Just Back-Miracle-Long Beach

[pieces of 8]

We just returned from a four day MEX and there was an interesting problem when it came to parking.  The terminal garage was full as there were three ships using it.  We arrived at noon and there was a bit of confusion.  It took about an hour of waiting while port personnel moved their vehicles and we were allowed to park in their open parking lot.  It worked out fine but patience was needed and some folks had trouble handling that.

 The cruise was great, really liked the changes in the main dining room which shortened the dining time.  No tablecloths to change, a fork and a knife inside the napkin, most already knew the menu and you order all courses at once.  We scored with anytime dining and a great waitstaff we were able to use for every dinner in the dining room.  

I will not review the ship as it is going to dry dock in two more cruises.  I must say the crew was still busy painting and cleaning so it was not in poor condition that we saw.  

The only perk I was aware of as a platinum guest was meeting in the dining room on disembarkation and virtually walking right off.  

A great cruise at a great price, thank you Carnival and Staff.  

[lazydayz]

Glad you enjoyed it.  Miracle is a sentimental favorite of ours. 

[jerseygirlinAZ]

Thanks for posting. We're doing a five day out of Long Beach to Cabo in December.

[LibertyBella]

 

That is a very nice getaway cruise-- I especially enjoyed visiting Catalina Island! It was quite fun to combine a West coast visit with that cruise. (I live across the country, so rarely get over there.)

[LaRue1975]

We sail on the Panorama today, got an e-mail Thursday saying there are not enough parking spots in the terminal and to please try to have family or friends drop you off or use ride share. We live 90 minutes away and have 4 adults and a child in our party so are still planning to park in the garage, just leaving home an hour earlier. We have a 10:30 check in so should be ok. The Long Beach Marathon and Bike Ride is this weekend too so we have packed our patience along with our bags, looking forward to a great cruise! 

[Itried4498]

The parking situation doesn’t surprise.  We arrived late in February and the garage was nearly full, despite the fact that the Panorama was sailing with 3K, and the Miracle/Radiance had very light loads.  In March, they started using the Queen Mary lots as overflow, but that was probably rendered unnecessary when the Miracle went to San Francisco.  When it came back, they were preparing to re-open the QM, so that was probably off the table. 

[Linsuesue]

I didn’t know the Miracle was going to dry dock. We sail her in January. Does anybody know any changes that will be happening with her in dry dock?

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, Linsuesue said:

I didn’t know the Miracle was going to dry dock. We sail her in January. Does anybody know any changes that will be happening with her in dry dock?

Officially, Carnival is accelerating routine maintenance so it’s performed during a less busy time of year.  Unofficially, there’s some speculation it was accelerated to address a propulsion issue.  But it’s very unlikely there will be any further passenger enhancements, as it received the remaining 2.0 upgrades barely two years ago.  It is suppose to get the new paint job.

[Linsuesue]

3 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

Officially, Carnival is accelerating routine maintenance so it’s performed during a less busy time of year.  Unofficially, there’s some speculation it was accelerated to address a propulsion issue.  But it’s very unlikely there will be any further passenger enhancements, as it received the remaining 2.0 upgrades barely two years ago.  It is suppose to get the new paint job.

Thanks for the official and unofficial updates! It is an older ship that could really use new paint in many spots. I suppose all of the space on the ship is being utilized and there could never be a specialty restaurants added.

[SDPadreFan]

I believe the main issue requiring the dry dock is to fix one (or more) of the side thrusters. With those not working properly, the ship has to go old school and use tugs to dock and then to get underway as well. I doubt much else will happen other than new paint here and there.

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, SDPadreFan said:

I believe the main issue requiring the dry dock is to fix one (or more) of the side thrusters. With those not working properly, the ship has to go old school and use tugs to dock and then to get underway as well. I doubt much else will happen other than new paint here and there.

Yes but As I mentioned, this is unofficial and just speculation on our end.  JH insists Carnival is merely accelerating routine maintenance, so as it’s performed during the slow season, and nothing more.

[cathyz]

13 hours ago, Linsuesue said:

I didn’t know the Miracle was going to dry dock. We sail her in January. Does anybody know any changes that will be happening with her in dry dock?

I doubt it's anything big, just the standard 2 week dry dock they do every 3 years or so, new carpeting, paint, engine room maintenance as needed.

[ruready]

Sorry your post is getting a bit off topic, but I am curious about the upcoming dry dock as it is scheduled for a month (October 16th - November 16th), which I believe is a bit longer than the typical dry dock.  I think I will be on the 2nd sailing post the dry dock. Not sure if they need all that time for repairs/maintenance or if the ship needs to be transported somewhere for repairs/maintenance and thus accounting for the longer dry dock timeline.  A month is a long time to be without revenue, particularly post the high of the pandemic.  

[Itried4498]

22 minutes ago, ruready said:

Sorry your post is getting a bit off topic, but I am curious about the upcoming dry dock as it is scheduled for a month (October 16th - November 16th), which I believe is a bit longer than the typical dry dock.  I think I will be on the 2nd sailing post the dry dock. Not sure if they need all that time for repairs/maintenance or if the ship needs to be transported somewhere for repairs/maintenance and thus accounting for the longer dry dock timeline.  A month is a long time to be without revenue, particularly post the high of the pandemic.  

It was discussed in the earlier replies, and there’s several threads on the issue.  
 

Per JH, Carnival is simply accelerating standard maintenance schedules on a number of ships.  Miracle was moved to mid-Oct to mid-Nov because it’s one of the weakest periods of the year, and it enabled Carnival to deploy an upgraded product (Radiance) on a two-week Hawaii run.  There is some speculation that there’s a mechanics issue Carnival is trying to repair, but that’s pure speculation and denied by JH.

 

The Miracle’s Thanksgiving cruise, the two-week Hawaii cruise that follows it, and a couple of the Holiday cruises are either sold or mostly sold out, and always charged premiums, whereas the weekend Ensenada runs were priced cheap.  Thus, in the event that Carnival needed to extend the dry dock - and again, there’s no reason to suspect that, it’s almost a certainly that most or all of the Miracle’s runs would be moved to the Radiance.

[Linsuesue]

I read on another board that the Miracle will get the new livery paint job and a Shaq’s big chicken.