Review of Miracle 5/22: Obstructed Balcony, Capt. Bryan and channel blocked again!

[kjunea]

I've finally got a chance to catch my breath and write a review. This may be long, so sit down!

 

My husband (46) and I (44) traveled down to Tampa from Knoxville. We got in Sunday morning at 8:50 and were at the port by 9:40, watching people get off from their cruise! We had no trouble getting a cab at the airport, or having the taxi driver stop at the Publix along the way for sodas and distilled water. I think it cost us an extra $2.00. The Publix is very near the port and we had no trouble taking on the 2 12-packs with us.

 

The started letting people into the terminal about 10:30, through the check-in, then to sit and wait until they called your group to get your S&S picture made, then wait again to go onboard. As I travel with a cane because of severe arthritis, we were in the first group on board and upstairs at the Lido by 11:20! They were still putting the food in the lines when we arrived.

 

The Miracle is a beauty! Her colors of Blue, tan and brown with the Art Deco influence are found all over the ship. She is definitely not as garish as the Fantasy, my only other Carnival ship.

 

After eating, we took out things down to our cabin, just to leave them and explore (which was no problem with our steward, Curly). The layout of the ship makes it very easy to find everything, since most things are on decks 2 and 3. At 1:30 we returned to unpack our carryons and look at the room. We booked a 4A and were upgraded to a 7A, cabin 5229. This is an obstructed balcony and it was quite nice. Our view was only obstructed by a cable, but the cabin the the left of us had a winch and a blue canvas bag hanging down, so they didn't have the view we did. (Moral of the story: If you book a specific cabin, pay close attention to the ships diagrams. Don't get the first or last cabin by the lifeboats, just the ones in the middle) Most days, I would go get breakfast from the Lido restaurant and bring it down and have it on the balcony....lovely! We met with our CC friends at the Orpheas Bar area 30 minutes after Muster Drill was over. It was such fun to put faces to the names of those I've talked with for quite a while!

 

Our CD was Mark Hawkins, who was goofy, but enjoyable. I never saw him on the ship except at things he was scheduled to introduce/lead, etc. I saw Karl with a K and Sam all the time (Sam sat the table beside ours in the dining room. His parents were traveling that week. He was very, very nice) Karl with a K is very funny, but if you don't understand British Humor, you might get annoyed with him (I've lived in England and Bermuda, so I thought he was fun.)

 

Random Items:

 

Our dining room table was 301, with Titus and Nuygen taking care of us. They were fine, not outstanding. I did get to meet the famous Jana in the Lido on the first day. She was so nice, helping with everything!

 

We brought a collapsable cooler and Curly kept it full of ice. (we tipped him an extra $10) I even brought down a couple of chocolate milks to keep cold in it in case they ran out (they didn't!).

 

The slide was open every day.

 

Nick and Noras is $30 per person PLUS tip! We had Zuzann as our waitress, who was wonderful and we ate with NYJean, her brother and his friend. We had a great time and the food is definitely worth it. We weren't sure about the tip, so we left one for her the next day at the Pursers Desk after asking about it.

 

They play bingo before most shows. Never won, gosh darn it!

 

The announcements weren't bad or overly done, except maybe the last seaday.

 

They didn't make a huge issue of staying on ships time, etc at the ports. It was in small print on the Capers, and maybe one little sign as you exited the ship. I think they could increase that for safety sakes.

 

Ports

 

Grand Cayman -- We did the THREE HOUR tour with Capt. Bryan. We had no trouble getting a tender over, and shopping before the tour, then meeting with Capt. Bryan crew behind the English Bakery. We got back with 45 minutes to spare! No problems at all! They said that every tuesday, they get people from the Miracle worrying about making it back. Tender back was no problem either.

 

Costa Maya -- We booked with Ivan and David to tour the Ruins. We traveled by taxi to Mahahual and found David very quickly. We checked in with him, then continued down the street to Tapas, where we went upstairs and had a little lunch. We got an order of Cheese quesadillas and some guacamole and chips, a margarita and two beers for $16! The guac was some of the best I had ever eaten, very buttery tasting and the salsa was excellent that they brought when we first sat down. The van ride to the ruins took about 45 minutes. Luis was our guide. He told us that Ivan and David had hoped to get 100 people a month for their tour and they had 100 people contact them just for that one day! They are swamped, to say the least. The tour was very good and I would highly recommend them. Our day was near perfect, except for the fact that we left our camera bag in the van and didn't realize it until that evening. We had our DVD recorder, but the bag had the battery charger and DVDs that we had already used. I've contacted Ivan and David and they are trying to locate it for us. I've got my fingers crossed.

 

Cozumel -- We just shopped here, since my ankle was starting to really give me problems. You could just shop around the port (Puerto Maya is where we docked) and have no problems. We took a cab downtown, as I wanted some Hard Rock pins. San Miguel has really changed since I was there 12 years ago. Really wanted to go to Paradise Beach, but I knew I couldn't walk on sand that day!

 

Belize -- just went to the port and bought a few things at the Pharmacy, a Zericote cane, t-shirts etc. Hubby had a Belikan beer and pronounced them very good!

 

Debarkation was not as bad as it could have been. We didn't get to dock at the terminal due to that stupid tanker thing again. But they are getting used to it, so they had buses ready, trucks ready, etc. We were at the airport, waiting to get on our plane by 10:00 AM.

 

We had an awesome time. This was my husband's first cruise and my nineth. I am a dedicated RCL cruiser, and have now just opened my eyes to all the great things that Carnival has done since I cruised on her 6 years ago. I will definitely consider Carnival from now on.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

 

June

[halos]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Miracle...it seems to be a very good ship. Reviews since it's first voyage have been consistantly very good. I certainly had my best Carnival cruise on that ship..... :D

[pepsigrl]

June it was very nice meeting you and your husband . I'm glad you had a good time as we did too. Thank you so much for making the door sign. Had alot of people ask me about it.Take care. Anne Marie:)

[Nicole721]

We went to N&N's Tuesday night and on our receipt, it was stated that additional gratuity was optional (we gave an extra tip because the service was just outstanding), but it was made clear gratuity was optional...at least in our case it was :)

[kjunea]

We thought that too, but then my husband went by the Pursers desk to cash a travelers check and he asked them there. They told us tip was not included, so he gave them $20 and put it in an envelope with her name on it. They said she would get it, so I hope she did!

 

June

[dot]

We are leaving June 12th and I an wondering just how things are at the pharmacy. I have a big list of items to buy for just everyone who knows I am going there. We did e-mail the pharmacist a couple of time with questions and she answered each time. We have been told she was educated at John Hopkins here in the USA and is an American citizen. Any information you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

I am so glad you had a great cruise. Carnival is the BEST. Dot

[voyagerfl]

Wow.....We sail on the Miracle the end of October.....can't wait !

Can you tell us more about the ruins in Costa Maya ? Have you been to other ruins like Tulum ? How do they compare.

We are trying to decide between the ruins in Costa Maya and Belize. We'd like to do the cave tubing in Belize.......

 

We live in Sarasota, Florida, and had to pick up some friends at the Tampa airport this past Sunday.....on the way back we could see the Miracle coming towards the Sunshine Skyway bridge......so we got off at the fishing pier (which is part of the old bridge) and watched her go under the bridge........a beautiful site...:D:D

 

 

x

[kjunea]

We are leaving June 12th and I an wondering just how things are at the pharmacy. I have a big list of items to buy for just everyone who knows I am going there. We did e-mail the pharmacist a couple of time with questions and she answered each time. We have been told she was educated at John Hopkins here in the USA and is an American citizen. Any information you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

I am so glad you had a great cruise. Carnival is the BEST. Dot

 

There are two pharmacies in the Belize Tourist area now, but the one at #18 has the American Pharmacist (don't know about the other one....) She used to work for WalMart. Very nice lady. As for items, some of the things are right there on the shelf, the Retin-A generic, the arthritis cream that you can't get in the states yet (and works great!), Codeine cough medicine, etc. Other things are behind the counter and she has to get them for you. I had no trouble and my husband, who works in a hospital, asked all the questions and was very impressed with all the answers he got. We both have pretty good prescription insurance, so we just wanted the arthritis cream and the retin-A generic. They had everything from Antibiotics to Viactiv available at very good prices.

 

HTH,

 

June

[kjunea]

Wow.....We sail on the Miracle the end of October.....can't wait !

Can you tell us more about the ruins in Costa Maya ? Have you been to other ruins like Tulum ? How do they compare.

We are trying to decide between the ruins in Costa Maya and Belize. We'd like to do the cave tubing in Belize.......

 

We live in Sarasota, Florida, and had to pick up some friends at the Tampa airport this past Sunday.....on the way back we could see the Miracle coming towards the Sunshine Skyway bridge......so we got off at the fishing pier (which is part of the old bridge) and watched her go under the bridge........a beautiful site...:D:D

 

 

x

 

The ruins in Costa Maya are beautiful. They are not all uncovered, but what is uncovered is striking. There isn't the ocean view like with Tulum, but it was wonderful. I couldn't climb all the areas, but my husband did and loved it. You can climb up some of them to the roped area. The roads to the ruins are very good, takes about 40 minutes from Mahahual. I really recommend Ivan and David. It was so nice to be in a small group, instead of on a huge bus, trying to keep up with 40 other people listening to 1 guide talk. (We saw these large groups while we were there.) Luis was our guide and he was fantastic. He showed us native trees and plants, explained what they were used for, explained the Mayan System, etc. Very thorough tour.

 

HTH

June

[AppleValleyCruisers]

Thanks for the well written and helpful review June, it just makes us even more excited when we read good things about this ship. Glad you had a good time!

 

 

Tim and Beth

[01Sweetpea]

June - great review! I just received my DOCS, and can't wait for out 7/3 sail!

[dot]

June-Thanks so much for the information. You told me everything i need to know.

Now let's just hope we get back from tubing int ime to go there. Reggie has assured me that we will have plenty of shopping time. Thanks again for the wonderful review and the information. We leave a week from sunday and needless to say we are really excited and ready to sail. Dot

[kjunea]

Dot,

 

You will have an awesome time! Tendering wasn't the greatest to Belize, but not as bad as some have posted. I saw several groups get on without tender numbers that told the staff they had off-boat excursions booked. We were on the first or second tender out and had to wait for the stores to open!

 

I love the ship and am missing her already! Make sure you get the flourless chocolate cake! Best dessert all week!

 

June

[tbag124]

Wow.....We sail on the Miracle the end of October.....can't wait !

Can you tell us more about the ruins in Costa Maya ? Have you been to other ruins like Tulum ? How do they compare.

We are trying to decide between the ruins in Costa Maya and Belize. We'd like to do the cave tubing in Belize.......

 

We live in Sarasota, Florida, and had to pick up some friends at the Tampa airport this past Sunday.....on the way back we could see the Miracle coming towards the Sunshine Skyway bridge......so we got off at the fishing pier (which is part of the old bridge) and watched her go under the bridge........a beautiful site...:D:D

 

 

x

 

I am thinking about booking a cruise on the Miracle for October 2006...from what I've read so far, she seems like a great ship.....does anyone have any info on cruising out of Tampa in October? Is it too cold to enjoy the pool? I really liked previous private island stops...do the places on this itinerary have good beaches for laying out, water activities, etc? Any thoughts or comments about the ports and this ship would be welcome and appreciated!! Thanks!! :)

 

Have a great time this October, voyagerfl!! I look forward to hearing all about it!! :)

[NY Jean]

Hey June!

 

I will write a review soon. I haven't recovered yet from my return to the real world This was a great cruise overall. I have a few points both good and bad that I would like to share. Your point about the ship not making a big deal about time was so true! In the capers for grand cayman all it said is keep your watch on ship time. It never said what grand cayman time was, and when we called there was never anyone answering the phone. It was difficult to get a wake up call too. Infact I had to order room service for a wake up call. We ended up arriving an hour earlier to our meeting place for Soto's and just sitting on the rocks since no stores were open yet. catch my review later!!!

[Lemarier]

I am just wondering what time your return flight was and if you did self assist? We are sailing on the Miracle the end of July and our ORIGINAL flight on Delta was at 11:40 a.m. With all the schedule changes it is not leaving Tamps at 10:55!!!! Very close. I have checked on changing but there are only some connections very late afternoon/early evening. I am wondering if we do self-assist and take a cab would we make our flight? I know you are not supposed to make any return flights before 12 noon but there was nothing much to choose from for us.:(

[kjunea]

Hey June!

 

I will write a review soon. I haven't recovered yet from my return to the real world This was a great cruise overall. I have a few points both good and bad that I would like to share. Your point about the ship not making a big deal about time was so true! In the capers for grand cayman all it said is keep your watch on ship time. It never said what grand cayman time was, and when we called there was never anyone answering the phone. It was difficult to get a wake up call too. Infact I had to order room service for a wake up call. We ended up arriving an hour earlier to our meeting place for Soto's and just sitting on the rocks since no stores were open yet. catch my review later!!!

 

 

Hey Jean! I still have to email you! Things are so hectic and I scratched my eye on Saturday, so today is the first day I can focus! No contacts for at least a week!

 

Jamaica sounds good if we can get a good price. Do you want to try another line? Maybe RCL or NCL? What do you think? I've got to talk hubby into it or else get that group together and go for free! Either way, I'm probably bringing my mom and my boy this time. Mark spends most of his time off with the older kids and we already have a trip to the beach tentively scheduled for next summer in July for a week. Jay and I get his vacation every other year for a couple more years until Laurie and Zach are in college.

 

June

[kjunea]

I think I answered your questions on another thread. IF you don't dock at the usual pier, there will be NO self-asist. You have to get on a bus, go the regular terminal, go upstairs, wait, go downstairs, find your luggage, go through customs and leave. A few pointers... get VIP luggage tags and meet where they tell you to on the morning of Debarkation... You'll be one of the first off. Also, use the porters in the terminal to help find your luggage (mark it someway -- I used giant neon orange pom-poms on the handles) and they will speed you through customs (don't forget to tip them). Check your luggage with the skycaps outside the airport terminal and then go through security. Saves time there.

 

Any more questions, I will be happy to answer them!

 

June

[kjunea]

I am thinking about booking a cruise on the Miracle for October 2006...from what I've read so far, she seems like a great ship.....does anyone have any info on cruising out of Tampa in October? Is it too cold to enjoy the pool? I really liked previous private island stops...do the places on this itinerary have good beaches for laying out, water activities, etc? Any thoughts or comments about the ports and this ship would be welcome and appreciated!! Thanks!! :)

 

Have a great time this October, voyagerfl!! I look forward to hearing all about it!! :)

 

I love the itinerary. I think I would like it even better since they have switched Coz and Belize and you get more time in Coz. Your best beach days are going to be in Costa Maya and Coz. There are lots of beaches in Coz that you can go for cheap or expensive. Costa Maya, go through the tourist village where you port, buy a taxi ticket and go to Mahahual ($3 each there, $2 each return). Mahahual is (used to be, its growing all the time!) fishing village, sand road, with little shops and restaurants/bars. You walk down the street and the beach is on one side and the bars/restaurants are on the other. You can get massages, snorkel right out from the beach, parasail, banana boat rides, etc. Beers are $1-2 dollars, as are bottled sodas. I would go back there again just to lay on the beach and eat guacamole! It was so peaceful and nice.

 

Hope that helps!

 

June

[NickGlover]

are prescriptions required at the pharmacy? thanks

[BettyB2]

Thanks for the review and all thre great information on Ports of my future!!:D How was your day with Captain Bryans crew? Did you have Robert and Javid as your captain and stingray specialist?? 6 of our group of 38 went with them back in February and it literally was the best day of my life. Many in our group concurred when we met up for dinner that evening that we had the better time of all the rest that had booked different excursions with Carnival. Did you try any pastry/coffee at the Bakery? What else did you do in GC? thanks again, I really, really appreciate it!!!:)

[NY Jean]

Hey June email me when you get the chance. Have you thought about Alaska?? My DH says he might consider a cruise if we go there... jean

[kjunea]

are prescriptions required at the pharmacy? thanks

 

Prescriptions are only required for the controlled substances like hydrocodeine, etc. Antibiotics, etc, no problem. All you have to do is ask and they will tell you.

 

There was codeine cough syrup on the shelves, as well as the retin A and arthritis cream that is so wonderful.

 

HTH

 

June

[kjunea]

Thanks for the review and all thre great information on Ports of my future!!:D How was your day with Captain Bryans crew? Did you have Robert and Javid as your captain and stingray specialist?? 6 of our group of 38 went with them back in February and it literally was the best day of my life. Many in our group concurred when we met up for dinner that evening that we had the better time of all the rest that had booked different excursions with Carnival. Did you try any pastry/coffee at the Bakery? What else did you do in GC? thanks again, I really, really appreciate it!!!:)

 

We LOVED the day on the Capt Bryan's boat. We had Javid and Damen ( I think that was his name). I have always had better luck with booking excursions on my own, as opposed to the ships tours.

 

We did try something in the Bakery. I made my husband try a sausage pasty. I used to live in Bermuda and I also have spent a large amount of time in England, so I loved it! He was pretty non-commital on it. It was very good, if you like English sausage, which is more akin to knockwurst, I think. Not very spicy. They had some wonderful breads, pastries, etc.

 

As for other things in GC, we really just shopped a bit. We spent 5 days there a couple of years ago during their Pirate Festival and had explored it pretty well.

 

HTH

 

June