Just back from Carnival Miracle 4/4/15-4/11/15

[Joker440]

What did they do for Easter Sunday?

 

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

 

They had an easter egg hunt and a family Easter celebration. The kids did the hunt and got plastic eggs with candy. We didn't do the celebration. Easter Sunday was formal night at the MDR.

[mistyinca]

What specifically was in your bag that got you called to the naughty room?

[AnnieSally]

Hi joker! Great review! Question- were you suppose to be in cabo for two days? I read somewhere there was a problem in Matzalan? Thanks again for taking the time to do this review!

[Therese S.]

Hello Joker..thanks for the great review, especially about your experience on Amtrak. I also do not like to fly, we live in the Sacramento Area and thinking we would like to try the train on our next trip to Long Beach, we are hoping to cruise back to Hawaii on the Miracle.

 

I have a couple of Amtrak questions if you don't mind?

 

1. Where is your luggage stored on the San Joaquin train?

2. Do you load it or does the conductor take it?

3. Once you transfer to the Thruway bus, what happens to your luggage?

4. How long did it take total time to get to Long Beach?

5. Did you find the train trip was worth it over driving?

6. How was the trip home? Did you get home on the Coast Starlight or back on the San Joaquin?

 

I've been looking at Amtrak schedules and depending on the time we choose can take the San Joaquin directly from Sacramento, then the thru-way bus to Long Beach, but a little more difficult coming home depending on what time you get off the ship.

 

Sorry guess I had more than a couple of questions,

Thanks so much,

Therese

[goduckies05]

Therese, i would take the Coast Starlight and then take a shuttle bus. Super shuttle etc. The trip along the coast is amazing and the passangers are much micer. It may take longer to get there, but well worth it. On my rerurn trip in May o am taking the Starlight.

[Joker440]

What a great review, thank you!! We set sail on the Miracle 4/25 and after reading your posts I'm way beyond excited!

 

It was a great cruise. I'm ready to go back already!

[Joker440]

I love the Mexican Riviera itinerary and your review makes me want to book another!

 

I say "Just do it!"

[Joker440]

What specifically was in your bag that got you called to the naughty room?

 

Bottle of Jack and a bottle of Malibu. Not sure how those fell into my bags. :)

[Joker440]

Hi joker! Great review! Question- were you suppose to be in cabo for two days? I read somewhere there was a problem in Matzalan? Thanks again for taking the time to do this review!

 

We were scheduled to be in Cabo for two days. This was the reason I booked this date, because we loved Cabo last time we were there. I see itineraries that include Mazatlan now, and would like to try one in the future.

[Joker440]

Hello Joker..thanks for the great review, especially about your experience on Amtrak. I also do not like to fly, we live in the Sacramento Area and thinking we would like to try the train on our next trip to Long Beach, we are hoping to cruise back to Hawaii on the Miracle.

 

I have a couple of Amtrak questions if you don't mind?

 

1. Where is your luggage stored on the San Joaquin train? There is storage at either end of each car. In Stockton, they offered to check everyone's luggage, but then the train arrived within a couple of minutes, so not everyone could take advantage of this.

2. Do you load it or does the conductor take it?If you check it, the conductor handles it. If not, you handle it.

3. Once you transfer to the Thruway bus, what happens to your luggage?If it's checked, they will get it to the bus. If not, you carry it to the bus and they store it underneath.

4. How long did it take total time to get to Long Beach?We left Redding at 3:40 am and arrived in Long Beach around 7:30 pm. We were supposed to arrived at 5:30, but were running late.

5. Did you find the train trip was worth it over driving? I abhor driving, so yes. Plus I find the train to be relaxing. Once you figure in gas, time, fatigue, parking fees, etc., the train makes perfect sense to me.

6. How was the trip home? Did you get home on the Coast Starlight or back on the San Joaquin?We were running on time on the way home. The same clientele was present on the San Joaquin. We rode from Bakersfield to Martinez on the San Joaquin, then transferred to the Coast Starlight for the rest of the journey.

 

I've been looking at Amtrak schedules and depending on the time we choose can take the San Joaquin directly from Sacramento, then the thru-way bus to Long Beach, but a little more difficult coming home depending on what time you get off the ship.

 

Sorry guess I had more than a couple of questions,

Thanks so much,

Therese

 

Answers in red above. I would not take the San Joaquin again. The trains are way older, ride rougher, and the views are monotonous. The Coast Starlight has assigned seating in much more comfortable seats. There is a dining car on the Starlight as well as a snack bar. Also video games downstairs for the kids. The San Joaquin offers just a snack bar, with about 15-20 people in line at any given time. Also, the bus ride from Bakersfield takes you to Union Station in LA, where your transfer to a different bus, once again moving your luggage around. Too much hassle for a vacation for me.

[Joker440]

Therese, i would take the Coast Starlight and then take a shuttle bus. Super shuttle etc. The trip along the coast is amazing and the passangers are much micer. It may take longer to get there, but well worth it. On my rerurn trip in May o am taking the Starlight.

 

I agree!!

[Joker440]

Thursday was a day at sea for us. I woke up relatively early and went up to the Lido deck. I was delighted to see it had been decorated.

 

 

 

 

 

[Joker440]

 

 

 

Not special, but an oversized chess game available on the Lido deck as well

 

[Joker440]

We spent the day exploring the ship and relaxing. We played a game of bingo, and lost. I got into the swimming pool for the first time and was reminded quickly it contained salt water. After a relaxing day, it was soon time to get ready for our second formal night. We headed down to the MDR.

 

Now I must divert a moment to set the stage for the following two pictures. I had noticed during the week there were a large number of passengers representing the LGBT population. I will qualify this by saying that I have no issues with this, and just making an observation. As it was a formal night, part of their group dressed up. And they spent wayyyy more time getting ready than I did :)

 

 

 

They were really good sports about it, taking pictures with other passengers. They had reserved the Ariadne annex to the MDR. We were sitting close by and could hear them having a great time.

 

I was a little lax in taking pictures of dinner this evening, but here are two:

 

 

Petite Filet Mignon with Braised Boneless Shortrib

 

 

Shrimp and Fries from the comfort menu

 

And here is our friend waiting for us back in the stateroom.

 

[Joker440]

Friday was to be our last full day on the ship. This was the third and final sea day. We started out the day in the MDR for brunch. Previously, we ordered room service or went to the buffet for breakfast.

 

One of the kids ordered chocolate chip pancakes

 

 

One ordered a cheese omelet

 

 

And I ordered the filet and eggs

 

 

I don't eat eggs nor tomatoes, and the filet was tiny, so I ordered sides of sausage, bacon, and hashbrowns. I hope my cardiologist doesn't read this!

 

In the afternoon, DW and I went to the Cruise Director Q&A session. As always, the only taboo subject was salaries. Cory the CD did a pretty good job answering questions. I learned a lot about the different jobs on the ship. It was held in the Mad Hatters Lounge.

 

 

[Joker440]

Sorry about the double posted picture, here is another view

 

[Joker440]

Prior to dinner, we went to the Lido Deck to get some pictures of the final sunset. Deck 10 was closed Thursday and Friday due to high winds. I found a stairway from Deck 9 that led to a glass enclosure on Deck 10. These stairs were not blocked off. We stood inside the glass enclosure until the appropriate time to take pictures. Then we moved out onto the open deck. It was rather chilly and VERY windy up there.

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure that last picture is from a different day, but let's pretend it's from Friday :)

[Joker440]

Time for the final 8 food porn photos. We went to the MDR for our final night on the ship. It was somewhat disheartening knowing that we wouldn't be enjoying any more of the fine food, nor would we have the assistance of the dining team.

 

Shrimp Cocktail

 

 

Prime Rib (prior to Au Jus)

 

 

Cheeseburger for one of the DD's

 

 

Bacon Mac n Cheese for DW

 

[Joker440]

Grand Marnier Souffle (prior to sauce)

 

 

Grand Marnier Souffle (with sauce)

 

 

Cappuccino Pie

 

 

Apple Pie

 

 

I forgot to mention, at the beginning of dinner, the headwaiter approached me. My buddy and I have the same first name. The headwaiter asked my last name, which I provided. He told me the casino had sent down a bottle of wine for me to enjoy with dinner. DW isn't really a wine drinker, but will drink white zin occasionally. I asked for white zin, which he promptly delivered. It wasn't an expensive bottle, but it was nice to be rewarded by the casino.

 

After dinner, and saying goodbye to the dining staff, we were headed to see a ventriloquist show. I wanted to change first, so I headed back to the stateroom while DW and DD's went to the Phantom Theater to get us a seat.

 

Upon arriving at the stateroom, I noted something in our mailbox. Turns out it was a letter from the Casino Host offering a complimentary future cruise. I was pretty surprised, since I didn't spend all that much in the casino. Plus, this was our first time on Carnival, so I don't have any loyalty points or anything. I showed it to DW and she was surprised as well.

 

The ventriloquist show was not all that entertaining for us. The kids thought it was okay.

 

That's it for Friday. Next will be debarkation and a day in Long Beach, then the trip home. I'll finish with photos of the FunTimes from each day and random things I forgot to mention during the previous posts.

[Joker440]

Saturday, I woke up early to prepare for debarkation. I went up to the Lido deck to get a cup of coffee and saw we were approaching the Port of Long Beach. I woke up the DD's so they could watch as we docked. It took about an hour or so and was interesting to watch. DW went to the naughty room to retrieve our contraband and we got the rest of our bags packed.

 

Since we had purchased FTTF, we were in Zone 1. We waited near the Alchemy Bar until Zone 1 was called. Our friends did self assist and were off by 7:45. It was closer to 8:30 for us. Customs was pretty quick and soon we were collecting our bags. It was a very simple, quick process.

 

We took the Hilton shuttle back to the hotel and checked in around 9:30. We sat around the room for a while. The shuttle then took us to Seaport Village. We looked around the shops, then found a bicycle rental place. We rented two four-person surreys and went for a ride down the beach area. Those things look a lot easier than they turned out to be! We returned to Seaport Village and ate some lunch. We walked to the aquarium, but the lines were REALLY long. We ended up walking back to the hotel to relax.

 

For dinner, we took the shuttle to Famous Daves at Seaport Village. When we had walked by earlier, the smell of BBQ was overwhelming. It took a while to get seated, but service was pretty fast. We returned to the hotel, went for a swim, then called it a day.

[Joker440]

Sunday morning, we got up and ready to head home. DW rode the shuttle to Von's Market to get some food for the ride home. We then took the shuttle to the Amtrak transfer station in Long Beach. A charter bus arrived right on time and took us to Union Station in LA. The driver told us that we could stay on the bus, as he would be continuing to Bakersfield. While crossing the Grapevine, traffic backed up. It was strange, since we were out of the city. Pretty soon, emergency vehicles passed us on the median. Turns out there was a grass fire a mile or so up the road. Even with the delay, we were only about 5 minutes behind schedule arriving in Bakersfield.

 

DW and DD's went directly to the train to attempt to secure seating together for the six of us. FIL moves a little slower in his scooter, so I stayed with him and MIL. DW spoke with the conductor who reserved two four-seater tables for us. We got the luggage and scooter loaded onto the train and we were off. According to the conductor we were about 10 minutes behind schedule. As the day went on, we alternated between being on time and 30 minutes behind schedule. The train ride from Bakersfield to Martinez was rather uneventful.

 

In Martinez, we transferred onto the Coast Starlight train after an hour layover. The Coast Starlight was right on time. As we boarded the train, the conductor assigned us 3 pairs of seats, not together. This was a first. Every other time we have ridden the Coast Starlight our seats were together. Apparently, the train was very full.

 

DD and I walked to our seats only to find them occupied. I spoke again with the conductor. She told me we could sit together downstairs or in the observation car. We chose the observation car.

 

Once seated, I realized we were a couple seats down from an obviously intoxicated college age male. The conductor came through to tell him she had a seat for him. When he responded, she realized he was drunk. She chastised him and told him he needed to go to the assigned seat and sleep it off. She told us she had two seats opening up in Davis. At Davis, we switched to our newly assigned seats.

 

About twenty minutes later, we arrived in Sacramento. There is a layover at this stop. The smokers generally get off the train here. I saw the drunk guy stumble down the aisle and exit the train. He was gone for a little while, then returned. He was obviously confused. His seat was at the very front of the train, but he walked toward the back of the train. He was mumbling something about his backpack. He proceeded to check all the bags in the overhead compartments, and a few sitting at the feet of passengers. He got to my seat, thought he recognized my backpack, and reached for it. A quick look and comment from me changed his mind. He stumbled off and continued checking bags. He ultimately selected a seat (not his own) a few rows ahead of me. That lasted until the conductor came by and escorted him to a new seat in the observation car. I never saw him again.

 

The train traveled on without incident and we arrived home around 3:00 am.

 

Next will be the FunTimes after I photo them and upload them.

[Joker440]

I double posted the cappuccino pie picture instead of the apple pie picture. Here it is!

 

[AnnieSally]

Ok, I thought PV for two days but not cabo,thanks again.

[Joker440]

Some of the sailings have two days in PV and others have two days in Cabo San Lucas. Now they've added Mazatlan into the mix!

[Therese S.]

Answers in red above. I would not take the San Joaquin again. The trains are way older, ride rougher, and the views are monotonous. The Coast Starlight has assigned seating in much more comfortable seats. There is a dining car on the Starlight as well as a snack bar. Also video games downstairs for the kids. The San Joaquin offers just a snack bar, with about 15-20 people in line at any given time. Also, the bus ride from Bakersfield takes you to Union Station in LA, where your transfer to a different bus, once again moving your luggage around. Too much hassle for a vacation for me.

 

Thanks Joker...I'll have to think more on taking Amtrak. The San Joaquin looks promising due to timing, but it sounds like the Coast Starlight is the way to go, but wow that train sure takes a long time to get there. We may decide to sail out of San Francisco next time.