The World’s Longest Miracle Review, Part 5featured
It’s funny how sleeping in on a cruise means something else from sleeping in at home. Mom and grandma are early risers…they’re up around 6am or 7am regardless of where we are. Stephanie and I? If you let us sleep uninterrupted, we’ll sleep in well past noon. Yet on “vacation,” sleeping in means we’re up at 8:15am. One of the many reasons we came home needing a vacation from our vacation…we didn’t get much sleep!
We get up early simply because we want good deck chairs for the part of the day we spend at the pool. The easy solution would be to send Mom upstairs to save chairs because she’s up early anyways, but we never felt comfortable leaving ANYTHING upstairs and it’s just not cool to save chairs.
So we got up “early” this morning and were very happy to see that it was sunny outside. A little chilly, but that’s what the hot tubs are for. We got ready and hung out on the balcony until Mom and grandma were ready.
We had breakfast up at Horatio’s, and even though I had planned on at least one breakfast in the MDR, we ended up here every morning. Breakfast was always pretty good. I don’t know why, but they had someone to serve just the ham and bacon. Stephanie called them the “bacon police.” I don’t care why they were there because the bacon was actually crispy this time…not the limp, salty pieces of cured meat they were on all previous cruises. And it was a french toast day. They have fantastic cinnamon raisin french toast on the Lido deck every other day (it alternates with banana pancakes that aren’t nearly as fantastic).
We were having a relatively peaceful breakfast until the parade ‘o broken dishes began. Every meal we had on the Lido deck, there’d be at least three people who dropped their dishes when their trays flipped over. Seriously. Every meal. We realized it was because people were putting their dishes on the bottom of their tray and there’s a short ledge by the condiments/salads area next to the rotisserie station. They’d lean on the tray and bam! Everything falls to the ground. So keep your plates in the center of your tray and don’t put any body weight on the bottom of the tray when leaning over it and you won’t break any plates.
After breakfast, we headed out to our favorite area of the ship- the adults-only pool. And luckily for us, at 9:30am, we had our choice of prime seats for “the show.” Yes, that’s right- MORE people were trying to swim with their little diapered darlings in the pool and MORE kids were trying to swim in the pool and pool security tossed their tushies, too. I counted…there are TWO signs on the pool itself saying this is an adults-only pool. It is mentioned in every Caper that both the pool and the whirlpool are adults-only. Same with babies in diapers (which is also mentioned both on the pool and in the Capers, but also in the cruise documents). Ignorance isn’t an excuse for not knowing and it would be kind of funny to watch some of these parents fight with security because pool security had none of it. With the kids being kicked out, the area was pretty empty but quickly filled up.
It was a bit chilly, so grandma went back to the room after an hour or so. Mom was too cold to swim so she went with her. Stephanie and I swam for a bit in the absolutely frigid water (it got better once you went below the shoulders) before seeing the hot tub was nearly empty and pouncing on it.
The hot tub in the adults area was much smaller than it was in January. It also had a big, ugly rust spot on the bottom so I’m pretty sure they swapped it out with the one in the spa during dry dock. Because of this, if you wanted to go in the hot tub (and it was nearly always full), you had to watch it like a hawk and pounce when someone came out. So we did. We ended up only getting in the hot tub once this cruise, which was kind of sad because we always enjoyed the socializing there- we always meet the nicest people in the hot tub LOL. But the hot tub was small, crowded and gross (a big brown spot on the bottom doesn’t inspire relaxation) so we didn’t stay long.
On our last cruise, we saw someone with these really cute towel clips and thought they were the most genius idea ever. We did some research and found out they were from Bed, Bath and Beyond and were less than $5 for a set (less if you’re on their mailing list and they send you a bajillion coupons a year that never expire). They were the best thing we packed. Not only do they hold your towel up and keep it on your chair on a windy day, you can also clip your cover-up onto it while you’re in the pool or ocean or whatever. They really were quite nifty. I forgot to take a pic of them while we were at the pool, so I took a pic of them on our balcony when I was laying out.
We stayed out until just before noon, when we went back to the room to get dried off and changed for lunch. We probably could have thrown on our cover-ups and gone to Horatio’s, but I hate being in wet clothes. This was our protocol for most sea days: we’d wake up “early,” go to breakfast, swim and sun, and then change and eat lunch before going around the ship and participating in the various activities before tea time.
We stopped in to Mom’s room before going to change and she told us that maintenance had come and opened our balcony divider! As nice as it was to have such a large balcony (our two combined was the size of SIX regular balconies!), it was even nicer to have a private corridor, of sorts, linking our rooms and we now didn’t have to go out and around the elevators to get into each others rooms.
Lunch, again, was surprisingly excellent. Really, the food on the Lido deck this week was above and beyond what it usually is (good, but not great). Taste of Nations today was Mexican and it was the best of the week. I usually take small portions of a lot of different things and pick a little at each one so I can try everything. There was white macaroni and cheese at the Rotisserie, though, that was so good that I needed to have more than a bite. And the salad bar was fantastic, too. The lettuce and veggies were very fresh and there was a large selection of dressings.
Tonight was our first formal night, and Stephanie and I both needed to shower off all the salt water from the pools (it dries on your skin, leaving a gross white film) and flat iron our hair. We likely wouldn’t have enough time to do it after afternoon tea because of the Captain’s Cocktail Party, so we did it in between lunch and tea. We also used the time to rest and watch some movies.
Tea time was called for 3:30pm, but we knew from experience if you want to ensure a table for your party, you need to be there between 3:00 and 3:15. And we were right. Tea was packed. They ended up setting up a small annex of the dining room for the rest of the tea times because it was so packed. Unfortunately, a few people decided to bring their small children and crying babies. I like tea time because there’s an old traditional feel to it…kind of like I’m on a transatlantic voyage in the Titantic era. It’s a quiet time to enjoy tea, conversation and soft music and I really appreciate a short time of our day to chat and unwind. Carnival does an EXCELLENT job of making this an upscale, calm experience with linens, china, formal service and live music. Tea time isn’t for small children who can’t sit quietly. Nearly the entire ship (save for the adults-only pool and the casino) and nearly all the activities are accessible to children. It’s nice to have a little time without having to hear a screaming baby or a child throwing a tantrum because they want to be at the pool for those of us who don’t have or travel with children. Thankfully, most of them never came back for the rest of the week.
Again, I really have to give kudos to Carnival for the work they put into this. It’s probably the classiest activity on the boat and they really really put a lot of work and money into it. From the live music (this time it was a piano player, last time it was a string quartet) to the sandwiches and sweets to the time they take setting it up and the service. The activity of it is really my favorite part of cruising (though the delicious sweets that you can’t get anywhere else on the boat don’t hurt, either).
The tea experience on Carnival usually goes like this: you and yours find a table (or a seat at the bar) and a server will come around with a chest of various teas. Another server will come around with a tea pot of hot water and cream (upon request). Two carts of sweets and sandwiches are wheeled around and you’ll have your choice of snacks. A server with a pitcher of hot water will make rounds to make sure everyone has enough hot water and the sweets cart will also make the rounds if you want seconds of anything.
During tea time, they serve small nibbles. On the Glory last year, they served cakes and larger sweets, but both times on the Miracle, they served small bites and individual sweets. I don’t know if it varies from ship-to-ship or if Carnival decided to go with a more formal approach. Usually, they had both salmon and cucumber sandwiches, cream puffs, a filled meringue, a muffin, a handmade doughnut and a tart. The variety changes every time they serve tea (one day they’ll have a raspberry tart, the next a lemon tart, the next an orange tart, etc). They’ll give you as many or as few of anything you want. My recommendation is the doughnuts because you can’t get them anywhere else on the boat at any other time and they’re handmade and fantastically delicious, and the lemon or orange tarts (when they’re available) because they’re amazing, also.
The Sweets/Sandwich Cart
A plate of sweets
Raspberry Tart
Cream Puff
Doughnut
Lemon Muffin
Around this time, we realized that we (oops!) missed our Cruise Critic meet-and-greet. We were able to meet a few people throughout the week and they were all very nice and we enjoyed chatting with them.
Tea time ended around 4:30, but we left at 4:15 to get ready for the Captain’s Cocktail Party (5:00 for early seating and 7:15 for late seating diners). We were running very late. I hurt my shoulder a few weeks before we left and it was flaring up today, and I was having trouble pinning my hair so Stephanie helped me. And then I couldn’t find the right undergarments to go with the dress. And then I couldn’t find my earrings. And then it took me forever to finish my makeup. So I sent Stephanie, Mom and grandma down to the party and I would just meet up with them.
That turned out to be a good idea because it was PACKED. I found them pretty quickly (Stephanie always goes to the left) and I guess they found a bar server who remembered us because they took VERY good care of us. Within a few minutes of being seated, I had a glass of white wine in one hand a flute of champagne in the other.
The flash on my camera blinded her (which is why 99% of my pictures are with the flash off)
As previously reported on Cruise Critic, there are no more appetizers served during the Captain’s Cocktail Party, but we didn’t really miss them. They certainly make the drinks more gentle on the stomach, but we had dinner not long after so it didn’t matter. CD Brent took the stage and gave a few words (including telling us that Carnival was one of two cruise lines left that had a live orchestra onboard!) before handing the stage back over to Captain Volpi, who was the best captain we’ve ever sailed with. He was funny, warm and accessible (we’d talked with plenty of people who encountered him and he stopped to chat with them, tell them the weather forecast, etc). We enjoyed listening to him and his announcements throughout the week. He’s quite the comedian!
Mom bought me this pair of GORGEOUS shoes before we left (I’d been having problems on our last cruise with some of my dress shoes because for whatever reason, my feet have been shrinking and a lot of my cruise shoes were now too big on me) and I got bored and took pictures of them to email some of my fashionista friends when I got home. This lady in front of me saw me and gave me a little ribbing, but we enjoyed talking with her and her hubby and ran into them frequently during the week.
Shoes!!! The hotter they are, the more they hurt your feet!
Grandma was getting tired, so we took her back to the room for her nap before dinner. I forgot to comment on anytime dining in my last blog post, but it’s like an invisible line is drawn in the dining room: the left-half is for anytime dining and the right is for assigned dining. If you came early, it seems you were seated nearly right away, but if you tried for a later dining time, you’d be given a beeper to wait. We’d frequently leave dinner and take a short walk to digest and find people hanging around the atrium and Gatsby’s Garden with beepers just waiting for dinner. If you want to eat between 6:30 and 8:00, you’ll likely have a wait.
Dinner tonight was just okay. Appetizers were fantastic, main course was mediocre, dessert was excellent. Stephanie and Mom both took my suggestion and started with the Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms and thought they were fantastic. It’s one of my favorite appetizers and I thought though it wasn’t as good as usual (the spinach was too stringy and watery this time), it was still very good. Mom had a caesar salad, which was as good as usual, and the lobster tail and shrimps. We warned her that she should order two and no one would look at her like she had two heads because they were small, but she decided not to…and then complained to us that it was too small. The lobster tails are incredibly shrinking from cruise to cruise and the shrimps were small but tasted good. Stephanie had the mushrooms and the Greek Farmer Salad, which used to be served with chicken but is no longer (like I said previously, they cut back on proteins in salads), but was very good. She had the prime rib and thought hers was a bit undercooked so she switched hers with mine because I don’t mind my meat a little more pink. She thought it was soft and very good. I had the mushrooms and the Strawberry Bisque, which is one of the best soups they serve on the boat. It was every bit as creamy and scrumptious as I remembered it. I had the prime rib also and thought it was entirely too fatty. My potato was only half-edible because of a large black spot in it. And the lapses in service that Jephson apologized in advance for became more noticeable: our drinks went unfilled for awhile, it took more than 10 minutes to get horseradish for the prime rib (me) and sour cream for the baked potato (Stephanie). For dessert, we all got the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. I also got the Cherries Jubilee and mixed the two together and it was fantastic! It reminded me of my favorite fondue at the Melting Pot. I should have ordered a fresh fruit plate to dip into it.
Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms
Greek Farmer Salad
Caesar Salad
Strawberry Bisque
Tender Roasted Prime Rib of American Beef Au Jus
Duet of Broiled Maine Lobster Tail and Grilled Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp
Cherries Jubilee
Warm Chocolate Melting Cake
Warm Chocolate Cherries Jubilee
After dinner, we went to take grandma to dinner and Stephanie went to change into something more comfortable (she never stays in her formal wear longer than she has to). Our room steward left us another cute towel animal with our Capers, and two chocolates that ended up in a pile on the desk (they’re yummy mint chocolates, but for whatever reason, we never ate them!) Stephanie and I wanted to watch the sunset before heading up to the Lido deck with Mom and grandma.
After grandma ate, we contemplated going to the show for the night (“Singin’ with the Big Band” with Christopher Allen Graves), but we decided not to. We’ve seen his show at least twice and we just don’t care for it. Mr. Graves is certainly talented and it’s a nice tribute to the Rat Pack, but the show is a bit self-indulgent and low-key, and it never really changes. So we forwent the show and decided to go shopping for a bit and then to relax in one of our favorite places on the boat: Gatsby’s Garden. We discovered Gatsby’s Garden on our first cruise on the Miracle in 2005. It’s a quiet corridor with tables, chairs, couches and large windows themed after “The Great Gatsby.” I can’t really explain why we like it so much other than to say it’s a calm, quiet area that’s nicely decorated.
Mom and grandma were sleepy so they went back to the room. Stephanie and I wandered the ship again. Music Unlimited (a FANTASTIC band that also plays during “Ticket to Ride”) was playing at Frankie & Johnnie’s and we really wanted to see them, but it was standing-room only in there, so we sat outside by the fountain and listened for awhile. We headed up to the Late-Night Bistro to grab some snacks to bring down to the room and we got into our comfy clothes and watched movies for a few hours. It was a nice way to unwind after a busy day.
Up next: Rain, Rain, Go Away. Come Again On A Non-Cruise Day!
Today’s Lido Lunch Menus
Today’s Lido Dinner Menu
