Carnival Miracle 05/01/05 Review + Pix - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

mjt289 · 08-01-2005, 08:35 PM

Photos
www.medalian1.com/cruise

This was a big family cruise. It contained my Parents, Brother, Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law’s Parents, Grandmother, Grandmother’s Sister. The last two didn’t go on any of the excursions, just shopping.
Everyone always attended dinner in the main dining room. I meant to have breakfast there at least once, but never got around to it. Instead I stuck to Horatio's for the buffet breakfast (same for lunch, when not in port). Ordered room service once for a Turkey sandwich, which was delicious.

Onboard Carlo was the Cruise Director, his assistant was Karl with a K, and Karl’s assistant was Sam. Those three were so very entertaining. When I first boarded, I had read about Karl with a K, so I was looking for him at the shows and activities and I could only find Carlo. I was very confused until we actually met Karl with a K. Karl with a K is a funny little British fellow who kept everyone laughing. His assistant Sam was also funny (Hi Sam!, Bye Sam!), but I was told he has a dirty mouth at the late night comedy shows. I mentioned cruise critic to both of them. Karl with a K had no idea that he was on the internet and seemed amused. Sam said he knew he was on here, because he had a bad review about something that happened on a different ship when he was new. So I give them all props, they made the cruise fun. I don’t know how they put up with everyone, I couldn’t be that nice that much.

I used the gym 4 out of the 7 days and I was happy with the facility. The entire gym was 3 floors with the weights on the top level, the whirlpool on the middle level (center of the room), and the bottom was cardio. I’m guessing there were 10 treadmills and 5 bikes. Almost anywhere you were in the gym had you looking out into the water, it was beautiful. And if you’re a guy, when your using the weights your at just the right height to watch the women down below on the treadmills. Wow! Some serious hotties down there jogging!

There is a track above the gym that you can see through a glass dome type of ceiling that typically had people walking around. Up there is also the basketball hoop (deck 11). I think that’s the highest point on the ship, equal to the topless deck.

I found the “secret passage” to the bow of the ship. It was so funny. I decided I was absolutely going to find it around mid-week when we were at a port. From the Upper Deck (5) proceed to the very front of the ship. Once you reach the end of the hall, go down the flight of stairs. You’re now on the main deck (4). Wizard’s Arcade entrance is located right in this area. I think they’re on both sizes, but there is a door on the port side for sure (left). There is a door that says CREW ONLY that is unlocked. Immediately past that door is a real metal door like you’d expect on a battleship or submarine which was open. Standing near that door you can look out onto the bow of the ship. There were staff members smoking out there and didn’t seem to care I was out there.

I went to find my family to show them the “secret place” on the boat. Only my Dad was interested in going out there, so I showed him. The actual bow of the boat had a bell and it was roped off so you couldn’t do a Titanic (soaring like an eagle) type of move. We looked down from near the bow and I turned around to take a picture of the navigation deck area and there were two officers standing there. They were pointing at us, and then pointing towards the door we came through. I started waving at them. They were shaking their heads and kept pointing to the door. My Dad started freaking out so we left. You can see photos of this area here. http://medalian1.com/cruise/slides/May2005_131.html

There is a laundry room available on each floor they said. Mine was located fairly close to our stateroom. It was $2 to wash, $2 to dry, and detergent and fabric softer was $1 each (I think). I brought my own tide-to-go and some fabric softer sheets. The rooms are not marked and you should ask someone on the boat where yours is located. The one on the empress deck port side was all the way forward through the door at the end that said crew only. Turn the corner and there is a room that says Laundry. Inside were 2 washers, 4 driers, a folding table, trash can, sink, and vending machine for supplies.

I was worried that the water onboard would taste nasty, since I assumed it was City of Tampa water. I’ve lived in the city a year ago, plus I work within the limits of the city currently. The water has never tasted good and I drink bottled water instead. But, surprisingly, the water tasted great. I only used two water bottles and kept refilling them on the Lido deck or at the two water fountains in the gym.

The first day on the ship it seemed like everyone employed by Carnival had it out for me to buy overpriced drinks. I wasn’t happy with it and felt like I was going to explode if it kept up. It seems that they only really do it to you if your on the Lido deck in the area of the pools. Otherwise they leave you alone. Once I figured that out, I avoided them or brought a drink with me and they figured it out.

It seems you can only drink water, tea, or coffee for free in the dining room. I tried getting apple juice or fruit punch from the dining staff and the barmaid, but neither knew what I was talking about. Instead I just took my large glass up to the Lido deck and filled it myself. Finding fruit juice sometimes proved hard, since they have to frequently refill those machines. You go to get some, and that station is out and the little light is glowing saying refill.

I didn’t have a problem bringing alcohol onboard. I put it inside my luggage that was not carry-on and packed it well. About half of our party brought on alcohol and no one experienced problems. I did end up ordering a few of those ungodly priced drinks, but once we got to a port that had carry-on your own booze, I started drinking that. During re-boarding from a port, you go through security and immediately after you are scanned, there is a table for you to check-in your alcohol. They don’t seem to communicate with security, so you can just walk right past them. Some stuff I didn’t want to drink while onboard the ship, so I did check it with them.

Most of the staff onboard seemed as if they would go out of the way to help make you happy. Some people though seemed just like it was a job though. That would be our room Steward and the dining room staff. I only “extra” tipped the room Steward, being how he kept the room neat constantly. I didn’t tip the dining staff … it was their last cruise ending their 8 month tour and they were going home afterwards. So it seemed like they really didn’t care. Ask for extra butter or bread, you got it 50% of the time. Some of the starter meals never came. I also didn’t tip the Maitre D', as I didn’t feel he did anything for me except interrupt the dining staff from brining dessert to dance. Plus he’s probably making triple what the dining staff are making and doing next to nothing.

The room Steward charged us for the large bottle of water one day and we couldn’t figure out why. The new one was sitting on the mini-bar table in its original location. My Brother bought one while leaving for an excursion and had put it on the desk. So I guess the Steward just saw that and just immediately charged him instead of checking the mini-bar. This freaked my dad out, so he never threw his miniatures in the stateroom trash cans, fearing the room Steward would just assume they came out of the mini-bar. Our Steward offered to empty the mini-bar so we could use the fridge, but my Brother refused (hard head). Meanwhile my parents Steward refused, telling them to just move the contents to the top of the mini-bar. So I guess it depends on how the Steward feels.

Every morning that I could remember, I’d go to the Pursers desk and get the free motion sickness medicine (Bonine). I had brought Dramamine, but hey this stuff was free and they passed out two packages per day. It was the non-drowsy formula, but that combined with alcohol did seem to make me sleepy after an excursion or mid-afternoon.

After the first day everyone in our group of 11 had problems with the sign and sail card. In the port terminal apparently the credit cards never were correctly assigned to the sign and sail cards. I got notices for 4 days that I need to correct it, plus 2 voicemails. It wasn't MY problem that they're incompetent. If you need to visit the Pursers desk, I would recommend doing it before the last day or two, because the lines get insane.

During the cruise I always saw staff cleaning. They did a great job keeping the ship beautiful. They would always say hi and ask how you are doing. It really created a friendly atmosphere. I found myself talking to other people in the elevators and whatnot asking how their cruise is going.

Part 2 coming ...

mjt289 · 08-01-2005, 08:37 PM

I had tried for one earlier in the week during the Hypnotist. Wow what a scam. The only reason I went up there was trying to get the silly ship on a stick. I was very inebriated and figured it would work on me as I did everything he said. Plus with each thing your doing that he says, he said it would bring me better into a hypnotic state. I call bull crap. He kicked two people off because they wouldn’t follow his directions. Then I was the last person onstage and he had me doing silly stuff like pretending napkins I put in my pants are on fire and stuff. Everyone got a kick out of the stuff and people knew my name on the ship. I would go into the elevator and someone would say “Hi Michael”. He is selling CDs of how to lose weight, stop smoking, and other stuff after the show. That’s why I say bull crap, because I think he’s just trying to peddle his stuff. And your up there for attention or because you figure if you keep doing what he says, maybe you’ll eventually be hypnotized.

Later I was on stage in the Phantom Lounge hosted by Karl with a K. I didn’t even know what was going on as it was half into the improv and I was just walking into the lounge. I started running down the isle like I had just had my name called on the Price is Right and he told me to come up there. I pretended I was in The Beetles and he gave me the ship on a stick. It was funny because at one point he’s asking for everyone’s name onstage. When he gets to me, he remembers me from the Hypnotist and just says something like “Ok Michael, where are you from?”

Sunday - Embarkation

I couldn't sleep Saturday night, only got 5 or 6 hours. There was a large storm that passed through overnight. When I woke up, I went to see if the ship was at port yet via webcam http://tampabaylive.com/cams/remotecam.shtml ... choose Channelside and you should see the ship on Sundays). Reading around here, I thought everyone had to be off the ship by 09:30am.

I checked again at 09:30 and the ship still wasn't there. Then it hit me that maybe it wasn't at Terminal 2, since there have been problems with the oil tankers arriving on Sundays, or else it might be delayed because of a big storm that passed through overnight. I called the port, they said the ship was late and wouldn't be docked until 11:15am. Called Carnival, they said don't worry, the ship will be there at 10:00am and continue as if the ship wasn't late. Embarkation would not be affected he said!

We arrived at 11:00am and the ship hadn't arrived yet. While the porter was handling our bags and we were getting the vehicles parked, the ship arrived right around 11:15am (like the port told us). We proceeded inside the terminal, through security and waited in line to complete paperwork and activate the sign and sail cards. Then we sat and waited for our room keys and then the chance to board the ship.

Announcements soon followed saying that we wouldn't be boarding the ship until after 3pm. We were expecting to be on the Lido deck eating and drinking by one, so this wasn't happy news. 1/2 of our group of 9 wanted to get something to eat, so the other half waited with the luggage. I went to Marble Slab in Channelside and by the time I got back, the entire terminal was insane. Here were two thousand people crammed into the terminal, nowhere to sit and even finding a spot to stand was getting impossible. This was the worst part of the vacation, hands down!

When we finally got on the Lido deck, it was 4pm. We couldn't go into our staterooms until they made an announcement. We waited 30 minutes and went to ours. The card key worked and the room was clean, so we dropped off our bags and went to explore the ship. They never made an announcement that you could go to your room, so I feel bad for people who actually followed the instructions.

The stateroom was small, but no one in our group spent much time in the rooms. I shared a room with my Brother and Sister-in-law. I had the bunk bed (came out of the ceiling). We were upgraded from the Riviera deck 1 to Empress deck 6, inside cabin.

The ship was very nice. She reminded me a lot of Las Vegas. The casino was closed and there were no lanyards there like I had read. I brought my own, so I wasn't concerned. I found out later that the casino cashier passes out yellow lanyards for free. Speaking of the casino, I was shocked at the size of it. I really expected it to be much larger. We ended up departing after 7PM.

Monday - Day at Sea

I don't remember exactly what we did this day. Mostly shows or activities, and got familiar with the ship. Had the late dinner seat, gambled, and saw shows before bed.

Tuesday - Grand Cayman

We tendered in to port with a carnival excursion for Sting Ray City, Hell, and the Turtle Farm. It started immediately upon reaching shore. We boarded a 14 seat passenger bus. The driver was our tour guide for the land part of the excursion. He took us to hell first, took some pictures (was really small!) I was expecting a big field or something.

The Hell post office was closed, so no mailing of post cards because the stores next door ran out of stamps. Next stop was the turtle farm. It was pretty cool picking up the turtles and taking pictures with them. They seemed very relaxed and I didn't see anyone get bit or anything like that. Quickly left the gift shop and went to the next store over where the Tortuga rum cake and booze was. It's all delivered to the ship, you can't purchase and carry the alcohol.
The driver, who wouldn't shut up about his political views then dropped us off at a boat which carried our bus plus another busload of people to the sting rays. Wow what a site. It was my first experience with water that clear.

The sting rays were huge and friendly. They brought a digital underwater photographer with them, prints were $25 for two (minimum order). Stayed with the sting rays for an hour, and then went back to the bus, which thankfully was a different driver who returned us to the port. Geez, everything at this port was sooo expensive. The family went to eat, 6 people for $150! That was crazy! I was tired, so I ate on the ship, and then took a nap. Had the late dinner seat, gambled, and saw shows before bed.

Standby for part 3 ...

mjt289 · 08-01-2005, 08:38 PM

Wednesday - Costa Maya

Another carnival excursion ... met at the end of the pier. Loaded into a full size bus (greyhound style) and drove for around an hour to the Chacchoben Mayan ruins. Once there, we were short on time so we went right on the ruins tour. I took lots of pictures and video ($3 to shoot video). Didn't have time to shop at the little store, boarded the bus and they passed out Pepsi + Beer Had the late dinner seat, gambled, and saw shows before bed.

Thursday – Cozumel

This excursion was booked through http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.com a week prior to the cruise. This was the best excursion during the whole cruise. First we arrived at the port; it wasn't the same as the meeting point area. So we had to take a taxi ($14 for 7 people) to the other pier which was about 4 miles away. We met them in front of the Burger King and started our adventure. We boarded a 14 passenger bus, just the 7 of us. We had two tour guides, Mike and Juan-Carlos, and the driver Freddie.

We drove down the only road that splits through the island. It took about 15 minutes and we were at the drop off point with a bunch of 4wheelers. They gave is the rules and helmets, and we were off on a 14 mile ride through a trail that went down onto the beaches, in the woods, over rocks, it was amazing. We ended up on a private beach where we stopped. We kayaked about a mile out to a reef where they tied up the kayaks. We snorkeled for about 30 minutes in the area of the reef. Kayaked back to shore, they fed us sandwiches with soda + water. Got back on the 4wheelers and stopped at a small Mayan ruin. More 4wheeling at which point it started to drizzle which was really nice timing. Turns out the port area got SOAKED! Get back to the bus, and they took us back to our actual pier for $14 instead of having to take a taxi from the original pickup spot. We had enough time to do some shopping too, but the whole mall style shopping isn't appealing to me. Had the late dinner seat, gambled, and saw shows before bed.

Friday - Belize

This was booked through http://belizecruiseexcursions.com at the same time we booked the Cozumel excursion. The two sites are fun by the same people. We went on the cave tubing trip. The meeting spot was harder to find, but the pile of guides with signs directed us to the correct area (150' from the tender). 7 of us + 4 other Miracle cruisers went on this excursion. 14 seat bus took us for a 1:15 hour bus ride. The last 15 or 20 minutes was down the bumpiest road I've ever been on. Got to the drop off point and saw all the busloads of carnival people.

We went with our 2 tour guides and 11 people, cut in front of the carnival tours and went in a small cave to see bats. Then we cut the carnival tour again and walked passed the first drop in spot for the cave tubing. We went to a further cave entrance that was amazing. The only bad thing was it's the dry season there, so sometimes we had to get out and walk because the water was so low. We tubed for about an hour or hour and a half, then got out near the bus area and ate BBQ chicken and other food at the local restaurant (yummy!!). Did some shopping then headed back to the port.

The rest of Belize was nasty. There were aids signs everywhere telling people to get checked. All windows have bars on them and there are frequent Police/Military checkpoints. My grandmother went shopping outside the port area, but quickly became scared for her personal safety and went back to the ship. She complained that whole night about Belize! Had the late dinner seat, gambled, and saw shows before bed.

Saturday - Day at Sea

I spent most of the day doing the activities and shows on the ship. Did a lot of drinking, eating, and gambling (in no special order). Packed up and set our luggage out that night to be picked up. Had the late dinner seat, gambled, and saw shows before bed.

Sunday - Debarkation

Woke up and we were already back in Tampa. But we weren't at the regular terminal 2, we were in an industrial area. We had to board buses that were lined up outside to be transported back to terminal 2. Once there we found our luggage end left. We didn't get into the bus until about 10AM and only part of our group colors had been called. My dad ended up losing one of his bags after the porter had it. It contained all of his alcohol he bought at ports, souvenirs, photos from their previous cruises (originals), and some clothing. He filed a claim and hopefully Carnival finds it!

I hope you enjoyed my review of the ship. It was definitely one of the top three vacations I’ve ever had and I plan on sailing her again 09/11/05 with more family!

isujim · 08-01-2005, 08:52 PM

Thanks for a very complete review........your picture is great too........sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Cruise Cat · 02-21-2007, 11:35 PM

Thanks for the Review!