kheilmann

I did Chef's Table on the Carnival Miracle last week and it was the highlight of the cruise for me. I only recall one dish with raw meat. It was one of the four canapes (raw fish), plus there were seven courses after that. Even if you skipped that one canape it would still be a totally great experience. But I have heard that they work hard to accommodate allergies and food preferences so just do it!

My family and I are sailing on the Miracle this Saturday out of Long Beach to the Mexican Riviera. We were not able to get FTTF. It says boarding time is 1:00 to 3:30 pm. What time would you recommend arriving at Long Beach pier to minimize a long wait but still get on the ship as early as possible?

Thank you for such an excellent and comprehensive response! My son will be especially happy about GF pizza! I don't think we said anything at the time of booking so I will be sure to follow up with Carnival.

Does anyone know how well Carnival is able to accommodate a gluten-free diet? We are sailing on the Miracle soon and I'm wondering for my son. Thanks!

Thanks, all, for the info and advice. I just ordered four clear waterproof card holders with lanyard from Amazon for my family and me. We may not all use them all the time but I want to keep our options open.

Are the cards the size of regular credit cards?

Question for experienced cruisers? How do you carry your sign and sail card? Do they provide some kind of lanyard with card holder? Or do people put them in their wallets? I'm imagining wanting to wander around the ship without a purse, and my kids don't usually carry wallets, so how do people keep their cards on them? Actually, because our room reservations don't match where we will actually be sleeping, both my oldest son and I are going to have to carry two cards with us -- one for charging and one for access to the room we are sleeping in. So double the consideration. ;-)

I'm cruising on August 13 on the Carnival Miracle to Baja Mexico, including Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta with my boyfriend and two sons (ages 11 and 16). I'm looking at the shore excursions and none of them are striking me as "not to be missed". They are also quite expensive when you consider every excursion price X 4 and I am definitely getting sticker shock as this cruise is adding up quickly.

I also speak Spanish and am comfortable getting out on our own and walking about, taking a taxi somewhere, etc. perhaps to save money.

Any advice from experienced cruisers on what shore excursions really are "not to be missed", which ports you can enjoy on your own, and which ports to skip altogether and enjoy fun on the ship (which we have paid for already)?

Well live and learn I guess... next cruise I will know better!

I am travelling on the Carnival Miracle August 13-20. We have two staterooms, one is a suite so it automatically gets VIP privileges. I planned to buy FTTF for the other stateroom so that we can all get VIP treatment together. I just went online to buy it and I see that it is sold out for my cruise! I am soooo bummed. Does anyone know if they ever made additional FTTF passes available? For my future planning, how far in advance does this usually sell out?

Forgive me if this has been discussed at length elsewhere... I'm getting ready for my first Carnival Cruise Aug 13-20 on the Miracle, and contemplating the Cheers program for boyfriend and me. We both enjoy drinks and but don't want to get bombed either. What is the consensus, is it worth it? What if you go on a lot of shore excursions and spend time away from the ship, is it still worth it?

I see that the program includes specialty coffees, and to be honest, that almost makes it for me right there. Do they have chai tea lattes? (yummm)

Thank you! That's what I needed to know!

Me, my boyfriend and my two sons (ages 11 and 16) are booked on the Carnival Miracle August 13-20. We booked two staterooms, but the booking agent was not able to get them absolutely next door, I think there is one room in between. So the booking agent had to book my boyfriend and one son in one room, and me any my other son in the other room. But of course I intend to sleep with my boyfriend, and I am comfortable having my boys just down the hall. The booking agent said to just swap luggage tags to make sure the right luggage gets sent to the right room. Seemed simple enough. But now I'm wondering how the keys will work. As part of a family travelling together, can I make sure that my key will access both staterooms? Will this happen automatically or can I request it? Or should we swap keys as well? Do the keys have your ID or other information on it that we need to have? I don't know how the keys work and this is my first time on a Carnival Cruise.

Oooh, good suggestion. I have WhatsApp, I will make sure my kids get it too.

Hi all, this is my first post here. My family and I are sailing on the Carnival Miracle to Mexico August 13-20. I have cruised before but not on Carnival, and for the rest of my family this is a new experience.

My question is about intra-ship communication. My two sons, ages 11 and 16, want to do a lot of things on their own, but I want to be able to check in with them and meet up with them early if necessary. I read about the HUB app which includes text communications and thought that sounded perfect, but then I found out that HUB is not yet available on the Carnival Miracle.

What do people do to keep in communication with family members who are also on the ship? Can you use walky talkies? Or do you just do without?

Thanks,

Kathy