Review: Carnival Miracle in the W. Carib. June 2005 (long)

Our family of four ranging in ages 12 to 75 cruised on the Carnival Miracle
out of Tampa to the Western Caribbean from Sunday to Sunday, June 12-19,
2005. This was our 12th cruise, 1st on Carnival-we've now been on all of the
mainstream lines except HAL, which we will try in the Baltics next week!

In a nutshell, the cruise far exceeded expectations! We were most impressed
with Carnival's food and all-around exemplary customer service. We were
least impressed with the ship's "fictional icons" theme décor. I now
understand the love/hate Joe Farcus debate and thought the ship was
downright ugly, with the exception of two public spaces: Mad Hatter's
Lounge, which was appropriately whimsical, and Nick & Nora's specialty
restaurant, which was evocative of an era. We were solidly in the "eew, it's
awful" camp with regard to the nightmarish Bacchus dining room. WHAT were
they thinking?! But all in all, this was one of our favorite, most
satisfying cruise experiences.

For those who just want the bottom line, here's our summary "grades" of
Carnival's performance on the Miracle, YMMV:

Embarkation A
Cabins A/Stateroom Service B
Food A/Dining Service A
Entertainment B
Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences A
Disembarkation A

You may skip to the end if you just want to know what we did during our port
stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Belize and Cozumel. For those who are
already booked on a Miracle cruise or who might be interested in giving her
a try, here's the excruciatingly detailed blow-by-blow:

Embarkation:
The taxi ride from the Tampa airport to the pier takes about 15 minutes.
Last-minute shoppers will find a mall, Borders and plenty of liquor stores
en route. We made a quick on/off for a Sunday NY Times and a six-pack of the
sometimes-elusive-aboard Dr. Pepper (it's a Texas addiction). While DH and
the port red cap took care of our luggage, I went in search of a wheelchair
for my MIL. Within a minute of my request to the terminal "bouncer," a
Carnival employee (assistant waiter Putu) promptly appeared with a
wheelchair and insisted on staying with us to push my MIL through the entire
process to our cabin! What an impressive lead in start to many other
instances of great service.

It was a few minutes before noon when we joined the queue in the check-in
line. The seating area of checked-in pax was already overflowing, so I
guesstimate they started at 11:30a or earlier. Even though the stated
boarding time was 1:30p, right at noon, they began boarding in groups with
the instruction, "Cabins will not be ready until 1:30p. Please go to the
lido and enjoy lunch while you wait." The check-in line moved quickly, and
we were at the desk by 12:10p. Having completed our paperwork online, we
were good to go five minutes later.to sit with boarding group 17. The
check-in agent saw that we had a wheelchair user in our group and moved us
up to the first boarding group without prompting. We went through security,
took our Sail & Sign mug shots, bypassed the embarkation photo stop and
began walking the gangway when we heard a firm, "Stop." We turned to see the
drug dog officer holding her hand out in a "stop" sign to us and the bride
and groom behind us. The dog sniffed again, and the newlyweds-still dressed
in tux and a mini-skirt bridal gown-were led away. We saw them on board
later that day, and they didn't look happy. But they made it aboard, so it
was either a false positive or the authorities had mercy on the happy
couple.

While Celebrity's champagne greeting and white-gloved cabin escorts can't be
beat, a friendly group of staffers welcomed us aboard and gave us a ship's
map-we've never seen that done before, but it's such a logical thing to do!
A youth counselor was also on hand to meet our son and tell us when/where
the kids' program orientation would be held. I don't know if Putu was
confused or emboldened, but he ignored the "no cabins" rule and proudly led
us to our cabins, giving us a brief ship's tour along the way. We met our
cabin steward, who was still racing to ready all of his cabins, stowed our
hand luggage, tipped Putu for his helpful service and went up to the lido
for a buffet lunch at Horatio's. It was about 12:40p when we started
exploring the buffet stations. I recall seeing some of the boarding group 17
folks enter the buffet about 30 minutes later, so all in all, we felt
Carnival's embarkation was as efficient as possible considering the crowds
of early birds and the fact that they don't kick the prior cruisers off 'til
9:30a. Note, the buffet was something of a madhouse this one time because
folks couldn't go to their cabins and it was the sole open dining venue; but
the lines moved quickly, and the service was excellent. More on the buffet
operations in the food section!

Embarkation isn't complete without tending to all of those pesky "1st day"
chores. Like handing out ship maps, Carnival made that easy, too. Instead of
making us wait to read the Carnival Capers in our stateroom, the check-in
agent handed us a one-page flyer that spelled out the answers to a dozen or
more of those immediate questions, e.g., "What is the Soda Card?" and "When
and where can I request a change in my dinner seating time or table
assignment?" During the appointed time (1-3:30p), we went to the dining room
to check out our table assignment-it looked okay to try vs. standing in the
long-but-very-well-managed line for a change. We went to the spa and made my
MIL's appointment to get her hair and nails done the next day at sea for the
first formal night. We secured a reservation for our preferred night at Nick
& Nora's. And by the time we got all of that taken care of, we had to
muster. While we were stowing life preservers and counting luggage, the ship
sailed (4p), so we missed whatever sailaway hoopla there was, which didn't
last long, as things were pretty quiet when we scrambled out on deck to
enjoy a long, lazy departure out of the channel.

Cabins:
We booked cat 8D balcony GTY's and were assigned two 8G cabins on the
Verandah Deck (7171 and 7181) between the forward and central elevators on
the starboard side of the ship. The location was great for quick access to
the forward gym/spa above and show lounges below and okay for reaching the
pools, buffet and casino. It was a bit of a walk to reach the aft-located
dining room. The near amidships location would have been a stable one had
there been any movement, but we enjoyed a very smooth cruise. The deck
assignment was ideal from a noise standpoint because Deck 7 is sandwiched
between two passenger decks.

The cabin décor was muted pastels-blah, but a refreshing respite from the
"over-the-top" public spaces. The cabin size was somewhat larger than the
usual balcony cabin, but the area around the beds, whether made up as one or
two, seemed very tight, and in fact, the bedside tables were tiny and
scrunched between the bed and the adjacent wall or other bed. We thought the
beds were as comfortable as those on most ships, but that's a very
subjective matter. We didn't pull out the sofa bed, but it looked more ample
(thus taking up more cabin space) and sturdy than most-a plus for those
desiring to sleep additional guests. I think interior space felt cramped
also because of the bathroom size, which was definitely roomier than I
recall on other ships. The shower was curtained, but large enough that the
curtain didn't stick to you, and there was plenty of room to brush teeth and
shave without standing against the toilet or shower. Complimentary
toiletries included shampoo and liquid soap in the shower and a basket of
sample shampoo, conditioner and razors by the sink. Bathrobes were provided
in all cabins. There was plenty of storage, and the usual one electrical
outlet at the desk. The in-room safe was tricky-it works by sliding a credit
card through the slot (there's no charge to use it). The problem is, once
locked with that credit card, the safe can only be unlocked by using the
exact same credit card, which makes it difficult for cabin mates to share
access unless both are present. There wasn't an announcements speaker in the
room-unless you had the TV on and tuned to a cruise ship channel, you didn't
hear announcements. (Thinking about what I just wrote, I realize that can't
be correct-what if there was an emergency? There has to be some sort of
in-cabin announcement system, but thankfully, its use was not required
during our cruise.)

The balcony was small. On the deck maps, it looks like these are slightly
oversized balconies.I'd hate to see the others if that's the case! The
furniture consisted of one chair, one small table and one adjustable chair
without footrest that could recline, but wasn't a true chaise. Coupled with
the table-as-ottoman, it more-or-less served as a lounger. The half-wall to
the sea is glass for viewing. The side walls to adjacent cabins can be
locked down (with a tool) to assure privacy or opened up to create shared
balcony space. Unbeknownst to us, our cabin steward had failed to secure one
side wall, so it slammed open and shut with each roll of the ship throughout
the first night. The door from the cabin to the balcony is a real door
(glass), not a sliding door. This is the first time we've had a balcony door
like that-now I understand why some people to talk about bringing bungee
cords to hold open their door so they can sleep to the sounds of the waves
and enjoy the sea air. The cabin air conditioning turns off when the door is
left open.

Our first of several experiences with excellent customer service related to
the air conditioning. When we went to bed that first night, we noticed that
the fan kept blowing as if on "high," even though we had turned the dial
down to the lowest setting. The air flow was loud and windy to an annoying
degree. I'm sure I was tired and cranky-am I the only one who is a wreck
until the first travel day is over?!-but I couldn't get to sleep, and DH,
who is mechanically inclined, but couldn't figure out a solution, was tired
of hearing me toss and turn. So he called the front desk for help. They
explained that to maintain air circulation for health reasons, the fan would
blow constantly-there was no switch to turn it off or even adjust the amount
of air flow, and it appeared you could control only the temperature. But
they sent up an engineer, who promptly arrived-this had to be close to
midnight-and demonstrated that to stop the AC fan, you turned the thermostat
to maximum heat. It worked. The fan quieted down, and fortunately no
heated air emerged. The next morning, we awoke to find a personal (not
form) letter in our mail slot apologizing for the difficulty we had
experienced with the air conditioning system and imploring us to let them
know if we needed any further assistance with our accommodations during the
cruise. The "incident" was not a big deal to us, and their solution-oriented
handling of it on the spot was enough, but the letter was a nice touch.

Stateroom Service:
Our attendant did a competent, not remarkable, job. To his credit, he had a
sixth sense about our movements such that our cabin was always serviced
while we were out, but wasn't always attentive to ordinary requests, e.g.,
ice and towels, and details like making sure the balcony side walls are
locked or not, as per the client's wishes. Personally, I think the cruise
industry's move to auto-tipping has resulted in more "so-so" housekeeping
service than dining service, where there's an opportunity to develop those
personal relationships that inspire us to extend an additional, personal tip
over the pooled auto-tip. I know we always tipped our cabin stewards more
than the recommended amount when they worked for direct tips-but they seemed
to hustle then, too; now, we just leave the auto-tip in place and have yet
to receive service justifying more. I've never agreed with pre-tipping, but
I've about decided that next cruise, we should try extending a little green
"incentive" at the outset to see if that produces more attentive service.

Food, Glorious Food:
What issue is the subject of more hot discussion than cruise food?! I'll
confess, we went into this cruise expecting good food because so many others
had said such positive things about the Spirit-class food. Our verdict? The
food quality was as good or better than we've had on any other ship! Before
this cruise, we felt Princess dining room food and RCI buffet food were
tops-it could have been one of those "lemon" cruises, but our one Celebrity
dining experience, which we had anticipated would surpass all, was
inconsistent, with more lows than highs.

So, what was so great about the Miracle's food? The dining room breakfasts
and lunches were just average, but the evening meal always pleased. The food
was consistently of above-average quality in appearance, texture, freshness
and taste; the sauces, garnishes and side pairings were interesting, but not
distracting or overly ambitious; presentation on the plate was lovely; and
there was an appealing variety of menu selections every night. The heart
healthy and spa menus offered several attractive choices, and if you didn't
like anything, there was always an off-menu chicken breast or steak-filet of
a lesser quality than when a featured item, but far better than the
notorious RCI "ranch steak." I liked the fact that butter and coffee cream
were presented in service pieces vs. wrapped pats and plastic cups. The
daily ice cream flavor was always tempting! It wasn't the best dining room
experience we've had-Princess still holds that title-but we were very
satisfied with Carnival.

At Horatio's buffet on the Lido, the food was, again, of above-average
quality, and the staff kept the food line spotless. In addition to the usual
line of daily specials, there was always an Asian section, a featured
international cuisine of the day, a salad bar, fruits and desserts,
excellent pizza, a hot/cold sandwich deli, and a beverage service bar
featuring the usual plus a nice array of fruit juices. Staffers push
coffee/lemonade/tea carts through the seating area. Apparently, there is
some food, including pizza, available 24 hours! The key here is to walk
through all of the lines to check out your options-you will miss something
if you don't. And how could I forget the soft-serve ice cream bar?! In sum,
we rank the Miracle's buffet tied with Royal Caribbean's on the Voyager- and
Radiance-class ships, which feature great food and are a little less chaotic
in layout.

Our dinner at Nick and Nora's was on par with any upscale restaurant
experience and a steal at $30 per person (plus tip). The room is lovely, and
seating is placed around the perimeter of the ship so you can enjoy a nice
sunset view while you dine. A pianist and delightful vocalist performing
Gershwin, Porter and the like added to the supper club atmosphere. The table
was set with mixed Versace patterns of Rosenthal china. I had one of the
best French onion soups I've ever had-the beef broth base was very rich-and
the lobster and filet composing the "surf and turf" were excellent. Everyone
in our party was extremely satisfied with their dishes. In particular, there
is a chocolate dessert that comes in three parts that is to die for. Service
was attentive and professional. Nick and Nora's is without a doubt the best
specialty restaurant of any ship we've sailed to date. (Our five-course meal
at Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux's Olympic restaurant on the Millie last
summer was special; however, we thought there were several surprising
"misses" among the "hits." Of course, our reaction could reflect nothing
more than we don't get out enough to appreciate the latest in French
cuisine, LOL.)

More food.. There was the ubiquitous midnight buffet (we didn't make it).
There was a daytime chocoholic's buffet at Horatio's complete with chocolate
fountain for dipping fruits and baked goods-if you could stand to wait in
the long line for that treat! We enjoyed afternoon tea served in the Jeeves
wine bar-the classical music trio played, and it was such a delightful treat
vs. having tea in the dining room as we've done on other cruise ships. Room
service is limited to cold items. There are a couple of premium coffee
stations around the ship where you can buy Starbucks-like drinks, and at
one, you can buy premium desserts. Our son tried a chocolate cake there and
pronounced it well worth the $2 charge (it would have been a $6+ dessert
most places ashore). A poolside grill served late breakfasts and burgers,
hot dogs, etc. from midday.

Food Service:
In addition to the fact that the Bacchus dining room is so garish (truly a
bad dream, described by DH like "being inside a black light-illuminated
lung"), it features more limited seating options than we've experienced on
other lines. There are a ton of booth seats for 4, tables for 6 lining the
windows and a fair number of scattered tables for 2. Our original table
assignment in the main dining room was a booth. This means the server is
always reaching over the outside diners to serve the inside diners. It wasn't
pleasant, and we didn't care for our original waiter, either. So at the
conclusion of that first evening's meal, DH talked with the maitre d' and
arranged for us to be re-assigned to table 161 on the second floor for the
balance of the cruise. It was a table for six which they agreed to re-set
for our four and is nicely located (with some view out the window, and not
by a service station or other noisy or heavily trafficked area). There, we
had a fabulous waiter (Alister from South Africa) and an able assistant. In
many cruise reviews, I see people complain about their table assignments,
whether due to location, wait staff or tablemates. Our evening dinner
experience is a key to our overall enjoyment of the cruise, so we never
hesitate to ask for different arrangements if, after the first evening's
meal, we aren't completely happy. The maitre d' is used to working with
guests in this fashion, and we've never been disappointed.

Carnival requires more of its wait staff in terms of cheesy entertainment
than we've seen on any other line. Nightly, they'd sing and dance. It seems
a bit demeaning sometimes, but the waiters appear to be good sports about
the whole thing. DH even joined them dancing one evening, a first (and, no,
he hadn't been drinking!).

Entertainment:
For our tastes, Royal Caribbean has everyone beat on entertainment, but we
enjoyed the Miracle's in-house offerings well enough. Of the two production
shows, we thought the Beatles tribute, "Ticket to Ride," was best. The
singers/dancers do a commendable job, and the house band is terrific. The
main theatre is a nice venue. The seating is extremely comfortable (despite
a few bad sightlines and columns) with the widest aisles we've ever
seen--nice for passing other guests to reach your seat and for the cocktail
servers. Speaking of which, another act of commendable customer service
occurred one night in the theatre when I ordered an Irish coffee. The young
man explained coffee was not available at the theatre bar. In our experience
on other ships, the conversation would have ended there, but he then
insisted on walking to another venue to get the coffee drink for me. Of
course, when he returned with my Irish coffee, we gave him a cash tip above
the built-in 15%, but he never presented as if he was sniffing around for a
tip--he simply (and cheerfully) acted as though he was there to make sure I
had what I wanted. We experienced this "can do" approach to hospitality all
over the ship, all week long, which is a reflection of a management
philosophy I admire.

Around the ship, there are a number of talented musicians. The band that
plays in the primary dance venue, Frankie and Johnnie's, was as good a cover
band as we've seen and played a broad range of musical genres and decades.
They even appear as the Beatles in the Beatles Revue. The combo that played
classical music and the jazz/standards female singer "Sheila" were also
top-notch. We like piano bars, but the current piano player (James) lived up
to his unfortunate online reputation as being weak. The guy can't sing and
isn't much of a pianist either. The featured entertainers were the usual
comedians, juggler, hypnotist, female vocalist, etc. We love stand up, but
found the comedians disappointing. The late-night "adults only" comedian we
saw (there were several) delivered the bluest adult comedy we've ever heard
on a cruise ship-I'm not sure everyone would be prepared for it. The
hypnotist was embarrassingly racist in his comments, which we noted on our
comment card. Should the talent be saying to the blacks in the audience,
"Smile so I can see you?" And that wasn't the only remark of that ilk he
made-his patter hit us wrong.

The CD is Mark Hawkins, who is a pleasant, quirky fellow. He is competent
and very generous in allowing Asst. CD "Karl with a K" to upstage him. Karl
is a funny Brit who also sings and is very entertaining. He is clearly being
groomed for his own CD post. We had a lot of fun with several members of the
cruise staff at various trivia and other games. Carnival has some activity
going almost all of the time (and into the wee hours of the morning!).
Karaoke is apparently very popular and favorite performers compete in an
American Idol-type show called "Carnival Legends" that is the featured show
in the main theatre one night.

Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences:
The gym is large and well-equipped. We never had to wait to use the machines
or weights. There are free and paid classes daily. We loved the fact that
the wet steam and dry sauna rooms were free. Great locker room showers!
There are two main pool areas plus an "adults only" aft pool and the
children's pool with slide-I always sat around the central pool with the
band and was able to find a shaded lounger in spite of lots of chair
hogging. Carnival requires you to bring pool towels down from your cabin. We
played only slots in the casino this cruise, so can't comment on the
dealers/table games. Others have commented on the smoky conditions of the
casino and some music venues--we are non-smokers who would be bothered by
excessive smoke, and fortunately, we didn't have any problems with smoke
anywhere. Although you could always order a cocktail if you wanted one,
there were no pushy liquor sales-not around the pool, not during dinner, not
before shows. The captain (Roberto Garibbo) gave a late morning report from
the bridge each day, but was otherwise out-of-sight (except, presumably, for
the usual captain's cocktail reception, which we didn't attend). I had
expected lots of announcements, but they weren't excessive and were fairly
limited to the CD touting activities. The library was more limited than
we've ever seen--BYOBooks! We played one bingo game, saw one movie, never
used the Internet café (a first for us!), never do the art auction or inches
of gold sales, bought our usual Christmas ornament and a $10 bottle of aloe
gel that goes for $2.67 in your local discount retailer, and bought several
photos at the going rate of $20. We thought Carnival's photo set-up was
superior to others-they offer many different backdrops throughout the
cruise, from formal to casual, and even a station where you don "old timey"
clothes. A number of the shots were taken with a "soft lens," making those
creeping wrinkles disappear, and, of course, prompting me to buy more pix!
Our son didn't do much in the children's program this time, but he had
nothing but positive things to say about the facilities/counselors. The pax
demographics for this early summer cruise was a nice mix of older and
younger couples and families. Most folks dressed up for formal night (the
first was Monday night at sea, the second was Thursday night after Belize),
although there were fewer tuxes than we've seen on other lines. Most folks
also dressed in appropriate "resort casual" the other nights. We didn't see
much in the way of inappropriate dress or behavior-no wild kids or boorish
adults! Well, except for "Tony," who came to formal night halfway through
dinner dressed in a tee shirt and shorts and got into a pretty noisy quarrel
with his wife. I don't understand why they let him in dressed that way as
shorts are supposed to be off limits in the dining room for dinner anytime,
but on formal night??!! It was most definitely a fun-loving group, and lots
of folks must have taken advantage of the partying-into-the-wee hours
opportunities offered, as it was surprisingly quiet around the ship in the
mornings.

Disembarkation:
We arrived on time in Tampa-this port is frequently fogged in, so it is wise
not to make early flight/travel arrangements. We had put our luggage out the
night before (by midnight). Carnival allows you to eat breakfast in the
dining room or buffet from 7a-9a and then remain in your cabin until you
choose to disembark (no boarding groups)-how civilized! When we left the
ship at the final time of 9:30p, the lines had fairly cleared, and we were
able to quickly retrieve our luggage and exit to catch a waiting Alamo
shuttle to our rental car.

We stayed over a night to see family in the area and can highly recommend
the airport Marriott for pre- and post-cruise stays (we won it on a
Priceline bid, but it was so perfect for this purpose, I'd book it directly
next time). It's a clean, well-managed property with the usual amenities
plus pool and small business center, but the neatest thing about this
airport hotel is that the lobby opens up into the airport terminal. When you
are ready to board your plane, the bellman will take your luggage to the
check-in counter for you! They also provided wheelchair transfer, which made
things so easy for my MIL. I failed to ask if they provided the same bell
service on arrival, but I'm betting you could pre-arrange to call the front
desk when your plane arrives and ask a bellman to meet you at baggage claim
(with a wheelchair, if needed).

The End! We had a great week on the Miracle and will consider Carnival in
our future cruise plans. I have a full set of the daily Carnival Capers, the
Nick and Nora's menu and a list of the spa/gym "seminar and fitness" classes
and prices-if anyone has questions, wants copies, etc., feel free to contact
me.

Here's the run down on our port day activities. The Miracle will make the
ports in the order listed until sometime in October, when it will return to
a prior schedule that puts the ship in Cozumel on Thursday and Belize on
Friday.

Grand Cayman (Tuesday) - Rum Point Beach - We had "done the stingrays" on a
prior visit, so this time, we rented a car and drove about 45 minutes to the
other side of the island to hang out at the beach club at Rum Point. Wow!
This is one drop dead gorgeous beach and delightful ocean swim area, a true
tropical paradise. There are complimentary loungers (some with canvas
awnings), hammocks, clean restrooms/showers, a water sports rental operation
and a restaurant. We practically had the place to ourselves. We snorkeled
just because we couldn't resist it--not much sea life, no coral or
vegetation; the shallow ocean bottom was pristine. We read, snoozed, and
enjoyed some fresh juice drinks. My MIL joined us for this outing, and she
was able to walk the short distance from the parking lot to a lounge chair
without difficulty. Folks in wheelchairs could use the boardwalks and hope
for a shaded spot outdoors or at least set up camp in the delightful
open-air restaurant. I could gush all day and not do Rum Point justice. It's
definitely worth the drive. Much of 7-Mile Beach was rendered nearly
treeless by Hurricane Ivan, but Rum Point's trees were left intact, and we
heard the beach itself was actually enlarged by the storm. In any event,
it's one of the prettiest spots we've visited anywhere. Just when I thought
I couldn't bear to do another Western Caribbean itinerary, I discovered a
reason to make sure we go again! Here is a Rum Point thread with links to
photos and detailed info about getting the
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...ight=Rum+Point

Costa Maya (Wednesday) - Tequila Beach - The tourist complex right at the
pier is very Americanized, but pretty darned nice with a large pool
featuring swim-up bar, a sports pool, several restaurants and bars, shops,
Internet station (reasonable price), and lots of activities. The beach entry
to the ocean here is naturally rough and not easy on the feet--if you want
to play in the surf, you need to hop on the $3 bus to find a sandy beach
entry in the "authentic" old fishing village of Majahual many cruisers rave
about. We can't chime in. It really wasn't fair to Majahual that we visited
the day after we'd discovered the sugar sand and turquoise waters at Rum
Point, but it looked pretty sad. In their rush to cater to cruise tourists,
the locals have fairly succeeded in destroying the coastline's natural
beauty, and there's not much authentic about this place anymore. We walked
the entire strip in search of a beachfront restaurant with shaded
loungers...few such animals existed, and all of those were ocupado. So we
walked the annoyingly aggressive vendor gauntlet back to the first bus stop,
Tequila Beach, which turned out to be the location of Carnival's "beach
break" excursion. It was okay...the beach attendant dug out a place for our
molded beach "scoops" under a palapa, we read, swam, snorkeled (nothing too
exciting here, either) and enjoyed some cold drinks, and we got a
surprisingly decent full-body massage for $20. We took the $2 taxi back to
the pier and arrived just in time to see the traditional music and dance
performance in the amphitheatre at the center of the complex. Next time,
we'll just walk to the end of the pier and stick with the "for the gringos"
experience.

Belize (Thursday) - Carnival-sponsored snorkeling and stingray/shark alley
combo - We originally booked a power snorkeling excursion because our son
wanted to give the propelled snorkel a try. Made the reservation online in
advance of the cruise, and once on board, the tix were delivered to our
staterooms. We showed up at the appointed time and lounge and waited.and
waited.and waited. DH asked the man who came to greet the crowd going on
the stingray and shark trip, and he said, "That tour was cancelled." Wouldn't
it have been nice if someone had made an announcement, called the room or
circulated a note? We had to run to the shore excursions desk-it was
closed. A very helpful assistant purser confirmed our tour had been canceled
without notice and handled the refund, getting us tix on the other one. She
ran along with us to the tender station where the excursion boat was waiting
to make sure we got on. A great fix by this young lady on the purser's staff
to a big glitch by the excursions staff (who made it right financially, to
their credit). It's a long (45 minutes?) boat ride out to the first reef
snorkel stop. The coral and fish were only so-so. I don't think this was one
of the primo dive/snorkeling spots for which Belize is known...it was just a
convenient place for them to stop on the way to the main attraction. After
about 30 minutes in the water, we moved on to the sand flats to see the rays
and sharks. There are far fewer rays here than in Grand Cayman, and we only
saw two sharks. But they gave us a good 45 minutes in the water here, so we
snorkeled away from the boat crowds and saw some interesting stuff. The boat
trip back to the Miracle didn't seem so long because they got out the rum
punch, cranked up the tunes and passed shots of their local moonshine (it
could strip paint). We had a fun afternoon, but I can't recommend this
excursion enthusiastically.

Cozumel (Friday) - Paradise Beach - We can add to the raves you'll read
everywhere about this place. http://paradise-beach-cozumel.net/ This was a
fun place to end our week of beach stops, and as we've been to Cozumel
several times, it was good to try something new. My MIL joined us for this
one. The four of us cabbed from the Punta Langosta pier (the cruise ship
pier closest to downtown) for $12. You can sit on the beach under big
umbrellas and enjoy all of the sparkling clean amenities for free, but for
an $8 wristband, our son enjoyed unlimited use of the floating trampoline
and climbing iceberg, snorkeling equipment, kayaks, and floating mats. There
are jet skis, parasailing, massages...just about anything you can think of.
The setting is attractive, the staffers are friendly and go the extra mile
in customer service, and we loved the chicken nachos and fresh pineapple
juice drinks. The highlight of the day was our Snuba adventure. We've been
talking about taking a SCUBA class, so this was a great opportunity to see
how we liked the concept. We saw some beautiful fish, coral, sea anemone,
sting rays, etc. It was soooooo cooooool! We are definitely hooked and will
go forward with SCUBA-certification, but Snuba is a lot of fun all by itself
and a perfect activity for those who love snorkeling and want just a little
more! It cost $45 per person at Paradise Beach. If you are interested in the
details, here's my post:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...ighlight=snuba

The Miracle stays in Cozumel until 11p. It is easy to get on/off the ship
here. After dinner, we went out for an evening stroll through the old town.
Note that the Miracle doesn't always dock at this pier-sometimes it berths
at Puerta Maya, which is cruise ship pier farthest from town.

Happy travels to all.

Diana Ball
Near Houston, TX

"D Ball" wrote in message
...


In a nutshell, the cruise far exceeded expectations! We were most
impressed with Carnival's food and all-around exemplary customer service.


Excellent and thorough review. Many like to bash Carnival (especially those
who have never sailed them), but the line continues to improve and usually
offers an excellent experience. I think the Spirit Class ships especially
are stand-outs in the Carnival fleet.

If you can get past the decor, there is a very good chance you will have a
superior experience on Carnival. I found the food, service, and
entertainment on my most recent CARNIVAL SPIRIT cruise to be equal to or
better than most so-called "premium" lines.

Carnival is even implementing "luxury bedding" fleetwide. Just one more
enhancement in a series of improvements that Carnival has quietly put forth
over the past few years.

Ernie

E.k.R. wrote:
"D Ball" wrote in message
...


In a nutshell, the cruise far exceeded expectations! We were most
impressed with Carnival's food and all-around exemplary customer service.


Excellent and thorough review. Many like to bash Carnival (especially those
who have never sailed them), but the line continues to improve and usually
offers an excellent experience. I think the Spirit Class ships especially
are stand-outs in the Carnival fleet.

If you can get past the decor, there is a very good chance you will have a
superior experience on Carnival. I found the food, service, and
entertainment on my most recent CARNIVAL SPIRIT cruise to be equal to or
better than most so-called "premium" lines.

Carnival is even implementing "luxury bedding" fleetwide. Just one more
enhancement in a series of improvements that Carnival has quietly put forth
over the past few years.

Ernie


Hi very good review . We'll be on the Miracle on august 21. 5th time on
Carnival and 60th over all cruise .. Just some ?? is the slide open .
and did they change the time in some of the ports ? And yes there are
alot of people who don't like carinval . But the 5 times we were on her
we had the most fun . Carnival is like going to Vagas alot of people
don't like going there too !!
To each his own .
Ken G..........

Hi very good review . We'll be on the Miracle on august 21. 5th time on
Carnival and 60th over all cruise .. Just some ?? is the slide open .
and did they change the time in some of the ports ? And yes there are
alot of people who don't like carinval . But the 5 times we were on her
we had the most fun . Carnival is like going to Vagas alot of people
don't like going there too !!
To each his own .
Ken G..........


Hi, Ken,

Did you say 60th?! Wow! I hope your week on the Miracle is a great
celebration of that milestone!

We never did the slide, so can't help you out there, except to say that
every day's Caper posted the time the slide was open, i.e., I didn't see any
published notice that it was closed. In reviewing the Capers, the slide time
was 11:30a-4p on At Sea days and 2-5p on port days.

As you know, they switched Belize and Cozumel. I think they did lengthen the
time in Costa Maya. Here are the days/times from our cruise:

Tues-Grand Cayman-7a-4p, last tender 3:15p
Wed-Costa Maya-noon-8p, on board 7:30p
Thur-Belize-8a-5p, last tender 4p
Fri-Cozumel-8a-10p, on board 9:30p

Diana

On Wed, 6 Jul 2005 20:53:58 -0400, E.k.R. wrote:

Excellent and thorough review. Many like to bash Carnival (especially those
who have never sailed them), but the line continues to improve and usually
offers an excellent experience. I think the Spirit Class ships especially
are stand-outs in the Carnival fleet.

You're right, Ernie, those that have CCL way down on their list, many
times, are from the "aristocratic" cruise set when CCL was considered for
drunks and partyers only. You would think they would loosen up since
Carnival=Queen Mary 2 LOL. Hubby and I have a cruise planned with Carnival,
two actually.
--
"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in a
moral crisis." Dante

Diana, it sounds like you and your family had a good time on the
Miracle, I am glad to hear that.

The first comic we saw on the Miracle was funny, we should have avoided
the others (I was there in May). I sit in the back of the lounge, that
way I can quietly sneak out if they are not funny. When I cruised on the
Inspiration, every comic was good, but that is the luck of the draw. My
sons love going to stand-up, so I am glad we lucked out with good comics
that week.

My children liked the beverage options at the buffet. Some cruise lines
offer coffee and tea, with other cruise lines adding lemonade. They
liked the hot chocolate, fruit punch, lemonade and apple juice.

In the dining room, you feel like you are in a swirl of pink lights.
The other Spirit class ships have better decor in the dining rooms, you
may want to give one of them a try. I also enjoyed eating at Nick and
Nora's, I think Carnival offers the best for-pay restaurants of any of
the cruise lines.

The Marriot at the airport is convenient and I enjoyed their pool. If
you do not like their restaurant menus, there are a few restaurants in
the airport. It is a great place to stay in Tampa.

Enjoy your Baltics cruise on HAL. That is one cruise line I have not
tried, you will have to let us know how you enjoyed it.

Becca




D Ball wrote:
Our family of four ranging in ages 12 to 75 cruised on the Carnival Miracle
out of Tampa to the Western Caribbean from Sunday to Sunday, June 12-19,
2005. This was our 12th cruise, 1st on Carnival-we've now been on all of the
mainstream lines except HAL, which we will try in the Baltics next week!

In a nutshell, the cruise far exceeded expectations! We were most impressed
with Carnival's food and all-around exemplary customer service. We were
least impressed with the ship's "fictional icons" theme décor. I now
understand the love/hate Joe Farcus debate and thought the ship was
downright ugly, with the exception of two public spaces: Mad Hatter's
Lounge, which was appropriately whimsical, and Nick & Nora's specialty
restaurant, which was evocative of an era. We were solidly in the "eew, it's
awful" camp with regard to the nightmarish Bacchus dining room. WHAT were
they thinking?! But all in all, this was one of our favorite, most
satisfying cruise experiences.

For those who just want the bottom line, here's our summary "grades" of
Carnival's performance on the Miracle, YMMV:

Embarkation A
Cabins A/Stateroom Service B
Food A/Dining Service A
Entertainment B
Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences A
Disembarkation A

You may skip to the end if you just want to know what we did during our port
stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Belize and Cozumel. For those who are
already booked on a Miracle cruise or who might be interested in giving her
a try, here's the excruciatingly detailed blow-by-blow:

Embarkation:
The taxi ride from the Tampa airport to the pier takes about 15 minutes.
Last-minute shoppers will find a mall, Borders and plenty of liquor stores
en route. We made a quick on/off for a Sunday NY Times and a six-pack of the
sometimes-elusive-aboard Dr. Pepper (it's a Texas addiction). While DH and
the port red cap took care of our luggage, I went in search of a wheelchair
for my MIL. Within a minute of my request to the terminal "bouncer," a
Carnival employee (assistant waiter Putu) promptly appeared with a
wheelchair and insisted on staying with us to push my MIL through the entire
process to our cabin! What an impressive lead in start to many other
instances of great service.

It was a few minutes before noon when we joined the queue in the check-in
line. The seating area of checked-in pax was already overflowing, so I
guesstimate they started at 11:30a or earlier. Even though the stated
boarding time was 1:30p, right at noon, they began boarding in groups with
the instruction, "Cabins will not be ready until 1:30p. Please go to the
lido and enjoy lunch while you wait." The check-in line moved quickly, and
we were at the desk by 12:10p. Having completed our paperwork online, we
were good to go five minutes later.to sit with boarding group 17. The
check-in agent saw that we had a wheelchair user in our group and moved us
up to the first boarding group without prompting. We went through security,
took our Sail & Sign mug shots, bypassed the embarkation photo stop and
began walking the gangway when we heard a firm, "Stop." We turned to see the
drug dog officer holding her hand out in a "stop" sign to us and the bride
and groom behind us. The dog sniffed again, and the newlyweds-still dressed
in tux and a mini-skirt bridal gown-were led away. We saw them on board
later that day, and they didn't look happy. But they made it aboard, so it
was either a false positive or the authorities had mercy on the happy
couple.

While Celebrity's champagne greeting and white-gloved cabin escorts can't be
beat, a friendly group of staffers welcomed us aboard and gave us a ship's
map-we've never seen that done before, but it's such a logical thing to do!
A youth counselor was also on hand to meet our son and tell us when/where
the kids' program orientation would be held. I don't know if Putu was
confused or emboldened, but he ignored the "no cabins" rule and proudly led
us to our cabins, giving us a brief ship's tour along the way. We met our
cabin steward, who was still racing to ready all of his cabins, stowed our
hand luggage, tipped Putu for his helpful service and went up to the lido
for a buffet lunch at Horatio's. It was about 12:40p when we started
exploring the buffet stations. I recall seeing some of the boarding group 17
folks enter the buffet about 30 minutes later, so all in all, we felt
Carnival's embarkation was as efficient as possible considering the crowds
of early birds and the fact that they don't kick the prior cruisers off 'til
9:30a. Note, the buffet was something of a madhouse this one time because
folks couldn't go to their cabins and it was the sole open dining venue; but
the lines moved quickly, and the service was excellent. More on the buffet
operations in the food section!

Embarkation isn't complete without tending to all of those pesky "1st day"
chores. Like handing out ship maps, Carnival made that easy, too. Instead of
making us wait to read the Carnival Capers in our stateroom, the check-in
agent handed us a one-page flyer that spelled out the answers to a dozen or
more of those immediate questions, e.g., "What is the Soda Card?" and "When
and where can I request a change in my dinner seating time or table
assignment?" During the appointed time (1-3:30p), we went to the dining room
to check out our table assignment-it looked okay to try vs. standing in the
long-but-very-well-managed line for a change. We went to the spa and made my
MIL's appointment to get her hair and nails done the next day at sea for the
first formal night. We secured a reservation for our preferred night at Nick
& Nora's. And by the time we got all of that taken care of, we had to
muster. While we were stowing life preservers and counting luggage, the ship
sailed (4p), so we missed whatever sailaway hoopla there was, which didn't
last long, as things were pretty quiet when we scrambled out on deck to
enjoy a long, lazy departure out of the channel.

Cabins:
We booked cat 8D balcony GTY's and were assigned two 8G cabins on the
Verandah Deck (7171 and 7181) between the forward and central elevators on
the starboard side of the ship. The location was great for quick access to
the forward gym/spa above and show lounges below and okay for reaching the
pools, buffet and casino. It was a bit of a walk to reach the aft-located
dining room. The near amidships location would have been a stable one had
there been any movement, but we enjoyed a very smooth cruise. The deck
assignment was ideal from a noise standpoint because Deck 7 is sandwiched
between two passenger decks.

The cabin décor was muted pastels-blah, but a refreshing respite from the
"over-the-top" public spaces. The cabin size was somewhat larger than the
usual balcony cabin, but the area around the beds, whether made up as one or
two, seemed very tight, and in fact, the bedside tables were tiny and
scrunched between the bed and the adjacent wall or other bed. We thought the
beds were as comfortable as those on most ships, but that's a very
subjective matter. We didn't pull out the sofa bed, but it looked more ample
(thus taking up more cabin space) and sturdy than most-a plus for those
desiring to sleep additional guests. I think interior space felt cramped
also because of the bathroom size, which was definitely roomier than I
recall on other ships. The shower was curtained, but large enough that the
curtain didn't stick to you, and there was plenty of room to brush teeth and
shave without standing against the toilet or shower. Complimentary
toiletries included shampoo and liquid soap in the shower and a basket of
sample shampoo, conditioner and razors by the sink. Bathrobes were provided
in all cabins. There was plenty of storage, and the usual one electrical
outlet at the desk. The in-room safe was tricky-it works by sliding a credit
card through the slot (there's no charge to use it). The problem is, once
locked with that credit card, the safe can only be unlocked by using the
exact same credit card, which makes it difficult for cabin mates to share
access unless both are present. There wasn't an announcements speaker in the
room-unless you had the TV on and tuned to a cruise ship channel, you didn't
hear announcements. (Thinking about what I just wrote, I realize that can't
be correct-what if there was an emergency? There has to be some sort of
in-cabin announcement system, but thankfully, its use was not required
during our cruise.)

The balcony was small. On the deck maps, it looks like these are slightly
oversized balconies.I'd hate to see the others if that's the case! The
furniture consisted of one chair, one small table and one adjustable chair
without footrest that could recline, but wasn't a true chaise. Coupled with
the table-as-ottoman, it more-or-less served as a lounger. The half-wall to
the sea is glass for viewing. The side walls to adjacent cabins can be
locked down (with a tool) to assure privacy or opened up to create shared
balcony space. Unbeknownst to us, our cabin steward had failed to secure one
side wall, so it slammed open and shut with each roll of the ship throughout
the first night. The door from the cabin to the balcony is a real door
(glass), not a sliding door. This is the first time we've had a balcony door
like that-now I understand why some people to talk about bringing bungee
cords to hold open their door so they can sleep to the sounds of the waves
and enjoy the sea air. The cabin air conditioning turns off when the door is
left open.

Our first of several experiences with excellent customer service related to
the air conditioning. When we went to bed that first night, we noticed that
the fan kept blowing as if on "high," even though we had turned the dial
down to the lowest setting. The air flow was loud and windy to an annoying
degree. I'm sure I was tired and cranky-am I the only one who is a wreck
until the first travel day is over?!-but I couldn't get to sleep, and DH,
who is mechanically inclined, but couldn't figure out a solution, was tired
of hearing me toss and turn. So he called the front desk for help. They
explained that to maintain air circulation for health reasons, the fan would
blow constantly-there was no switch to turn it off or even adjust the amount
of air flow, and it appeared you could control only the temperature. But
they sent up an engineer, who promptly arrived-this had to be close to
midnight-and demonstrated that to stop the AC fan, you turned the thermostat
to maximum heat. It worked. The fan quieted down, and fortunately no
heated air emerged. The next morning, we awoke to find a personal (not
form) letter in our mail slot apologizing for the difficulty we had
experienced with the air conditioning system and imploring us to let them
know if we needed any further assistance with our accommodations during the
cruise. The "incident" was not a big deal to us, and their solution-oriented
handling of it on the spot was enough, but the letter was a nice touch.

Stateroom Service:
Our attendant did a competent, not remarkable, job. To his credit, he had a
sixth sense about our movements such that our cabin was always serviced
while we were out, but wasn't always attentive to ordinary requests, e.g.,
ice and towels, and details like making sure the balcony side walls are
locked or not, as per the client's wishes. Personally, I think the cruise
industry's move to auto-tipping has resulted in more "so-so" housekeeping
service than dining service, where there's an opportunity to develop those
personal relationships that inspire us to extend an additional, personal tip
over the pooled auto-tip. I know we always tipped our cabin stewards more
than the recommended amount when they worked for direct tips-but they seemed
to hustle then, too; now, we just leave the auto-tip in place and have yet
to receive service justifying more. I've never agreed with pre-tipping, but
I've about decided that next cruise, we should try extending a little green
"incentive" at the outset to see if that produces more attentive service.

Food, Glorious Food:
What issue is the subject of more hot discussion than cruise food?! I'll
confess, we went into this cruise expecting good food because so many others
had said such positive things about the Spirit-class food. Our verdict? The
food quality was as good or better than we've had on any other ship! Before
this cruise, we felt Princess dining room food and RCI buffet food were
tops-it could have been one of those "lemon" cruises, but our one Celebrity
dining experience, which we had anticipated would surpass all, was
inconsistent, with more lows than highs.

So, what was so great about the Miracle's food? The dining room breakfasts
and lunches were just average, but the evening meal always pleased. The food
was consistently of above-average quality in appearance, texture, freshness
and taste; the sauces, garnishes and side pairings were interesting, but not
distracting or overly ambitious; presentation on the plate was lovely; and
there was an appealing variety of menu selections every night. The heart
healthy and spa menus offered several attractive choices, and if you didn't
like anything, there was always an off-menu chicken breast or steak-filet of
a lesser quality than when a featured item, but far better than the
notorious RCI "ranch steak." I liked the fact that butter and coffee cream
were presented in service pieces vs. wrapped pats and plastic cups. The
daily ice cream flavor was always tempting! It wasn't the best dining room
experience we've had-Princess still holds that title-but we were very
satisfied with Carnival.

At Horatio's buffet on the Lido, the food was, again, of above-average
quality, and the staff kept the food line spotless. In addition to the usual
line of daily specials, there was always an Asian section, a featured
international cuisine of the day, a salad bar, fruits and desserts,
excellent pizza, a hot/cold sandwich deli, and a beverage service bar
featuring the usual plus a nice array of fruit juices. Staffers push
coffee/lemonade/tea carts through the seating area. Apparently, there is
some food, including pizza, available 24 hours! The key here is to walk
through all of the lines to check out your options-you will miss something
if you don't. And how could I forget the soft-serve ice cream bar?! In sum,
we rank the Miracle's buffet tied with Royal Caribbean's on the Voyager- and
Radiance-class ships, which feature great food and are a little less chaotic
in layout.

Our dinner at Nick and Nora's was on par with any upscale restaurant
experience and a steal at $30 per person (plus tip). The room is lovely, and
seating is placed around the perimeter of the ship so you can enjoy a nice
sunset view while you dine. A pianist and delightful vocalist performing
Gershwin, Porter and the like added to the supper club atmosphere. The table
was set with mixed Versace patterns of Rosenthal china. I had one of the
best French onion soups I've ever had-the beef broth base was very rich-and
the lobster and filet composing the "surf and turf" were excellent. Everyone
in our party was extremely satisfied with their dishes. In particular, there
is a chocolate dessert that comes in three parts that is to die for. Service
was attentive and professional. Nick and Nora's is without a doubt the best
specialty restaurant of any ship we've sailed to date. (Our five-course meal
at Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux's Olympic restaurant on the Millie last
summer was special; however, we thought there were several surprising
"misses" among the "hits." Of course, our reaction could reflect nothing
more than we don't get out enough to appreciate the latest in French
cuisine, LOL.)

More food.. There was the ubiquitous midnight buffet (we didn't make it).
There was a daytime chocoholic's buffet at Horatio's complete with chocolate
fountain for dipping fruits and baked goods-if you could stand to wait in
the long line for that treat! We enjoyed afternoon tea served in the Jeeves
wine bar-the classical music trio played, and it was such a delightful treat
vs. having tea in the dining room as we've done on other cruise ships. Room
service is limited to cold items. There are a couple of premium coffee
stations around the ship where you can buy Starbucks-like drinks, and at
one, you can buy premium desserts. Our son tried a chocolate cake there and
pronounced it well worth the $2 charge (it would have been a $6+ dessert
most places ashore). A poolside grill served late breakfasts and burgers,
hot dogs, etc. from midday.

Food Service:
In addition to the fact that the Bacchus dining room is so garish (truly a
bad dream, described by DH like "being inside a black light-illuminated
lung"), it features more limited seating options than we've experienced on
other lines. There are a ton of booth seats for 4, tables for 6 lining the
windows and a fair number of scattered tables for 2. Our original table
assignment in the main dining room was a booth. This means the server is
always reaching over the outside diners to serve the inside diners. It wasn't
pleasant, and we didn't care for our original waiter, either. So at the
conclusion of that first evening's meal, DH talked with the maitre d' and
arranged for us to be re-assigned to table 161 on the second floor for the
balance of the cruise. It was a table for six which they agreed to re-set
for our four and is nicely located (with some view out the window, and not
by a service station or other noisy or heavily trafficked area). There, we
had a fabulous waiter (Alister from South Africa) and an able assistant. In
many cruise reviews, I see people complain about their table assignments,
whether due to location, wait staff or tablemates. Our evening dinner
experience is a key to our overall enjoyment of the cruise, so we never
hesitate to ask for different arrangements if, after the first evening's
meal, we aren't completely happy. The maitre d' is used to working with
guests in this fashion, and we've never been disappointed.

Carnival requires more of its wait staff in terms of cheesy entertainment
than we've seen on any other line. Nightly, they'd sing and dance. It seems
a bit demeaning sometimes, but the waiters appear to be good sports about
the whole thing. DH even joined them dancing one evening, a first (and, no,
he hadn't been drinking!).

Entertainment:
For our tastes, Royal Caribbean has everyone beat on entertainment, but we
enjoyed the Miracle's in-house offerings well enough. Of the two production
shows, we thought the Beatles tribute, "Ticket to Ride," was best. The
singers/dancers do a commendable job, and the house band is terrific. The
main theatre is a nice venue. The seating is extremely comfortable (despite
a few bad sightlines and columns) with the widest aisles we've ever
seen--nice for passing other guests to reach your seat and for the cocktail
servers. Speaking of which, another act of commendable customer service
occurred one night in the theatre when I ordered an Irish coffee. The young
man explained coffee was not available at the theatre bar. In our experience
on other ships, the conversation would have ended there, but he then
insisted on walking to another venue to get the coffee drink for me. Of
course, when he returned with my Irish coffee, we gave him a cash tip above
the built-in 15%, but he never presented as if he was sniffing around for a
tip--he simply (and cheerfully) acted as though he was there to make sure I
had what I wanted. We experienced this "can do" approach to hospitality all
over the ship, all week long, which is a reflection of a management
philosophy I admire.

Around the ship, there are a number of talented musicians. The band that
plays in the primary dance venue, Frankie and Johnnie's, was as good a cover
band as we've seen and played a broad range of musical genres and decades.
They even appear as the Beatles in the Beatles Revue. The combo that played
classical music and the jazz/standards female singer "Sheila" were also
top-notch. We like piano bars, but the current piano player (James) lived up
to his unfortunate online reputation as being weak. The guy can't sing and
isn't much of a pianist either. The featured entertainers were the usual
comedians, juggler, hypnotist, female vocalist, etc. We love stand up, but
found the comedians disappointing. The late-night "adults only" comedian we
saw (there were several) delivered the bluest adult comedy we've ever heard
on a cruise ship-I'm not sure everyone would be prepared for it. The
hypnotist was embarrassingly racist in his comments, which we noted on our
comment card. Should the talent be saying to the blacks in the audience,
"Smile so I can see you?" And that wasn't the only remark of that ilk he
made-his patter hit us wrong.

The CD is Mark Hawkins, who is a pleasant, quirky fellow. He is competent
and very generous in allowing Asst. CD "Karl with a K" to upstage him. Karl
is a funny Brit who also sings and is very entertaining. He is clearly being
groomed for his own CD post. We had a lot of fun with several members of the
cruise staff at various trivia and other games. Carnival has some activity
going almost all of the time (and into the wee hours of the morning!).
Karaoke is apparently very popular and favorite performers compete in an
American Idol-type show called "Carnival Legends" that is the featured show
in the main theatre one night.

Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences:
The gym is large and well-equipped. We never had to wait to use the machines
or weights. There are free and paid classes daily. We loved the fact that
the wet steam and dry sauna rooms were free. Great locker room showers!
There are two main pool areas plus an "adults only" aft pool and the
children's pool with slide-I always sat around the central pool with the
band and was able to find a shaded lounger in spite of lots of chair
hogging. Carnival requires you to bring pool towels down from your cabin. We
played only slots in the casino this cruise, so can't comment on the
dealers/table games. Others have commented on the smoky conditions of the
casino and some music venues--we are non-smokers who would be bothered by
excessive smoke, and fortunately, we didn't have any problems with smoke
anywhere. Although you could always order a cocktail if you wanted one,
there were no pushy liquor sales-not around the pool, not during dinner, not
before shows. The captain (Roberto Garibbo) gave a late morning report from
the bridge each day, but was otherwise out-of-sight (except, presumably, for
the usual captain's cocktail reception, which we didn't attend). I had
expected lots of announcements, but they weren't excessive and were fairly
limited to the CD touting activities. The library was more limited than
we've ever seen--BYOBooks! We played one bingo game, saw one movie, never
used the Internet café (a first for us!), never do the art auction or inches
of gold sales, bought our usual Christmas ornament and a $10 bottle of aloe
gel that goes for $2.67 in your local discount retailer, and bought several
photos at the going rate of $20. We thought Carnival's photo set-up was
superior to others-they offer many different backdrops throughout the
cruise, from formal to casual, and even a station where you don "old timey"
clothes. A number of the shots were taken with a "soft lens," making those
creeping wrinkles disappear, and, of course, prompting me to buy more pix!
Our son didn't do much in the children's program this time, but he had
nothing but positive things to say about the facilities/counselors. The pax
demographics for this early summer cruise was a nice mix of older and
younger couples and families. Most folks dressed up for formal night (the
first was Monday night at sea, the second was Thursday night after Belize),
although there were fewer tuxes than we've seen on other lines. Most folks
also dressed in appropriate "resort casual" the other nights. We didn't see
much in the way of inappropriate dress or behavior-no wild kids or boorish
adults! Well, except for "Tony," who came to formal night halfway through
dinner dressed in a tee shirt and shorts and got into a pretty noisy quarrel
with his wife. I don't understand why they let him in dressed that way as
shorts are supposed to be off limits in the dining room for dinner anytime,
but on formal night??!! It was most definitely a fun-loving group, and lots
of folks must have taken advantage of the partying-into-the-wee hours
opportunities offered, as it was surprisingly quiet around the ship in the
mornings.

Disembarkation:
We arrived on time in Tampa-this port is frequently fogged in, so it is wise
not to make early flight/travel arrangements. We had put our luggage out the
night before (by midnight). Carnival allows you to eat breakfast in the
dining room or buffet from 7a-9a and then remain in your cabin until you
choose to disembark (no boarding groups)-how civilized! When we left the
ship at the final time of 9:30p, the lines had fairly cleared, and we were
able to quickly retrieve our luggage and exit to catch a waiting Alamo
shuttle to our rental car.

We stayed over a night to see family in the area and can highly recommend
the airport Marriott for pre- and post-cruise stays (we won it on a
Priceline bid, but it was so perfect for this purpose, I'd book it directly
next time). It's a clean, well-managed property with the usual amenities
plus pool and small business center, but the neatest thing about this
airport hotel is that the lobby opens up into the airport terminal. When you
are ready to board your plane, the bellman will take your luggage to the
check-in counter for you! They also provided wheelchair transfer, which made
things so easy for my MIL. I failed to ask if they provided the same bell
service on arrival, but I'm betting you could pre-arrange to call the front
desk when your plane arrives and ask a bellman to meet you at baggage claim
(with a wheelchair, if needed).

The End! We had a great week on the Miracle and will consider Carnival in
our future cruise plans. I have a full set of the daily Carnival Capers, the
Nick and Nora's menu and a list of the spa/gym "seminar and fitness" classes
and prices-if anyone has questions, wants copies, etc., feel free to contact
me.

Here's the run down on our port day activities. The Miracle will make the
ports in the order listed until sometime in October, when it will return to
a prior schedule that puts the ship in Cozumel on Thursday and Belize on
Friday.

Grand Cayman (Tuesday) - Rum Point Beach - We had "done the stingrays" on a
prior visit, so this time, we rented a car and drove about 45 minutes to the
other side of the island to hang out at the beach club at Rum Point. Wow!
This is one drop dead gorgeous beach and delightful ocean swim area, a true
tropical paradise. There are complimentary loungers (some with canvas
awnings), hammocks, clean restrooms/showers, a water sports rental operation
and a restaurant. We practically had the place to ourselves. We snorkeled
just because we couldn't resist it--not much sea life, no coral or
vegetation; the shallow ocean bottom was pristine. We read, snoozed, and
enjoyed some fresh juice drinks. My MIL joined us for this outing, and she
was able to walk the short distance from the parking lot to a lounge chair
without difficulty. Folks in wheelchairs could use the boardwalks and hope
for a shaded spot outdoors or at least set up camp in the delightful
open-air restaurant. I could gush all day and not do Rum Point justice. It's
definitely worth the drive. Much of 7-Mile Beach was rendered nearly
treeless by Hurricane Ivan, but Rum Point's trees were left intact, and we
heard the beach itself was actually enlarged by the storm. In any event,
it's one of the prettiest spots we've visited anywhere. Just when I thought
I couldn't bear to do another Western Caribbean itinerary, I discovered a
reason to make sure we go again! Here is a Rum Point thread with links to
photos and detailed info about getting the
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...ight=Rum+Point

Costa Maya (Wednesday) - Tequila Beach - The tourist complex right at the
pier is very Americanized, but pretty darned nice with a large pool
featuring swim-up bar, a sports pool, several restaurants and bars, shops,
Internet station (reasonable price), and lots of activities. The beach entry
to the ocean here is naturally rough and not easy on the feet--if you want
to play in the surf, you need to hop on the $3 bus to find a sandy beach
entry in the "authentic" old fishing village of Majahual many cruisers rave
about. We can't chime in. It really wasn't fair to Majahual that we visited
the day after we'd discovered the sugar sand and turquoise waters at Rum
Point, but it looked pretty sad. In their rush to cater to cruise tourists,
the locals have fairly succeeded in destroying the coastline's natural
beauty, and there's not much authentic about this place anymore. We walked
the entire strip in search of a beachfront restaurant with shaded
loungers...few such animals existed, and all of those were ocupado. So we
walked the annoyingly aggressive vendor gauntlet back to the first bus stop,
Tequila Beach, which turned out to be the location of Carnival's "beach
break" excursion. It was okay...the beach attendant dug out a place for our
molded beach "scoops" under a palapa, we read, swam, snorkeled (nothing too
exciting here, either) and enjoyed some cold drinks, and we got a
surprisingly decent full-body massage for $20. We took the $2 taxi back to
the pier and arrived just in time to see the traditional music and dance
performance in the amphitheatre at the center of the complex. Next time,
we'll just walk to the end of the pier and stick with the "for the gringos"
experience.

Belize (Thursday) - Carnival-sponsored snorkeling and stingray/shark alley
combo - We originally booked a power snorkeling excursion because our son
wanted to give the propelled snorkel a try. Made the reservation online in
advance of the cruise, and once on board, the tix were delivered to our
staterooms. We showed up at the appointed time and lounge and waited.and
waited.and waited. DH asked the man who came to greet the crowd going on
the stingray and shark trip, and he said, "That tour was cancelled." Wouldn't
it have been nice if someone had made an announcement, called the room or
circulated a note? We had to run to the shore excursions desk-it was
closed. A very helpful assistant purser confirmed our tour had been canceled
without notice and handled the refund, getting us tix on the other one. She
ran along with us to the tender station where the excursion boat was waiting
to make sure we got on. A great fix by this young lady on the purser's staff
to a big glitch by the excursions staff (who made it right financially, to
their credit). It's a long (45 minutes?) boat ride out to the first reef
snorkel stop. The coral and fish were only so-so. I don't think this was one
of the primo dive/snorkeling spots for which Belize is known...it was just a
convenient place for them to stop on the way to the main attraction. After
about 30 minutes in the water, we moved on to the sand flats to see the rays
and sharks. There are far fewer rays here than in Grand Cayman, and we only
saw two sharks. But they gave us a good 45 minutes in the water here, so we
snorkeled away from the boat crowds and saw some interesting stuff. The boat
trip back to the Miracle didn't seem so long because they got out the rum
punch, cranked up the tunes and passed shots of their local moonshine (it
could strip paint). We had a fun afternoon, but I can't recommend this
excursion enthusiastically.

Cozumel (Friday) - Paradise Beach - We can add to the raves you'll read
everywhere about this place. http://paradise-beach-cozumel.net/ This was a
fun place to end our week of beach stops, and as we've been to Cozumel
several times, it was good to try something new. My MIL joined us for this
one. The four of us cabbed from the Punta Langosta pier (the cruise ship
pier closest to downtown) for $12. You can sit on the beach under big
umbrellas and enjoy all of the sparkling clean amenities for free, but for
an $8 wristband, our son enjoyed unlimited use of the floating trampoline
and climbing iceberg, snorkeling equipment, kayaks, and floating mats. There
are jet skis, parasailing, massages...just about anything you can think of.
The setting is attractive, the staffers are friendly and go the extra mile
in customer service, and we loved the chicken nachos and fresh pineapple
juice drinks. The highlight of the day was our Snuba adventure. We've been
talking about taking a SCUBA class, so this was a great opportunity to see
how we liked the concept. We saw some beautiful fish, coral, sea anemone,
sting rays, etc. It was soooooo cooooool! We are definitely hooked and will
go forward with SCUBA-certification, but Snuba is a lot of fun all by itself
and a perfect activity for those who love snorkeling and want just a little
more! It cost $45 per person at Paradise Beach. If you are interested in the
details, here's my post:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...ighlight=snuba

The Miracle stays in Cozumel until 11p. It is easy to get on/off the ship
here. After dinner, we went out for an evening stroll through the old town.
Note that the Miracle doesn't always dock at this pier-sometimes it berths
at Puerta Maya, which is cruise ship pier farthest from town.

Happy travels to all.

Diana Ball
Near Houston, TX

Wow. Well-written review, better than most "professional" reviews.
Easy-to-read narrative. Very impressive review.

Thanks.

Ben S.

D Ball wrote:
Our family of four ranging in ages 12 to 75 cruised on the Carnival Miracle
out of Tampa to the Western Caribbean from Sunday to Sunday, June 12-19,
2005. This was our 12th cruise, 1st on Carnival-we've now been on all of the
mainstream lines except HAL, which we will try in the Baltics next week!

In a nutshell, the cruise far exceeded expectations! We were most impressed
with Carnival's food and all-around exemplary customer service. We were
least impressed with the ship's "fictional icons" theme décor. I now
understand the love/hate Joe Farcus debate and thought the ship was
downright ugly, with the exception of two public spaces: Mad Hatter's
Lounge, which was appropriately whimsical, and Nick & Nora's specialty
restaurant, which was evocative of an era. We were solidly in the "eew, it's
awful" camp with regard to the nightmarish Bacchus dining room. WHAT were
they thinking?! But all in all, this was one of our favorite, most
satisfying cruise experiences.

For those who just want the bottom line, here's our summary "grades" of
Carnival's performance on the Miracle, YMMV:

Embarkation A
Cabins A/Stateroom Service B
Food A/Dining Service A
Entertainment B
Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences A
Disembarkation A

You may skip to the end if you just want to know what we did during our port
stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Belize and Cozumel. For those who are
already booked on a Miracle cruise or who might be interested in giving her
a try, here's the excruciatingly detailed blow-by-blow:

Embarkation:
The taxi ride from the Tampa airport to the pier takes about 15 minutes.
Last-minute shoppers will find a mall, Borders and plenty of liquor stores
en route. We made a quick on/off for a Sunday NY Times and a six-pack of the
sometimes-elusive-aboard Dr. Pepper (it's a Texas addiction). While DH and
the port red cap took care of our luggage, I went in search of a wheelchair
for my MIL. Within a minute of my request to the terminal "bouncer," a
Carnival employee (assistant waiter Putu) promptly appeared with a
wheelchair and insisted on staying with us to push my MIL through the entire
process to our cabin! What an impressive lead in start to many other
instances of great service.

It was a few minutes before noon when we joined the queue in the check-in
line. The seating area of checked-in pax was already overflowing, so I
guesstimate they started at 11:30a or earlier. Even though the stated
boarding time was 1:30p, right at noon, they began boarding in groups with
the instruction, "Cabins will not be ready until 1:30p. Please go to the
lido and enjoy lunch while you wait." The check-in line moved quickly, and
we were at the desk by 12:10p. Having completed our paperwork online, we
were good to go five minutes later.to sit with boarding group 17. The
check-in agent saw that we had a wheelchair user in our group and moved us
up to the first boarding group without prompting. We went through security,
took our Sail & Sign mug shots, bypassed the embarkation photo stop and
began walking the gangway when we heard a firm, "Stop." We turned to see the
drug dog officer holding her hand out in a "stop" sign to us and the bride
and groom behind us. The dog sniffed again, and the newlyweds-still dressed
in tux and a mini-skirt bridal gown-were led away. We saw them on board
later that day, and they didn't look happy. But they made it aboard, so it
was either a false positive or the authorities had mercy on the happy
couple.

While Celebrity's champagne greeting and white-gloved cabin escorts can't be
beat, a friendly group of staffers welcomed us aboard and gave us a ship's
map-we've never seen that done before, but it's such a logical thing to do!
A youth counselor was also on hand to meet our son and tell us when/where
the kids' program orientation would be held. I don't know if Putu was
confused or emboldened, but he ignored the "no cabins" rule and proudly led
us to our cabins, giving us a brief ship's tour along the way. We met our
cabin steward, who was still racing to ready all of his cabins, stowed our
hand luggage, tipped Putu for his helpful service and went up to the lido
for a buffet lunch at Horatio's. It was about 12:40p when we started
exploring the buffet stations. I recall seeing some of the boarding group 17
folks enter the buffet about 30 minutes later, so all in all, we felt
Carnival's embarkation was as efficient as possible considering the crowds
of early birds and the fact that they don't kick the prior cruisers off 'til
9:30a. Note, the buffet was something of a madhouse this one time because
folks couldn't go to their cabins and it was the sole open dining venue; but
the lines moved quickly, and the service was excellent. More on the buffet
operations in the food section!

Embarkation isn't complete without tending to all of those pesky "1st day"
chores. Like handing out ship maps, Carnival made that easy, too. Instead of
making us wait to read the Carnival Capers in our stateroom, the check-in
agent handed us a one-page flyer that spelled out the answers to a dozen or
more of those immediate questions, e.g., "What is the Soda Card?" and "When
and where can I request a change in my dinner seating time or table
assignment?" During the appointed time (1-3:30p), we went to the dining room
to check out our table assignment-it looked okay to try vs. standing in the
long-but-very-well-managed line for a change. We went to the spa and made my
MIL's appointment to get her hair and nails done the next day at sea for the
first formal night. We secured a reservation for our preferred night at Nick
& Nora's. And by the time we got all of that taken care of, we had to
muster. While we were stowing life preservers and counting luggage, the ship
sailed (4p), so we missed whatever sailaway hoopla there was, which didn't
last long, as things were pretty quiet when we scrambled out on deck to
enjoy a long, lazy departure out of the channel.

Cabins:
We booked cat 8D balcony GTY's and were assigned two 8G cabins on the
Verandah Deck (7171 and 7181) between the forward and central elevators on
the starboard side of the ship. The location was great for quick access to
the forward gym/spa above and show lounges below and okay for reaching the
pools, buffet and casino. It was a bit of a walk to reach the aft-located
dining room. The near amidships location would have been a stable one had
there been any movement, but we enjoyed a very smooth cruise. The deck
assignment was ideal from a noise standpoint because Deck 7 is sandwiched
between two passenger decks.

The cabin décor was muted pastels-blah, but a refreshing respite from the
"over-the-top" public spaces. The cabin size was somewhat larger than the
usual balcony cabin, but the area around the beds, whether made up as one or
two, seemed very tight, and in fact, the bedside tables were tiny and
scrunched between the bed and the adjacent wall or other bed. We thought the
beds were as comfortable as those on most ships, but that's a very
subjective matter. We didn't pull out the sofa bed, but it looked more ample
(thus taking up more cabin space) and sturdy than most-a plus for those
desiring to sleep additional guests. I think interior space felt cramped
also because of the bathroom size, which was definitely roomier than I
recall on other ships. The shower was curtained, but large enough that the
curtain didn't stick to you, and there was plenty of room to brush teeth and
shave without standing against the toilet or shower. Complimentary
toiletries included shampoo and liquid soap in the shower and a basket of
sample shampoo, conditioner and razors by the sink. Bathrobes were provided
in all cabins. There was plenty of storage, and the usual one electrical
outlet at the desk. The in-room safe was tricky-it works by sliding a credit
card through the slot (there's no charge to use it). The problem is, once
locked with that credit card, the safe can only be unlocked by using the
exact same credit card, which makes it difficult for cabin mates to share
access unless both are present. There wasn't an announcements speaker in the
room-unless you had the TV on and tuned to a cruise ship channel, you didn't
hear announcements. (Thinking about what I just wrote, I realize that can't
be correct-what if there was an emergency? There has to be some sort of
in-cabin announcement system, but thankfully, its use was not required
during our cruise.)

The balcony was small. On the deck maps, it looks like these are slightly
oversized balconies.I'd hate to see the others if that's the case! The
furniture consisted of one chair, one small table and one adjustable chair
without footrest that could recline, but wasn't a true chaise. Coupled with
the table-as-ottoman, it more-or-less served as a lounger. The half-wall to
the sea is glass for viewing. The side walls to adjacent cabins can be
locked down (with a tool) to assure privacy or opened up to create shared
balcony space. Unbeknownst to us, our cabin steward had failed to secure one
side wall, so it slammed open and shut with each roll of the ship throughout
the first night. The door from the cabin to the balcony is a real door
(glass), not a sliding door. This is the first time we've had a balcony door
like that-now I understand why some people to talk about bringing bungee
cords to hold open their door so they can sleep to the sounds of the waves
and enjoy the sea air. The cabin air conditioning turns off when the door is
left open.

Our first of several experiences with excellent customer service related to
the air conditioning. When we went to bed that first night, we noticed that
the fan kept blowing as if on "high," even though we had turned the dial
down to the lowest setting. The air flow was loud and windy to an annoying
degree. I'm sure I was tired and cranky-am I the only one who is a wreck
until the first travel day is over?!-but I couldn't get to sleep, and DH,
who is mechanically inclined, but couldn't figure out a solution, was tired
of hearing me toss and turn. So he called the front desk for help. They
explained that to maintain air circulation for health reasons, the fan would
blow constantly-there was no switch to turn it off or even adjust the amount
of air flow, and it appeared you could control only the temperature. But
they sent up an engineer, who promptly arrived-this had to be close to
midnight-and demonstrated that to stop the AC fan, you turned the thermostat
to maximum heat. It worked. The fan quieted down, and fortunately no
heated air emerged. The next morning, we awoke to find a personal (not
form) letter in our mail slot apologizing for the difficulty we had
experienced with the air conditioning system and imploring us to let them
know if we needed any further assistance with our accommodations during the
cruise. The "incident" was not a big deal to us, and their solution-oriented
handling of it on the spot was enough, but the letter was a nice touch.

Stateroom Service:
Our attendant did a competent, not remarkable, job. To his credit, he had a
sixth sense about our movements such that our cabin was always serviced
while we were out, but wasn't always attentive to ordinary requests, e.g.,
ice and towels, and details like making sure the balcony side walls are
locked or not, as per the client's wishes. Personally, I think the cruise
industry's move to auto-tipping has resulted in more "so-so" housekeeping
service than dining service, where there's an opportunity to develop those
personal relationships that inspire us to extend an additional, personal tip
over the pooled auto-tip. I know we always tipped our cabin stewards more
than the recommended amount when they worked for direct tips-but they seemed
to hustle then, too; now, we just leave the auto-tip in place and have yet
to receive service justifying more. I've never agreed with pre-tipping, but
I've about decided that next cruise, we should try extending a little green
"incentive" at the outset to see if that produces more attentive service.

Food, Glorious Food:
What issue is the subject of more hot discussion than cruise food?! I'll
confess, we went into this cruise expecting good food because so many others
had said such positive things about the Spirit-class food. Our verdict? The
food quality was as good or better than we've had on any other ship! Before
this cruise, we felt Princess dining room food and RCI buffet food were
tops-it could have been one of those "lemon" cruises, but our one Celebrity
dining experience, which we had anticipated would surpass all, was
inconsistent, with more lows than highs.

So, what was so great about the Miracle's food? The dining room breakfasts
and lunches were just average, but the evening meal always pleased. The food
was consistently of above-average quality in appearance, texture, freshness
and taste; the sauces, garnishes and side pairings were interesting, but not
distracting or overly ambitious; presentation on the plate was lovely; and
there was an appealing variety of menu selections every night. The heart
healthy and spa menus offered several attractive choices, and if you didn't
like anything, there was always an off-menu chicken breast or steak-filet of
a lesser quality than when a featured item, but far better than the
notorious RCI "ranch steak." I liked the fact that butter and coffee cream
were presented in service pieces vs. wrapped pats and plastic cups. The
daily ice cream flavor was always tempting! It wasn't the best dining room
experience we've had-Princess still holds that title-but we were very
satisfied with Carnival.

At Horatio's buffet on the Lido, the food was, again, of above-average
quality, and the staff kept the food line spotless. In addition to the usual
line of daily specials, there was always an Asian section, a featured
international cuisine of the day, a salad bar, fruits and desserts,
excellent pizza, a hot/cold sandwich deli, and a beverage service bar
featuring the usual plus a nice array of fruit juices. Staffers push
coffee/lemonade/tea carts through the seating area. Apparently, there is
some food, including pizza, available 24 hours! The key here is to walk
through all of the lines to check out your options-you will miss something
if you don't. And how could I forget the soft-serve ice cream bar?! In sum,
we rank the Miracle's buffet tied with Royal Caribbean's on the Voyager- and
Radiance-class ships, which feature great food and are a little less chaotic
in layout.

Our dinner at Nick and Nora's was on par with any upscale restaurant
experience and a steal at $30 per person (plus tip). The room is lovely, and
seating is placed around the perimeter of the ship so you can enjoy a nice
sunset view while you dine. A pianist and delightful vocalist performing
Gershwin, Porter and the like added to the supper club atmosphere. The table
was set with mixed Versace patterns of Rosenthal china. I had one of the
best French onion soups I've ever had-the beef broth base was very rich-and
the lobster and filet composing the "surf and turf" were excellent. Everyone
in our party was extremely satisfied with their dishes. In particular, there
is a chocolate dessert that comes in three parts that is to die for. Service
was attentive and professional. Nick and Nora's is without a doubt the best
specialty restaurant of any ship we've sailed to date. (Our five-course meal
at Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux's Olympic restaurant on the Millie last
summer was special; however, we thought there were several surprising
"misses" among the "hits." Of course, our reaction could reflect nothing
more than we don't get out enough to appreciate the latest in French
cuisine, LOL.)

More food.. There was the ubiquitous midnight buffet (we didn't make it).
There was a daytime chocoholic's buffet at Horatio's complete with chocolate
fountain for dipping fruits and baked goods-if you could stand to wait in
the long line for that treat! We enjoyed afternoon tea served in the Jeeves
wine bar-the classical music trio played, and it was such a delightful treat
vs. having tea in the dining room as we've done on other cruise ships. Room
service is limited to cold items. There are a couple of premium coffee
stations around the ship where you can buy Starbucks-like drinks, and at
one, you can buy premium desserts. Our son tried a chocolate cake there and
pronounced it well worth the $2 charge (it would have been a $6+ dessert
most places ashore). A poolside grill served late breakfasts and burgers,
hot dogs, etc. from midday.

Food Service:
In addition to the fact that the Bacchus dining room is so garish (truly a
bad dream, described by DH like "being inside a black light-illuminated
lung"), it features more limited seating options than we've experienced on
other lines. There are a ton of booth seats for 4, tables for 6 lining the
windows and a fair number of scattered tables for 2. Our original table
assignment in the main dining room was a booth. This means the server is
always reaching over the outside diners to serve the inside diners. It wasn't
pleasant, and we didn't care for our original waiter, either. So at the
conclusion of that first evening's meal, DH talked with the maitre d' and
arranged for us to be re-assigned to table 161 on the second floor for the
balance of the cruise. It was a table for six which they agreed to re-set
for our four and is nicely located (with some view out the window, and not
by a service station or other noisy or heavily trafficked area). There, we
had a fabulous waiter (Alister from South Africa) and an able assistant. In
many cruise reviews, I see people complain about their table assignments,
whether due to location, wait staff or tablemates. Our evening dinner
experience is a key to our overall enjoyment of the cruise, so we never
hesitate to ask for different arrangements if, after the first evening's
meal, we aren't completely happy. The maitre d' is used to working with
guests in this fashion, and we've never been disappointed.

Carnival requires more of its wait staff in terms of cheesy entertainment
than we've seen on any other line. Nightly, they'd sing and dance. It seems
a bit demeaning sometimes, but the waiters appear to be good sports about
the whole thing. DH even joined them dancing one evening, a first (and, no,
he hadn't been drinking!).

Entertainment:
For our tastes, Royal Caribbean has everyone beat on entertainment, but we
enjoyed the Miracle's in-house offerings well enough. Of the two production
shows, we thought the Beatles tribute, "Ticket to Ride," was best. The
singers/dancers do a commendable job, and the house band is terrific. The
main theatre is a nice venue. The seating is extremely comfortable (despite
a few bad sightlines and columns) with the widest aisles we've ever
seen--nice for passing other guests to reach your seat and for the cocktail
servers. Speaking of which, another act of commendable customer service
occurred one night in the theatre when I ordered an Irish coffee. The young
man explained coffee was not available at the theatre bar. In our experience
on other ships, the conversation would have ended there, but he then
insisted on walking to another venue to get the coffee drink for me. Of
course, when he returned with my Irish coffee, we gave him a cash tip above
the built-in 15%, but he never presented as if he was sniffing around for a
tip--he simply (and cheerfully) acted as though he was there to make sure I
had what I wanted. We experienced this "can do" approach to hospitality all
over the ship, all week long, which is a reflection of a management
philosophy I admire.

Around the ship, there are a number of talented musicians. The band that
plays in the primary dance venue, Frankie and Johnnie's, was as good a cover
band as we've seen and played a broad range of musical genres and decades.
They even appear as the Beatles in the Beatles Revue. The combo that played
classical music and the jazz/standards female singer "Sheila" were also
top-notch. We like piano bars, but the current piano player (James) lived up
to his unfortunate online reputation as being weak. The guy can't sing and
isn't much of a pianist either. The featured entertainers were the usual
comedians, juggler, hypnotist, female vocalist, etc. We love stand up, but
found the comedians disappointing. The late-night "adults only" comedian we
saw (there were several) delivered the bluest adult comedy we've ever heard
on a cruise ship-I'm not sure everyone would be prepared for it. The
hypnotist was embarrassingly racist in his comments, which we noted on our
comment card. Should the talent be saying to the blacks in the audience,
"Smile so I can see you?" And that wasn't the only remark of that ilk he
made-his patter hit us wrong.

The CD is Mark Hawkins, who is a pleasant, quirky fellow. He is competent
and very generous in allowing Asst. CD "Karl with a K" to upstage him. Karl
is a funny Brit who also sings and is very entertaining. He is clearly being
groomed for his own CD post. We had a lot of fun with several members of the
cruise staff at various trivia and other games. Carnival has some activity
going almost all of the time (and into the wee hours of the morning!).
Karaoke is apparently very popular and favorite performers compete in an
American Idol-type show called "Carnival Legends" that is the featured show
in the main theatre one night.

Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences:
The gym is large and well-equipped. We never had to wait to use the machines
or weights. There are free and paid classes daily. We loved the fact that
the wet steam and dry sauna rooms were free. Great locker room showers!
There are two main pool areas plus an "adults only" aft pool and the
children's pool with slide-I always sat around the central pool with the
band and was able to find a shaded lounger in spite of lots of chair
hogging. Carnival requires you to bring pool towels down from your cabin. We
played only slots in the casino this cruise, so can't comment on the
dealers/table games. Others have commented on the smoky conditions of the
casino and some music venues--we are non-smokers who would be bothered by
excessive smoke, and fortunately, we didn't have any problems with smoke
anywhere. Although you could always order a cocktail if you wanted one,
there were no pushy liquor sales-not around the pool, not during dinner, not
before shows. The captain (Roberto Garibbo) gave a late morning report from
the bridge each day, but was otherwise out-of-sight (except, presumably, for
the usual captain's cocktail reception, which we didn't attend). I had
expected lots of announcements, but they weren't excessive and were fairly
limited to the CD touting activities. The library was more limited than
we've ever seen--BYOBooks! We played one bingo game, saw one movie, never
used the Internet café (a first for us!), never do the art auction or inches
of gold sales, bought our usual Christmas ornament and a $10 bottle of aloe
gel that goes for $2.67 in your local discount retailer, and bought several
photos at the going rate of $20. We thought Carnival's photo set-up was
superior to others-they offer many different backdrops throughout the
cruise, from formal to casual, and even a station where you don "old timey"
clothes. A number of the shots were taken with a "soft lens," making those
creeping wrinkles disappear, and, of course, prompting me to buy more pix!
Our son didn't do much in the children's program this time, but he had
nothing but positive things to say about the facilities/counselors. The pax
demographics for this early summer cruise was a nice mix of older and
younger couples and families. Most folks dressed up for formal night (the
first was Monday night at sea, the second was Thursday night after Belize),
although there were fewer tuxes than we've seen on other lines. Most folks
also dressed in appropriate "resort casual" the other nights. We didn't see
much in the way of inappropriate dress or behavior-no wild kids or boorish
adults! Well, except for "Tony," who came to formal night halfway through
dinner dressed in a tee shirt and shorts and got into a pretty noisy quarrel
with his wife. I don't understand why they let him in dressed that way as
shorts are supposed to be off limits in the dining room for dinner anytime,
but on formal night??!! It was most definitely a fun-loving group, and lots
of folks must have taken advantage of the partying-into-the-wee hours
opportunities offered, as it was surprisingly quiet around the ship in the
mornings.

Disembarkation:
We arrived on time in Tampa-this port is frequently fogged in, so it is wise
not to make early flight/travel arrangements. We had put our luggage out the
night before (by midnight). Carnival allows you to eat breakfast in the
dining room or buffet from 7a-9a and then remain in your cabin until you
choose to disembark (no boarding groups)-how civilized! When we left the
ship at the final time of 9:30p, the lines had fairly cleared, and we were
able to quickly retrieve our luggage and exit to catch a waiting Alamo
shuttle to our rental car.

We stayed over a night to see family in the area and can highly recommend
the airport Marriott for pre- and post-cruise stays (we won it on a
Priceline bid, but it was so perfect for this purpose, I'd book it directly
next time). It's a clean, well-managed property with the usual amenities
plus pool and small business center, but the neatest thing about this
airport hotel is that the lobby opens up into the airport terminal. When you
are ready to board your plane, the bellman will take your luggage to the
check-in counter for you! They also provided wheelchair transfer, which made
things so easy for my MIL. I failed to ask if they provided the same bell
service on arrival, but I'm betting you could pre-arrange to call the front
desk when your plane arrives and ask a bellman to meet you at baggage claim
(with a wheelchair, if needed).

The End! We had a great week on the Miracle and will consider Carnival in
our future cruise plans. I have a full set of the daily Carnival Capers, the
Nick and Nora's menu and a list of the spa/gym "seminar and fitness" classes
and prices-if anyone has questions, wants copies, etc., feel free to contact
me.

Here's the run down on our port day activities. The Miracle will make the
ports in the order listed until sometime in October, when it will return to
a prior schedule that puts the ship in Cozumel on Thursday and Belize on
Friday.

Grand Cayman (Tuesday) - Rum Point Beach - We had "done the stingrays" on a
prior visit, so this time, we rented a car and drove about 45 minutes to the
other side of the island to hang out at the beach club at Rum Point. Wow!
This is one drop dead gorgeous beach and delightful ocean swim area, a true
tropical paradise. There are complimentary loungers (some with canvas
awnings), hammocks, clean restrooms/showers, a water sports rental operation
and a restaurant. We practically had the place to ourselves. We snorkeled
just because we couldn't resist it--not much sea life, no coral or
vegetation; the shallow ocean bottom was pristine. We read, snoozed, and
enjoyed some fresh juice drinks. My MIL joined us for this outing, and she
was able to walk the short distance from the parking lot to a lounge chair
without difficulty. Folks in wheelchairs could use the boardwalks and hope
for a shaded spot outdoors or at least set up camp in the delightful
open-air restaurant. I could gush all day and not do Rum Point justice. It's
definitely worth the drive. Much of 7-Mile Beach was rendered nearly
treeless by Hurricane Ivan, but Rum Point's trees were left intact, and we
heard the beach itself was actually enlarged by the storm. In any event,
it's one of the prettiest spots we've visited anywhere. Just when I thought
I couldn't bear to do another Western Caribbean itinerary, I discovered a
reason to make sure we go again! Here is a Rum Point thread with links to
photos and detailed info about getting the
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...ight=Rum+Point

Costa Maya (Wednesday) - Tequila Beach - The tourist complex right at the
pier is very Americanized, but pretty darned nice with a large pool
featuring swim-up bar, a sports pool, several restaurants and bars, shops,
Internet station (reasonable price), and lots of activities. The beach entry
to the ocean here is naturally rough and not easy on the feet--if you want
to play in the surf, you need to hop on the $3 bus to find a sandy beach
entry in the "authentic" old fishing village of Majahual many cruisers rave
about. We can't chime in. It really wasn't fair to Majahual that we visited
the day after we'd discovered the sugar sand and turquoise waters at Rum
Point, but it looked pretty sad. In their rush to cater to cruise tourists,
the locals have fairly succeeded in destroying the coastline's natural
beauty, and there's not much authentic about this place anymore. We walked
the entire strip in search of a beachfront restaurant with shaded
loungers...few such animals existed, and all of those were ocupado. So we
walked the annoyingly aggressive vendor gauntlet back to the first bus stop,
Tequila Beach, which turned out to be the location of Carnival's "beach
break" excursion. It was okay...the beach attendant dug out a place for our
molded beach "scoops" under a palapa, we read, swam, snorkeled (nothing too
exciting here, either) and enjoyed some cold drinks, and we got a
surprisingly decent full-body massage for $20. We took the $2 taxi back to
the pier and arrived just in time to see the traditional music and dance
performance in the amphitheatre at the center of the complex. Next time,
we'll just walk to the end of the pier and stick with the "for the gringos"
experience.

Belize (Thursday) - Carnival-sponsored snorkeling and stingray/shark alley
combo - We originally booked a power snorkeling excursion because our son
wanted to give the propelled snorkel a try. Made the reservation online in
advance of the cruise, and once on board, the tix were delivered to our
staterooms. We showed up at the appointed time and lounge and waited.and
waited.and waited. DH asked the man who came to greet the crowd going on
the stingray and shark trip, and he said, "That tour was cancelled." Wouldn't
it have been nice if someone had made an announcement, called the room or
circulated a note? We had to run to the shore excursions desk-it was
closed. A very helpful assistant purser confirmed our tour had been canceled
without notice and handled the refund, getting us tix on the other one. She
ran along with us to the tender station where the excursion boat was waiting
to make sure we got on. A great fix by this young lady on the purser's staff
to a big glitch by the excursions staff (who made it right financially, to
their credit). It's a long (45 minutes?) boat ride out to the first reef
snorkel stop. The coral and fish were only so-so. I don't think this was one
of the primo dive/snorkeling spots for which Belize is known...it was just a
convenient place for them to stop on the way to the main attraction. After
about 30 minutes in the water, we moved on to the sand flats to see the rays
and sharks. There are far fewer rays here than in Grand Cayman, and we only
saw two sharks. But they gave us a good 45 minutes in the water here, so we
snorkeled away from the boat crowds and saw some interesting stuff. The boat
trip back to the Miracle didn't seem so long because they got out the rum
punch, cranked up the tunes and passed shots of their local moonshine (it
could strip paint). We had a fun afternoon, but I can't recommend this
excursion enthusiastically.

Cozumel (Friday) - Paradise Beach - We can add to the raves you'll read
everywhere about this place. http://paradise-beach-cozumel.net/ This was a
fun place to end our week of beach stops, and as we've been to Cozumel
several times, it was good to try something new. My MIL joined us for this
one. The four of us cabbed from the Punta Langosta pier (the cruise ship
pier closest to downtown) for $12. You can sit on the beach under big
umbrellas and enjoy all of the sparkling clean amenities for free, but for
an $8 wristband, our son enjoyed unlimited use of the floating trampoline
and climbing iceberg, snorkeling equipment, kayaks, and floating mats. There
are jet skis, parasailing, massages...just about anything you can think of.
The setting is attractive, the staffers are friendly and go the extra mile
in customer service, and we loved the chicken nachos and fresh pineapple
juice drinks. The highlight of the day was our Snuba adventure. We've been
talking about taking a SCUBA class, so this was a great opportunity to see
how we liked the concept. We saw some beautiful fish, coral, sea anemone,
sting rays, etc. It was soooooo cooooool! We are definitely hooked and will
go forward with SCUBA-certification, but Snuba is a lot of fun all by itself
and a perfect activity for those who love snorkeling and want just a little
more! It cost $45 per person at Paradise Beach. If you are interested in the
details, here's my post:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...ighlight=snuba

The Miracle stays in Cozumel until 11p. It is easy to get on/off the ship
here. After dinner, we went out for an evening stroll through the old town.
Note that the Miracle doesn't always dock at this pier-sometimes it berths
at Puerta Maya, which is cruise ship pier farthest from town.

Happy travels to all.

Diana Ball
Near Houston, TX

wonderful review diana. i'm so glad that you and the finally got to
experience on of my favorite class of ships.

howie

D Ball wrote:
Our family of four ranging in ages 12 to 75 cruised on the Carnival Miracle
out of Tampa to the Western Caribbean from Sunday to Sunday, June 12-19,
2005. This was our 12th cruise, 1st on Carnival-we've now been on all of the
mainstream lines except HAL, which we will try in the Baltics next week!

In a nutshell, the cruise far exceeded expectations! We were most impressed
with Carnival's food and all-around exemplary customer service. We were
least impressed with the ship's "fictional icons" theme décor. I now
understand the love/hate Joe Farcus debate and thought the ship was
downright ugly, with the exception of two public spaces: Mad Hatter's
Lounge, which was appropriately whimsical, and Nick & Nora's specialty
restaurant, which was evocative of an era. We were solidly in the "eew, it's
awful" camp with regard to the nightmarish Bacchus dining room. WHAT were
they thinking?! But all in all, this was one of our favorite, most
satisfying cruise experiences.

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 07:07:24 -0400, Howie of
wrote:

wonderful review diana. i'm so glad that you and the *finally* got to
experience on of my favorite class of ships.

howie

LOL Campus must be teaming with drugs this summer.
--
"The free society willingly provides the tools that the dictatorship needs
to control it later."