Miracle 7/12-7/20

[surbish]

I won't get into a detailed review but feel a need to write a few comments.

This was our sixth Carnival cruise. If I were rating these cruise vacations I'd have this dead last. Not a terrible vacation, in fact it was nice... but if it were our first Carnival cruise I wouldn't be so quick to get back on one of their ships.

The great: Cabin 4228 was everything I read and more. An amazing way to spend a week away from home.

The good: The crew, wonderful as always. From Nicole and Rosemary,(employee of the month!) in the casino, to Kumar and Alex in the dining room. Lido deck food was fantastic! The room steward and assistant were fantastic... shame on me for not getting their names, though they always used mine when speaking with me. The Lido deck food was superb... the offerings fantastic. Loved the Asian counter... the deli... the daily changing world foods... The many friendly vacationers we had an opportunity to meet.... the blackjack playing family from Ohio... the Asian husband and wife from NYC... the guy buying drinks for anyone at his BJ table... while only betting $5 per hand... both embarkation and debarkation were smooth... friendly porters, friendly Carnival employees, friendly dock employees.. St Thomas is a wonderful island, if you want a tour look for Roy near the post office around 12:15. We will be spending a week at a resort there in January.

The frustrating: We were a party of 14. We had requested to be seated together, in the same general area. Four of our fourteen were put in the early seating, the rest in the late seating as requested. This was adjusted day one. But we were in separate rooms, which proved to difficult to fix. There were more ignorant vacationers then usual. People with little patience with their children... a wet, overweight (as am I) man, shirtless, dripping, pushing his way to the breakfast bar... people jumping into the elevator before allowing folks to depart it... Chairs with towels on them from 8:30 until 11 AM in the pool area... more inconsiderate people then usual.

The bad: I believe Carnival has downsized their labor force. Possibly to save expense while dealing with higher fuel costs, possibly due to reasons beyond their control. The service has suffered in the dining room. Dining room bar service was extremely slow (20 minutes to get a drink, at times forgotten all together), and this was not just where we sat. Many guests complained. The waiters were overwhelmed... food sat for ten minutes while these two good men tried to provide a high level of service for far to many diners. The Lido dining tables were not cleared in a timely manner, again, not enough floor staff. We met a few people in Grand Turk that were cruising The Liberty... they also had cruised multiple times prior on Carnival... they were disappointed in their dining experience... same with a group from The Valor who we toured St Thomas with... claimed the experience was not at the high level as earlier cruises... we all agreed that we'd rather spend a few more dollars to get what we had expected. The ride was rougher then I remember on any previous trips. I expected as much on the way south as Bertha was spinning.... but we had very little wind, and a glass smooth ocean on the return north and the ship still rocked a bit. Maybe this is due to the narrowness of the Miracle, or maybe the stabilizers were not activated.... but you could feel the ride.

Four sea-days, with three short port days, are not for me. Should have flown to Florida. Many loved Grand Turk... I was not impressed. The beach was rocky... the pool, while beautiful early in the day, was a mess by 3 PM... they allow drinks and evidently food, in the pool... I saw one lady working to clean up the mess... the mess is big... ten people would have a hell of a time keeping up with it.

All in all we had a nice vacation... nice, not wonderful... and when it comes to vacations... we desire wonderful.

[jaja]

Thanks so much for posting...(though I am sorry you were not thrilled with your cruise)

 

I would really like to know which excursions you took..as I am trying to book mine now....

thanks

[miami]

I was also on this cruise. My 1st Carnival (and definitely my last). Embarkation went as expected, no complaints there.

 

Our room stewards were fine, not great (8G on the Verandah deck). The cabins was nice. Definitely has plenty of space. I have to wonder why the network stations were from Denver, CNN was sometimes available but not always. Way too many "TV guide" channels.

 

Our dining room waiters (Vincente and Marco) were excellent. Frankie (Maitre'd) was very annoying. The breakfast/lunch wait staff and the hostess in the dining room were not very friendly. The dining room was absolutely the ugliest room I've ever seen. Whoever designed it took "go with a theme" to an extreme. The food was good and the portion sizes, larger than I excepted. I didn't really like the set up of the buffet. At dinner time, many of the stations were closed and seating areas blocked off, leaving a limited dinner choice. A big disappointment for us was that a member of our group was told he needed a jacket or long sleeves to eat in the dining room on "elegant" night (no one else was asked to change). We can only guess that he was turned away because of his tattoos. He was also told that Nick & Nora's was booked even though when we went by it was only about 1/4 full.... again we feel it was because of his tattoos.

 

I thought the ship itself was just plain ugly. The atrium was small and unimpressive. Seemed to have a lot of wasted space. I hated that you had to walk through the casino. The shops were small and crowded, very hard to get around. The shows were OK.

[cathyoo]

Ouch, hope I am not disappointed with my Miracle cruise in Oct. We are celebrating our 40th and that truly is a miracle.

[earlethepearl]

Sorry you guys didn't have a good time. Sometimes they work out that way. Hopefully you filled out your comment cards and listed all of these things on them. Carnival does listen and you might get a 45 Day letter.

[vanillagurl]

I was also on this cruise. My 1st Carnival (and definitely my last). Embarkation went as expected, no complaints there.

 

Our room stewards were fine, not great (8G on the Verandah deck). The cabins was nice. Definitely has plenty of space. I have to wonder why the network stations were from Denver, CNN was sometimes available but not always. Way too many "TV guide" channels.

 

Our dining room waiters (Vincente and Marco) were excellent. Frankie (Maitre'd) was very annoying. The breakfast/lunch wait staff and the hostess in the dining room were not very friendly. The dining room was absolutely the ugliest room I've ever seen. Whoever designed it took "go with a theme" to an extreme. The food was good and the portion sizes, larger than I excepted. I didn't really like the set up of the buffet. At dinner time, many of the stations were closed and seating areas blocked off, leaving a limited dinner choice. A big disappointment for us was that a member of our group was told he needed a jacket or long sleeves to eat in the dining room on "elegant" night (no one else was asked to change). We can only guess that he was turned away because of his tattoos. He was also told that Nick & Nora's was booked even though when we went by it was only about 1/4 full.... again we feel it was because of his tattoos.

 

I thought the ship itself was just plain ugly. The atrium was small and unimpressive. Seemed to have a lot of wasted space. I hated that you had to walk through the casino. The shops were small and crowded, very hard to get around. The shows were OK.

 

 

Were the other men wearing short sleeves as well and he was the only one asked to wear a jacket or long sleeves? That is wrong.

[Jleo77]

Ouch, hope I am not disappointed with my Miracle cruise in Oct. We are celebrating our 40th and that truly is a miracle.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I just came off this sailing and thought it was absolutely great. I was with a large family/friends group and we had one of the best vacations of my life. We ranged in age from 1 1/2 to 80, and there was something for everyone. Sure I have a few nitpicky things, but I don't care what kind of trip you take, you can always find something not so great. Vacations are what you make of them.

 

Personally, I thought the ship was beautiful and spotless. Yes the dining room is over-the-top, but so what? And there are so many little lounges and hideaways you can go somewhere new each day. The staff was great. The pools were great. The food was good. The casino was a lot of fun. Enjoyed the shows. Etc etc etc.

 

I would go back in a heartbeat. Only other cruise I ever took was RCCL 5 years ago on the smaller and older Nordic Empress. No comparison, the was so much better.

[KatSt]

Ouch, hope I am not disappointed with my Miracle cruise in Oct. We are celebrating our 40th and that truly is a miracle.

We were on the Miracle in June and had a great time. Don't worry about it. Everyone's experience is different. Most people love the Miracle.

[wcurry66]

I I have to wonder why the network stations were from Denver, CNN was sometimes available but not always. Way too many "TV guide" channels.

 

Just a quick fyi from someone who watched too much tv on the Miracle in June.. the "tv guide" is the default channel shown when a particular sattellite feed in inaccessible. There were times when few channels were available due to location (that was my assumption, as the weather was great.. tho it could have been due to someone not redirecting the dish :D ).

 

There were times when there was only one tv guide channel. Yes, the Denver feed is a bit odd, but i chalk it up to one of the charms of the ship. I was thrilled that they showed cnn international; I've been trying to explain how much more informative/less Paris Hilton-y it is as compared to the US version. But, since DH hasnt left the country, he's not had the opportunity to check it out

 

To those worrried about their upcoming cruise, don't be. In June, our dinner drink server was constantly stopping by. Yes, there were some rude people.... (at the risk of causing a mass flame war, we ARE cruising out of NYC lol! If we left from Boston, I'm sure you'd see less of this ;) ).. Of course our NYers that came to the cruise critic meet and greet are the exception.

 

We had an amazing experience, so much so that we rebooked the miracle the very day we landed

[madaamt]

WOW.. I have heard so many wonderful things about the miracle that I had to book it for next year. I guess I will have to experience it for myself.

[miami]

Were the other men wearing short sleeves as well and he was the only one asked to wear a jacket or long sleeves? That is wrong.

 

Yes, others had on short sleeves. We had come in separately and thought they had decided to eat on the lido deck and didn't find out until later in the evening what had happened.

 

Sure I have a few nitpicky things, but I don't care what kind of trip you take, you can always find something not so great. Vacations are what you make of them.

I can and do ignore the small stuff. My big complaint is the way they treated one of my family, asking him to change when others were allowed in that's not nitpicking.

 

Ouch, hope I am not disappointed with my Miracle cruise in Oct. We are celebrating our 40th and that truly is a miracle.

 

JMO, Obviously. If you read the threads, many people think this is a beautiful ship... to each his own. Calling the decor in the dining room over-the-top is putting it mildly. Hope you like purple!

 

I have cruised on the NCL Dawn out of NYC and NCL Star to Alaska. Similar size ships to the Miracle. I thought the crew was friendlier and liked the ship's layout better. I also like the Freestyle dining options on NCL. I tried Carnival and it's not for me.

[LisaT12]

Wow! Sorry you didn't enjoy the cruise~ everyone deserves a great vacation but sometimes there it is just a bad experience and for others ~ well cruising isn't for everyone. We are going to be on this cruise in a couple of weeks....I am going to think positive about our upcoming family vacation and have a great time.

[trock]

Just a quick fyi from someone who watched too much tv on the Miracle in June.. the "tv guide" is the default channel shown when a particular sattellite feed in inaccessible. There were times when few channels were available due to location (that was my assumption, as the weather was great.. tho it could have been due to someone not redirecting the dish :D ).

 

There were times when there was only one tv guide channel. Yes, the Denver feed is a bit odd, but i chalk it up to one of the charms of the ship. I was thrilled that they showed cnn international; I've been trying to explain how much more informative/less Paris Hilton-y it is as compared to the US version. But, since DH hasnt left the country, he's not had the opportunity to check it out

 

To those worrried about their upcoming cruise, don't be. In June, our dinner drink server was constantly stopping by. Yes, there were some rude people.... (at the risk of causing a mass flame war, we ARE cruising out of NYC lol! If we left from Boston, I'm sure you'd see less of this ;) ).. Of course our NYers that came to the cruise critic meet and greet are the exception.

 

We had an amazing experience, so much so that we rebooked the miracle the very day we landed

 

 

Of course you would.. :rolleyes:

 

And only your friends were the exception :rolleyes:

 

I sure do hope your post was meant to be a joke...

[azbaby8062]

We sailed on the Miracle in June. I really enjoyed the cruise. I had no problem with service. Although, I did notice that sometimes they seemed overwhelmed.

 

I thought the ship, even being a bit more than Princess, was beautiful. I felt all areas were kept very clean. The staff was very friendly. I loved that there were so many spots on the ship that if you so chose you could be alone and just relax. I was not crazy about the casino being a direct pathway but it certainly was not a deal breaker.

 

I felt the room was spacious and there were tons of storage. The bathroom although on the small size was more than adequate. I liked the fact that they had shelves.

 

When we were there, we had a table for two. On one of the formal nights, they did make a member of the family sitting next to us go back to the cabin and change his shirt because he had a tank top on.

 

We did not have any trouble with rambunctious kids. I am not sure if that was because there were schools that did not end until the end of June. I was proud of the fact that on one of the days where my son ate with the kids, I got many compliments about how well behaved he was. Made me feel proud. :)

[trock]

I won't get into a detailed review but feel a need to write a few comments.

 

This was our sixth Carnival cruise. If I were rating these cruise vacations I'd have this dead last. Not a terrible vacation, in fact it was nice... but if it were our first Carnival cruise I wouldn't be so quick to get back on one of their ships.

 

The great: Cabin 4228 was everything I read and more. An amazing way to spend a week away from home.

 

The good: The crew, wonderful as always. From Nicole and Rosemary,(employee of the month!) in the casino, to Kumar and Alex in the dining room. Lido deck food was fantastic! The room steward and assistant were fantastic... shame on me for not getting their names, though they always used mine when speaking with me. The Lido deck food was superb... the offerings fantastic. Loved the Asian counter... the deli... the daily changing world foods... The many friendly vacationers we had an opportunity to meet.... the blackjack playing family from Ohio... the Asian husband and wife from NYC... the guy buying drinks for anyone at his BJ table... while only betting $5 per hand... both embarkation and debarkation were smooth... friendly porters, friendly Carnival employees, friendly dock employees.. St Thomas is a wonderful island, if you want a tour look for Roy near the post office around 12:15. We will be spending a week at a resort there in January.

 

The frustrating: We were a party of 14. We had requested to be seated together, in the same general area. Four of our fourteen were put in the early seating, the rest in the late seating as requested. This was adjusted day one. But we were in separate rooms, which proved to difficult to fix. There were more ignorant vacationers then usual. People with little patience with their children... a wet, overweight (as am I) man, shirtless, dripping, pushing his way to the breakfast bar... people jumping into the elevator before allowing folks to depart it... Chairs with towels on them from 8:30 until 11 AM in the pool area... more inconsiderate people then usual.

 

The bad: I believe Carnival has downsized their labor force. Possibly to save expense while dealing with higher fuel costs, possibly due to reasons beyond their control. The service has suffered in the dining room. Dining room bar service was extremely slow (20 minutes to get a drink, at times forgotten all together), and this was not just where we sat. Many guests complained. The waiters were overwhelmed... food sat for ten minutes while these two good men tried to provide a high level of service for far to many diners. The Lido dining tables were not cleared in a timely manner, again, not enough floor staff. We met a few people in Grand Turk that were cruising The Liberty... they also had cruised multiple times prior on Carnival... they were disappointed in their dining experience... same with a group from The Valor who we toured St Thomas with... claimed the experience was not at the high level as earlier cruises... we all agreed that we'd rather spend a few more dollars to get what we had expected. The ride was rougher then I remember on any previous trips. I expected as much on the way south as Bertha was spinning.... but we had very little wind, and a glass smooth ocean on the return north and the ship still rocked a bit. Maybe this is due to the narrowness of the Miracle, or maybe the stabilizers were not activated.... but you could feel the ride.

 

Four sea-days, with three short port days, are not for me. Should have flown to Florida. Many loved Grand Turk... I was not impressed. The beach was rocky... the pool, while beautiful early in the day, was a mess by 3 PM... they allow drinks and evidently food, in the pool... I saw one lady working to clean up the mess... the mess is big... ten people would have a hell of a time keeping up with it.

 

All in all we had a nice vacation... nice, not wonderful... and when it comes to vacations... we desire wonderful.

 

 

Dinning Room Ugly- not as ugly as I thought it would be.. but way over the top

 

If you think the Miracle is ugly (I dont - I think it's rather cool) Avoid the Victory

 

 

I very much doubt your family member was picked on because of tattoos.. I have a 'few' and they are noticiable and never once did anything like this happen.They are just too common today and so many people have them... It just may be this family member was not dressed appropriately and the Maitre'd decided to do his job.. Which I dont understand as on our cruise in May there were quite a few who didnt even meet the Carnival Dress code...

 

Sorry you didnt enjoy the Miracle.. Keep trying one til you get it right...No matter what line..

 

We enjoyed the Miracle so much that we booked it again when we got home...

[Procruizer]

Cathyoo,

don't worry about the Miracle. I've been on the Miracle and it was great. In fact, that has been one of my favorite ships. Remember everybody has their own opinion. Trust me I would not let the way the dining room looks affect my dinner. The bottom line is the service and the quality of the food. From what Ive been reading the service and food have been pretty good. Have fun and don't sweat the small stuff.

[trock]

Cathyoo,

don't worry about the Miracle. I've been on the Miracle and it was great. In fact, that has been one of my favorite ships. Remember everybody has their own opinion. Trust me I would not let the way the dining room looks affect my dinner. The bottom line is the service and the quality of the food. From what Ive been reading the service and food have been pretty good. Have fun and don't sweat the small stuff.

I agree! Cant wait to be on the Miracle again!!!

[cjkumbaya]

Thanks for the review - sorry the cruise didn't live up to your expectations! We were on the Miracle in March and would not have changed anything at all! It was fantastic! Wish your's could have been better!:o

[karen116]

I won't get into a detailed review but feel a need to write a few comments.

 

 

 

 

Four sea-days, with three short port days, are not for me. Should have flown to Florida.

 

 

You knew prior to sailing that there were 3 days in port and the rest were at sea days......some people actually enjoy the sea days and would rather not fly to Florida. Personally I've done both and either way works for me.

[mydream]

on the Miracle recently.

Surbish. It sounded to me as if your main complaints were about under-staffing and SOME rude passengers. Unfortuately rude passengers can be on any cruise.:(

Did you find the under-staffing was across all departments or mainly in the dining room? Another poster was unhappy with the treatment in the dining room.

A question about the casino? Did you spend much time there and was it very smokey? Was Nicole the casino host. She was always bright, happy and friendly. I think I may have sailed with her before. How were the staff in the casino?

Sorry you and some others have been disappionted recently, but I do appreciate your honest opinons.

Many others seem to have been perfectly happy on the Miracle.

Thanks for posting.:)

[Lovely_Star]

Ouch, hope I am not disappointed with my Miracle cruise in Oct. We are celebrating our 40th and that truly is a miracle.

 

We are very excited to be sailing on this ship in Sept and hope not to be disappointed as well. We will be celebrating our 1st anniversary and that truly is a miracle too :rolleyes:

[nybumpkin]

Isome people actually enjoy the sea days and would rather not fly to Florida. Personally I've done both and either way works for me.

That describes us - and that's why we're booked on Miracle for next summer. We love sea days. In February we sailed on Valor with only 2 sea days; while we had a good time, we agreed that visiting 4 ports in 4 days with a sea day on each end just wasn't relaxing enough.

[jaja]

LOVE those sea days....:)

Very relaxing and more casino time:rolleyes:

[velvetred]

How were the activities on the Miracle? Was there a cinema on board?

 

Thanks.

[KatSt]

How were the activities on the Miracle? Was there a cinema on board?

 

Thanks.

The Miracle does not have the MUTS (Movies Under the Stars). We had a great time. There were the poolside activities as well as trivia, game show fun, dance lessons, etc.