Hawaii was AH-Mazing!
Carnival Miracle Cruise Review to Hawaii
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 34
14 Night Hawaii Carnival Journeys (Los Angeles Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 20, 2022
Ship: Carnival Miracle
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 7117
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Overall our trip was great! The staff members (the good ones) made the experience awesome. The fact that the A/C didn’t work and the poor quality of the food can be overlooked. Our excursions, except for the one, were great. We made some awesome friends on the trip. There really wasn’t a place to review the ASL interpreter, Nichole, but she was amazing! We have had a couple different interpreters on our cruises but Nichole takes the cake. She was professional, knowledgeable and flexible. She did her job well. She got my emotions across to guest services when the ran out of distilled water for the CPAP machine on the first day and I couldn’t use my cpap until we got to Honolulu, which is very dangerous. But, I would recommend Nichole’s services to anyone. She’s definitely a cut above the rest and is definitely a keeper. Great job.Embarkation
Embarkation was awful to say the least. So many problems. 1. We had been told to do all types of things for Hawaii and had to self test. No one asked for proof of our self test at all. When we got there, we were stopped before going inside and told we had to register for DocGo. Had never heard of it and had to register each family member before we could even enter the dome. They never checked boarding times. The line inside was terribly long. The testing process was easy and they did have a place to sit and wait after being tested. 2. At each check point we were told “okay you can put this away now”, so I would put all our paperwork away and the next checkpoint had to pull it all back out again. Don’t tell me to put something away if I still need it. 3. My spouse is deaf, so she had a “flag” on her profile. We had to stop at every checkpoint and they asked for her ID every single time. Take the flag off so we can proceed through the check in process. It was awful being pulled to the side so they can verify her ID over and over again.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
You could definitely tell that they are still short staffed. The waits in between sitting and being served each course was very long. The food quality was not that great. The fruit was not ripe at all. The buffet usually consisted of 1 meat and very starchy type sides. One morning I was trying to cut their biscuits and actually broke the bowl they were in. We ate at Nick & Nora’s and while the food was good, again, a very long wait. Had to ask to take dessert back to our room so we could go to the show at 730.
Dharma and his team were great and funny. They called us by name every time and made the wait seem not so bad. However, we got moved after the third night to another team. Edwin and his team are very polite and nice, but don’t say much beyond asking for your order. They aren’t joking, having fun, etc. For the dance Edwin actually hid behind a pole when he noticed I was recording. Loosen up a bit and you’ll be fine. It’s supposed to be fun.
Guys burgers must have changed their fries/seasoning or something, they were horrible. Also, while eating at Guys, someone requested the potato sticks. A manager or someone higher up (uniform was black and white) went to put them on the topping bar and used his teeth to open the package!! We were shocked!
Some food was good, but the majority was not. The first port, the first thing we did was go to Walmart for snacks for our room.
Onboard Activities
We played bingo a lot and attended the evening shows. The deck parties were good. Georgia is fantastic! Joel, Buzz, and Ian are great! Maria is the best. She said good morning/afternoon etc., to each and every person and she’s just a ball of energy and smiles. She’s truly great!
We really loved Georgia. We’ve been on 3 cruises before. The 1st CD was rude, obnoxious and non-existent. He would introduce the performers and/or start the party and disappear. Our 2nd CD stayed for the parties and such, but still distant. Georgia, she was anywhere and everywhere and always engaging with the cruisers no matter who they are. She was never too busy to say hi, strike a pose for a photo and she is so funny! She really cares that her cruise family is having fun. She’s the best thing that’s happened to Carnival.
We were disappointed with the build a bear activity. It was the first one we had attended and we obviously wanted the carnival bear which sold out very quickly. We obviously left and did not get another bear.
We had hoped for more 50th celebration items, parties etc. It seemed so hyped up, that this was going to be an awesome event, and it really just flopped. There was some horn blowing and that was it. Not exactly what we thought it would be. The midnight buffet was called off too. Not sure why, I didn’t pay for internet on my cruise, I like to truly disconnect.
Entertainment
We loved the shows. The lectures (the naturist) put us to sleep, only attended two of those and gave up. But the nightly shows by the performers were awesome! Chuck Wagner was awesome! The magic shows were great! Loved them!
We did have an issue with Daniel talking with a group of people next to the ASL interpreter and when she asked him to move the conversation because she couldn’t hear, the people that he was with got upset and rude. Then he kept walking in front of the interpreter - deaf people can’t see her hands when he’s walking in front of them. So he not only missed the opportunity to correct the peoples rude comments, but he kept walking in front of the interpreter blocking the view. It’s just something that hearing people don’t think about and need to be educated.
Service and Staff
Jay, our room steward was amazing! Always brought us ice every day. Was flexible about when we wanted or didn’t want service. He said hello in the hallways and asked if we were having a good time and/or needed anything. Our coffee table was broke, we let him know and it was fixed the same day. He’s really great.
Like I said, Dharma and his team in the MDR were polite, professional and funny! Called us by our names which makes you feel good. Edwin and his team were polite, shy, quiet.
I did do a mani/pedi with Krizza. It was my first time ever using the spa. Sad to say, she overcured the gel and my polish is now a yellow/brown color. Very disappointing and probably will not use any spa services in the future.
Ship Quality
Loved the layout of the Miracle. Very easy layout to learn and easy to get around. The staff was always, always cleaning. I was never worried about the cleanliness of the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
Our cabin was always clean. We loved the balcony. But our cabins A/C did not work at all.
Ports of call
Long Beach (Los Angeles), California
Loved it! So beautiful! We did a luau here and our tour guide was so nice. He had a very long name and a large family. I can’t remember what he told us to call him, but he was great! Told us the right way to eat Poe and everything! It was our secret.
Thumbs Up
0
Beautiful! We did the sunset crater excursion and had Kama as a tour guide. I’m not sure how to spell his name, but he gets all the praises. He knew and shared so much good information about the island and the mountain and that man could drive his bus. Great time!
Kona itself was beautiful. We did the history of Kona. Our tour guide was a joke. His name was John. There was a lady on the bus just talking, and complaining, and talking and I couldn’t hear him. I finally turned around and asked her if she could lower her voice please. I must not have been the only one. After our first break John got on his mic and said that someone has asked him to remind them to talk quietly, that he didn’t mind that they talk, but someone on the bus did. Then the ladies who were talking assumed it was me and treated my party rudely for the rest of the trip. It was horrible. He should/could have simply said, “please keep your chatter to a minimum level” and left it at that. Very disappointed. His tour was not that great either and his jokes were stale and old.
Hilo was great! We did the Colorful Hilo excursion and Auntie Karen was amazing. Her stories and her knowledge about Hilo were great!
Disembarkation
Easy peasy!