Miracle Review 11-11

[pandaruth27]

hi all,

i am doing a review of my vacation on the Carnival Miracle that set sail on 11-13 here it is. I am 29 with this cruise being my 6 all with Carnival. my boyfriend Tim 38 this was his 6 Carnival cruise but he did two other cruises. i am going to see if i can keep my pictures big so they are easier to see.

 

November 11 Tim’s Birthday!!

First thing I did was run errands with my mom and got my hair cut. We left Orlando around 1130 or so to go to Highway 50 and Junction 75 to meet Tim’s mom who was going to take me the rest of the way. Halfway there Tim decided that he was going to get me, which turned out better. Mom missed the turned into the McDonald parking lot so we had to go to the next light and make a u turn. We got there and had a yogurt parfait. Tim pulled up and parked next to mom’s car. We moved over my two bags. Yes I over packed again as usual. Mom said have a good time or something stupid like that. After we got gas at the Racetrac we were on our way to the American Legion post 99 to pick up Bob, Tim’s stepdad. I got a guided tour of the new renovations that was finished earlier this year. It was nice and cozy. After that we left we went to the Buffet City, a Chinese buffet in Brooksville. It was nicely decorated with a goldfish pond and little fountains in the lobby. The food was great. After we ate we went back to the house. We slept for awhile as Tim had to work the overnight shift. Well we tried but the dogs kept on barking, oh well. We left earlier so that I could met some of his coworkers as this was the first time visiting his hotel. I spent the most boring night that I have ever experienced. Nothing to do except watch television or go on the internet. Now I know how he feels doing this 5 nights a week finishing his work in 20 minutes even though the shift is an 8 hour shift. Kept on looking at the clock hoping 7 o clock will roll around faster. I slept a little on the couch for maybe 30 minutes at the most.

November 12 Train Ride from Hell!

We left the hotel around 730 am to go home to get ready for the train ride from hell. We switched things from the different bags and we waited for Tim’s mom to get ready. She was going to take us back to Orlando to pick up the train that would take us to Hollywood. We left around 930 and drove around 2 hours. We stopped to gas up the car and to eat something real quick. We got to the Amtrak station around 12 and the train was leaving there around 1 o clock. This was the first time I was on a train in the United States. We thought that we were going to have a straight route to Hollywood but boy we were wrong! We ended up going inland to stop at far away Sebring, Lake Alfred, and some other out there little towns that I did not know about. Plus we kept on stopping to let the CSX cargo trains go before us as they own the lines. So instead of pulling into Hollywood around 610 pm we pulled in around 730 pm. We were going to meet up with another couple from our roll call at the local restaurant called Dave and Busters but that did not happen. We were tired and sore. Tim got a broken seat and his butt was hurting!! We checked into our room at Comfort Inn Airport/Cruise Port South on Sterling Ave. room 441. We then walked over to Taco Bell just to grab something to eat as the food on the train was very expensive. For one beer and one soda it was $8.00. The bad thing we are taking the train home on Saturday. After eating we passed out on the bed.

[pandaruth27]

the pictures are not working:mad:

[Payd]

hi all,

i am doing a review of my vacation on the Carnival Miracle that set sail on 11-13 here it is. I am 29 with this cruise being my 6 all with Carnival. my boyfriend Tim 38 this was his 6 Carnival cruise but he did two other cruises. i am going to see if i can keep my pictures big so they are easier to see.

 

November 11 Tim’s Birthday!!

First thing I did was run errands with my mom and got my hair cut. We left Orlando around 1130 or so to go to Highway 50 and Junction 75 to meet Tim’s mom who was going to take me the rest of the way. Halfway there Tim decided that he was going to get me, which turned out better. Mom missed the turned into the McDonald parking lot so we had to go to the next light and make a u turn. We got there and had a yogurt parfait. Tim pulled up and parked next to mom’s car. We moved over my two bags. Yes I over packed again as usual. Mom said have a good time or something stupid like that. After we got gas at the Racetrac we were on our way to the American Legion post 99 to pick up Bob, Tim’s stepdad. I got a guided tour of the new renovations that was finished earlier this year. It was nice and cozy. After that we left we went to the Buffet City, a Chinese buffet in Brooksville. It was nicely decorated with a goldfish pond and little fountains in the lobby. The food was great. After we ate we went back to the house. We slept for awhile as Tim had to work the overnight shift. Well we tried but the dogs kept on barking, oh well. We left earlier so that I could met some of his coworkers as this was the first time visiting his hotel. I spent the most boring night that I have ever experienced. Nothing to do except watch television or go on the internet. Now I know how he feels doing this 5 nights a week finishing his work in 20 minutes even though the shift is an 8 hour shift. Kept on looking at the clock hoping 7 o clock will roll around faster. I slept a little on the couch for maybe 30 minutes at the most.

 

November 12 Train Ride from Hell!

We left the hotel around 730 am to go home to get ready for the train ride from hell. We switched things from the different bags and we waited for Tim’s mom to get ready. She was going to take us back to Orlando to pick up the train that would take us to Hollywood. We left around 930 and drove around 2 hours. We stopped to gas up the car and to eat something real quick. We got to the Amtrak station around 12 and the train was leaving there around 1 o clock. This was the first time I was on a train in the United States. We thought that we were going to have a straight route to Hollywood but boy we were wrong! We ended up going inland to stop at far away Sebring, Lake Alfred, and some other out there little towns that I did not know about. Plus we kept on stopping to let the CSX cargo trains go before us as they own the lines. So instead of pulling into Hollywood around 610 pm we pulled in around 730 pm. We were going to meet up with another couple from our roll call at the local restaurant called Dave and Busters but that did not happen. We were tired and sore. Tim got a broken seat and his butt was hurting!! We checked into our room at Comfort Inn Airport/Cruise Port South on Sterling Ave. room 441. We then walked over to Taco Bell just to grab something to eat as the food on the train was very expensive. For one beer and one soda it was $8.00. The bad thing we are taking the train home on Saturday. After eating we passed out on the bed.

 

Looking forward to the rest.

 

Neat that your boyfriend and my brother (both Tim's) have the same birthday! Hope he enjoyed his "birthday" cruise!

[pandaruth27]

more to come later

[pandaruth27]

November 13th CRUISE DAY FINALLY ARRIVED!!!

It finally is time for our 8 day cruise on the Carnival Miracle to begin. We got up early as the hotel had a breakfast for its guest and we were hungry. It consist of Belgium waffles on one of those flipping waffle makers, I could not figure it out at first but on the second one I got it. Donuts, fruits, hot cereal, cold cereal, and different toast. Drink was either milk, coffee, tea, or juice. We decided to eat outside as the breakfast area was small. As we were eating two stray cats came by, one was an orange tabby which did not like to get petted just wanted food the other was a black that reminded me of my cat at home and he liked to get petted behind the ear. After eating we got ready as a shuttle was provided to take us to the port. This was our first and might be our last time at Port Lauderdale. We checked out and were as waiting for the shuttle with a huge group of fellow cruisers around 1030. We were surprised that it was a regular big tour bus instead of a van. We told the driver that we need to make sure that we can get to our bags before the porters so we can get some luggage tags as we do not like the new way Carnival is having us print out our own. We got on the bus and at first thought that we would have to seat apart as we could not find a seat together. We ended up finding some at the back of the bus but be careful majority of the back seats the back rest were broken. We ended up meeting a few couples that during the vacation we ended up spending some time with. We arrived at the port around 1100. It was a big port. We got dropped off and we went to the porters to ask them for some Miracle luggage tags. They were out, they gave us Sensation Tags instead. We walk to the doors and we were surprised that we could not get in we had to walk a good length of the building to get into a line at least it was under an awning. The first impressions of the port once we got inside was, of a warehouse which Tampa port was. We checked in and the line moved smoothly considering there were a lot of people. This cruise was full cruise no empty cabins. The first thing was to go find our cabin to drop off my laptop bag. We got off at deck 6 Empress and we had to walk all the way towards the aft area of the ship. The housekeeper who was eastern European I did not catch his name, he said it would be okay just put it into the closet so no one could see it. After that we went down to deck 2 which majority of our cruise was spent as that is where MR. LUCKY’S was located, we spend many hours in that casino. We set up our dinner reservations for two nights for Nick and Nora’s Supper Club unfortunately we only went one night as that night we both were full. Went to the Purser to put cash onto our sign and sail card. We did have $400 of onboard credit but we just wanted to make sure we had more in our account just in case we need it. After that we went to lunch on the Lido which is deck 9 on this class of ship. I love the décor of this ship already. It was of fictional characters down the hallways where the cabins were they had morals of rotating characters like Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Lord Jim, and a Baron that looks like he is riding a blue ball. We did some exploring on the lido and took pictures. We meet up with two couples from our roll call that at last check before the cruise was totaled at 41 people including children. After that we explored inside and had our first drinks mich ultra then went back into the room to relax a little before the mustard drill (yea I know that is not what is called but Tim and I have the running joke to call it that).

[NCTribeFan]

Request...

 

I love reading reviews of ships I've sailed or plan on sailing (both in the case of Miracle), but could you please break it up and put in some paragraphs? I'm having a really hard time reading the font you've used without it being broken up a bit. :o

 

You should've been able to see the Amtrak route (with stops) online, so you would've known about them. Train travel in the states is rather an adventure, at least the few times I've tried it!

 

I hated the Fort Lauderdale terminal. We stayed at the LaQuinta, and our shuttle was dropping 2 people at Celebrity FIRST, and got stuck in a line of traffic for about 20 minutes. Why he didn't dropped all the rest of us Carnival people first, then have just the 2 (who he could've let off elsewhere), I don't know. By the time we got to the Miracle, there was a very, very long line which moved very slowly. Although we were supposed to leave the hotel at noon, we ended up not actually boarding until nearly 2:30 and I was absolutely starving.

 

Next time, I'm just taking a cab! I haven't had any problems at all with the paper luggage tags and I don't bother with laminating or any of that other stuff. I just tape them on and they've stayed attached.

 

Looking forward to hearing about the ports!

[pandaruth27]

sorry about the font. i am writing the review in microsoft words then cuting and pasting. i will try to break it up better.

 

Yea i think if we did see the route we would have either rented a car or get someone to take us there. i am not going to go on amtrack again unless i see the routes and i bring lots of things to do it was too boring.

 

We are going to be going on the Valor in May out of Miami to see how the ports compare right now Port Canveral is my favorite.

 

Here are some pictures that i was trying to get to work

the hotel room at the Comfort inn on Sterling in Hollywood. Room 441.

 

the pool area at the hotel sometimes there are cats nearby one looked like my cat at home

 

My boyfriend Tim at the hotel

 

I will try to post more soon:D

[pandaruth27]

More pictures.

this is a view from the Lido showing the city

 

another picture on the Lido. I like seeing different shades of blue

 

the side view of the ship and the city while in port

 

the glorious Miracle Funnel. I love it as I now that I am on vacation:)

[Prairie_Gal]

Good job Pam! Keep it coming.

 

PS: If you want your pictures to be bigger just click on the box marked 500 pixels before you copy and paste the code.

[pandaruth27]

sorry about the delay lack of computer at the house. Here is some more

 

After the drill we explored again. We stopped at Mr. Lucky’s Casino as on the first night the limits are low. Went to my favorite game Let it Ride. Played for a while won a hand with four 8. Yes already looking like a good cruise. Cashed out and put more money on the sign and sail account as sometimes we keep the cash and end up spending it. Went into the shops to look around and found some cologne and perfume as that is what we normally buy. Then we went to dinner. Our table staff was Marie Grace and Leslie; they were the best staff ever. We were at table 341 which was a booth for four but we had it all to our selves after that we played some more in the casino until 1130. We went into Sam’s piano bar to listen to Roger and to meet up with some people from our roll call but we did not stay long. We were tired.

NOVEMBER 14TH DAY AT SEA

 

Woke up around 7:30 and went to the morning buffet on the Lido. Had French toast, bacon, eggs, and grits. It was good. Throughout the cruise we say Marie Grace and Leslie during the morning buffet. They always had a smile on their faces. After eating we went back to the room to rest before our roll call meet and greet which was scheduled at 10 at the back lido bar. Before we left we had a total count of 41 people one of the biggest groups I have seen. I had a good time putting faces to screen names. Tim and I were on a few excursions with two couples from the roll call. I enjoyed meeting everyone and I would like to keep in touch with them. I think the final count was 25 some of the kids were sick like I started to feel on Wednesday.

shots from the roll call. Tim is taking the pictures

more roll call.

[pandaruth27]

more from November 14th

 

After about hour and a half we left to go to Mr. Lucky’s to try our luck again. This day was not that lucky. Went to try lunch in the dining room. Last time we tried the dining room for lunch was on the Glory and it was a maze. We sat at a table for two near the door. I had the pasta and Tim had the hamburger. It was good. After that went shopping some more at the shop. Watched a movie on the TV then went out to walk around the decks. Was going to take a nap before dinner but we overslept. We woke up at 3 in the morning and were going to have some pizza. The grill was still open so we had some of that instead. Went back to bed.

the waves at the back of the boat

our cabin 6271

the artwork in the cabin

[pandaruth27]

NOVEMBER 15TH DAY AT SEA AGAIN

Woke up again at 7:30 and did breakfast buffet. This time had the pancakes, eggs, bacon. I like the fact that they had sugar free syrup. Went exploring the decks. Saw another movie on the tv. Had lunch in the dining room again. This time sat at a table with a couple from Georgia and a couple from Puerto Rico. Had the pasta which was good. Got our letter from the Ocean players club to see Adela the casino hostess. The letter was for a free drink and 500 points on slot machines. The slot machines were coinless now in which your money would go onto your sign and sail card. If you want to cash out just go to the cage and get it. I had a strong chocolate martini which normally would cost me $12.50 at home and Tim had a beer. Played slot machines and more let it ride. Had some luck got three of a kind and two straights. Around 6 decided to go back to the room to get ready for NICK AND NORAS and to warm up. The casino was cold but it could have been just me like I said I was sick the beginning of this cruise.

Our reservation wasn’t until 8 but decided to see if we can get seated earlier as we were hungry. Entered through the lido deck up clear staircase. I was scared as I do not like stairs and do not like floating in mid air. Tim and the hostess thought it was funny. The hostess said that many people fell the same way that I did. We went up to the second level luckily these stairs were normal. We had a gentleman from Romania but I did not catch his name. I had crab cakes which were fantastic. Tim had the shrimp cocktail which had big shrimp. Both had Caesar salad that was prepared at the table. Tim had the strip or porter house. I had the surf and turf. It was good and we were stuffed. The décor was wonderful with heart marbles everywhere and a nice New York skyline under the funnel. There was a couple singing and playing piano majority of the time. They were great. When the couple was taking a break there was a compact disk of romantic songs. For desert I had the cheesecake and Tim had the fruit salad which had a champagne sherbet that I wish I can get at home. Went to bed early as tomorrow was our first port day. I know it might seem like we sleep a lot but for the most part on the cruises is when we can get good uninterrupted sleep. At home we have noisy dogs and family members that keep us up. Plus the beds are so comfy.

[pandaruth27]

NOVEMBER 16TH PANAMA

This was our first time in Panama and one of the reasons why we selected this sailing. We booked a private tour through myfriendmario.com as we heard some good things from the boards about them. We picked the A1 which was rainforest, locks, and fort excursion. We were the only Miracle guest on this tour. In Panama there are going to be tour guides telling you to walk down the street to pick up mario’s bus but do not do it as they are trying to make you miss your tour. Meet at the spot on your confirmation email and check your email before you leave as things change. As in our case our start time was later as there were going to be guest from a Celebrity ship going with us and they come in later.