Carnival Miracle & Magic - Who's been on both?

[marjosagb]

Newbie to Carnival (have sailed RCI & Princess), and trying to decide on a cruise for this spring...

 

7 of us total - ages 55, 51, 31, 30, 22, 21, 18

 

The food quality, daily activities, evening shows, and overall ship aesthetics are all very important to us.

 

We sailed The RCI Voyager of the Seas a few years ago and LOVED it!!

 

We live on the West Coast, so getting to LA or Galveston makes the most sense for our budget. We looked into the RCI Navigator out of Galveston, but the dates that work for us are really expensive.

 

As mentioned, we have never sailed Carnival before, but it seems like it would be a good fit for us and we like trying new things.

 

Cost being roughly the same...trying to decide between:

 

Carnival Magic - Western Caribbean out of Galveston

(Honduras, Belize, Cozumel)

 

-or-

 

Carnival Miracle - Mexican Riviera out of LA

(Cabo, Cabo, PV)

 

 

Any input on these ships would be very appreciated!

(Especially from those who have been on both)

Edited January 15, 2014 by marjosagb

[NavarreCruiser]

We have been on both ships a number of times. To us the fun on a cruise is often determined by the staff who is running the activities so I really can't help you there. From a personal standpoint we like the Spirit class ships (the Miracle) better than the Dream class ships (the Magic) The Magic is a newer and larger ship with more amenities but to us has many narrow traffic flow points that can make the ship feel crowded, if small groups of people are standing and talking in those areas. This is especially true if you have a cruise with higher passenger count (4500 to 4700).

 

The Miracle is a longer and narrower ship (designed so it can fit through the Panama Canal) that gives us more views of the water and more of a sense of being on a ship. Many of the cabins on the Magic are smaller than the same category on the Miracle.

 

We have a lot of fun on all our Carnival cruises, but we often do get extra recognition because of the frequency that we cruise. One bit of advice about the food. We know their menus well and always find something we enjoy. We have of course in the past ordered things that were not to our tastes. By all means order something else if your first choice does not please you.

 

I just reread your post and want to let you know that you may find the shows on Carnival to be of slightly lesser quality than those on RCCL.

Edited January 15, 2014 by NavarreCruiser

[Muumuu]

We have been on the Miracle 5 times and the Magic once. Like the above poster spirit class is my favorite with the Miracle the best. Just love it, the staff are wonderful. We had the same head waiter three times without requesting him. Booked same aft cabin too.

[brittmama]

I will be traveling on the Miracle in June for the first time and I am glad to hear that it is a nice ship. Good info. TY

[KG1924]

We've been on both and I would choose the Magic. We were on the Miracle years ago and we found ourselves bored at night. Now it was an 8 day cruise but during spring break time, which is why we found it odd how quiet that cruise was. We tend to sail for the ship first, then the itinerary. If you liked the Voyager class, I feel like the Dream class (Magic) would be more similar then the Miracle....but even then there's not really that much similar. I also really enjoyed sailing out of Galveston-it's a really fun little town if you go down the night before. Only downfall is fog in the winter months-it delayed our sailing quite a bit.

 

That all being said, I really want to do a Mexican trip down the West Coast! So if you're going by itinerary, I would choose the Miracle-if you're more concerned about the ship and activities, go for the Magic.

[SadieN]

What do you want to do before or after your cruise? Have you been to Galveston or Los Angeles before? Do you want to go to (or avoid) Disneyland?

 

Been to PV and Cabo many times. Cabo is a tender port and very easy to walk around. PV needs a 5 minute ride to town, but it can be walked. It's is a long walk.

There is some snorkeling on the West Coast but the water is colder.

 

Never been to Honduras or Belize. The pier in Cozumel has it's own built up area and needs a taxi to get to town. It is a loooonger walk to town.

 

Look on the Ports of call boards for more info.

Edited January 20, 2014 by SadieN

[ASR1996]

We have not been on both so I hope you don’t mind my input. We were on the Miracle this past November (seven day Mexican Riviera- two days in PVR) and loved it. We have sailed both RCI and Princess as well. We found there to be a lot of nightlife on the Miracle this past November. We were in the nightclub every night until 2:00 or 3:00 and had a great time. There was always a great crowd and a great DJ. We participated in a lot of activities throughout the day and we enjoyed all of the large(ish) production shows and comedians every evening. Although we have to agree with Navarre Bob & LyndaIn that you may find the production shows to be of slightly lesser quality than those on RCI and Princess.

 

In our opinion the Miracle is not near as “pretty” as any Princess ship we have been on but it was not aesthetically unpleasing either. We like the size of the ship and all of the nice lounges throughout. I try not to comment a lot on food because we are not critical when it comes to food but we were always able to find something we liked in the main dining room.

 

We have sailed on Voyager of the Seas and sister ship Mariner of the Seas a few times and loved them both. The Miracle definitely feels smaller but we were not the least bit disappointed with the layout.

 

We enjoyed the Miracle so much that we are going back in April.

 

With all of that being said, Carnival is, in our opinion, a much more laid back cruise line compared to Princess and RCI. That is one of the main reasons we enjoy it so much. We like that we don’t feel the need to wear a tie to dinner every night and we like that the nightclubs are busier than on Princess and RCI. I think if you have realistic expectations you will have a great vacation on the Miracle if you choose to cruise from the West Coast.