Emerald vs Miracle

[stampinrobin]

Ok, here is my long question. I have Carnival Miracle booked for January for their new southern itin route, great balcony cabin great price.

 

I prefer to cruise later in the winter, but without boring you with all the details had booked this January date quite a while back.

 

I'm a new cruiser and have really been wanting to try Princess. I just found the 10-day southern itin on Emerald: Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts, St Thomas and Princess Cays - wow what an awesome itin!

 

I can book an interior on deck 11 for the same price as the Miracle. A baloncy room on Emerald would not be affordable for me at this point.

 

Even though I've been looking forward to this Miracle cruise for a long time, I'm just about convinced to change over to Emerald. Here is my question. Cruising on March 18 on a 10-day cruise, will the ship be full of spring breakers? I'm thinking since it is 10-days there will not be a lot of kids on it, is that just wishful thinking?

 

If the answer is yes, is it worth it/necssary for my comfort to pay for an entire week of the Sanctuary to enjoy the three sea days there?

 

Newbie cruiser would love your thoughts.

 

Thanks!

[Essiesmom]

This is a Princess board, so you will get mostly replies urging you to change to Emerald. But having sailed ten times with Carnival, and dying to try a Spirit class ship, I wouls stay with Miracle. The beds are more comfortable on Carnival, and the food is at least equal, if not better. I just did a week on Emerald and two on Diamond, so I do have something to compare. I would stick with what you have, and another good deal will come along if you are patient. EM

[DonnaK]

We had an absolutely horrible cruise on Miracle. Service was severely lacking, the ship was dark and smoky with an awkward layout, and kids had the run of the ship instead of being positively occupied in the kid's club.

 

I think Princess provides a much better product.

[stampinrobin]

Thanks for your replies.

 

I'm still looking for information on the demographics on a 10-day cruise during Spring break............

 

Will there be less kids because it's 10-days or will the ship be full of kids?

 

Can anyone share their experiences?

 

Thanks

[CrusinAgain]

The spring breakers generally go on the 7 day itineraries and I have been on the Miracle. The ship was fine and the beds comfy. Food was good as well as service. The artwork was alot of nudity - have never figured out that one on a Carnival ship.

 

So this would be your first cruise?

 

Princess does has fresh water pools while Carnival is salt water. Princess has movies in the theater and Movies Under the Stars with popcorn. The major cabin differences between Princess and Carnival is the beds are comfy on Carnival and not on Princess; the showers are tiny on Princess and bigger on Carnival. There is a private dressing area on Princess but not on Carnival.

 

Personally I would not have a problem in going on either ship but Princess is our first choice especially when we can get an obstructed view on Princess but would have to go on a balcony on Carnival since oceanviews are only on the bottom decks on the newer Carnival ships.

 

I would check out the price for an obstructed view and see if you can get one between lifeboats.

[geoherb]

You don't have to pay extra to get an adults only space on the Emerald. There are the spa pool area and the terrace pool. Also a 10-day cruise at spring break would not attract many families with teenagers or college students.

[DanJ]

I personally like the itinerary better on the Miracle, other than it being 8 days instead of 10. We sailed on a sister ship last summer, which was fully booked at 125% of double occupancy, and thought the ship held the people fine. I certainly didn't experience the kids having the run of the ship that the above poster experienced 6 years ago, and we had over 800 kids on board including our 2.

 

I think the odds are that you'll have fewer kids on the 10 day itinerary, than the 8 day, even though January is typically a slow family month right after Christmas. But, try to book the Miracle in January, and you'll see there are next to no 3 or 4 person rooms available, so that says to me there will be lots of kids. However, the March 18 being a Friday embarkation, this means people don't have to burn 2 full weeks off work/school so that might entice some families to give it a go.

 

I think you just need to decide which itinerary suits you best, and go from there. I don't really see a bad decision either way.

[stampinrobin]

Thanks all for your replies, they were helpful!

 

And being new to Princess I didn't realize they had an adults area, that would eliminate the need for the expense of the Sanctuary (even though it sounds wonderful !)

 

At this point I'm leaning towards staying on the Miracle and wait to go on this 10-day cruise when I can afford a balcony. The Oasis is blowing my 2011 vacay budget! ha ha

[Dreamer333]

There will definitely be more spring-breakers on the Miracle than on the Emerald!

[spyro1952]

I would think that the Carnival ship will be loaded with spring break kids, especially college students who could probably afford the cruise given the lower prices. Cruising on Carnival and cruising on Princess are two totally different experiences and if you prefer adults and not into noise and vomit:eek: - I would spend the extra money on Princess.

[CruisinFinsUp]

If I'm reading original poster's correctly the choice is similar itinerary but

Jan - Miracle - balcony

March 18 - Emerald - inside, preferred time-frame

 

So she is concerned about March on Princess during spring break.

 

Ontario spring break is 14th-18th for K-12 students, and February for the Universities. We don't have such strict rules as in the USA about kids (especially the younger ones) being taken out of school for holidays booked when the parents can go .... So leaving on the 18th might have younger kids if the parents are doing the last half of the break plus the following week.

I don't know if other jurisdications have a break that late in March, but I'm sure that there will be "enough" kids on the ship. I'm not certain that the 10 days overlapping the break will reduce the number of kids that much.

 

You can phone the cruiseline and enquire as to how many children are registered so far - they sometimes will tell you.

 

We've sailed Miracle and other Princess ships.

Miracle has great food in the dining room, the buffet is ok, the deli is great, the waterslide is great. We did two Carnival cruises because we could get a much bigger cabin for less money, relatively. The slides were great for the kids.

Princess has a bigger/longer duration buffet, freshwater in the pools, no waterslides, more subdued decor.

[DanJ]

I would think that the Carnival ship will be loaded with spring break kids, especially college students who could probably afford the cruise given the lower prices. Cruising on Carnival and cruising on Princess are two totally different experiences and if you prefer adults and not into noise and vomit:eek: - I would spend the extra money on Princess.

 

I see you have a long list of Carnival cruises there to make such a generalization. I also doubt the Miracle ship will have many spring breakers on it in the third week of January, which is the timeframe the OP is booked on it.

 

Sometimes I think people just want to jump on an opportunity to crap on Carnival that they don't bother reading things first.

[CrusinAgain]

I would think that the Carnival ship will be loaded with spring break kids, especially college students who could probably afford the cruise given the lower prices. Cruising on Carnival and cruising on Princess are two totally different experiences and if you prefer adults and not into noise and vomit:eek: - I would spend the extra money on Princess.

 

Wow! Have you actually been on a Carnival ship of a itinerary of 7 days or longer that isn't a party ship like 3-4 dayers? It isn't that much different than Princess and I never saw this vomit you speak of. I've been on 4 Carnival cruises and never ran into partiers, rowdiness or vomit. Any cruise during Spring break that is 3-4 days is going to be more of a party cruise, (even though our 4 day one wasn't), if Princess had them they would have the partiers also. Think one needs to post with experience and not perceived ideas.

[stampinrobin]

I would think that the Carnival ship will be loaded with spring break kids, especially college students who could probably afford the cruise given the lower prices. Cruising on Carnival and cruising on Princess are two totally different experiences and if you prefer adults and not into noise and vomit:eek: - I would spend the extra money on Princess.

 

 

I don't even know how to respond to that except to say if you are indicative of the passengers on Princess, I will stay with Carnival. Fortunately for me, I'm going to guess you are not.

 

Thanks to all who took the time to reply constructively. It helps me in my decision making!

[Kirsten T]

My DH is a college professor so we're locked into the college breaks for vacations. We've done 10 day itineraries on Princess, both in January prior to the spring semester start and also in March. We saw few college-age passengers on any trip, and the few that were there were respectful and just enjoyed themselves like everyone else, with no trouble. (To be honest, I saw worse behavior from some of the older folks.)

Cheers,

Kirsten