Miracle 12/4 - 12/11 Review

This 7 day sailing out of Tampa was our 7th on Carnival. Embarkation
was about the same as previous cruises. We arrived a little after noon
and were on board by 1:30. No complaints but no champagne greeting.
:-( We went straight to the Lido for lunch in Horatio's. Taking in the
ships decor along the way. Pretty nice, so far.
Lunch was terrific and in fact we had all our lunches in Horatio's. The
various buffets offered such variety and everything we tasted was
delicious. After lunch we took our carry-on bags to our cabin (8103)
and found it rather bland looking compared to the rest of the ship.
Plenty of room to move about. We had 2 twin beds with 2 night tables,
each with 3 drawers between them. The desk/vanity had it's own stool
and there were 4 more drawers here plus a narrow top drawer holding a
hair dryer. Big mirror and very good lighting. On the opposite wall
there was a built in refrigerator cabinet with a shelf above for the
safe and then another shelf for the TV. There were 2 upholstered arm
chairs and a tiny cocktail table that could be raised or lowered. The
bathroom was sparkling clean and adequate for our needs. I liked the 3
shelves on either side of the sink. There was the usual basket of
manufacturers samples.
There were 3 closet doors. The first for long items and it held the
complimentary bathrobes for our use. The middle door had two rods for
hanging shorter items and the 3rd door opened to more very wide shelves.
Our luggage fit nicely under the beds. All in all nice but nothing
unusual EXCEPT for the bedding and towels. You wouldn't find better in
a 5 star hotel. !00% Egyptian cotton, large towels. The mattress was
extremely thick and the comforter and pillows (2 on each bed) were
non-allergenic down filled. WOW. We slept like babies.
After lunch we went to the Lido deck to secure chairs for the
"Sail-away" party. Guess what? There was none and the band was very
disappointing. They may have been good but when I am doing a caribbean
cruise I expect some caribbean music. The daily paper "Capers" said the
drink of the day was 2.95 but after ordering it and signing the bill it
turned out to be 3.50. My husband questioned this but was brushed aside
with the comment it was an error in the paper. Poor PR to say the
least. Dining room service the 1st night was spotty and the food
quality only fair. both showed great improvement after this night. (?)
Day 2 had a little better music on the Lido. We toured the ship and
found it mostly very pretty. Not the typical, gaudy Carnival we saw in
the past. We found all of the crew to be very friendly and we had very
good service.
3rd day.....was Grand Cayman and I did the stingray tour and had lots of
fun. The show this night in the beautiful Phantom Lounge was very good.
The best juggler, (Manuel Zuniga) I have ever seen (and I don't usually
like them) and a very funny comic, Ronnie Bullard. Besides the
Captain's party on Monday night there was another party for past
passengers on Tuesday night. The drink servers must have been told to
serve plenty of drinks. Also lots of yummy tidbits.....real shrimp!
Day 4.......Wednesday was our day in Cozumel. Tender service wasn't
horrid. Carnival was using large ferry boats that held 500 people (they
tell me) and it was rather painless. Not so with the sights in Cozumel.
So much is gone......just gone. We took the taxi (6.00) to downtown and
found most of the stores either rebuilt or they had escaped the damage.
I bought some very pretty Opal earrings.......told my husband it was our
donation to the economy. :-) The people were upbeat and we saw lots
of construction going on.
Didn't eat on shore but made it back to Horatio's for a late lunch.
Food to date (after 1st night) has been very good to excellent, both in
the Bacchus dining room (horrid pepto-bismal pick grapes) and Horatio's.
There was lots of promo for "Nick & Nora's" specialty dining @ 30.00
p/p.
Day 5........Thursday took us to Belize. Stan and I got off the ship
and walked around the shops at the pier. They appear to be newly built
and a bit expensive after Cozumel. Our friends took the ships 6 hour
Mayan Ruins tour and said they enjoyed it but were very worn out by the
time they returned. We are all seniors between 64 and 71. Didn't hear
anyone rave about this port.

Each day the pool lounge chairs were picked up about 5:PM. (?) Even
though the sun was shining and folks were poolside having a late day
snack. Pools remained open until later.

Friday the 6th day.....was Costa Maya, a favorite of ours. Wouldn't you
know it was the one day that it rained? Oh well. We went ashore anyway
and even though my husband said I looked like "Moe" (3 stooges) with my
wet hair I had a good time in the shops. Didn't buy but enjoyed
looking. We did have a bite to eat here. We got special nachos and
"SOL" beer. Very tasty and again very friendly folks, happy for our
"yankee dollars." The pool is beautiful in Costa Maya and they provide
lots of free lounge chairs & umbrellas......for when it is not raining.
Plenty of showers & bathrooms available and even massage service if you
like. I didn't price that. When not raining the locals put on a
wonderful folk show (free) in full costume with very good singers &
dancers.
Saturday, day 7............was another day at sea. Again, not much
doing on the Lido deck. Disappointing. Went from a trivia game or two
to eating and then the casino. Mr Lucky's was busy all the time when
opened. I learned about penny slots and hit for 21.95 on one and 52.00
on another. Who knew they would pay anything? Of course I didn't
really come home with those winnings. :-( But found it all very worth
the cost.

The TV service in the cabin wasn't bad at all. We were able to get CNN,
a few local shows and TNT. Also we were able to go to the in-cabin
info. Could check our daily charges on our sign & sail card, which was
also our room key. We could check tours and book from the cabin and
even check the menu in the dining room for dinner.
Our room steward was very pleasant and kept things tidy and the ice
bucket full.

We met some very fun people on board and hope we can keep the friendship
going. But the one above and beyond, outstanding memory is the Matre'd
in the downstair Bacchus dining room, Stepi (or perhaps Stipe) He was
the BEST we have ever met in our 16 cruises. He made us feel very
special and we miss him already. If any of you are going on the Miracle
please tell him that Dorothea & Stanley send their love.

On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best, I would rate this cruise as an
overall 4. The few things that keep it from a 5 could be easily changed
and I would go again in a heartbeat.

Oh one other thing........I didn't find folks dressing up very much. On
formal nights I barely saw ANY formal wear and some VERY casual wear
instead. Tsk, Tsk. I love seeing folks dressed up and think it lends
something to the festivities..

~Dory~

Thanks for the review. I'll be on Miracle in March, so am especially
interested in reading what folks, who have recently cruise on her, are
saying. For the most part, it all sounded pretty positive. Yippee!

Lee

Dory Samuels wrote:

All in all nice but nothing unusual EXCEPT for the bedding and
towels. You wouldn't find better in a 5 star hotel. 100% Egyptian
cotton, large towels. The mattress was extremely thick and the
comforter and pillows (2 on each bed) were non-allergenic down
filled. WOW. We slept like babies.

Also lots of yummy tidbits.....real shrimp!

Food to date (after 1st night) has been very good to excellent, both
in the Bacchus dining room (horrid pepto-bismal pick grapes) and
Horatio's.

the drink of the day was 2.95 but after ordering it and signing the
bill it turned out to be 3.50. My husband questioned this but was
brushed aside with the comment it was an error in the paper. Poor PR
to say the least.

Carnival does a lot of things right, and the more I cruise on other
cruise lines, the more I notice it. While you were cruising on the
Miracle, the sail-away drinks on the Norwegian Sun were $9.00 + tax and
their drink-of-the-day was $6.00 + tax. The food on the NCL Sun was
depressing, by comparison. Now I can see why Carnival is so successful,
although, like you said, there is room for improvement.

Becca

Becca wrote:
Dory Samuels wrote:

All in all nice but nothing unusual EXCEPT for the bedding and
towels. You wouldn't find better in a 5 star hotel. 100% Egyptian
cotton, large towels. The mattress was extremely thick and the
comforter and pillows (2 on each bed) were non-allergenic down
filled. WOW. We slept like babies.

Also lots of yummy tidbits.....real shrimp!

Food to date (after 1st night) has been very good to excellent, both
in the Bacchus dining room (horrid pepto-bismal pick grapes) and
Horatio's.

the drink of the day was 2.95 but after ordering it and signing the
bill it turned out to be 3.50. My husband questioned this but was
brushed aside with the comment it was an error in the paper. Poor PR
to say the least.

Carnival does a lot of things right, and the more I cruise on other
cruise lines, the more I notice it. While you were cruising on the
Miracle, the sail-away drinks on the Norwegian Sun were $9.00 + tax and
their drink-of-the-day was $6.00 + tax. The food on the NCL Sun was
depressing, by comparison. Now I can see why Carnival is so successful,
although, like you said, there is room for improvement.

Becca
Your right Becca our cruise on the Miracle last august was one of the
best cruises we have had in sometime !! You can see that Carnival is
spending alot more on there food now . It's much better then RCCI & NCL
by far !! And the F. Punch & Lemonade all day long in the lido cafe
!!The only thing RCCI has over Carnival is the Voyager class ships
there great . Otherwise Carnival is a better cruise !!
Ken G..............

wrote:

Your right Becca our cruise on the Miracle last august was one of the
best cruises we have had in sometime !! You can see that Carnival is
spending alot more on there food now . It's much better then RCCI &
NCL by far !! And the F. Punch & Lemonade all day long in the lido
cafe !!The only thing RCCI has over Carnival is the Voyager class
ships there great . Otherwise Carnival is a better cruise !!

Ken, I enjoy cruising on all of the cruise lines, because I believe each
one of them offers something special. If you compare other cruise
line's buffet food to Carnival's, most of them are a disappointment.
Carnival is not perfect, but they are doing something right.

When I first started cruising, I ate breakfast and lunch in the dining
room, now I never do. Anyone else?

Becca

Miracle 12/4 - 12/11 Review

Group: rec.travel.cruises Date: Sat, Dec 17, 2005, 8:43pm (PST+2)
From: (Becca)
wrote:

When I first started cruising, I ate breakfast and lunch in the dining
room, now I never do. Anyone else?

Becca
_____________________________

Yes, I do; prefer breakfast and lunch in the dining room, that is.

On HAL (3 cruises), especially for breakfast, I enjoy taking my daily
activities handout and mini N.Y. Times to the dining room and, as a
solo traveller, requesting and receiving without objection a two-seat
table. I get coffee service right away and can have a leisurely
breakfast served to me without interruption or standing in line while I
plan my day and catch up on the news. Although, once or twice I will go
to the Lido instead for some Juk at the Asian breakfast station.

For lunch on HAL, I find the dining room menu uninspired and will go to
the Lido.

On the Regal Princess, not having a N.Y.Times or any other news recap,
but only the Patter, I usually had breakfast at the buffet, but I did
find the Princess lunch menu far more interesting than HAL and
consequently took most of my lunches in the dining room. Also on
Princess, I found some objection and/or availability in getting a small
table by myself at breakfast. For lunch, I asked for a large table and
enjoyed meeting new people.

After almost a decade of being the primary caregiver to my Mom
(Parkinsons and Alzheimers) and having rediscovered the concept of a
restaurant where other people bring "me" food, is one of the main
reasons I tend to shy away from the cruise buffet and prefer sit down
meal service instead.

Cheers,
Daniel

I try to check out the menu before making a decision, but in general I
prefer the dining room.


"Becca" wrote in message
...
wrote:

When I first started cruising, I ate breakfast and lunch in the dining
room, now I never do. Anyone else?

Becca

"Becca" wrote in message
...
wrote:

When I first started cruising, I ate breakfast and lunch in the dining
room, now I never do. Anyone else?

We rarely eat lunch in the dining room. We like to see what we will
be eating and take as much as we want of it. Occasionally if the
buffet line seems long, we will default to the dining room.

grandma Rosalie

From: (Becca)

When I first started cruising, I ate breakfast and lunch in the dining
room, now I never do. Anyone else?

Becca

Yes, I do; prefer breakfast and lunch in the dining room, that is.

On HAL (3 cruises), especially for breakfast, I enjoy taking my daily
activities handout and mini N.Y. Times to the dining room on.

For lunch on HAL, I find the dining room menu uninspired and will go to
the Lido.

On the Regal Princess, not having a N.Y.Times or any other news recap,
but only the Patter, I usually had breakfast at the buffet, but I did

After almost a decade of being the primary caregiver to my Mom
(Parkinsons and Alzheimers) and having rediscovered the concept of a
restaurant where other people bring "me" food, is one of the main
reasons I tend to shy away from the cruise buffet and prefer sit down
meal service instead.
Cheers,
Daniel

Daniel, for almost a decade of caring for your mom, it would give
me great pleasure if I were able to cook and serve you a great
meal! You are very deserving!

Ermalee ---counting the stars in Daniels crown

wrote:

After almost a decade of being the primary caregiver to my Mom
(Parkinsons and Alzheimers) and having rediscovered the concept of a
restaurant where other people bring "me" food, is one of the main
reasons I tend to shy away from the cruise buffet and prefer sit down
meal service instead.

Daniel, I know your mother was grateful to have you as her primary
caregiver, but I know it was not easy. Bless you for all the work you
did. Whether people say it or not, you are appreciated.

Becca