MIRACLE Review 27th Aug out of NY

[kevcharben]

First about us. Family of three teenage son aged 15.

 

Embarkation: Fast and painless.

 

Being from the UK we arrived in NY the day before, our hotel was a mile or so away from the terminal.

We arrived at around 1155am the taxi dropped us right at the front door where we were greeted by porters who whisked our luggage away.

 

From that point it took about 40 minutes to book in, set up our Sign and Sail account etc and then onto the ship.

Upto the Lido deck to enjoy lunch and beverages.

 

We didn’t even attempt go to our room until 4-00pm, we did what everyone suggested, took a change of clothes (Shorts bathing costume) and settled down on the deck to soak up the rays, the weather was hot and sunny, apparently we brought the good weather with us by what the new Yorkers were telling us.

We had opted for a balcony cabin on deck 8. It was great to sit out morning or evening and enjoy the ocean view. The room is exactly as advertised on the sites and it was more than adequate for there sharing. There is shampoo and shower gel already in a wall dispenser so unless you have to have your own personal favourite of those, save the space and don’t pack it. And there is a blow dryer in the vanity portion of the room in the top drawer.

 

Food/Dinner: We ate in the dining room on all 8 nights, it is our preference as we like the dining experience. We opted for anytime dining, this was a very good choice for us, to be able to up for dinner at a time that suited us. Just a point to be aware only twice did we get seated immediately, on all other occasions we were given a pager to let us know when the table was ready. We never waited more than 10 minutes, just enough time for a pre dinner drink.

The food itself was excellent no matter where we ate, if you can’t find something you like then you must be a fussy eater. In the MDR if you like bigger portions then just ask and they will accommodate you. The staff were fantastic, they couldn’t do enough for you.

We also had breakfast in the MDR on 2 or 3 occasions. The rest of the dining time we ended up eating our meals up at Lido where we found everything to be fresh and delicious. And the waitstaff and cooks there are just too happy to serve you. There are many things to choose from: fresh salad, sandwiches, pizza (my son’s favorite), Chinese, chicken fingers, fries, burgers, hot-dogs…the list goes on and on.

We also did not opt for the soda card. We figured there was lemonade, iced tea, water, coffee and tea to choose from (as well as juices in the morning), that you didn’t have to pay for so for a week we figured we could do without soda, and we did. Although I have to say the lemonade was awful but plenty of others seemed to like it. Being from the UK, hot tea is mainly what we drunk, I did try the iced tea and its safe to say I won’t be doing it again.

The Ports of call.

 

Grand Turk.

We went to Margaritaville, it a lovely pool / resort area. We spent 90 minutes or so before my son took up the offer of the flow rider, which he thoroughly enjoyed it, I had almost as much enjoyment just watching him and others. Highly recommended as long as you don’t mind a few bruises on the elbows / knees.

We then went on the stingray experience; we went out on the boat to a very remote little island, where we were offered snorkelling gear to use if we wished. The rays then came to the boat as they have realised they get food, it was great to have them swim around you and between the legs. Even better to snorkel along and watch them. There was the usual photo opportunity to have it taken with a ray that was held slightly out of the water, for a cost of course.

We got back and walked around the shopping area then headed back to the ship.

 

Half Moon Cay is everything everyone has said about it.

We decided before we went after reading the many posts on the site that we would rent a cabana ($250), as we decided this would be a 100% beach day.

We got the 1st tender to the island and indeed we were on the last one of the island. The cabana was just as advertised, and was a luxury I would definitely take up again. Yes of course you could manage without one, but the sheer pleasure of being able to get out of the sun for a little while in a cool area from the air conditioning unit and fans and lay down on the padded seats to have a siesta was bliss.

Although there was only three of us in ours, many of the cabanas had 8 9 or 10 people in them. I know its only advertised as 4 but nobody checks or cares for that matter. It would be ideal for an extended family with children. We had cabana no 11 which we chose based on the reviews in that it was far enough up the beach to be away fro the throng of people.

With the cabana you got the drinks snacks etc along with snorkelling gear for 4 and floats you could lie on. The snorkelling gear is OK but the only thing to see is sand, although as a novice snorkeler I took the opportunity practice before our proper snorkelling excursion at Nassau the next day (More later)

Just a comment on the beach it had the softest and whitest sand you have ever walked on. DON’T FORGET THE SUNSCREEN, it is so easy to forget how long you are out in the sun.

The BBQ on the island is OK. There is plenty of food and drink

 

Nassau…Well!!!

We got back on the boat and set sail from HMC, than we got the news, because of Hurricane Earl we would not be going to Nassau and would be setting sail back to NY, which would mean getting back there a day earlier. Very disappointing obviously, but we would have been travelling up the east coast alongside / in the storm and safety and comfort as always must come 1st. We got back to NY and were given the choice of leaving the ship completely or treating it as another excursion port. We had no choice but to stay as our flight home to the UK was not until the next day. So we soaked up more NY rays, on what became a very quiet boat as around 60% of passengers had gone home.

Needless to say this made getting off the boat very easy so it would be unfair to make comment on the process.

 

The Entertainment:

The shows are excellent. As people have pointed out in previous cruises the Generations and the Ticket to Ride shows are excellent. We had a Sammy Davis Jr tribute singer. He was good. We didn’t do the talent show as its not our scene.

We had a comedy juggler, a comedian, both who were very entertaining. I believe we were supposed to pick another entertainer in Nassau but that didn’t happen.

There were a couple of adult comedy shows after midnight, again these were good.

 

The casino - Very friendly staff that were very polite when taking my money each night. They were also very friendly to others who did win money.

 

This was our 1st cruise, so we have nothing to compare it to, however I was very very impressed with the ship, the staff on board were the most friendly and welcoming I have ever come across. Nothing was too much trouble for them, and I don’t know how much they earn (including tips) but the deserve everything they get.

 

They seemed to be a lot of children on the cruise, but unlike some people who sometimes forget they were once kids, they add to the experience.

[jimbo5544]

Nice review. Glad you enjoyed yourselves, sorry your cruise was cut short by a day, but better safe than sorry. Hope you are now addicted to cruising like the rest of us!

[wasiii]

.....out of curiosity, did the people who left a day early get anything back from Carnival for being a day short?

 

:confused:

 

wasiii

[kevcharben]

Wasiii In answer to your question, we all got 15% of the price of the next cruise (valid for 2 years), whether you left the ship or not.

I have got the bug and will be using the discount, I've got my eye on the big new ship (Miracle Magic), its not yet in service for my wedding anniversary next year, and it sails from Europe so its a little bit easier.

[nybumpkin]

Nice review! We sailed this itinerary on Miracle last summer and had cabana #11. One advantage of being farther down the beach is that you're less likely to have people coming up to your cabana to use the shower, which happened to us in July (cabana #5).

[keeponrolling]

It's so enjoyable to read a well written, positive and upbeat review. You see things on the bright side.

[NoRoxie!]

I too was on this cruise. We also got refunded for the Nassau port fees (I think it was 68 cents) and, of course, the refund of any booked excursions. And free phone service from the ship for about a day, in case anyone needed to make adjustments to travel arrangements. It was a bummer for me to miss my Nassau excursion, but I was happy to be safe, than sorry!

[ECUPirateFan]

Thaks for the review. I will be on that same cruise in two weeks !!! I was wondering about snorkling from the beach so I'm glad you mentioned that there isn't much to see. Also, glad o hear the entertainment was good since we have 4 sea days.

[kevcharben]

Pirate

 

I hope you have a good a time as we had, one thing for sure I was never bored on the sea days.