Carnival Miracle Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,356 reviews

Unfortunately, a disappointment. Carnival on the downslide.

Review for the Mexican Riviera Cruise on Carnival Miracle
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Xertes
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Sep 2016
Cabin: Extended Balcony

We sailed on 9/17/16 from long Beach. This was the 11th cruise for my wife and I together, 5th on Carnival. We have sailed Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess and HAL. This was our first repeat ship. We sailed on the Miracle to Hawaii about 3 years ago. Things have changed a lot since then. Properly, the rating on this cruise should be 2.5, rather than 3 but that is not an option. The ship is old and worn and if you look at details, it is evident. The ship still retains it's own unique personality which we find appealing. The problem is less with the ship than with Carnival, There seems to be cutbacks in every area. The biggest being in staff/passenger ratio. Our cabin steward, who was fantastic, used to be in charge of 20 rooms. Now he has to take care of 37. He asked us if we wanted morning or evening housekeeping service. Carnival used to do both and he noticed the shocked look on our face when he asked. We told him we wanted both and he did his best to accommodate. There was no ice bucket in the room. We asked about it. he told us we had to request one now. They don't automatically provide ice or a bucket. We asked about robes. Again, only on request. They are not automatically provided.

And so it went. There was less dining room staff and the staff that was there had to cover more tables. They did so efficiently but were not readily available to get you something or if you had a question. The food seemed to have gone down in quality. The meats were not as tender or as flavorful as I remembered. I love hamburgers and hot dogs but found the ones at the Off the Grill on the Miracle barely edible. Chocolate melting cake was still very good, as was the prime rib. The one evening they served French onion soup, it was like a bowl of salt with broth and melted cheese poured over it. I realize some people are sensitive to salt but I am not. I regularly salt my food but this was absurd.

Fewer main theater shows. The ones they did have were staffed with excellent entertainers.

Cabin Review

Extended Balcony

Cabin 8K

We were in room 7258, an extended balcony cabin. the cabin was standard Carnival balcony size, which is sufficiently roomy. The balcony was wonderful in that it was about two and half to three size the normal balcony. The room showed its age in terms of wear and tear. The toilet seat was not bolted down on one side and would come up and move. That was fixed after contacting guest services. When we arrived in the room I turned the thermostat all the way down as I need it cool to sleep. After 40 hours at that level and a difficult hot night, I contacted guest services as well as my room steward and complained that something was not working right as the room was not getting cool. First one guy came in to check it and said it was 73 degrees. i told him I needed it cooler. he said they only go as low as 70. I said, "fine, get it to 70". The next day a technician arrived early in the morning and checked it again. He said it was at 71.9. He checked everything out and did another reading. he said it was now at 71.2 and everything was working properly. There was nothing more he could do. This is the first time I have had this issue with any ship, including Carnival, but apparently nothing could be done.

So I started sleeping at night with a washrag soaked in ice water on my head.

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