A very lengthy review of Carnival Miracle 2/10/13 with TONS of PICTURES

[myparks]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

Reservations have to be made for the comedy club on the Oasis? Do they fill up quickly? Thanks!

 

Yes the fill up very fast and if you don't make the reservations you will be in a very long line if there are any seats left.

[chipq]

Thanks for sharing. I wish I could be so calm after a cabin screw up like that. They probably would have sent me off the plank.

 

http::/luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[djwood24]

i can do nothing but laugh at you. your expecting something in return for something that you did not comply with there rules. i can understand about the doors in the room that did not open but it happens. not fun but it does happen. In my opinon you went on this carnival cruise with a negative attitude towards them and expected the worst and looked for it & found it instead of just enjoying your trip. if you wanted gourmet breakfast you should have went to the MDR instead of going to the buffet everyday and complaining about it. who goes on an 8 day cruise with to elegant nite and a specialty restaurant with only 1 pair of dress pants and does not know about laundry services?

 

Wow ....you aren`t nice at all...you should keep to yourself in the future:eek:

[JohnSpo]

I don't know if the OP asked to have his pants cleaned.

 

If a server accidently spilled something on me, I would just ask guest services to have my pants laundered. I am sure if there was an accidental spilling and the guest asks nicely then guest services would allow for a complementary cleaning. I would just have the spilling noted on my MDR or ask for a manager or supervisor.

[Crusin Karen]

I don't know if the OP asked to have his pants cleaned.

 

If a server accidently spilled something on me, I would just ask guest services to have my pants laundered. I am sure if there was an accidental spilling and the guest asks nicely then guest services would allow for a complementary cleaning. I would just have the spilling noted on my MDR or ask for a manager or supervisor.

I think he mentioned they were cleaned free of charge which they SHOULD have been. In hindsight, maybe they could have asked formalities to lend him a pair of pants for the duration of the cruise. :cool:

[kpwhalen830]

Thanks for the review, it pretty much sums up how our cruise was on the Miracle a few years ago.

 

I do not know if I will ever do another Carnival cruise.

[MsMontreal]

Thanks for your review!

 

Unfortunately, it has put the fear of Carnival in me. I've only ever sailed on the QM2, but now with children, that's not going to happen again for awhile!

 

We are sailing on the Miracle in a week. I'm just about ready to breathe into a paper bag over how awful the food looks onboard.

[jsfromsc]

Why not just wear the stained pants? Not like you sat in dog pooh:confused:

 

In a later post he mentioned that after they were cleaned the stain was still there in the crotch area. I can understand why someone would not want to be seen in public with any kind of a stain in that area. Whatever line this guy cruises in the future, I'm guessing he will bring more than one pair of dress slacks. I'm not a light packer by any means and there's always a chance your clothes will be damaged by spills or getting caught on something and tearing or whatever. I'm not someone who could find something to fit (especially in my price range) just anywhere. Even at home when you can try to attend to a stain on your clothes right away, food spills often leave a mark because of grease. Even my Tide pen doesn't get rid of every stain. :)

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for your review!

 

Unfortunately, it has put the fear of Carnival in me. I've only ever sailed on the QM2, but now with children, that's not going to happen again for awhile!

 

We are sailing on the Miracle in a week. I'm just about ready to breathe into a paper bag over how awful the food looks onboard.

There will ALWAYS be some hits and misses no matter where you go. I never had the grilled ham and cheese, so can't comment on that. Yes, the cheese on the burger sometimes doesn't melt. I think there was a picture of stuffing....DH had that (lunch buffet) and pronounced it FANTASTIC. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences. I always joke about meat loaf. I can make it 100x and every time it tastes a bit different. I LOVED the turkey wrap at the deli. I am dreaming of it right now! There are also hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fries, shrooms, fantastic chili, melted cheese and pita chips at the grill. I always made my own "nachos" as a late afternoon snack! ;) They have a very good salad bar at lunch. You can make your own and they also have ceasar salad there. Look for the "fruit buffet" in Horatios at breakfast. It is on the opposite side of the regular buffet. Very good fruits and deli meats. There is also a "secret" omelette station on the other side of the entrance-next to the paying coffee area. A lot of people don't know about it and there is rarely a line. You can order a side of mac and cheese in the MDR every night with dinner. It is not on the menu but available. I had it every night. YUMMO! The last night it is offered as part of the "comfort menu" and has some bacon and a piece of chicken on top. If you want something, ASK for it. If they say no, they say no. I am very picky about potato salad. :p:o And I LOVE their potato salad! I didn't have any pizza this trip (I was on the same cruise as OP) but know from the past it is very good. You can also order more than one entree at dinner. lst elegant night I had both the lobster tail and prime rib. Our tablemates each had 2 lobster tails. The dessert buffet at lunch is very good. Try the strawberry pops on embarkation day. I am still trying to figure out what they were, but I DO know they were good! You will not go hungry. Yes, I am sure there are some things that you will get that you don't like; just get something else...that is part of the beauty of cruising! I am not trying to downplay OP's experience, but that was HIS. This is/was mine. And look at my sig and see how many times I COME BACK to Carnival (and the Miracle; sure going to miss her when she goes out west:() Oh, and don't forget 24 hour soft serve ice cream and chocolate melting cake! :D:D Have a GREAT CRUISE!

[jsfromsc]

Thanks for your review!

 

Unfortunately, it has put the fear of Carnival in me. I've only ever sailed on the QM2, but now with children, that's not going to happen again for awhile!

 

We are sailing on the Miracle in a week. I'm just about ready to breathe into a paper bag over how awful the food looks onboard.

 

He didn't have pictures of every food item on board. Look up Sargent Schultz's web site. He has tons of pictures of Carnival food from every ship. Just relax and go with a positive attitude rather than dread. And remember, there's plenty of food of all types available. I'm not one to waste food, usually, but if something isn't to your liking, just toss it and try something else. Even in the main dining room they will bring you more than one entree or appetizer or dessert. Ask and you shall receive.

[MsMontreal]

Thanks Cruisin Karen & jsfromsc!

 

Even with all we heard about the "poop ship" and some other less-than-stellar reviews of Carnival, we always travel with the attitude that your holiday is what you make of it. We're just happy to be meeting up with good friends, and vacationing together. I joke that you could put me in a canoe at this point, and I'd probably be happy.

 

However I'd be lying if I said the food doesn't matter. We're pretty spoiled by living in a world-class food city, where I honestly feel our worst restaurants are still better than some best restaurants in other cities. The thought of finding a buffet full of chicken nuggets and processed garbage will really put a damper on things. You have to eat 3 times a day, after all.

 

Thank you for the tip about the omlette station- I will definately keep my eyes open for it. I have heard great things about the melting cake & the steakhouse, so I am looking forward to that. Our 6 year old can't wait for lobster night. She's a tiny thing, yet we've watched her put away a 1.5lb lobster all by herself, LOL. She is so excited.

[Crusing Nut]

I love the Miracle, the staff and the food. I was sad to see her go to NY and then planned for the west coast after that. If you will notice, we have sailed her 4 times.

 

You could have gone to the dining room for breakfast and lunch. The food is made to order. If one was to go to the omelet station, you can order your eggs any way you want. I didn't have egg neaters on any of my cruises.

 

Thank you for your review and the pictures. Enjoy Royal Caribbean.

[Crusin Karen]

Lobster night is the 2nd night (elegant night) so she won't have to wait long! ;) She can order more than one. Funny thoughts: our tablemate LOVES burgers and 2 nights he just had a craving at dinner, so ordered the burger off the dinner menu and he was in HEAVEN. It looked very good. Loaded with MELTED cheese and bacon too. On a huge fresh roll. One night I ordered the jerk pork. Something like that. I am not an "exotic eater." I am the burger/fries or chicken/potatoes or meatloaf/mashers type of woman along with the occasional lobster and shrimp. :rolleyes: But I like to try different things on a cruise and tried this. It was SO SPICY I could barely eat it. I actually take Rx meds for reflux. It would be okay for some people, but this was a no no for me. Well our waiter...he was SO UPSET that I couldn't/wouldn't eat it. Kept saying PEES LET ME BRINGU YOU SOMETING ES. I had already eaten about 10 meals that day, :eek: so I was stuffed anyway, but he was just so darn cute. Order the fresh fruit with the WCMC and dip it. YUM! Have a BLAST!

[Crusin Karen]

I love the Miracle, the staff and the food. I was sad to see her go to NY and then planned for the west coast after that. If you will notice, we have sailed her 4 times.

 

You could have gone to the dining room for breakfast and lunch. The food is made to order. If one was to go to the omelet station, you can order your eggs any way you want. I didn't have egg neaters on any of my cruises.

 

Thank you for your review and the pictures. Enjoy Royal Caribbean.

Thanks for pointing that out to any "newbies." I always ordered 2 fried eggs over easy and they always came out PERFECTO! :)

[CruzerDeb]

BuffaloBoy,

 

I enjoyed your review; wish you had had a better time, though! I would have been SO disappointed with the room, as well.

 

When we sailed the Valor 4 years ago, a waiter dumped an entire tray of drinks down my daughters back! A very brief apology and that was it. It was elegant night; luckily, it was just down her back. We continued on with our dinner and then went and had our pictures taken! We made the best of a sticky, smelly situation.

 

I'm pretty sure the others at our table were waiting for me to go ballistic, but I'm just not that type. We laughed it off.

[Crusin Karen]

OP, sorry I have been highjacking your review. :o I am looking forward to reading the rest and even tho we had different experiences, I would be VERY UPSET about the cabin door and the rose and the pants too. I "have to" agree with them not letting you in with shorts because the other pax would have no idea the reason why and they would think: sheesh, I have to follow the rules, but this guy doesn't. I do NOT condone rudeness ANYWHERE, tho. I am very surprised about their attitude. lst thing I thought was why didn't he pack another pair of pants :rolleyes: but I am nuts like that. I always have back ups. I am sure you won't make the same mistake again! :p It's always fun to see something thru someone else's eyes and I thank you for sharing this and hope you'll finish it.

[djwood24]

I am amazed...well not really

I have also cruised the Miracle 4 times...each and every time I have noticed things not as good.

Don`t get me wrong nothing that horrible that I wouldn`t book another Carnival cruise...but not as good as the year before.

But some of you are like coming to the carnival rescue....and yes whether you realize it downplaying some of the issues the OP had.

 

I for one would have really asked for my cabin to be changed...and not taken the first "oh well" attitude that does seem to be the standard for CCL now

 

Really Crusing Nut...four times...and you don`t notice the cutbacks...the cheapening of the buffet...guess they ran out of the rose colored glasses when I was on her May 2012

BTW it is now 'Brunch"...in the MDR

 

I love the Miracle...the crew...the food...yeah not so much...would I sail on her again...ABSOLUTELY...but realistically not with rose colored glasses

 

JMHO

[kpwhalen830]

I am amazed...well not really

I have also cruised the Miracle 4 times...each and every time I have noticed things not as good.

Don`t get me wrong nothing that horrible that I wouldn`t book another Carnival cruise...but not as good as the year before.

 

 

JMHO

 

Cruise another line like Royal Caribbean or NCL and then compare. You may not book another Carnival after seeing that the grass is indeed greener on the other side.

[cruisemama1]

You have class. :) I wouldn't have been so nice.

 

I agree.

[cruisemama1]

Sorry if I miised it but what kind of camera did you use? Beautiful pictures!

 

I just wanted to say since our names are so similar!:cool:

[Crusin Karen]

I am amazed...well not really

I have also cruised the Miracle 4 times...each and every time I have noticed things not as good.

Don`t get me wrong nothing that horrible that I wouldn`t book another Carnival cruise...but not as good as the year before.

But some of you are like coming to the carnival rescue....and yes whether you realize it downplaying some of the issues the OP had.

 

I for one would have really asked for my cabin to be changed...and not taken the first "oh well" attitude that does seem to be the standard for CCL now

 

Really Crusing Nut...four times...and you don`t notice the cutbacks...the cheapening of the buffet...guess they ran out of the rose colored glasses when I was on her May 2012

BTW it is now 'Brunch"...in the MDR

 

I love the Miracle...the crew...the food...yeah not so much...would I sail on her again...ABSOLUTELY...but realistically not with rose colored glasses

 

JMHO[/quoteI agree 100% except I don't have a big problem with the food. We had to cancel our "annual May" cruise last year so it's been almost 2 years since we were on the Miracle, and yes, we noticed cutbacks, but if we hadn't been on her before, we wouldn't have known and/or missed anything. I hope I made it apparent that I wasn't downplaying OP's experiences. I would not be as "mature or good natured" about these things either! :mad: He should at least be compensated for his pants and maybe a credit for his cabin. Rather than coming to CCL's rescue, I am trying to let other readers know that there WERE pax who did not have the bad experiences he had and who had a great cruise. I think the OP had a very good attitude with what he went thru and I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of his cruise. I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers or step on any toes! :o

[dadof2boys]

First, I know how you feel. Some trips just seem to go in the direction yours went. Out of 10 cruises we have had two that I can think of where things were just off.

 

Outside of that, I think some of things are just Carnival. We have only sailed with them and they just seem normal to us. For example your cheese and ham sandwich, that's how all mine have been. The buffet food, yup. There has been a decline since we started cursing, but it's still the least expensive option for a family vacation.

 

People have compared it to a Circus Circus hotel, I walked in to one once with my children to see the children's area. We walked out. There is no way that Carnival is on that level. But it definitely is a value line. I mean I took 5 cruises last year. No way could I have done that on Royal.

 

It may sound sad, but these ships feel like home. Bad food and all. We do want to try Royal as it is more like hotels and resorts we stay at (aesthetics wise) But are worried we won't want to come back to Carnival.

 

Anyhow, It does seem like you guys were able to squeeze some fun out of your trip. Jealous about Disney World. We have passes to Disneyland, but have never been to the Magic Kingdom.

[gusandgidgetsmom]

Thank you for the review of the Miracle. We are going to sail her for 15 days and hope that our experience is different from yours. We have been cruising for 25+ years and honestly only had two cruises that made us both say" well is this what we want to do and is the line we want to do it on". One was on a Carnival cruise and it started from the first night and continued thru the end. Not enough to say enough! but my husband did not cruise for 2 years until I talked him into it again. The other was on RCCL. It was like Carnival one thing after another. The funny thing is that both times reading posts after coming back there were many touting "this was the best cruise ever". Guess it is all in the eyes of the beholder.

As your advice to the poster that said she was going on her first cruise and that she would be ok because she had could not compare to the others. Honestly most cruiselines, NCL,RCCL and Carnival are more similar than different. We just all have different expectations going in. I am so sorry you did not have a good cruise. The dining room experience especially bothers me. I am one that is a rule follower, but geeesh some rules can be broken. They could have sat you quickly and no one would have seen your shorts.

I was reminded how people see the same situation so differently last night at my business. We had a child that was disobeying the rules and creating a safety hazard. She was told after 3 times that she needed just to sit out and her Mother became so enraged she is taking her to another gym. 2 hours later a Mother came up to us and said that her picky ex had been with her rather "busy" child last week and was so impressed with how we handle rowdy children making them mind and sitting out. Same situation 2 entirely different points of view. I feel the same about the cruiselines. I am thankful for your review and that you handled yourself well in such a situation. I just hope that you will not encounter such problems on another cruiseline.

[BuffaloBoy]

Just got an official response from Carnival. They apologized and said the incident with the doors was inexcusable and they were dumbfounded that the ship staff did not know how to handle it. They apologized for the manager of Nick & Nora's as well and said that their staff needs to be better trained in how to handle situations that are out of the normal and not of fault to the passenger. Oddly, they didn't comment on my slipping or the wilted flower. Oh we'll.

 

They offered me 15% off a future Cruise. I thanked them but turned down the offer.

[BuffaloBoy]

I don't know if the OP asked to have his pants cleaned.

 

If a server accidently spilled something on me, I would just ask guest services to have my pants laundered. I am sure if there was an accidental spilling and the guest asks nicely then guest services would allow for a complementary cleaning. I would just have the spilling noted on my MDR or ask for a manager or supervisor.

 

I didn't ask, but they offered. I got them back the morning after our reservations. And even when they came back, the stain was still there unfortunately :(