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Just sailed on Carnival Miracle out of Tampa...

pcrutch

By pcrutch,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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pcrutch

pcrutch

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Wow!

 

That about sums up our cruise on the Carnival Miracle from Tampa last week. This was the 8 day to the western caribbean. The ship was beautiful and I actually liked the decor in the Bacchus dining room (after a few days getting used to it).

 

I can't tell you how helpful the tips we received on this site were. We tried not to overpack, we took a 24" bungee cord and it worked perfectly to prop the balcony door open. No one out of the four in our group got seasick so we wasted our money on dramamine. ;) But, better safe than sorry.

 

The night before our cruise, we stayed in Tampa at the Holida Inn Express on N. Mabry by Raymond James Stadium (another recommendation from Cruise Critic Site). The total for the room plus gated parking for the week and shuttle was $85.00. Our shuttle driver dropped us off at the port and told us where to be when he came back the next Sunday. He was friendly and made the getting on and off process very smooth!

 

I would love to give you all the details, but time does not allow now. Here was our staff...

 

Cruise Director - Mark Hawkins

 

Mark spent years at sea as a comedian for Carnival and was very funny. He made the boring informative sessions very entertaining. We loved Mark!

 

Asst. Cruise Director - Karl with a K

 

From England, Karl was dynamite all week. Make him say dog.

 

Super Shopper - Lacy

Conseirge - Omar

Art Auction Guys - Gavin & Trent

Waiters - Fabian & Rosul (We were in tears by the time we had said goodby to our waiters...they were excellent.)

 

Our ports were great. We did major shopping in Grand Cayman and Costa Maya. Beautiful Tanzanite and don't forget the Tortuga in Cayman. Sample the rum cake, it is delicious. In Cozumel, we went to Chakanaab. My wife got to swim with Tritan the dolphin, and came out of the water crying. It was a lifelong dream for her. The park is beautiful and the waters are so blue and crystal clear. We also enjoyed a complimentary sea lion show that was very entertaining. Go to Chakannab if you get the chance. The cab ride was about $2.50 per person for four of us. It was $12 to get in the park. Trust me, it's worth the money. Belieze is good if you are a snorkel fan. Don't plan on doing much unless you are doing a shore excursion. We spent a little time shopping in the market, but it is a 45 minute ride if you want to find a beach in Belize.

 

That's all for now. We plan on taking another cruise with Carnival in the near future, as this was our first.

 

Paul C

*****, SC USA

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pcrutch

pcrutch

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We did save all of our capers and also the excursion sheets, but I am at work and do not have them here. I will need to get them scanned, but I don't recall seeing the cycling tour in Belieze on our list.

 

You will love your cruise on the Miracle!

 

Just a couple more tips I would offer.

 

Per these boards, we immediately went to the purser's desk and got free playing cards and large post cards with the Miracle pictured on it. We could get as many post cards as we needed. The Pursers desk has stamps for each country that you visit, but we couldn't get them on the first day. The Mail slot for your postcards is near the Pursers desk. The hardback books in the rooms on the Miracle are not complimentary...just FYI!

 

Our room was great. Our steward really took care of us keeping things neat and giving us daily surprises of folded towel animals and mints on our pillow morning and night. They even fold your toilet paper into a neat little point to let you know they didn't forget the bathroom. The first three channels up on your TV are pretty cool. The first is a GPS map of where the ship is at all times. It also has the speed of the boat and the windspeed. The second channel up is a camera overlooking the front of the boat out into the water and the third channel looks at the back. I thought those were pretty cool, although we didn't spend much time watching television.

 

Although our departure time was 4pm, we were able to enter the port terminal at around 12pm. We were on-board the ship by 1pm eating at Horatio's. There were a couple of long lines in the boarding process, but not near as long as it would have been had we waited later. Also, if you will carry your own luggage off the ship (instead of letting your steward take it on Saturday night), you should be off the ship no later than 8 or 8:30am on Sunday. We were back to our hotel and in our Ford headed out of Tampa by 9:30am.

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  • 2 weeks later...
tankersbabe

tankersbabe

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I have a question regarding the hotel...

 

You said it was Gated parking and shuttle...my husband is being a pain about leaving his vehicle at the hotel rather than parking it for the exorbitant fare of $10 per day at the port. I would rather grab a shuttle, leave the truck at the hotel, and go to the port, then pick the shuttle back up when we get back, go back and get the truck, and head home.

 

Thanks for any info!

 

Stef

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ParrotHeadFL

ParrotHeadFL

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Can anyone tell me what deck do you enter on the Miracle?

I want to go to the excursion desk as soon as I get on the ship.

 

 

Promenade deck--same as the excursion desk. The excursion desk will be directly in front of you as you board.

 

http://leisure.travelocity.com/Vacations/Cruise/Ship/DeckPlans/0,2443,TRAVELOCITY_182_1317_,00.html

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Katlan

Katlan

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You can book your excursions on your cabin tv. :)
Which way is faster to book an excursion that may fill-up quickly? :confused: Even if we among the early arrivals, we're not supposed to go to the cabin for a while (although, we do sneak up a little earlier :rolleyes: ). So would it be better to go straight to the excursion desk? or take the chance with the TV? I am assuming that both are available as soon as boarding starts - but are they both accessible ASAP ?
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pcrutch

pcrutch

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Stef,

 

Yes, the Holiday Inn Express Stadium is where we stayed. It is across from Raymond James Stadium on N. Mabry. I found it listed in one of these boards and called two days before we left. The rooms were clean and the staff was very helpful. They close the gates on the parking area at night and where you park is very near the lobby. We felt no pain leaving the car there for a week. Our shuttle driver was very friendly and professional and I highly recommend paying the same for a room, shuttle and parking as you would just for parking at the port. BTW, the ride from the hotel to the port was less than 10 minutes and the driver drops you off exactly where your luggage needs to be picked up by the Carnival.

 

Paul

 

A couple more tips....

 

Don't go crazy packing/buying a bunch of bathroom stuff. Carnival had a COMPLIMENTARY bathroom basket complete with tums, toothpaste, hair gel, a nice floss brush thingy, and various other bathroom items waiting in our cabin bath.

 

We packed a 12 pack of Diet and Cherry coke in a small carry on type bag. We stored them in a cabinet in our state room (since the refrigerator was stocked) and then drank them when we craved a bit of caffeine. The extra bag was handy when we left to carry off our souveneirs.

 

Enjoy the broadway shows and get their early for a good seat. They are worth the time. One thing you may want to do, as the Phantom theatre is so far at the front, is to sit in the middle section (facing the front of the stage) if you are at all prone to seasickness. The first night, we sat on the side and we felt the tossing motion forward and backward. That was the only time the entire week I felt sick at all. On Monday night, we sat in the middle and it was more a side to side and it didn't bother me at all. We chose to sit there for the rest of the week, including front row seats for the Beatle's tribute show (which was fantastic)!

 

Ask Karl with a K (Asst. Cruise Director) to say the word "dog". His British accent aside, he will do his best to imitate your dialect and it was quite funny. We still are imitating him three weeks later!

 

That's all for now...

 

Paul C

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IBEEMOM

IBEEMOM

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Hi Paul, Thanks for the review. I am wondering if you know if Carnival offers a tour to Chitzen Itza while in Cozumel? I have heard conflicting reports about this tour. It is listed on Carnival home page when you ask for tours from the Miracle. Others have said it is not. I wonder if you could clear this up. I know it is a very long tour, but certainly would like to take it. Thanks for your help.

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serene56

serene56

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Marty: You can call Carnival and ask them to fax you the shore excursions for the Miracle. We are sailing on that ship in February and I requested the excursion list- Chicken itches is not listed on there. Its a 9 hour excursion and only in port for 8 hours. How about TUlum>??

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