REVIEW Carnival Miracle 5/6/11 by 1st time cruiser

[usajfs]

Just back from the May 6, 2011 Carnival Miracle Cruise to Eastern Caribbean. This was my very 1st cruise and after booking in September 2010 the long wait finally came. I spent the 8 long months of waiting reading Cruise Critic and Carnival boards while dreaming of the day I stepped on the ship for the 1st time. I am here to say “OMG”. What a fantastic experience. I feel comfortable giving this cruise a 9.5 rating. (Of course I have nothing to compare this to). I only have a few small negative points that I will touch on later. The ship was so clean and the staff were outstanding. I truly felt spoiled.

We had 4 full sea days which were filled with exploring the ship and attending the shows. Punchliners (Comedy) club was by far my favorite. I also took these days to relax, spending most of the day time hours by the Adult Only pool and hot tub on Deck 9. Just a side note….I never experienced the “Chair Hogs”. If they were on this ship, I hadn’t noticed.

3 of us shared an obstructed view balcony cabin on deck 5. Loved having a balcony but didn’t end up using it much. The cabin was small but had plenty of storage so we never felt cramped. The beds were so comfy and the linens very soft. I slept better than in my own bed at home. Our cabin steward Jose and his assistant Komang were outstanding. Our cabin was always clean and our portable cooler was always magically filled with ice. If we asked for anything, they were very prompt to provide.

more to come......

[CruisinFamily_3]

We were on this cruise also, and first time cruises. What an amazing vacation! I miss all the food and sun already! We loved having 4 sea days. Can't wait to read the rest!

[melissac25]

I was on the same cruise and had Komang too!! He was great!

[will773]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your first cruise! Welcome to the obsession... You will be on many more! ;)

[canadiancruiser13]

Just back from the May 6, 2011 Carnival Miracle Cruise to Eastern Caribbean. This was my very 1st cruise and after booking in September 2010 the long wait finally came. I spent the 8 long months of waiting reading Cruise Critic and Carnival boards while dreaming of the day I stepped on the ship for the 1st time. I am here to say “OMG”. What a fantastic experience. I feel comfortable giving this cruise a 9.5 rating. (Of course I have nothing to compare this to). I only have a few small negative points that I will touch on later. The ship was so clean and the staff were outstanding. I truly felt spoiled.

We had 4 full sea days which were filled with exploring the ship and attending the shows. Punchliners (Comedy) club was by far my favorite. I also took these days to relax, spending most of the day time hours by the Adult Only pool and hot tub on Deck 9. Just a side note….I never experienced the “Chair Hogs”. If they were on this ship, I hadn’t noticed.

3 of us shared an obstructed view balcony cabin on deck 5. Loved having a balcony but didn’t end up using it much. The cabin was small but had plenty of storage so we never felt cramped. The beds were so comfy and the linens very soft. I slept better than in my own bed at home. Our cabin steward Jose and his assistant Komang were outstanding. Our cabin was always clean and our portable cooler was always magically filled with ice. If we asked for anything, they were very prompt to provide.

more to come......

Glad to hear that you enjoed your "First Cruise".

As one of the posts mentioned - "Welcome to the obsession".

How long into your cruise did it take to say or to think that you are (might be) hooked on

cruising????

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review.

 

 

Kirk

[jetsfan]

We are in this cruise in August, can't wait to read the rest. My DH and I took our first cruise 14 years ago and I can remember pulling out of port the first afternoon knowing we would have to do cruise again. We have been on 10 since then! Glad you had a great time!

[VickiD59]

Our first cruise was on the Miracle as well (last July). We're anxiously waiting for the 2012 schedule to come out so we can start planning again. Keep the review coming.. so far so good! ;)

[Crusin Karen]

We were on this cruise also. Since we are "seasoned cruisers" it's fun to read what newbies have to say! Glad you had a good time. Agree it was an awesome week! :p

[usajfs]

Our 1st port of call was Grand Turk. This port has a dock/pier so we were able to come and go throughout the day. Our 1st stop on the island was the beach. But shortly after we stopped by Margaretville and fell immediately in love. Margaretville is why I would have to call Grand Turk my favorite port of call.

The 2nd port of call was Half Moon Cay (pronounced “KEY”). This island is absolutely beautiful. No Dock/Pier so we were transported by tender boats. 2 tenders held approximately100 passengers each and the 3rd held over 300 passengers. The tender process was as good as you might expect. It was about a 30 minute wait from ship to shore but we waited in the comfort of the Phantom Theater so it wasn’t too bad. The beach at Half Moon Cay was amazing. The water was so clear and the sand soft like talcum power. Carnival provided a BBQ lunch. Again we could return to the ship at anytime. The temperature was very hot so we did return to the ship a little early. It is nice being on the ship during port days. As many passengers are on the island, the ship was nice and peaceful.

The 3rd island was Nassau. This is like the 1st island, with a dock/pier, and come and go easily. We did not go to the beach at Nassau but chose to explore the downtown area and do some shopping. The locals at the pier were very pushy and persistent to sell their services but a simple No Thanks and continue to walk was all that was needed. We found our way to the straw market at the end of Bay Street. Now this was a unique experience. Picture the show “Hoarding-Buried Alive” Now put a sales person on each side of the narrow walkways about every 4 feet on each side. The narrow isles were stuffed with items at least 10 feet high. Each and every sales person would relentlessly try to get you to buy from their jam packed 4’X10’ area of merchandise. Even if you managed to get passed one sales person, there would be dozens and dozens of more to get passed. As strange as it might sound, I found this experience to be tons of fun and ended up buying several items. Each item I would negotiate a deal and each time would try to see how low I could get the price. Not sure I would ever do it again but it was definitely fun at the time.

[usajfs]

I was hooked before we left the port. I am already looking into the next cruise.

[NJsharon]

I was hooked before we left the port. I am already looking into the next cruise.

 

Yep it's got you! LOL

 

Glad you had a fun time. Nice to read your review!

[usajfs]

review con't....

 

For dining options we chose to eat breakfast and lunch at the buffets on deck 9. There were endless options to chose from. I flt the buffet food was very good and nver had to wait in long lins. For dinner, we did the early seating in the MDR. hannah and Rodnie were our serviers and did an excellent job. Every night we tride to select something from the menue that we had never tried before and if it turned out to be something we didnt like, Hannah and rodnie were quck to bring something else. The entertainment between the entree an dessrt was awesome. We got a big kick out of participating in the dances.

 

more later....

[usajfs]

I would be glad to post pictures but can't figure out how to do it so they show up on the post.

[CrazyFemaleCruiser]

yep, we were on the same cruise!!!! loved it!!! =)

[BettyPC]

Great start to your review! Thanks for sharing!

[spideyfam]

Thank you for posting a review! Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[usajfs]

One thing we enjoyed daily throughout the week was going to the spa area. We would relax in the spa hot tub, sit in the steam shower and use the spa showers to clean up from a wonderful day. The spa showers have 4 shower jets on the sides and a rain head above. After we were done in the shower we would sit under the sun lamps in the santuary to dry off a little and just relax. I would highly recommend anyone to enjoy what the spa area has to offer. (for no extra charge)

 

.......

[pcrum]

I love the Miracle. She is a beautiful ship!!

[hill6]

Nice review. We just got home from her yesterday.

 

Punchliners was great. Nice to see that they are finally utilizing Mad Hatter. Too bad it was not bigger. We were turned away from one show.

[usajfs]

There was one negative on the entire cruise worth mentioning. This really bothered me at the time but soon after I chose to let it go. I attended a lecture on Detoxing and weight loss. This was very imformative and the speaker was really good. We were offered to set up an appointment for a one-on-one with the speaker to receive a personal analysist and assistance. I set up an appointment. I was given my analysist and then the Info-mercial came. A hard push to sell $600 worth of pills. When I hesitated for a moment the staff person became very rude. Jeckyl and Hyde. I was shocked. Every staff person and crew member I had encountered on this cruise was beyond polite and professional and then this happened. WOW is all I can say.

[usajfs]

My finally thoughts. I abolutely love cruising now. I can't wait to sail again. And for those that have heard some negatives on certain subjects, I can honestly say.....

 

I never experienced chair hogs, elevator elephants, stair sitters or inconsiderate smokers. We did not get noise from above, below or next to our cabin. And most importantly, the way others dressed for dinner did not affect our experience.