Miracle to Hawaii

Carnival Miracle Cruise Review to Hawaii

Telkwaites

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 68

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

15 Night Hawaii (Los Angeles To Vancouver)

Sail date: April 14, 2013

Ship: Carnival Miracle

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 11 years ago

Review summary

We are family of three, two adults and an eight year old girl. We left from Long Beach on the Carnival Miracle on April 14th, 2013 for a 15 day cruise to Hawaii, ending in Vancouver. Embarkation was not too long, under 2 hours. I don't think I'll ever meet a cruise ship I won't like, and the Miracle is a beautiful Vessel. The Atrium goes through several floors, it's quite impressive. The ship was clean and the staff was for the most part a friendly bunch. The buffet was great, lots of variety. My daughter loved the chocolate fondue fountain. Bachus dining room is a little over the top in decor, but over all, good food and service. We enjoyed sharing tables with lots of interesting people from all over.The Pizza Pirate is especially good, you can watch him roll out and top your pizza, very fresh and excellent tasting. We heard there were about 900 other Canadians on board out of approx. 2,300 passengers. Our room was just fine, the bathroom roomy for a ship. Our steward Adinata I Made Dwi was excellent. Not much on the telly, though some days more than others, depending on satellite reception. There was lots of entertainment and activities. Our favourites were the Hawaiian singer on deck three, and Dave in Sam's piano bar. Dave even had our little girl up singing. There were a couple of rockin' deck parties with Music Unlimited. These four guys were from the Phillipines and could play anything very well. They sure got people up dancing. Several musical reviews were performed in the Phantom theatre, including the Blues Brothers, who were played by Chris the cruise director, and the assistant cruise director. Comedians weren't bad,performed in Mad Hatters lounge. The ship's naturalist Michele, put on a very interesting show each morning in the Phantom. Topics such as whales, Hawaiian wildlife, and the Polynesian's navigational expertise were explained with a slide and or video show. There was also crafts and dancing classes. We had good service from Carmelo and others in Bachus, Our little girl said she "loved' Camp Carnival. She went there most sea days and there were lots of games and activities for the kids. We all played mini golf and chess with the giant chess pieces. I used the gym every day. This gym is beautiful, a sea view while you work out. There was a good variety of equipment and lots of treadmills. We loved Hawaii-first time there, and hopefully not the last. My first glimpse of it was of a green jewel framed by a rainbow-perfect! Our first port was Kahalui, Maui. We took a public bus to Lahaina on Maui's west coast. Loved the Banyon trees, Lahaina is a pretty former whaling town and we spend a relaxing day there walking around the town and lounging on the beach. Our daughter was ecstatic over"shave Ice", though us adults found it a bit too sweet. If you like shopping, there's lots of little gift and clothing shops in Lahaina The next day was Hilo where we rented a car from Harpers, excellent staff, especially Wendy. (Look for the van sporting eyelashes on its headlites.)We spent the day at Volcanoes National Park, Rainbow Falls, and one of the many beautiful parks in Hilo. Next port was Honolulu, Oahu, went for a ride up the Aloha tower to enjoy the view. Took public buses around the Island. One gorgeous beach after another. Had lunch at a roadside chicken BBQ-tasty and cheap. Went to the Dole Plantation, tried out the world's largest maze and the train ride. Next: Nawiliwili, Kauai. Rain, lovely warm rain most of the day. But just cloudy at Lydgate Beach park,about 7 miles north of the port. This is a kids paradise, rock walls separate two children's pool from the surf. We waded around and saw little fish, made sandcastles. Kiddo played in the huge children's play castle. There are great facilities here for families who want a day at the beach. The remains of an ancient Hawaiian sacred site are at the north end of the park. We had a car so drove up the north fork of the Wailea River visited Opoeka Falls on the way up to Keahua arboretum. What a lovely place, rainbow eucalyptus and many other trees. A place to recharge. Ended the day at the Kilohana sugar plantation, but didn't have time to go on the train. Pretty place. Wales were seen as the Miracle passed Kauai's western cliffs on our way to Kona. At Kona we tendered to shore, this took a while as there were long waits for the tenders. Great care was taken by the crew to make sure all got on and off safely as the tenders (life boats), do tend to bob up and down. Toured the Hulihee Palace where Hawaii's last royal family lived. Blue and yellow fish can be seen from the lanai. The farmer's market was good too.(Get your Kona coffee beans there.) Went to the beach by Kamakahonu, where Hawaiian royalty used to gather. Peeked in Hawaii's oldest Christian Church, then queued for the tenders. We had 5 more days at sea until we reached Vancouver, B.C, and we weren't bored. We liked Carnival, its good value, nice staff, lots of good food and entertainment. I would certainly recommend this cruise.