Dicecatt

On 10/29/2023 at 5:04 AM, z_cruisers said:

Very good review!!! 😀

Thank you! I just got back into town from something else so hopefully I'll finish it this week! 

Day 3, San Diego/ship day

We were not in a hurry to get off ship in San Diego, as we had no plans.  I elected to not get an internet package so we couldn't really arrange anything.  I didn't wake up on purpose to watch the port arrival but it's always fun to watch coming into a port. 

We ordered eggs Benedict and egg sandwich for breakfast on the mdr and a large mimosa.  No wait to get off the ship, it was probably 9 30 AM. It was already really hot, which surprised me a little.  

There isn't much to do right at Port and we just couldn't settle on anything. We love San Diego,  who doesn't? It's amazing with countless options.  It just seemed like a lot to arrange transportation and tickets and specific clothing,  and maybe walk a ton, unexpectedly.  So we took a brief walk around for 45 minutes or so. 

Spotted a cool super yacht.  Love Below Deck,  so it was fun to look at the pretty boat.  Considered a few of the museum and boat tours.  Ultimately decided to go to Serenity.  

We headed back and at some point during the two check points I lost the sunglasses I have guarded and protected for over 5 years.  I checked with guest services several times but none of the many sunglasses they had were mine,  so sad.  Definitely time for something slushie. 

So, the order of importance was this: Sushi, drinks,  clamshell, enjoy all.  

I called a couple of my children and sent them the gif I made of taking down my hairdo and as I expected,  it was thoroughly appreciated.  

I checked on my cats.  They are apparently being jerks and suddenly didn't come to my friend for their wet food,  which means my greedy old man cat probably ate all three bowls after she left.  

I'm not trying to be a cheerleader for Cheers, because every cruiser is different.  The value for me really began on this day. I was really sticking to drinks that were easy to drink and didn't have a lot of alcohol.  I normally don't do that,  because when I buy a drink,  I want it to count.  It was really fun to get whatever fruity cocktail I wanted to enjoy in the sun.  

Sat on the inner pool ledge.  This pool has a nice design,  it has 2 layers of seating and room for standing.  It didn't feel crowded to me ever,  even when I was around several people.  Meet a group of women,  most of whom didn't know each other,  and we so started talking and giggling and,  you know.  Really fun. 

Day 2 Sea Day Continued

First Elegant Night,  I decided to do an elaborate updo hairstyle which was such a process to take out that I later made a gif out of it for more offspring entertainment (it caused much hilarity but without Cheers I'm not brave enough to share it on Cruise Critic).

We had Your Time Dining and we checked in on the app. I liked that process overall except when they assign you a table it says you have 10 mintues.  The problem with that is it's inconsistent with notifications. Most of the time I only saw the table was ready when I physically checked the app,  and I wouldn't receive an actual notification until I was walking into the restaurant.  My husband seemed to get them 30 seconds to a mintue before I did but always a couple of minutes after the table was actually assigned.  

Dinner was overall very good, we both enjoyed this night and the service was great.  

Shrimp cocktail,  which I ordered a few times this week.  

Clam and Chowder,  I especially enjoyed the seasoning on top.

My husband ordered the Caesar salad and said it was terrible. He actually said it was the worst Caesar he can remember having ever.  We heard that from a few other people as well,  hope that improves!

We both ordered the Duo, filet and short rib, with extra side of mashed mainly because it wasn't clear it came with mashed. The filet was good,  my short rib was totally delicious.

My husband's was not,  the entire piece was not edible. He wasn't even going to say anything,  just eat the filet,  but I told him he really needed to try the short rib and that it was so good,  so we showed the server.  

The server immediately made it more than right and brought out a whole plate of short rib! 

We ordered Red Sangria and Cosmos, and both had the Grand Marnier Souffle which we both really enjoyed.  

After dinner we went to Alchemy. Ordered the Curative Peach Cocktail and the Pain Relief. I really wanted to try the Purple Sunset but they didn't have lavender syrup. We saw some new friends, then headed to see the comedian for the late show. 

We went 40 minutes early I think and it was already getting busy, there were lots of seats but they steadily filled up and it was totally packed when the show started.  I think the theater is adorable, Wonderland themed stuff is my favorite! 

Ordered a Screw Looze, a Sex on the Stage and two Monsters (my first). I have no idea if it energized me? 

The comedian was funny,  we intended to go to more shows but we really liked a band that played at Red Frog and often the times conflicted so we only went once.

As far as Cheers goes, a rough estimate, $35 ahead in just alcohol on this day. I'm not adding receipts, I'm basically multiplying drinks on my fingers,  but it's close enough.  Part of our fun was discussing the various drinks.  I have not yet found my favorites but they are coming! 

16 minutes ago, carohs said:

That blanket looks cozy!! I always considered asking for one but I kinda assumed they'd just bring me an extra sheet or something. 

Definitely ask for an extra! And if they bring you the brown scratchy one ask for the soft blue:) they are the best! 

Day 2 continued

We ended up at the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar. Open limited hours,  I think it's the most fun bar,  but maybe that's because bartenders Tazia and Igor (from Brazil) made it a blast.  We settled in for a couple of hours of bonding with new cruise besties and great drinks.  They were out of Patron which was a running joke,  because we'd order the Ultimate Patron without Patron Margarita (which honestly probably annoyed Tazia but she was a great sport) . At one point we were joking in the Fun Shops when we saw Patron that the Tequila Bar should come down and get some and a worker handed us a list of bottles available for purchase haha.  

We hung out with some couples on this cruise that really made it a blast.  So far we've even kept in touch! Super fun.  Thanks,  Cheers! We just kept meeting up,  a few times a day in different places.  Great time.  

We brought a little toy, a party favor,  or whatever,  with us.  We brought a breathalyzer,  which was a whopping $15 and I'm pretty sure was grossly inaccurate but we had extra tips so it brought about loads of giggles with our cruise besties.  I have no idea which one of us blew this but apparently I felt the need to photograph it.  

Then we left to do afternoon tea,  which was deck 3 of Bacchus.  Seated with a family of 3 (we had nice conversation), the tea was ok. While I'm delighted it was brought back,  it was just alright and I didn't go the second sea day.  

Time for a nap before dinner. 

Day 2, Sea Day

I'm not a coffee drinker. But with Cheers I decided I'd try things I normally don't drink.  This probably doesn't even count as coffee,  but I got a white chocolate caramel frappe and didn't hate it. I even filmed the event for the purpose of entertaining offspring (I won't make you watch that), all very aware of my aversion to coffee drinks. I even tried husband's double chocolate mocha frappe! Adventurous. 

Then Sea Day brunch,  because obviously,  everyone should do that.  It was very good,  starting off with a trick I decided I'm a genius for figuring out (I'm only this nice to myself on vacation) which is ordering a champagne,  and orange juice, and combining them for a large mimosa instead of just accepting a splash of champagne.  I'm sure many people before me have done the same thing,  but I was feeling pretty smart.  

The tomato soup was really good,  I enjoyed the performance aspect of it being poured. 

Steak and eggs

Eggs Benedict with side of extra crisp bacon

Banana cream pie

After a stop at the room,  where we received another towel animal, an elephant (we had a truly great room steward,  I Ketut), and we were gifted a duck (we were told later it was because they liked our door) we headed to Lido. 

I forgot to include this from the night before,  our first towel animal,  delivered with the awesome plush blue blanket and 2 robes as we requested.  

6 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

Enjoying this! Love the Miracle and all the spirit class ships. And love the steakhouses under the whale tail. We had a diamond lunch there years ago-sun shining thru whale tail and on to us. We looked and felt like we had bad sunburns! 

I love this ship, it's such a great manageable size and the layout makes sense.  I've been on many ships that are just confusing for seemingly no good reason! 

8 hours ago, ctlyf said:

How did you pre-order? I booked our Feb 2024 cruise online without a TA or PVP... is it something I can do online or should I send an email? I should know this... it's not our first cruise with CPAPs. 🙄 It's just once it's dealt with, I usually forget about it. 🤯

I called 1-800-522-7648 (Ext. 70039) and it was like $3. Super easy! We did bring our own extension cord rather than mess with attempting to get one onboard/paying a deposit.  

1 hour ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

Sorry you missed some of your ports.  Glad you were able to take it in stride (thanks, drink package, lol).  We were on the Radiance 10/9 - 10/14 and it was super rough coming back from Ensenada.  LOTS of people were getting sick on the ship.  Stupid hurricane!

That's never fun,  I need dramamine on a good day! Stupid hurricane for sure! 

1 hour ago, Knights on the Beach said:

Enjoying your review! Is that a jug of water on the desk? 🤷‍♀️

Yes! We pre-ordered water for a cpap machine.  

One more addition to this day,  our awesome cabin 6218, which is an end balcony cabin with only one direct neighbor.  It was quiet,  had great views on Port days, was convenient to the aft elevators without being too close and wasn't far from mid ship elevators.  Loved the location.  

Finishing Embarkation Day with Nick and Nora's

In 2019 we had two of the best meals we've ever had at Nick and Nora's steakhouse.  So much so that every once in a while one of us would start salivating over the memory of the lobster tails or tomahawk.  We couldn't wait to go again and planned to go twice again over the 6 nights.  However...

We did not experience the same level of excellence.  

Service was not good.  The host,  Roman, was great,  as was the person that poured water.  There was general confusion among other staff as we were brought soup spoons multiple times after already having apps, we were questioned a few times about what we had already been served and what we were waiting for,  and the head server seemed good at first but then disappeared. 

The bread service was great,  my favorite are the crisps and I love whatever the green coated butter is (yes,  obviously I'm refined). 

We were given a bottle of wine. Somewhere in me the frugal planner knew we would get a bottle of wine the first night but I didn't actually think of it because of Cheers. We had a glass,  and then the bottle was whisked away,  and our glasses were filled once more during the two and a half hour dinner. Don't know where the rest of it went. Glasses were empty most of the meal. Our waters were filled consistently. 

We had the French onion soup which is absolutely the most delicious thing I had all week. After several drinks and a glass of wine I described  the soup as "cultivated and cared for" and I'm sticking with that.  Fantastic.  

We also ordered jumbo shrimp cocktail which was very good. 

We were given a little bonus app from the chef,  a teeny slider, and it was yum! 

My lobster was rubbery and overcooked. We briefly mentioned it to the server,  whom I won't name,  and she actually turned around and walked away lol. The lobster in the MDR the second elegant night was actually far tastier. Spouse liked his cowboy steak but said it was not as good as last time.  Mashed potatoes were very good. Desserts were good,  not great.  They brought us glasses of champagne for our anniversary,  which was very nice. 

I don't mind a long dinner service but there were very long spaces of time with no food,  no beverage and it was the opposite of our previous experiences.  We did not dine there a second time. 

We intended to go somewhere else after dinner,  like a bar,  but after a total of 5 hours of sleep in two days we decided to crash.  

We went back to the cabin where we found a FTTF letter,  letting us know our luggage would be prioritized and delivered soon.  The letter arrived a few hours after the luggage (our dinner was at 6 PM and it wasn't there at that time). Totally underwhelmed with the very little FTTF value this cruise,  especially with losing the two Cabo tenders.  I used to be a freaking cheerleader for FTTF but meh. 

Continue Embarkation Day, regarding Cheers! for first timers on the package.  

This was the first time ever that we purchased a drinks package.  I'm usually the person that knows when happy hours are,  when the drink specials are,  how much I can bring on board, etc but this time we went for it and decided to try whatever drinks we wanted,  whenever we wanted. We brought no alcohol or soda on board (last trip 2 sodas fell out on the gangway and broke,  sticky embarrassing mess). 

We don't drink much at home,  but combining several alcoholic drinks with soda,  water,  coffee drinks and shakes sounded really fun,  and it WAS.  It was FUN.  So far I've only roughly calculated the cost of alcohol for day one and two,  so I'm not quite sure of the end value. And towards the end of the cruise we were talking about how we hadn't done trivia or many shows,  and I attribute that to Cheers.  But what we did do,  besides way over drinking,  was meet tons of fun people and had an absolute blast of a different kind,  so I'm happy we bought Cheers. 

Day 1 with just alcohol (not counting other beverages) we actually were under the daily Cheers cost by about $19, but we received a bottle of wine at the steakhouse and they gave us champagne,  so...

Embarkation Day

I bought Faster to the Fun. I usually do,  as I appreciate the perks and many of my past cruises don't count towards status for various reasons, but I did realize this time around that FTTF has been diluted.

*I knew the cabin is no longer ready early,  and that we can drop off luggage. 

*I knew we had priority luggage delivery (but realistically I know that may or may not happen,  and it did not).

I also knew that depending on the port, priority embarkation could mean different things,  since the language Carnival now uses indicates its priority DURING appointment time.  I bought it anyway,  because Cabo is a tender port, so priority tender was the reason I purchased this benefit. 

I had a 10 AM appointment time,  because I like early and I didn't want to risk the FTTF not actually being priority.  We arrived at Port via Lyft around 9:45 and there were people in line,  but we showed our documents and were immediately allowed in through priority.  I have no idea if that's because we had FTTF, or a 10 AM/FTTF combo.  

I spotted a friend that works there so we waited for her table to open and she began checking our documents. She mentioned the ports have changed,  and as we were standing there,  a stack of letters were delivered,  and guess what? No more Cabo stops! Thanks a lot, Hurricane Lidia. 

I've been to Cabo a few times,  and I've also sailed in bad weather,  so no thanks.  However,  I was probably the least disappointed person on the ship,  because most people around were super mad and while I understand disappointment (I also picked this one for the two Cabo stops) we were given $200 OBC which was more than Carnival actually had to do.  And sailing anywhere in anything close to hurricane weather is freaking awful. 

So, would we make it to Mexico at all? I guess we'd see,  as San Diego and Catalina Island were added.  San Diego is obviously awesome but there wasn't really time to plan anything, not like there's much just right at Port. I'd never been to Catalina,  so ok, new adventure. Not much would stop my good time,  but I think I was in the minority judging from the rage comments all around me in the priority seating area! 

We boarded around 11 AM and quickly mustered,  then dropped off our luggage at our cabin. Halloween decor in Atrium was fun.  Headed to Guy's Burgers, where there was a giant line by the lido stage and zero line on the other side by the lido buffet (we chose that one). Our first experience with Guy's as last time we were on the Miracle or was pre dry dock. 

Then we headed to Serenity to a clamshell, a couple of Miami Vice and our first Cheers! drinks. 

I seized the opportunity to attend a Halloween Horror Nights at Hollywood for the first time,  and we splurged on a R.I.P. Tour since there are just two of us.  I won't go into too much detail since this trip report is for the cruise,  but I'll add a few fun images,  and just say that it was absolutely so much fun and I'll absolutely be doing that again! I won't include anything too terrifying.  

Desserts at the RIP buffet

We flew into Burbank the morning of the 7th.

We stayed at an adorable hotel chosen for its charm,  proximity to Universal Studios and great reviews,  The Tangerine. 

A stop at In & Out and our day was nearly complete.  Time for a nap before nighttime adventures! 

Newly empty nesters, our youngest offspring is off to college,  so we're off to Mexico (maybe), on the Miracle! 

This is a second sailing on the Miracle,  the first was November of 2019, so I'll be making some direct comparisons as we repeated some favorite things. 

The itinerary was supposed to be 6 nights,  with 2 Cabo stops, 1 Ensenada,  and 2 Sea days.  

I'll just go ahead and thank Hurricane Lidia for keeping things exciting.  

Day 7

Miracle MR November 9 to 16, 2019 Fun Day at Sea, Day 7.pdf

Day 6

Miracle MR November 9 to 16, 2019 Fun Day at Sea, Day 6.pdf

Day 5

Miracle MR November 9 to 16, 2019 Puerto Vallarta, Day 5.pdf

Day 4

Miracle MR November 9 to 16, 2019 Mazatlan, Day 4.pdf

Day 3

Miracle MR November 9 to 16, 2019 Cabo San Lucas, Day 3.pdf

Day 2!

Miracle MR November 9 to 16, 2019 Fun Day at Sea, Day 2.pdf

Hope these are helpful:) If anyone has trouble let me know and I can post the jpgs

Miracle MR November 9 to 16, 2019 Welcome Aboard Day 1.pdf

just got off.  There is a time difference,  it's 8 am ship time,  would be 9 am pv time.