Miracle 12-14-09 Western Review w/Pics

[NCTribeFan]

This is taking a really long time and I must stop now. I'll finish in the morning.

[dcruisers]

I am really enjoying your review! And so appreciate all the time you are taking to do it...and the pictures are wonderful.

We are on the Miracle next Wed for New Year's!! So all this information is helpful. Your review is so well written and interesting that I feel like I am on the cruise with you!

We, too, are booked with Mario in Panama. We are booked with Coral Breeze tours in Belize.

I look forward to reading the rest of your review. Thanks so much for all the great information. It is so helpful to those of us who are sailing on her soon. I, too, will do a review when I get back.

[fig414]

Great review so far. Isn't it great how we all love Miracle. I miss her dearly.

[2addicted2xmas]

It was a pleasure to meet you and so many others from Cruise Critic! I cannot believe you got so much written already. I am just getting rid of my sea legs! Great review so far!

[NCTribeFan]

It was nice to meet you, too, although we didn't get much of a chance to talk. I did see you guys playing cards a few times, and saw you on your crutches. I hope that it wasn't too difficult for you to get around the ship on those things.

 

I bet they don't help in getting your land legs back much!

 

I'm still weaving a bit, but I go ahead and take 1/2 a Bonine when it gets too bad, so I'm almost back to normal now. Suffering from PCD, though! This is the first time I've sailed and haven't had another cruise booked in the past few years.

 

I'll post the next installment in a while. Have to shower and go to the grocery store. And, of course, I still have a pile of laundry to finish. :(

[NCTribeFan]

Saturday, 12/19/09, 3rd Fun Day at Sea

 

Slept in a bit, then went up to Lido for breakfast. It was quite overcast, and I was hoping to do a little sunbathing later. I didn’t really want another omelette, but cannot eat the scrambled eggs. That’s when I discovered hard-boiled eggs on the buffet! And there were no bacon police at this buffet line, either. I had my breakfast and took my cup of tea down to the cabin where I sat and read for a while, waiting for DD to get up and get moving.

 

I changed into my suit and went back up to the Orpheus pool area and sat to read in the sun, which had come through by then. DD joined me a while later, and we sat out until I was ready for lunch. I brought us a couple of deli sandwiches (yes, I had the turkey sub again). Then I decided to visit the hot tub in the gym, while DD went back to the cabin to read. We went down for tea, but the lounge was completely full at 3 pm. Someone decided not to wait for service, so we got a table and shared with another couple and a woman who was actually with the people at the table next to us (so sat with her back to us most of the time, talking). I'm a hot tea drinker, but the way the service operates, with one person bringing around the tea selection, then you wait, and someone brings around the hot water (which doesn't make proper tea anyway, because your water needs to be boiling), then it's next to impossible to get someone to bring you milk for your tea, then you wait for the cart of goodies (which are very tasty, but it's not like we can't get tasty food 24/7 on the ship), I'm just not sure I'll "do" tea again. I prefer tea to be relaxing, and enjoy listening to the live music provided. Instead, it seems to be just another reason for people to stuff their faces with "free" food and to spend the time bellowing at each other even though they're seated two feet apart. :mad:

 

I ran into “W” who had a bottle of champagne compliments of the hotel director on Legend. They had also done a quasi B2B, sailing on Legend the week before Miracle. I had really wanted to see their 9A cabin, but her DH – the “C” in CWcruisers– was having a nap, so she brought her perfectly-chilled bottle and 3 chilled champagne flutes down to our cabin instead, where we sat and had a nice visit.

 

This was the 2nd Cruise Elegant evening. I had the Delice of the Ocean (I could’ve eaten at least three of them) as well as the Creamy Bing Cherry soup. For my entrée, I had the grouper, which was excellent. DD had the Chateaubriand, which she said was very good. She normally doesn’t eat a lot of red meat, and I normally do, on the ship at least, so we sort of switched around our normal cruise dining choices. Of course, we’ve cruised more frequently the past few years, so why not try something different? If you don’t like it, you can always ask for an item that you’ve had before and know you like.

 

I hadn’t been to a show on a cruise since my Miracle cruise two years ago. I’m just not that into that type of entertainment (revues, comedy, jugglers, impressionists, etc.), and since I switched to late dining on that cruise, I find that I just prefer to visit the casino for a little while and/or find the lounge with the band. I don’t do the piano bar (too much smoke and haven’t yet heard a singer that I would want to sit through multiple songs; and I just don’t like the whole sing-along stuff). So Ticket to Ride has been the only show I’ve seen in two years. Unless you lived through the Beatles era (I was a very impressionable pre-teen when they appeared on the scene), you can’t really understand what an impact they had on people. Anyway, it was entertaining, although not quite as good as I remember the show from two years ago.

 

We again stopped for a little while in the casino and then off to bed, since we had a early excursion the next morning in Belize.

[NCTribeFan]

Our collection of towel animals. We didn't see our cabin steward, Wayan, very often, but he did a great job, as usual. I do believe he made the best towels animals we've had to date.

 

 

I loved the elephant. But this one has to be The Best Towel Animal Ever! Just look at the adorable froggy face! :D

 

[NCTribeFan]

Sunday, 12/20/09, Belize - Part I

 

We had been to Belize on our Glory cruise in May, 2008, and went cave-tubing with Major Tom, which was great. I hadn’t seen any ruins since our very first cruise on Jubilee in April, 2001, so decided I’d like to see Altun Ha. Because I was a bit concerned with some of the independent excursions cutting it very, very close with getting back to the ship, I decided to book the Carnival excursion that was Altun Ha and River Wallace. All the independent tours offered Altun Ha and a Belize City tour, but we had seen most of Belize City when we were traveling to and from the cave tubing last time.

 

 

A Magnificent Frigatebird accompanies us as we meander to our anchor point. Note the grey sky.

 

Our tickets said to meet in the Mad Hatters Lounge at 7:45. Since we had put out the breakfast card the night before, we wolfed down our breakfast, and hurried down to the lounge, which was already full and had a line out the door, but which moved quickly. We were given an orange #10 sticker. They called a couple of tours, and then ours. We were heading to the tender at 8 am. People complain about the long tender ride, and maybe it is compared to Grand Cayman, but it really doesn’t take all that long – probably less than 15 minutes. At the dock, we were met by Oscar and the other tour guide. I don’t recall the name of their company, but their shirts also had Chukka on them, which I’ve used in other ports through Carnival. We were split into two groups, given time for a potty break, asked to sign the waiver forms, then put onto two speed boats.

 

By the time we were ready to go, it was 9 am, ship time. This is why I don’t do ship excursions any longer. Besides being considerably more expensive, you spend half your time being herded around and loaded onto and off of transportation. It was very cool and looked like it could start raining at any second. One of the employees came around selling rain ponchos, which several people purchased (at $2 each, I believe). Silly me had assumed, when I looked at the grey skies that morning, that the clouds would burn off like they had the prior day, and it would be hot and sunny. Wrong! Unfortunately, our various hoodies and jackets were in the cabin and we were wearing sleeveless tops and capris. Fortunately, I had thrown one of the Carnival beach towels in the tote bag at the last second (just in case we got wet on the boat again).

 

My legs were sore from both the dancing I’d done and all the stair climbing (I haven’t had a lot of exercise the past several months). My left quad was especially sore, which is one reason why I had wanted to visit the hot tub in the spa. Well, when I stepped down into the boat (it was a big step down), I felt a really sharp pain in my upper left quad. Uh oh. The cool, damp weather certainly didn’t help. Prolonged periods of sitting didn’t help, either.

 

We finally left the dock and head up the coastline. We were freezing! They stopped the boat a couple of times to point out places on the shore, and just before we headed up the river, we stopped to watch for Manatees. Apparently they like that area because the feeding is good where the fresh water river meets the Caribbean Sea. We saw several just poke their nostrils out of the water for a breath of air, but couldn’t actually see the entire animal.

 

Then it was full ahead as we blasted up the river, trying to huddle against one another and find a little shelter from the wind. I finally realized that the $0.99 ponchos I had purchased at Wal-Mart years ago and that I’d been carrying around in that tote bag for about eight cruises might help a little. I pulled one out and it did help a tiny bit, and DD then could wrap the beach towel around her exposed arms.

 

I had really been hoping to see some big, beautiful, colorful, tropical birds and was pretty disappointed that we didn’t. I’d love to have one, but not at this point in my life. We did see several water birds, another croc, some little bats clinging to the underside of a tree trunk, and assorted other wildlife, but nothing that was really impressive. I think the cool, cloudy weather didn’t help with the wildlife viewing.

 

 

 

One of the nicer residences along the river.

 

 

The darker grey "log" behind the tree trunk is a croc.

[NCTribeFan]

Sunday, 12/20/09, Belize - Part II

 

I could have sworn that when I made the reservation for this tour, it stated it was 7:45 – 12:30. Judging by that, I thought we’d be back to the pier in time to have lunch at Iguana Rana and do so shopping. I’m not a shopper, but I had wanted to purchase a couple of items at the pharmacy and had seen some things in a clothing store while we waited that morning to get under way. Well, we finished with the river portion of the tour at 11 am. At that time, we left the river at the dock of the Black Orchid Resort. Lunch was on our own, and we were told we had 45 minutes there. I asked Oscar if we would be back in port early enough to have lunch and do some shopping there and he said no, we wouldn’t. So, DD & I split an $8 plate of chicken with black beans & rice, fried plantain, and cole slaw. I also had my Belikin beer for $4, and she had a cup of coffee for $2. It looks like a nice place. I could see myself spending several days there.

 

 

 

 

 

I finally got to see my large, colorful, exotic bird. They have a resident parrot in a tree by the pool. I wanted to take him home with me!

 

 

They also were selling various wines and were providing samples. The cashew wine is terribly sweet. I could never drink something like that. The star fruit wine wasn’t as sweet, but was still almost more like liqueur than wine. I had already had a beer so refrained from sampling any others.

[NCTribeFan]

Sunday, 12/20/09, Belize - Part III

 

We were then all herded onto a large bus and rode for quite a long while and it finally started to rain lightly. We had been told that if it was raining, we would not be allowed to climb the pyramid at Altun Ha, which is one of the things I had most looked forward to doing, although I was concerned with the way my leg was hurting. We bounced along the road for what felt like an hour, but I’m sure it wasn’t, really. When we arrived at the site, we were practically the only people there. We were told that we would have a different bus for the ride back, since there was a problem with the suspension on ours (which is why we had bounced along for such a long time). We left everything on the bus except our camera and head out with the guides. Of course, it was raining a bit harder by then, but wasn’t pouring. Altun Ha hasn’t been fully excavated and is not as large as some of the other Mayan sites, but I still found it fascinating. After stopping in Plaza A, we proceeded to Plaza B and then up the steps of the Temple of the Sun God, which is where the Jade Head was found.

 

 

Wearing our lovely rain ponchos in front of the Temple of the Sun God. Apparently, the Sun God was not in a very good mood on this day. :o

 

 

 

 

Back down the other side of the pyramid and off to the parking area. There was no time to browse the vendors on site, which I imagine didn’t make them very happy. I retrieve our bag and towel from the first bus and boarded the replacement. They did a head count and came up one person short. Someone then said that a woman had gone back toward the vendors, so one of the guides went hunting for her. Oscar got out the waiver lists and started calling off names, most of which he couldn’t read! Eventually, they decided that every was on the bus after all and we headed back to the port. That was another waste of about 10 minutes.

 

Somehow I had neglected to notice that the capers stated we would sail at 4 pm. Apparently I had looked at the time for Costa Rica and thought we were sailing at 3 pm, meaning we would need to get a tender before 2:30. Well, it was already 2:30! Had I been on an independent excursion, I would’ve been freaking out by then. Anyway, we finally got back to the pier but had no time to shop. Naturally, the one port where I had wanted to do some shopping, there was no time. I did run into a pharmacy and bought several Albuterol inhalers for DD. We were just about the last people on the tender. Just as we pulled away from the dock, three people came running up with horrified looks on their faces. I’m sure there was one last tender with some crew members, but if that had been me, I would have ended up in a Belizian ER with heart failure!

 

 

 

View from my aft balcony of some of the many islands.

[NCTribeFan]

Sunday, 12/20/09, Belize - Part IV

 

So guess what we did when we got back on board? Well, the first thing was to go to the cabin and put on a sweatshirt. Then it was to the deli for my turkey sub.

 

That night, when we walked into the dining room, there were two men sitting at our table! They actually existed! They had known each other since grade school, had kept in touch over the years, and ended up both divorced and living close to each other in NY. So we finally had some people to converse with over dinner. That night, I had both the smoked duck and the chilled cream of peaches, then the farfalle with roast turkey breast. And, finally, it was bitter and blanc night. DD must have had the rack of lamb, but I can’t remember getting a taste, which is shocking, but considering how much I had to eat, I didn’t really need a bite of anything extra!

 

I had my letter from the casino giving me 500 points and a complimentary drink, so decided I needed to redeem that. I was at a slot machine, so sent DD to find a casino host. She came back with one (I had talked with him earlier in the cruise but have forgotten his name; he wore glasses and was from India). He offered DD a drink as well. Since we had each brought a glass of wine from the dining room (I had my last coupon for the last night at dinner so we needed to do some drinking!), we ended up with four glasses. DD had been kind enough to “help” me with all that wine at dinner throughout the week. She headed off to the shops while I sat and played the slots and guzzled wine.

 

 

 

I probably stayed up later than I should have and know I drank more than I should have. On embarkation day, I had gone to the excursion desk and signed up for the Behind the Fun tour, and knew we had to be ready to go at 9 am the next day.

[beachchick24]

Great review, I am really enjoying it ! LOVED the picture of your meal with the duck ... I havent been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it ! We're going on our first sail at the end of January on the Freedom, so I am defiantely excited for all the yummy food ! Was there anything you ate so far that you really didnt enjoy?

:p

[NCTribeFan]

Not really. I'm not all that picky an eater, although I was when I was young. I've broadened my food horizons considerably (along with my waistline) over the decades. :D

 

The only dish I really didn't like was the pasta with the vodka sauce I had several cruises ago. I just really didn't like the flavor.

 

On my Miracle cruise two years ago, the steaks were really pretty awful. I like my beef rare, and they were all overcooked and tough. The only one that I thought was decent was the Beef Wellington, which I absolutely love, and they took it off the menu when they changed them shortly after that cruise. I was crushed. :(

 

We have a sensitivity to the bi-valve seafoods, so have to steer clear of scallops, clams, oysters, etc. I nearly died after an office Christmas party one year when I ate every seafood item I could. Everyone assumed I'd developed an allergy to shellfish, but when I went for allergy testing, I didn't react to two different shellfish serums, so I gradually began to try shrimp and lobster, in small doses.

 

This cruise, I had shrimp cocktail several times, and the lobster and shrimp on the first formal night (and THEN ate the duck!).

 

The scarey thing is we don't know what caused my allergic reaction, so I have no idea what I should avoid. Oh well. I have to eat, right? :p

 

Anyway, back to the beef dishes. While I've had some steaks on recent cruises that were better than those on that first Miracle cruise, lately even the ones that were cooked properly and were tender enough just didn't seem to have any flavor (other than the gigantic Porterhouse I had in the Supper Club on Glory). So, I've just basically stayed away from them. The short ribs were good, though, so maybe I should give a steak or three another chance.

 

Freedom has a Fish & Chips place, right (I'm assuming so, since it's a sister of Glory). I loved the F&C. If the other ships had that, I'd be having F&C for lunch every day rather than a deli sandwich.

 

I'll try to finish up the review tonight, but it may need to wait until tomorrow. I'm on my own for Christmas (as I was for Thanksgiving) for the first time in a long, long time. Not a big deal for me, as I've never made a big deal over holidays or birthdays. We'll see. I'd like to go ahead and get it finished, and then post an abbreviated version on the Review board.

[zellers]

I'll try to finish up the review tonight, but it may need to wait until tomorrow. I'm on my own for Christmas (as I was for Thanksgiving) for the first time in a long, long time. Not a big deal for me, as I've never made a big deal over holidays or birthdays. We'll see. I'd like to go ahead and get it finished, and then post an abbreviated version on the Review board.

 

Just wanted to say "Merry Christmas" to you, and thanks for giving us this review!

[CeleBrat]

WOW! Thanks so much for your review! We just booked the exact same cruise for April, and have been scouring this site for tour recommendations, I'm so glad to hear first-hand accounts of someone who took an independent tour in both Panama and Costa Rica and LIKED IT! (There are some nay sayer who say--don't do independent!)

 

Thanks so much for the info! Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

CeleBrat

[VolzCruiser]

Thanks for sharing NCTribefan love the review

[mystone99]

DW and I love the review. We're sailing on the Miracle in about one year, so we're getting a lot of information. Keep the pictures coming.

[gail811]

Thanks for sharing! Great review! In Februaruy I will be going on the Miracle for my third time and have the same cabin you did! We had the aft wrap (4237)for our 35th anniversary in March and loved it, but going with my mom and sisters this time so can't justify it again! We chose the itinerary because other than Belize the ports are new to us. Happy to hear you were pleased with the tours in Panama and Costa Rica too; we have booked similar tours and always feel a little nervous about how things will work out when we get there. And I LOVE the 4 sea days this cruise offers!

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks everyone, and Happy Holidays to all!

 

One of the very best reviews I've ever read on Cruise Critic was shortly after I joined and just before my Miracle cruise two years ago. It was for this itinerary, written by TallyRockChick. Although it was for a different itinerary, I loved reading it because it was so in-depth and she included so many photos. That review impressed me so much that I try to do the same when I write mine.

 

I was really disappointed when Miracle relocated back to Port Everglades this fall. There were several reviews of the Eastern itinerary, but NO ONE was writing them for the Western! So, I hoped to solve that issue by being as thorough as possible.

 

While the POC boards do provide a lot of info, we aren't supposed to post reviews there, so I like to include as much detail as possible.

 

I'll finish up sometime today and also post the link to my Webshots album. I have about 200 pics there.

[SooNet]

Great review NCTribeFan. I am enjoying following along and wishing I had been there too!

[NCTribeFan]

Wish you could've joined us! It was wonderful. Plenty of things to do, but also plenty of time for R&R.

 

Hopefully, I can finish this today. Unfortunately, as always happens when I cruise, I've picked up a bug. :(

 

I think it's just a cold (I came home from the Triumph CTN in October with H1N1). Not feeling great, but I have everything written except the trip home and my final thoughts/summary.

[NCTribeFan]

Monday, 12/21/09, 4th Fun Day at Sea - Part I

 

Last day of the cruise. And the first day of winter!

 

I’ll tell ya, this 8-night cruising is great. I’ve done several 5-day cruises and they’re over so quickly. Even on 7-day, by about day 4, I’m already getting depressed that the cruise is nearly over. But on day 4 of this one, I was thinking, “we still have 4 full days!!!”

 

Because we had the on-ship excursion, and because DD isn’t an early riser, she put the breakfast card out for herself, but I got up and went to the Lido deck for breakfast. We had been told to report to the Joker Card Room at 9 am for the Behind the Fun tour, wearing closed-toed shoes and to NOT bring a camera or cell phone.

 

Unfortunately, I should have known to take some seasick meds, since I knew we’d go backstage (which meant we’d be in the bow) and I wouldn’t have the opportunity to get out on deck in the fresh air. There were 17 of us in the group. We were given our special ship passes, and given an introduction to the tour by Diane, our leader. As we left the card room, we had to stand and be “wanded” by the security guy to be sure we didn’t have cameras or cell phones. No photos allowed!

 

We went into the theatre and up on the stage where we met one of the technical guys, who talked about the stage, lighting, and sound. Then it was down into the dressing room, which is about as far forward as you can get on the ship. It was quite warm and stuffy down there and I started feeling not-so-good. As we were leaving, I asked Diane if she happened to have any meds in her backpack (that might be something they should consider for future tours), but she didn’t. She said we’d be passing the infirmary, but not for about another hour. The fact that I had an extra glass or two of wine last night probably didn’t really help how my stomach was feeling, you know? :o

 

Next, we walked through Gatsby’s Garden, up the lobby staircase, and into the photo lab. Several people asked about options other than printing every freaking photo they take, only to throw them away. She said that they are working on other options, but that people are more apt to purchase if they have a photo in their hands. She also stated that about 75% of the photos are trashed. Knowing the prices of photos, that 25% must generate a very nice profit. I think I’ve purchased one photo in the last 5 cruises. Maybe. I don’t personally understand why people spend so much money, considering that most folks now have cameras that are easy to operate and take nice photos. We just ask someone to take a pic of us. The background on the ship is good enough. In fact, I prefer it to the Grecian columns or piano with champagne flutes, or palm tree and sunset stuff. But that’s just me. It’s really none of my business what other people do with their money, is it?!?! But as a Carnival shareholder, I can’t help but feel that the whole photo printing process is wasteful. As I said earlier, although I rarely buy photos, we do sometimes have them taken when getting off the ship in port (it’s easier to stop than to fight them saying you don’t want it) and at dinner, and there were several times we couldn’t even find them. What if I’d wanted to buy a couple?

 

Then it was back to the stern and down to Deck 2 and the main galley. I did a galley tour on Fascination last year and while I find it interesting, I don’t find it THAT interesting, you know? But it is amazing, to me, how efficient the operation is. They were still finishing breakfast service while preparing for lunch. I looked over at Diane, and she was holding a packet of seasick meds! She was my new best friend! While the dishwashing system was being described, I snuck back to the galley entrance and took a pill. I felt better within minutes. We then had a group photo with the head chef. Before leaving the galley, we had a quick demonstration of how the chef made floral decorations from vegetables. He was amazing. All the females in the group were given a “lily” made from some gourd (I think) that was yellowish-orange.

 

At this point, I probably have forgotten the sequence of areas we visited, but will touch on most of them.

 

From there, we went down to Deck A (which is where you disembark in port) and to the Engine Control Room. I got a little lost about which engineer he was (not the Chief Engineer, but the 1st Engineer, I think), and his accent was a little difficult to understand, but it was a very interesting stop. The security officer stayed with us. Too bad we can’t see the engine room itself, but I understand their reasoning. I’m happy we got to see as much behind-the-scenes areas as we did.

 

We then went to see the various food storage lockers. I’ll tell you, the big walk-in freezer where they keep the ice cream and the blocks of ice for the carvings is really, really cold. Really cold. No, seriously. You know, like freezing! We also saw the meat-thawing lockers and the cooler where they keep the water, sodas, beer & wine.

 

Next, we met the Environmental Engineer where he described how they pulp the leftover food and feed it to the fish (at least 12 miles from shore), and how they separate and store the items for recycling, shred the items that can’t be recycled, and where they have the incinerators.

 

We continued down “I-95” to the crew mess areas, where we were offered water/tea/lemonade. There are several different dining areas for the different levels of crew/staff. Diane explained how they were on a 28-day menu rotation and the chef talked about how he incorporates requests for various ethnic foods for the crew. From there, we stopped in the crew lounge, where we got our potty break and Diane answered more questions from the group.

 

We then saw the training room, which is Diane’s area. There are several stations with headphones where the crew can work on their language skills, using Rosetta Stone software. She explained how new crew members usually start out working in the crew/staff areas and progress from there up to working with passengers. She also described the crew living quarters and how they try to accommodate couples and roommate requests.

 

Then we went down to Deck C, below the water line, which, of course, you can’t tell because there are no windows. Still, it was a bit strange knowing that. We went through the laundry facilities and saw the great machines that dry, press & fold the sheets all in one go. I need one of those! I couldn’t hang out in the room to see the beach-towel folding demo, because the heat down there was starting to make me feel quesy again, so I waited in the hall outside the door.

[NCTribeFan]

Monday, 12/21/09, 4th Fun Day at Sea - Part II

 

It was finally time for the highlight of the tour (at least it was for me). From Deck C, we went to Deck 8 and headed forward to the Bridge. It was right at noon, so Captain Lubrano was off giving his midday report. Let me tell you, the view from the bridge is spectacular! The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a Carnival ship off our port side, heading south. We were told it was Legend, the day after she left Tampa. We looked at the port wing control board, and had a look through the plexiglass square on the floor (yikes!). We were told what the various displays were for, and saw the radar screen. We had a good view of Cuba out the starboard wing windows. I loved how they had houseplants scattered around. They certainly get enough light up there. Oh, and the security officer accompanied us while on the bridge, as well.

 

The Captain entered and talked to us for a while, and answered questions. Until that point, I had been unaware that our original course, on those first two sea days, was to have been off the east coast of Cuba, between Cuba and Haiti, but the good Captain has taken us west around Cuba to miss most of the tropical depression that was south of Hispaniola. Someone asked him about the worst storm he’d sailed through, and he said it had 24’ seas with 60+ mph winds! And he casually said that he could “feel” it, somewhat. Yikes! We then had a group photo and individual photos. Unfortunately, our individual photos did not turn out all that great. The Captain looks wonderful, but we didn’t. Oh well. I think I’ll put mine in my Platinum Carnival Souvenir Photo Frame that I received as my Platinum gift, anyway. Maybe I should cover up the portion of the photo with me and just leave the photo of the handsome captain! :D

 

The last thing we noticed was a panel with several small, square buttons. Two of them said “morse code” beneath them, and then the last one said “abandon ship!” :eek: I didn’t like seeing that very much.

 

To finish off, we went aft to the Lido area and up to Nick & Nora’s Steakhouse. I have only eaten in one supper club (on Glory), and while it was very good, I would just prefer to spend that money on other activities. I was a bit surprised to hear them explain that changing from “supper club” to “steakhouse” meant it was a little more casual. Personally, I would rather see Carnival go a little more upscale rather than bring everything down to the lowest level they possibly can! Anyway, I also was surprised that the lower level was open to Horatio’s below. It was very noisy.

 

We had a quick galley tour there as well, and then were seated to fill out the evaluation form, and offered OJ, water, or champagne. Of course, I had champagne. We were then given our “goodie bags” and also a soap that had been carved as a swan. It looked like it was white chocolate, so we were warned to NOT eat it. We then turned in our passes and were done.

 

 

I had been rather skeptical about paying $95 each for this, especially given my current economic situation, but it really was a special tour. I don’t know if newbie cruisers would get as much out of it as those of us who have cruised a bit more. The logistics of keeping a ship that size running smoothly must be very complicated. Considering how very many things could possibly go wrong, it’s amazing that things so rarely do go wrong!

[SooNet]

It does seem interesting but I agree that the price seems a bit steep. My guess is they are limiting the number of people by charging this much for it. Once you've done it once though you probably wouldn't do this a second time.

[Froufie]

Wow - the behind the fun tours sounds very interesting - but I agree pretty expensive. Is it really 3 hours long? (sounds like you met at 9 am and were at the bridge around noon? or am I mistaken?). Are the pictures included in the price as well?