Carnival Miracle Review 4/24-5/1

Well, I just got off the Carnival Miracle 4/24-5/1. Overall, I would have to give the cruise a B+. This was my first cruise ever with my DH and 3 year old daughter.

Positives

1. The staff on the ship were extremely polite and helpful. No matter what your question, you could always find someone with a smile and an answer. Wait staff was excellent along with cabin steward and Camp Carnival staff. All of the staff took extra time to be kind not only to me and my husband but to our daughter as well, even when she wasn't behaving as best as she could have.

2. Ship was always clean. You would always see someone going around and cleaning all parts of the ship.

3. Camp Carnival is awesome! My 3 year old loved it. She never wanted to be with us and preferred to play with all the counselors instead. She loved it so much that she stayed on the ship for our ports of Cozymel and Belize while we went on our tours. And she never missed us for a second!

4. Food was above average in the dining room. I wouldn't give it 5 stars but it was far better than what I could have cooked for myself at home.

5. Late night comedians were pretty entertaining.

6. Embarkation was very smooth. We got to the pier at 11:30 and were on the ship by 12:45-1:00. Very smooth compared to some of the horror stories I have read on this board.

7. Most of the guests were extremely nice and friendly.

Negatives

1. IMHO, I thought the decor was a little loud. I have been to Vegas several times and I thought some of it was overdone. I found it hard to relax with so much Neon around. The reviews related to the dining room are pretty accurate as far as the appearance. Just my opinion.

2. I felt that the Lido deck was a little lacking. Everytime we went for the late night buffet, it was the same thing: Pork sandwiches and barbeque. It didn't change all week. My stomach couldn't tolerate that at 11:30 at night. There was Pizza and deli Sandwiches available but not a lot of variety. Pizza got old after a while. Fruit never tasted quite ripe but that is just nitpicking. The lunch was a little better but I would definitely recommend going to the dining room for lunch and dinner as you get much better quality food.

3. The shows were entertaining but I would rank them just a notch below Vegas. More like Reno or an older Vegas hotel. As I mentioned before, the comedians were pretty funny. I think this is hit or miss with whoever is on your ship when you sail.

4. Alot of people were drinking and smoking in the pool. Everyone has the right to do what they want on vacation but it was a little bit of a downer when I was trying to find a pool to take my 3 year old to. The children's only pool was filled with 20 somethings dropping cigarette ashes directly into the water and the family pool wasn't a whole lot better. Lots of unsupervised kids that were diving in and didn't care how close they came to drowning my 3 year old. Kids will be kids. But this isn't Carnival's fault but rather some of the parents who were too busy relaxing.

5. As I am sure you have read, debarkation wasn't good. The problem I saw was that it was pretty clear we weren't going to make it to the port on time and instead of giving people an estimate early, they just said we are going to be late. People with early flights were pretty irritated. Carnival decided to serve lunch since it was past noon and we still hadn't been clearance to get off the ship but didn't announce it. So, if you were lucky like us on the Lido deck, you got lunch. If not, you had no way of knowing that was even an option.

6. Sometimes the activities, cruise director came off a little "cheesy". Just my opinion.

All in all, I would definitely cruise again as we really enjoyed the ports and for the most part the ship. However, I am not sure if I would do Carnival again, maybe RCL. Just my taste. I would be happy to answer any questions that anyone has related to the cruise, excursions, or camp carnival.

Hi and thanks for your review! What excursions did you do? Did you eat at Nick and Nora's any night? What cabin where you in and did you like it?

Sorry if I ask too many questions. I go in a 2 1/2 weeks and am very excited!

June

You're review of the Miracle mirrors mine of the Glory, 4/16. I posted it to members reviews, but it still hasn't shown up.

Anyway, I feel very much the way you do about Carnival. It was my first with them (I've cruised 7 other times on other lines), and they weren't my favorite. Actually, they're tied for 4th place with NCL. I would have to get a great deal to choose them again. Not a bad cruise, just not as good as the rest.....