Carnival Miracle 7-17-04 Review 7 Days New York to Bahamas

Jean O'Boyle wrote:

The Radiance is probably the most beautiful ship we
have been on and is Ed's favorite..The Rhapsody was close behind..

Both Eileen and I think that RCCL has the prettiest ships of ANY cruise
line.

Howie

Eileen
I hope you are`feeling better, rotton not be be well when cruising.
Howie, nice review and one comment that you made has also been haunting me.

Our spacious and well appointed cabin was rather boring. In fact,
except for some different wall art, the cabin was identical in every
respect (colors, carpet, fabric) to the cabins we have had on our 7
former cruises on the Spirit and Legend.

I am looking into our 2005 family cruise and feel the same way "boring"
cabins that look the same. I don't get it. If cruise lines want repeat
business then they should make each ship different right down to the color
schemes that they use in there cabins. Carnival and RCCL are the worst for
this.

Glad your cruise and food was good and Eileen is better
Mike Quint


"Howie" wrote in message
...
This was our 46th cruise, 18th on Carnival, and 5th cruise since Jan
2004. It was our first cruise out of New York City.

We traveled by car from Delaware to the Port of New York without a hitch
until turning onto 12th Avenue in Manhattan, heading north. Traffic on
12th Ave. was at a near standstill and it took about 20 minutes to
travel the 13 blocks from 42nd to 55th street. When we arrived at 55th,
we were very disappointed to see that the entrance to the port was
blocked off, causing us to continue on for several blocks and take the
alternative route to the port. I dropped Eileen at the terminal,
secured a wheelchair for her (she was not feeling well), and left her
with the luggage while I went to park. Parking was easy and convenient.
Upon returning to the terminal, Carnival provided an escort to the
ship, making embarkation very easy (which it was not for most of the
other 2600 pax who were boarding the ship). Eileen has required a
wheelchair for a number of different embarkations over the past couple
of years, and Carnival is about as good as it gets in providing
embarkation assistance for passengers with restricted mobility.

We had booked a balcony guarantee for this cruise, and were pleased to
find that the cabin we had been assigned to was on the upper deck, not
far from the aft elevators. This is a convenient location for access to
the main dining room, lido restaurant, aft pool area, cigar bar - where
nightly jazz is played, and the disco.

Our spacious and well appointed cabin was rather boring. In fact,
except for some different wall art, the cabin was identical in every
respect (colors, carpet, fabric) to the cabins we have had on our 7
former cruises on the Spirit and Legend. Using the same colors and
fabric on all ships of the same class may save the cruise line some
money, but creates a very tedious experience for repeat passengers. In
fact, I remember feeling the same way when we stepped into our suite on
the RCCL Serenade last August. It was identical in every respect to the
suite that we had on the Brilliance one year earlier.

The Miracle, of course, was identical in layout to all of the other
Spirit Class ships. Although the decor and color scheme were different,
it was still vintage Farcus. There were some interesting spaces and
flashy rooms, like Frankie and Johnny's rock and roll club; but for the
most part, I have to admit that I've grown tired of Farcus decor and the
cacophony of color, shape, and texture with which it assaults the senses.

The ship was packed with 2600 passengers, including hundreds of
children, teens, young adults, middle aged, and older folks. I like
kids, but I certainly would not recommend summer cruising to southern
ports for those who don't. I would also not recommend cruising at this
time of the year to singles in their 20's to 40's, as most of the
passengers were traveling in families. The good news, was that despite
the very large crowd, the ship did not feel crowded. Missing however,
was any hint of the more sophisticated atmosphere that exists on Spirit
Class ships sailing to the Caribbean for 8 days in the winter, with only
1900 passengers aboard.

Because Eileen was ill, I went to muster alone on the promenade. This
was definitely the smoothest muster that I have attended. Perhaps it
was the special traffic skills of a New York crowd that made the
difference. All I know is that there were absolutely no bottlenecks
getting to or from muster.

The ship sailed promptly at 4:00 PM. The weather was lovely, and it was
a real thrill sailing from New York for the first time. Sailing on the
Voyager from Bayonne last month (which was incredibly convenient) just
doesn't cut it when compared to sailing out of Manhattan.

For six out of the next 7 days, the weather was awful (overcast and/or
rainy) and Eileen was ill. This bad turn of events gave me a
considerable amount of time to sit back and observe many details about
the ship and the cruise.

Here are my observations:

Our assignment to an early seating was an immediate stimulus to visit
the Maitre d immediately after getting Eileen to the cabin. Much to my
delight, the Maitre d was Omur from Turkey, whom I already knew from
four earlier sailings on the Legend. Omur is the youngest Maitre d on
any Carnival Ship. He is 31, single, and from Turkey. He began working
for Carnival as an assistant waiter 10 years ago. Despite very heavy
demand for the late seating (surprisingly even among those traveling
with young children), Omur skillfully moved us to a late seating table
with five singles ranging in age from 23 to 41. Even though Eileen only
made it to dinner three times during the cruise, she very much enjoyed
our table mates. I went to dinner every night; and my great table
companions made these two hours very special every evening.

In earlier reviews of the Spirit and Legend, I have raved about the
food. I didn't think it was possible, but the food was even better on
the Miracle. First, let me talk about some innovations on this ship.

Carnival has introduced a sushi bar on the forward section of deck two.
Although it is hard to believe, the sushi that I had on this ship
rivals the best I have had anywhere. Tuna and salmon were incredibly
fresh and tasty. The California roll was fantastic.

In addition to the gourmet coffee and pastry bar on deck two. The
Miracle also serves gourmet coffee in the Lido (for a price). Speaking
of coffee, the regular coffee on this ship was the best that I've had on
any ship.

Another innovation introduced in the lido restaurant is the presence of
servers bringing hot coffee, tea, and other drinks around to the tables.
Of course there are still numerous self-serve coffee stations in the
Lido. In fact, Carnival so excels at food service that during busy
hours, extra urns of coffee are provided so that they never run out. In
contrast to this, the Zuiderdam has only two coffee stations on its
Lido. During our first cruise on the ship, one of these was broken and
they were constantly running out of coffee.

A welcome innovation on this ship was the total absence of "baked Alaska
on parade" in the dining room. There was also a total absence of
waiters singing anything. Instead, there was a floor show with the
waiters dancing to some good contemporary music.

One of the most successful food stations on Spirit class Lido
restaurants is their deli, with New York corned beef, pastrami, roast
turkey, etc. Sandwiches are available on baguette, rye, and an
assortment of different breads. On the Miracle, they have also
introduced wonderful wrap sandwich. Unlike the typical soft wraps that
you get in restaurants, Carnival grills their wraps before adding
filling. This imparts a wonderful crispness that is hard to describe.

Some of the especially well prepared and delicious culinary delights
that I enjoyed on this cruise in the Lido and/or dining room included:

Cream of escargot soup, flavored with truffle.
Thick filet minion with gorgonzola butter.
Gazpacho (sp?)
Japanese sesame salmon
Traditional Escargot
Lobster Tails
Chateaubriand with bernaise
Vichyssoise

Although I have raved about food on Carnival Spirit Class ships, I have
never raved about desserts before. To Eileen and I, dessert means
chocolate; not just any chocolate, but dark, rich, bittersweet
chocolate. This is something that Carnival did not do well with in our
past experience. Boy have they turned things around. The first night in
the dining room, I had what is probably the most delicious dessert I
have ever had on a ship. It consisted of very dark chocolate ganache,
laced with almonds, and surrounded with a crisp, oven baked, heavily
buttered phyllo dough. Other chocolate sensations in the dining room
and on the Lido included flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffle
cake (without the cake), and chocolate chestnut Napoleon.

Wow, with all the time I've devoted to food in this review, one might
think that I gained a pound or two. Nope, actually dropped three
pounds, thanks to the wonderful gym that can be found on all Spirit
class ships. Eileen slept a lot on the cruise, this combined with the
lousy weather, was all the motivation that I needed to spend a lot of
time lifting and doing cardio. Although I have had good things to say
about the gym on these ships before, I never really noticed until this
cruise what a beautiful space the gym occupies. It is a very bright,
two story space, that may be the prettiest space on the ship. No wonder
I spend so much time there.

We didn't get to any production shows on this ship, so I can't comment.
I can comment on the music, however, and it was great. I especially
enjoyed the jazz trio that played in the cigar bar, and a rock cover
band that actually did a hell of job with "Stairway to Heaven."

As usually, I am running out of steam with this review, but I did want
to comment about my observations on tips provided by a New York group of
passengers. On this particular cruise, $10/day was added to your
account to cover tips for the waiter/asst waiter/cabin steward. These
could be easily adjusted with a call to the purser's office. For those
of you who don't already know this, New Yorkers are used to tipping for
everything, and they are generous tippers. At my dinner table, each of
the five other singles tipped cash, in addition to the automatic
charges. I gave Omur (the maitre d) $20. However, when I noticed that
each of the five single at my table handed him $25, I felt really cheap.
My guess is that the cruising staff must really love sailing from
New York.

With Eileen not feeling well, I can't say I had a great time on this
cruise. However, I can highly recommend this ship to folks that enjoy
fabulous dining, great music, wonderful service, and a party atmosphere.
To all but families traveling with children, I recommend that you sail
in late fall, winter, or spring, rather than during the summer.

Howie - who is definitely not cruising for at least six months.

Eileen
I hope you are`feeling better, rotton not be be well when cruising.
Howie, nice review and one comment that you made has also been haunting me.

Our spacious and well appointed cabin was rather boring. In fact,
except for some different wall art, the cabin was identical in every
respect (colors, carpet, fabric) to the cabins we have had on our 7
former cruises on the Spirit and Legend.

I am looking into our 2005 family cruise and feel the same way "boring"
cabins that look the same. I don't get it. If cruise lines want repeat
business then they should make each ship different right down to the color
schemes that they use in there cabins. Carnival and RCCL are the worst for
this.

Glad your cruise and food was good and Eileen is better
Mike Quint


"Howie" wrote in message
...
This was our 46th cruise, 18th on Carnival, and 5th cruise since Jan
2004. It was our first cruise out of New York City.

We traveled by car from Delaware to the Port of New York without a hitch
until turning onto 12th Avenue in Manhattan, heading north. Traffic on
12th Ave. was at a near standstill and it took about 20 minutes to
travel the 13 blocks from 42nd to 55th street. When we arrived at 55th,
we were very disappointed to see that the entrance to the port was
blocked off, causing us to continue on for several blocks and take the
alternative route to the port. I dropped Eileen at the terminal,
secured a wheelchair for her (she was not feeling well), and left her
with the luggage while I went to park. Parking was easy and convenient.
Upon returning to the terminal, Carnival provided an escort to the
ship, making embarkation very easy (which it was not for most of the
other 2600 pax who were boarding the ship). Eileen has required a
wheelchair for a number of different embarkations over the past couple
of years, and Carnival is about as good as it gets in providing
embarkation assistance for passengers with restricted mobility.

We had booked a balcony guarantee for this cruise, and were pleased to
find that the cabin we had been assigned to was on the upper deck, not
far from the aft elevators. This is a convenient location for access to
the main dining room, lido restaurant, aft pool area, cigar bar - where
nightly jazz is played, and the disco.

Our spacious and well appointed cabin was rather boring. In fact,
except for some different wall art, the cabin was identical in every
respect (colors, carpet, fabric) to the cabins we have had on our 7
former cruises on the Spirit and Legend. Using the same colors and
fabric on all ships of the same class may save the cruise line some
money, but creates a very tedious experience for repeat passengers. In
fact, I remember feeling the same way when we stepped into our suite on
the RCCL Serenade last August. It was identical in every respect to the
suite that we had on the Brilliance one year earlier.

The Miracle, of course, was identical in layout to all of the other
Spirit Class ships. Although the decor and color scheme were different,
it was still vintage Farcus. There were some interesting spaces and
flashy rooms, like Frankie and Johnny's rock and roll club; but for the
most part, I have to admit that I've grown tired of Farcus decor and the
cacophony of color, shape, and texture with which it assaults the senses.

The ship was packed with 2600 passengers, including hundreds of
children, teens, young adults, middle aged, and older folks. I like
kids, but I certainly would not recommend summer cruising to southern
ports for those who don't. I would also not recommend cruising at this
time of the year to singles in their 20's to 40's, as most of the
passengers were traveling in families. The good news, was that despite
the very large crowd, the ship did not feel crowded. Missing however,
was any hint of the more sophisticated atmosphere that exists on Spirit
Class ships sailing to the Caribbean for 8 days in the winter, with only
1900 passengers aboard.

Because Eileen was ill, I went to muster alone on the promenade. This
was definitely the smoothest muster that I have attended. Perhaps it
was the special traffic skills of a New York crowd that made the
difference. All I know is that there were absolutely no bottlenecks
getting to or from muster.

The ship sailed promptly at 4:00 PM. The weather was lovely, and it was
a real thrill sailing from New York for the first time. Sailing on the
Voyager from Bayonne last month (which was incredibly convenient) just
doesn't cut it when compared to sailing out of Manhattan.

For six out of the next 7 days, the weather was awful (overcast and/or
rainy) and Eileen was ill. This bad turn of events gave me a
considerable amount of time to sit back and observe many details about
the ship and the cruise.

Here are my observations:

Our assignment to an early seating was an immediate stimulus to visit
the Maitre d immediately after getting Eileen to the cabin. Much to my
delight, the Maitre d was Omur from Turkey, whom I already knew from
four earlier sailings on the Legend. Omur is the youngest Maitre d on
any Carnival Ship. He is 31, single, and from Turkey. He began working
for Carnival as an assistant waiter 10 years ago. Despite very heavy
demand for the late seating (surprisingly even among those traveling
with young children), Omur skillfully moved us to a late seating table
with five singles ranging in age from 23 to 41. Even though Eileen only
made it to dinner three times during the cruise, she very much enjoyed
our table mates. I went to dinner every night; and my great table
companions made these two hours very special every evening.

In earlier reviews of the Spirit and Legend, I have raved about the
food. I didn't think it was possible, but the food was even better on
the Miracle. First, let me talk about some innovations on this ship.

Carnival has introduced a sushi bar on the forward section of deck two.
Although it is hard to believe, the sushi that I had on this ship
rivals the best I have had anywhere. Tuna and salmon were incredibly
fresh and tasty. The California roll was fantastic.

In addition to the gourmet coffee and pastry bar on deck two. The
Miracle also serves gourmet coffee in the Lido (for a price). Speaking
of coffee, the regular coffee on this ship was the best that I've had on
any ship.

Another innovation introduced in the lido restaurant is the presence of
servers bringing hot coffee, tea, and other drinks around to the tables.
Of course there are still numerous self-serve coffee stations in the
Lido. In fact, Carnival so excels at food service that during busy
hours, extra urns of coffee are provided so that they never run out. In
contrast to this, the Zuiderdam has only two coffee stations on its
Lido. During our first cruise on the ship, one of these was broken and
they were constantly running out of coffee.

A welcome innovation on this ship was the total absence of "baked Alaska
on parade" in the dining room. There was also a total absence of
waiters singing anything. Instead, there was a floor show with the
waiters dancing to some good contemporary music.

One of the most successful food stations on Spirit class Lido
restaurants is their deli, with New York corned beef, pastrami, roast
turkey, etc. Sandwiches are available on baguette, rye, and an
assortment of different breads. On the Miracle, they have also
introduced wonderful wrap sandwich. Unlike the typical soft wraps that
you get in restaurants, Carnival grills their wraps before adding
filling. This imparts a wonderful crispness that is hard to describe.

Some of the especially well prepared and delicious culinary delights
that I enjoyed on this cruise in the Lido and/or dining room included:

Cream of escargot soup, flavored with truffle.
Thick filet minion with gorgonzola butter.
Gazpacho (sp?)
Japanese sesame salmon
Traditional Escargot
Lobster Tails
Chateaubriand with bernaise
Vichyssoise

Although I have raved about food on Carnival Spirit Class ships, I have
never raved about desserts before. To Eileen and I, dessert means
chocolate; not just any chocolate, but dark, rich, bittersweet
chocolate. This is something that Carnival did not do well with in our
past experience. Boy have they turned things around. The first night in
the dining room, I had what is probably the most delicious dessert I
have ever had on a ship. It consisted of very dark chocolate ganache,
laced with almonds, and surrounded with a crisp, oven baked, heavily
buttered phyllo dough. Other chocolate sensations in the dining room
and on the Lido included flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffle
cake (without the cake), and chocolate chestnut Napoleon.

Wow, with all the time I've devoted to food in this review, one might
think that I gained a pound or two. Nope, actually dropped three
pounds, thanks to the wonderful gym that can be found on all Spirit
class ships. Eileen slept a lot on the cruise, this combined with the
lousy weather, was all the motivation that I needed to spend a lot of
time lifting and doing cardio. Although I have had good things to say
about the gym on these ships before, I never really noticed until this
cruise what a beautiful space the gym occupies. It is a very bright,
two story space, that may be the prettiest space on the ship. No wonder
I spend so much time there.

We didn't get to any production shows on this ship, so I can't comment.
I can comment on the music, however, and it was great. I especially
enjoyed the jazz trio that played in the cigar bar, and a rock cover
band that actually did a hell of job with "Stairway to Heaven."

As usually, I am running out of steam with this review, but I did want
to comment about my observations on tips provided by a New York group of
passengers. On this particular cruise, $10/day was added to your
account to cover tips for the waiter/asst waiter/cabin steward. These
could be easily adjusted with a call to the purser's office. For those
of you who don't already know this, New Yorkers are used to tipping for
everything, and they are generous tippers. At my dinner table, each of
the five other singles tipped cash, in addition to the automatic
charges. I gave Omur (the maitre d) $20. However, when I noticed that
each of the five single at my table handed him $25, I felt really cheap.
My guess is that the cruising staff must really love sailing from
New York.

With Eileen not feeling well, I can't say I had a great time on this
cruise. However, I can highly recommend this ship to folks that enjoy
fabulous dining, great music, wonderful service, and a party atmosphere.
To all but families traveling with children, I recommend that you sail
in late fall, winter, or spring, rather than during the summer.

Howie - who is definitely not cruising for at least six months.

Mike Quint wrote:


Howie, nice review and one comment that you made has also been haunting me.

Our spacious and well appointed cabin was rather boring. In fact,

except for some different wall art, the cabin was identical in every
respect (colors, carpet, fabric) to the cabins we have had on our 7
former cruises on the Spirit and Legend.


I am looking into our 2005 family cruise and feel the same way "boring"
cabins that look the same. I don't get it. If cruise lines want repeat
business then they should make each ship different right down to the color
schemes that they use in there cabins. Carnival and RCCL are the worst for
this.

They sure are.

I've really never been sure that Carnival is very interested in repeat
business. I say this because they do less for repeat passengers than
any other cruise line. Nevertheless, their ships are always full, and
upgrages on board have been an impossibility for years. I think they
are more interested in Newbies who can be frightened into taking their
tours and buying at their recommended shops.

RCCL, on the other hand, does all sorts of things for repeaters; but
changing cabin decor does not seem to be one of them.

Howie

Mike Quint wrote:


Howie, nice review and one comment that you made has also been haunting me.

Our spacious and well appointed cabin was rather boring. In fact,

except for some different wall art, the cabin was identical in every
respect (colors, carpet, fabric) to the cabins we have had on our 7
former cruises on the Spirit and Legend.


I am looking into our 2005 family cruise and feel the same way "boring"
cabins that look the same. I don't get it. If cruise lines want repeat
business then they should make each ship different right down to the color
schemes that they use in there cabins. Carnival and RCCL are the worst for
this.

They sure are.

I've really never been sure that Carnival is very interested in repeat
business. I say this because they do less for repeat passengers than
any other cruise line. Nevertheless, their ships are always full, and
upgrages on board have been an impossibility for years. I think they
are more interested in Newbies who can be frightened into taking their
tours and buying at their recommended shops.

RCCL, on the other hand, does all sorts of things for repeaters; but
changing cabin decor does not seem to be one of them.

Howie

Please email me about this review.
Thanks,
Mary

Howie wrote:
This was our 46th cruise, 18th on Carnival, and 5th cruise since Jan
2004. It was our first cruise out of New York City.

We traveled by car from Delaware to the Port of New York without a hitch
until turning onto 12th Avenue in Manhattan, heading north. Traffic on
12th Ave. was at a near standstill and it took about 20 minutes to
travel the 13 blocks from 42nd to 55th street. When we arrived at 55th,
we were very disappointed to see that the entrance to the port was
blocked off, causing us to continue on for several blocks and take the
alternative route to the port. I dropped Eileen at the terminal,
secured a wheelchair for her (she was not feeling well), and left her
with the luggage while I went to park. Parking was easy and convenient.
Upon returning to the terminal, Carnival provided an escort to the
ship, making embarkation very easy (which it was not for most of the
other 2600 pax who were boarding the ship). Eileen has required a
wheelchair for a number of different embarkations over the past couple
of years, and Carnival is about as good as it gets in providing
embarkation assistance for passengers with restricted mobility.

We had booked a balcony guarantee for this cruise, and were pleased to
find that the cabin we had been assigned to was on the upper deck, not
far from the aft elevators. This is a convenient location for access to
the main dining room, lido restaurant, aft pool area, cigar bar - where
nightly jazz is played, and the disco.

Our spacious and well appointed cabin was rather boring. In fact,
except for some different wall art, the cabin was identical in every
respect (colors, carpet, fabric) to the cabins we have had on our 7
former cruises on the Spirit and Legend. Using the same colors and
fabric on all ships of the same class may save the cruise line some
money, but creates a very tedious experience for repeat passengers. In
fact, I remember feeling the same way when we stepped into our suite on
the RCCL Serenade last August. It was identical in every respect to the
suite that we had on the Brilliance one year earlier.

The Miracle, of course, was identical in layout to all of the other
Spirit Class ships. Although the decor and color scheme were different,
it was still vintage Farcus. There were some interesting spaces and
flashy rooms, like Frankie and Johnny's rock and roll club; but for the
most part, I have to admit that I've grown tired of Farcus decor and the
cacophony of color, shape, and texture with which it assaults the senses.

The ship was packed with 2600 passengers, including hundreds of
children, teens, young adults, middle aged, and older folks. I like
kids, but I certainly would not recommend summer cruising to southern
ports for those who don't. I would also not recommend cruising at this
time of the year to singles in their 20's to 40's, as most of the
passengers were traveling in families. The good news, was that despite
the very large crowd, the ship did not feel crowded. Missing however,
was any hint of the more sophisticated atmosphere that exists on Spirit
Class ships sailing to the Caribbean for 8 days in the winter, with only
1900 passengers aboard.

Because Eileen was ill, I went to muster alone on the promenade. This
was definitely the smoothest muster that I have attended. Perhaps it
was the special traffic skills of a New York crowd that made the
difference. All I know is that there were absolutely no bottlenecks
getting to or from muster.

The ship sailed promptly at 4:00 PM. The weather was lovely, and it was
a real thrill sailing from New York for the first time. Sailing on the
Voyager from Bayonne last month (which was incredibly convenient) just
doesn't cut it when compared to sailing out of Manhattan.

For six out of the next 7 days, the weather was awful (overcast and/or
rainy) and Eileen was ill. This bad turn of events gave me a
considerable amount of time to sit back and observe many details about
the ship and the cruise.

Here are my observations:

Our assignment to an early seating was an immediate stimulus to visit
the Maitre d immediately after getting Eileen to the cabin. Much to my
delight, the Maitre d was Omur from Turkey, whom I already knew from
four earlier sailings on the Legend. Omur is the youngest Maitre d on
any Carnival Ship. He is 31, single, and from Turkey. He began working
for Carnival as an assistant waiter 10 years ago. Despite very heavy
demand for the late seating (surprisingly even among those traveling
with young children), Omur skillfully moved us to a late seating table
with five singles ranging in age from 23 to 41. Even though Eileen only
made it to dinner three times during the cruise, she very much enjoyed
our table mates. I went to dinner every night; and my great table
companions made these two hours very special every evening.

In earlier reviews of the Spirit and Legend, I have raved about the
food. I didn't think it was possible, but the food was even better on
the Miracle. First, let me talk about some innovations on this ship.

Carnival has introduced a sushi bar on the forward section of deck two.
Although it is hard to believe, the sushi that I had on this ship
rivals the best I have had anywhere. Tuna and salmon were incredibly
fresh and tasty. The California roll was fantastic.

In addition to the gourmet coffee and pastry bar on deck two. The
Miracle also serves gourmet coffee in the Lido (for a price). Speaking
of coffee, the regular coffee on this ship was the best that I've had on
any ship.

Another innovation introduced in the lido restaurant is the presence of
servers bringing hot coffee, tea, and other drinks around to the tables.
Of course there are still numerous self-serve coffee stations in the
Lido. In fact, Carnival so excels at food service that during busy
hours, extra urns of coffee are provided so that they never run out. In
contrast to this, the Zuiderdam has only two coffee stations on its
Lido. During our first cruise on the ship, one of these was broken and
they were constantly running out of coffee.

A welcome innovation on this ship was the total absence of "baked Alaska
on parade" in the dining room. There was also a total absence of
waiters singing anything. Instead, there was a floor show with the
waiters dancing to some good contemporary music.

One of the most successful food stations on Spirit class Lido
restaurants is their deli, with New York corned beef, pastrami, roast
turkey, etc. Sandwiches are available on baguette, rye, and an
assortment of different breads. On the Miracle, they have also
introduced wonderful wrap sandwich. Unlike the typical soft wraps that
you get in restaurants, Carnival grills their wraps before adding
filling. This imparts a wonderful crispness that is hard to describe.

Some of the especially well prepared and delicious culinary delights
that I enjoyed on this cruise in the Lido and/or dining room included:

Cream of escargot soup, flavored with truffle.
Thick filet minion with gorgonzola butter.
Gazpacho (sp?)
Japanese sesame salmon
Traditional Escargot
Lobster Tails
Chateaubriand with bernaise
Vichyssoise

Although I have raved about food on Carnival Spirit Class ships, I have
never raved about desserts before. To Eileen and I, dessert means
chocolate; not just any chocolate, but dark, rich, bittersweet
chocolate. This is something that Carnival did not do well with in our
past experience. Boy have they turned things around. The first night in
the dining room, I had what is probably the most delicious dessert I
have ever had on a ship. It consisted of very dark chocolate ganache,
laced with almonds, and surrounded with a crisp, oven baked, heavily
buttered phyllo dough. Other chocolate sensations in the dining room
and on the Lido included flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffle
cake (without the cake), and chocolate chestnut Napoleon.

Wow, with all the time I've devoted to food in this review, one might
think that I gained a pound or two. Nope, actually dropped three
pounds, thanks to the wonderful gym that can be found on all Spirit
class ships. Eileen slept a lot on the cruise, this combined with the
lousy weather, was all the motivation that I needed to spend a lot of
time lifting and doing cardio. Although I have had good things to say
about the gym on these ships before, I never really noticed until this
cruise what a beautiful space the gym occupies. It is a very bright,
two story space, that may be the prettiest space on the ship. No wonder
I spend so much time there.

We didn't get to any production shows on this ship, so I can't comment.
I can comment on the music, however, and it was great. I especially
enjoyed the jazz trio that played in the cigar bar, and a rock cover
band that actually did a hell of job with "Stairway to Heaven."

As usually, I am running out of steam with this review, but I did want
to comment about my observations on tips provided by a New York group of
passengers. On this particular cruise, $10/day was added to your
account to cover tips for the waiter/asst waiter/cabin steward. These
could be easily adjusted with a call to the purser's office. For those
of you who don't already know this, New Yorkers are used to tipping for
everything, and they are generous tippers. At my dinner table, each of
the five other singles tipped cash, in addition to the automatic
charges. I gave Omur (the maitre d) $20. However, when I noticed that
each of the five single at my table handed him $25, I felt really cheap.
My guess is that the cruising staff must really love sailing from
New York.

With Eileen not feeling well, I can't say I had a great time on this
cruise. However, I can highly recommend this ship to folks that enjoy
fabulous dining, great music, wonderful service, and a party atmosphere.
To all but families traveling with children, I recommend that you sail
in late fall, winter, or spring, rather than during the summer.

Howie - who is definitely not cruising for at least six months.

Thanks for the review. Will the Miracle be sailing year round out of
NYC?

Jo-Ann


The Miracle is moving to Tampa in November for year round cruising to the
western Caribbean. I have read some recent things about the Legend going to
New York for year round cruising to compete against NCL and their two ships.

Gordon

"Howie" wrote in message ...

Thanks Jean. Have you posted a review of your cruise to Alaska, yet?

Howie

ssshhhhhhh! no!

--Jean

Howie wrote:

In earlier reviews of the Spirit and Legend, I have raved about the
food. I didn't think it was possible, but the food was even better on
the Miracle. First, let me talk about some innovations on this ship.

Welcome home, Howie & Eileen. Quite a few people from this newsgroup
are cruising on the Miracle in May, so I thank you for writing this
review and sharing it with us. I am so sorry that Eileen is not feeling
well. I will keep her in my thoughts and prayers.

Becca -----will be cruising out of Tampa instead of NY...

Sleazy3 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy3.htm
MOAGC http://www.motherofallgroupcruises.com/
Miracle in May http://www.cruisemaster.com/miracle.htm

I wanted to say a word of thanks to all of you who have sent your good
wishes my way. Now that we're home, I AM feeling better - not great but
at least better.

I'm really beginning to suspect there's something environmental on the
ships that disagrees with me severely, though I have no idea what it
could be.

As for the Miracle itself, I thought the decor was really unlovely. The
Spirit is interesting looking, and the Legend has some nice touches, but
I couldn't find anything lovable about the Miracle except for Frankie
and Johnny's, where you run the risk of severing your head on the
fixtures that hang down everywhere. The decor seems to me to be
two-dimensional, with large numbers of unappealing (to me, of course)
looking sort of animation-type characters.

I also don't think my current state of disenchantment (not talking about
being ill here, just finding something lacking in cruising) is a
function of having taken way more cruises than any one person is
entitled to. I'm not a person who gets jaded easily. I miss the
elegance I used to find, and it was much less a function of how anyone
dressed than it was a function of not having every space crammed full
with things for sale, my cabin littered with dozens of useless pieces of
paper selling everything but the bathroom sink. I miss the sense of
community and getting to know people that has pretty much fallen by the
wayside because of the behemoth size of the ships.

One further comment on this class of ship: I recall that by my 3rd
Statendam-class ship, I was astonished at the completely identical
structure of these ships. The 3 Spirit-class ships I've now been on
have been so utterly identical as to make the HAL ships look varied by
comparison.

Eileen