Cruise on the Miracle

MY family and friends are cruising on the Miracle at the end of April. Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize. Any suggestions for really good tours? I was reading the information on the dress code for dinner. Do the girl's and Ladies have to wear dresses or skirts? It say's no shorts! Is this for the adults?

[Darcy]

Beverly:

We're going on the Miracle too. We leave April 24th. Are you on the same cruise?

No shorts is for everyone in the dining room for dinner. I wore slacks/top or skirt/top on non-formal nights and my girls wore skirts & tops. Girls and I all wore formal dresses on formal nights. Son wore khakis and short sleeve shirt with a collar and my husband wore slacks and a short sleeved shirt with collar. Husband and son both wore suits and ties on formal nights. This is a great time of year to buy formal wear if you don't have any. I got dresses at JC Penney last year on the clearance rack for my daughters and myself for $9.98 each.

We did this itinerary last year on the Inspiration and had a great time. I posted a review of all our shore excursions. If you want to take a look its under Ship Reviews, Reader Reviews, Carnival, Inspiration. While the people who toured the ruins said they were great we opted not to do that tour as we travel with the kids. I was told it was a two hour bus ride and it was very hot. If you have younger children you might want to keep that in mind.

Hope this helps.

Darcy

Darcy,
Yes we are on the same cruise. We are traveling with two other families. The tours have been the hot topic. My daughter will be 14 and my son turning 12. When you went to formal night, were all the women wearing gowns? Or were some in longer/T-length dresses? Is it mandatory that a 12 year old wear a suit? Sorry to bother you, I guess I should call the Cruise line for that info.

Beverly

[Chyna]

I was on the Miracle on 12/12/04 and LOVED the ship....absoutely gorgeous! You will love the ship!
Have a great time!
Chyna

Chyna,
Any suggestions for special tours or private people you went through. I've been browsing this web site and have read many interesting bits of information about booking your tours through the locals. Have you done this?

Thanks,
Beverly

[floridajourneygirl]

testing

[Melisa]

Beverly,

When we were on the Triumph in 12/03, my 10 year old did not wear a suit. He wore a pair of dark dress pants, white shirt, and tie. My daughter (14) who is very much a tomboy wore dressier slacks and a nice top. My husband wore a suit, and I (who also hates dresses) wore a nice pantsuit. You will see people wearing all different things. I even saw people who were not dressed formally at all, just didn't have on shorts or jeans. Then you will find people in ball gowns and tuxedos.

[Darcy]

Beverly

Melissa is right, you'll see everything on formal night. For the most part women wear either floor length or cocktail length dresses and men wear a suit and tie. For your 12 y.o. boy I would check a local consignment or thrift store. Sometimes you can get a nice sport coat. I bought a blue one for my son that looked new for $3.99. He has a suit and wore it one formal night and on the other wore beige slacks, shirt, tie, and blue sport coat. On the first formal night both girls wore long dresses and on the second they wore short, dressy dresses. We've cruised with them before so they've acquired some nice formal stuff that we've bought cheap, either on clearance or at a local thrift store.

Grand Cayman: We did the sting ray snorkel trip through Soto's Cruises. It was $24/pp and included two snorkel sites and the Sting Ray Sandbar. There were about 14 in our group. Everyone had a great time. I would highly recommend this trip. This year we're doing the Cayman Seamobile sub trip.

Costa Maya: We did some shopping right at the pier and then rented a golf cart and drove to Mahauhal. They have a really nice beach there. Its a very rustic Mexican town. We hung out there for a few hours and then returned to the ship. The only thing I didn't care for was the vendors were very pushy. This year we plan to go to Uvero Beach. The other popular tour here is to the ruins. We opted not to do it as we were told it was about a 2 hour bus ride and it was hot. I could just hear the "are we there yet" from the kids.

Cozumel: We went to Chankanaab Park for the day and had a great time. We did the Sea Trek Helmet Dive and the Sea Lion Swim there. The kids also snorkeled right from the shore and saw a lot of fish. They brought dry cereal with them from the ship which really attracted them. The park has restrooms, lockers, showers, restaurants, bars, etc. They also have a botanical garden and a Mayan ruin replica. This is where the dolphins are if you're interested in doing the dolphin swim. Although we haven't made a firm decision we're thinking of going back there for the day.

Belize: We did the cave tubing and had a blast. I highly recommend this trip. This year we're either going to Goff's Caye or Shark Ray Alley.

Hope this helps.

Darcy

[Melisa]

Darcy,

Did you take a tour through the ship to Chankanaab Park or just venture over on your own? We will be on the Miracle in a couple of weeks and my husband heard the snorkeling is very good in Cozumel, and we were thinking of just going over there for the day.

There will be 7 cruise ships in Grand Cayman the day we are there. Since we have been there before, we had thought about not even getting off the ship as it will probably be very crazy with close to 14,000 people milling around.

Did you find the golf cart rental on your own in Costa Maya? I have read alot of good reviews about the town of Mahaual and thought we just might check it out. We haven't made firm plans anywhere yet.

We had discussed the cave tubing in Belize, but it is such a long trek to get there, and then I read you had to walk about 45 minutes before you can tube. My husband has a bad knee, and we didn't think it would be a great idea to over tax it. So, we may either stay on board or just get off and hang around Belize City.

[Darcy]

Melissa:

Chankanaab Park: We did the ship tour for the Sea Trek Helmet Diving. It included transportation to and from the park and park admission. I had booked the Sea Lion Swim on my own before we left. This time we plan to just grab a cab over and do it on our own.

Grand Cayman: If there's nothing you're interested in seeing in Grand Cayman, with 7 ships in port I probably wouldn't get off the ship either. When we're there in April we're doing a Seamobile Submarine tour which I found on line. It only takes two people at a time. Once we're done with that we'll most likely just head back to the ship ourselves.

Costa Maya: If you go outside the shopping area at the pier to where the buses and taxies are there is a stand there that rents golf carts and dune buggys. The golf carts were $15/hr and I beleive the dune buggys were $30/hr. We had a great time with ours.

Belize: I would definitely do some type of a tour here. We drove through Belize City and it looked pretty rough. All the windows and doors had bars over them. While the walk for cave tubing wasn't too bad, although it definitely was 45 minutes, I wouldn't chance it either. If your husband likes snorkeling I would do either the Shark Ray Alley tour or the Goff's Caye excursion. Everyone that I spoke with that went to Goff's Caye loved it. The same with Shark Ray Alley.

Have a great trip.

Darcy

We are also going to be on the April 24 sailing. Is there a roll call for this date yet? I couldn't find one.

We are headed to the cruise for a wedding. My best friend is getting married on Grand Cayman. My husband and I are leaving our kids with my mom and dad (2.5 and 10 months) and planning on a wonderful time.

Our main focus is shore excursions right now. GC is out, due to the wedding. I would like go diving at Costa Maya or Cozumel. I think the whole wedding party is tubing in Belize. This is our first cruise and I have lots and lots of questions.

[Melisa]

We thought about doing the Sea Trek Helmet Dive in Cozumel, but I think it may be sold out through Carnival as I can't see it to book it on-line. Usually that means that have sold out, but I can check on it when we get on the ship.

I did see through Cozumel Insider that I can book it privately, and maybe we will do that. It is either that or a snorkel tour through the ship.

Beverly,
On the Lido deck you can wear whatever you want to the Buffet.

The Dining room is full of white table clothes and looks very classy. I can tell you from experience that my ds and his girlfriend (whose luggage did not arrive in time for them to change for dinner the first night), felt out of place in the dining room with casual clothes on. You do want to look your best just as if you were going to a nice restaurant on land. For a woman a nice pant suit, skirt, blouse, dress pants, dress blouse, or a dress is acceptable attire except for formal nights.

The first night sometimes the luggage does not arrive in time at the cabin for the passengers to change for the early seating at dinner. Next time we will take a carry on with a change of clothes aboard the ship so we are prepared just in case this happens again.

When you reach the dining room on the Miracle you may wonder what the decor' represents. You will have a chance to get a good look at those bright pink grapes in the dining room. Sometimes they change the color to purple and they actually look like grapes.

Have a wonderful cruise. A good day cruising is better than an excellent day at work.

70 days! I just bought some cruise insurance today. I had sort of put if off, but I had forgot that now that we have kids we don't owe the government nearly as much money in April. In fact, I feel like I am no longer a contributing member of society. I switched to working 1/2 time the year before last at the end of the year, so 2004 was my first full year of greatly reduced income + we added another kid. The tax credit is so big for kids that our cruise is paid for!!!!!