Miracle Review- last week

[bellazoemom]

The night before we departed we stayed at the Sheraton by the airport...unfortunately there was a little girls cheerleading competition at the hotel...it was unbearably loud. So, that night was not so great. But the hotel was very nice about it and comped every single person’s room that stayed there that was not with the cheerleading group.

Day 1, Sunday:

The next morning the hotel shuttle took us to the port around 10am. We went early to have breakfast. I called ahead to Joffery's coffeehouse at the port to see if they served breakfast, they said they did, but it was really aweful. It was McDonald type eggs on bread and we paid $16.00 for 3 of them. Owell, lesson learned. Don’t eat breakfast at Jofferys. So, we met the rest of our family about 11 and entered the port. We waited till around 1pm before they let us board and we went straight to the Lido deck for lunch. At first we were a little confused because the food isn’t all together and from one station you can’t see the others, but if you walk in a big circle you will find all the different kinds of food. The asian food was the best that day. After we ate we went and made reservations for Nick and Nora’s (I can’t wait to tell you about this, AWESOME). Then we walked around the ship, checking it out. After getting to know where everything was, we put on our swimsuits and went to the pool. The pool was great for toddlers because it is only a few inches deep around the majority of it, like a water deck and my 2 yr old loved it. (don’t worry flamers, she is potty trained, no swim diapers or peeing in the pool.). My 7 yr old loved the Jacuzzi above the pool. I was not sure about letting her go there because I didn’t want other adults to be angry, but that particular Jacuzzi was luke warm and filled with kids the whole trip. Some little boy pooped in it that first day though. I couldn’t believe that most of these kids were unsupervised in it. Anyway, we then all got out of the pool to dry before the muester drill, ordered 2 funship drinks each and we were totally loopy ..I was surprised at how strong they are. We went through the whole muster (I recommend being out last if you have small kids because you get so smashed behind other people if you are out to quick. We were out really fast and my husband had to hold our 2 yr old because people were stepping on her and my 7 yr old had a butt in her face for about 15 minutes. I mean RIGHT in her face. This is the funny, not so funny part. The man in front of her passed gas very loudly, he didn’t see her so he turned to me to say excuse me, I looked down at my daughter who was turning green and I couldn’t stop laughing. I was laughing so hard my whole body was shaking…my poor daughter. After that, we went to the sign up for Camp Carnival. I signed up my 7 yr old and 2 yr old daughters. They gave me a phone for the 2 yr old in case they needed to contact me, but this came in handy for the rest of our group to keep in contact with me around the ship. I really like having this phone and if you don’t have a small child and the ship will let you rent one, I recommend it if you are in a group. After camp sign up, we went to dinner. Our waiter was Earl from Costa Rica. He was very nice, but very slow. We were always the last group to leave the whole dining room every night. It was kind of difficult because we had the 2 yr old with us most nights and it’s hard to keep her busy for 3 hours in a chair. But overall, we were happy with Earl. He greeted us with a good sense of humor and a smile every night. The food was pretty good in the dining room. (until we went to Nick and Nora’s, then we all thought it was terrible..LOL) Earl told us if you know ahead of time you want 2 of something or a sauce (like horseradish, etc) it is most helpful to tell your waiter as soon as you order the first time. It is easier for him to come out with 2 lobsters for you than for you to order it after you are done with your first. The cappuccino was so bad, it was like mud. I mean SO bad. But, in the end..it didn’t matter. We had a good round table near a window for all 8 of us and we were happy every night when we left the dining room. We did not go to the show that night, we were all tired and went to the rooms, unpacked and settled in for the night.

Day 2, Monday:

Today was a sea day. We mostly hung out by the pool. Took my kids to camp. Ate and ate and ate. I recommend the Lido deck for breakfast. The dining room has the exact same food, but takes longer to get. We went to the “game show” and my husband won one of those little ship trophies. Then 2 rounds later, my brother went up and won another. It was a lot of fun. Honestly, I can’t remember a lot about this day. My daughter and aunt went on the slide. My aunt said it is not easy to go down and people were getting stuck. At the end of the night we played bingo. A zillion other people played and 4 people won a $500 pot. Not a great deal.

Day 3, Tuesday:

Grand Cayman

Today was pretty great. We book a tour (Rays, Reef and Rum Point) through Nativeway. The only warning I have is if you really want a tiny group, this may not be for you. When I called to book I confirmed with Sharon what the website said, no more than 20 people in your group. She said that every once in a while they might have an extra person because a family member wants to go with a group already booked, but that was IT. Wellllllll….there were 34 (THIRTY FOUR) people in our group. Including 6 kids (I had my kids at camp). The tour guide guy kept having to ask the kids to sit down, be quiet (while he was giving instruction or information)..it was kind of annoying. Overall ..this day was great, but the size and kids was not what I expected and in the beginning, when we were all cramming on their little van, I was aggrevated. Anyhow. They met us at the port and we walked a small walk to their bus/van. We then drove to the marina, about 15minutes where we boarded My Way. It easily fit us all. We rode out to Stingray city. I can’t say enough about this place. I live in Florida, have had interaction with rays at the beach, petted them at seaworld..etc. I was not looking fwd to this part. I thought it would be boring. I LOVED IT. MY HUSBAND LOVED IT. You go out to a sandbar in the middle of the ocean and there are rays everywhere. Not the tiny grey ones you are used to seeing on the Florida beaches. HUGE, black, beautiful rays. You don’t have to worry about shuffling your feet. You can plainly see them in the crystal clear water. The guide caught one for all of us to see, hold and kiss. They were amazing and the location was equally amazing. My DH and I snorkeled around, petting and feeding the rays and just taking in the beautiful water. We got a ray massage from our guide. It was really nice. We got back on the boat and some wet guy sat in the seat we were in and got our dry things soaking wet and when I tried to get my stuff from under him, he was kind of a jerk. Owell…there is always one, right? Then we went to the reef. The reef was pretty nice. It took forever for everyone to get into the water and once they did, a few inexperienced snorklers kicked my DH with their fins. They were kicking so hard they were splashing around scaring things off. One of our guides got in the water and lured out a huge moray eel. Probably 10 feet long. It went right up to a woman, mouth open, like it was going to bite her leg, then the guide lured it away with food. Kind of freaked me out. I did enjoy the reef, but I don’t think it was as pretty as ones I’ve been to in the keys. We then went to Rum Point. Beautiful place. It was a little busy, well, busier than I expected, but really beautiful. I am always on a quest for beautiful water. This was so clear and you could walk so far out. Really nice. We had already ordered on the boat and they had our food waiting. We had conch fritters (they were very good here) and a blackened Maui sandwich. Food was pretty yummy. We decided to order drinks. Beer was not too expensive but girly drinks were SO EXPENSIVE. The board said the fruity drink I ordered was $7.50 but that is in Cayman, once translated, it was a $9.50 drink! It was in a small plastic cup and not worth more than a few bucks so I recommend sticking to the stingray beer. Also, they will not give you change in US dollars, so bring small bills. Next round we both had a beer. We ate lunch and then sat in the ocean. It was a great place to spend a day and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quiet day on a pretty beach. After we left the videographer with us offered us the video of our trip. We declined. If we had our kids with us, we would probably get it…but I didn’t want to spend $60 to see myself in a bathing suit, waving at a camera. (He kept asking us to wave at his camera, lol). Anyway, the trip back to the marina we decided to sit on the top of the boat. The guide was very sweet. A little girl asked him who Bob Marley was (the guides were wearing BM shirts). He said that BM lives in all of us. It was very sweet. I really did like the guides a lot. Especially the main guy whose name I can not remember. After we got off, he had a bunch of conch shells on the dock and gave each child one, he heard me talking about my kids earlier, when I got off the boat, he handed me one for them. They were very nice. Overall, great day and I would recommend Nativeway to others.

After we got back to the ship, we got ready for Nick and Nora’s. This was DEFINATLEY a highlight of our trip. When we arrived at our table, I noticed my favorite dish and commented to my SIL that it was a Versace knockoff. Then I looked at the bottom and it was Versace. I don’t know how they manage to take care of these in a restaurant, but they were beautiful and a great little greeting at the table. Then came the menu. We all ordered different things…but everything that came was SO INCREDIBLE. We were all so impressed with every dish. The presentation, the taste, the quality. For the app…I recommend either the onion soup or the crab cake (between us all, we sampled almost everything). For entrees.. the Filet was cooked perfectly. The dessert..hands down..the chocolate trio. We left so full and so happy. This was definitely a highlight and would tell anyone going on the Miracle that they were missing out on a really awesome experience if they did not go there. So worth every penny. We tried in vain to get another reservation after we ate and they were totally booked for every night after. Not even enough room for 2 of us! I would recommend getting on board that first day and booking at least 2 nights! At least!!! Trust me; you will thank me after you get back.

Day 4, Cozumel:

This day was probably my least favorite. Tendering was really bad this day. We met in the Phantom with all the other tours to get of on the first tender. If you didn’t say you had a tour they said you may not get off until 11:00. So off we went. We had to wait for an hour in the phantom and then wait in a 600 person line down the stairwells to get to the first tender. Not a fun time. We got to the pier and a nice man at Fat Tuesdays let my daughter use the restroom even though they weren’t open yet. We then took a cab to Playa Palancar. We decided on this beach because it was going to be the least crowded and I read the beach was not badly affected by Wilma. First let me say, the staff was REALLY nice. (except the hairbraiders) We got there and all you see is plastic chairs and tables. There are a few old wood loungers and the staff said you can rent a floating water mat to put on them. The beach has lost a lot of sand and the water is no where close to pretty and clear. It is like Clearwater beach in Florida (which is not clear, lol). You have to have water shoes to enter as there is a lot of sharp coral and shells. There was very little shade on shore. Wilma took away almost all vegetation on the entire island. The beach overall was a very big disappointment and my group was a little upset with me because I picked it. However….the other people who went to other beach clubs told me the beach was exactly the same as we experienced, but those other places were very busy and over crowded. I will say, on a positive note, that the food and drinks were priced well and the guacamole was very good. The hairbraiders came around and offered to do my daughters hair for one price and once my daughter got there (my DH walked her over), they changed the price and then only gave her 3 braids for $10. Not a very good deal. I walked over and asked about the price change and they were not very nice to me…speaking to each other in Spanish and rolling their eyes. Not a great experience. We then decide to leave and do some shopping close to the pier. So we walk up to the cab driver that wants twice as much to get back as they wanted to get to the beach. At first I protested, but he explained (threatened) he would tell all other cabs not to come to that beach and we would be stuck there. Nice. So we got in the cab and went back. We did some shopping and went back to the ship. I will never go to the beach in Cozumel again. It is not the prettiest water and the people we encountered were so rude. (Not the wait staff at Palancar, they were great). We also bought a hammock in a store at the pier, the store had the words “flea market” in it…anyway we got it home and it is a dud. We hung it and only my 2 yr old can fit in it. It is really small and stiff nylon. Bummer. It then took us over an hour to tender back to the ship. I wish I would have spent my day some other way.

Day 5, Belize:

We got in line with the tour groups walking down the stair wells to get the first tender. We booked cave tubing with X-Stream and made our way to the meeting place. A few in our group hadn’t eaten and by the restroom there is a small dinner that had some food, priced great. They ate and we met our group a few minutes later. In our group were 6 of us and one other couple. So only 8 of us. We waited for one other couple who never showed and then off we went. Our guide was NATHAN. He goes by Nate, Nathan or Nathaniel. I HIGHLY recommend you ask for him while booking your tour. He was so great. He made the hour drive feel like 5 minutes. He told us all kinds of great info and when we first got into the van he said the first part of the tour was the drive, it really was. It was great. Then we got to the rainforest, got our tubes and went for the brisk 30 minute walk. It was so hot that really it was a hard walk. Not unbearable, but not fun. Then into the water. Pictures don’t do it justice. The water is very pretty, clear with little colorful stones on the bottom of the river bed. The caves are beautiful. We went through 4 caves total. Really nice. A definite highlight of our trip. Nate was great at making this day an amazing experience. We ordered the bbq ckn lunch for after and it was SOOOO good. The couple who didn’t order it was a little jealous. The ckn was good and came with amazing fresh garlic bread, and a muffin you would swear was cake. YUM! Just what we needed at the end of that experience. We got back to the port with 40 minutes to shop and I used all of them. I recommend checking out the little “shops” outside the pier area. You’ll see them on your drive back, right before you pull into the pier shopping area. There are little tent shops with great prices. We got offered weed a few times also, LOL. One shop keeper “god blessed” us and said “don’t buy no weed my friends” LOL. He was cute. Really, everyone was nice here and I never felt unsafe. I know a lot of people are afraid of Belize, but my experience was great. If you go cave tubing ..I REALLY recommend Nate with X-Stream.

Day 6, Costa Maya:

This place is paradise. We went to that fishing village “ma-ha-wal”. We walked around doing some shopping first and walked to the end where we hit Pez Quandro. We got our first drink at that bar and then walked back having drinks here and there. Stopped at Tapas for more drinks and some guacamole. Finally decided to get in that gorgeous water. The water here is really beautiful. It’s like Grand Cayman with less of the touristy expensive stuff. The people were very nice, we bought a few things. There is a general store in the middle (it’s a white building) that sells the hot sauce Tapas uses for $1.50 and my DH (who is a big fan of hotsauce) loved it. Back to the water. OMG..I really can’t say enough about how pretty it is. I would go back to CM in a heart beat. People were finding big beautiful shells in the water. And it was CRYSTAL clear. Really beautiful. My mom and aunt spent their day at the resort to the right of the pier, on the other side of the wall. The captain was also there with his wife and 2 small kids. They all loved that place. The water was pretty and were little pools full of angel fish, anemones, etc etc. They found some pretty big shells and came back saying it was their favorite place. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Costa Maya!

Last sea day:

We were very lazy the last day. Sat by the pool and ate and ate. LOL. My Brother and SIL won a lot the last day in the casino.

Debarkation:

Fast and easy. You really just walk right through. Had breakfast onboard first.

I hope I didn’t forget anything…I tired to give you the best account I could what we did and saw. Oh, don’t miss sushi everyday by Frankie and Johnnies at 5pm. My self and my kids loved it. And ticket to ride was a pretty good show, I love the asian guys, they were great. Also forgot to tell you about our cabin. It was nice. 8115, balcony on the 8th deck. Fridge didn’t work..but it really didn’t make a difference to us. We had a really great trip overall and would take it again.

Feel free to ask questions and I will try to answer.

[momofzeke]

Nice review! We were on the Miracle a month ago and loved it. If you ever go back to Cozumel, I would reccommend Paradise Beach. We spent the day there and it is beautiful. Plenty of nice lounge chairs, most with umbrellas you could put up or down for shade or sun. Glad you had a nice cruise, and thanks for sharing. :)

[HeidiHo]

I was on the Miracle in March with momofzeke and had a blast. We were at Paradise Beach too and Tom, the owner, came by and told us that the water was cloudy that day because of the wind direction. He said that if we had been there the day before, it had been crystal clear but that a few days before that it had been cloudy. Maybe you were just on the Beach on a bad day. We loved Paradise beach and even tho it was crowded, it didn't really feel that way. We got there pretty early tho and managed to get a bunch of chairs right by many of our new roll call friends.

 

We also did cave tubing with X-stream and had Nathan as our guide. he was great. I got cold in the caves tho.

[bellazoemom]

Pictures are now back up

 

www. dotphoto.com

user: ourcruise

password: carnival

[echo]

Great Review. I have a question about Native Way tour Rays, Reef and Rum. How long was your stay at Rum point? Did you ever feel like they were pushing the time to get back to the boat? Thanks

[bellazoemom]

We stayed there for about an hour and a half. It felt like plenty of time really. I never felt like they were pushing time to get back. We even had people on other ships that left way after us..but they got us back in time for a few shops and we took the 3rd to the last tender back. We really were fine on time. When we first got on..I was worried and the guide told me he does this every single day and has never once missed a last tender back.

[echo]

So where is Rum Piont? Do you have to take a taxi back, is that how y'all left at differnet times? Or does the tour take you back to the peir at different times? Thanks

[bellazoemom]

No, they take you back to the way you came. We all went back the same time..the other people just had more time to shop :)

[echo]

Oh I see, This looks like something we would do. We have done Native way before for the rays and they were great.

[Sassy American Bird]

TA for this great, in depth review. We are going on the Miracle on 21 May and your review really helped us make some decisions on excursions, etc. I loved the muster drill comments - I'll make sure my 1 year old is in my arms and out of the line of fire (from those passing gas!) :D