Miracle Review 6/26-7/3

[valentina1209]

We also just came off the Miracle and it was the ugliest and most uncomfortable ship we've ever been on in 16 years of cruising. We went in with a positive attitude, determined not to compare it to other ships, but there was no comparison at all, and we came off sorely disappointed. I struggle to write a review because the positives are so sharply overshadowed by the negatives.

 

And it's not a matter of getting what you pay for...we paid more for this cruise than we’ve paid for RCCL's Voyager class cruises (even after factoring in airfare). Also, it wasn't a matter of the type of people aboard...after reading these message boards, I fully expected Carnival to have a low-class, drunk, party-animal crowd, but it wasn't like that at all. Miracle cruisers were mostly clean-fun-loving, family-oriented types, just as on other ships I’ve sailed on.

 

Our chief complaint: The layout of the ship didn't flow nicely...sun-bathers had to walk through the Lido buffet to get from the pool to the elevator, so we were treated to a disgusting and unappetizing display of hairy-chests, sweaty armpits, bare-feet, tattoos and belly-rings while we were eating. Also, the many food stations were so far apart that it wasn't conductive for putting together a meal without doing more walking than actually sitting & eating. And it was difficult to find tables. The food and the choices were superb, especially at the Oriental station where I had the most wonderful calamari in black bean sauce, among other delicious items. The grilled sandwiches at the deli station were also excellent. Our expectations of the pizza were low, however it was surprisingly good. All free coffee, no matter where you ordered it, was sub-par…to get around this, we tried ordering cappuccino at dinner and it was no better. (However, all items at the Starbuck’s-like coffee bar were terrific and reasonably priced.)

 

The dining room tables were so close together that the backs of the chairs kept hitting each other. The waiters couldn't pass through without constantly moving us in tighter. There were too many glasses on the table, yet only one set of silverware, so you had to eat all the courses using the same fork. The wait-team was responsible for twice as many tables as I’ve seen on other ships, and our cabin steward told us that he services 27 cabins(!), so while they all worked very hard and provided excellent & friendly service, it was spread extremely thin.

 

Room service was very slow during the day and evening (around 1 hour wait) but whatever we ordered was delicious, especially the sandwiches. Room-service in the morning was more timely, delivered at the precise time we designated on the card we hung outside our door prior to retiring the evening before.

 

The hallways and doorways were too narrow (our small stroller barely fit through our cabin door), and the public spaces were very darkly and drearily decorated, with low ceilings and small windows, giving a claustrophobic feeling. Even the shopping alley was way too narrow to accommodate all the shoppers. The kids club was far out-of-the-way (in the front of the ship behind the theater, up stairs, not accessible via elevator) and every time I took my daughters there, only a small handful of children in their age groups were participating. It would have been more convenient, and presumably more utilized, if it were by the children’s pool or on one of the upper sports/activities decks. (Younger age groups did seem to have about 15-20 well-supervised children enjoying themselves).

 

Our major discomfort: The smoking areas weren't confined so the hallways had the lingering odor of stale smoke, which permeated into our cabins via the cooling system. I Fabreze’d our cabins every day, yet the pillows, curtains and even the wonderful plush terry robes retained the smell of smoke. (Smoke was never an issue for us on other ships, even those with liberal smoking policies). The balcony and cabin doors were spring-loaded so there was a constant and disturbing slamming noise, especially during the night.

 

The pools, jacuzzis and deck space were too small to accommodate the number of passengers. (On AOS last year there were 1000 more passengers and 400 more children, yet it seemed far less crowded because we weren’t competing with each other for space around and in the pool/jacuzzi. That ship was noticeably wider and more airy, with 5-6 rows of deck chairs around the pool, and with more & larger jacuzzis. Most notably, RCCL's adults-only pool is in a climate-controlled solarium, whereas the one on the Miracle was too small and fully exposed to the blazing hot sun with no shaded area to lounge).

 

I had a very amateurish massage in the spa. She basically just rubbed excessive amounts of oil into my skin without any true massaging technique. (She did give a much more professional facial.) It seemed to be more heavily focused on selling their products than providing you with their services. (The jacuzzi in the back of the spa was a great “secret” discovery…it was ‘adults-only’ and nearly always empty!)

 

On the positive side, the food was outstanding. Every appetizer, soup and meat/seafood/vegetable main course the 6 people in our party tried was a hit! However the pasta dishes were extremely dry (being of Italian ancestry, I know that traditional Italian pasta isn’t served drowning in sauce like Italian-American cuisine is, but this was ridiculously lacking). My mom tried nearly every single dessert, and they were nothing special at all (notable exceptions: crème Brule, tiramisu, hazelnut cake & iced cappuccino pie, which were all delectable).

 

We brought a bottle of wine to dinner every night and were never charged the uncorking fee. Compared to resort-hotels and other cruises, the alcoholic drinks were reasonably priced. The maitre-d Ken from Ireland sang between the dinner and dessert courses…he has a wonderful voice (at first, we thought he was lip-syncing to Frank Sinatra until we realized it was actually his own rendition of the classic song). And the wait-staff danced along with some diners…a very nice touch!

 

The professional photographs were of superior quality, and the photographers deserve high commendations for their patience and expertise. The entertainment was also marvelous, in particular the Beatles review show, the Generations show, and the comedian/juggler act. Unfortunately, all the main lounges with piano and guitar music were full of smoke, so we just appreciated their wonderful music as we were passing through.

 

Embarkation was a painless process. We arrived at the terminal at 11:45 and the line started moving at 12 noon. We were in our cabins by 1 pm and lunching at the buffet 15 minutes later. That sounds like a long wait, but the line moved swiftly and efficiently through the various check-points, and the facility was comfortably air-conditioned and had bathrooms and a small snack-bar. It was equivalent to checking-in at the airport for a flight and to other cruise check-ins. (Just a note, by 12:30, the line was more than twice as long as it was when we started, so shortly before noon seemed to be a very good time to arrive.)

 

Debarkation is another story…very chaotic and disorganized. It did not proceed smoothly at all.

 

A note about Port Canaveral…the $6 shuttle bus is a great value and convenience if you are physically-fit and not adversely affected by walking in the heat/humidity. It drops you off several blocks from the beach, and since we were traveling with children and a senior-person, it was quite strenuous for us. We would have done better taking a cab to the beach as many shipmates in our situation did. (The taxi drivers even gave them a cell phone number to call them for the return ride).

[halos]

WOW!!

I can't believe we sailed the same ship!!!!!!!

I have to start with the one statement you made about silverwear in the dining room. I have to say again what a great wait team I had!! After every course, they took our silverwear and replaced it with fresh ones!!!! Then again, they were responsible for only 3 tables!!

I never smelled smoke on that ship unless I was in the bars or the casino!! Our friends, who went with us and had many misgivings about cruising, commented on how great the ventillation sysytems must be on the ship because our air always smelled fresh!!

You are the first person whose review stated they hated the layout of the Spirit class...I liked it because I never felt that the ship had nearly 3,000 passengers on it. We had 900 kids on our sailing and the ones I saw that were involved with camp Carnival seemed to be having a ball.

As far as the buffet...there is no way I can see having all that food without having to walk...it was a mile worth of food!!!! As far as finding tables...yes, I agree that it could be difficult, so after one day of that we decided to wait a half hour later to grab lunch...the lines were gone and many tables were then empty....and sometimes we ate at the tables out by the adult pool, where I never had a problem getting a chair. If they were full, we aksed Carnival personelle to put some more down for us.

We had the opposite embarkation/debarkation....our embarkation was tough, (due to someone on the previous cruise not settling with customs or their sail and sign bill or something!!) but for debarkation, we chose self assist thanks to reviews on this board(I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!!) even though we had a TON of luggage, it was worth it. We were in our car pulling out of the parking garage at 10am!!

One thing I can't understand is that I am Italian descent too...that is why I NEVER order Italian food (outside of Italy) unless I am in NY or Philadelphia...anyone Italian knows this....you can't get good Italian food ANYWHERE...including a cruise ship. How can you possibly cook up pasta for thousands and have it taste good?? I have to say that I am surprised you ordered it!!

I was fortuante enough to be in the Ariadne room, which was a small room outside the Bacchus dining room...I think it was for larger parties (there were 8 of us)...so our tables were not too close together. I'm sorry you experienced discomfort during dining. That must have s*cked!! Ken was great though, wasn't he????

 

Anyway...I'm really sorry and sad that you were disappointed. Thanks for telling us why in the review. Your comments will help others plan future sails.

[finoky]

Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your next cruise whichever ship or line you choose. Despite your thumbs down we are sailing this ship next April.

[valentina1209]

Halos

 

Even though I am Italian, I always order pasta out because I try not to eat much meat....it was delicious on other ships, and very dry and almost sauceless on this one. But all the other food was delicious...this was truly the highlight of our cruise, the food!

 

Other ship buffets also had a mile of food, but it was all in one location. You just walked down the line, picked up your various choices, and then sat down. You didn't have to keep criss-crossing the dining room if you wanted a little bit of everything. And the buffet was at the end of the deck, so there was no traffic passing through on the way to and from the pool. this was a huge problem and made the area more crowded than it needed to be. Altering the times we ate didn't affect our chances of getting a table. (BTW - there were small dining tables and chairs in the shade around the pool, but not lounge chairs)

 

It sure does sound like we were on different ships...Maybe service in the Ariadne room is better and more spacious? Maybe your wait-team were responsible for less tables? Maybe more kids on your sailing utilized the Camp? Maybe less people used the pool? Maybe we are older? Maybe we had better experiences on other ships, so by comparison this wasn't up to our standards? Maybe we are more sensitive to the smell of smoke (however we never had an issue with it on other ships.)?

[halos]

Maybe...possibly very true for all of the above.

Like I said, I am sorry you were so disappointed. As far as the pasta, I hope you told thme you didn't like it and wanted something else. They are happy to accomodate you in the dining room if something displeases you...or, you could have just asked for more sauce.

That is the one thing that a lot of people don't realize...if anything makes you unhappy while cruising, tell someone, or ask for something different!!

They are very happy to make you happy!!!

[valentina1209]

Oh yes...I definitely ordered something else when I didn't like the pasta. the wait staff was wonderful about this, and about bringing a second helping of something we were enjoying.

 

Here's another positive: My sister's child didn't feel well one night, so the two of them and my mom didn't come to dinner. When the waiter found out why they weren't there, he gave my daughter a menu to bring up to our room and have my sister and mom write down their choices. During our dessert, he prepared two trays for them. Now, that was wonderful!

 

On the other hand, we were told on the first night, that if we thought we might like seconds of any dish (such as the lobster tails) that it was better to order it upfront, rather than after we finished the first one, so he wouldn't have to run back down to the galley and wait on line again. To us, this seemed very unprofessional and 'wrong', but we realized it was because he was responsible for too many tables to give us the individualized service cruise ships are famous for.

 

I shouldn't leave out that we took the tour of the galley and it was spotlessly clean!

[halos]

WOW!!!

I can understand your displeasure!!

It sounds like your wait staff was totally overburdened, which isn't fair to any of the passengers they were taking care of that week. Was this your first Carnival Cruise??? I hope it didn't turn you off too bad!!

What other lines do you like?? I am considering a Panama canal Cruise. Have you ever tried that one, if so, how was it??

[valentina1209]

We are big fans of RCCL's Voyager and Radiance class ships. Very airy & spacious and great selection of activities. (Food is tasty but not as good as Carnival was.)

 

We have been on Costa, Home Lines, Cunard too. (Would like to try NCL or Celebrity's newest ships next time)

 

This was our first Carnival experience, and will probably be our last. We selected it b/c it left from New York and my mom didn't want to fly, and b/c it was new.

 

I honestly think the root of our problem was that the ship was at capacity and there wasn't enough Lido deck space for everyone, and the staff was overburdened.

[halos]

I have considered RCI in the past, but seem to steer away from it because the food isn't rated all that well. Plus, to be perfectly honest, being on the RCI boards a few times turned me off to the passengers! So many have associated Carnival Cruisers to Trailer Trash and Wal-Mart that I decided that it was not a group of folks I wanted to be on a ship with...and most that make those remarks have never even tried a Carnival cruise! You must know what I am talking about because you referred to being surprised that the passengers were not what you expected....so you can understand why I have the bitter taste in my mouth about Royal Caribbean. Food and service are the most important factors for me, (along with price) so since you did not recieve good service aboard Carnival, I can understand your not wanting to sail them again. That was never my experience though. I have always had extremely excellent serivce and am sorry you didn't have the same.

I do think that Princess and (maybe) Celebrity would be worth a try though... Costa and Hal aren't for us. We like a more party atmosphere. We are in our early 40's but still 19 at heart. (I am actually going to try white water rafting for the first time EVER at the end of this month! So if I don't kill myself on that little expedition, I'll be sailing again soon, I hope!!) It seems I'll do ANYTHING to be on the water!!!

[imlulu]

It seems as if you weren't really disappointed with Carnival but with the ship. We are sailing this ship in Feb. You compare the ship to the Voyager class. The Voyager class is almost double the size of the Spirit class. :)

I find Carnival ships very Vegas like or what I think of Vegas...glitz...

 

Hopefully your next cruise will be more saitisfying! Thanks for the review. It is nice to see different perspectives.

[valentina1209]

that's right, imlulu, it was the ship that we didn't like. My sister quite accurately describes it as old-time Vegas style.

 

If Voyager is double the size of Miracle, and only had 50% more passengers on our particular sailings, that would account for the feeling we had of being too crowded. We really felt that the dining room, buffet and pool/jacuzzi/deck couldn't comfortably accomodate the large number of people onboard. (We heard it had been the fullest sailing of any Spirit ship to date and that this week, there were even more people expected than we had last week....I think it was the maitre-d who announced that)

[jima53]

Can you imagine how difficult it would be for a ship the size of the Miracle to have basically one or two lonnngggg buffet lines continuous. There is a good reason for the different food stations, different types of food. Sailed the Miracle this past march, my only negative was the ceiling grapes in the dining room, but thats my own personal preference. But what the heck, I'm one of those southern redneck,Florida crackers thatshops at walmart and sometimes I go uptown and shop at Target.

 

Jim

[valentina1209]

Jim, I didn't find that the people on the Miracle fit that stereotype at all, and I said that in my original review.

 

The Voyager ships, which accomodate 3800 people, have 2 buffet lines that move smoothly and efficiently, so it is not only possible, but flows better than having many different stations in all corners of the room so that you constantly have to criss-cross. Also, families can stay together when selecting their food...children aren't running off to the pizza station while the mom goes to the deli area and the dad goes to the oriental station, and the teenager goes to the salad bar...and there's no worries about finding each other, and then a place to sit down, after everyone has their food. it's simply less crowded with more people.

 

I don't mean to make this sound like a Voyager vs Miracle post, but they are the closest two I've sailed on, so it's what my mind naturally compares.

[sea-cruise]

I'd stay away from HAL too. I'm older than you and the HAL crowd is too old for me as well. :o You said you'd like to try Celebrity. We went through with them and with Princess. Either one would be a good deal. Celebrity has won lots of awards for their cuisine, but the crowd is a bit older than Princess in general. I believe the Coral, Sun, Regal, and Dawn go through. I think they hit Cartahena Columbia too, and that's a very interesting port! You will see where the drug lords live behind rock walls with jagged bottles sticking up on the top. Paid guards walk the walls with boots on and carry rifles with bandelero straps & bullets. The buses go past these houses on the way to the city and past the bull ring too. There is a tour to the monestary on top of the hill. It's beautiful. Don't go off on your own. Bandits have been known to ambush tourists and rob them. :eek: If you shop, only go to the jewelry stores the ship recommends. You can find wonderful emeralds & 18 kt gold there at great prices. I don't think that Celebrity stops at Columbia, but they have a couple of newer ships that transit the canal. One is the Infinity that I was on (it was nice), and the other is the Summit (her twin, if I remember correctly). Honestly, I don't go on the Royal Caribbean boards so I don't know what they think of Carnival cruisers, but we've sailed with them many times and I've never ever heard bad things said about Carnival, but maybe I tuned it out and didn't listen. Don't know for sure...but give them a try. I think you'll really love the pax, on the average. They are young, full of He** and I'd say middle income people. The food is really good. You'll be surprised. The cabins are smaller, but who cares? :p Let me know what you choose. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure. ;)

[halos]

Thanks for the information Mary.

Although RCI is not a top choice...it isn't one I have totally ruled out....but I do have that bitter taste after reading their boards. If I stay away from their boards, I'll get past it!!

If Carnival has a ship that is going to do a 15 day Panama Canal transit at the time I go, I will look into that first...only because Carnival has not disappointed me yet and if I'm going to do a 15 day cruise, I'd rather feel safe with the line that has been good to me thus far. If they are not offering anything in the Canal then I will probably lean toward Princess....whichever ships are doing full transit will be the ones I look at.

Although the Princess ship that most interests me is Coral, that particular ship only does a half transit...at this time anyway...things could change by the time I am ready to go. That particular cruise is a 10 day round trip....I want to do the 15 day from one coast to the other.

I'm glad you said that HAL wouldn't be a good choice. I agree that the age demographic won't work for us.

[NinaCO]

it wasn't a matter of the type of people aboard...after reading these message boards, I fully expected Carnival to have a low-class, drunk, party-animal crowd

Have to admit it was hard getting through the review when it began with an insult to participants on this board. I wonder why you even bothered to post a review here.

 

Nonetheless, I'm sorry you didn't have a good time.

[Tika]

First of all I am sad for you and your family that your Miracle cruise did not meet your expectations!!!!!!!!!!!! I was on the Miracle the week before you 6/19-6/26. There were 2600 pax (900 children). I think it was an awesome feat on the part of Carnival to wine, dine, entertain & manage etc. etc. so many people. WE are seasoned cruisers in our late fiftys and have many cruise experiences under our belts many on the super luxury lines. It seems to me your main issue is with the crowded dining room and the smell of smokers. We booked our cruise back in December 03 and were fully aware due to size of the Miracle that there would be no way that we should expect anymore than the best service they could provide with such a large pax load. That being said we were pleasantly surprised even though the Bacchus Dining Room was full to the brim we had a wonderful table, fabulous wait staff and the food was outstanding considering the amount of meals being served etc. We didn't expect it to be that good!!!!!!!!!!

Our category 11 balcony stateroom, Empress Deck forward was extremely accommodating with plenty of space and storage. Our room steward was one of the best we have ever had and we have had the butler service etc. on other cruise lines. The ventilation system was also the best. The bathroom never steamed and the system was quiet!!!!!!!!!! We never smelled anything offending from the vents or hallway.

The Casino was the only place you could smell tobbaco smoke and even in there it really wasn't that bad considering some of the Casinos on other ships.

Some in our group were traveling with small children and they thought the children's program and Camp Carnival was outstanding. No one complained about it's location. Pool area was crowded at times with many families but everyone had their space! Even the Lido pool got crowded but there was always a turnover of folks coming and going. On excursion/port days there was tons of room everywhere on the ship.

Horatios Restaurant was a bit of a challenge at first until we got our bearings. I thought I had died and gone to food heaven!!!!!!! It was a breeze to navigate the many food stations and find a table which was always clean and set with fresh cloth napkings and utensils. 2600 pax turnover for breakfast and lunch...............:>)! I for one am amazed at how well it was run and set up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lunch and breakfast in the Bacchus Dining is probably where you should have headed as it was never crowded and you had wait staff and ordered from the menu with whatever options you may choose.

I enjoyed the ship. It was very different than anyother cruise ship we have been on in size, amount of Pax and so many children on board. I'm glad for the experience. The two shows were fantastic! Cruise director Todd and his staff were extraordinary!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was very family orientated with the added amenities for "kids" of all ages. Children, teens, young adults, parents with small children, grandparents, singles and especially the handicapped appeared to be enjoying the fun ship experience.

All the best to you and your future cruise adventures.

[valentina1209]

Have to admit it was hard getting through the review when it began with an insult to participants on this board.

 

 

That wasn't meant as an insult, and I wasn't referring to this particular message board, just message boards in general. It is spoken about all the time that Carnival has the unfair reputation of drawing a trashy crowd, and my comment was meant to dispel that myth, not to insult the people here. Geez!

 

I wonder why you even bothered to post a review here.

 

Only positive reviews are welcome? Don't people deserve to hear every experience and opinion, not just the good ones? I tried to be as honest and balanced as possible about my thoughts, and I wrote many good things about the ship too.

[valentina1209]

There were 2600 pax (900 children). I think it was an awesome feat on the part of Carnival to wine, dine, entertain & manage etc. etc. so many people. We booked our cruise back in December 03 and were fully aware due to size of the Miracle that there would be no way that we should expect anymore than the best service they could provide with such a large pax load.

 

Having been on two ships that accommodated 3600 passenger (1000 children) the previous two summers, without the feeling of over-crowdedness, over-extended staff, and compromised service, I suppose our expectations of the Miracle were too high.

[halos]

Let's not call out the Jell-O shots yet!!

Nina...valentina in NO way insulted Carnival passengers, but brought up a point that we are all aware of....the 'OTHER" board (and we know which one it is!!) tends to trash us. She said she DISAGREED with their postings!!

 

Valentina...any posts are welcome. Your review was very fair and you pointed out a lot of things you liked as well as disliked. Negative comments are extremely useful to folks. It helps people see things from different perspectives. You were right on when you said to me that I may expect something different on a ship that you do and that is so accurate. Everyone is different (THANK GOD..or we'd all be fighting to sail on the same ship!!) Carnival is obviously not for everyone. I'm glad ypou tried it, but very sorry you were disappointed. Hopefully in the future you'll try Carnival again...if you don't...well, then, there's more space for us!! ;)

[robbyxoxo]

Valentina......having cruised other lines first, im not surprised that you found some faults with Carnival......outside of this sheltered carnival chat board, its pretty much the opinion of most that carnivals service is not that of the other cruiselines.....so dont feel like ur alone with ur opinion there......I also am in agreement with u on some of ur other complaints....the smoke issue....BLAH.......the gross sights walking though the lido dining room during lunch......the feeling of being crowded both at the pool and in the dining.....the overworked, understaffed dining team that cant keep up with their tables..........the spread out food choices on the lido deck......i do love all the choices of food on the lido.....but the trick is to try and avoid the times when they are most crowded.....otherwise u will spend way too much time in lines trying to get a lil of this and a lil of that.....we try and eat in the dining room for most meals.......but if we do eat on the lido, i try and walk around and see what looks good before i actually decide what to eat and waste time in unwanted lines...........carnival isnt for all ppl.....ur one of those ppl......Im prolly one of those ppl.......i just havent given in to it yet and made the switch over to other lines :)....peace

[halos]

Ah Robby

I was wondering how long it would take you to 'get' here!!

Have you sailed the Miracle, Robbie???????

[NinaCO]

Let's not call out the Jell-O shots yet!!

Nina...valentina in NO way insulted Carnival passengers, but brought up a point that we are all aware of....the 'OTHER" board (and we know which one it is!!) tends to trash us. She said she DISAGREED with their postings!!

 

The OP said "these message boards," not the such & such message board.

 

What other board? I haven't cruised with any other cruise line in years. I come to this board and the port of call board, and that's it. Since my upcoming plans only include Carnival, I have no interest in what's being said elsewhere.

[valentina1209]

thank you halos & robby.

 

Nina - these message boards (plural) refers to all the boards on this site, and even those on other sites. The gripes board, and the one of another cruise line, are particularly harsh on Carnival's clientele, and that unfair judgment has been joked/commented about on this board often.

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

Hi Valentina! Thank you for the review. Positive or negitive, of course you are entitled to post a review. I am booked on the Miracle and am wondering what cabin and deck you were on. I wonder if cabin location had anything to do w/ the smoke? Thanks again for sharing!