Carnival Miracle Review- 6/4/2007

[BuckeyeLotus]

We chose this cruise for our honeymoon (ages 24 and 25) because it left the Monday after the wedding, had relaxing sea days, and I had been on Carnival before and we wanted a stress free vacation. We also loved that it left from New York b/c flights there from Cleveland were very inexpensive, unlike Florida. I am happy to say we chose perfectly.

Embarkation

We arrived at the NY terminal earlier then we were supposed to but no one seemed to care. It may have seemed like a zoo but there were people around to help direct you to where you should go. We opted to rent a car service to take us from LaGuardia to the terminal and we are glad we did. We paid no more then a taxi and were not worried when hit traffic and we able to relax comfortably while going to the pier. Once there we were shown to some chairs and were able to sit and wait until we could start the boarding process. Everything went smoothly quickly and we were on the lido deck eating lunch before we knew it. We had a rainy sail away but it didn’t stop us from watching it all from the top deck. The views of the city were spectacular and of course we took tons of photos of Lady Liberty.

Rooms

We were allowed in our rooms at 1:30 and dumped our carry on bags. We did not however meet our steward until after dinner, when we did meet him he did not know our names or bother to learn them. Further more almost everyday we returned (No matter what time of day) to our room we found him or his assistant cleaning and we would have to wait in the hall till they finished to get into the room to even drop off something. Needless to say we were very disappointed, but I guess you can’t get the best steward on every cruise. The room was clean and we did get towel animals, but the balcony was neglected and the do not disturb/make up my room sign seems to be worth nothing. The room was a balcony on the top most deck and we found it to be great. Lido hung over like a roof and it was very private. The room itself was very spacious, great balcony, lots of closet space. The only thing we objected to was the gaudy orange color of everything but we got used to it. The bedding was fantastic; I even considered buying some of the pillows I loved them so much.

Food

We thought the food was fantastic. Everyday we checked what was at dinner on the TV screen and picked what we were going to get. We had dinner in the dinning hall every night we could and although our waiter was efficient he was not really friendly and never learned our names. Even though we had two bottles of wine (dinner and desert) he didn’t seem to feel that we deserved two wine chillers and our desert wine was always warm. I can’t think of one thing I didn’t like in the hall. My only advice is make sure you try it all, don’t get the same thing every night or you will miss out. We did the Lido deck for lunch most days and found the food to be great. There were so many choices it was hard to decide what to get. Hamburgers were great, deli was fantastic, pizza was heavenly, and the international display was great. We also loved the Sushi car and tried to go as often as we could. We did Nick and Nora’s once and got a great table at the window and watched the sun set which was beautiful. The staff was spectacular, everything you would expect in a 5 star restaurant. The food was to die for and we enjoyed every bite, worth every penny. Tip: Do not eat lunch that day like we did, we didn’t think we would make it back to the room we were so stuffed!

Activities

We went to the two big shows and they were good, the Beatles Tribute was my favorite, but I wouldn’t have paid extra to see it. The casino is great we lost miserably in the slots tournament but still had fun. I am addicted to roulette and spent time there they had a great staff. Dr. Frankenstein’s Disco was a little disappointing, seemed too empty most nights and more people watching then dancing. We like crowded fun clubs but everyone seemed pretty low key here. We did Bingo once; I only recommend going when you can play the cards for more then one game otherwise it is over too quick. The newlywed game was very funny and trivia was fun. Tea time is the best, don’t miss the smoked salmon. The midnight buffet was beautiful but we waited in line for over a half an hour to see it and missed the beginning of the adult comedian. The Comedian was quite funny, better then the last boat we were on. The musicians were all good from classical to jazz we enjoyed them all. We also loved the chips and margarita party and the martini party in the atrium. I did attend the art auctions and the art history lecture (I have a MA in Art History) they were entertaining with a few good pieces but they were all modern, not my cup of tea, but the art auctioneer was a really nice guy. On one sea day we did a couples massage and enjoyed the hot tub in the spa, it is almost always empty unlike the ones on the Lido deck. The Spa staff was incredibly nice and the massage, although expensive, was very relaxing but slightly painful as they tried to get rid of notes instead of glossing over them. Even 5 days afterwards the spa staff would still say hi if we passed them in the hall.

Décor

We thought the ship was beautiful. We loved all of the ‘naked’ nymphs and muses which decorated everything. Every room had its own theme and we thought they did a great job with it. Don’t miss Gatsby’s garden which is the perfect setting for pictures and always empty. Although some might think everything was over done and corny we loved it, this is what you should expect on cruise ship. We even loved the grapes in the dinning room, although if it had been in any other location we would have made fun of them. We also loved the photographers and took every background around the ship we could and had a huge stack of photos by the end of the cruise, however the prices for buying the photos were steep and we only bought a couple by the end.

San Juan

In San Juan we did the Bioluminescent bay kayak tour which was a lot of fun. It was a really long bus ride to the bay though in Rush Hour Traffic through some not so pretty parts of town. We made one stop for dinner at a KFC and McDonalds which was entertaining just because we don’t speak Spanish and no one there knew English. Once there they breeze you through what to do and you set out in the pitch black trying to follow a glow stick in front of us. If you like adventure you will love it. The bay itself was slightly disappointing, it didn’t glow like I thought it would but you could see the glitter and it was great fun to get out there through the channels. We also did some shopping in Old San Juan and enjoyed the area near port. We stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream since all the Ship has is soft serve and I was very disappointed by that.

St. Thomas

Of course is the most beautiful port there is. First thing in the morning we woke and went parasailing, it was worth every penny. The scenery was so beautiful and it was the best shore excursion we picked. Even the boat ride was fun and we had a great captain. We also did the Beach and Bike adventure. They ferry you to Water Island, off of St. Thomas and bus you to the top of the hill, from there you get a demo on how to ride a bike and off you go. The trails did slope down most of the time and most were smooth, however some was a bit rocky and scary when going to fast but that made it more like Mountain Biking instead of a leisurely ride. This excursion is not for anyone who doesn’t ride a bike with some frequency. We stopped at Honeymoon Beach and had the whole thing practically to ourselves. Crystal clear water and white powder sand it was beautiful. We also did some shopping in St. Thomas, great prices on duty free liquor, cheaper then the boat in most cases and of course all the corny pirate stuff you could ever want.

Tortola

In Tortola we opted to go to the Virgin Gorda baths. When we arrived at the ferry depot we were told that it had broken down and it would be an hour before it would leave so we ended up going back to the ship for breakfast. The ship did however give us a 30% discount on the excursion since it was late. Later that night however we found that many of our cruise mates were able to get to the island before us and we didn’t’ understand how or why. I think we might opt to go on our own next time as many people did with out any problems. When we finally left it was a rather long ferry ride followed by a long bus ride until we got there. We had two hours which was enough time to do some hiking and take in the view, but not enough time to actually relax and really explore. It was a bit treacherous in some parts; I did get knocked into some rocks by a wave. The beaches were beautiful and the entire island was spectacular. We really enjoyed every minute of it.

Debarkation

We slept in the last morning, barely made breakfast, and still had quite a long time to wait before our color tag was called so we could leave the ship. This was fine with us as we just sat on the top deck admiring the city. When we did leave, our luggage was right there and we were in line for a taxi before we knew it. Taxis came fairly quickly and we were on our way to our hotel in Times Square after about 15 minutes.

We had a fantastic time and would cruise Carnival again in a heartbeat. We fell in love with the Miracle and would definitely cruise on her again even if we didn’t have the best waiter or cabin steward; all of it is luck of the draw. The rest of the staff we found to be extremely friendly. The dining room host learned my name the first night and addressed me every night we went to dinner by name. All of the lido deck servers and bartenders were very nice, and the shop workers were great. Everyone smiles and says hello and if you have any questions everyone will help you. We visited the pursers desk a couple of times and the infirmary, everyone was friendly and helpful and all problems were fixed quickly. There was always a ton of activities to do, food to eat, and people to chat with, all of which made for a very memorable vacation.

[cruisinsly]

Thank you for posting a review. We were on the Miracle Nov 2006 and had a great time. Congrats on your marriage.

[andychris]

Congratulations on your wedding. Thank you for your reviews, sounds like you had a great time.

[rebeljohn]

Congratulations! Glad you enjoyed your honeymoon cruise on the Miracle. Thanks for posting the review..........

[IKE]

Thank You for your review. It was very interesting . Congrats to Both of You on your Marriage. May You enjoy many more cruises! IKE

[Bob and Linda]

Thanks for taking time to post the review. Congratulations on your wedding. My wife, son and daughter in-law and I will be sailing on the Miracle in January.

[BuckeyeLotus]

Thank you everyone for your comments. We had a blast on Miracle and it was a great way to start out lives together. We definetly can't wait to start going on our Anniversery Cruises!!

[Sandi149]

Thank you everyone for your comments. We had a blast on Miracle and it was a great way to start out lives together. We definetly can't wait to start going on our Anniversery Cruises!!

 

Hey Amanda,

 

Glad you and your new hubby had a great time. Jay and I thought the cruise was great also. :D