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Miracle review...9/3-9/11/12

meanjean80

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meanjean80

meanjean80

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Carnival Miracle Review-Depart 9/3, return 9/7. Ports of call: Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Nassau.

Some background on me: This is my 14thcruise, 12th on Carnival. First cruise was on the Carnival Celebration. I am Platinum (both by days at sea and numbers of cruises), as was my traveling companion, my sister Donna. In addition to being an avid cruiser, I also have traveled on land-cation to Ireland, Spain and Las Vegas within the past 5 years.

I thought I’d contribute a general, hopefully balanced review of my recent trip on the Carnival Miracle. I will start by saying that both my sister and I had an amazing time over the week, which was at least partially luck based (3 tropical storms in the area and not a cloudy day in 8?). I wanted to give my perspective on this cruise, highlighting the mostly good, the occasional bad (see the section on Nassau) and the ugly (see disembarkation).

EMBARKATION

I love the port of New York. I’ve also sailed from Tampa, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Port Canaveral. New York is far and away the easiest terminal I’ve dealt with. I live in Queens, so my sister and I took my preferred car service directly to the port…it was about a twenty five minute drive total but it was Labor Day, so that time is probably an anomaly for a Monday. Our bags were taken quickly and we got through security without issue. The VIP boarding area had no line; we gave our names, walked in to the lounge and sat down. In the time it took me to drink a Dixie cup of lemonade, we were called up and handed our room keys and told to proceed; two photo ops later we were on board. So for perspective, we left Queens at 11am, and were on board by 11:50.

SHIP LAYOUT/DÉCOR

The Carnival Miracle is part of the Spirit class of ship, far and away my favorite of the Carnival models (I am VERY sorry we are losing this ship next year). This is my second time on the Miracle specifically; I was on the Legend twice as well. The ship itself is long and resembles an old fashioned liner, more than the current crop of floating bricks that all the cruise lines seem to be preferring. The décor on the Miracle to me seems slightly more subdued than Carnival’s usual specialty of over-the top and in your face glitz. It is easy to navigate…the theater is in the front, the dining room is aft (both are two stories); and the lounges, shops and casino are spread between them on decks 2 and 3. At no point is there a “you can’t get there from here” area blocking off the two primary entertainment decks. The ship’s “theme” is a literary one (lots of wall sized renderings of Dorian Grey, D’Artagnan, Poirot, etc.) which we found useful-using one as an identifier, we knew which way to go from our elevator bank to our stateroom.

Our cabin was 5250, AFT Balcony. We love having the balcony rooms. The layout was Carnival standard, two single beds (was one king when we entered, which our stateroom steward Carl quickly adjusted for us) with two nightstands, sofa, coffee table, 3 closets, desk/dresser and the usual bathroom. The room was clean on entry and the beds were quite comfortable. Touching on a few common hot button items: we told Carl on his introducing himself that we would like ice every day, and that was no problem at all. We never had an issue smelling smoke on the balcony from our neighbors (neither of us smoke). And the basket in the bathroom definitely was less plentiful in the past…some toothpaste samples, a floss sample, a “breathe right” strip and some shampoo packets.

The lido deck area seemed to have ample room/chairs; the buffet lines never seemed very long to me. The Serenity Deck is at the back of the ship, with the sports deck at the front. For the runners out there, the designated running track seems much smaller than on other ships, with it taking I believe 11 laps to complete a mile. My sister and I like to start our day with a mile walk, and we found that annoying. Instead we opted for the deck 3 outside promenade: entering near the theater, you can walk almost all the way around the ship (love the aft view of our engine churn) and re-enter to complete your lap by crossing thru the ship. Much more entertaining walk.

The dining room, Bacchus, was very, very purple, in honor of its name sake. Huge purple grape lighting fixtures everywhere. You get used to it.

FOOD/DINING:

I am, I will admit, a foodie. I am also a New Yorker, which means I am used to having a much larger variety of food at my fingertips than others may have the benefit of. So my review may be slightly slanted…your mileage may vary.

Breakfast/Brunch: The buffet on the lido deck was the standard fare. The omelet station was very popular, but since I was determined to have at least one healthy meal a day I usually stuck to the hot oatmeal (quite decent) and fresh fruit (we ran out of bananas mid-week). The coffee on lido did seem better than in the past, but (BIG CAVEAT HERE) my sister and I are both morning people. I think there can be a huge difference between the coffee I was pouring at 7:15 in the morning and what you might get at 10am. My sister actually thought the scrambled eggs were pretty good. On the mornings that we were in port, the Bacchus restaurant was indeed open for the standard restaurant breakfast, contrary to other reports; we went once.

We did go to the comedy brunch twice. My take on this? The brunch itself is TERRIFIC. I think this was one of Carnival’s better ideas. The food was very good, and it was a wider variety from the old standard dining room breakfast. I tried the eggs benedict (good), the cheddar grits (very good) and one day went a more lunch type menu, getting the fire roasted tomato soup (OHMYGOD good) and mac and cheese with bacon (very good). Had a bloody mary both days and they were very good, just spicy enough. My one note to Carnival: please, please drop the comedian. Breakfast is not the time for funny, and a bunch of folks intent on their blueberry pancakes are not an ideal audience. The comedians, no matter how funny they are, do not stand a chance. Not fair to them, and annoying to the guests. My note to New Yorkers: Don’t order a bagel. Just…don’t. These bagels are an embarrassment to frozen bagels, let alone to what I am used to. And they were served with less than a teaspoon of cream cheese. (The lox, I admit, were decent).

Lunch: I am not a fan of buffets in general. I have lived in New York for far too long and seen what people do to the salad bar areas in the delis here. I did try the Chinese food (respectable) a couple of times, but mostly stuck to the deli section (very good reubens) and the hamburgers (overcooked, of course, but edible). We got a full pizza to order once, and we enjoyed that quite a bit. I drank a lot of water on the lido deck, but also the iced tea (unsweetened, which for me is a good thing). The most disappointing to me was the “barbeque” on Half Moon Cay. The closest thing they had to barbeque was the jerk chicken. Carnival: it is NOT a barbeque without pork products, and hot dogs don’t count. Call it a cookout and you’d be more correct.

Dinner. We ate in the main dining room five of our eight nights. I have been on enough Carnival cruises now to have their menus memorized. And the conclusion I’ve come to is this: the starters, especially the soups, are generally very good (whoever is the soup genius at Carnival really should open his own line). The deserts are outstanding as long as you avoid anything marked diet (especially avoid the diet pumpkin pie…yech). And the main courses are…boring. Nothing outstanding, nothing really bad. From around my table I got the impression that the Flatiron Steak was the biggest hit, and it’s on the everyday option. The comfort food menu neither bothers me or impresses me; my sister got the meatloaf one night and it was good but very peppery. I often found myself enjoying the sides more than the mains. One exception, and this is entirely based on my personal preferences, is the Indian Vegetarian selection. I like Indian food; check that, I love it. Could eat it every day in New York. In hindsight, I personally might have enjoyed my main courses better if I had gotten that every day. After all, the head chef is Indian and probably a good number of the kitchen staff; they know what they are doing. Also, this is a cuisine not damaged by being cooked in bulk and held hot waiting to be served, since it’s all stew type dishes. The night I had it, there was a healthy portion of chick peas, okra, and lentils, with rice, a yogurt raita, spicy pickles and papadam. If none of that makes any sense to you, the tip of ordering Indian food is probably not for you. J But it was the best main dining room meal I ate.

A quick shout out in favor of the Grand Marnier Soufflé. I know the warm chocolate melting cake gets a lot of love. But for me, the GMS has it beat hands down.

A side note about the “didja” section of the menu (“didja ever want to try…?”). Not impressive to me. I’ve been eating escargot since I first saw them on a Carnival ship on the Celebration, I can eat sushi at a thousand places within a ten block radius of my office…it’s just not that exotic. The only item I haven’t seen regularly on menus or previously eaten was the frog’s legs, and that’s the one thing I will never eat. Anyone else remember the first Muppet movie? Yep, I’m not doing it.

That was five nights. We ate two nights in the steakhouse, Nick and Nora’s. Thanks to what I learned on cruise critic, we booked the first night and enjoyed a complimentary bottle of wine (a very respectable merlot). My sister and I both got the surf and turf (lobster tail and a small filet mignon). She started with a lobster bisque (incredibly rich and smooth); I started with the escargot (tucked in to mini brioche and served with a small soup with an escargot in it)-quite amazing. We had a side of the wasabi mashed potatoes…the potatoes had the texture of velvet, and just enough heat from the wasabi to give them depth. Wonderful side dish. Having by that point reached a total food coma, we couldn’t conceive of eating desert, but both managed scoops of ice cream.

We also ate there Sunday night, our second to last day of the cruise. Same starters, but this time I went for the lamb chops, and my sister got the filet mignon on its own. It was, and I say this seriously, the best lamb I have ever had. We did pace ourselves enough to be able to share the cheesecake. It is not a standard New York style…is far lighter and fluffier. It was still very good, in my opinion, just different.

Finally…we booked the Chef’s table. And I cannot say enough about what an awesome experience this was. There were 12 of us in total, the youngest being a couple from New Jersey who were in their very early twenties…turns out the young man is a sous chef in a restaurant, hence his interest in being there. We started with the galley tour, including some small bites and champagne. The chef did a great job of explaining how he set up the kitchen, and about how the assistant waiters secured the food and how they ensure they minimize waste. Very educational.

We were then walked in to a private dining room, which was set up in the Miracle’s disco, Frankenstein’s Lounge. It was amazing to have that kind of private experience. The dishes began coming out…as well as the unlimited wine. First starter was “tomatoes our way” which included two poached in wine, one coated in white cocoa powder, and two small dollops of mouse. The dish was small and it gave me hope I might not be rolling out of there later (false hope, it turned out). Loved the mouse and champagne poached ones, not so sure about the cocoa powder coated one. Next up was an ahi tuna dish on some kind of crisp…it was essentially a ceviche--or at least that’s what I told my sister, who has an aversion to raw fish. Hey, it had some lime juice in it. This was wonderful. Even the folks who were averse to sushi anything thought it was great. Third up was a soup…a base of turnip and granny smith apple. One of the best things I have ever eaten…I could easily have had this for a meal. Two tastes that should not go together, but which did. A Cornish hen dish followed. At this point I was beginning to realize that even small dishes can be very filling. A salmon with some vegitables followed, and it was excellent. But I should have not eaten it, and saved room for the Wagyu beef shortrib. This meat almost cut itself, it was so tender. It made me finally understand the rage over Wagyu beef. I cannot in any way conceive that the filet mignon that was on the original menu could have been better than this. Just amazing. Desert…to be honest I barely remember it. I was just too full of the previous six dishes. There was a chocolate mousse type thing with hazelnut cream, and a strawberry jelly that was like an exotic fruit roll up. I know I’m not doing it justice, but I was still in the wagyu beef coma.

In short, the chef’s table was worth every penny of the $75pp charge we paid for it. It started at 6, ended at 9:30, and included not only the wine but a photo with the chef and your fellow diners. Just a fabulous experience.

Part 2, with ports of call, entertainment, and anything else I can think of, will follow.

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kicker

kicker

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....why more cruisers don't post about, or even respond to posts about, the Miracle. Maybe NYérs are too busy??:rolleyes:

 

Thanks for a very balanced and honest review. It pretty much confirms what I've read before, and knowing the DR is open for breakfast at times helps. Please know your opinions are appreciated. Thanks again.

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ryanpatricksmom

ryanpatricksmom

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We were your neighbors on this sailing (5236), and agree with several of your observations....especially the Comedy Brunch. The first morning that we tried it, I have to admit that I left very abruptly (the swells and the vibration got to me, first time in 20 something cruises), but I was enjoying the food up until then. The second time that we stopped in, the food was wonderful, but the comedian....not so much. For five minutes he walked around asking passengers their names, and then would say, "Hey, that's my mother's name". I didn't get it.

 

We spend a lot of time on the Pride, and I found the Miracle to be even easier to navigate because of the literary references, as you mentioned. Every now and again if you take a different staircase it's easy to get turned around, and I found that really helped to keep your bearings.

 

I absolutely loved sailing out of the city. I'm a Maryland girl, but nothing beats the NYC skyline! I also agree that they do an excellent job with VIP check-in. We had great debarkation as well, so I'm guessing that you didn't do self-assist.

 

The casino host gave us a dinner at Nick and Nora's, and we enjoyed our meal....both had lobster ravioli. We don't typically eat in the Steakhouse anymore, because it's just too much food, but so long as it's free, what the heck! Worth mentioning, for those who care, the slots are a bit more friendly on the Miracle than I've experienced on the other ships that I've sailed on.

 

Anyway, didn't mean to intrude on your review. Glad that you also enjoyed your cruise!

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meanjean80

meanjean80

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Thanks for the comments...I know I've found other reviews helpful in the past.

 

 

Part two follows. And hopefully will have better spacing, this is the first time I've ever posted anything of length here...

 

PORTS OF CALL:

Grand Turk. This is the one island neither my sister or I had been to before. That said, we decided not to book a tour, but to walk on the beach, which was the general advised activity from everyone we talked to. We didn’t regret it. We started out on the cruise ship chairs, which were partially in the shade. The weather was well over 90 degrees, and a cloudless sky, and Donna and I both have sun sensitivity. Our goal this trip was to pace our sun exposure. So we enjoyed our shade for some time, just getting up to take a dip in the wonderful waters (clear, clean and gentle) with the Miracle looming right over us. Eventually, as we saw the Carnival Liberty pulling in, we decided to move down the beach and ended up at the Local Village bar. This was not a far walk whatsoever (although we did have to dodge the powerboat moorings at one point). We found seats at the bar by the shade, got the local beer and an order of Conch fritters (now there’s an item for the Didja menu) and spent a good hour and a half happily people watching. Thoroughly enjoyed this port of call.

Half Moon Cay. We’ve also been here before, so in the interest of pacing our sun exposure, we started the day by booking a tour, the Eco Lagoon tour. This was a glass bottomed power boat went over the lagoon on Half Moon Cay, along with a detailed explanation of what we were seeing. It was enjoyable to be on the boat, we did see quite a variety of marine life (the lagoon is a breeding ground for sharks and rays) and our guides were very knowledgeable. As we entered the open ocean, we were taken to a reef and could see a large variety of fish and coral. And one shark, viewed from a distance (not through the glass bottom) as we returned. An enjoyable excursion, worth the $40 it cost.

We grabbed lunch then (see the food section for my disappointment in the barbeque) and then worked our way over to the lounge chairs. The water was wonderful, but I wish there were a few more shaded options for the loungers. We would have stayed longer had that been the case, but it was wonderfully hot and sunny, so after an hour and a half on the beach we headed back to the ship before we fried.

 

Nassau. Ugh. There are times you should go with your instincts, and this was one of them. Initially Donna and I had both been thinking of staying on the ship as we’ve both been to Nassau multiple times and really found it unexceptional. But we were trying to do new things, and we realized that in Nassau we could do a Dolphin experience, something we have always wanted to do. Now, Carnival has this option available at either Atlantis, or some other location (Blue Lagoon, or something like that). We chose the Atlantis option. Big, big mistake.

We’d already toured Atlantis in the past, so we were mainly there for the Dolphins. We had a 9:30 tour. We were told to be on the pier at 9am. We were there at 8:45. And we were then told to wait. Which we did. In the hot sun. Until about 9:45. With no explanation. As we watched the other Dolphin tour leave far ahead of us.

We were now hot and cranky when we got our wristbands. Why did ours say 11:45 if we had booked a 9:30 tour? We were told not to worry about it. Eventually, they walked us out of the pier area to a slew of waiting busses, where we were crammed in and driven to the resort. We then were assigned an escort, who made sure to tell us that her only purpose there was to walk us to the Dolphin area, this was NOT a tour, and to please keep up. Not easy with a group of about sixty people. We were then walked over around and through the entire resort area, about twenty minutes total. It’s about 10:20 when we get there. Only to have the woman at the desk look at our wristbands, tell us we were “too early” and suggest we walk…all the way back through the resort…to the aquarium, which our wristbands give us access to.

Can we say lack of communication? Why not just tell us when we were first dropped off that if we had later encounter times, we should not follow the escort group but hang back at the aquarium and get ourselves there by 11:40 (the time we were told to come back)? We’re adults, we could have done that. What we were NOT willing to do was to walk, fifteen minutes back in the hot sun, to the aquarium, to have maybe half an hour before turning around and walk fifteen minutes back to the Dolphins. So in defiance of suggestion, we found a couple of chairs in the observation area that were in the shade, and stayed put until we were called.

At this point things seemed to get better. We got our wet suits, and were broken up in to groups of 9. We waded in to the water (it was the shallow water excursion) and met our Dolphin, Machai. We had about 45 minutes in the water with him, got to do a few different things, each in turn. It was a great experience, right down to having him splash water all over us. Great fun.

But the pro-Dolphin buzz wore of quickly. Apparently Atlantis is the one place on earth a Carnival photographer can’t go. Only Atlantis photographs were available. And the cheapest package advertised was seventy dollars for five photos (two 5x7 and 3 wallets, I believe). There might have been single photo options available, but the line to get to the kiosks to view your photos was five or 6 people deep at each one, and everyone taking 10-20 minutes to locate and request their photos. Donna and I (people who have no problem spending money on photos) gave up in frustration, and headed back to the bus and back to the ship, where we were much happier.

Mainly this was an Atlantis problem…but it’s a Carnival problem too, because they are the ones suggesting and booking the reservation. They need far better organization than what exists now.

ENTERTAINMENT

Donna and I, as mentioned, are morning people, so if you want details on Carnival’s night life or disco events, this is not the review for you. We went to the first big production show, which was a sort of music through the years program. Typical Vegas style show, with two live singers, and a group of lip-syncing dancers with an orchestra. I am not a fan of Vegas style shows, period. Again, I admit to being a spoiled New Yorker…after Broadway, lip-syncing dancers are not going to impress. The show was okay, though. I can appreciate the work they did to make it happen. Just not my thing.

The only other big stage show we went to was the night billed as Big Band Music featuring the Miracle Orchestra and Dancers. This show is badly named, and does it no justice. Yes, the orchestra was terrific (they also frequently played in smaller groupings in the ship lounges and were excellent). Yes, there were dancers. But mostly, there was the wonderful Christopher Allen Graves, who just joined the ship for the show and who was unbelievably fantastic. His tributes to Sammy Davis, to Frank Sinatra, and to his own father, were beautiful. I may run out of adjectives here, he was that good. What I can say is that Donna and I looked at each other at the end of the night, and agreed this was the best show we had seen on a cruise ship EVER. If you ever hear his name mentioned on any Fun Times you see, go to see that show.

We spent most of our evenings in Sam’s Piano Bar. The performer this cruise was Peter Brenner, who I had also seen last year on the Miracle. I know Peter is not a favorite on the boards here, but I enjoyed his playing last year, and did again this year. The bar was sparse the first few days but as word got around the ship there were decent and ACTIVE crowds by the end. We find him very personable, more than willing to take requests and good at engaging the audience (with trivia questions, and lots of information). Also, in my opinion, he is one heck of a pianist. Get him to play “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”. My sister did…and it was her top request every night. Donna and I agreed…what you need to get a piano bar rolling is at least five active and interested audience members willing to shout out requests and to sing along. Once that gets rolling…the rest of it grows on its own.

VARIOUS AND SUNDRY…

A few other mentions of some items that get a lot of buzz on the boards here.

Unruly Children: We saw 2 all week. There were more kids than I expected in general (talking to the staff they said there had been HUGE problems the week before with roaming kids filling out room service menus for random doors, punching the elevator buttons, etc.) This cruise…totally different. We saw very little of the running around unsupervised aspect, found no issues with elevators, and most of the kids we encountered were just…really nice kids. The two problems were one little boy, about 7, whose mom had dropped him, and his industrial sized squirt riffle (is there such a thing as a squirt AK 47?) at the pool, and then disappeared to who knows where. He and his giant firearm got in to the hot tub, where he was not supposed to be, and the proceeded to fire whenever he wished at folks thirty feet away, just there on their lounge chairs. He did that to my sister and me. Once. We both got up, gave him our mother’s death glare, and shouted firmly “NO!” in a manner that let him know we were not kidding. He never fired at us again. (Note this did not impede him at all from squirting others). That was the only morning we didn’t make it out to the Serenity deck, so I am not sure what happened with him the rest of the cruise. The other unruly child we saw was during dinner at the steakhouse the first night, where a couple with two kids apparently saw nothing wrong with letting their little darlings (the youngest was by far the worst) run around unchecked, under tables, under trays, around waiters…just being general nuisances. Thankfully, they finished their dinner and left shortly after our appetizer course.

Serenity Deck/CHOGS. I will say that there were more than enough deck chairs, many of which were open during the week, in the general seating areas, just not in the MOST POPULAR areas, by the pools and on Serenity. I did see the sticker police tagging chairs in the pool area and on the Serenity deck, but they don’t really start the process before 9am. Specifically, in terms of Serenity on this ship, I am not sure there is a CHOG problem as much as a pure lack of space problem. The area is more popular than there are seats to go around, and what we saw were people not just reserving chairs at 7:30, but SITTING IN THEM at 7:30 and STAYING IN THEM all day. So they are NOT hogging anything…they are legitimately occupied, but hard luck to late risers.

As mentioned, since Donna and I were up early, we actually got chairs on Serenity every day except the first. But since we know our sun limits, we’d be in those chairs until 11am at the latest, and then knowing we were fully baked, we’d move on, to do some walking, eat lunch or brunch, go to the casino, eventually end up on our balcony where we had shade and could just sit and read for a bit. Late arrivals on Serenity loved us. J

Taste Bar/Tea Time. Since Donna and I had early sitting dinner, and the taste bar didn’t open until 5:30, it was a bit wasted on us. Nice idea, though…just a couple of very small nibbles to enjoy in the lounges that gives you a sampling of what you could get, if only the Carnival Miracle HAD a Blue Iguana café on board (as an example). We also made it to tea once. We would have liked to go more often, but with early dinner we didn’t want to necessarily ruin it with nibbles at 3pm. It was a very nice respite, however. And the scones were wonderful.

Dinner Service. We are traditionalists, and like being at a table with other people, and have never had bad seat mates. We chose early seating, and were at a table for 8 by one of the windows, and our run of luck continued. There was a couple from Albany, and two mother-daughter traveling pairs. We had great conversation all week and a lot of laughs; most nights we were among the last to leave. Our waiter, Joey, was absolutely wonderful, among the best I’ve had; he had two assistant waiters under him. There was never a night when I felt that the service had slowed down or become more taxed at all, and by the end of night two Joey knew all of our names, and even our food preferences. A well run, well organized group, no signs of any kind of a cut back here.

General Crew: Very friendly. Carl, our steward, never failed to say hello each evening, we were greeted very pleasantly everywhere. No signs of any surliness, as I’ve seen reported elsewhere. We were called mid-way through the cruise by guest services to make sure there were no issues (which I don’t remember happening before). Absolutely no issues here.

Disembarkation: This is the ugly, and it has nothing to do with Carnival (IMHO). We were disembarking on 9/11. The actual process was standard; we were down in one of the lounges waiting for our zone to be called. We happened to sit in a lounge that included the area where confiscated liquor was being returned. This is, from what I gathered, alcohol that was found in checked luggage and held on to, more than liquor bought in port. Just before the “ugly”, Malcolm, the cruise director, made an announcement that at 8:45 (it was then about 8:30) there would be a moment of silence and a cessation of all activity, in the memory of victims of 9/11. Nice touch, I thought.

Within about 5 minutes, Donna and I could hear the beginning of a bit of disturbance between a young woman (between 25 and 30 at a guess) and the woman who was handing out the confiscated liquor. The disturbance grew increasingly loud, pretty soon the entire lounge (about 60 people) could get the gist of what was happening. Apparently, said woman had been traveling with liquor in her luggage which was confiscated. Unlike the rest of the confiscated liquor, this was an OPEN bottle. This is apparently (and understandably) a no-no, since the liquor in question could then have been replaced by something else. It is then Carnival policy (we learned) to dispose of open bottles.

This was not a concept that this woman could handle or accept. Eventually a security guard came over to try to settle her down. Didn’t work at all. She kept screaming that she was CANADIAN, as if that mattered, and that she traveled INTERNATIONALLY and of course bottles that were closed became open at some point during the trip. If I understood her correctly (she was beyond coherent at that point) the bottle was brought from Canada, opened and partially drunk in the hotel room the night before boarding, and then re-checked in the checked luggage. Her point, I think, was that since it had to be packed in the checked luggage on the plane, it should be understandable that they left it in the checked luggage on the ship. The security guard remained polite but firm…the alcohol had been thrown out. At this point (after several more mentions of “I’m Canadian”) the woman accused Carnival Staff of drinking the alcohol. She was totally irate, irrational, and screaming.

Meanwhile, the moment of silence for 9/11 had come…and gone…and had NOT been silent.

Finally, one man in the lounge offered her $50 to buy a new bottle if she would just shut up and go away. Then she started yelling about the principle of the thing, and almost as one everyone in the lounge shouted her down, all letting her know she should have known the rules, she got busted, she should just shut up and move on. Zero…and I mean zero…sympathy from the entire group of New Yorkers sitting there. Finally, when she sensed she was out-numbered, she yelled to the group “F-You and mind your own business” before storming off.

Um, it became our business when you had a screaming argument in the middle of a public lounge. And you’re still wrong…even if you are Canadian.

Anyway, that is my summary of the trip. Overall, another excellent experience, and memories of a lifetime with my sister. This was the first cruise she’s been on since losing her husband last year, and we wanted to make it a special one.

If anyone has any specific questions about the Miracle or the itinerary, I’d be happy to answer them.

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nybumpkin

nybumpkin

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I enjoyed your review - thanks for posting. I can't agree more about Christopher Alan Graves; we've seen him on two of our cruises, and he's fantastic.

 

And as for the "lady" screaming about her confiscated booze - we had one of those on Glory last month. We were in the Platinum line at the Guest Services Desk, and the guy being waited on was arguing with the assistant purser about his confiscated booze. The assistant purser showed him the policy in writing, and the guy's response was to crumple up the paper and throw it at the assistant purser before stalking off. The assistant purser then came over to us (all we wanted was an extra key card and a deck of cards) and we told him how sorry we were that he was treated that way. He was so appreciative he gave us an extra deck of cards.:)

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092306

092306

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Enjoyed your review! Glad you and your sister had a good cruise. We'll be doing the same itinerary in October. When you boarded, did you find that your room was ready? I've heard that rooms for Platinum guests are available at embarkation and was wondering if that was your experience. Keep hearing different things. Also, did you receive your luggage earlier than usual? Thanks!

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Crusin Karen

Crusin Karen

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Thanks for the review. My jaw was on the floor reading about the lady's rant about her confiscated bottle. :eek: What a way to ruin the end of a vacation. We "gave in to temptation" and booked Miracle for the 4th and last time for Feb. 2013. Anxious to see what she is like post dry dock and want to say good bye to her too! :(:( I like the "action" of the casino and Lido deck, but loved walking thru Gatsby's Garden for a bit of peacefulness every day.

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meanjean80

meanjean80

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Thank you for your review. Well done. We are on the same itinerary in 3 weeks. Would you know when the past guess party was held?

 

 

I had to jog my memory on this one, but I am pretty sure it was on the second full day at sea. The way I figured it out? That was also the day of the Chef's Table, and in the complimentary photo my sister and I are wearing the mardi gras beads from the party.

 

The formal nights were the first full day at sea, and the second to last full day at sea.

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meanjean80

meanjean80

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Enjoyed your review! Glad you and your sister had a good cruise. We'll be doing the same itinerary in October. When you boarded, did you find that your room was ready? I've heard that rooms for Platinum guests are available at embarkation and was wondering if that was your experience. Keep hearing different things. Also, did you receive your luggage earlier than usual? Thanks!

 

The room was, from memory, ready earlier than in the past, but not immediately when we boarded (we were there at 11:45). I am pretty sure we got in to drop off our stuff before 1 though.

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Darryl101

Darryl101

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we are getting onbaord on 10/13, just 30 days away.

I figured one they started going after chogs with stickers, that people would just get up earlier and sit there all day anyways.

Therefore eliminating the chance for late risers to use the serenity deck during the middle for the day.

Can you sit out there on the hammocks at late night?

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