarious, and gave a really good little talk about Belize and how the company started (used to work for the cruise lines, wanted to improve). I highly recommend them! I know they love cruisecritic, so I have to thank whoever recommended them to me in the first place!

 

PS. We failed to mention we were booked for cave tubing through an independent, so we got on the tender with the Carnival cave tubers. oops! haha

 

Costa Maya - Can I just say how nice it was to sleep in and walk right off the boat??!! We went to Mahahual, got massages on the beach... they were professional, although I was a tad apprehensive at first. Also rented a souped up golf cart thingy. If you're going to do that, wait until the afternoon. When we asked about prices in the morning, they said $60 for an hour and a half. When we went back in the afternoon, we rented it for $60 until the end of the day (about 3 hours). Don't shop in the tourist land, same stuff down the road for cheaper. This was also the only place I got to speak Spanish to anyone! I had a little chat with the taxi driver, and that was fun, even though I understand it way better than I can speak it!

 

Friday was the other formal night. We ate in Nick and Nora's, and let me just tell you, ORDER THE CHOCOLATE TARTE. That is worth your $30 right there!! The service was great, food was amazing, wine was pricey but VERY good. The only bad part was the giant flies!! Apparently they had gotten stuck in there in Belize. They didn't have a fly swatter or a rolled up magazine in two days? Had I not been intimidated already (we are mid-20's, but look younger--felt like people were 'looking at me' maybe it was just cause I was wearing my boob dress) I'd have smashed the thing myself. Anyway, it wasn't really that big a deal. LOVED the mashed potatoes. One thing that I felt was lacking overall in the dining services on Carnival was the choices of potatoes - I wanted mashed potatoes on the lido buffet every day! The potatoes they did have (lido and bacchus) weren't that exciting.

 

Other notes:

Didn't need the bungee cord. There was a door stopper that we shoved in the hinges to make the door stay open.

 

power strip - good idea.

 

Next time, DH will listen to me and bring more polos for the dining room. We picked up a couple on shore so he didn't have to wear the same polo or dress shirt every day.

 

About room service - Close the balcony door BEFORE you attempt to place your tray back in the hallway!!!! Especially if you are partially clothed and you don't have the key!!! It creates a nice wind tunnel, and the doors are already pretty heavy. Or make sure DH is standing there to hold the door for you, not sitting on the balcony wondering what's taking you so long to put the tray down.

 

Shows - went to the first night and the Generations and Ticket to Ride shows. Some nights I thought I'd seen high school show choirs that were better. TTR was lots of fun, my only complaint is that the chick sang all the early '60s songs while dressed in definite 70's gear. Also, Paul plays guitar left handed, but I wasn't up close enough to see if the guy was actually playing. maybe he's right handed, and really was playing.. overall, those are kind of petty things, but I just thought I'd point them out for any other die-hards. We did have fun though. The comedians were really good. We didn't go to the hypnotist or anything like that.

 

I've never gambled before, but I thought it was kind of boring. DH would have done more if he had the chance, I think. It just wasn't my thing. This might sound bad, but we did the slots for a while, and it just took too long!! We'd win 10 cents and then lose 10 cents... it was really not that exciting. DH did a little blackjack, which was more fun. The guy next to us seemed like he'd been there a while!

 

Tried Caviar. Once on purpose, in the dining room (the black kind - it came on a pasta dish I ordered as a starter) and once because they gave it to me for 'free' (in Nick and Nora's - the red kind). I've heard it's an acquired taste, and it's not really one I care to acquire... but years ago I said that about beer too...

 

Strawberry bisque in the dining room - YOU MUST GET THIS.

 

Gazpacho - bring your own tortilla chips. It was good, but I like my 'salsa' with chips! :)

 

Order food you've never had, just to try it. I was not shy about ordering two entrees, but whoever said they are smaller portions than your used to is crazy. I want to know where that person eats regularly!

 

We did get sucked into buying some of the Carnival pictures. DH is the shopper though, not me. We also bought the book thing that fits 5x7's. I think it was only $3.99 or something, and it came with a beautiful picture of the ship.

 

All in all, it was a great time! I wasn't sure about the whole cruise thing, but I got to pick the ports we went to, and we both enjoyed it a lot! Next time I'm going to take some friends with us, so I'll have someone to go out with (DH is on a crazy work schedule, and just can't stay out super late... he's definately the early riser!)

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

[TanIslandGirl]

Hi Batzmaru,

I know just where you got that screen name from? LOL

Sounds like you had a great cruise and enjoyed your ports visited.

Next time you return from your cruise continue to take Dramamine or Bonine for a few days to get adjusted. It should help.

We will be repeating the W. Caribbean route on the Triumph this January.

I have been thinking of booking through Captain Marvins while in Grand Cayman. Last time we booked directly through Carnival and had a great time but thought we might try it on our own this time. Did you book the half day excursion? Did you snorkel somewhere else other than the stingray sandbar? Just trying to get a feel for their normal trip before I do give them a call to set something up. Any info you could provide would be great. When we did this the last time we were taken to the stingrays and got to snorkel a lil bit but it was not to great. The stingrays were totaly great. Way better than the caged stingray excursion in Nassau.

I enjoyed reading your review.:)

[MsMiMi]

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

I am going on the Miracle next week and I really enjoyed reading your review. Just helped keep that excitement level up there!:D

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise!

Congrats on the wedding too!

Michelle

[batzmaru]

TanIslandGirl- the sn is probably where you think it's from, but also, it's spelled wrong! I rarely post, so didn't feel like changing it! haha!

 

We did the half day tour. They took us to two places to snorkel. I hadn't done it before anywhere, so I thought was really cool once I got used to the whole mouth breathing thing. After the two 'reef' type places, we went to the stingray sandbar. No snorkeling there - there's only 3 feet of water, and only sand and stingrays, both of which you can see from just standing there. I guess you could take your mask out and get a different perspective of the stingrays, but we didn't do that.

 

The Captain Marvin's website is pretty explanatory. We brought our own gear (DH thinks we'll be doing this a lot!) but if you're not a germophobe, it's no big deal to use the stuff they provide.

 

Oh, also, on the boat, there was a chick from "VIP Video" trying to hawk a $60 DVD of the trip. She had a fancy underwater camcorder, but we still didn't think it was worth it. A $10 photo we can be suckered into, not a $60 DVD. They showed a 'preview' of the tape on the trip back, and I watched the part where we kissed the stingray, and that wasn't enough to convince me to shell out the cash. You may or may not be interested in that 'tourist trap disclaimer', but I thought I'd throw it out there. The Captain Marvin staff was great overall!

 

Thanks for the tip about the Dramamine! I took it a little on the boat, but didn't think to keep taking it!

[odiesam]

Batz, were you on our bus in Belize? We were the "family of 9" sitting in the back - we are from Sylvania - where in Toledo are you from?

[batzmaru]

Batz, were you on our bus in Belize? We were the "family of 9" sitting in the back - we are from Sylvania - where in Toledo are you from?

 

YES!! DH and I got put in the group of four with another couple. We were the first two in our chain. That cracks me up you are from Sylvania!! I read your review on the other page and almost asked you if you were in our group. We live in Perrysburg, but not from here originally. Small world!

 

Did you bring back some Cashew wine???

[odiesam]

Amazing! Congratulations on your wedding! Yes, we brought back some cashew wine - we are waiting to get together with our neighbors (who were the other family comprising the total of 9) to review pictures and unscrew our fine cashew wine! Weren't those cave-tubing.com guys a riot?

 

What are the odds of half that bus in Belize coming from the Toledo area?

[elaineb]

Thanks, Batz!!! Another great review and the excitement is mounting - 9 days until our cruise on the Miracle!!! So glad you enjoyed your first cruise. Has the post cruise blues creeped in yet? If so, just start planning your next one.:)

[emmysmommy]

Thanks for taking the time to write the review. We also used Captain Marvin's and I would not hesitate to use them again!

 

I know what you mean about the wind tunnel thing with the door!! LOL :D :D