Carnival Miracle 12/01/07 Review - The Good, The Great and the AWESOME...

[TallyRockChick]

Ooh you lucky ducks....Webshots stopped being stupid.

 

On to formal night dinner!

We both got the pumpkin soup which was creamy and fantastic

I also got the stuffed mushrooms which were SO FREAKING GOOD! Another thing I wish they had more then one night. They were cheesy and moist and YUMM-O! Rachael Ray-ish I know, but its a perfect word to describe!

I forgot to say that last night I got the caesar salad and so did Lex. Actually Lex got the caesar salad every night. It was good caesar dressing but had a little too much of an anchovie bite then I like.

Tonight, however, I got the wilted spinach with portobello salad. Uneventful to say the least. The picture says it all. I did start eating it before I remembered to take the pic, but still...you get the point.

 

and then....

LOBSTER!!!!

As days passed we heard various people say that their lobster was tough and chewy and "it took a saw to get thru it". Well I guess it was touch and go because our lobster was buttery and tender and tasted great. Granted we only heard a few say they had a less then stellar experience with the lobster and to compile a percentage of the complainers to the whole ship it would be a low one. Behold the buttery goodness:

and what surf and turf meal would be complete without some prime rib with au jus? The prime rib was good...not the best prime rib Ive had, but it still wasnt crappy either. The au jus was a little thicker then au jus should be, it was more gravy-esque but it was still tasty and had good flavor. The baked potato was dry but I was too full to eat it anyways. I like to eat my meat and then if I have room I'll go for the sides. Actually Im lying, I taste the sides and if the sides are great then I eat those too.

After dinner the servers did a little song and dance and didnt force anyone to get up so I didnt mind.

Rodolfo is on the left, and sweet cheeks Maryono is on the right.

[TallyRockChick]

I dont know if I forgot to take pics of dessert or if we didnt eat any because we were full. I completely forgot. But lets just consider this our dessert:

 

While sunning on the deck we arranged with Susan and Branden to meet at Maguire's after dinner so we went back to the room to change and got our first towel animal!

after a quick change we went to Maguire's and waited a little bit and then the stupid slot machines were teasing us calling us chickens so we decided to take no prisoners and go for a little one armed bandit. $40 each later down the tubes and Sue and Branden showed up (thank god) and we were off to Frankie and Johnny's for a little Music Manila!

They were REALLY good. When we got there they were in a little mashup of Chubby Checker-ish tunes "come on every body...come on, come on every body" and they have some sick harmonies. The bass player was going OFF on his 5 string. We were impressed (me and Lex were both in bands) to say the least.

 

Then we were off to Dr. Frankenstein's lab. This place was pretty packed but you would never have thought so if you just looked at the dance floor. When we went, they were playing disco music and there were TONS of people sitting at the tables but the dance floor was empty. Also it smelled like burgers in there. We came to see later that theres a kitchen right next to it because someone came thru the door and we could see in. At 11:45 or 12 or something like that they were gonna switch to the music of today but we were going to the adult comic so we didnt get to hear.

 

Susan and Branden

 

downstairs is non smoking at the disco and upstairs you can light up and Branden wanted to have a toke so we went up there and it smelled less burgery up there.

They had these cool chairs that someone described as ones you would play video games in upstairs and they were comfy as hell too.

 

After Dr. Frank's we went to watch the R rated comic. He was ok, it seemed like he was trying really hard to make it R-rated and would keep saying f bombs to do so. It didnt make him any funnier. He did say some funny things but all together he was ehh.

 

Thats gonna be all for today folk's...I'll pick back up tomorrow morning with the 2nd sea day!

[motherofthree]

this review is bringing back such great memories...tally rock, i think we sat at the table nxt to yours on our cruise in august. great review for those about to go on the miracle.

 

lesley

[Ltvscout]

we then made our way up to the lido again to relax before dinner....or shall I say sushi. Lex had his first of many cigars (on the allowed deck area of course! Basically the only place you can smoke cigars is in the sports bar, at the Orpheus bar (adult pool area) and on one side of the lido)

The Gotham Lounge at the back of the Atlantic deck just before you go into the dining room used to be a cigar bar. Don't they sell/allow cigars there anymore?

[Ltvscout]

I also tried out the shrimp cocktail...not much to report there...it was shrimp cocktail - tasted fresh and good and thats what counts!

This looks yummy. We love shrimp cocktail on the ship. Take a look at this pitiful shrimp cocktail that NCL serves its passengers.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=673122

 

Pathetic!

 

BTW, love your review! Adding the pictures inline with the review really is nice. We loved the Miracle as well. I'm glad you two enjoyed yourselves.

[chitown cruisers]

love the review Brandy......don't stop! Great memories (twice). I love this ship, glad she didn't disappoint.

[boaterette]

Thank you so much for the review. I love the pictures that you attach. I am looking forward to the rest of your review. I am seriously lokking at booking the Miracle.

[chitown cruisers]

Thank you so much for the review. I love the pictures that you attach. I am looking forward to the rest of your review. I am seriously lokking at booking the Miracle.

BOOK IT so we can say "I told you so"..........she's a great ship and a favorite of many!!

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review and pictures.

[rebeljohn]

Brandi...........Very nice review.........we are enjoying your pictures, and re-living our Miracle cruise from last year.............

[Rhealsmom]

We will be sailing on her for the 1st time May 1st. Your review is wonderful... I wish we were sailing now. Thanks.

[asader83]

TRC,

 

Reading your review is like watching a great movie and then the DVD player stops half way through! I'm shaking my laptop, hoping more of your posts pop in!

 

Can't wait to read the rest, keep 'em coming! Great job!! :D

[gypsyrose]

Great review. I love picture reviews!! I have to learn how to do that for my next cruise. Sounds like you guys had a blast. And I agree, creme brulee should be available every day. I don't eat dessert but I always get that. Yummy!!

[TallyRockChick]

LOL you guys are killing me over here...Im trying not to LOL at work. Im on the computer all day at work so at night time its BREAK time for my eyes. We'll see how far I can get today so you guys wont be left in suspense.

 

Lets see....where were we? Ahhh yes, 2nd sea day!

 

Today we actually woke up at a reasonable time, early for my standards of vacation, but we were well rested and woke up without an alarm so I think my body could just TELL it was a beautiful sunny day, even with the blinds closed. I jumped up and down when I opened up the curtains to see a clear blue sky.

We hopped up and threw on our suits and covers and headed up for a lido buffet breakfast.

This is basically what my breakfast looked like every morning that I ate at the buffet, so there was no reason to take any other pics. The eggs are soft and kinda runny but they werent bad. They had lots of other things to get like cream of wheat and oatmeal and they went back and forth between french toast and pancakes. They also had white or wheat toast along with the bagels. Also available were cereals and fruit and the fattening stuff - croissants and danish and all that sugary mess.

The potatoes changed back and forth from these little potato pancake thingys to the square potato pieces as well. They also had bacon (turkey bacon...aka...dog treats was avail at the omelet station line), sausage and canadian bacon available at every line. I like my bacon well done so I had to usually sift to the bottom of the tank and get pieces of bacon but that was fine because I end up breaking my bacon apart to eat it anyways, it was as if it was done for me. Wow I just realized how long that whole explaination was. Can you tell I like food?

cream cheese is available at the side stations where the bussers keep the new silverware along with some jellys and syrups. I also had orange/mango/passion fruit juice which is delish!

 

Then we were off to the pool deck...we sat at the main center Lido pool today. It got pretty freaking hot so we partook in the lovely sit in the water without submerging parts of the pool and some buckets of beer.

 

A little later Lex wanted to smoke a cigar so we packed up to move to the Orpheus bar and the adults only pool (aft). The hustle and bustle is WAY calmer on the back deck and this is where we spent the rest of the trip when we were sunning. It was kinda sad because we missed out hearing the band but they played music out there so it was still ok. When we got out there we saw Charles of Charles and Elizabeth (SmudgeCat) at the bar who informed us that he has proposed to Elizabeth the night before. After gushing about how cute he was I ran over to Elizabeth who was sunning and set up camp next to her and we stayed there for basically the rest of the day.

Funship Freddy made an appearance too!

 

There was one geriatric that was rocking some blue speedos too.

sorry....had to do it.

 

Then we saw this lady with the rockingest mullet I have ever seen! She was serious!

 

Today we partook in the lido burger bar and I had a delicious cheeseburger that I put sauteed mushrooms and chili on, as well as some fries with some chili on them too. If Im gonna blow my diet I might as well dive in head first right? No picture of that, I was too hungry and just started to chow and forgot.

[TallyRockChick]

After not waiting an hour after I ate (tee hee) it was WATERSLIDE TIME! Let me just say that the entire trip I never saw a single kid on the waterslide. Many times there was a line to go down it and it was all adults. We got a good laugh out of that one. Even more of a laugh at the ladies that didnt know how to truely rock a waterslide and tried to go down on their butts and not lay down. They had to scoot down it.

[Bob and Linda]

WOW! Great review so far keep it coming. Love the pics too. We sail 4 weeks from today.

[pmoniz]

Great review so far!! Sailing on the Miracle in April!! Can't wait!!

[TallyRockChick]

Had to add Charles in there, he got the best splashes and had the best faces!

 

Alrighty then...

We went back to the bar for a little bit and had a couple more beers and then went to the room to shower up and change for dinner. We originally wanted to go to Nick and Nora's that night but when I called they were booked for the evening. I boycotted dinner by wearing jeans! Ok I didnt boycott, but I did wear jeans. They were nice jeans, and I wore a nice top too. There were plenty of people that looked way crappier then I did, believe me. The dress in the dining room was mixed. Some people dressed ALL OUT and some were casual. It was touch and go usually, but nothing really offended me throughout the cruise except for the last night when I saw a lady wearing a pair of ratty old jeans with a Belize t-shirt and I saw a guy that was wearing a muscle shirt (a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off) and what LOOKED like workout pants but we couldnt really tell because he was on the bottom and we were up top and he was sitting at the table. THAT pissed me off, but hey, what ya gonna do?

Anyways, after showering and all that jazz we went to...what else?? Sushi!

 

the sushi master! (with a shot of the menu too)

 

Lex went to the sushi bar and also got us a couple shots of saki. Im not a warm saki fan, so it didnt go down too well, but who am I to snub my nose at alchi?

 

After sushi we decided we wanted to go to the casino and lose some more money. So we each dropped $40 on some blackjack and watched it widdle away to nothing. The dealer kept getting freaking blackjack! RIGGED I tell ya!! After again losing out butts we decided to watch people play craps so we could learn what the deal was. We had picked up the brochure on the first day and read it a few times but it still was a little jibberish to me, even though I read info on it online too before I went on the cruise. Standing there and watching was really the best way to learn and after about 30-45 mins and getting yelled at twice because my drink was too close to the table, we had a pretty good grasp on things. Here we also met Hard Nine. This was a funny Arab dude that was playing craps when we were watching and he was basically at the craps table the whole cruise. He was the luckiest son-a-muh on the boat. He won all kinds of stuff on the cruise (which I'll get to later). We call him Hard Nine because I guess when he was rolling right then the point was nine so he kept wanting it and he would say LOUD "'ere we go, HARD NINE...fifty-four...'ere we go".

[TallyRockChick]

After the Hard Nine lesson, we went to dinner. On the way I had to stop to go to the bathroom and had to take a pic of the insane hand dryers. They seriously blew the water off your hands in like 2 seconds.

FEEL THE POWER!

 

A note about the bathrooms, I was drinking a lot (water too! Im not a lush!) and used what I thought to be every bathroom on the ship, but I was probably wrong. Every single bathroom was spotless every time I went in there with the exception of one day the bathroom at the Orpheus bar had water in one of the stalls because of the toilet I think but it was fixed by the next day. Although one time I was the only person in the bathroom and one of the hand dryers kept going off by itself for a few seconds and then turned off. I dunno what the deal was, it was either a ghost or it was on the fritz. Id like to think it was a ghost.

 

On to dinner!

Black bean soup with sour cream for me

 

sushi sampler for Lex (no the boy can not get enough)

 

chicken quesadilla for me too

 

Lex and I both got the shrimp and calamari pasta. This pasta was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! The shrimp and the calamari were tender and not chewy and the flavor of the sauce was really great. Since Lex also got shortribs, I got to eat some more of his...

Lex's short ribs (I think thats what this was called...the name is bothering me though)

[gypsyrose]

I would love to cruise with you. I think you enjoy food even more than I do. My DH is no fun, he eats to live, I live to eat. Love all the photos!!

[NCTribeFan]

My first attempt at dieting (since mid-September) has resulted in all of 6 pounds lost.

 

Know what? I'm going to eat like a freaking pig anyway! :D

 

I'm really not a big eater, normally, but these pics are making me want to try every single thing on the menus.

 

Love sushi! Love the breakfast buffet with crisp bacon! Love creme brulee! I love it all!

 

One and a half more days of work! Hopefully my stupid cold will clear up a little before we fly on Sunday, and the weather will cooperate.

 

Geez, I can't wait! And for the rest of you, when I get back on Christmas Eve day, I plan on writing a looooooonnggggg review and posting lots of pics of food to torture y'all some more!

 

C'mon, Brandy! Bring it on! I need more Carnival Miracle!

[TallyRockChick]

Dessert:

Lex got the diet cheesecake and it didnt taste diety at all. It was lighter then regular cheesecake which I kind of liked better then the heaviness of normal cheesecake.

pineapple sherbert for me which had chunks of real pinapple in it and was tasty and cleansing

 

Tonight was karaoke and they were auditioning for Gloria Estefan for the Legends show and I figured I could rock out some Conga so we went back to the room real quick for a drink and found our next towel animal. Im not TOO too sure what the heck it is, maybe a cat? Koala? Its lounging whatever it is...

 

Lex pussed out because he OVERSTUFFED himself at dinner and couldnt make it to karaoke. We were meeting Elizabeth and Charles there so I went. By the time I got in there and got a book and started looking at songs they had already ended auditions for the Legends show. They didnt even have any Gloria Estefan songs in that stupid book anyways. So I chose I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor...I got ONE Gloria). Saw Susan and Branden there too and sat with them for a little bit.

Karaoke is one area on the ship that really needs some improvement. Actually every cruise Ive been on it has needed improvement. The chick that ran karaoke on this cruise was named Marina and she did a pretty good job with getting people up to sing and she said some funny stuff in between people as well. Unfortunately, she didnt really know how to balance the equipment. It was pretty much like they said, "ok you are gonna run karaoke, have fun" and didnt teach her how to properly use the equipment to get the sound right. It was too loud sometimes and too soft sometimes and just didnt sound good. Another thing is they have a really crappy selection of songs. I know they cant have ALL the songs everyone wants but they had lots and lots of songs from artists that no one would ever sing and then no songs of people that would get a lot of play. I mean, they were auditioning for Gloria Estefan and didnt even have any of her songs in the book! Whats up with that?

Also, the time of karaoke and the auditions for the Legends show. Karaoke started at 9:00 or earlier and they do the auditions at the VERY beginning of karaoke, so if you have late seating for dinner, and you want to audition, you either have to leave dinner early to go to karaoke, or not eat in the dining room that night or something. I really dont think that was fair or right to do that and I think they should allow the auditions for the entire time for karaoke and not just the beginning. The Legends show sucked without me...ok ok, Im kidding. It probably woulda sucked with me too. I didnt see the Legends show, Im just assuming. Im still kidding.

Ok off my soap box now...

Here is Charles singing his beautiful rendition of Livin on a Prayer

 

Stayed to hear a few more singers and then said goodnight. Tomorrow is Panama and I wanted to get rested up for our adventure to the city of Portobelo!

[TallyRockChick]

NCT - I started dieting hard core and finally got a gym membership about 2.5 months before the cruise and had lost 7 pounds before I got on the cruise. I surprisingly only gained back 3.5 while on the cruise. I would like to think that was due to the fact that we did not once (other then when we had our bags and were leaving the ship) use the elevators. We used the stairs every time.

Im pretty sure Im gonna lose more weight now because I shocked the crap out of my body going from eating really healthy to eating whatever was there to back to eating healthy and not as big of portions.

[myjulio888]

I'm loving this!! It nice to have a review from someone my age .... LOVED the super mullet!:D

[NCTribeFan]

I always, always, always take the stairs on my cruises and have even been known to drop a pound or two!

 

You're a LOT younger than me! Just wait. Some day you'll be a middle-aged woman complaining about how you eat less and exercise more and STILL gain weight in the midsection! ;)

 

Sorry, but that mullett cannot compare to some I've seen when I lived up in the NC mountains. :eek: