Review of Carnival Miracle: 9/3/06-9/10/06

[aclight]

Hello Everyone. My wife and I just finished our first cruise on the Carnival Miracle, and I thought I would post a review. It will have to be in pieces, but I promise I'll get through the whole trip.

 

Background:

As I mentioned, this was our first cruise. We booked a inside GTY, and were upgraded to a 5A, room 4133. We had French balcony doors that opened up, and a view of the sea between two lifeboats.

Overall Impression:

We had a great time. Though we had a few minor issues with the ship, for the most part we were very satisfied. I now understand why so many of you book your next cruise as soon as you finish one--it probably helps with the post-cruise depression!

 

Tampa:

We flew into Tampa on Friday afternoon, so we would have a few days to hang out before the cruise started. When we arrived we called our hotel and they sent out a free shuttle to pick us up. It took about 20 minutes for him to arrive, but since it was free we had no problem waiting.

 

We stayed in the Westin Harbour Island. Though the hotel is showing some signs of wear, it was a nice place and a great value ($109 + taxes per night). I heard that they are planning to spend $50 million to rennovate the place at the end of the year. Wireless internet is available, but not free. The same holds true for breakfast.

 

From the hotel it is a very easy walk to the streetcar transportation hub (about 5 minutes) and a very managable walk (~15 min) to the Channelside/port area. In fact, on Sunday, we walked, with our luggage, from the hotel to the port. It's also about a 15 minute walk from the Publix grocery store, where you can buy drinks, etc. to bring with you for the cruise.

 

On Friday we ate at the tapas place in Channelside, which was pretty tasty. On Saturday, we went into Ybor city and walked around some, and also went through the Ybor City State Museum which was cheap and pretty interesting. Later in the evening we took the streetcar back to the Columbia restaurant, which was actually quite good, and the service was excellent.

[cruisinsly]

OOOHHH. I hope more is to come. Enjoyed what I read so far. We are leaving in 61 days. :)

[aclight]

Sailing Day

On Sunday we walked over to the port and got there at about 11:30. After dropping most of our luggage off with the porter, we went inside to check in. The check in process took all of 5 minutes (if that). We were in boarding group 11, and waited in the waiting room for about 15-20 minutes until our group was called to board. I was very impressed by how efficient the entire process was. It was just over an hour from the time we left the hotel room until the time we were aboard the ship.

 

After boarding the ship we walked around for a while, looking at all of the common spaces. I was very impressed, and I really liked the layout of the ship. We went up to the Lido deck at maybe 12:45 and had lunch. After lunch we went out to the aft Lido deck and watched them load the ship. At maybe 1:45 or so we went down to see if we could go to our room, and it was ready for us.

 

I was very surprised by how large the room seemed. It was very efficient, and there was lots of storage. There were 3 full length closets, one with shelves that could be folded up to give extra room to hang clothes. There were several drawers by the desk, two large drawers under the couch, and plenty of space under the bed.

 

The muster drill started a little after 3:30, and was very short (probably less than 15 minutes). By the time we had returned our life jackets to our stateroom and went up to the Lido deck, the ship had set sail. It was raining by now, but not too heavily, and it was fun to see the ship navigate through the channel.

 

The cruise director, Chris Roberts, made an announcement before we went under the Sunshine Skyway bridge, and gave a little history about the bridge.

 

We had the late seating for dinner, and met our tablemates and our wait staff. The dining room service wasn't quite as good as I had expected, given many of the comments from other reviewers, but it wasn't bad. The assistant waiter was actually quite good, and made up in many ways for the somewhat scattered service from the headwaiter.

 

We had dinner in the main dining room every night except one. The food was sometimes quite good, and sometimes pretty bad. I thought some of the dishes were a step in the right direction, but didn't quite come together like I had expected. The pork tenderloin medalions on the last night were expecially awful. I don't think I've ever eaten a worse piece of pork. They would have been good if the meat was more tender, but it wasn't. It was also somewhat overcooked, but they might have been following rigid food safety standards. I had the prime rib early on in the cruise, and it was OK, but not great. Later on in the cruise it looked like the pieces of meat they were serving had much more fat on them, but I only ate it the one time.

 

The good thing is that if you don't like your meal you can always order something else. I never did that, because nothing I ordered was terrible, and I knew there was always 24 hour pizza on the Lido deck (very good pizza, as well) and ice cream. And room service.

 

We went to the opening night show, and the commedian, Thomas Brown, I think, was pretty funny.

[silentbob007]

It sounds like we had the same wait staff ... the assistant waiter was on the ball with drinks, but the head waiter seemed a little distant. I agree ... those pork medallions were not good at all.

[aclight]

First "Fun Day" at Sea

We learned something important on the morning of our first day at sea. The curtains on the windows are quite effective. We ended up sleeping in a bit longer than we had intended because the curtains didn't let in enough light to wake us up.

 

With that lesson learned, we got up, ate breakfast, and pretty much sat by the pool for the rest of the day. For the most part, there were always plenty of chairs around the pool and on various decks to use. The only time I saw things really crowded was when there were pool games going on, and even then there were plenty of chairs by the aft and foreward pools.

 

This was formal night, and we went to the captain's reception. There was some dancing on stage, and the officers were introduced, but there wasn't much else to the reception. There was free booze and some snacks that were tasty, though. I would say that there weren't many men in tuxedos; most were in suits. At dinner there were even many who weren't wearing jackets (not that I cared). Our waiter told us that he hasn't ever seen anyone kicked out of the dining room on formal night as long as they had pants and a shirt with a collar on. Of course, it's nice to dress up a little more than that, but if you weren't all that formal on this cruise you wouldn't have been the only one.

 

My wife ordered the lobster tonight, and I didn't think it was all that good, but I don't like lobster that much in the first place. I had the duck, which was actually quite good. We skipped the show and comedy show (R-rated, Thomas Brown) tonight, but our tablemates thought the comedy show was funny.

[aclight]

Grand Cayman

Tenders for Grand Cayman were on the small side (between 100 and 300 people), but the ship was anchored pretty close to the pier and it didn't take long to get there. We walked about 5 minutes to the Eden Rock Dive shop, rented a locker ($5 US for the day), and got into the water to do some snorkeling. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see. There were a few pretty fish, some sea urchins, and some sea fans. I heard some of the scuba divers that were diving around Eden Rock say they saw lots of critters, but we sure didn't find much. After a while, we walked back to the pier and headed back to the boat. We went back at around 1:30 ships time, and there was no line at all to get onto the tender boat.

 

Grand Cayman was probably our least favorite port, but that's probably largely our fault. By the time we were done snorkeling, we didn't have a ton of time left, so going to the beach or something probably wouldn't have worked. We're not really into looking at diamonds and other duty free shopping stores, and so we didn't end up doing much of anything. I think that if we had taken an excursion we would have had more fun.

 

The people at Eden Rock were very friendly, and we overheard one of the scuba instructors giving someone a refresher course or something, and he seemed very competent. It's also very close to the pier, and the snorkeling is free (and they have rental equipment if you need it).

 

We went to the show this night, which was balancing by Lubo and comedy by someone who really should find a new career. We left about halfway through his show, because he just wasn't funny at all. The balancing acts by Lubo were kind of interesting to watch, however.

[cruisinsly]

more, more, more please... :) I think I am just too excited and want to read every little thing I can.

[JiminyCricket]

We also snorkeled Eden Rock. We thought it was very nice. We plan to Scuba in 2/07. The area near shore is pretty void of anything. You have to swim out to the floats where the coral reef is to see anything good.:)

 

Grand Cayman

Tenders for Grand Cayman were on the small side (between 100 and 300 people), but the ship was anchored pretty close to the pier and it didn't take long to get there. We walked about 5 minutes to the Eden Rock Dive shop, rented a locker ($5 US for the day), and got into the water to do some snorkeling. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see. There were a few pretty fish, some sea urchins, and some sea fans. I heard some of the scuba divers that were diving around Eden Rock say they saw lots of critters, but we sure didn't find much. After a while, we walked back to the pier and headed back to the boat. We went back at around 1:30 ships time, and there was no line at all to get onto the tender boat.

 

Grand Cayman was probably our least favorite port, but that's probably largely our fault. By the time we were done snorkeling, we didn't have a ton of time left, so going to the beach or something probably wouldn't have worked. We're not really into looking at diamonds and other duty free shopping stores, and so we didn't end up doing much of anything. I think that if we had taken an excursion we would have had more fun.

 

The people at Eden Rock were very friendly, and we overheard one of the scuba instructors giving someone a refresher course or something, and he seemed very competent. It's also very close to the pier, and the snorkeling is free (and they have rental equipment if you need it).

 

We went to the show this night, which was balancing by Lubo and comedy by someone who really should find a new career. We left about halfway through his show, because he just wasn't funny at all. The balancing acts by Lubo were kind of interesting to watch, however.

[LHP]

Great review....keep it coming!! (please)

[sarasotasteve]

How did you like your cabin? We are in the same type that is in between the life rafts did you have an OK view? How about deck 4 , did this work out OK being above the two dining decks but a good distance from the the Lido area?

My wife and I are starting to get more than a little antsy waiting for our Halloween Miracle cruise. Thanks sb

[crusinpsychRN]

About what time did you go under the Skyway Bridge? Was early dinner already started?

[crusinpsychRN]

What time did you go under Skyway Bridge? Was early dinner already started?

[jimw]

We were on that cruise as well, we went under the bridge about 6:20pm during early dinner. Someone here suggested ordering then going up to the top to see the bridge. We did that, impressive--looks like the stack misses by 10 ft. Then a nice dinner.....

[aclight]

A few replies to questions:

 

JiminyCricket: Thanks for the information. I thought that I must have been missing something. I assumed that the floats were there to indicate the outer limits of the area that was safe for snorkeling, not to mark the good stuff.

 

sarasotasteve: We really liked our cabin. It was well laid out, the lighting was good (both day and night), and it felt pretty spacious. I especially liked the bathroom. In fact, I would love to have a ships bathroom at home. Just think of how easy it would be to clean. And I like the very powerful vacuum toilet. As for the visibility outside, we could see some of the ocean without difficulty (maybe 5 feet across or so), but otherwise it was all lifeboat. Our room was very quiet, and I thought the location was just fine. It was close to the common areas on decks 2 and 3, which all have wireless access, but getting to the Lido deck wasn't much of a hassle either.

 

As jimw said, we went under the bridge at about 6:20. They announce it, so I imagine it would be pretty easy to step out of the dining room to see as you go under.

 

I'll work on more of the review tonight.

[rebeljohn]

Really NICE review...........we have the same type of room next week.........

Question:

You said the french doors could be opened? Can you exit from the door, or is that off limits because of the lifeboats?

 

Thanks............John & Phyllis

[aclight]

The french doors do open, though the automatic closer was very stiff and they wouldn't stay open on their own. There was no way to exit--the glass safety wall/rail combo was attached directly to the other side of the doors. You could lean over it to look down though, but couldn't put your feet out.

 

One thing to keep in mind with the obstructed view cabins. On port days (and even on sea days), there will occassionally be crew members outside doing maintenance on the lifeboats. We forgot about that fact a couple of times, and had the curtains open when we were not fully dressed.

 

But the large lifeboat chain outside of our window is probably the best painted part of the ship now.

[aclight]

Ok...here is more of the review

 

Cozumel

We had a really good time in Cozumel. As others have said, we were supposed to dock at the pier but found out the evening before that we would be tendering into the downtown port. The ship was parked just off the end of the port. It would have been an easy swim, if you could have gotten of the ship safely! They were handing out stickers, but by the time we ate breakfast the stickers weren't needed. They had tenders from the forward and midship positions, and they announecd over the intercom which position was currently boarding. These tenders held a lot of people (~400), but actually were pretty quick to load and unload because they had a bridge that connected to the ship, so it was very easy to get on and off.

 

Once we got on the pier, we walked to the end of it and at the left there was a line for taxis. We had our driver take us to Paradise Beach, and the fee was $13 USD. When we arrived, the driver asked us if we had been there before, and when I said no he said this was the best beach on Cozumel.

 

When we were there it was not crowded at all. It rained off and on through the day, but when it rained we picked up our stuff and took it under the covered dining area, and then when it stopped we went back to the chairs. The service was very good from everyone. The beach itself was nice, though the sand was the coarser grain sand and not real fine, for those of you who care. We both got the wristbands ($8 USD each) that allowed us to play on the water toys (trampoline, inflatable iceberg, kayaks, snorkeling). We did all of those but the snorkeling. The iceberg was pretty fun to climb, but I don't think little kids would have much fun because their arms and legs probably aren't long enough to climb it. You can slide down the back of it into the water, and that was pretty cool.

 

My wife and I both got massages ($1/minute), and those felt very nice. Word of warning: reapply sunscreen after you get a massage. The massage oil appears to remove the sunscreen, and I got pretty burnt on my back where they had used massage oil after I got the massage. They also have jetskis for rental ($55/half hour). We got nachos to eat and a few drinks, and those were both very good. The bar/food tab was $30. The menu stated that they use purified water and ice.

 

There were pretty clean restrooms available, as well as several outside showers and a hose to spray off your feet. There were also numerous taxis available for the return trip. The taxi driver who brought us out also offered to pick us up later, but since we didn't know how long we would stay we declined.

 

We really enjoyed ourselves at Paradise Beach. My only complaint (if you want to call it that) is that prices were pretty similar to those in the US, and not cheaper as I had expected. However, I didn't look at prices at other places in Cozumel, so maybe Cozumel is just more expensive than other places in Mexico. The beach and restaurant seemed very clean and safe. They do take credit cards, but the menu states that they charge a 20% additional fee if you use a credit card to pay for food. However, there was no additional fee for paying for the massages with the credit card (but the fee is charged in pesos, so your credit card company might charge a small fee).

 

If we go back to Cozumel, we would certainly consider returning to Paradise Beach.

 

We left around 3:00 and returned to the port. Once again, there was no line to board the tender back to the ship. I think the last tender was at 5:00 today.

 

The show on the ship this night was a Juggling/Blues Brothers Retrospective. We didn't go to the show, and instead went to the casino, where the quarter flipping machine was very stingy and ate most of my $5 in quarters.

[aclight]

Belize

This was the day that we had our first excursion planned. We booked the zipline/cave tubing excursion through X-stream. We went to the Phantom lounge where the Carnival excursions were meeting, and got a tender sticker. I don't think you really needed the sticker, but I figured better safe than sorry. We left for the tender with the rest of the people going on the Carnival cave tubing excursion. The tenders at Belize were on the small side, probably ~150 people, but they didn't take too long to load. The ship anchors a long way from the port, but the tenders move very fast and it only is a 10-15 minute ride.

 

The port itself was actually pretty nice. We met up with the tour guides, paid the balance, and had about $15 minutes to look around. We went to the pharmacy to get some cream for the sunburn I got in Cozumel. They had all kinds of medicines for sale (prescription and non) but the prices didn't seem that low to me. But, if you've always wanted to try Plavix (an anticoagulant) but never had the nerve to ask your doctor, than Belize is the place for you!

 

The ship was a little late to start the tendering process, and the driver of our bus for the excursion got stuck in traffic, so we left on the excursion about 40 minutes late. More on that later.

 

Our tour of 17 with 3 guides departed in a mini-bus with strong AC that was in pretty good condition. We first drove through the city and got to learn some about the city and country and about the lives of those who live there. The drive out to the jungle took a little over an hour. Don't worry when you drive through the security checkpoint--the driver will just wave to the men with large machine guns and the bus drives right through.

 

We went zip lining first, and the driver stayed with the bus in the parking lot. Make sure to bring your bug spray--there are lots of mosquitos around here. As for other critters, being that you are in a jungle, there are probably snakes somewhere nearby. However, the paths are pretty wide and given the amount of traffic during the day, I would be surprised if you saw one. Just look where you walk. There are also fireants around, especially on the walk to the cave tubing river, but I don't think they are a big deal. The guy in front of me got bitten a few times, but he was the only one I saw.

 

The zip lining was awesome. Its a little bit of a hike up to the first platform (wear water shoes or sandals with straps or something with decent traction), but after that it is all very easy. The whole process also was very safe. You have 2 cables that you hang from, with two other safety cords that will protect you if somehow the main attachment to your harness fails. There is someone at each end of the line to attach and unattach you to the line. The guy at the end also catches you if you don't stop in time (the trees are also padded), and will come get you if you break too early and get stuck out on the line. Just don't panic if that happens--you are perfectly safe.

 

After going along the 6 zip lines, you "rapel" down from the last platform to the ground. I put that in quotes because you really just sit down in your harness as the guides drop you with the rope (safely of course). You aren't actually pushing off the tree or wall or anything.

 

I think that if you are fit enough to walk up some stairs (maybe for 3-5 minutes) you are perfectly fine to go zip lining. It's not very physical at all.

 

After zip lining, we got in the bus for the 2 minute drive to the cave tubing parking lot. There we picked up our life vest, light, and tube and walked to the trial. You will walk for ~40 minutes along the river, and it's mostly an easy walk, though there are a few steps and some slick parts. You'll also cross the river at the beginning of the walk.

 

We had the choice to either join the line, or go alone. About 6 people formed a line, and the rest went by themselves. The river doesn't move that quickly, but you have to keep watch of where you are once and a while. Going through the caves was very cool. The water was a little chilly, but "refreshing" as the guides kept telling us. Especially after getting kind of hot while zip lining.

 

After we got out of the river and walked back to the parking lot, they bags (instead of bottles) of safe water for us, and plenty of fresh fruit (watermellon, pineapple, etc.) We had about 5 or 10 minutes to change and eat, and then we got back in the bus. I think they usually stop somewhere for food (though that is an extra fee), but we didn't this time. I got really hungry by the time I got back to the ship, and if I did this again I might have brought some boxed cereal or something with me to eat between zip lining and tubing.

 

The reason we didn't stop and eat lunch is that we were going to make it back late. It was clear when we left that we weren't going to make it back to the port by the last tender (though the last tender never really left when the ship said it would). Our last tender was scheduled to leave at 4:00, and we left the cave tubing area sometime after 3:00. About half way through the drive, our guides called someone and told us that they had arranged for the last tender to wait for us to get back. By the time we got back to the port (about 4:30), it was still waiting for us. There were many others who also didn't make it back until late, so our group wasn't the last one. At about 4:45 the tender left for the ship and it really was the last tender (except for the Carnival security team, which always returned after the ship had set sail). We didn't have any time for shopping at the port, but we made it back in time.

 

We had a great time on this excursion. It was kind of expensive, but we felt it was worth it. Our group was pretty small and the guides were great. The driver was also a pretty good driver and I never felt unsafe. He was also quite large, so I think the bus was in good hands in the parking lots. The fact that we got back a little late worried us a little, but they made sure that we didn't miss the ship.

 

The show tonight was the hypnotist. We caught the last half of the show, and it was pretty funny but nothing new (that is, if you've seen a hypnotism show before). The people he had on stage were pretty funny though.

[aclight]

Sorry it's been so long since I posted my last piece of this review, but here's another installment.

 

Costa Maya

Instead of tendering, which we had done at the last 3 ports of call, we finally got to dock at the pier in Costa Maya. That made getting off the ship very easy. The pier itself was pretty long, and took us maybe 5 minutes to walk down. The tourist village is pretty large, and also looked pretty clean. To leave the village, walk past the large pool and hang a right. There's a stand just outside the gate that sells tickets to Mahahaul ($3). We got in a van that tooks us to the village, and the ride took about 10 minutes. It dropped us off at the end of the pedestrian strip that runs along Mahahaul.

 

We had reservations for a tour with David and Ivan to visit the ruins at Chacchoben, and met them at The Cat's Meow. We had Ivan as our tour guide, and after wandering around the village for ~15 minutes we left on our tour. There were 10 people in our group, and the van that they used was very new and had nice air conditioning and felt very safe. On the drive out to the ruins, Ivan gave us a lot of information on the area, Mayan life, the villages we passed by, the ruins, etc. When we got to the ruins, Ivan had ice cold bottled water for everyone, and we had a few minutes to use the restroom or look at the vendor stalls, and then we were off to see the ruins.

 

This tour was excellent. Ivan was extremely knowledgable about the ruins, and in fact his family used to own the land where the ruins sit (and that's where he grew up). The tour was very organized, and he did a good job of keeping things interesting for both the adults and the 2 kids on the tour. He is also very familiar with the different kinds of plants in the area, and one of the girls asked him to identify a bunch of berries she had collected from the ground and he showed her the different trees that the berries had come from and also explained the uses of the berries and trees. Later on in the tour, he grabbed a leaf from an alspice tree and explained the medicinal uses of the berries and leaves from that tree. Aside from being a great tour guide, Ivan also was a very nice guy and has had an interesting life. He also speaks 5 languages (Maya, Spanish, German, Portugese, and English), and his English was excellent. I wouldn't hesitate at all to do another tour with him.

 

After the tour we had the option of getting dropped off at the port or back at the Cat's Meow, and we took the later option. We had lunch and a few beers, and the food was quite good. The owner, Barbara, is Canadian, and promised us that her employees are trained in sanitary food perparation and that they use sanitized water. Our table was in the sand just at the edge of the water, and it was a very pleasant spot. The free fresh salsa was quite tasty, and both the carne asada and the coconut crusted shirmp we had were excellent.

 

We took a taxi back to the port and boarded the ship. This was the second formal night, and the food in the dining room was pretty good, though I don't remember what we had. The show tonight was Ticket to Ride, which we skipped, but we did go to the 'R' rated hypnosis show, which again was pretty funny, though not really that 'R' rated.

[Luanne21]

I am loving your review. Thanks for sharing.

[crusinpsychRN]

I'm really enjoying this review! In Costa Maya with Ivan was the lunch included or did you pay extra and were credit cards accepted? How did you pay for this excursion--on line?

 

Ziplining sounds fun! I keep having cartoon figures (me) in my head ziplining into a padded tree!

[momofzeke]

Your review is bringing back memories of our Miracle cruise in March. We also did the David & Ivan tour of Chacchoben Ruins, with Ivan as our guide. Loved it!

 

crusinpsychRN ~ I can't answer for aclight, but when we did the David & Ivan tour, we paid in cash once we got to the Cat's Meow, before the tour. As I remember, they only want cash. Lunch is not included in the tour (or at least it wasn't in ours). You can contact them at chacchobenruins.com and make a reservation for the tour online. Sometimes it takes them a while to answer your emails. They occassionally have problems with their internet service.

[pacerzfan]

The review is great and I hope more is coming!

[Jay&Bobbi]

I'm really enjoying this review! In Costa Maya with Ivan was the lunch included or did you pay extra and were credit cards accepted? How did you pay for this excursion--on line?

 

Ziplining sounds fun! I keep having cartoon figures (me) in my head ziplining into a padded tree!

 

We just returned from the 9/10 Miracle sailing, and also did the David & Ivan tour. We agree 100% that the tour was well worth the cost. We spent almost 2 1/2 hours at the ruins with Ivan.

 

The cost was $43/person, and was cash-only. The nice part was that they did not require any payment when we booked via their website. We only paid once the tour started.

 

Lunch was not included...as was mentioned, they'll either drop you off at the dock, or take you back to the Cat's Meow, where you can buy lunch.

[joan_al]

aclight --- fantastic review!