Just off the Miracle today - June 9th to June 17th

[Chelseaprincess]

Yes this line is every single night. The worst part is when they finally let you in there are people just coming down the steps that just meld right in and don't wait on the line.

 

We beat this whole thing by going down at 8:25. You walk right in that way.

 

I hate lines too. Wait til I tell you about disembarkation. yeesh

 

Hello NY girl!

I think I've heard that they introduced a new free style (or any time) dining program on some of the Carnival ships. Do you know if there is such an option on the Miracle? My husband wants to go to the Caribbean this winter and Carnival Miracle is one of his choices.

Thanks for the great review!:)

Chelsea

[NYGirl1002]

Hello NY girl!

I think I've heard that they introduced a new free style (or any time) dining program on some of the Carnival ships. Do you know if there is such an option on the Miracle? My husband wants to go to the Caribbean this winter and Carnival Miracle is one of his choices.

Thanks for the great review!:)

Chelsea

 

Chelsea, yes it is on the Miracle. I spoke to several people who found it easier to go free style rather than a set time. They all said it was pretty good. If perchance they didn't have a table at the moment you get there you would get one of those beepers and they would call you when your table was ready.

 

The Miracle has devoted the 3rd floor main dining room just for any time dining.

[vi reynolds]

That's good to hear as well. We all hate queues!:D

[djwood24]

great info

 

THANKS!!!

[freddymale]

Hello NY girl!

I think I've heard that they introduced a new free style (or any time) dining program on some of the Carnival ships. Do you know if there is such an option on the Miracle? My husband wants to go to the Caribbean this winter and Carnival Miracle is one of his choices.

Thanks for the great review!:)

Chelsea

 

yes it is available on the miracle..that is what I have for my sept cruise

[FabFourLover]

Chelsea, yes it is on the Miracle. I spoke to several people who found it easier to go free style rather than a set time. They all said it was pretty good. If perchance they didn't have a table at the moment you get there you would get one of those beepers and they would call you when your table was ready.

 

The Miracle has devoted the 3rd floor main dining room just for any time dining.

 

DH and I have anytime dining on our Miracle cruise in Nov. So we should just head right to the 2nd level dining area or should we check in on the 1st level first just to be sure?

[hockeyluver]

 

Well Carnival does it much better! At sailaway I saw the video guy and made sure my daughter and I got in the shot while waving. Then I would see him in a port and casually walk in front of him. LOL! I can be such a ham but I knew my husband would want to buy the video so at least I made it worth his while. At one point there's a giant picture of my head which fills up the whole screen!!!!! Everybody came up to me and said "hey I saw you on TV". BTW it wasn't a flattering shot either but if you live by the sword.. you die by the sword.!

 

LOL At our deck party, it was a bathrobe party, I was taping the dancing going on on the stage and the video guy was waving at me to get my attention so i turned the camera on him, I was taping him taping me. Well after people had seen it a million times on TV, i was known as the video lady. Embarassing but oh well. I wish we would have bought the dvd.:o

 

Thanks for the great review, we are going on the Miracle in February but different ports.

[cruisefanatic01]

I heard several people complain about charges on their bill so please make sure you keep your receipts and check your folio on TV daily.

 

Do they offet the TV folio on all Carnival ships? I'm wondering about the Pride specifically.

[Chelseaprincess]

Chelsea, yes it is on the Miracle. I spoke to several people who found it easier to go free style rather than a set time. They all said it was pretty good. If perchance they didn't have a table at the moment you get there you would get one of those beepers and they would call you when your table was ready.

 

The Miracle has devoted the 3rd floor main dining room just for any time dining.

 

Thanks for your quick reply. It’s good to hear, as my DH hates standing in line before dinner and sitting at the same table every night. Last time we were on the Miracle in April 2007, any time dining was not an option. But we always do it on the Princess cruises. I, on the other side, will miss the talent show in the main dining room every night. I really loved that on the Miracle. But I will have fun anyway. As long as I am on a cruise, I am happy. :p

Chelsea

[FabFourLover]

Thanks for your quick reply. It’s good to hear, as my DH hates standing in line before dinner and sitting at the same table every night. Last time we were on the Miracle in April 2007, any time dining was not an option. But we always do it on the Princess cruises. I, on the other side, will miss the talent show in the main dining room every night. I really loved that on the Miracle. But I will have fun anyway. As long as I am on a cruise, I am happy. :p

Chelsea

 

Why would you miss it? Isn't Frankie and the staff still singing and dancing during dessert on Miracle?

[Janchris]

very excited to here more of your review... im thinking of booking this exact cruise for next May just me and my mom... and we too are from NYC... i was worried about all the at sea days but seems like they have lots to do while at sea...:D

 

The 2 sea days cominmg and going are a breeze. There is always something going on and the time flies bye. I live in NY and always cruise from the NYC terminals. The Miracle is a great ship and you will love it.:)

[Janchris]

Thanks for the great review! We're sailing on the Miracle this August. Quick question: Did you have the issue with a line at dinner every night?

 

We too have the late seating. Just curious what time you would suggest getting down there to avoid a line (I really don't care for lines......)

 

Thanks.

 

Please keep the ship in tip top shape as we are going on the day you return. LOL Have a great cruise.:)

[Janchris]

Ugh....I keep reading things about incorrect charges on people's accounts. I'm hoping if I check the account on the TV every once in a while, I can avoid that and NOT have to deal with what everyone refers to as the really long lines at the desk at the very end. (I have to admit, paying for something I didn't get - no matter how little money - is the type of thing that makes me a little crazy. I can definitely see myself standing in a line to dispute an incorrect charge. Oh well, we all have our pet peeves.)

 

Only once in all of our Carnival cruises were we charged for somethiing that was not right. My DH was always on top of the account so we never had to stand on any long lines. Just check it often and you will be fine. Just like being in a restaurant and having to correct mistakes on the dinner bill.:confused:

[okgirl]

Great review......I've never sailed out of NY, but the idea of 4 sea days may lure us up there.

I usually watch my S&S tab pretty close on the TV, but I also make sure to communicate with my cabin steward. He may have seen the 3 additional bottles of water and thought you had requested them from his assistant or some other steward that you found near by.

Our rule of thumb is: As soon as we have the minibar unlocked we check the contents. We rarely use anything from the minibar and tell the steward that we will let him know via a note if we have used anything. We ask him NOT to replenish the bottled water unless we ask, and we don't use the beach towels.

Around the last sea day, I make it a point to speak to my cabin steward again and take that opportunity to thank him again for a great week and tip him if it's appropriate and do a little accounting of what we have or haven't used during the week.

So far (knock wood), we've never had any extra charges show up on our account.

[Nicole721]

Great review!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

We never understood why people line up before dinner, either. Especially when they have an assigned table (I totally get it if you're doing anytime dining, but on our cruise, we saw more lines for assigned tables than for anytime reservations LOL). It's not like your table is going to go anywhere LOL. We'd come down around 6:10 and the line would be, for the most part, gone.

[NYGirl1002]

DH and I have anytime dining on our Miracle cruise in Nov. So we should just head right to the 2nd level dining area or should we check in on the 1st level first just to be sure?

 

Don't worry about it. When you get your sign and sail card it gives you the information about which dining room on it. It'll tell you lower or upper.

 

By the way if you are a Beatle fan you will absolutely LOVE the Ticket to Ride show in the Phantom Lounge. My husband and I thought it was great.

[FabFourLover]

Don't worry about it. When you get your sign and sail card it gives you the information about which dining room on it. It'll tell you lower or upper.

 

By the way if you are a Beatle fan you will absolutely LOVE the Ticket to Ride show in the Phantom Lounge. My husband and I thought it was great.

 

Saw the Ticket to Ride show on Miracle last July and you're right, it is great. I was sure it would be mediocre but I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it.

[NYGirl1002]

Why would you miss it? Isn't Frankie and the staff still singing and dancing during dessert on Miracle?

 

I loved Frankie and the staff singing! This was his last cruise on his contract though. I don't know if he's coming back to the Miracle or not.

 

 

Here's the waiters dancing Yosup and Luis:

 

[NYGirl1002]

Great review!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

We never understood why people line up before dinner, either. Especially when they have an assigned table (I totally get it if you're doing anytime dining, but on our cruise, we saw more lines for assigned tables than for anytime reservations LOL). It's not like your table is going to go anywhere LOL. We'd come down around 6:10 and the line would be, for the most part, gone.

 

The best part of the line is that it moves quite fast once the doors to the dining room open. The annoying part is having to walk all the way to the back of the line. I'd say it would be better to wait for the end of the line to get to you if you happen to get down there early. We solved it by going down around 8:25 and walking right in to our table.

 

Nicole!! I'm glad you're feeling better. Thanks to your review we knew what to look for and do. We are now addicted to tea! I am very mad that they did not have the homemade donuts at all on this cruise.

 

Heres my husband at tea:

 

[NYGirl1002]

I have now the answer to my question. The cabanas can be hired all day, so no problem. They cannot be booked before we board so I will ensure that one of our party is there early enough as I would hate to miss out on this. Sounds like the best plan ever!

 

Vi..I made sure to upload my photos before I even posted tonight so I can show you what the cabana and Half Moon Cay look like.

 

 

 

Here's a view of the cabanas to the right of ours:

 

 

Here's a view of the passengers on the beach to the left of us:

 

 

Here's the view from the cabana:

 

[hunniebee724]

I love reading Miracle reviews! Our first cruise will be next August, and we're getting married in port in NYC! Soooo excited!

[NYGirl1002]

Nassau:

So we arrived in Nassau on Sunday. As some background info, when I booked my trip I was able to check out the excursions a couple of months ago. I was just looking for the best possible port to swim with the dolphins as it has always been my dream to have my daughter do that. After research I had decided on the Blue Lagoon excursion.

 

Fast forward to last month and lo and behold when I check Carnival's website there's only one dolphin swim and it's at Atlantis. I wavered back and forth and then visited the Bahamas board under Ports of Call. I gleaned a lot of info from that board and learned that even though Atlantis' excursion says you have access to Dolphin Cay beach, you cannot swim. So tell me..what's the point? It's so hot there why would I want to sit on a beach.

 

I cancelled the Carnival excursion and book Blue Lagoon on my own. The only thing was that the beach is closed on Sunday. This means we can do the swim but can't spend the day on the beach and have lunch and a couple of drinks. But upon reading the website I thought we'd get the best bang for our buck and it had more time with the dolphins than Atlantis.

 

When we arrived in Nassau there were two Carnival ships right next to us, the Destiny and another whose name I didn't see. Right passed that ship was a Royal Caribbean ship. Funny thing though the second Carnival ship left as we docked. I couldn't figure out why because it was 7:30 in the morning.

 

 

So we had to meet our tour guide by the RC ship at 9:50. We left early because it's a long walk (on a short pier ha ha). So I spent the day with RC passengers. We walked over to the ferry and took it to the Blue Lagoon Island. The guys on the ferry were just so much fun. They made the trip (about 1/2 hour) go real fast.

 

Upon arrival a guide gave us a quick orientation and showed us some movies about the experience. They then took us down to a platform and gave us life jackets. I cannot say enough about this excursion. It was the most wonderful thing we have every done! My daughter loved it and so did my husband and I. The dolphin push was amazing. I think we were in the water with the dolphins for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. We got kissed, hugged and danced with the dolphins plus they swam all around us. It was amazing and I suggest it to anyone who goes to the Bahamas. I don't have any pictures of the tour as they were taken with my underwater camera. When I get them developed I'll post them.

 

We finished around 1:00 pm and got back to the pier around 1:30. We then grabbed a taxi (because my lazy husband didn't want to walk to the jitney) and we went over to this area called the fish fry for lunch. Amazing!!! The driver recommended Seafood Haven and when we got inside we were the only tourists there. The food was delicious!! Fried grouper..so fresh that they must have caught it like an hour before we ate!

 

After filling our bellies we took another taxi back to the straw market and bought some souvenirs. We then made way to the pier.

 

Make sure you take photo ID into the Bahamas along with your sign and sail. My husband forgot his on the ship but lucky for him they let him by. I would not have been happy if I would have had to trek to the ship and back to show them his ID! We found a shuttle bus that goes to the ships and managed to snag the last seats. Here's the announcement from the driver: "This shuttle is free but I do accept tips".

 

We got back to the ship around 4:30 thinking we were leaving at 5:00 but of course we weren't paying attention and we left at 6:00. We were so tired we then took naps.

 

I believe the Ticket to Ride show was Sunday night. You cannot miss this show. They show a newsreel about the Beatles for the first half hour and then sing and dance to some of their songs. Then the group that plays in the lounge Music Unlimited comes out and does some Beatles songs..They are amazing! Don't miss it.

[NYGirl1002]

Our final 2 sea days. By the time Monday rolled around we were starting to get very sad knowing we were on our way home. After breakfast in the dining room, we went to buy some of the photos and visit the duty free shop.

 

A funny thing happened at breakfast though. Since we had a booth for 3 every night for dinner, we always requested to sit with others when we went to the DR for breakfast or lunch. Today was no different. So they take us to a table for 6 in the aft..near the window..a really nice table. Then the server brings over a woman, her husband or boyfriend and one of their mothers. They walk over and say very snobbily.."oh don't you have a table for 3?" They didn't even look at us. We felt kind of bad. They were just so rude. Oh well..their loss. We're lots of fun!

 

Then comes the highlight of the cruise: The galley tour!! Frankie met us and we all got to see the spotless kitchen on the Miracle! When I say spotless..I mean spotless:

 

 

After doing our chores we went over to the adult pool and found that the chair hogs have finally arrived. We ended up sitting at a table in the shade and people who saved their lounges never showed up.

 

Here's a shot of the adult pool and hot tub:

 

 

 

In the afternnon we hung around the ship and made our way to bingo and then tea. I noticed that the activities subside around 3:30 - 4:00 and we were always at loose ends until dinner time.

 

Here's some pictures of our room for anyone who wants to see a category 8B on Deck 5 port near the aft elevators:

 

 

 

Now that I think of it I think Ticket to Ride was on Monday. We went to the show after dinner and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We slept late on Tuesday and then my daughter and I tried the "win a cruise" bingo. Believe it or not I had 2 numbers to go when someone else won. :mad:

[NYGirl1002]

Then we decided to stay for Brent's disembarkation talk so we'd know what we were going to do even though we knew they'd show it on TV and were rewarded with a visit from the Captain and his awarding Employee of the Month trophies to some of the crew:

 

 

Funship Freddie made an appearance:

 

 

The chair hogs were out again as we made way to the pool but... as we sat at our table we had a sudden rainstorm! All of their towels got wet. Ha ha. (insert maniacal laugh here).

 

 

Actually that picture was taken on the ferry from the Blue Lagoon but I wanted to post it cause I like it. Just pretend it's the rain cloud sprinkling on chair hogs' towels.

 

 

After sad goodbyes at dinner with our wonderful waitstaff, we made our way to the Legends Show.

 

As it turns out Luis was at the end of his contract on our cruise, Yosup's ends at the cruise that's going on now and Maria's is up in 3 weeks. Frankie the maitre'd was also leaving after our cruise. We had a very happy waitstaff as they were all anticipating their vacation.

 

The Legends Show was really great. The entertainment crew also played the parts of Sonny and Cher and Dolly Parton and were really funny. Even my husband stayed awake for the whole show! What a bonus for me and my daughter. (NOT!!)

 

We decided to do self disembarkation as my son was picking us up around 9:00 on his way home from work. Well disembarkation is a little too disorganized for me. I think they should have called the people down by deck but it seemed everyone wanted to leave at the exact same time. Yes Vi MORE LINES!!!!

 

We came from the aft and were already thinking wow.this is easy..no line. But when we got to the atrium, even though there were two podiums and lines, they were only taking the people coming from forward!! Walk to the end of the line you say??? The line was alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the way forward to the Phantom Lounge! They made the whole bunch of us coming from the aft walk the whole length of the ship schlepping all of our luggage and carryons!! Granted the line moved pretty fast but it is mayhem like that that annoys me to no end. I feel it should have been more organized.

 

But all in all we had the best time. I'd definitely take another Carnival cruise at any time. The Miracle is a wonderful ship and the crew is great!

 

Thanks for reading my review and feel free to ask any questions

 

Fran

[SusieQusie]

Please keep the ship in tip top shape as we are going on the day you return. LOL Have a great cruise.:)

 

Janchris - I'll do my best, but that's an awful lot of responsibility!!! Hope you have a great cruise as well.

 

We're on the Verandah deck - where are you staying? Have you sailed the Miracle before? This is our first Carnival cruise - any great words of wisdom?