Carnival Miracle Review

Great Cruise, Better than a lot of the reviews on Cruise Critic

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Miracle
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randyray
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
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Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
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Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2018
Cabin: Balcony
Traveled with children

My family of four had two rooms on the ship, midship balcony 7215 for myself and my wife and midship inside 4129 for my two sons. I had read about complaints about vibration complaints in the back of the ship, so we tried to pick rooms a little bit forward. No issue with vibration for us. We all were happy with our rooms, no problems, very clean, and as on practically every cruise and cruise line I have ever been on, the room attendants were great. Always have to give them the extra tip, besides what they get from the built-in tips, as they outshine everybody else on the crew.The room was clean, comfortable, and had enough storage. The bathroom was a typical ship bathroom, small but adequate.Carnival has changed the room cleaning from twice a day to once a day, a little disheartening, but I had read about it on these boards before hand, so I was prepared for it. We adapted to the change.On the first day my cabin steward asked me which I preferred, so we went with the morning cleaning. I suppose you could throw a few extra bucks at the cabin stewards and get them to come twice a day If that is a deal breaker for you, but as I say, we adapted.

This is an older ship, so very few bells and whistles. There is a slide at the back of the ship, but my family never experienced it. Despite its age, the ship is in good condition and kept up well. Library is practically nonexistent, so if you're thinking Holland America library, you will not be happy. Internet was abysmal, don't pay for it unless you absolutely, positively have to have it ( I do, because I own my own business and have to be in contact with my employees even on vacation). Wasn't really impressed with the casino or its service either, but those were the only two negatives about the whole cruise.I'm not really sure if the casino staff works for Carnival, or if they are contractors, but they're not the friendliest bunch. I was in the casino almost every day, but still not impressed. Maybe I'm spoiled by Mohegan Sun!

I see a lot of criticism about Carnival food when I read the reviews on CC, but we found the food very good to excellent. Went to the Statehouse twice, definitely worth the $35 it cost. Ate in the main dining room several times, we could not get an early fixed seating time, so we did the flexible time dining, first time for us. Basically they seat fixed dining on the second deck, and flexible dining on the third deck, as the restaurant has a two-story design over those two decks. No problem getting seated quickly, the only night that would have been a problem was the formal night, there was a wait that night, but we ate in the steakhouse that night anyway, so were not affected. We always were served in a prompt manner and the food was hot and good. Usual dining time from start to finish was about an hour and a half. Dining begins at 5:45, and we usually ate at right about that time, if that helps you decide when to go. Lido was a typical cruise buffet, often busy and sometimes hard to get a table, but relatively clean and the food was good and hot. We did not experience room service, since we found all of the dining venues to be just fine. Bottom line was no complaints about any of the dining.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin 8F

Cabin was comfortable with plenty of storage, always kept clean by the room stewards.

Port Reviews

Tampa

There is plenty to do in Tampa, if you arrive early or depart late. TPA Has a dedicated fast lane for TSA Pre-check, one of the best I have experienced. The airport is a lot more low-key than Orlando or Fort Lauderdale. Good experience.

Cozumel

We did our own thing in Cozumel, we did not use a ship tour. When we got off the boat, we grabbed a cab to Paradise Beach. It was a great experience, despite the fact that it rained on and off all day. Nice staff there, good food, good facilities,I also had a wonderful beach massage there. Highly recommend Paradise Beach!

Grand Cayman (Georgetown)

We just walked around town on our own, we did do the historical Museum which is very close to the boat. Didn't realize that they have a scuba diving Hall of Fame located in this museum. As my 15-year-old has done scuba, he was very interested in this. Good way to spend an hour or two. Shopping was the usual Caribbean shopping, nothing special. This was the last port day for us, and having done more activity in the other three ports, we just wanted to lay low. The highlight of this port is Stingray City, I think if you don't do that, this port is pretty average.

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