Tour And Review Of An Inside Cabin On The Carnival Miracle
This review is of an inside aft cabin on deck 8 of the Carnival Miracle from my cruise to Alaska from Seattle.
A Video Tour Of An Inside Cabin On The Carnival Miracle
I dressed up as Wilma from Where’s Waldo for a high school Halloween dance once because I figured no one would notice me stuffing my red and white striped clutch with bat cookies while my date, Waldo, filled up our to-go mugs with spiked punch. Then we high-tailed it outta there and took off for the mountains in my parent’s 1992 Ford Explorer before anyone could question the whereabouts of the illusive Waldo and Wilma.
And even though I worked as a college professor for a decade, speaking in front of hundreds of classes and at large conferences and other events, I’m still a Wilma at heart – most comfortable camouflaged in a crowd of 4,000 circus animals on a cruise ship. Which is why I don’t vlog or TikTok or twerk (I get asked about that last one ALL. THE. TIME.) and why I rarely appear in a photo or video on my site. However, mirrors in small cruise ship staterooms sometimes reveal my true identity as a generic 40 something fashion challenged geek. So…see below for a complete tour of an inside cabin on the Carnival Miracle as well as a few glimpses of the elusive Prof. Cruise in her natural habitat dressed in her favorite child-sized Old Navy shirt purchased second hand at Goodwill.
Luggage Delivery
Before I move on to my overall impression of the cabin and highlight some of its features, a quick word about luggage delivery. My luggage was delivered incredibly fast! By the time I returned to my cabin from lunch at a bit before 1pm, by bag was already there! Mind you I was one of the first passengers onboard and this was the first post-Covid sailing of the Miracle, so this may not be a typical experience. But I was happy to unpack and get settled into my room before my burrito, giant pile of fries, and three slices of buffet cake even made it to my stomach!
Initial Impressions Of My Inside Cabin On The Miracle
I feel like I could describe the style of this cabin exactly like how I described myself earlier and it would be pretty accurate: a generic 40 something fashion challenged nerd. Let me elaborate. These inside cabins on the Miracle are not sleek. They are not up-to-the-minute. They are not stylish. They are not insta-worthy. They are a bit drab. A bit dated. A bit tired looking. Basic. However, they still serve their purpose: to store your stuff and keep you clean and rested. (And I serve my purpose: to make you feel attractive, “I mean, compared to that Prof. Cruise, I look pretty darn good!,” and keep you informed on all things cruising).
Features Of Inside Cabins On The Miracle
Below are some key features of inside cabins on the Miracle:
1: Beach Towels
One large beach towel per person will be provided. Be sure not to lose these as you will be charged for them if they aren’t returned to your cabin.
2: Television
A small flat-screen television with a limited number of free channels will be positioned near the restroom, facing the bed. For the first 3 days of my cruise my TV said “no signal” and wouldn’t work on any channel. I figured it was a problem with the satellite (because the internet on the ship was also down), but I finally climbed up there to investigate further and realized the cable connector was loose. I tightened it up and voilà, back to news of Covid, wildfires, and Dr. Phill (seriously, he’s still on?). Accepting that the loose connector was probably the universe’s way of telling me I needed to unplug, I disconnected it again in dramatic fashion and headed to the Alchemy Bar for a martini.
3: QR Code For Room Service Menu
***UPDATE*** Carnival updated their room service menu recently and hanging breakfast cards are NO LONGER PROVIDED. The new room service menu can be found here:
If you followed my live report while onboard the Miracle, you know that it was harder to find a paper menu than Prof. Cruise (Wilma) in a doughnut pit (I have this reoccurring dream where I’m at a birthday party where the balls in a traditional ball pit have been replaced with doughnuts…feel free to steal the idea, but be sure to invite me). Paper menus have been almost entirely replaced with QR codes that pull menus up on your phone. That’s true for the room service menu too, with this exception:
I’ve had many people ask me if these room service breakfast cards are still available on Carnival to hang on your door the night before. And the answer is YES, the hanging room service order cards are still available. Those who are in no condition, pre morning coffee, to deflect hundreds of human dodge balls at the buffet or string together a coherent sentence to order something in the MDR, “me need COVFEFE,” or who just like to eat pastries in their PJ’s in bed (me), rejoice!
Here’s the regular room service menu too, for those who accidentally dropped their phone in the toilet while trying to get a decent video of the tiny bathroom (*raises hand*):
4: Bottled Water For Purchase
Pro-Tip: Save money by pre-purchasing bottles of water to be delivered to your stateroom. You can do this online under the “cruise manager” tab of your reservation.
Or just bring an empty bottle and fill it up with “tap water” like I do.
5: Mini Fridge
While it was awesome to have a small fridge in my cabin, it didn’t feel very cold, so I decided to do an experiment. I ordered an egg-filled breakfast burrito from Blue Iguana Cantina (this is my favorite cruise breakfast on Carnival, BTW) to be retrieved as a midnight snack after “chilling” for 16 hours in my mini fridge. Would it kill me? Would it send me to the medical unit for a Covid test after a crew member witnessed me “feeding the fish” with it over the side of the Lido deck? Nope, I was fine. But it turns out that a 16 hour old cold breakfast burrito isn’t as good as a hot, fresh one. Go figure. In any case, the fridge is cool enough to store breakfast burritos in, but probably not cold enough to chill drinks that start out at room temperature. You’ll want to request a bucket of ice from your room steward for that.
6: Thermostat
There are times when I prefer my cabin hot, like when I’m chilled from a day spent outside on an upper deck trying to get the perfect shot of sea lions on blue glacial ice or when I overdose on soft serve. And there are times I prefer my cabin cold, like when I’m sleeping or trying to look skinny in the full length mirror on the back of the closet door even though I’ve been eating the same number of calories each day as an elephant trying to bulk up for football season. So having an adjustable thermostat was a plus, even though it was broken and the movey (not like movie, like move-y) round piece kept falling off.
7: Shampoo and Body Wash
I’m sure you were super relieved when you could finally get your first haircut post lockdown. Me? Not so much. I’ve been hacking mine off myself for years and usually keep it tied back in a makeshift bun. I’m a low maintenance gal and I’m not particular about my haircare products. But what I lack in beauty, I make up for in thrift. So I was happy to have free shampoo and body wash included in the shower. But if you don’t want your locks to look like someone overenthusiastically swept the floor with your head (in other words, like a frayed broom), you might want to bring your own.
8: Hair Dryer
Speaking of hair, even though I don’t usually sweat this stuff, cruise ship hair dryers with the too short cords that pull out of a drawer that you have to hold down the “on” button on until your hand starts to twitch kind of irritate me. I did enjoy not having to pack one though and this time I remembered to bring a bit of electrical tape to secure the button down with (I bet you’ve never seen that one on a cruise packing list before!).
The Worst Thing About My Cabin On The Carnival Miracle
Now I know not everyone runs a subpar blog that approximately six family members begrudgingly read to be supportive, but I have multiple devices I need to keep charged at all times. My mother-in-law simply MUST know what I ate for every meal via Instagram! So I found the SINGLE outlet in my cabin to be a huge inconvenience. Seriously, there was only ONE.
So if there was one thing I’d suggest packing for your cabin on the Miracle, it would be an outlet extender. Be sure you get one that does NOT include a surge protector as those are a fire hazard and will be confiscated. This one is approved specifically for cruising and is small and easy to pack:
Other Things Missing From My Cabin On The Miracle
Due to Covid protocols, no loyalty items were delivered to staterooms. These have to be picked up in other areas of the ship. Go here to find out where.
There was also only once per day cabin service, again due to enhanced safety protocols. On the first day, my steward asked if I would prefer my cabin to be cleaned in the morning or in the evening. I opted for the morning which apparently most others did too, as it took my steward until after 3pm to finish all the “morning” cabins.
One other thing that was missing in my cabin was the daily FunTimes newsletter and schedule. This change wasn’t due to Covid, but rather a fleet wide effort to reduce paper and transition as much as possible over to the HUB app (go here to see the daily schedule and note that you can still pick up a simple printed copy of each day’s schedule at Guest Services). However, the following literature WAS in my cabin when I arrived:
Literature In My Cabin On The Miracle
Back To Black Or The Thing I Liked Most About My Cabin On The Miracle
No, not back-to-back. Back to BLACK. Like that Amy Winehouse song (yes, my music is also a bit dated). Since I mentioned the thing I liked least about my cabin, it’s only fair that I mention the thing I liked most. This also relates to another question I get asked a LOT: Is a balcony cabin a must have for Alaska?
First, the thing I liked most about my cabin: I slept better than I have in 15 months. Why? Because my inside cabin got dark. And I mean so dark that I woke up one night and literally thought I was dead (okay, that part wasn’t so great, in fact it was terrifying). I live in downtown Seattle where it never gets totally dark in my apartment, even with blackout shades, so having pure darkness to sleep was a rare luxury. That coupled with the gentle rocking of the boat meant I could have gone to sleep on the first night and woken up on debarkation morning having missed all of Alaska, seven Blue Iguana breakfast burritos, and ten pounds worth of buffet cake. And I may not have been all that mad about it. That’s how great my sleep was.
So, onto the question: Is a balcony cabin a must have for Alaska? No. You can enjoy Alaska in any cabin category. I’ve sailed to Alaska in just about every cabin configuration and have always had an amazing experience. However, there are some advantages to a balcony. The main one being you can roll out of bed in your robe, grab some room service coffee, and sit out on your private balcony in the morning.
Otherwise, there are so many amazing public areas of the ship to view scenery and wildlife. No need for your own balcony. Really (even though you’ll hear many others tell you differently).
I’m spoiled because I live in Seattle within walking distance of the cruise piers and can hop on a ship to Alaska multiple times every summer. If this is a once-in-a-lifetime cruise for you and you can afford it, spring for the balcony. But if you’re on a budget or if booking an inside or ocean view cabin means you can cruise more often, I’d do that. Know that either way, you’ll have an amazing time.
Did You Receive Towel Animals Even Though You Opted For The Morning Cabin Service?
This was one of the common questions I received while blogging live from the Miracle. Yes! I received daily towel animals (they were there when I returned to my cabin in the afternoon). They were all adorable, but here was my favorite:
In addition to making the best towel animals, my cabin steward did an excellent job of servicing my cabin and was friendly and kind. At the end of my cruise I left an extra cash tip with a hand-written note of thanks in one of these cute notecards (I always bring a pack of these to put my extra tips in for all the crew members who make my cruises so special).
Final Thoughts On My Inside Cabin On The Miracle
Meh. I certainly wouldn’t sail the Miracle for the staterooms. At least not this one. But as my first cruise ship cabin in 15 months, there was no where on earth I’d rather have than in bed with Lenny (that’s what I named the towel animal pictured above – after Lenny Kravitz of course) at sea.
And with that…
Class Dismissed.
Be sure to check out my complete review of my recent sailing on the Carnival Miracle to Alaska. It’s divided into four parts that can be viewed here:
You can also view all the new 2021 Carnival dinner menus here and all bar menus here. Be sure to also follow Prof. Cruise on social media:
