Carnival Miracle Review From 5/11....longggggggg

[mprucha]

Ok, this is a REALLY long review so it will probably be in multiple parts. We sailed on the Miracle leaving from New York on May 11th. The trip was incredible!! Let me start with that. Those that have complaints about the service or the decor of the ship or anything else I had read over the last 6 months, I have now chalked it up to some people's minor squibbles. We arrived in NY and was parked at the pier by 10:45. We were in a cate. 11 suite so when we got inside we asked where the vip boarding area was. The lady we talked to led us to the area at the front and another lady checked us in. We boarded right after a wedding party and we were having lunch on the lido deck by 12. The only complaint I could see was the NY's embarkation system was chaotic. Even some of the Carnival employees admitted they weren't sure where to put people so organization could be improved upon. Once on board, we had lunch and are stateroom, cabin 6168 was ready for us. It was beautiful, large and roomy. It was me, my DH, my DD (18) and DS (20) in a cabin suite for 4. There were 3 LARGE hanging closets plus so many drawers in so many places you wouldn't believe it. We had 9 suitcases plus 4 carry on's. 4 of these suitcases were the huge ones and after we unpacked EVERYTHING, we had 4 drawers we never even used and we could have easily fit 2 more people's packed luggage in the hanging closets alone. The bathroom had a full size tub, actually slightly bigger than the one I have a home and YES it was a jacuzzi tub. We had the little complimentary basket in the bathroom although we had brought everything we needed so we never touched the basket. The balcony was big and deep. We had 2 lounge chairs already on it plus another table and chair. We could easily fit 4 lounge chairs out there and still have room to walk. It was great. Yes, the life boats were below us but when you were looking out at the ocean, the didn't bother you at all. The bedding was terrific and comfortable. My son slept on the pull down bed and my daughter slept on the sofa bed. They both said they were very comfortable to sleep on and they both slept well every night. The don't allow irons so I took a little hand held steamer and it was perfect and quick and little. My whole family used it. Post it notes were also a big hit with my family and we communicated easily through them and voice messages left on our cabin phones. Also, my DH, DD and I were on one S&S card, my son placed his under his own credit card because he wanted to be in the casino some and that was no problem whatsoever. We simply went to the pursers desk and they did it in like 2 minutes. They also gave us the free lanyards which were great.The pursers desk was great, lines were always very short and whether it was adding cash to our account or asking a question, they were very helpful and professional. The flowers I had ordered for my parent's cabin was also there and beautiful! Muster drill was quick and easy!

 

Our cabin steward was Rodrigo. He has been with Carnival for 10 years and is from the Phillipines where he has family. Before leaving our cabin the first time, we left him a note simply saying hi, telling him our names and we did tip him on day 1 because we felt it was something we wanted to do. When we returned later, he was there to greet us, we got to know him a little and after that, we never had to ask him for anything. Even with 4 people in the room, he never forgot that there were 4 of us or our names. He knew our patterns and even though the 4 of us were in and out at the weirdest times all through the cruise, he always had things fixed to a tee right down to those wonderful towel animals. The first night, someone on the balcony above us had too much to drink and got sick over the balcony onto ours so when we woke up we saw it. Within 30 minutes, it was gone, he brought in 2 guys with hoses and cleaning things and it was spotless again. Several times the kids slept in late if they got in late and he actually came in, cleaned around them without waking them and they simply woke up to a clean room. We left him a little note every morning just to say hi and wish him a good day, sometimes even a joke. He took such good care of us that we tipped him very well at the end of the week as well and placed it in my own version of a "towel animal" :). As we left the last day, we left me a note which I kept and gave me the book on the Miracle that was in my cabin that he knew I wanted and I left him a huge bag of wintergreen mints with my last note.

Some of my best cabin tips I got from on here was the over the door shoe hanger for the bathroom. Although we didn't need it at all, we still used it and it was faster than drawers for those items you grab quickly while keeping things neat. We took 4 of the big plastic sippy cups that hold like more that 20 oz. each and had lids with straws. Got them at the dollar store for $1 apiece and they were great for taking lemonade or juice or whatever to the cabin with us late at night.

We went on deck for the sail away party and the pictures of NY as you sailed away are breathtaking! We made friends and had a foo foo drink and toasted to new friends and great times.

First night in the dining room is casual, most people wore what they had gotten on board in. We had chosen the late seating for dinner which worked out very well for us. We were upstairs in the dining room (table 309). This was a table for 6 and there were 6 of us. It was right by one of the big windows outside and perfect. Our main waiters were Greggory, who tends to be shyer with an odd sense of humor but likable and efficient. Sometimes people weren't exactly sure how to take him so half our group liked him, including me, and the other half really didn't. Then there was Iketut, who was fabulous. Night one he asked all of our names and after that, it didn't matter where he saw us on the ship, he stopped, asked about each of us by name and chatted for a minute as if he had nothing better to do at that moment than chat with us. The young girl who was are bartender at dinner was also great and I can't remember her name but she was young and pretty and funny and we really liked her. We ate dinner in the dining room 5 of the 8 nights and truly enjoyed it. We made a list of everything we tried through the whole week and you wouldn't believe it! Gym, here we come! The food we had was great both in the dining room, at Horatios and at Nick and Nora's. Yes, they had cappachino, latte, espesso, etc for free after dinner in the dining room. Both our kids had the soda cards and they used them everywhere with no problem at all. As you all know, you can order all you want at dinner and believe me, my DH and DS put that to the test and the staff were happy to oblige. And I have to say, I now know what all the fuss was about with the chocolate melting cake....all I can say is OMG!

The rest of the first evening and night we spent exploring the ship, taking tons of pictures and having a great time with music and drinks and being happy. Yes, there is a door or a "secret door" on this ship or let me say, at least one. Not as easily found as you'd think and no I won't post it on here but I do have pictures from it and if you want them, I'll email them to you if you contact me but I took over 2100 pictures through the week so give me time to locate them please. My DH and I didn't find it until day 4 actually. There were quite a few kids on this cruise but we rarely saw them and camp carnival seemed to do lots of things with them. Even though we didn't have small kids with us, I picked up an itinerary for all the age groups of kids if anyone is interested in things they do with the kids. We even walked up to the area where camp carnival and the pinnochio club was and I looked at it and really liked what I saw. Even the teens we saw seemed to have a great time. The Welcome Aboard show the first night was good, not great. Brent, the cruise director, I really liked and he is funny. The comedian after him was also really funny. I do wish Brent was a little more visible throughout the week.

 

PART 2 COMING

[mprucha]

Sat.--first full sea day---we love the sea days, unlike many others and really made the most of them.

My DH and I had breakfast at Horatio's on the lido deck 9. Horatio's is open breakfast, lunch, dinner with multiple stations with different types of foods. Tons of selections all fantastic, something for everyone. Omelet station really good as well. We loved breakfast and lunch there and ate there for both those meals except we did do the dining room one morning for breakfast and once for lunch just so we could say we had. My DD loved the room service and had breakfast sent to her every morning and we all used it late at night (like 2 am). Selection isn't huge, about 3 pages in your book but good and filling. We tipped them when they brought it and it was delivered quickly. More exploring this day, did trivia, the ice carving expedition, our meet and greet, amazing race lunch, captain's party, formal night and the late show before going to several of the clubs for a bit. We loved amazing race and would have won had it not been for not being able to find a shirt from another carnival ship (worth 25 points) One thing I found interesting was that everyone kept saying how the photographers were constantly in your face but we really didn't find that. Yes, on embarking they were they and every night at dinner and when getting off in port, etc but they weren't everywhere. I liked the way they had photo settings set up all over the 2nd & 3rd decks so you could choose where you'd like to have them made. I usually don't like photos of me but we took advantage and had quick a few different poses of us done and bought some of the ones that we really liked. One in particular was great and I intend to use it on my computer for posting soon. We liked the way the captain's party was done and thought the drinks they were offering were good. We went to the 12am adult comedy show...he cracked us up. Off to bed.....BUT WAIT......here's our 1st TOWEL ANIMAL........an elephant, Love those towel animals!! I took pictures of them all and I'll be posting pictures once I can work through all 2100 and re-organize them. If in the meantime someone wants a certain picture of something, let me know and I'll try and email it to you. Today was my DS's 20th birthday and I had ordered him the cake to be delivered at dinner. It showed up right as planned with waiters and it was delicious!

 

Sun--2nd full sea day----Mother's day! We had breakfast in the dining room, very good. We also played more trivia, spent time out by the pool, watched them play fear factor ( I filled it out but wasn't picked for this one!) but it was lots of fun to watch. We did country line dancing and yes more trivia then listened to jazz music for awhile. There were so many things to do. Kids played bingo and no they didn't win but had fun. We had dinner together in the dining room for mother's day, all the mom's got carnations and they had an ice sculpture at Horatio's in the shape of the word MOM. Kids went off the to see the hypnosis show, we didn't. They thought it was really funny. Then it was off to dancing into the night! We loved Frankie & Johnnie's in the evenings. We also went to Dr. Frankensteins Lab twice but it was usually younger people in there so we never stayed long. We did go to Sam's piano bar and liked it as well. Towel animal #2.

 

Mon---San Juan-----We went to Horatio's, got breakfast and ate on our balcony today! Ahhhh, coffee on a balcony watching the water......bliss. Yep, more trivia, more picture taking on various parts of the ship, we've never at least been and photographed all the areas of the ship pretty much at least once. We also spent time on the decks and got ready to go into San Juan. I made sure I was up on deck as we started towards land to get those fantastic photos. At all 3 ports, we docked right at the dock so no tender boats needed. We went into San Juan, looked around on this beautiful place, shopped a little, then went to Senor Frogs. This was sooooo much fun. They had all kinds of amusing things and contests and it was packed. We ate dinner there and had some senor frog drinks in the giant cups.....you people know the ones I'm talking about! I video'd in there some because my son was in a couple of the contests. Fun, fun, fun...we will definately go there again. Debarking wsn't hard at all, quick in fact. We got back about 9pm in time for game show mania (I did get a medal for this) and then, tonight was the LIDO DECK PARTY! Tons of dancing and music for sail away at midnight! We danced til we were exhausted. Kids also went to the show this night although we didn't....decided to skip the juggling. Towel animal #3

 

Tues---St. Thomas----We were booked for an excursion today so we had ordered room service the night before for our room. I got up and was out on deck again by 6am to get those pictures then back in the room for breakfast and getting ready to go ashore. We had booked the Seablaster excursion. We had a blast. They picked us up right at the end of the pier straight on to the ship. The people that run it were great. They had non-alcoholic punch and water for the 45 minute trip out and YES you will get wet..lol. If you don't like to get wet, don't book an excursion with sea blaster in the title!! After the trip out, we snorkeled for an hour, then back on the boat for the true "rum punch" and it was great!! Plus snacks of course! All the rum punch you can drink and believe me, it's strong and if you want it stronger, they pull out the bottle of rum and fix you up. We returned to our ship around 1:30, about a 3 1/2 hour excursion and had a light lunch and decided to rest a little before evening as the sun had drained us. The waterslide was opened and yes, they did do a big screen movie (Man of the Year) in the mad hatter's ball room. We set sail at 6pm, had a nice dinner, went to the late show (singin with the big band) good, not great, could have used more dancing and less of the one man show. My son played some texas holdem this day and won some so he was happy. Then of course, another towel animal and more dancing to music in the clubs! The Carnival Glory came in while we were in St. Thomas and that was really cool because she was docking directly in front of us so she came by realllly close and it was amazing to watch.

 

Wed.----Tortola-----Up at 5am today to get those early Tortola shots of course. We decided to take advantage of the ship being less crowded so we didn't go into tortola. We found mini golf, sat out by the pool, played cartoon trivia (I tied for the win here so another medal and more team points) We had a late lunch of burgers on the deck (really good burgers) and decided to go to the art seminar which was interesting if you like and know something about art. We did some shopping in the ships shops today, played some cards in one of the many many many areas around the ship with wonderful views and big enough tables to play cards on. Tonight was our "date night" so we ate at Nick & Nora's. We think this is something everyone on board should do once with no kids, just as a romantic dinner. Very elegant, very relaxed, food was excellent as was the service. It's worth the extra price. We spent a romantic evening together tonight. Nick and Nora's was busy and we had made our reservations the very first day and got exactly the time and table we wanted. Kids went to the guest talent show then we all went dancing in different places.

 

Thurs-----3rd full sea day------This is where the weather took a pretty rough turn on us. Both later sea days were realllllly rough. It didn't matter where on the ship you were, you were going to feel it. Out of our group of 6, only my daughter got sea sick during those last 2 days but many others on board were. There was a strong wind and we did have some glasses come off the bar in our cabin.

I had taken multiple things with us for sea sickness but only my DD needed it. Since the weather wasn't the best, everyone had to find things indoors to do. Breakfast and lunch we did at Horatio's, more trivia, my DH found a nice chain he liked, we also did sea feud & went to the galley tour which was interesting but we felt a little too fast. Son was off in the casino so DH went there and he tried to hand at the slots (no luck for us..lol) Then we went to the art preview and auction which we actually liked. I've read many people say they thought you'd be crazy to go however, it depends on what you like in art, what you collect or buy, what you KNOW about art and what you're willing to spend. If you know art and know the right questions to ask privately during the preview, you could get information about the pieces you're interested in. Tonight was the 2nd formal night and then the Ticket to Ride show which was by far the best show of the week! This was also the night of the Gala buffet. The pictures of this are breathtaking! Most (98%) of the foods are cold, and I don't do raw meets or fish so the food itself wasn't to my liking BUT that's just a personal preference not anything about it not being good, my DH loved it. The DESSERTS however were incredible!

[mprucha]

Fri----4th sea day-----Another really rough night and day at sea but didn't stop us at all! More great food, more great games, the sun peeped out enough to get out on the deck more. We went to tea time today and we really liked it. We wished they held it in a more private place though. It had a nice tea service set up for you and pastries and classical music playing but there was continuous traffic as people passed through that werent' there for tea time so that takes away some because it's distracting. We packed early in the morning so we could enjoy our last day without having to worry about that. We tried to fit in as much as possible in that day! Our bags were outside the door by 8:30 and then we left to go to the last show, etc and they were gone when we came back.

 

Sat----time to leave-----we got up early today to see NY coming back into view and then to go up and have breakfast. After docking, we went downstairs around 9:30 and we were off the ship by 10:30, no problem. Luggage was neatly lined up depending on the color of your cabin tags and we had ours marked so they were easily identified even from a distance.

 

EXTRA COMMENTS----The gym has a beautiful view even if you don't like to work out. Mini golf is up on the top deck on the front of the ship. We didn't use the internet but we did take out laptop to download pictures at the end of each day which doesn't need the internet. Those of you asking if the laptop would fit inside the safe, no it won't HOWEVER it will fit on top of the safe and then the door is closed, out of site, out of mind. They will give you free playing cards at the pursers desk if you ask for them for free. The Miracle book in your cabin can be yours if you ask for it. The spas prices are very expensive but they book fast if you want an appt. They do have some special deal prices as the week goes on though. The shops on board on not outrageously priced. We bought several really great deals. We took a bottle of hand soap for our bathroom sink so we didn't have to use bar soap they have and it lasted all week. The decor of the ship I've heard many mixed reviews on but the ship is beautiful and fun but done in a way that isn't overpowering to the senses. There are tv channels on board for free. My kids watched several things on there late at night. There are also movies on demand but we didn't have time to watch any of these. The bingo is expensive and they don't do it often so we only played once. They do have several specials through the week. We played during one of the specials. I had heard so much about smoking on board that I expected this overpowering smoke everywhere but it was nothing like that. The smell of cigarette smoke really makes my daughter sick but there wasn't enough to bother her. The casino has a lot but it wasn't like we expected thankfully. It didn't bother my DD and that's saying something. The drink prices aren't nearly as bad as people think. They have drink specials every day, if you don't order the souveneir cups, it's even better. Even the things in the mini frig in your room isn't crazy. Unless you drink ALOT you won't find it bad. Extra prices,.....tips, the coffee shop & special pastry shops, any shopping you do in shops, alcoholic drinks and soda if you don't have the soda card, shore excursions, bingo, casino. Yes, the waiters danced and sang through the week. Biggest annoyance.....people who are playing trivia and other games and want to argue with the staff about the right answers........it's suppose to be FUN people.....:) Overall ........great trip.......great service.......great food.......great price.......tons of fun......doing it again next year!

Here's my email if you want to ask anything or have a certain picture you're looking for. ENJOY THE REVIEW!! anne@prucha.com

[henepup]

What a review!!!:) Thanks for all of the great info. Glad to hear you had a good time.

Angie

[jennbill]

Great review and a great attitude!!

[Sandi149]

Thank you so much for your wonderful and detailed review. :)I am so glad to hear that you had a great time. I just didn't like reading the part about the really rough sea days. :(

 

I think the bad embarkation is a NY thing. I live in NYC and it seems that everything here is very chaotic and unorganized.

 

Did they have that chocolate buffet on the last day? If so, how was that? I am a chocohaulic. :p

 

Do you remember approx what time the ship arrived in San Juan? The itinerary says 3 but did it arrive any earlier?

 

Looking forward to seeing your pictures when you post them.

 

Thanks again. :D

[Nauticlue]

Wow, what an awesome review !! Thanks so very much for that, we are sailing her on July 6th and can't wait to go !! This will be our 8th cruise, and from all you've described, it seems like you got as much enjoyment out of it as we do !! I will be emailing you for information on the Camp Carnival program for 13 year olds. Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks once again!

[villa10]

Wonderful that you would spend the time writing such a detailed review. From a few of the recent reviews we were concerned that perhaps we made a mistake by booking the Miracle as we were also considering other ships but the Cat. 11 seemed like a great deal. Do you know which other suites Rodrigo took care of? We will be right near the one you were in. However from your review I am feeling confident we made a good choice.We are sailing on June 4th in a Cat. 11 Suite and your detailed description is great. We are 3 people and I was concerned that the room would be tight for 3 but it sounds like there is lots of room. You said 3 closets--we were told there were 2. We will probably have 4 suiticases 1 or 2 garment bags and 2 carryons. From your description it sounds like this will be no problem. Was there enough room to store all that luggage? We will have our 19 year old DS with us and I was getting concerned he might not have enough to do. It sounds like he will.

[MaryZ]

glad you had a good time.

So when you stand on your balcony all you see is lifeboats when you look down at the water? I never looked at the cat 11's in the middle of the ship, but that would be for sure a reason I've never book one.

I guess that would be a minor squibble as you put it. Also having the steward come into my room while people were sleeping would be a no-no to me.

Of course then, I sleep sans clothing so it would really piss me off. Needless to say, my children sail in their own cabin ;) I've never seen a steward do that and at times my kids have slept till 1-2 in the afternoon. It's amazing that what one person sees as a plus another will see as a minus.:rolleyes:

Like you said, to each his own. Sounds like you all had a great time. The miracle takes the seas very nicely as compared to some other ships we have been on.

We totally enjoyed it. We also enjoyed the way the ship is decorated. It is quite unique.

Yes I agree, they offer tons of things to do all day long. We just aren't into doing them all nowadays. We cruise for rest and relaxation :D It is fun to do all that stuff tho, and I still love to watch the ice carvings when we happen to be there while they are doing them.

So, did you book for next year yet? :)

[rebeljohn]

VERY nice review!! Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us. We loved the Miracle, and would sail on her again in a minute..........

[poptart]

I really enjoyed reading all about your cruise! Great review---

[villa10]

I would agree that while you want attentive service from the steward, I would not want them entering the room while someone is still asleep. Isn't there a do not disturb sign to put out like in hotels?

 

As for the lifeboats, it seems to me that unless you look straight down over the balcony railing why would you even see them--how much time would you spend doing that? We like to sit out and enjoy looking out at the horizon and the vast sea, and not look straight down, but you are correct, what matters to one does not matter to another. Just having the additional space and the comfort a Cat. 11 provides is worth that minor thing.

[miched]

What is this secret door thing? How do you know that it is a secret? Do you get a prize for finding it?

 

Thanks

[whimseydeedoodah]

Anne,

 

Thank you for taking the time to post such a wonderful detailed review! Love your positive, upbeat attitude and I can't wait to pass this review along to others in our group.

[mprucha]

Thank you so much for your wonderful and detailed review. :)I am so glad to hear that you had a great time. I just didn't like reading the part about the really rough sea days. :(

 

I think the bad embarkation is a NY thing. I live in NYC and it seems that everything here is very chaotic and unorganized.

 

Did they have that chocolate buffet on the last day? If so, how was that? I am a chocohaulic. :p

 

Do you remember approx what time the ship arrived in San Juan? The itinerary says 3 but did it arrive any earlier?

 

Looking forward to seeing your pictures when you post them.

 

Thanks again. :D

 

Yes, DH is a native new yorker and it is chaotic there. Yes, they did the chocolate buffet and I thought it was really good but of course the lines were long. You just had to be patient. The ship got into San Juan exactly when it was suppose to so no, it wasn't early but we still had plenty of time to start seeing things. It'll probably be this weekend before we post the pictures just because of the amount and then only some of them. DH is making them smaller.

[mprucha]

Wonderful that you would spend the time writing such a detailed review. From a few of the recent reviews we were concerned that perhaps we made a mistake by booking the Miracle as we were also considering other ships but the Cat. 11 seemed like a great deal. Do you know which other suites Rodrigo took care of? We will be right near the one you were in. However from your review I am feeling confident we made a good choice.We are sailing on June 4th in a Cat. 11 Suite and your detailed description is great. We are 3 people and I was concerned that the room would be tight for 3 but it sounds like there is lots of room. You said 3 closets--we were told there were 2. We will probably have 4 suiticases 1 or 2 garment bags and 2 carryons. From your description it sounds like this will be no problem. Was there enough room to store all that luggage? We will have our 19 year old DS with us and I was getting concerned he might not have enough to do. It sounds like he will.

 

Rodrigo took care of various rooms on that side. His rooms seemed to stop close to about 6164 and he had more towards the other side, like 6170, 72 and more. If you get him, he was great! As for the closets, yes, you'll have plenty. I already told you how much we took and still had room. Yes, all 4 large suitcases fit under the bed and our smaller ones fit inside the bigger ones, no problem. You'll love it and you'll feel like you have tons of room. My son was 19 and turned 20 on the ship. At that age they can get into the clubs and he met lots of others his age and spent most nights dancing away at Dr. Frankensteins Lab which tended to cater more to the 18-25 crowd although lots of others danced there too. He wasn't bored.

[CT Sox Fan]

Fantastic review! Thanks so much for taking the time to mention everything in such detail, and I'm glad that your family had a great time.

[mprucha]

glad you had a good time.

So when you stand on your balcony all you see is lifeboats when you look down at the water? I never looked at the cat 11's in the middle of the ship, but that would be for sure a reason I've never book one.

I guess that would be a minor squibble as you put it. Also having the steward come into my room while people were sleeping would be a no-no to me.

Of course then, I sleep sans clothing so it would really piss me off. Needless to say, my children sail in their own cabin ;) I've never seen a steward do that and at times my kids have slept till 1-2 in the afternoon. It's amazing that what one person sees as a plus another will see as a minus.:rolleyes:

Like you said, to each his own. Sounds like you all had a great time. The miracle takes the seas very nicely as compared to some other ships we have been on.

We totally enjoyed it. We also enjoyed the way the ship is decorated. It is quite unique.

Yes I agree, they offer tons of things to do all day long. We just aren't into doing them all nowadays. We cruise for rest and relaxation :D It is fun to do all that stuff tho, and I still love to watch the ice carvings when we happen to be there while they are doing them.

So, did you book for next year yet? :)

 

Yes, you could see the lifeboats if you looked straight down but when we sat on the balcony enjoying the view, you didn't notice them at all. All you saw was the view. So unless I planned on standing and staring straight down, it wouldn't bother you. Plus, there are some that don't have that view like the wrap around 11's on Miracle. As for the steward coming in the room while the kids were sleeping. He had our and their permission to do so. My DH and I got up early and were out and about. My DD & DS would dance til 3am and then sleep til 1. They sleep hard and they had told him not to worry about cleaning the room. This way, our cabin was clean as well as our bed. Later, when he returned and we were at dinner, he'd do their beds when he did turn down service. And YES, we booked for May 2008 yesterday....lol. :)

[mprucha]

What is this secret door thing? How do you know that it is a secret? Do you get a prize for finding it?

 

Thanks

 

No, no prize just a curiosity thing for many cruisers. Do a search on cruise critic and you'll find like a zillion threads about them. :)

[finoky]

Thanks for a wonderful review.

[MaryZ]

Yes, you could see the lifeboats if you looked straight down but when we sat on the balcony enjoying the view, you didn't notice them at all. All you saw was the view. So unless I planned on standing and staring straight down, it wouldn't bother you. Plus, there are some that don't have that view like the wrap around 11's on Miracle. As for the steward coming in the room while the kids were sleeping. He had our and their permission to do so. My DH and I got up early and were out and about. My DD & DS would dance til 3am and then sleep til 1. They sleep hard and they had told him not to worry about cleaning the room. This way, our cabin was clean as well as our bed. Later, when he returned and we were at dinner, he'd do their beds when he did turn down service. And YES, we booked for May 2008 yesterday....lol. :)

 

ahhh, ok he had your permission. that's different than the steward just coming in and cleaning with people in the room. Ours have just had to wait till they were up and out.

yes we prefer the wrap cabins on all ships. But I like to stand at the balcony and look down, so maybe I'm just weird :p so the ones with a view of a lifeboat would not make me a happy cruiser.

Nice that you had all those closets. We had only one in ours. And I wished we had at least one that didn't have the two sets of poles in it. No place to hang a long dress without it touching the pole beneath it. And all I take is cocktail length dresses. A long gown would be smooshed.

So did you take a wrap for next year??? :D

[pmoniz]

mprucha - great review!! It sounds like you have a fun family. We won't be sailing on the Miracle until next April - but very excited to hear how great a time you all had. My son will be 17 so I'm hoping there will be plenty to keep him busy. He has no problem mingling!

 

How was the piano bar? Last time we cruised Carnival on the Victory we spent most of the time at the piano bar and had a blast.

[villa10]

Thanks again for being so responsive. We will be in 6170 so unless they change assignments it sounds like we will have Rodrigo. Also, I feel good that our DS at 19 can look forward to a great time. Glad you clarified Rodrigo entering while your kids were sleeping--if you gave permission then it's fine. Until now, while we have been looking forward to this cruise which is in celebration of our 25th Wedding Annv., we haven't really been all that excited about it. Your review has made us feel really good about this cruise, the ship, and the room we chose and now the excitement is building. One last question if you do not mind--When did you make your reservation for Nick and Nora's and could you do it from your cabin or did you need to go there to do it. We have a particular night in mind for that and would like to reseve ASAP when we board the ship. Thanks again.

[kgerkin]

Great review. Thanks! If you have the Camp Carnival capers for the 6 -8 age group, would you email them to me at karengerkin@yahoo.com?

 

Thanks so much!

[mprucha]

ahhh, ok he had your permission. that's different than the steward just coming in and cleaning with people in the room. Ours have just had to wait till they were up and out.

yes we prefer the wrap cabins on all ships. But I like to stand at the balcony and look down, so maybe I'm just weird :p so the ones with a view of a lifeboat would not make me a happy cruiser.

Nice that you had all those closets. We had only one in ours. And I wished we had at least one that didn't have the two sets of poles in it. No place to hang a long dress without it touching the pole beneath it. And all I take is cocktail length dresses. A long gown would be smooshed.

So did you take a wrap for next year??? :D

 

Most of the closets had adjustable poles so I took the pole out in the middle and my long gown didn't hit the floor. And no.....lol.....there are 4 wraparounds available for the cruise next year but DH is a little skeptical about them now because several people this time felt so bad because the water coming back was so rough so he really wanted to stay with the middle of the ship. Any ideas on how to change his mind?? lol