Carnival Miracle to book or not to book!? Help

[prncsscruiser]

Hello! My family is looking into cruising to Alaska this summer and the Carnival miracle 10 night out of SF is an option.  I have taken one 3 night carnival cruise about 10 years ago. Tell me the good bad and ugly? We are used to cruising mainly with Disney and Princess (and some NCL). We will have two adults, a 6 year old and a 18 month old toddler. My daughter has food allergies id love to hear if anyone has experience with dining with allergies on carnival! Tell me about the ship, activities, food, kids options, and anything else I should know about cruising with carnival.  A little nervous to pull the trigger but also thinking it might be worth it. Thank you!!! 

[pcvtmom]

My nephew has severe food allergies (peanuts), and Carnival was FANTASTIC!  They had him choose this meals the night before (in the main dining room), so that they could make certain there was no cross contamination.  They also have a manager in the Lido restaurant taking information about allergies, to insure safety in that venue.

We've cruised Carnival with our two year old grandchildren, as well as our 7 and 8 year old grandchildren.  They all love the Carnival product. There probably wouldn't be as much water slide/splash pad play on a cruise to Alaska, but the kids' clubs, the Dr. Seuss-themed activities, and Build a Bear would be fun for them.

The Miracle is a Spirit-class ship, which is our personal favorite size.  It isn't huge, but there's more space allotted per person than the other classes of Carnival ships. It has extremely bright (gaudy 😁) decor, but that's part of the attraction!

[csm5986142]

We loved out cruise on Miracle our of San Francisco, it's one of my favorite departure ports - so much to do in close proximity (you can walk everywhere if you want). I also like the fact that you can use SFO or OAK airports if you have to fly to/from port.  It worked out better for us to fly into OAK and out of SFO (you never know ... check all options).

She is an older ship, and if decor is important to you, very gaudy (but as long as a ship is clean and well maintained, decor doesn't bother me).  The ship has a nice layout that doesn't feel crowded - we didn't experience long lines for everything like we have on some other ships.

We don't have any food allergies in our family, but I've heard Carnival has an excellent program called Menu Mate (more info under the link below).  

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/dietary-needs

You didn't mention if you've cruised to Alaska before, but if not, that is a whole other discussion (great unique itenerary if you are used to the tropical cruises).

Carnival has a great kids club program - it's been a few years since we've used it but my kids really enjoyed it in the past, along with the waterworks and water slides.  Miracle should have Seuss at Sea for the kids too.

It all depends on what experience you are looking for, but for the size ships that sail the Alaska itenerary, I think Miracle is good option.  

[prncsscruiser]

Thank you for the responses so far, it’s making me feel a little more relaxed about sailing on an unknown to us line. we have sailed alaska before, took the fam last summer on the discovery princess and my husband and I have been 3 other times wit princess and ncl, we love Alaska.  We live within an hour to the sf port which is the big draw for us! 

[firefly333]

I did miracle to alaska and loved it.  Bring your binoculars. The older folks early each morning would grab chairs and line them up in the buffet looking out at the scenery. A balcony is  nice but they wanted to see both sides of scenery, especially the  morning we saw whales. 

 

Maybe my favorite cruise. 

 

Wish air fare was less, I'd be right back with ya.

[MEUB1112]

We did this last July, LOVED it, more time in the ports, beautiful scenery, and a great ship. Get a balcony!!

[crazycatlady82]

We cruised last August on the Miracle out of SF. We had a great time! We didn't travel with kids so we can't speak to that...We really enjoyed the Steakhouse and the Sky Box bar. One thing we noticed was that during the day, only one bar seemed to be open on the Lido deck. The buffet was just meh, but the dining room was good. The coffee shop was always busy but a great spot for indoor sight seeing was next to the coffee shop. The game room/library was always full! 

[bluejay555]

We did this cruise last year with our teenagers and loved it.  We have also done Alaska with Princess and while Carnival isn't as elegant, we had a wonderful time!  We love Carnival.  There was so much to do and it was very laid back.  Leaving from San Francisco is awesome, sailing under the Golden Gate bridge and past Alcatraz, but the Pacific is very rocky and lots of people were feeling sick the first couple days.  It was also very foggy.  I did a review on our cruise if you're interested.