Live from the Miracle - Sept 30th sailing

[Crusin Karen]

mike--2 quick questions....(besides previous about your excursions)

did you see anyone get nabbed by "acohol security " at check in?

and will DH be ok with dress shirt and tie ("formal" night) and no jacket?

No and yes. "Formal night" on our cruise 2 weeks ago had all kinds of attire. We dressed in nice dresses, men in jackets and ties, but not necessary. Loved the men in their Scottish kilts! I think a nice pair of pants, shirt and tie would be very appropriate. I brought on a 4L bottle of wine :eek: in each of our carry ons as well as a ton of booze in our checked luggage and we had no problem. They DID check to make sure it was wine in carry on, but didn't bat an eyelash when they saw the size of the bottle! ;) I bought 2 bottles of Tequila and 4 cartons of cigs in St. Thomas and they packed everything into one carton "booze container" and even tho they saw the bottles thru x-ray, they let us go right thru! Best place to buy booze and/or cigs in St. Thomas is Al Cohens which is at the "head" of the shopping mall in St. Thomas...I pay $61.99/carton for cigs here not including tax and bought them for $52/3 cartons at Cohens. Miracle had Jose Cuervo for $23.95/bottle; Cohens had 2/$24.95 :D

[Sandytoes]

mike91911

 

I am thinking of booking a cruise on the Miracle.

Thanks for sharing your review.

[momof4girls1boy]

Thanks for your posts. Will be sailing on Wed and this helps ease some questions. We sailed Mar 06 with our 16 mo granddaughter and it was a great experience. She doesn't remember it but she loves looking at the pictures. This cruise is all adults for us.

Looking forward to your pics when you return. Have a wonderful time and make lots of memories with your family.

One question - dh doesn't own a tie but he does have a tux. Will he be the only one in a tux on formal nights? Thanks

[jaja]

No and yes. "Formal night" on our cruise 2 weeks ago had all kinds of attire. We dressed in nice dresses, men in jackets and ties, but not necessary. Loved the men in their Scottish kilts! I think a nice pair of pants, shirt and tie would be very appropriate. I brought on a 4L bottle of wine :eek: in each of our carry ons as well as a ton of booze in our checked luggage and we had no problem. They DID check to make sure it was wine in carry on, but didn't bat an eyelash when they saw the size of the bottle! ;) I bought 2 bottles of Tequila and 4 cartons of cigs in St. Thomas and they packed everything into one carton "booze container" and even tho they saw the bottles thru x-ray, they let us go right thru! Best place to buy booze and/or cigs in St. Thomas is Al Cohens which is at the "head" of the shopping mall in St. Thomas...I pay $61.99/carton for cigs here not including tax and bought them for $52/3 cartons at Cohens. Miracle had Jose Cuervo for $23.95/bottle; Cohens had 2/$24.95 :D

 

 

Thanks !! for the info....;)

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for your posts. Will be sailing on Wed and this helps ease some questions. We sailed Mar 06 with our 16 mo granddaughter and it was a great experience. She doesn't remember it but she loves looking at the pictures. This cruise is all adults for us.

Looking forward to your pics when you return. Have a wonderful time and make lots of memories with your family.

One question - dh doesn't own a tie but he does have a tux. Will he be the only one in a tux on formal nights? Thanks

As I said above, there were all kinds of attire on "elegant night." I saw many men in tuxes...some with white jackets with red roses on their lapels and they looked so handesome. :) I dressed up every single night for dinner. I wear a uniform to work and really enjoy to wear my fancy clothes on a cruise and am not embarassed to do so. I think the tux would be especially appropriate on the lst elegant night. Later everyone seems to relax down. But it's YOUR vacation, and you should dress how you wish, but I think when you dress for an occasion, you show respect for it and pride in yourself. Just MHO. Have a wonderful cruise! You will LOVE the Miracle! :D

[mike91911]

Day 5: St. Thomas

 

Sorry this is coming late. It was a long day in St. Thomas and I crashed before I had a chance to make it to the internet café. One thing I’d really like to have was internet in the cabins. The Miracle doesn’t have it yet.

 

We woke up to find us already docked at St. Thomas. The view was amazing. We had a quick breakfast on the lido deck and headed out for the day.

 

St. Thomas was beautiful. The weather was beautiful. We took a taxi to Meghan’s Bay and spend about 5 hours at the beach. I have the sunburn to prove it. I used sunscreen but must not have applied it often enough. Meghan’s Bay is perfect for lounging by the beach and swimming. Get there early enough and you’ll have no problem finding a spot in the shad. There are deck chairs, floating mats, masks, fins and snorkels for rent if you need them. If you like to snorkel, I don’t think you would be happy here. Don’t get me wrong, the water is crystal clear but there are no rocks or coral for the fish. We did see fish but not as many as I’ve seen snorkeling in other places. Both boys had a great time in the water. They were also thrilled to see iguanas walking allover. After the beach, we took a taxi to downtown to shop. We walked all over looking in all the shops. We had lunch at a little restaurant called Gladys’. It was recommended to us by a woman we met at the beach who vacations in St. Thomas every year. It was a good recommendation, the place was great. After lunch we finished with downtown and took a taxi back to the pier. We were back on board by 5:20 and got ready for dinner.

 

After dinner we went back to the room to find our Miracle pin and our invitation to the past guest party on Sunday night. It was my wife’s turn to go out and for me to stay with the kids (who were both exhausted). My plan was to head out when my wife got back to post this and then have a few drinks with everyone. I never made it out of the cabin, I was wiped out from all that time in the water.

 

There is a weird phenomenon that takes place on a cruise ship. I’m no physicist but time does something weird. I believe that on a cruise ship, times goes by 2-3 times faster than when at home. It took forever for the sail date to get here and once I got on the ship, it seems that time just raced by.

[mike91911]

Day 6: Tortola

 

We woke up around 6:30am and were already docked in Tortola. Our original plans here were to go the Long Bay for the beach but St. Thomas left everyone either sunburned or exhausted. My sister and her husband opted to stay at the stores near the dock. The rest of us grabbed a taxi at the pier and took a tour of the island. It was $20 per person and the kids were free. He drove us all over the island, stopping at different places for pictures. There were some beautiful scenic overlooks. The roads were a little scary due to the steepness and width. The tour was supposed to be 2.5 hours long. We stopped at a beach and the driver told us we could stay an hour, a few people on our tour asked the driver if they could stay until 11:30. We were out voted as we did not want to stay. We jumped on another taxi that was leaving. It took the driver nearly 15 minutes to even get out of the parking lot and then a 20 minute ride to the pier if nothing went wrong. I think those people who opted to stay until 11:30 am were cutting it way too close to be back on the ship by 12:30pm. We enjoyed our tour but wish we had gone to the beach first thing. None of the excursions appealed to us. We left Tortola around 1:10pm. I was told we did wait for people who were late returning to the ship. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on that 11:30 return. That’s it for now.

 

Answers to questions:

 

I saw people in Tuxes on Formal night. I saw shirts and ties and I saw Jackets shirts and ties. I also saw people dressed in just a polo shirt etc. We like to dress up because we want the pictures.

 

I did see the alcholol police at every port but I didn't notice much being confiscated either. As a matter of fact my SIL bought her boyfriend a very nice bottle of rum and she walked right back to her room with it. She actually meant to turn it over but forgot all about it in her bag. My guess is you could bring just about anything back on the ship.

 

Still no sign of Phratta. Sorry.

[jaja]

I am so glad you are enjoying your cruise..!!!:D

and thank you again for reporting back to us all ....it is much appreciated...;)

[dolfinmusic]

You are so right about time flying by on the cruise! When I am at work, the day lasts forever but on the cruise the day flies by! Even if we are just hanging out! If you attend the Welcome Back Party - enjoy it! The rum punch drinks were good! :)

[DONDON55]

Hey there Mike.......so glad you are having a wonderful time.

Just in case the game was not on today in Maguires..THE PATRIOTS WON..............It was not a slam dunk but it was a good game, Matt Cassel is progressing and did a great job, Randy Moss played well, Wes Welker did great, Kevin Faulk got two touchdowns........and the Red Sox are tied 3 t0 3 in the 3rd inning.

 

Enjoy the remaining days at sea..............

 

dondon55

Foxboro MA

[DONDON55]

MIKE91911 where are you????????

 

Miss your daily reviews.....got to work this morning expecting to see your next post and you are not there..........I guess your sleeping in this morning since it is just a day at sea............too much partying last night huh!!!!!!!!

 

Look forward to your next posting.

 

dondon55

Foxboro MA

[mike91911]

Day 7: At Sea

 

Sorry this is coming late. Sometimes I just don’t leave myself enough time at the end of the day.

 

The big news of the day is…I won my first ship on a stick!! I was very excited. I was a contestant on the Match Game and our team one. It was fun but I was nervous up there in front of all those people. We also went to the Newlywed and not so Newlywed game. Can’t remember what the actual name was but also a good time. My BIL also took 3rd place in the hairy chest contest and received his ship on a stick.

 

We attempted to do the Galley tour but the line was very long and I don’t think the kids have the patience for the line. We listed to Frankie the Maitre D give his talk though and it was very interesting.

 

It was our second formal night and the kids were decked out again. My wife did not go as formal as the first night. We did it the first night mainly for the pictures. Last night I wore my suit pants and a dress shirt but no jacket and tie.

 

I went to my first show which was a Beatles Tribute, Ticket to Ride. My 5 year old fell asleep and my 18 month old was mesmerized through the whole thing. At one point during the show, they passed out glow sticks and had the lights down. It was pretty cool.

After the show my wife went to the piano bar with her sister and I fell asleep with the kids. The plan was for my wife to come back at 11:45pm and me to go to the midnight comedy show and the then post to CC. Sometimes I feel so old. :D

 

I’ve found my favorite place to hang out. Sun Deck forward, walk outside and it’s right there below the stairs. Always shade on one side of the ship and it’s never crowded. I was up there watching the waves go by and the flying fish do their thing. I could stay up there for hours. I’ll be back tonight…hopefully.

[DONDON55]

glad your still with us...........thought you got left behind in Tortola.....LOL. Now that I think about it, that might not be so bad. It was very pretty there............

 

Looking forward to your next post.............have a great day.

 

dondon55

foxboro ma

[phinfan63]

We had lunch at a little restaurant called Gladys’. It was recommended to us by a woman we met at the beach who vacations in St. Thomas every year. It was a good recommendation, the place was great. After lunch we finished with downtown and took a taxi back to the pier. We were back on board by 5:20 and got ready for dinner.

 

Very good recommendation ~ we ate there last time we were there too. They have the best mahi mahi I've ever had and plan to do it again next March :-)

[mike91911]

Sorry for yet another late post. I'm actually posting from home. I was so tired last night and the Margarittas didn't help.

 

Day 8: At sea

 

The seas were fairly rough. Although my family was ok, my SIL and Aunt were both sick all day. My sister and husband were also ok. I saw lots of sick people and the results of being seasick (yuck). It was really just another day to sit and do nothing. The Camp Carnival kids did a talent show and it was very cute.

 

We attended the debarkation talk. It was informative but anyone who's sailed before knows the drill.

 

I'll be working on a review with pictures over the next few day.

[DONDON55]

Welcome home neighbor.........sorry to hear that your relatives fell ill.

I figured either you or the kids were under the weather when there were no posts from you.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts each day. It felt like I was there cuz I was just there 3 weeks ago.

 

Looking forward to your final review and pics. Will we be able to print some of the pics. I am having some of Radio's pics printed to fill in the blanks from our cruise of shots that I either did not take or didn;t come out too good.

 

Get a good nights rest.

 

dondon55

Foxboro MA

[Cruisin Suzin]

Sorry to hear about the rough seas, but I really enjoyed your live review, and glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise..I'm going to try out your spot, on the sun deck I just have to see a flying fish..thanks for the time spent on the review..

[Payd]

Thanks for your live review! Glad your family had a great time - except for the seasickness.

[Sandytoes]

It took forever for the sail date to get here and once I got on the ship, it seems that time just raced by.

 

How true!!!!

[elliebelle]

Welcome home !! It was very nice to get to meet you and the other CC members ... we also had a wonderful time.. I read both your and Radio's blogs and it was very nice to have a family perspective. You all seemed to have a wonderful time.. this was our second Miracle cruise and we actually enjoyed this year even more... I am going to post a full review... we saw your son holding court a few time.. he seemed to have won over the crew... :)- I am sure he also had a fun time... see you soon I hope..