Miracle Review (Nov 13) Panama, Costa Rica, Belize (Long with pics)

[Prairie_Gal]

Friday, November 7 - Tuesday November 10/08

 

We left Calgary, Alberta, and flew to Phoenix. DH and DS went to the Nascar races, and I shopped, relaxed, strolled around Scottsdale. My parents were in the vicinity (they are snowbirds), so we also got to visit with them, which was great. DH also got to do some golfing.

 

 

Wednesday November 11 – Thursday November 12

 

We flew from Phoenix to Fort Lauderdale on Continental. After a long (1 ½ hr) delay in Houston due to weather we finally arrived around 9:30 p.m., collected our luggage, and rental car (Dollar $19/day with the Kisse code) and made our way to the hotel. I had booked the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood on Priceline for $110/night. The hotel is beautiful, and it is right on the beach.

 

Unfortunately the hotel was full so they could only give us a “partial ocean view” which consisted of a view of the convention center and a bit of the ocean if you looked way around to the left while on the balcony. I think all the rooms have balconies, which is nice for sitting out and getting some fresh air.

 

On Thursday we went on the Carrie B River Cruise to see some “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”. This was a really fun tour. We got to see all the beautiful waterfront homes and yachts. For a measly $5 Million you too can own a "fixer upper" on the Fort Lauderdale waterway.

 

 

We also got to see the brand new Celebrity Solstice. It is huge! And beautiful!

 

 

 

Then we wet golfing in the afternoon at the Diplomat Country Club. We got a great twilight rate, and because we were hotel guests I think the club rentals were included, as well as three free balls. It is a beautiful golf course. Quite a treat for us coming from snow to golfing amidst the palm trees in our shirt sleeves.

 

 

I didn’t know that iguanas lived wild in Florida, but we saw some on the Carrie B tour and also these guys on the golf course.

 

 

 

Here in Canada iguanas are an exotic pet (yuck!) We only saw two other groups of golfers the entire time! It was quite a feeling having the whole golf course practically to ourselves.

 

 

After that we had dinner and headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the cruise the next day. Eeeee!!!! I was so excited!

 

To be continued...

[63Corvette]

Looking forward for the continuation.... we are going to the same ports in January. :)

[Prairie_Gal]

November 13/08

 

At last the big day is here! We booked this cruise way back in February. Carnival sent us a “Welcome Home” email after we got home from our first cruise offering us $50 off if we booked in the next 60 days. So, I researched cruises and we decided we wanted to see the Panama Canal. That was the main reason we chose this particular cruise. I really wanted to go on the Freedom. It also goes to the Panama Canal and is newer and bigger, but at the time it was about $200 more per person. It later dropped to about the same price, but by then we already had all our plans in place. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

 

I must mention that I got a really good deal on this cruise. We originally booked an 8A balcony, then later we upgraded to an 8C extended aft balcony (4232) on a past-guest promotion for a lower price. Then as price drops came along I phoned Carnival each time and they honored the price without any question. They are awesome about this. I was glad I made the decision to book directly with them this time as I feel this made the price drops easier to get just by calling them. Anyway by the time we set sail we paid $654 per person (plus taxes, etc.) for an 8 day cruise, which I thought was an excellent value.

 

We got up bright and early and got ready. We went down to the ocean and the beautiful beach and dipped our toes in, then went for a swim in the pool. Then we got ready and we were on our way.

 

We dropped off the luggage first at the port and then went back and dropped off the rental car at the Dollar/Thrifty location near the port and then caught the shuttle back to the port. It was very easy and convenient. This was the first time we had rented from Dollar but it was a good experience and I would have no problem using them again.

 

Line ups were fairly long when we arrived, but moved quickly and we were on the Lido deck having lunch around 12:30.

 

At about 1:30 we went to check out our cabin. Our much anticipated aft balcony cabin # 4232. I had read so much about them here on CC that we just had to try one when the opportunity arose. It was great! The view from the aft was very soothing, almost mesmerizing. I could sit out there forever watching the wake.

 

Since there seem to be a lot of questions about the aft extended balcony cabins, here are a couple of pics of #4232.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the balcony is not that wide, but it is fairly deep. We sometimes had one of the chairs on the left-hand side of the balcony, but then it is in fornt of the door, so you have to have it quite far forward, right along the rail.

 

Our cabin steward, Philip, came and introduced himself and he was such a sweetie. He is just a really nice kid who would do anything to please.

 

We went to muster drill, which was quick and painless, around 3:45 and were underway around 4:00. Let me tell you, it was hot for this cold blooded Canadian standing out in the Florida afternoon sun. I was the one holding her life vest in front of her face to block the sun. LOL! Never fear, I did put it on for a couple of minutes when told to do so. We watched sail-away from our balcony. Beautiful!

 

 

That night we went to dinner in the dining room and met our tablemates. We ended up getting along so well with these people; lots of laughs and good times. Our dining room waiter was OK; didn’t even get his name the entire week. At times the service was a bit spotty. He seemed a little run off his feet and I wonder if they are short staffed? One night we even saw the Maitre D waiting tables.

 

OK, about “the grapes”. Obviously Joe Farcus does not believe in “Less is More”. Half as many grapes would have been plenty. It was like a “Fruit of the Loom” commercial gone bad. Lol! Actually it made an entertaining dinner topic the first night. “The Grapes of Wrath” anyone? Lol! Actually, as the week wore on you kind of got used to the grapes and they were less conspicuous. Thank goodness!

 

 

[Prairie_Gal]

November 14 – First Sea Day

 

We slept in a little then sat on our balcony with our coffee and later went to breakfast on the Lido. Then we went and soaked up some sun at the aft pool.

 

 

At 10:00 we had a Meet & Greet for our Roll Call and had a good turn out. I am very nervous meeting new people so almost bailed, but it was fun putting a face to a screen name.

 

We didn’t really do much else that day, which is what sea days are all about, IMHO.

 

That night was the Captain’s Reception and the first Elegant Night. We enjoy dressing up, so we rented a tux for DH and I wore a long gown. I was a little nervous that we would stick out now that Carnival has changed the dress code slightly, but what the heck, it’s our vacation, we’ll do what we want. As it turned out we didn’t stick out. Most people were dressed up very nicely.

 

November 15 – Second Sea Day and Nick & Nora’s

 

This day was spent relaxing some more, coffee on the balcony and just generally being lazy. Hey! We’re on vacation!

 

I think this was the day that DH entered the first blackjack tournament, but didn't make it to the finals.

 

That evening we had a reservation at Nick & Nora’s supper club for 7:00 (that I made online before leaving home.) The meal was excellent, but they feed you way too much! LOL! I had the filet mignon and DH had the 24 ounce porterhouse. We left feeling stuffed. If we were to go to the supper club again I would make sure we asked for a table on the main floor. There are two levels, and you have to go up some stairs to get to the second level. The musicians (who were quite good, BTW) were almost directly beneath us, so they were hard to see. There were many tables empty on the main floor, but they would not let us sit there. I suppose they have guests spread out around the restaurant to maximize the staff efficiency, but it still would have been nicer to be on the main floor and maybe get a dance or two in between courses.

[Prairie_Gal]

November 16 – Panama Canal Tour (Carnival Excursion)

 

Our excursion was very early in the morning. We had to meet in the Phantom Lounge at 7:00 a.m. (yikes!). There were a lot of people on this excursion. They got us all loaded up on busses and we were on our way.

 

Upon leaving the port area the first thing that struck me was the poverty. The city of Colon, at least in the area that we drove through, is very poor, and very dirty. It was much the same in the countryside that we drove through on the way to the canal. Lots of garbage laying about.

 

We had a very good tour guide. He talked a lot about his country, and gave us some good background information about the canal.

 

When we arrived at the canal, everyone from all the busses got aboard the ferry boat that would take us through the locks. We were very lucky that we didn’t have to wait for any other ships, and we could enter the canal as soon as we got there.

 

We went through three of the locks of the Panama Canal, and it was very interesting. You drop 30 feet in 8 minutes, which was a lot faster than I thought it would be.

 

 

You can get very close to the walls of the canal on this tour, even reach out and touch the sides if you want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this tour for anyone interested in history, or just seeing how one of the great engineering wonders of the world works. It really is amazing how they figured out how to transverse from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean in a matter of hours instead of days.

 

On the ferry a light lunch was served, and there was bottled water and soft drinks available all the time.

 

On the Pacific side we got back on the busses and were back to the port early enough to do some shopping, if you wanted. One word of caution. Because it was low tide when we arrived back at the dock on the Pacific side, the ferry was lower than the land. We had to go up a fairly steep ramp to get back up. It was fine for most people, but people in wheelchairs and with mobility problems had a hard time. The tour bus guides helped out, and everyone made it up, but I felt bad for some of the people.

 

We made it back early and there was time for shopping inside the gated port area. They had lots of beautiful applique crafts, and I wish I had bought more for gifts.

 

There was a lady with a monkey that you could get your picture taken with (for tips of course).

 

 

 

There were some musicians busking at the port.

 

 

We went to dinner in the dining room that evening (as we did every night except for N & N's), and I think we went to the evening show. We called it a night early due to our early start that morning, and another port the next day. BTW, the way we got up early on port days was to set a wake-up call on the phone (very easy) and also to pre-order coffee from room service to arrive at a certain time. It was a good back-up system.

[63Corvette]

Thanks for the pictures. We are also going on the canal excursion - looks like an interesting trip. In Costa Rica, we will go to the Sloth Sanctuary, and in Belize we have reserved snorkeling for me and a city tour for my Wife.

[Payd]

Hey Prairie Gal,

 

Enjoying your review so far. Tell me about the rental car code, how did you get that? We got a curve ball for our Freedom cruise. We are flying into Miami (flyaweigh program) and sailing out of FLL. We were told to expect an overnight in Miami but now we are overnighting in FLL - rantal cars are more than twice the price in FLL:eek:. Any help would be appreciated.

[NCTribeFan]

Do you have a link to your photos? Are there more of the cabin and balcony? I'll be in 4230 (not for another year, but it's never too early to get excited about another cruise).

 

I know exactly what you mean about the grapes.

 

That's my complaint with Farcus. It's the complete and total over-use of the items that he uses to set the theme.

 

SOME grapes would be sufficient. SOME little statue-thingies in the buffet. SOME little silver, pointy things in Frankie & Johnnies. SOME would get the point across and set the theme. So many is just a distraction.

 

Anyway, I totally agree.

 

No idea what I'll do as far as excursions go. I have to plan my Southern Caribbean ports first, then I can concentrate on the Miracle cruise.

 

Have been doing some reading, and am aware that Colon is an industrial port. One of our partners grew up in Panama and I plan on talking to her to get some ideas. Seems silly to go all that way and not see the canal, but I'd like to see more of the country and not just the locks. Going to look for independent excursions.

 

Keep it coming, please. Can never get enough reviews of the cruises I have planned. Even this far in advance, it just helps drive that anticipation.

[Prairie_Gal]

Hey Prairie Gal,

 

Enjoying your review so far. Tell me about the rental car code, how did you get that? We got a curve ball for our Freedom cruise. We are flying into Miami (flyaweigh program) and sailing out of FLL. We were told to expect an overnight in Miami but now we are overnighting in FLL - rantal cars are more than twice the price in FLL:eek:. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Hi fellow Albertan! :) I think the code was from the Orlando Visitor's Bureau, but I just tried it for a random day in January and it seems to be expired. I will keep my eyes out for you. Just a question. With Fly Aweigh don't they have to take care of all of your transportation? What date do you need the car?

 

Do you have a link to your photos? Are there more of the cabin and balcony? I'll be in 4230 (not for another year, but it's never too early to get excited about another cruise).

 

The rest of my photos are on webshots. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/568947789JsghXD There are a few more of the cabin and balcony, but there really isn't much to show.

[Prairie_Gal]

November 17 – Costa Rica A1 tour - Okey Dokey Tours

We booked the A1 tour with Okey Dokey Tours (www.okeydokeytours.com) that was a boat ride on the Tortuguera Canal to see wildlife, a tour of a banana plantation, and a stop at a fruit stand to sample fresh native fruits and lunch at a beach restaurant. Everything was as described, and we had no problems whatsoever. Our guide was Carlos, and he was very easy-going and talkative, and spoke very good English.

 

We first drove around town a bit, and then the van made a pit-stop and Carlos purchased beer, bottled water and Diet Pepsi which they had on ice in a cooler and it was available all day.

 

Our first stop was at the fruit stand. OMG! The fruit was so fresh and delicious. The pineapple was so sweet.

 

 

 

Then we drove out to the Del Monte banana plantation. I had no idea it took a year to grow a bunch of bananas. This is partly because when they harvest the bananas they cut down the tree and another one grows in it’s place.

 

They keep the bananas covered to protect them from bruising.

 

 

This is a picture of Carlos showing us the banana flower. Those little yellow things will grow into bananas.

 

 

 

 

 

At the plantation a man came over holding a three toed sloth that you could take pictures of and touch.

 

 

Then Carlos took us to the plant where they clean and box the bananas. It is thought to be a very good job to be able to work for Del Monte because of the steady income and hours.

 

[Prairie_Gal]

This guy is pulling the bananas in from the field.

 

 

 

Then it was on to the Tortugero Canal. We saw lots of birds, a two toed sloth (they are meaner according to Carlos),

 

 

and monkeys.

 

 

It was awesome seeing these animals in the wild. There was also a boy holding baby crocodile.

 

 

It was a good ride, but the canal was a bit dirty with some garbage floating around. I would think if they are using it as a tourist attraction they could keep it a bit cleaner.

[Prairie_Gal]

Then our driver took us to the restaurant on the beach where we were served beans and rice (cooked in coconut milk) and chicken that was fairly spicy. The meal was included in the price of the tour, but drinks and tip were extra.

 

 

 

 

There was a two-man calypso band playing, which was fun.

 

 

 

On the way back to the ship we stopped in town at a scenic lookout point.

 

 

Then Carlos was nice enough to accompany my DH to the Post Office to buy stamps and mail postcards back home, and then took everyone to the store to purchase whatever we wanted. We made it back to the ship with about 20 mins. to spare. We wouldn't have cut it so short if we hadn't got off to a late start waiting for passengers from the other ship.

 

It was a good tour, and we really enjoyed it.

[Prairie_Gal]

November 18 – Sea Day #3

 

The seas were rough this day. The boat was rocking quite a bit, plus it was rainy and overcast most of the day. We spent most of the day indoors. I mostly read and DH spent some time in the casino playing blackjack. I think this was the day of the second blackjack tournament and he made it into the final round, but did not win.

 

This was also the day of the past-guest party and the second Elegant night. Once again DH donned his tux, and I a long dress and we had fun playing dress-up. We got several pictures taken, and purchased some of them.

 

I think this was the night that “Ticket to Ride”, the Beatles tribute show was on. Very Good! Don’t miss it. I actually expected it to be cancelled because of the rough seas, but amazingly, they did it, and did a good job.

 

November 19 – Belize Altun Ha/River Wallace (Carnival Excursion)

 

We have never seen Mayan Ruins and this tour was excellent. That is one reason why I like cruising so much. I think of it as like being at an all-inclusive resort except the resort moves and takes you to wonderful places around the world that I would otherwise probably never see.

 

Our tour started out with a boat ride down the River Wallace.

 

 

 

 

 

Our guide told us a lot about her country, and the river wildlife, etc. I didn’t know that Belize used to be a British colony and that it was called British Honduras. Their currency looks a lot like our Canadian currency.

 

On the boat ride we saw a dolphin, crocodiles,

 

 

 

iguanas,

 

 

bats, birds and howler monkeys. The monkeys were really cool. There were two bigger ones and a baby, and they were some upset that we were that close to the baby. Man can they howl!

 

At the changeover point we stopped at a small restaurant where you could purchase food, but seeing as it was only 10:30 we weren’t ready for lunch yet. In retrospect we should have taken a snack with us because by the time we got back to the ship later that afternoon we were really hungry. We had to wait about an hour for the bus to get there and go to the ruins, which kind of sucked, but what can you do?

 

They had some monkeys in a cage there.

[Prairie_Gal]

So, eventually the bus arrived and trekked us down the narrowest, bumpiest road you can imagine to Altun Ha. The road is really only wide enough for one vehicle, so when an oncoming vehicle comes along the smaller vehicle has to pull off to the side. This is fine until a big bus, the same size as you are comes along. Then both busses kind of pull to the right, but keep going. Scary!

 

Anyway, the ruins were great. Definitely something you should see once in your lifetime. Amazing to think they were built around 300 B.C. Altun Ha is a smaller ruins site, and maybe someday we will have a chance to go to one of the larger ones.

 

 

 

 

November 20 – Yet another Sea Day

 

More of the same: doing nothing, and enjoying the heck out of it. Hey! We are good at this! Actually, we did laundry and packed. DH went to the debarkation talk. Oh yah, busy schedule.

 

Random notes:

 

The band “Music Unlimited” in Frankie and Johnny’s is very good. We went there a couple of nights to listen to them and dance. They were also in “Ticket to Ride”.

 

We thought the food was very good. There was only one dish that I didn't really think was that great, the sweet and sour shrimp. I still think about the delicious Bitter & Blanc. We also had the sandwiches from the deli a couple of times, and they were very good, as were the burgers from the grill.

 

 

November 20 – Disembarkation and one more Adventure

 

We decided to take a side trip to New York before heading home.

 

We stayed on the ship until they kicked us off around 10:00 a.m. Then we spent the rest of the day at the Sleep Inn. Nothing special, but adequate hotel. The next day we left to go to New York for three days, which was cool as we had never been there. We took in a couple of shows and did some site-seeing.

 

Well, all good things must come to an end. Our vacation is over. We are back home in Canada. No one is cooking for us, or cleaning for us, or making our bed or leaving us mints and towel animals. It sucks! Lol!

 

 

The End!

[Payd]

Hi fellow Albertan! :) I think the code was from the Orlando Visitor's Bureau, but I just tried it for a random day in January and it seems to be expired. I will keep my eyes out for you. Just a question. With Fly Aweigh don't they have to take care of all of your transportation? What date do you need the car?

 

 

 

The rest of my photos are on webshots. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/568947789JsghXD There are a few more of the cabin and balcony, but there really isn't much to show.

 

Hello to you fellow Albertan - is Calgary home for you?

 

Anyway, about the car. We arrive in Miami before 1pm on the 2nd of Jan and apparently we will be transfered to FLL that day and are staying at the Hilton FLL Airport. We planned to rent a car so that we can run a few errands (wine and baileys), see a few sights and go out for dinner. It just seemed like if we could get a deal on a car it would be way less than cab fares. We would then return the car either late at night on the 2nd or first thing on the 3rd before our transfer to the ship. You are right though Carnival does take care of transfers.

 

Thanks again for the review and all the photos!

 

Payd

[Payd]

Those web shots photos are awesome!

 

We spent a week near FLL during March break and it looks like we took the same inland waterway tour. Aren't those homes amazing...and the yachts.

 

The New York Photos were great too.

 

You must be retired to be able to take such an extended vacation?

[mamasue]

Excellent review, Prairie Gal...Great pics.... thanks for posting !! :)

[kyrisong1]

Awesome review thanks!!! We also used Okey Dokey when we went to Costa Rica, we also had Carlos and he was a HOOT, very funny, nice and entertaining. We took the plantation tour as well as the zip line, very fun stuff. Got me pumped to go again!!! Thanks!

Carole

[pandaruth27]

hi

how did you get the pictures in your review? I am trying to do my review with pictures and i can not seem to get them on there. it was nice to meet you and your husband and i hope Tim and I can cruise again with you two again. i am glad that you made it home safely i would love to go to New York. well our next adventure will be in May on the Valor on the 10th for seven days western caribbean another trip to Belize and doing cave tubing again. Well if i do not talk to you soon have a happy safe holiday. my email address is unicornwriter24@yahoo.com

 

Pam

[Prairie_Gal]

Pam, I put my photos on Webshots and then it is very easy.

 

Just click on the photo you want, so it is the only one on the screen.

 

Scroll down until you see "Link to this pic" on the right.

 

You can post different size pictures, so click on what size you want. Most of mine were 500 pixels.

 

Where it says "Post in a forum" double click on that so that all the code is highlighted. Right click and Copy.

 

Go to your message in Cruise Critic (it really helps to have two browser windows open) and right click and Paste. At first it will just show the code, so hit Preview Post and your picture should show up.

 

Hope that helps! :)

 

PS: You can only post 6 pictures on each message.

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks so much for the review and pics. I will give serious consideration to doing those excursions.

 

We were in Belize in May and went tubing with Major Tom, which was great, so I thought about going to Altun Ha next time. One of our fellow Miracle cruisers was also on Glory recently and she did the excursion with an independent group (which I usually do also), and they only got the last tender back, which was supposed to just be taking the last few Carnival crew members back! :eek:

 

So maybe I'll take a Carnival excursion if I go to the ruins!

 

I used to work for a company in Atlanta that put together conveyor systems for DelMonte and Dole for plants in Costa Rica, Panama, and other Central American countries. It would be nice to see some of those overhead conveyors in action!

 

I'm not into monkeys (really dislike them, actually), but would like to see the rest of that tour.

 

Question: do you buy fruit at the fruit stand and eat it on the tour? I wouldn't think it would be allowed to be brought back on the ship. I know I've read reviews of Cosol's tour on St Lucia where they also stop at a stand and people taste various local fruit. Do you pay for it, or tip the folks who own it? Otherwise, I don't see how the locals make any money from the stop (unless the tour operator gives them a cut of their fee).

 

Glad to hear the food was good. Miracle was the first time ever that I had a couple of really bad meals. The strip steak was totally inedible. Tough and overcooked. Tried again on Glory and it wasn't quite as bad, but I ended up ordering a 2nd entree.

 

Again, thanks for the review.

[streaks23]

Thank you for your great review. We'll be on the same ship/itinerary Dec. 15 - can't wait.

Thank you, again!

[sjcruiser]

Great Review. I went to Altun Ha in August and had a great time, along with holding an alligator one of the local youths had.

[cruiseapril]

Great photo review. Enjoyed the animal and banana photos alot.

[thecripcruiser]

That was an awesome review. Thanks so much for posting.