Carnival Miracle 3/26/06

[walkswife]

The Carnival Miracle is exactly that a Miracle....

I traveled with five moms, five teenage girls, one dad and one teenage boy. This was a Girl Scout Mom & Me trip with a tag along...:o) Our token husband and little brother had their hands full. Out of the group only three of us had cruised before.

 

First off this ship has huge WOW factor when you board. The atrium was beautiful, the art around the ship was amazing, and the decor while over the top was awesome.... yes the pink lights in the dining room are a mystery but we all agreed that after the first night they seem to work.

 

We all had 5A cabins midship on the Main deck... even though the windows had life boats in front of them it was nice to be able to open them and hear the ocean and have fresh air.... besides the fact the girls liked talking to each other out of them and when they would lock themselves out of their rooms found the grates out there to be very helpful in getting from one room to the other.... there was another deck below not just ocean... Our room steward Kay was wonderful...putting up with the messes these girls could leave behind.... I miss him dearly because the cabin steward on this ship sucks :o(.

 

The food was awesome everywhere we went I never ate anything I didn't like. Horatio's has the best omelets for breakfast and Reubens for lunch. My daughter is a room service freak so we had many BLT's and chicken wraps in the wee hours of the morning and they were always on time with my morning coffee..... I do miss Ioan and Wayan in the dining room, they spoiled us rotten. From napkins in our laps to remembering who drank coffee after dinner... now the flourless chocolate cake for dessert is a must for anyone who has the chance and the rest of the group loved the Strawberry bisque and the variety of different chilled soups offered as appetizers... the Talapia and Grouper where wonderful.

 

As far as excursions and things this is what our group experienced....

 

Grand Cayman-Most of us did the Reef and Wreck snorkel through the ship.... the snorkeling there is suppose to be the best. We had a 5 foot barracuda right below us and it was amazing.... we also shopped and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. The rest of our group did the Butterfly Farm and ended up at Sea Grapes Beach..... they thought the beach was wonderful.

 

Cozumel. Being as the group I was with was a Girl Scout mom & me trip we hooked up with the Chrysalis Group in Cozumel and toured the elementary school and gave them a cash donation.... it was suppose to be school supplies but we found out we couldn't get them through customs...the girls thought this was the highlight of there trip.... then we took a cab to Paradise Beach...if you just want to beach it this is a wonderful place ... I could have spent a week there alone.

 

Belize-We did the cave tubing through the ship.... if I ever did it again I would book with an outside company like X-stream. First it was a 1 hour narrated bus ride telling us about the country. Then it was a 45-60 min hike through the rain forest ... it was a beautiful walk....and then about 1 1/2 hour float through the caves and the rain forest... I thought it was amazing and the water felt good after the walk. They then took us for a wonderful lunch ... best chicken I ever had. On the way back to the ship it was siesta time and we all took advantage of that...

 

Costa Maya-The group I was with did the dolphin swim.... a once in a life time experience... we interacted with the dolphins and the jumped over us. They would swim through the group to be petted and flip over to have their tummies rubbed. Then my daughter and I rented a golf cart and drove over to the fishing village and ran into a few more of our group. This is the prettiest beach I have ever seen... my daughter got her hair braided and I shopped and sat on the beach.... some one else in our group did the Xstreme speed boats and thought they were a blast... the port village is wonderful there with a swimming pool and swim up bar, restaurants and shops... if you didn't want to you would never have to leave the port but to me the fishing village is worth the ride.

 

The shows that we saw were great ... Generations and Ticket to Ride are not to miss.... the comedian we saw was funny .... and my daughter decided to try hypnosis from the top balcony and it worked she was doing all the group stuff ... I would bet my life she wasn't faking ... they were asking them to do things she would be to self conscious to do in real life.....we laughed so hard at her I think we missed most of the stage show and I almost peed my pants.

All and all this was the most amazing adventure of my life. I would do this exact same itinerary again and do different adventures.... I would love to do the Lost World Canopy Tour in Belize.... go Parasailing in Cozumel.... the two man bubble submarine in Grand Cayman and just go back to the beach in the fishing village (Majahual) in Costa Maya. If you want to rest and relax on this trip you definitely can or if you are looking for adventure it is definitely there.

[Ltvscout]

The Carnival Miracle is exactly that a Miracle....

Yes it is. :D I hope to finally have my 03/26/06 review done this weekend. I will also be including a number of tips for people sailing on Spirit class ships which may apply to other ships as well.

[LHP]

Glad you had a great time. October is taking a really long time getting here!

[HeidiHo]

Great review Renee. I wanna go back. I miss you guys.:(

[DqALEX]

The Carnival Miracle is exactly that a Miracle....

I traveled with five moms, five teenage girls, one dad and one teenage boy. This was a Girl Scout Mom & Me trip with a tag along...:o) Our token husband and little brother had their hands full. Out of the group only three of us had cruised before.

 

First off this ship has huge WOW factor when you board. The atrium was beautiful, the art around the ship was amazing, and the decor while over the top was awesome.... yes the pink lights in the dining room are a mystery but we all agreed that after the first night they seem to work.

 

We all had 5A cabins midship on the Main deck... even though the windows had life boats in front of them it was nice to be able to open them and hear the ocean and have fresh air.... besides the fact the girls liked talking to each other out of them and when they would lock themselves out of their rooms found the grates out there to be very helpful in getting from one room to the other.... there was another deck below not just ocean... Our room steward Kay was wonderful...putting up with the messes these girls could leave behind.... I miss him dearly because the cabin steward on this ship sucks :o(.

 

The food was awesome everywhere we went I never ate anything I didn't like. Horatio's has the best omelets for breakfast and Reubens for lunch. My daughter is a room service freak so we had many BLT's and chicken wraps in the wee hours of the morning and they were always on time with my morning coffee..... I do miss Ioan and Wayan in the dining room, they spoiled us rotten. From napkins in our laps to remembering who drank coffee after dinner... now the flourless chocolate cake for dessert is a must for anyone who has the chance and the rest of the group loved the Strawberry bisque and the variety of different chilled soups offered as appetizers... the Talapia and Grouper where wonderful.

 

As far as excursions and things this is what our group experienced....

 

Grand Cayman-Most of us did the Reef and Wreck snorkel through the ship.... the snorkeling there is suppose to be the best. We had a 5 foot barracuda right below us and it was amazing.... we also shopped and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. The rest of our group did the Butterfly Farm and ended up at Sea Grapes Beach..... they thought the beach was wonderful.

 

Cozumel. Being as the group I was with was a Girl Scout mom & me trip we hooked up with the Chrysalis Group in Cozumel and toured the elementary school and gave them a cash donation.... it was suppose to be school supplies but we found out we couldn't get them through customs...the girls thought this was the highlight of there trip.... then we took a cab to Paradise Beach...if you just want to beach it this is a wonderful place ... I could have spent a week there alone.

 

Belize-We did the cave tubing through the ship.... if I ever did it again I would book with an outside company like X-stream. First it was a 1 hour narrated bus ride telling us about the country. Then it was a 45-60 min hike through the rain forest ... it was a beautiful walk....and then about 1 1/2 hour float through the caves and the rain forest... I thought it was amazing and the water felt good after the walk. They then took us for a wonderful lunch ... best chicken I ever had. On the way back to the ship it was siesta time and we all took advantage of that...

 

Costa Maya-The group I was with did the dolphin swim.... a once in a life time experience... we interacted with the dolphins and the jumped over us. They would swim through the group to be petted and flip over to have their tummies rubbed. Then my daughter and I rented a golf cart and drove over to the fishing village and ran into a few more of our group. This is the prettiest beach I have ever seen... my daughter got her hair braided and I shopped and sat on the beach.... some one else in our group did the Xstreme speed boats and thought they were a blast... the port village is wonderful there with a swimming pool and swim up bar, restaurants and shops... if you didn't want to you would never have to leave the port but to me the fishing village is worth the ride.

 

The shows that we saw were great ... Generations and Ticket to Ride are not to miss.... the comedian we saw was funny .... and my daughter decided to try hypnosis from the top balcony and it worked she was doing all the group stuff ... I would bet my life she wasn't faking ... they were asking them to do things she would be to self conscious to do in real life.....we laughed so hard at her I think we missed most of the stage show and I almost peed my pants.

All and all this was the most amazing adventure of my life. I would do this exact same itinerary again and do different adventures.... I would love to do the Lost World Canopy Tour in Belize.... go Parasailing in Cozumel.... the two man bubble submarine in Grand Cayman and just go back to the beach in the fishing village (Majahual) in Costa Maya. If you want to rest and relax on this trip you definitely can or if you are looking for adventure it is definitely there.

If i went to go on a the same Carnival ship it would be the Miracle. That was my best cruise. so far

[walkswife]

Great review Renee. I wanna go back. I miss you guys.:(

 

I know me too:( .... the weather is getting nicer here but the beaches on the lake just aren't the same... Maybe if all of you guys came to visit and we made some pitchers of Kiss on the Lips it would feel better:o