Carnival Miracle 3/6/08 Long Review

[davethomasowns]

Hello all! We got back on Friday from our 8-day Western Caribbean cruise onboard the Carnival Miracle. I am a 21-Year-Old college student, and my girlfriend just turned 21 as well. This trip was actually a surprise I gave her for her birthday on March 5th. It was my second cruise (I went on Imagination last year,) and her third (She was on the Imagination with me, and she also went on a Royal Caribbean 2 years ago.) We had cabin# 7170, an extended balcony on the Verandah deck. Despite an illness ruining a couple days, we had a wonderful time and are already planning another trip onboard the Miracle. There are so many things that we missed out on that we want to make sure and do (Nick and Nora’s, actually eating in the dining room, etc.)

 

Since we live in Orlando, Florida, we woke up at around 7am on Thursday morning. We drove to Ft. Lauderdale and arrived at around 10:00am. After stopping at Burger King for breakfast, we could not stand the wait so we headed to the port. Still being sort of new to cruising, we had imagined that we could not board until 2pm like we read online. After a short wait in line they walked around and handed out flyers saying that we could board the ship early (It was only 11am at this time!) We simply could not go to our rooms until 2pm, but the public areas would be open. Embarkation was extremely quick and easy and it’s nice how everybody makes note of past guests with comments like “Welcome Back Shane.” Those simple things made us really excited and as you can tell, Kaleigh almost ran onto the boat.

 

 

Once we got on the ship we proceeded to just visit all of the public areas while they weren’t packed. We walked around and took pictures of everything. Our first impression of the ship was that everything looked amazing. We went on Imagination (before the renovations) and felt that everything seemed very retro. For example, the gold elevators and staircases on that boat made everything seem 1970ish. The Miracle gave a completely different impression. Everything seemed new and being how Kaleigh is an artist, she appreciated all of the details in everything. The floor tiles, the ceilings, the lighting, everything had really artistic details that made all of the rooms unique. Things like the enormous wall painting in the atrium, and even the designs inside the elevator doors, made things seem more ornamental. We both do a fair share of gambling in Tampa (We go almost every week,) so we were pleasantly surprised once we saw the size of the casino. It was literally 3 times the size of the casino onboard the Imagination. She made sure that her favorite slot machine was there (Jackpot Party,) and I checked out the tables. It is sort of disappointing that all of the boats do the PokerPro electronic dealers now, but I was still excited that they had Hold’em tournaments. We sneaked a peek at the Phantom Lounge (beautiful as well,) and walked through the other bars and areas. I thoroughly enjoyed matching the public room with what icon it was based on. When the “Maitre'd Mr. V!” was available, we went up to talk to him about our seating. He gladly switched us to a two-top on the main level and I absolutely loved the dining room. Purple is actually both of ours’ favorite color, so it did not overwhelm me at all. I thought it looked very elegant and I anticipated dining in there the entire week.

 

 

 

 

 

[davethomasowns]

2pm came alone and it was time for us to go to our room! On the Imagination we had an Oceanview (with a porthole,) and it had seemed rather small. When we opened the door we were pleasantly surprised. Although the bathroom is a little smaller than on the Imagination, the actual room was much larger! It seemed much brighter (obviously because of the balcony doors!) and there was actual walking room. We jumped on the bed which was surprisingly comfortable (Carnival Comfort Beds are great,) and the balcony was larger than we imagined. Everybody was exclaiming that the balconies are tiny, and to not expect much, but I thought that ours was very spacious. There were two chairs, one that lounged, and a small table. We had lifeboats underneath us but that did not bother me at all. I am sort of scared of heights, and I just kept imagining that if I fell, they would break my fall and I would not get lost at sea (haha!) The T.V. had AV inputs on the front so we were able to hook up our small DVD player that we brought, and Carnival broadcasted several movies throughout the week. They also had a channel that showed recordings of different networks shows all week. They played stuff from our favorite channels (Discovery, Discovery Times, TLC, and Animal Planet) and there was also a Denver news channel. Little did we know that we would have to spend most of our week in the room, so I am sure glad that it was so spacious and inviting!

 

 

 

 

It ended up POURING for several hours while we were in Ft. Lauderdale so the boat left a couple hours late. For sail away we met at the Orpheus Aft bar for our Cruise Critic roll call meet and greet. We met many of the people that I had been talking to for months and it was a very enjoyable experience. Everybody was so interesting and kind and I am glad that I got to at least meet them all. After this we threw on some nice clothes, went to eat dinner at the Bacchus Dining Room (we had late seating,) and then got some drinks and went to our room. This evening while Kaleigh was in the shower I went out on the balcony and laid in the chair. It was so relaxing out there I literally fell asleep.

 

 

 

[davethomasowns]

Days 1-2

I awoke at 4am with VERY bad abdominal pains. I knew that I wasn't seasick (I have been in 14 foot waves before and was fine,) but I felt like I was going to vomit. I ran to the bathroom and threw up more than I ever have in my life. Literally every 10 minutes I would have to go to the toilet and throw up, lasting for close to 7 or 8 hours. The next day my body felt like I had just got over a year-long flu. My bones and joints and every inch of my body hurt to move, and I had a terrible headache. I am not one to complain but I honestly hurt. I slept most of the day and that evening the vomiting symptoms returned. I decided that I would go to the infirmary and see what was happening to me. Come to find out it was a "Norwalk-Like Virus." The doctor gave me a few medications and told me that I would be put on "Isolation" for 24 hours. That evening my girlfriend started complaining about stomach pains. Next thing you know she had the same violent vomiting and other symptoms. Hers only lasted maybe 2 hours, but everything was the same so I knew she had contracted my "disease." Anyways, since we got sick we were both put on“Quarantine.” The first two days I did not get to see much except for the bed. I missed out on the Captains Dinner and Past-Guest party (both of which I heard were great,) and I mostly slept.

 

 

 

Day 3 - Panama

We were under the impression that the “Isolation” period was over so we attempted to leave the ship. When my Sail&Sign card was swiped, a loud ringing noise sounded. The gentleman did not know what it meant so he let us through. I actually liked the port in Panama. The buildings were all different colors and cheerful, and the building there at the port was relatively clean. We had booked a canal tour with MyFriendMario tours so we met up with them when we got off. There were several other Cruise Critic members on the tour with us so it ended up being really fun. We all jumped on a comfortable air-conditioned bus and headed toward San Lorenzo Fort. On the way we stopped to take two treks through “Nature Trails.” We did not see much wildlife; some large ants, birds, spiders, and a sloth and howler monkey in trees far away. Mario had cold beer and Cokes for everybody and some home-made local pastries. He was very informative and a very nice person in general. He noticed that Kaleigh did not feel well so he gave her Tylenol and another Coke to try and make her feel better. At the Fort there was an amazing view. Not much history there and the fort was nothing special but we really enjoyed the view of the water. Hopped into the van and headed back to the observation deck at the Gatun Locks. On the way back we were stopped on the other side of the canal. They decided that they were going to let three ships through so we ended up waiting about an hour and a half while they inched through. This was out of Mario’s hands and definitely not his fault, so we basically used this time to learn more about each other. Once we made it across we spent about 45 minutes at the observation site as we watched a ship transit the canal. It was very interesting to watch and I am glad that I got the chance to witness it. Upon returning to “Colon 2000” we looked in a couple of the shops and bought some snacks at their grocery store. When I went to board the vessel again the same beeping noise occurred and a gentleman in a white uniform was waiting for me. He asked me to follow him into the infirmary and proceeded to question me about who had let me off the ship that morning. I could not remember so he basically told me that since I had not checked in with them in the morning, I was still on isolation and was not supposed to get off. My temperature was checked, they said I was fine, and we went on our way. Seeming how we had been sick and still had slight pains, we did not feel like eating much. I enjoyed a cheeseburger from Horatio’s Restaurant and we laid out on the deck for a couple hours. Speaking of the Lido deck, everything was great. The Pizza was delicious, they had a “New York Deli” that make awesome grilled sandwiches, and the restaurant always served pretty good food. During the day I would get burgers from the grille and there was usually a live band playing outside. We never got in any of the pools or hot-tubs but everybody else seemed to be enjoying them. The other roll-callers were pulling late-nights (they were still going at it around 3am,) but Kaleigh and I decided to go back to the room to recuperate. It was a wonderful day in Panama and I definitely plan on going back to visit again when the new locks are built.

 

 

 

 

[davethomasowns]

 

 

Day 4

We were supposed to be visiting Costa Rica today but apparently there was a large strike taking place. Carnival let all of us passengars know that we were no longer going there. Instead, we would go to Roatan, Honduras on Tuesday. Seeming how I was feeling a little better I went to the Lido buffet for breakfast. The food was good, eggs were just okay (This was expected,) and everybody seemed to be around on the ship today. Kaleigh and I used the laundry facilities to wash away the sickness on our clothes, and the room ended up being very convenient. There was also a ironing board and iron in there that could be used. We visited the “Yellow Brick Road” shops which like Imagination were small, but still fun to browse. Every day they would have different jewelry sales and there seemed to always be a crowd waiting in line for those deals. We spent some time at the slots, played small but doubled our money, and then spent some more time relaxing in the sun. We got very lucky the entire week with our balcony. It was only on the side facing the ports and we can see almost every sunset perfectly. The one this evening was especially stunning and there is nothing like the feeling of leaning over your balcony with the wind blowing in your face and the endless ocean bouncing the sun at you.

 

 

 

 

[davethomasowns]

 

 

Day 5 – Roatan, Honduras

We had originally booked a canopy tour with Oscar Brown in Costa Rica. I was very much looking forward to that so I was disappointed when they switched ports on us. This also meant that I did not have time to research an independent tour and that I would have to book with Carnival. We decided to book a short tour of the city called “Discover Roatan.” We woke up really early this morning and loved watching the ship pull into port. They are in the middle of construction so there’s really not much right when you get off the ship, so I was glad we decided to do an excursion. I honestly was not expecting much out of the tour but it ended up being an okay day. Besides the fact that they crammed 10 of us into a very small van (My head hit the ceiling and my legs had no room,) we got to see some cool things. We first went to a beach and boarded a very small boat. They took us on a 30 minutes ride showing us two shipwrecks that were dropped off there and we passed by some of the nice beach locations. Our tour guide gave us a lot of history on the country while we were back in the van heading to our next stop. It was apparently the highest point in the city, and it looked over their reef. The view was amazing, and as you can see in the pictures below, the water was turquoise. We then went to visit the “ancient” Garifuna people. She kept explaining how real the culture was that we were about to see. Needless to say, there was something wrong with the picture when we walked up and they were all talking on cell phones. They did a short unexciting dance and then we got to try the bread that they make from roots. After they begged for tips we went to a local restaurant to try their home-made jams and we got to see several hummingbirds. A couple stops at local shops on the way back and then we were headed back to our “home.” Interesting note: she said the average monthly income there is only $250. Their gas prices were over $6 a gallon which explained why I saw most people riding bicycles and walking. Most of the country looked very poor and then when we passed by the Mayor’s house… it was huge. Looked sort of like the White House with large pillars and a huge yard.

 

 

 

 

[davethomasowns]

 

 

 

 

 

[davethomasowns]

 

Day 6 – Belize

We booked a cave-tubing tour with a couple other Cruise Critic members through Cave-Tubing.com. Even though we booked independently they let us off on one of the early tenders. Belize’s port was awesome. Very clean and safe (I couldn’t count how many armed officers I saw throughout the morning,) and a lot to do. There were a ton of shops, Iguana Rana, and the Wet Lizard, among other things. The cave-tubing guys put us on a very comfortable (and Air Conditioned) bus and we headed out. They started out by giving a lot of history on the country (did you know that there is only three stop lights in the entire country!) and then pulled out a bottle of Cashew Wine. They let everyone try some and then chose a couple to finish off the bottle. The wife went first drinking as much as she could, and whatever she could not, the husband had to down. The guys were very funny and kind and even though Tigger (the driver,) was speeding and passing everyone the whole way there, we felt very safe. Once we arrived at the caves we got our tubes and headgear and began the “30-Minute” walk. The guys told all of the girls to drop their tubes and the three of them carried all of them for them, the entire way. At the caves we broke into three groups and did the leg-chain. We literally had to do nothing but float through as they did all of the work of making sure we hit nothing. When they yell “Butts Up!,” definitely make sure to do so because there were several extremely shallow areas. Our tubes even got stuck on the rocks in some areas and we had to get pulled off. There was not much history being taught inside the caves, just a bunch of yelling and singing, so if you want to learn a lot about the formations I do not recommend them. We still greatly enjoyed the experience, had a lot of fun on the bus and stopped at a small “bar” on the way back. Everyone got their Belekin beers and we were on our way back. We didn’t have to wait around for a tender, one was leaving right when we got there, and overall we had a fantastic day with the Cave-Tubing.com guys!

 

 

 

 

Day 7

I do not remember what days all of the shows took place on, but the entertainment on board was plentiful. In the Phantom Lounge the “Ticket To Ride” Beatles show was awesome and I definitely recommend that to anybody who gets on the Miracle. Another night they had the “Village Idiots,” a juggling comedy group perform, which was also very entertaining. We actually watched both shows right after each other because they made us laugh so much. Very funny guys who basically act like fools while performing very hard tasks. There was a Martini bar set-up in the atrium where they poured them down a Carnival ice sculpture. Kaleigh enjoyed the Martinis and I enjoyed my Caffeine-Free Sprite. Yeah, that’s what I said. Sprite. The whole uncontrollable vomiting experience earlier in the week ruined my appetite so I did not feel like drinking much the rest of the cruise. Basically all we ate was Lucky Charms cereal and drank Sprite. Some of the days I would try the Lido deck food (ate a lot of burgers,) but most of the time we ordered room service for cereal. Speaking of, room service was great. They always had what we ordered at the door in about 5-10 minutes and I was thankful to have that service while I was on isolation in the room. Although eating Lucky Charms all week sounds depressing, trust me, we still had a blast. The presence of the ship kept me in good spirits and we often found ourselves just wandering the ship. Pursers desks kept us supplied with Sea Calm medicine and playing cards, and a trip to get ice cream often made Kaleigh feel better. The chocolate frozen yogurt is awesome. Later in the day we packed up our room and waited around until the “Legends” show started at 10:30pm. A couple of the roll-call members were actually in the show and it was fun to watch. As we returned to our room to our debarkation caper and final towel animal (actually he made us a heart this last night,) the sad realization that it was already done came over us. It is insane how you spend so many months anticipating it and then it flies by so quickly and it’s over. We woke up at around 7am, got into the self-debarkation line and getting off of the ship was really easy.

 

 

Regarding the Waiters and Dining Room staff, I can’t really say much. I did not get to go into the dining room after the first night but I am sure that they were great. My room steward was very friendly as well. He constantly checked in with us to see if we felt better, and brought ice probably three times a day. He kept calling my girlfriend “my wife” on accident, which we got a kick out of, and he always had the room spotless.

 

[davethomasowns]

 

 

 

 

When it is all said and done, this was still one of the best vacations I have taken. Although the virus kept us from attending the Captains dinner, Past-Guest party, and eating in the dining room at all, we still made the best of the situation and fell in love with the Miracle. Everybody on board was so extremely friendly and the sense of warmth that the décor gave us will ensure that we sail her again. I am already looking into booking another week with her in December for my birthday. Hopefully next time I will get to spend more time experiencing the on-board activities, and less time dealing with trying to keep my intestines inside of me!

 

 

If you want to see all of the pictures, here’s the link: Photos

 

Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for reading!

Shane A.

[peg8148]

Enjoyed your review very much Shane! So sorry that you guys got so sick, but it sounds like you guys had a great time!

 

We go on the Miracle April 7th and heard nothing but great reviews on it. So from what I read the even ( I know down know what its called) side of the ship is always looking at the port? That is nice to know we are on the even side.

 

Great pictures too!

[davethomasowns]

Hello Pam! Thanks for reading.

 

Yeah the evens are the "Portside." I am not sure if that means that the ship docks the same everytime and that they're always facing the port, but that side is teh "Portside." I am sure there is somebody who knows more about it than me. They can let us know if I just got lucky or if the portside is actually always facing the port!

 

Shane A.

[Muumuu]

So sorry you were sick but glad you were able to enjoy your cruise.

Daughter and I were on the sister ship the Legend on an 8 day Southern Carib and we were both sick and not able to get off the shipexcept for our magnet and shot glass. I had the gi thing but a long but mild case of it. Daughter got sun poisoning. We had a wonderful relaxing sail.

Rebooked the following year except it was now changed to the Miracle and it is my favorite ship. We were able to do the excursions we missed the year earlier. Love the ship so much so we have booked her for the same southern carib 8 day this Nov with the family. Can't wait.

Loved your review. Long is the best and the pictures just topped it off.

[gypsyrose]

What an awesome review and a wonderful attitude. I absolutely love picture reviews. I am gonna try that when I come back from my next cruise. My 1st try at a post the pic was enormous:confused: You are a really cute couple and you should make her your wife. Take her on another cruise and propose during one of those many sunsets you both seem to enjoy. Thank you so much for sharing your trip w/ us and hope you are both feeling completely better now. But, go book another so you can enjoy the things you missed out on this time.

[Seydlitz]

Good review and great photos. Thank you.

[4kidsplusty]

your review was awesome. makes our wait worth it. you and your gf seem to have enjoyed yourself even though you were both sick. I agree with gypsyrose- you should propose on your next cruise,;) it seems like the two of you are madly in love. what awonderful 21 bday gift.

[Love the blue]

Awesome review Shane. Bummer about the illness. You have really got me psyched up - we leave the 29th for an 8 day on her.... St Marteen, St Kitts and St Lucia...... I am soooooooo excited!

[richfret]

It's amazing how attitude can play such an important part in your life. You both made the best you could of the illness situation and because of that still had a great cruise. Really enjoyed your review especially since we are headed on the Miracle on March 30. Always good to hear nice reports.

[toledo]

We are noro survivors, too, from a cruise two years ago. DS13 got it first and had the worst case. He still says it was the best vacation he's been on and has been begging to cruise again. We leave Saturday.

[MzOhioLady]

Shane - I'm so glad you and your girlfriend had a great cruise, despite being sick at the beginning of the cruise. Your review was Awesome! The pictures made me feel like I was there and I was able to re-live my own experiences on the Miracle from 2006. Great Job!

[Mikel1733]

Great review and wonderful pictures.......they really added to the review. Makes me want to start planning our next cruise. Thanks for the review.

[MonaCK]

It does look like you were able to make the best of it, and still have a good time despite it all. Good for you! Great pictures, and great review! :)

 

Do you mind me asking which cabin you stayed in?

[Quench]

Hi Shane, thanks for taking the time to write a great report. I can't wait to read your report for December too.

[sunrise2]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review. I enjoyed reading it as well as looking at the pictures. Sorry you got sick, but you have a great attitude about it. I got sick last year during our cruise so I know just how you felt....... Thanks again for the great review. We will be sailing on The Miracle 5/17/08 so your pictures are helping me getting through the waiting time. Thanks.

[djwood24]

Nice review Shane!!!

 

At least this time you were not strung up...LOL

 

Makes me even more anxious for May...

[afcgirl]

Great review and pics! The Miracle looks beautiful!

[babywewe]

I enjoyed your review! Sorry you got sick... but I am glad you both made the best of it! Most people would not make the best of it...