Carnival Cruises, Miracle, Western Caribbean

Carnival Cruises main male singer for revue shows in Phantom Lounge is fabulous!! Should be on Broadway. Wait staff in Bacchus dining room very attentive-food excellent. Very comfy rooms with lots of storage. Balcony very smoky from neighbours-unable to use. Ports of call are rather dull

Cruise itinerary was changed. Compensation of $50 USD.

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.

This was a great cruise of Western Caribbean. We received great service, rooms and beds were great. There could have had more activities and better shows. Food was at best fair, excursions were terrible and I would advise you to book on your own.

We booked this 45 days in advance, and arrived in Tampa the night before, to insure no delays in the arrival to the ship. We got to the embarkation at noon, on the ship and eating by 1...in our stateroom after, and luggage was waiting there. Had a balcony which was cozy, and the rooms were large. We stayed in room 6249. Ate at the Bacchus dining room upstairs table. Very friendly waiters, and they loved to dance with the kids...I even had a chance to get up with them one night.

All shows were entertaining, except for the hypnotist. He was AWFUL!!

Carnival Miracle Western Caribbean is a great cruise with lots to do on-board, as well as in ports.

Wonderful - Wonderful - Wonderful

We had the best time on the Carnival Miracle Western Caribbean cruise.

Tampa - it was a breeze to get on the boat. We decided to stay at the Chase Suites hotel in Tampa. The have all suites which are really nice. They have a package that includes one night's stay, parking for your vehicle for the entire time of your cruise, transportation to the port and pickup at the end of your cruise. It was great! They took you right to the door, and they were right there within minutes upon return. The porter takes the bags right from the shuttle, so there is little to lug around. Just a short line, a short wait for your group number to be called and then you board. We left the hotel a little after 11am, and we were on the boat a little after noon. There are plenty of people on-board to give you directions once you are on the ship.

We went straight to the Lido deck for lunch. It was a little crowded since everyone was eating at the same time and sitting around waiting on the cabins to get ready, but it worked. We went to our cabin a little after 1, but it wasn't quite ready. Our cabin steward was nice. It was great that it seemed every time you left your room, the steward would straighten up, and it would look great when you returned.

They give out lanyards on the 2nd floor around mid-ship to help you to keep up with your sail and sign card. This also works good to keep up with your Carnival Caper tear off sheet summary for the day. It folds to fit easily in the holder with your card. Our kids didn't have any trouble keeping up with their card this way.

We were in cabins 5107 (balcony) with adjoining room 5105 (inside). This worked great for us with the two kids. It gave everyone their own bed, two bathrooms and an extended balcony, which was plenty big enough for all of us to share. The room was so roomy compared to our past experience with another cruise line. The only problem that we had was the choice of TV stations. We had several Carnival stations, CNN, and the local news out of Denver, CO (go figure). My husband wanted ESPN to try to keep up with the baseball trades. I would have liked to have the weather, but other than that there is so much to do on the boat that TV is the last thing that you really want to do.

Our cabin was on the floor with Camp Carnival just a few doors down. No problem with noise. We never heard any of the kids. It was great to be so close for when our daughter wanted to go for just a little time. This floor was also pretty when right in the middle of everything - a few floors down for diner and the shows - a few floors up for the pools and casual dining. Our room was on the starboard side, forward. There was a good bit of wind on the balcony, but since it was warm out - it actually felt good. I haven't had a balcony room before to be able to compare. We slept in most mornings, so I didn't get any sunrise photos. We also stayed so busy that I never saw a sunset as well, so I can't say which side of the boat is best for either of those.

We had table 362 for dining. This is a table for four, upstairs in the very rear of the boat. It was near the windows so we could see out while eating. Our waiters were WONDERFUL. I cried on the last night to have to tell them bye. The main waiter was so happy to get us whatever we wanted. He called us by name each night, and also memorized our likes and would bring some things just because he remembered we liked it. The kids wouldn't miss dinner because they wanted to see the main waiter and the helper. Our waiters were both from the Philippines. The helper was going home after our cruise, so he was really excited to be seeing his family soon. The main waiter had a few more cruises before he could go home. He did a card trick one night, and napkin creations one night to entertain the kids. The food was great. We had Prime Rib two nights and Filet Minon two nights (thanks to the main waiter). My daughter wanted more Filet Minon one night when it wasn't on the menu. He brought it to all of us that night, as it was our choice as well. We asked for baked potatoes several nights, and he started bringing them from memory. He would bring a plate of chips or French fries for the kids as well. Like I said, he was happy to serve us whatever we wanted.

My daughter thought it was great that room service was free. We ordered that several times, especially for breakfast. It was nice to have breakfast in bed or out on the balcony. If you order room service, you have to get the chocolate cake!!! My son loved the 24 hour Pizza. My daughter also loved the 24 hour ice cream. One day she had ice cream at least 6 times!! It was nice when by the pool to cool down with a cone of chocolate ice cream - YUM.

The pools seemed to be a little crowded a lot of the time. Of course, port days is a good time to go swimming, as a lot of people aren't even on the boat. The pool on the lido deck forward was usually the one that was least crowded, as there was no band or food right by the pool. Of course, you could still hear music, and it was only a short walk to the food. Carnival issues beach towels to each guest. They swap these out any time they see them in your cabin, as they have been used. The only problem is that if you lose one, you are charged $22 unless you report it to the purser's desk. We had two stolen by the pool one day. Everyone has towels that look just alike, so I think it was just a mistake, but I was glad to know that since we reported it we didn't have to pay the fee. WHEW!

Horatio's restaurant was great for casual dining. There was a good variety. It took a minute to get acquainted with all that they had, as it was in stations, but after that it was great, as it made for shorter lines, as people were in more than one line. We loved the breakfast there. My husband had an omelet each morning made especially for him.

The entertainment was good. The first night the comic was the best. The second night was good as well, but we didn't care for the one the third night as much. We still went to all of the shows anyway though. We also liked the adult comedy shows at 11 or 12 each night. Several nights they only have one show, so go early as it gets really crowded, and you might not be able to sit together if you have several people. The other nights, the late seating dinner people have their show at 7pm. The early seating have their show at 8 something. That works well.

You need to look over your Carnival Caper each day and highlight all that you want to do. Believe me, you will be having such a good time that you can't make it to all that you want to, or you are relaxing and decide to skip a few things. We loved the Newlywed Game, Family Feud, Towel folding demo and the hairy chest contest etc. Also pay attention to the times for trivia on your TV where you call in your answer for a chance at a prize.

They video tape all of the events, some excursions, and other general going-ons throughout the cruise, and you can purchase a copy. If you get involved, you are bound to be on there several times. The photos that they take are pretty good but pricey. An 8X10 is $20. We easily spent over $100 for just a few shots. Oh well - it is a good keepsake.

The "Super Shopper" is wonderful. If you plan to do any shopping at all, you have to go to his talks. He tells you where all of the deals are, how much you should negotiate, gives out coupons, maps and free items at these talks. You will be glad you went, and you will probably go each day before you go out to a port. They also replay his talks on the TV in your room if you just can't make it to the talk in person. He also has a station on the 2nd floor where you can stop by and ask personal shopping questions, or just pick up info for the ports.

We didn't make it to any of the midnight buffets, so no comment, other than I heard several people talk about how good they were. We also missed the bathrobe party. I hated that, but I was feeling a little sea sick that night. I had two nights that I didn't do that well. I was wearing the patch, but the seas were a little rough. It usually got me during dinner when we were at the back of the boat. Nothing too bad, and I kept going, but I just couldn't make it past midnight too much.

Ports:

Grand Cayman - My husband LOVES to shop, so we spent a lot of time shopping with him. He loves collecting Hard Rock shirts and had to get one there. He was also looking for a new watch that the super shopper told him about that reduces stress. We looked at several stores for just the right one. We took a local taxi to 7 mile beach. This was great! The water was so clear that you could see your feet! That doesn't happen on the east coast, so we were so amazed. We had a great time.

Cozumel - We shopped the whole day. We took a taxi to the Forum shops and shopped our way back almost to the pier. We did walk across the street to put our feet in the ocean, but we didn't really swim as it wasn't a pretty beach at this particular place. Several of the shops give away items to get you in the door. We got 4 pairs of free earrings and free drinks by some of these vendors. It was warm, so the free drinks were nice. Several stores gave out bottled water and sodas in cans.

Belize - We did a little shopping in the tourist village at the pier. You can go through the vacant jewelry store to go out back to visit with the locals. My daughter got her hair braided. The locals were so nice. We also negotiated with a local to get a tour of Belize City. It was so informative. He took us to see where the rich live (not that there are any rich by US standards), where the poor live, the main businesses and special sites etc. He was great! He did the tour for $20 for all four of us. The excursion people in the village wanted $30 per person for a very similar tour (in a much larger group). If you want to go on this personal tour, ask for Anthony and tell him Jimmy and Cheryl said hi. They also have a lot of hand made items for sale. Of course, they ask you a thousand times to come look at their wares, but they all mean well. This was my favorite port, and I love history and feel that we got to see more of the actual location than in the other ports, where we only saw what they wanted the tourist to see.

Costa Maya - this was the favorite for both of our kids. Mainly because we swam most of the day. The pool in the tourist section is huge. They had another pool closer to shore as well. You can't swim in the ocean at this place. You have to rent a taxi to go to the beach. We had such a great time here that we didn't make it to the beach. You have to go out by the shore though, and try the hammocks. I could have taken a nap!! We decided to let our daughter pick up a local item with her money. She learned well the art of negotiation. She is 8 years old. She picked out a clay, hand painted turtle where its head bobs. They started out at $10. After walking away twice, she got it for $3. She had seen us negotiate at the other ports and learned well. My son (age 13) and husband picked up two pair of Oakley sunglasses for $47. They started at $35 each, so that was pretty good negotiating as well.

We had to take a tender boat to all ports, except for the last one at Costa Maya where we were able to dock. The tender boats were a lot better than our prior experience with another cruise line. Most of them were air conditioned and quick. The one at Belize was open, but it was fun as it was a speed boat, and you could sit on the back and watch the wake that it made. The kids loved this until they discovered that the water comes over the back and their seat was wet. Oh well.

I could go on and on about how much fun we had. We also had a lot of time to just relax as well. There were a lot of activities that we were able to do as a family, which was nice to create memories together. We participated any time we were picked at the shows etc. We got to demonstrate how to make a towel elephant. We were also picked for the family feud show. Get involved - it was a blast.

The decoration of the ship was a little gaudy, but unless you are going for the decor, it didn't really matter. Yes, the grapes in the dining room are ugly. Even the crew will tell you that. My daughter was a little uncomfortable with all of the nudity on the ship with the art. We tried to explain that in some countries it is really considered art, but at her young age she didn't really understand. That is the only change that I would suggest, especially for the young ones. Otherwise, it wasn't a problem.

Oh yeah, they give out decks of cards with Carnival on them if you just go ask at the purser's desk. We didn't know for a few days, but then someone was nice enough to let us in on it, so the kids played cards a lot after that.

If anyone has any questions and wanted to leave a comment, I will be glad to try to help. If you are already booked on Miracle - happy sailing. I know you will have a blast!!

CCL Miracle Cruise Review

March 13, 2006

Itinerary: Tampa, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya

EMBARKATION

This was our 11th cruise, the third on Carnival, and our cruisemates 14th cruise. We arrived at Terminal 2 at noon by private car, and decided to use the $10 valet parking after the valet said we'd have our car in 10 minutes on return. This turned out to be incorrect, you get your own car on return. The daily parking fee is $12, and the parkade is across the street from the terminal. So doing valet wasn't worth the fee, you might as well drop your people and luggage off at the ship porters, then park at the parkade and walk back across the street. On return, get your car while your people stay with your luggage in front of the parking building.

The process inside the terminal was ok, waited only a few minutes to get the ship card, then waited about half an hour in a seated area to be called to board. No escorts to the cabins, find your own way. Our luggage arrived about 4pm, our friends got theirs faster. Good lunch buffet, then went to the dining room to ask the maitre'd for a dining table change to a larger table, which he was later able to do. Fire muster drill at 3:30, sailaway after that.

THE SHIP

The Miracle was built in 2004, and it's very clean and new. The decorating is gaudy, loud, often tacky, kind of like a Vegas hotel gone wild. And the decorating themes seem unconnected. The dining room is a Bacchus (god of pleasure) theme, with pink flying saucer lights all over the walls, ceiling, and pillars that other reviewers have shaken their heads at, apparently meant to resemble bunches of grapes. Then in other areas of the ship the theme is characters such as Robin Hood, Captain Hook, famous detectives. Then in other areas it's an Alice in Wonderland theme, all this with crazy loud d cor, none of which seems to flow together. Even the huge atrium was garish. One area of the ship that was classy was Nick and Nora's pay restaurant, $30 p.p. (no discounts offered all week). The location was lovely, nice views, more space between tables and quieter than the main dining room.

Ship design was also strange in some areas. They built a huge atrium extending to the top of the ship, and then put an overhang above the atrium that cuts off your view. And one side of the atrium had hardly any seating. Another design hassle was the very low ceiling in the upper level of the dining room, which we are guessing was the reason for it being so noisy, you have to raise your voice to be heard across the table. If you don't like it noisy you should request a table on the lower level. And there were no panoramic windows in the dining room, this was the only ship that we couldn't tell where the dining room was from the outside. The good design thing is it's easy to find your way around, no roadblocks.

As usual, on sea days all the loungers around or above the pools are taken or saved by 9:30, but the good news is there are lots of extra stacks of loungers further astern on either side, so you can always find one, great if you don't mind a quiet place away from the action. And the loungers are great, a nice mesh, no more buggy straps. We love calypso bands, and were disappointed in the pool band, they played a strange mix, off beat reggae, no one dancing on the pool dance floor. The Asian band in Frankie and Johnnie's bar was great, good rock and roll, etc.

The gym was good, adequate number of machines, nice to find some we use that aren't often on ships, separate aerobics room (classes $10), good free weights, heated lounger area (overhead heater lamps), floor mats, nice views from the machines, nice rubberized jogging track on the top deck.

THE CABIN

We booked an inside 4A guarantee which allows CCL to give us any 4A cabin or upgrade us to any higher category. We were delighted to get an upgrade 3 decks higher to an outside 5A obstructed view with balcony doors. No balcony, because of the life boat, but nice to see the weather, get some natural light, and stick our heads out to check the temp. Good sized cabin. Only 1 outlet in the cabin, bring a power bar if you have things to plug in. Great safe, no more numbers to punch in, just swipe any magnetic card, we used a drivers licence. A fridge! Robes (required later for the bathrobes and beer party). Lots of storage, suitcases fit under the K bed. Duvet on the bed (but not on lower categories). Wendy loved it, too hot for me, got a blanket from the steward, then fine. Great shower, Niagara Falls, good temp control, hand wand, clothesline (bring clothes pins). Nice body wash soap and shampoo, no conditioner. Nice amenities in bathroom, Crest toothpaste, dental floss, Olay products, disposable razors, and a pull out magnifying mirror. Sofa and table were handy. Good hair dryer attached to vanity drawer.

SERVICE

We had some issues with the service, no biggies, no attitude probs, nice crew, just little buggy stuff. Cutlery tossed on the dinner table instead of being placed. Water glasses left empty. Sometimes buns/bread being offered twice, sometimes not. One of our cruisemates always requested the same item every night. On other cruises the staff usually remember this and bring it (teapot of hot water/lemon wedges) without being asked, but not this week. At one dinner late in the week the pot was requested but didn't come, so we built a tower of wine glasses with the lemon plate on top as a hint. But our Tower of Babel hint didn't work, so we re-ordered again. On the other hand, 2 of us kept getting asked if we wanted coffee every night when we'd told them we don't drink it. But the wait staff were good fun, with helpful information to assist us in choosing courses we'd like. The Maitre'D and head waiter never came around to say hi, a first for that, but he did get us the table change we requested (larger table), so he's ok too.

We pre-tipped the cabin steward to keep the ice bucket full during the afternoons and evenings, which produced a big smile, and he was good at filling it before going off shift at 1pm, but a few times in the evening it was empty, so we went down the hall until we found a steward's dolly which has ice thermoses on them, and re-filled our bucket. And we had showed our steward that we had removed the ship items out of the fridge and into a closet to we could put our own stuff in the fridge, but he still put through a charge for us using one of the items. It took 3 trips to the Purser's Desk to get the charge reversed. If the key is missing from your fridge ask your steward for it so you can open it.

On the up side, one crew member saved the day for us, with service above and beyond. We had arranged to meet our cruisemates near the gangway to go on a private tour at a tendered port, Belize. Ship tour people get the first tenders, and others aren't allowed down the gangway until the ship tours are gone. Our friends arrived early, and were able to get down to a lower level of the gangway. We arrived a bit later, but by then you couldn't get down without a tour sticker. When the meeting time passed, our friends were able to slip on a ship tour tender boat and get to shore so they could find our guide and get things ready to go. But we didn't know they had left, so we told our dilemma to a young lady doing passenger control duty, one of the floor show dancers. She scooted downstairs through all the people lined up to check the passenger control computer and found out that our friends had got off the ship. Knowing we were trying to make it to our private tour, she told us to stand behind her because she thought there would be some open seats on the next ship tour tender, which there was, and she snuck us on it. That saved us at least an hour. We gave her personal kudos on the cruise evaluation form, apparently the crew get perks like extra days off for that. Thanks Debbie! You dance great too!

FOOD

The dining room food was up and down, largest lobster we ever had on a ship, perfectly done, but the risotto side dish was a gluey paste. Sometimes items were not very hot. Once the sirloin was not very tender. Generally the starters and entrees were interesting and good, no one went hungry, sometimes we'd share a third entr e to get a taste of both.

The lido buffet was good, lots of selection, 4 main stations and other specialty stations, including pizza and deli. Happy to find real brown sugar for cereal. No smoked salmon at breakfast or lunch, although the deli would make a smoked salmon bagel sandwich, could have asked for just the salmon but didn't want to stand in another line for that. Nice Asian dishes at the Asian station. Great lemonade at the drink station.

Went to one midnight buffet, the grand gala, and it was pretty good, found one great curry dish that hadn't been on the menu before. Didn't find the desserts we were looking for, but there were several choices.

Nice sandwiches and wraps on the room service menu, order them before you get off in port if you want free snacks in your shore bag.

ENTERTAINMENT

Most of the entertainment acts were good, and the audience participation ones are always fun, Biggest Liar, Newlywed and Not So Newlywed, Battle of Sexes (guys have lost 17 weeks in a row!) We often don't go to the song and dance floor shows, we've seen so many and we're not really into them, but the "Ticket To Ride" Beatle tribute floor show was highly recommended, and it turned out to be the best we've ever seen on a ship, it could have been an entry level Vegas act. Wonderful props, choreography, skits, costumes, laser lights, terrific music from the orchestra, the Asian band doing several hits as a replica concert, complete with audience lighters (light sticks) and confetti. Everyone was singing along, huge standing ovation. Before the show, clips from old Beatles concerts and events were playing on the screen, very nostalgic for us over 40's. Throughout the day there were lots of activities all over the ship. After dinner each night there were "waiter shows" in the dining room, lots of people up dancing with the waiters.

OUR FELLOW PASSENGERS

This was a young crowd, lots of spring breakers, lots of action, but no probs, no drunks on deck, no running up and down the halls or lounges. But tons of old T-shirts and ball caps in the lido buffet. The dining room has the usual no shorts or jeans rule, but they don't stop shorts or jeans from entering, and there were several of these every night, both men and women. They do ask for ball caps to be taken off.

On formal nights if you want to be with and see the dressed up people, hang out at the atrium before dinner where they're getting their pictures taken by the various ship photographers, and also go to the captain's cocktail party, no grubbies there. On other cruises most people keep their formal wear on for the evening, but on the last formal night everyone wanted to get back in their grubbies, and for the last theatre show we were the only 4 still dressed up, also walking back through the casino there was no one still dressed up.

Many were late for dinner, about half an hour, I don't think they realize it throws off the progression of courses set out in the galley, and keeps your table mates waiting between courses if you show up late and have to do catch-up. So at the end of the cruise someone in our area brought an artificial limb, the bottom part of a leg and foot, and put it on a latecomer's chair. When she pulled it out she freaked out quite nicely. Then the foot got passed around to another table waiting for a latecomer, and about a half dozen of them got it that night, quite a hoot, the waiters loved it (payback time). By the time the last late one arrived everyone was watching the show, no one talking, staring at her as she went to her chair, she thought there was something wrong with her clothes, but she soon found out.

THE PORTS

Grand Cayman

The ship anchors fairly close to the dock, so the tender boat ride is not long. Also, 2 gangways are used, speeding things up. We had done the stingrays before (excellent), and this time planned to snorkel a nearby wreck and then hit a resort for lunch and drinks around a pool.. Two wrecks are walkable, the Cali and the Gamma, and we picked the Gamma over the Cali because the Cali has been broken up, and its site can be crowded with ship tours.

We rented equipment including inflatable vests at Divers Down beside Hammerhead's Bar, a 5 minute walk left of the dock (when facing inland). Then we walked 15 minutes further north to the Gamma which is at The Wharf restaurant, took the path at the right side of The Wharf down towards the beach, and then took the path along the beach through the trees to the Gamma freighter, some of it visible out of the water. It's visible from the ship if you have good eyes. It's about 25 yards off the beach, a stone's throw, listing with one side above water and the other side submerged, which is the snorkelling part. The best entry point is a little square sandy beach with low concrete walls on the cruise ship side of the Gamma, which a dive or kayaking tour might also be using, and where they leave their water containers. This beach faces away from the wreck, so after entering you swim about 25 yards toward the cruise ships, then turn right and swim through a rocky channel (lots to look at there), and when out of the channel turn right again toward the wreck. Lots of interesting underwater sights on the way. There is no reason to swim around to the side of the wreck above water, nothing to see. The underwater side is interesting, parts shallow enough to stand on with your flippers if it's calm enough, great for shots with a cheap $8 underwater camera from Walmart. The ship sold them for $14, better than the $30 other ships used to charge. You can snorkel right into the middle of the wreck, but how close you get would depend on how calm the water is, you don't want waves pushing you against the wreck, you could get cut. A 2-3 foot barracuda watched us for a bit, then took off. We heard the prop is still in place, and we wanted to get a shot of us with it, but the stern was in the shadow of the sun, bad for a shot, and it looked to be more than 20 feet down, and we couldn't see the prop from the surface, so we gave that up. Took shots of each other along the wreck, easier to get down if you deflate the vest. It only takes 3 or 4 blows to re-inflate. Had lots of fun there.

We planned to have lunch and drinks at the Comfort Suites resort on 7 Mile Beach, who offer cruisers free day passes if ordering drinks, but we got shopping back in town and ran out of time (4pm sailing). Only stopped to eat the room service wraps we ordered before we debarked. Don't tell the room service kitchen you're taking food ashore, they say it's illegal, but no one looks in any bags, it's no prob.

Cozumel

Our ship tender boats used the Puerta Maya pier south of town. Sit on the right side of the tender boat for a good view and shots of the hurricane damage to the pier, huge concrete sections thrown all over. A section of the pier at the shore has been repaired enough for the tenders to use. For another good shot after getting off the tender, walk to the end of the pier, wreckage in the foreground and ships in the background. Cute little shopping area at the pier, looks new, probably built after the hurricane.

$6 cab to town. Going into town along the coast you'll see lots of hurricane damage, buildings, many under repairs, some abandoned, lots of dead vegetation, stripped trees, broken and tossed around. But San Miguel looks good, pretty, trees replaced, everything repainted. Cheap internet, $1-2 per half hour everywhere. We planned to do the town in the morning and hit a resort in the afternoon. The Coral Princess is free for cruisers, the El Cid La Ceiba is $15 p.p. non-inclusive, the Fiesta Americana is $39 all-incl lunch and drinks all day, and a bunch of other ones are around $50 p.p. all-in. We picked the Fiesta but again ran out of time and didn't make it.

So we decided to have lunch in town, and wanted somewhere with a view of the ocean and boardwalk. We found a great place at the corner of the boardwalk and the huge ferry pier, lots of ocean view tables but busy at 12:30, we got the last table. Two good entrees and lemonade for $21. There are other cute sidewalk cafes off the boardwalk. Beers are $1-1.50 everywhere, $2-3 in better places. Lots of cute shops around the central plaza at the ferry pier. No insects of any kind, no need for spray.

Belize

Tendering in Belize was slow, only one gangway used. After going through the hassle described above, we snuck on a ship tour tender. If you're in a rush to get ashore for your private tour, we'd suggest going to the gangway early, before 8, and try and hang around as close to the sign out station as you can. Then try and get on with the ship tour people, but first ask if the tender is going to the Tourism Village, and not a caye or some other tour location.

All the ships anchor far from shore, many sandbars, and you can hardly see Belize in the distance, but the tenders are speedboats, huge twin outboard motors, they really fly, so the ride is only 10-15 minutes. Sit on the right side for a nice shot of the pretty Tourism Village as you enter the harbor. Party bar and lots of chain shops on the dock, flea market stalls outside the dock. For local flavor exit the dock, turn left onto Fort Street, and go past the vendors a few blocks till you come to a yellow lift bridge on the left. You can get some nice shots of the quaint marina from the bridge, then cross it onto Albert Street, walk up Albert a few blocks, a local hubbub.

Belize is famous for huge limestone caves with crystal caverns, stalagtites, etc, and the popular tour is rubber tubing through the caves. We've done lots of tubing before at water parks, and preferred to walk the caves to get pictures and poke around, and get some exercise. So 4 of us reserved a cave walk of the St. Herman's Cave at Blue Hole National Park, through the Cave-Tubing.com company, run by Yhonny and his guides, for $60 p.p. plus $5 for a good lunch of chicken, rice, beans and lemonade at Cheers.

The park is a 1 hour 15 minute drive down a fairly good highway, bit bumpy at times, no prob. $4 p.p. park entrance fee, then a 10 minute easy walk through the lovely forest to the cave. We took bug spray but didn't even open it, only saw 2 lazy mosquitoes all day, and a few flies. This was the dry season, Dec-May. You can rent flashlights for a few bucks, but we brought our own. The caverns are huge, and it's best to have the most powerful lights you can bring, to see all the crystalline features, side passages, the river beside the path, rock formations. If your group is not very physical your guide will take you halfway, but if they can handle it you'll go to the end, some climbing over wet sandy or rocky spots, stooping for low ceilings, the end section is trickier. There is no walkable exit, so we then returned the way we came, often seeing things we missed the first time, or from a different perspective. Shots in the dark tunnel turned out well with both our digital and 35 mm cameras, the flashes were rated for 20 feet but went beyond that. We shined our flashlights on our shirts so the person taking the shot could make us out. Just make sure your camera can focus in the dark, some can't do that. The cave is about three quarters of a mile, and about halfway through we met some other cavers who had set up a lovely buffet on a white table cloth on a sandy area beside the underground river with candles, very exotic, Jake and his friends from Colorado.

There are 2 routes from the park station to the cave, the lowland easy path and the highland path with climbing and great views of the area. We took the highland path back to the parking lot at the station, and then drove a few minutes to the Blue Hole, a pretty sink hole pond in a jungle grotto with a small beach, where you can take a dip. After that we had lunch at Cheers on the way back, one of the most recommended cafes in the area, and it was good. We offered to buy our guide Tim a lunch, but this place gives guides with groups a free lunch. Tim was absolutely excellent, informative and entertaining, and we tipped him a quarter of the tour price. Yhonny was prompt and helpful in setting up the tour by email, explaining everything we wanted to know very well.

Costa Maya

Finally a port with no more tendering. A free tram takes people from the ship down the long pier to the port entrance, where there is a center built for cruise passengers. It has shops, 2 swimming pools, bar, caf , loungers on a sandy area, but no beach, all rocks. Rather expensive, $9 drinks, snacks $5-10. Both pools looked awful, cloudy murky brownish green water, you couldn't see 2 inches into it, we'd never get in that. Local dancers do a folk dance in a small amphitheatre, some audience participation.

To the right of the pier (your back toward the ocean) is the Chac-Chi resort, lovely beach, loungers, volley ball, caf , bar, music, way cheaper than the cruise area. You'll see it on the right as you go up the pier. Guests were an assortment of locals, foreigners from the resorts and hotels, and cruise ship people, interesting group. The cruise lines have done everything to try and keep cruisers out of Chac-Chi, large concrete wall extending down to the water with signs not to enter, big metal fence going way up the road. There is a billboard above the fence on resort property welcoming cruisers and stating you can take a cab out around the highway to their main entrance. But there is also a shortcut, an 8 minute walk, that the locals and land resort people use. Go past the cruise shops, keep to the right, and exit into the taxi and bus area. Walk around the roundabout with the yellow concrete centrepiece, and down the right side of the street, to the first intersection, which will take 3-4 minutes. At the intersection turn right and you will see a white building with red lettering saying Comisariato, a local shopping place. Walk past this building and you will come to a wire gate. Lift up the broken right side of the gate and go through. You'll see other people on the road going there too. The wire is rather heavy, take turns holding it for each other. Then walk down the path past some junk, and turn right at the end onto another path through the forest, which takes you into the resort. From the intersection to the resort took 5 minutes, 8 total from the roundabout.

I'm in education, and we wanted to take some supplies and gifts to the kids in the local school, we've done that before in impoverished areas. School is out at noon, so we had to get there in the morning. When the taxi dispatcher found out what we were trying to do, she got us both a taxi and a tour operator to be our guide/interpreter, Juan, no extra charge.

The school is at the far end of the village of Majahual, a block or so off the beach road. The entrance has old swing gates held closed with a drop bar. There were 2 small buildings, one with 2 rooms and the other 1 room. Juan talked to the teacher, Rosemaria, and found that the older kids in the 1 room bldg had gone on a day trip. Rosemaria's class was about 20 7-9 year olds, and the other room had about 15 3-6 year olds, all in uniforms. Our gifts fit the 7-9's best, so we stayed there. There was a little 7 year old boy from Britain who was bilingual and did some interpreting for us. And there was also a little boy from Germany who spoke English. The room was very clean but had very few supplies, we didn't see any readers or activity kits, just a small set of shelves with a few things on it. When we arrived the kids were writing in notebooks. We asked Rosemaria to distribute the gifts at her discretion pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, crayons, pencil crayons, chalk, notebooks, solar calculators, English/Spanish workbooks, balls, skipping ropes, toy cars, Frisbees, lollipops. The kids were very excited, I'm afraid we wrecked the lesson for the day. The room had a dry erase board, and I wished we'd brought dry erase pens. Rosemaria said the older class had a chalkboard and she would give them the chalk. Apparently there is a girl called BebeAnna in the older class who speaks English. She said she would give the older absent class some items that fit their age.

We took some lollipops to the class next door, where the teacher brought forward a little girl about 5 who said she was from Michigan and Colorado, and we had a little talk to her, she seemed proud to be the one dealing with the visitors. I told her to tell her parents when she got home that she met people from Ontario, next to Michigan, and that I was the best looking guy in Ontario. She had a look at me and a chuckle, I'm not sure that she was convinced. We took a few pictures and then left, they were all outside waving goodbye until we got to the gate, and it was a highlight of our trip. The remote inland schools have even fewer supplies, a 2 hour drive each way, and David at The Native Way tour company will gladly deliver your gifts to them.

We then walked a block to the beach road, and strolled past the shops and cafes. The beach has nice sand, but some seaweed in the water and along the water's edge, which could be easily cleaned by running a tractor down the beach to drag it away. Not as clean as Chac-Chi. There is lots of water activity equipment for rent, and free loungers to use. We drank local water (ice cubes in lemonade) here at the Cat's Meow caf and the caf in Cozumel with no problem. A cab from the dock to town is $3 p.p., and returning it's $2 p.p., a 5 minute trip. Our cruisemates walked from the ship to town down the coast, which took them 20 minutes. In the cruise village area there is a boardwalk along the shore, but at the end of the property there is another concrete wall like at Chac-Chi. They walked around the wall in water up to their ankles, and continued into town. It was not a pretty walk, some garbage.

DEBARKATION

The debarkation process was a surprise, a first for us. Instead of debarking people by deck or color code, everyone gets off at the same time (except for VIPs). We thought that would be chaos, but it was a breeze. People are asked not to clog up the gangway area at the atrium, but to wait in a lounge or other common area until the announcement that the gangway was open, which most people did. What happens is that lots of people are still willing to stand and wait by the gangway, which our friends did, and when the ship is cleared for debarking they let those lined up get off before the general announcement (9:10 for them). So when it's generally announced, there is no clog at the gangway, and we were off in 4 minutes (at 9:40). Those waiting on a different deck would of course take longer.

The ship is clean and new, the ports are great fun, we didn't have a drop of rain all week, and if the blips on the radar above don't bother you, you'll have a great time. Hi to our shipmates Bill and Shelly! ... still the ironman and woman, haven't taken a ship elevator in 14 cruises (but too tired to drink when they get to the pool). Glad to get email if you have questions or comments. (Bob7 then the "at" sign, then canoemail.com)

-Bob and Wendy

We have cruised before and took the Carnival Miracle to 4 ports in the Caribbean. The ship itself was beautiful. It was clean, and our cabin steward was great.

The food was awful - When we finally got a meal that tasted good, it was cold. The staff could not get the coffee served in the same time as dessert. The waiting staff were very slow. The waiting staff danced on the tables after a formal dinner - we found that in very bad taste. The staff could not control drunk obnoxious passengers who were in the pool or on the decks. There were photographers everywhere. They wanted to take 2 pictures when you arrived in each port. Golly, we just wanted to get to shore to see the sites. The bar staff constantly asked us to buy drinks. The Cruise director was obnoxious with attempts to be humorous, and often it was difficult to hear what he was actually trying to say. The class of people that sail on this ship is definitely different than other cruises we have taken. The passengers did not participate in formal dress up dinners, and the usual fanfare of 'cruising.'The tips were taken out of our credit cards when we arrived - there was no incentive for crew to work hard for a tip - they already got it. Our port itineraries were changed 2 times. Others had their excursions interrupted by leaving ports early. We were not allowed to disembark at one location for an hour. Again excursions were disrupted.

This was our first cruise with Carnival Miracleand as such I have nothing to compare it to.If this is cruising please give me more.The travel agent we chose let us down badly.We booked over a year in advance and booked an Ocean view cabin.On picking up our tickets a week before the cruise we found that the agent had booked us an inside cabin.The cruise by then was fully booked and we could not upgrade.Having said this the inside cabins are really spacious and very comfortable.The only problem with inner cabins is that when you are in them you do not know wether it is day or night.The cabins are on the whole very sound proof and you hardly hear any noise.

The ships crew and staff were very helpful and always ready to sort out any problems.The serving staff in the Baccus dinning room were really good and I must mention Phakawn and Juan who were our main servers who made our trip really special.All of our drinks servers were also very good.

Our first excursion was to Grand Cayman.We were booked on the Stingray Sandbar tour. Due to being told to stand in the wrong queue we missed our trip.This ended up a good thing as we were put on the Sting ray city tour.If you go on this trip try and get on the boat 'Falcon'.The crew Peter and Marlon were from South Africa and made the a fantastic experience.The stingrays are something else.

We did not book an excursion at Costa Maya as we were told that everything you needed was at the end of the pier.I would advise you to book an excursion as the beach is not very big and there is no sand on the sea bed only rocks and are hard on the feet.(wearing shoes is essential)

At Belize we were booked on the Barrier reef and Rendezvous cay excursion which was good. We did the Seatrek helmet dive at Cozumel and if you can get on this I can strongly recommend it.

As mentioned earlier this was our first cruise and I cannot thank Carnival enough for making it such a wonderful experience.The ship and the crew are a credit to the company and the Capitain.

Carnival Miracle was wonderful. The suites were very spacious and beautifully decorated. The food was wonderful. We only ate in the the formal dining room once (because we didn't want to dress up). The rest of the time we ate in Horatio's and we ate like pigs. The service was wonderful and the tips were well deserved. The casino was wonderful. The shows were wonderful. The entire cruise was awesome.