Day 7 Victoria, Canada

Carnival Miracle 2013 7-Day Alaska Cruise Review
Day 7        June 17, 2013 A Day At Sea AND Victoria, BC, Canada
Scheduled Arrival:   7:30PM                      Scheduled Departure:   11:59PM
Modified Arrival:     8:30PM   Modified Departure:      12:30am (June 18, 2013)
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Daily Overview: Today was a day at sea and in the evening the ship docked in Victoria, BC, Canada. The ship's arrival in Victoria was delayed because of the medical emergency that happened on Day 5. The weather was cloudy during the day, but in the evening it was raining. Today we had a time change and clocks had to be set one hour forward in order to stay on ship's time. The day started out with breakfast and then a free backstage tour (I posted pictures). Here are some pictures from the morning:

View of Water From Balcony

View From Balcony

Gatsby's Garden

Sitting Area in Gatsby's Garden

Passing Ship - A Princess Ship Maybe?

Passing Ship - Holland America Maybe?

Backstage Tour: This was a free tour that was put on by the cruise director and some of the stage managers. The only other time that I have been behind the stage on a ship is when I paid to do the Behind the Fun Tour on the Carnival Elation in 2012. This backstage tour was where people would see the male & female dressing areas, costume storage, and the many areas of the backstage. The tour met on the lower level of the Phantom Theater. The cruise director spoke some about the stage and then he asked everyone to form a line. The path was go behind the curtain on the starboard side, then go through the empty dressing rooms & storage areas, and then exit the stage from the port side. Staff members were stationed along the tour route to give information and answer questions. After everybody was done behind the stage the cruise director answered questions in the Phantom Theater. This was worth attending and the best part about the tour was that it was free. Here are some pictures that I took during the tour of the backstage areas on the Carnival Miracle (pictures don't have important captions and are in photo gallery format):

Scavenger Hunt: I did a scavenger hunt after the backstage tour and won! The scavenger hunt was digital, which means that a working camera was required. The items had to be photographed in order and some of the items were on opposite areas of the ship and on different floors. It was quite a workout!

Gym

Looking Down From Balcony

Chocolate Covered Honeydew

Last Lunch and Chocolate Extravaganza:
The last day's lunch was very good. I had a Pastrami on Rye sandwich from the deli and some pizza from the pizzeria. The pizza was better today because I ordered extra sauce and extra cheese. Today's dessert buffet was called the Chocolate Extravaganza. The dessert buffet took up 2 lines today. Two of the attractions were a chocolate fountain and ice cream swans.

Many items on the chocolate buffet were good, but only one food item that I tried was not very good.

Mad Hatter's Ball

View From Stage of Mad Hatter's Ball

Closed Metal Door to Gatsby's Garden

On Deck 3

Deck 3 Looking Towards Back

For A Fee Coffee & Sweets Cafe:
Near the Fountainhead there was a place where people could pay extra for desserts and coffee. I don't know about the prices, or if the food or drink was good, but I did take some pictures. Some of the pictures have the food's name and price tag, but remember that these are subject to change and may vary by ship or itinerary. These pictures are in photo gallery format because I do not know the names of the food. There are no important captions that go with each picture. Here are the pictures:

Taste Bar

Fountain in Fountainhead

Sam's Piano Bar

Sam's Piano Bar Sitting Area

Yellow Brick Road - Fun Shops

Deck Closed For Washing

Waves At the Back of the Ship

Deck 3 Looking Towards Front

Back of Deck 3

Cargo Ship Passing By

Deck 3

Last Night's Dinner:
Dinner was once again very good and the service was good! I had crab cake, Caesar salad, crusted jumbo shrimp, and diet apple pie for dessert. The diet apple pie was actually very good! I thought that it would taste funny because it was a "diet" food option, but it was just as good as the regular apple pie! The pictures I took and posted here are in photo gallery format and do not have any informational captions or titles.
Here are the pictures:

Towel Heart

Stateroom Nightly Turn-down:
After dinner the stateroom steward was still cleaning the stateroom. He was almost finished when we arrived so we waited outside the door for him to be finished.

Side Note... The carts that some of the stateroom stewards used had the chocolate candies locked up. It is no longer easy to take an extra chocolate candy because they are no longer sitting out to be grabbed. I did see one stateroom steward who had his chocolate bowl out, but he kept a towel over the bowl.

The arrival into Victoria was delayed because of the medical emergency that occurred on Day 5 after the ship departed from Juneau, Alaska. The ship was projected to dock around 8:30PM. The ship's departure time was pushed back to 12:30PM.

Lido Pool Area

Arriving in Victoria - At Front of The Ship

Looking Back From Front of Ship

Ship in Water

On Deck 10

Entering Horatio's

Horatio's Lido Buffet

Beverage Station in Horatio's

Looking Down At Lido Pool

On Deck 3

Sitting Area on Deck 3

Yellow Brick Road - Shops

Stairwell Area

Dr. Frankenstein's Disco

Disco

Dance Floor

On Deck 3

Here are some pictures taken during the ship's arrival into Victoria, BC, Canada:

Atrium

Other Ship Docked in Victoria, BC, Canada

Small Lighthouse Looking Object

Ship

Arriving at Victoria, BC, Canada

Victoria, BC, Canada

Pulling into the Pier

Looking Down At Tip of The Pier

Gangway Getting Into Position

Gangway Mover

Gangways are In Position

Looking Down At Gangway

Pier at Victoria, Canada

People on Pier

Recyclable Materials Being Loaded

2nd Bin of Soda Cans

Mr. Lucky's Casino

Bar in Mr. Lucky's Casino

Slots in Mr. Lucky's Casino

Sail & Sign Kiosk

Getting Off The Ship: The line to get off the ship was very long. The line extended from the lobby of the atrium to the back of the casino. The line moved decently fast.

Some shore excursions were cancelled because of the ship's late arrival into Victoria.

In Victoria: The pier had a gift shop and a customs building that all cruise passengers had to go through. The gift shop was very crowded and small. The passengers who were going on shore excursions lined up in a designated place.
Due to the ship arriving late I did not get to go into the city because it was dark outside. I heard that Victoria was a nice place, but we docked too late at night for me to enjoy anything. After 20 minutes of being off the ship it started raining and then it was time for me to head back onboard.
I wish the ship would have docked on-time so I could have seen more of Victoria in the daylight.

On The Pier

Front of The Ship - View From Pier

Looking Towards Back of Pier

Zoomed in at Front of Ship

View of Front of Ship

Miracle Behind Customs Building

Carnival Miracle

Getting Back Onboard The Ship:

The line to get back onboard the ship was very short and moved quick. After getting back onboard I went to Horatio's for some hot chocolate.

Here are some pictures of the ship at night: