Amazing time!!!! by
Danny K from Queens NY
Sailing date: Aug 2009 Pros:
Everything..great food, great people, great activities..everyone was so friendly
Cons:
Nothing
This was the most amazing vacation I have ever been on. We left out of NY and met so many good people which we plan to keep in touch with. You eat like a king (or queen). The employees onboard are so friendly and helpful. I strongly recommend this ship to any and everybody!
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Children's Programs
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Overall good not great cruise by
A Traveler from Irvington, NJ
Sailing date: Aug 2008 Pros:
The destinations were beautiful and each was unique
Cons:
Many of the excursions could not accommodate plus sized passengers.
The ship was fine, pretty much what we expected having taken a Carnival Cruise to Canada the year before. However, I did not feel like we got treated as well on this cruise. Not necessarily awful, but not outstanding service either. ON our first cruise on the Victory, we were treated like royalty, not so here. During the days at sea I would have liked to see more free activities. As a repeat cruiser, we were suprised and pleased at the special reception held for repeaters. Shows were great. The land excursions were not friendly to plus size travelers. I don't expect special treatment, but they should have stated the limitations in the descriptions. I was humiliated in the St. Thomas area, as they had these tram cars to take you to the destinations, the openings to get on and the vertical step up was not something I could navigate. I was not alone as there were several other passenger who were either plus sized or handicapped in some way (walkers, canes etc) that could not utilize the trams. I tried to board and couldn't so then had to walk back to ship to get refund. I was left feeling awful!
The food was decent, the buffets were more like food courts at a mall, but when you wanted to grab something fast it sufficed.
Ship Quality I liked the layout, it was easy to navigate from one end to the other.
Dining/Food Dining room food good, buffets not so much. The first night in the dining room they tried to stuff us into an uncomfortable booth. We complained and they gave us a different table but it was in a high traffic part of the dining room and couldn't see much from our vantage point.
Stateroom Quality Plenty of room, loved the balcony. Our room was near the elevators making it very convenient.
Ship Staff Quality Waiter was good always made sure we were pleased with our selections.
Entertainment & Activities Shows were very good, would like to see more variety of entertainment options.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Wonderful cruise by
A Traveler from Rockledge, FL
Sailing date: Nov 2008 Pros:
Most beautiful decor of paintings on any ship we have been on.
Cons:
The Disembarkation
The Carnival Miracle was extremely clean everywhere. The dining room food was excellent with friendly service.
Ship Quality The ship was large and easy to find ones way around.
Dining/Food For evening dining it would have been much better for those with children to have had a 5:00 to 5:30 dining time. The buffet did not open until 6:00pm either.
Stateroom Quality The cabin was very clean, with friendly staff. However the beds are hard but the bedding itself is soft and confortable. Deck 8 Cabin 8219 had alot of noise coming from the above floor everymorning around 4:00am and it continued off and on for hours. For a light sleeper this is not good.
Ship Staff Quality The staff was friendly and always willing to help with your every need. The only non friendly staff members was found in the shops.
Collapse List of Ports
Basseterre, St. Kitts The beach for swimming was nice if one could be left alone from the panhandlers. Small shopping area near the ships dock. Did not see any straw markets. Very friendly and nice people. To see St. Kitts you need to take a tour.
Castries, St. Lucia St. Lucia is our "Tahiti"in the Caribbean. The waterfall is beautiful and a pleasant spot to visit. The valcano is a waste time and money. A little smoke coming up from a few small spots of dirt. The trip across almost the entire island has vistas around every corner. Great !!!
Philipsburg, St. Maarten The entire island is beautiful with wonderful and friendly people. Phillipsburg has wonderful shopping and eating. St Maarten is a place to see.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
pleasantly surprised by
Madeleine from canada
Sailing date: Mar 2008 Pros:
the intinerary the meals were surprisingly good
Cons:
nothing
Although I found the decor over the top at first I did get used to it . The food was very good in the main restaurant especially the chicken dishes. Our lunches and breakfast were also very good with lots of variety.
Lovely personnel . Very clean rooms
Overall very pleased and I have cruised many times and on different lines
Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
Dream of a Lifetime by
Barbara B. from Nova Scotia, Canada
Sailing date: Dec 2007 Pros:
Wonderful crew! Everyone was friendly and did their best to make the cruise great.
Cons:
Going through the casino smoke whenever I needed to get from one end to the other on 2nd deck.
It was my first cruise so I had nothing to compare it to--and it was fabulous.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food Our wait staff in the dining room (Hania and Jussara) were just great.
Stateroom Quality We had a cabin with an obstructed view balcony. We spent lots of time there. Only problem was our next door neighbour smoked out there. Maybe one side of the ship should be non'smoking.
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
Collapse List of Ports
Belize City, Belize Too commercialized for my liking as far as shopping went.
Colon, Panama Sea to sea by rail--what a wonderful experience.
Don't Miss: above.
Puerto Limon, Costa Rica Our guide was great. The mountains were lush.
Don't Miss: Coffee plantation tour.
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
TERRIBLE Would not recommmend by
Janet B. from Pittsburgh
Sailing date: Jul 2007 Pros:
NICE BALCONY ROOM
Cons:
FOOD, ACTIVITIES
Nice decor, different and interesting to see especially the atium, decent roomy balcony room
Ship Quality ship was very clean, easy to find everything, nicities end there
Dining/Food Wait staff was great, food quality/portions terrible, paid extra for the "experience" of dining at Nick and Nora's, big waste of money lobster was inedible worse than imaginable.
Stateroom Quality we had a very nice well kept corner balcony room, roomy and quiet
Ship Staff Quality personal were very nice
Entertainment & Activities activities were non-existing except for high priced extras such as 20.00 a game bingo and 10.00 yoga classes
Children's Programs the reason I chose this liner was for my 2 teenage grandchildren, read all about the great young peoples activities, well it DID NOT exist, no director no helpers at all in the designated teen area day or night.
11 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
ABSOLUTELY THE WORST EVER!!!!!!! by
Jim K. from Parrish, Florida
Sailing date: Dec 2006 Pros:
Getting off of the ship
Cons:
everything
Lousiest cruise ever been on, and we have been on a ton...The ship was fairly clean, but the staff was horrible.
Dining/Food WORST FOOD EVER!!!!!!! Better food at McDonalds
Stateroom Quality we did like our room, had the balcony, BUT the furniture out there sucked.
Ship Staff Quality rude and unattentive
Entertainment & Activities did not use much as we did not get our newspaper statign what was going on until LATE
7 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
A nice cruise by
Mike Z from Cincinnati
Sailing date: Feb 2007 Pros:
Cruising the western Caribbean
Cons:
The extra charges, fees, tips etc.
The ship was nice & they kept it very clean. It was as big or a little bigger than I expected. Some of the service was great & some not so good. ie: Our waiter in the main dining room for dinner was great, but the ones for breakfast left a little to be desired. The service, getting the order right, etc. I guess the best thing was being in warm (80s) temperatures & mostly sunny days, (it did rain some) while it was cold teens & 20s back home.
Ship Quality As I said before the ship was nice & well kept. Some areas were a bit overdone, but for the most part it was good.
Dining/Food I thought the food would have been better. Most of the beef dishes were over cooked. I like it Med-rare. This is where the waiting help. He tried to get us meals prepaired the way we liked it or a replacement. I think it would have been worse if it weren't for the waiter. We went to NIck & Nora's for Valentines Day. That too wasn't what I expected & wasn't worth the extra $30 per person. Even there my steak was over done. It was suppose to be a 24 ounce Porterhouse, but I had no trouble fiinishing it & could have eaten more. (I don't this it was 24 ounces) I've had 12-14 once strip steats that have satisfied me.
Stateroom Quality The stateroom was nice & a decent size. Our stewart was very good. He keep the stateroom nice and tidy even if it didn't need it.
Ship Staff Quality The staff was very friendly. Most gave warm greetings & were helpful.
Entertainment & Activities The entertainment was ok, some was pretty good & some not so good. The Beatles tribute was mixed, with the best part being 4 (Asian) guys dreesed as the Beatles performed a medley of songs. They actually sounded pretty good!
Collapse List of Ports
Belize City, Belize It was rather warm in Belize. It must have been upper 80s & a bit humid. We maily looked arround the Port village & shops. I did venture out a little & was offered tours & items for sale. I heard the zoo was nice, but didn't get to see it.
Costa Maya, Mexico This Port was mixed the village was nice, fairly new. I looked like something from Disney World, created rather than natural. I understand it was carved out of the jungle. There is a lot of building going on. We took the 1/2 day Mayan ruins tour. It was about 1 Hrs drive each way & 21/2-3 hrs there. The guide was knowledgable & gave us a lot of good information. This site was a fairly recent discovery, so there was a limit to what you could see. When we got back we walked arround the port village before going back to the ship.
Don't Miss: Mayan Ruins
Cozumel, Mexico It is still recovering from the huricane. We took a taxi tour with another couple we met at the port. I was a nice look at the Island. Our taxi driver gave us a behind the sense tour & filled us in on the locals, the history & the culture. Then we did a little shop at the port village.
Don't Miss: Nothing I can think of.
George Town, Grand Cayman We swam with the Sting Rays. It was better than I thought it would be. The water was warm & we were on a sand bar, so the water wasn't very deep. I'm 6'2" & the water was waist to chest high. The shops were ok, but a bit pricey.
Don't Miss: I would say the Sting Rays
5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
A great first cruise by
John C from Nicholasville, KY
Sailing date: Feb 2007 Pros:
Attentive Service people
Cons:
Nick and Nora's resturant
Our room was larger than we expected and we were very comfortable in it. The attention to keeping the ship in "ship shape" and sparkling was impressive. We enjoyed and looked forward to getting the next days schedule each night when we would come back in and find the bed turned down and the cute towel towel animal.
Ship Quality
Dining/Food The only complaint we had was the night we had been looking forward to of going to Nick and Nora's for a special dinner. The surf and turf meal had lobster which was so rubbery it could not be eaten. When asked how the meal was, we told our waiter who told her boss who asked about it and and was told the same thing. That was the end of the conversation, no apology, no offer to compensate for the tough lobster. I thought something should have been done after a 60.00 dinner
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
A Pleasant Relaxing Cruise Vacation by
Liz K. from Marietta, GA
Sailing date: Dec 2006 Pros:
Carnival was very organized and handled crowds well
Cons:
Like most cruises, you always feel a bit rushed at the ports
The ship had a good design to distribute passengers all around the ship. The room set-up was well thought out and it was sound-proofed nicely. The crew/employees on the ship were extraordinarily nice and friendly. They seemed to enjoy what they were doing! That makes a big difference in the overall climate of the cruise.
Ship Quality Layout was well thought out. Everything was kept clean and festive looking. As I mentioned earlier - the ship's design helped spread people through-out the ship and despite this sailing being to capacity - you didn't feel too crowded. The room decor was really well done and even the plumbing fixtures were top quality. The public areas decor were glitzy but pleasant at the same time.
Dining/Food The food was very good with an excellent variety. There was something for everyone. The Bacchus Dining Room service was outstanding and we loved the dance they did towards the end of the meal.
Stateroom Quality The room was well designed and roomier than other cruises we have been on. The decor and the fixtures were top quality. Our cabin location was excellent. Our steward was extremely pleasant - It is never easy cleaning around a family of four.
Ship Staff Quality Ship's staff was really nice and tried to help in any way that they could.
Entertainment & Activities Entertainment was pretty good. Didn't attend any of the shows so I can't comment on them. We enjoyed the bingo, the games shows and more.
Children's Programs The program for the teens from 15-17 was disappointing. They began the evening program with a dance but the DJ mostly played Rap music which is not easy to dance to. A large percentage of teens this age attended one event and got discouraged from returning (nothing done for icebreakers or get-to-know you kind of exercises). Some kind of team building exercise would have been helpful to initiate a bond between these teens from all over the country and Canada.
Collapse List of Ports
Belize City, Belize We did the Dolphin Encounter and would highly recommend it. They also take you on a tour on the mangroves.
Don't Miss: Dolphin Encounter
Cozumel, Mexico Excellent shopping - silver, cigars, australian opals, tanzanite
George Town, Grand Cayman This is not the fault of the Cruise line but every time I have been to Grand Cayman - I have had to take a dinghy (sp). This shortens the length of your visit and does not allow enough time to really enjoy any activity (beach, snorkel etc) except for shopping.
5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Did you find this review helpful?
