Carnival Cruises, Miracle, Western Caribbean Review

Overall Rating

Balcony Stateroom; steward; kids club; and food.

Not 'family' minded....

Overall, my family enjoyed the cruise. The stateroom was beautiful and comfortable; not one complaint can be made about the steward or restaurant staff. Our stateroom had a minor problem with the air conditioning system, and within 10 minutes after our complaint was made, an electrician came to repair the problem. Everyone on board was very friendly. No problems with the water in our room; there was ample supply of hot water, however, cold water wasn't really cold in our room. Not sure if this was a problem just in our room.... The islands were beautiful.... The food was good.

My major complaint and the main reason I'm writing this review is to share my opinion about the activities that were scheduled during the days while at sea. As stated above, not many activities scheduled on the ship were geared to "family" enjoyment. I'll be honest, I couldn't even find one. Every event was either about gambling (bingo, casino tips, etc); shopping ( buying diamonds and jewellery; how to barter; where to shop); or adult fun. For example, they had a "Hairiest Chest" contest for men at the poolside where many children weren't too far off swimming. A handful of women were chosen as judges to 'feel' the chests and backs and help choose a winner. Well, I won't get into too much details but the groaning and stripping music the men danced to while children were having fun in the pool. It was very uncomfortable for me to watch the guests (including the children) cheering the men on. An attempt should have been made by Carnival to warn parents about the show so that we could leave or move the children to another pool. Better yet, they should restrict these activities to the adult only pool area. There were many other activities similar to this...... I feel our family could have scheduled our day better if all activities were rated in their daily newsletter so these events could be avoided.

A warning about the stateroom tv. Discovery Channel was available for my kids to enjoy, which was great, BUT the only commercial that came on was very inappropriate.

I won't even get into the nightly shows scheduled in the major theatre.

The only family activities we had were the ones we came up with. Card games and family scavenger hunts helped pass the time as well as time at the pool. Overall, I felt this cruise was inappropriate for my children and I won't even consider taking it again. Enough said.

If you decide to take this cruise, here are some things to remember.... bring extra hangers. They had some but not enough and the ones they had were permanently attached to the rod. Clothes irons are not allowed in the staterooms and warnings were made the first day that they will be confiscated from your room. Clothes irons are available in the laundry room (I'm not sure how many laundry rooms are on the ship) but the irons worked really well. Also, washers and dryers are available for guests. It costs $2.00 to wash; $2.00 to dry and $2.00 for the laundry detergent per wash. I would suggest you bring your own detergent to save money if you intend to do the laundry before you return home.