Great first cruise for my two grandsons
Carnival Miracle Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 26, 2018
Ship: Carnival Miracle
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 6227
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
The ship needs to be updated and I understand that is going to happen next year. That being said, it was perfectly suitable for our purposes - a first cruise and first time out of the county for my 10 and 12-year old grandsons, their mother and me. Food in the Bacchus dining room was excellent, as was the service from the staff. Food in the Lido buffet offered a good variety of okay food. Staff in this area was also excellent at keeping the area clean with so many people using it. Embarkation was tedious. Our appointment time was between 1130am and noon with only one group before us (not counting all the VIP and priority people). People were still getting off the ship at 1130am so nearly everyone ready to board had to wait until long after noon. Then only the Lido buffet had food for all 2600 people on board which caused very long lines and limited seating. Luggage didn't arrive at our cabin until well after 5pm and even then we finally retrieved it ourselves from the pile of luggage near the elevators. Once we got embarkation out of the way we had a pleasant cruise for the most part. Food in the Bacchus dining room was excellent, as was the service from all the staff. The "table entertainer" magician was amazing - he needs to be offered a show on stage in the theater! As usual on a cruise the food staff and cabin stewards were incredibly friendly, efficient and helpful. Once we had to deal with staff further up the pay scale we sometimes ran into crabby and even surly people. Surprisingly the guest services staff were sometimes the least pleasant. I realize they deal with people all day long but that's their job and, presumably, they are trained to deal with us customers. I did not book any shore excursions through the cruise line. Instead I relied on Trip Advisor reviews to choose my tours which cost less and were excellent in each case. Debarkation was a breeze. It's been a while since I cruise and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that we had the option to take our own luggage off the ship with us, which put us in the first group to leave the ship. The port of Tampa does not require cruise passengers to fill out customs forms, just to orally declare anything of note. This contributed to the ease of getting off the ship and on to the airport. We signed the 10 and 12 year old grandsons up for the kids' programs but they both lost interest in their respective programs after two or three days. The programs seemed too immature for the age groups. The 10 year old found a group of other kids and they hung around with each other and found their own entertainment.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
This is a great ship for first time cruisers. It needs an update. If you've cruised a lot on several other lines it might not compare to some of them. Nonetheless we had a very good time and we loved the food in the Bacchus dining room.
Ports of call
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras