Miracle review May 22-30th 2012

[Chillaxx46]

This is my first time writing a review so please be patient! I hope it is good and can help you out a lot! If you have any questions i will certainly try to help you out.

 

 

-Nina

[Chillaxx46]

Day 1: We live in PA so instead of driving and paying the price to park we took the train to new york, which was extremely easy! We hired a limo service to take us to the pier and back to the train station. We were the only ship to leave new york that day which was nice but I think it would have been cool to leave with other ships. We arrived to the port around 1 and we were on the boat by 1:15-1:20. This is the latest that we have ever arrived at a port and it was actually nice to arrive this late because you didn’t really have to wait long for anything. The port is really organized and they make everything extremely easy for you. There are porters there right when you get dropped off and then you are shown to the elevators. After we got on board we went straight to guest services to get rooms switched. Originally my mom and my friend were in one room and my dad and I were in another so we needed to get that switched. They would not recode the cards because my friend and I were both under 20(were both 19) and our room was down the hall from my parents not right next to it so they gave my friend and my dad 2 cards. One for just their sail and sign and one for their rooms. For both of them it was a pain to carry two cards with them but then we realized that they could get them punched together in the casino, which made it easier. After we got the cards situated we went to get soda cards and the cups. Although some people might find it expensive, I feel as if getting both is definitely a must. We then wondered around the ship, ate and checked out our room. Then of course we had to go to the muster drill. My mom has problems with her back so we got to go inside and sit down for the muster drill. In my personal opinion I have to say that they take the muster drill way more serious then they did in January! We were on the pride in January when the Costa Ship sank and if you compare the two muster drills I believe that this one was 10 times more strict, which is a good thing! After the muster drill was over we went up to my moms room to watch the sail away. Both of our rooms were on deck 8, but my mom and dad had a premium balcony so we went there to watch sail away. Unfortunately we were on the New Jersey side so we didn’t get to see new york but it was still amazing. On this trip we had anytime dinning, which I believe was amazing as always! We were seated with Jesus and his team. They were great! After dinner we went to Karaoke. On this night it was superstar karaoke. If you have not experienced this yet, it is when you get to sing with the band. The karaoke host was amazing. He has a wonderful voice and can dance! We ended up “adopting” him through out our cruise! My friend and I went to bingo after karaoke and for the first time ever I actually won1 it was 1,000 dollar bingo but someone else won so I only received 500 dollars. In my mind 500 is better than zero. So of course I was thrilled and that set the tone for the cruise. We then went to see comedy but didn’t stay long because we didn’t think he was very funny. I don’t remember his name but we didn’t go to anymore after that. My parents did go to the comedy brunch, but ill talk about that later! That night we went to the club, which was okay. Overall this was a WONDERFUL first day of the trip!!

[VickiD59]

Welcome home Chillaxx! Glad to see you're beginning your review; and so far so good I must say :) We leave in 31 days.. tomorrow is officially one month to go!!!

Keep up the good work.. I'll be following along.

[vivavegas]

Not a problem! You're doing great. I'm enjoying your review and looking forward to reading more!:)

[Chillaxx46]

Day 2: This was our first day at sea. My friend and I woke up really early and decided to just get dressed and go to breakfast. The breakfast buffet seemed to be really good but I didn’t eat much because I am not that much of a breakfast eater. The weather this day was not very good because we were sailing through the last bit of that tropical depression! We went through some sort little rain storms and some windy patches. We decided to stay inside and shop, gamble and play trivia. Trivia was fun but as we found out it was the trivia hosts first cruise out of training. Although you really couldn’t tell because he was a natural! We stayed for all of his trivia games that day and every other day! Later that day I also tried my hand at bingo again! Bingo was on the lido deck which made it difficult because it was very windy. There were many run away cards that day! I didn’t win but I did win 100 on the pull cards. Winning money became a theme on this trip for my family! I really don’t remember what else happened this day but I do know that this was the first formal night! On this night we had reservations for Nick and Noras steak house. The food was absolutely fabulous! This was our third time going to carnivals steak house. If you haven’t been there yet I really recommend it! At first you get a “special” from the chief. You get some kind of lobster dish. They also give you a roasted pepper dish. That is wonderful! I have never tried the lobster thing before but the soup is so good. Both of those dishes are very very tiny! After that little dish you get an appetizer. I got this shrimp cocktail and it was delicious! For dinner I ordered the surf and turf which consisted of Lobster tail and Filet Mignon. This was the first time ive ever had lobster and I thought that I would try it. In my mind I figured that if I tried it on land and didn’t like it I would feel bad for not eating it because its expensive at home, but since you just pay one fee at the steak it seemed like a good time for me to try it! It was okay, but I don’t think I would eat it very often. I wasn’t a big fan of the texture. The dessert selections were good but by the time you get to dessert you are extremely full! I got the Port Wine sorbet. It was very good! The staff up there was very attentive and they don’t let you ever have to ask for anything because they are always there for you. After dinner we went to karaoke yet again(we went there almost every day!), this time karaoke was in jeeves lounge which is right by the dinning room. I didn’t really enjoy having karaoke there. On the pride in January it was either in a room by the fountainhead coffee shop or in the bottom lounge where superstar live is. We found out that as a part of carnival 2.0 they are getting rid of a lot of stuff. They have moved karaoke because they believe that it doesn’t bring in a lot of money from the bar so they believe that it no longer deserves a room. The problem with that is that where it is not people walk through on the way to and from the dinning room. I believe on this night the entertainment was signing with the big band. I forget the guy who sang but carnival flies him in and off of the ships. He produced and designed everything about the show. It was actually a really entertaining show! Go to it if you get the chance. I also apologize for no pictures! I always take my camera on trips, but then I only end up taking like 50 pictures because I forget about it!

 

Day 3 coming up soon!

[Chillaxx46]

Thank you for the encouragement!

[DentL]

Keep going! You are doing great !

[Chillaxx46]

Day 3: Today was another sea day. It was a bit nicer then the day before although it was a bit muggy and still pretty windy! Once again we went to trivia. If you don’t have anything to do go to trivia and visit Dom!! He really is good and has tons of potential! For some reason I cant really remember what we did today because we were really excited about getting of the boat the next day. On the second day we all kind of felt “trapped” on the boat because we just really wanted to get off and get some sun! a lot of people felt the same way. It was like this anxious feeling going on around the ship! We went to dinner in the dinning room this night. We requested Jesus and we got him right away. They gave us the same table we had the first night and we didn’t even have to wait which was nice. His team was very nice and they did whatever they could to make you happy! He likes to joke around with you and you can tell that he has a good time! My only complaint about the dinning room is that it takes a while to get your drinks. That is always an issue though not only on the miracle. It is because they don’t have very many bar waiters and they have to wait on so many tables. Then when they go to the bar to get the drinks there is only one bar tender filling all of the drinks that the bar waiter needs. One thing I have forgotten to touch on was the comedy brunch. My parents went a few days with out us because my friend and I always slept in. They said that the food was AMAZING and so was the service. They didn’t really like the comedy and they said that it was too loud depending on where you were seated so you couldn’t really talk to people. According to them it was unnecessary and most people just went for the food not the comedy. I also don’t remember what days we tried the taste bar but it was also really good! It was nice because you got to try samples from the restaurants on the other ships. For example you got to try food from the Italian restaurant, blue iguana, and other places on the newer ships. It was really a nice treat! The only problem was I wish that they had offered it before dinner or around lunch because I wasn’t very hungry after dinner even for a little sample. But it was very good and you should try it at least once. The serenity area was also very nice! They had it on the pride in January so it was nothing new to us but since it was new to many other people it was always very crowded! I think the décor on this ship was very nice but I am not really sure how it all tied in together. On other ships you can tell that there is one main theme but I really couldn’t tell on this one. If you have ever been on the pride, which is in the same class as the miracle, there are paintings of naked people all over the place so it was nice to not see as many of those pictures!

 

Coming up next first day on land!! We visited grand turk so of course we spent the day at margaritaville!

 

 

 

If there is anything that you would really like to know about just let me know!

[VickiD59]

The theme of the Miracle is characters in literature.

[Chillaxx46]

Thank you! it was very confusing because some of the places were named after greek characters and then you have comic book places!

[boaterette]

Thank you for your review. I am looking forward to sailing on the Miracle when she moves to the west coast. As you have said you are 19 were you allowed in the serenity area. I thought it was for 21 and above?

[Chillaxx46]

it did say 21 and older on the doors....but i was back there and they never asked how old i was or kicked me out! its not like i was being loud or obnoxious either so they didn't really have a reason too! but i also think they just don't want little children back there

[boaterette]

it did say 21 and older on the doors....but i was back there and they never asked how old i was or kicked me out! its not like i was being loud or obnoxious either so they didn't really have a reason too! but i also think they just don't want little children back there

 

Thank you. My niece is 19 and very quiet so I was hoping she would be ok there too. As she doesn't really like little kids.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for posting your review, your doing good, and I hope to read more from you about your cruise.

[VickiD59]

Was your itinerary the San Juan, St Thomas, Grand Turk run, or the alternate itinerary of Grand Turk, HMC and Nassau? If it was the first one I'm anxious to hear what you may have done on your San Juan port day. YES.. it seems forever before you get to that first port (3 full days).. although we loved the sea days, but by that point we were alittle anxious to get off the ship and see some sights as well.

[Chillaxx46]

Day 4: We have FINALLY reached land! We really love sea days but its nice to touch land! We reserved a cabana at margaritaville. We got off the ship almost as soon as we could because we wanted to get full use of the day in the sun. We took pictures with the carnival people and then calked to the pool area. As soon as we got there we tried to figure out how we figure out which cabana was ours. Well we then figured out that my wonderful parents left the cabana ticket somewhere on the boat but they didn’t know where. So of course we couldn’t get into the cabana. I volunteered my self to run back to ship since I was the youngest and the most level headed person at the moment in time. After fighting the crowds and getting back on the ship I got my self up to the shore excursion desk, explained my issue to them and they gave us a duplicate ticket. So finally we could claim our cabana. The cabana was very nice! Our cabana had really comfortable sofas in them as well as air conditioning. We had a waitress that got us anything that we needed through out the day. It was wonderful. It was nice to have a place to store our belongings while we were in the pool. Which brings me to the actual pool area of margaritaville. It was absolutely amazing! I recommend spending sometime in the pool and at the swim up bar. The swim up bar is wonderful. The only bad thing about the swim up bar was that they took awhile to get you what you wanted. The dj was also amazing! He created this wonderful and fun atmosphere. It can get a little wild and it kind of seemed like it was “spring break”. My parents are older and they also enjoyed the atmosphere so I don’t think that it was only for young people. The beach area is only about 20 steps from the pool. The beach though is very rocky. I personally didn’t like to put my feet down because it felt really weird. My dad and I swam down the beach and it seemed like there were tons of little bars that offered cheap drinks. The beach was overall very nice and its worth checking out. The food was also very good. There is also a very nice shopping area although its very touristy but it’s a nice area. I personally have to say that the port area here is one of the nicest that I have ever been too. I really do have to say that this is y favorite port ever. We got back on the boat with plenty of time to spare but instead of doing things we went to take a nap. I guess all of the sun wore us all out. We went to dinner in the main dinning room again and it was wonderful as always. I really did enjoy the food on this cruise compared to others. The staff was very nice too!

 

 

Next up: Half Moon Cay

[emk323]

Just got off the miracle also and I have to say I honestly cant find one bad thing to say. It was wonderfull..We also loved Dominic and the Trivia and charades.. He was so good you would think he was working the cruise lines for years but this was in fact his first time out after training......

 

We had 6 p.m. dinner and our head waiter was Istivan (not sure if I spelt it right) he told us to call him Steve. He is getting Married to Maria ( the girl who did all the games) in two weeks in St Thomas.They could not have been nicer .

I am having withdrawles........

 

10 out of ten from me

[VickiD59]

Next up: Half Moon Cay

Well that answered my itinerary question ;)

[Chillaxx46]

haha sorry! i forgot to answer it!

[Chillaxx46]

emk....did you go to trivia everyday?!?! i was the one he would call "blue shirt nina"

[jmwg49]

We had Jesus as our waiter and loved him...LOVED HIM!! ???Someone mentioned Maria? Do you mean one of the assistant CDs? Wow!! How exciting for Maria. We loved her too! The Miracle is an amazing ship, with an amazing staff! Loving your review! Cant wait to sail her again in March/13:D

[benvan2]

We are leaving next Thursday, so I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your review. So Far it sounds great! I do have a question for you about debarkation. Where did you meet your car service. We are still trying to decide whether to do car service or taxi's. I can't do a lot of walking with luggage in tow. I had heard you had to walk a lot further if you had a car service picking you up. Also how long did it take you to get off the ship?

[Chipster2]

Wonderful review, thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

Looking forward to hearing more.

[emk323]

no didnt go every day but I do remember him calling someone that name.....

[VickiD59]

We are leaving next Thursday, so I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your review. So Far it sounds great! I do have a question for you about debarkation. Where did you meet your car service. We are still trying to decide whether to do car service or taxi's. I can't do a lot of walking with luggage in tow. I had heard you had to walk a lot further if you had a car service picking you up. Also how long did it take you to get off the ship?

I'll hijack the thread for a minute cuz it seems like Chillaxx is off.. well chillaxxing while we wait for the continuation of the review. Come back Chillaxx.. don't abandon the review!! :(

The longest part of debarking was waiting for our number to be called. We sat (on the floor) on the atrium level for about 90 minutes or so until we were called at 9:55. By the time we moved ever so slowly through the mass of humanity, and then found our luggage and got thru customs and regrouped with our party of 10 on the sidewalk, it was noon. Our driver had already passed by, but couldn't stop and had to go down futher south and find the turn around and make his way back north.. find another turn around and finally was able to pick us up. Mind you this was a Monday morning (NYC traffic and all). He was able to pull over right at the entrance and we tossed our luggage into the van and moved right along. He wouldn't have been able to stop right there had we not be right at the curb.