Carnival Miracle 7-17-04 Review 7 Days New York to Bahamas

Eileen, with that many cruises and in such a short span, I can see exactly why
a cruise wouldn't feel as special to you anymore. Whereas someone like me who
doesn't go as often (it was a fluke that I sailed 3 times in year's
time)...still feels the newness and novelty that each cruise offers. I'm still
at the point where I have no problem sailing the same itinerary on the same
line..or two lines. Of course, if I were to do that once a month or so, I would
feel a bit bored, too. And, you know, like I've mentioned in previous reviews,
not only do the ships themselves feel the same within one line, I could easily
close my eyes and hardly know which cruiseline I was on. (This is of the
mainstream ships, of course.) It does become kind of a "Been there, done that"
sort of experience after awhile and maybe I should be glad we can't afford the
time or the money to cruise more often.

Lindsay

Eileen wrote:

I also don't think my current state of disenchantment (not talking about
being ill here, just finding something lacking in cruising) is a
function of having taken way more cruises than any one person is
entitled to. I'm not a person who gets jaded easily.

Howie wrote:

Oh, those stacks of useless paper that come along with the cruise
program every day are really annoying.


Howie, while I understand all you are saying here, I still can't help but feel
a bit taken aback and almost sad that YOU, of all people...MR. PARTY, who loves
to dance all night...is coming back with these sorts of feelings and painting
kind of a dismal picture of cruising. It just seems like such a change for you.


I imagine with Eileen not feeling well it didn't make for as pleasant a cruise
and you did have more time to really observe and look at the little things,
whereas before you would be up all night whooping it up. Maybe it was all for
the good and you can reevaluate your cruising needs like you mentioned.

Lindsay

Howie wrote:

Oh, those stacks of useless paper that come along with the cruise
program every day are really annoying.


Howie, while I understand all you are saying here, I still can't help but feel
a bit taken aback and almost sad that YOU, of all people...MR. PARTY, who loves
to dance all night...is coming back with these sorts of feelings and painting
kind of a dismal picture of cruising. It just seems like such a change for you.


I imagine with Eileen not feeling well it didn't make for as pleasant a cruise
and you did have more time to really observe and look at the little things,
whereas before you would be up all night whooping it up. Maybe it was all for
the good and you can reevaluate your cruising needs like you mentioned.

Lindsay

Howie wrote:

Oh, those stacks of useless paper that come along with the cruise
program every day are really annoying.


Howie, while I understand all you are saying here, I still can't help but feel
a bit taken aback and almost sad that YOU, of all people...MR. PARTY, who loves
to dance all night...is coming back with these sorts of feelings and painting
kind of a dismal picture of cruising. It just seems like such a change for you.


I imagine with Eileen not feeling well it didn't make for as pleasant a cruise
and you did have more time to really observe and look at the little things,
whereas before you would be up all night whooping it up. Maybe it was all for
the good and you can reevaluate your cruising needs like you mentioned.

Lindsay

"Eileen Garland" wrote in message
...
I wanted to say a word of thanks to all of you who have sent your good
wishes my way. Now that we're home, I AM feeling better - not great but
at least better.

I'm really beginning to suspect there's something environmental on the
ships that disagrees with me severely, though I have no idea what it
could be.

As for the Miracle itself, I thought the decor was really unlovely. The
Spirit is interesting looking, and the Legend has some nice touches, but
I couldn't find anything lovable about the Miracle except for Frankie
and Johnny's, where you run the risk of severing your head on the
fixtures that hang down everywhere. The decor seems to me to be
two-dimensional, with large numbers of unappealing (to me, of course)
looking sort of animation-type characters.

I also don't think my current state of disenchantment (not talking about
being ill here, just finding something lacking in cruising) is a
function of having taken way more cruises than any one person is
entitled to. I'm not a person who gets jaded easily. I miss the
elegance I used to find, and it was much less a function of how anyone
dressed than it was a function of not having every space crammed full
with things for sale, my cabin littered with dozens of useless pieces of
paper selling everything but the bathroom sink. I miss the sense of
community and getting to know people that has pretty much fallen by the
wayside because of the behemoth size of the ships.

One further comment on this class of ship: I recall that by my 3rd
Statendam-class ship, I was astonished at the completely identical
structure of these ships. The 3 Spirit-class ships I've now been on
have been so utterly identical as to make the HAL ships look varied by
comparison.

Eileen

I just finished reading an article in Porthole on the Miracle. Along with
this article were photos of the ship. I have seen quite a few photos of the
Miracle since her entering service but I have to say this is probably the
ugliest ship that Carnival has placed into service. The photo in Porthole
showing the atrium is just plain ugly. I thought that the Legend looked busy
with all of the urns but this takes the prize. The formal dining room looks
like it came straight from a whorehouse. It would be nice to see someone
else besides Farcus design the interiors of their ships. I believe that he
is burned out and they need some fresh blood in the design team.

I am so looking forward to my cruise later this year on the Navigator OTS. I
look forward to something different. It has taken me a while to warm up to
the mall type atmosphere that the promenade deck has. The photos of this
ship look very nice.

A note on Porthole magazine. This is the first time that I have purchased
one in quite a while. IMHO it still has not improved. The only ship that was
featured was the Miracle and it was so one sided as usual. It was like a
commercial for Carnival. It will be a while before I buy another one.

Gordon

Gordon

Linsifer wrote:

Howie wrote:


Oh, those stacks of useless paper that come along with the cruise
program every day are really annoying.



Howie, while I understand all you are saying here, I still can't help but feel
a bit taken aback and almost sad that YOU, of all people...MR. PARTY, who loves
to dance all night...is coming back with these sorts of feelings and painting
kind of a dismal picture of cruising. It just seems like such a change for you.


I imagine with Eileen not feeling well it didn't make for as pleasant a cruise
and you did have more time to really observe and look at the little things,

That's exactly what happend, Lindsay.

Howie

whereas before you would be up all night whooping it up. Maybe it was all for
the good and you can reevaluate your cruising needs like you mentioned.

Lindsay

Linsifer wrote:

Howie wrote:


Oh, those stacks of useless paper that come along with the cruise
program every day are really annoying.



Howie, while I understand all you are saying here, I still can't help but feel
a bit taken aback and almost sad that YOU, of all people...MR. PARTY, who loves
to dance all night...is coming back with these sorts of feelings and painting
kind of a dismal picture of cruising. It just seems like such a change for you.


I imagine with Eileen not feeling well it didn't make for as pleasant a cruise
and you did have more time to really observe and look at the little things,

That's exactly what happend, Lindsay.

Howie

whereas before you would be up all night whooping it up. Maybe it was all for
the good and you can reevaluate your cruising needs like you mentioned.

Lindsay

Linsifer wrote:

Howie wrote:


Oh, those stacks of useless paper that come along with the cruise
program every day are really annoying.



Howie, while I understand all you are saying here, I still can't help but feel
a bit taken aback and almost sad that YOU, of all people...MR. PARTY, who loves
to dance all night...is coming back with these sorts of feelings and painting
kind of a dismal picture of cruising. It just seems like such a change for you.


I imagine with Eileen not feeling well it didn't make for as pleasant a cruise
and you did have more time to really observe and look at the little things,

That's exactly what happend, Lindsay.

Howie

whereas before you would be up all night whooping it up. Maybe it was all for
the good and you can reevaluate your cruising needs like you mentioned.

Lindsay

Eileen Garland wrote:

Now that we're home, I AM feeling better - not great but
at least better.

Glad to hear you are doing better now!!

I'm really beginning to suspect there's something environmental on the
ships that disagrees with me severely, though I have no idea what it
could be.

Could it be some of the chemicals that they use for cleaning? I think
that they are using stronger chemicals these days and they do bother me
more.

sue

Eileen Garland wrote:

Now that we're home, I AM feeling better - not great but
at least better.

Glad to hear you are doing better now!!

I'm really beginning to suspect there's something environmental on the
ships that disagrees with me severely, though I have no idea what it
could be.

Could it be some of the chemicals that they use for cleaning? I think
that they are using stronger chemicals these days and they do bother me
more.

sue