Just back from the Miracle, my thoughts and opinions.......

We just got back from a great Christmas week cruise on the Carnival
Miracle! We are a family of 4, mom and dad in our mid 40's and 2 kids
ages 13 and 17. There definitely was enough to keep us all entertained
and occupied. The ship was filled with other families so the kids met
lots of friends to hang with. In the 12-15 age group there were 200
kids on board we were told. If you hate kids, Christmas week would
definitely not be the greatest choice of a week for you to sail!

We booked two of the least expensive cabins, 1247 and 1249, over a year
ago. For the life of me I can't figure out why these cabins are
designated as the lowest class. We found no faults. The location was
superb for us with the elevators and stairs around the corner. The
restaurant was 1 floor up and the majority of the ship action was very
conveniently located on the 2nd and 3rd floors within easy access. The
lido deck food court was a quick elevator ride away. Nothing of any
real significance was beside, behind, or above us to cause noise, etc.
(at least that we noticed).

As has been the majority of our previous cruising experience, the staff
was friendly, considerate, and excellent. Some of the entertainment was
great and some not so great. Eugene in the metropolis atrium bar plays
a mean guitar and had a steady following of 40 something past air
guitarists . Duane the piano player in Sam's was so bad it was
funny. Some of us would go in nightly just to sing off key while he
played slightly off tempo selections. Even though the capers would list
a nightly theme such as Jimmy Buffet etc, it would always come as a
surprise to Duane when people would keep requesting songs by the
published artist of the evening. (?) One of the highlights is the
revolving piano which seems to get Duane even more befuddled when it
kicks into action. This is truly the place to let your inhibitions go
and have some fun!

As one who likes the Carnival decor, I found this ship UGLY. The style
was a mixture of elegant and funky which does not work, IMO.
It is a hard concept to explain to someone who has not seen it for
themselves. There are large portraits of fairies, nymphs, and classical
nudes painted on the walls and doors. Juxtaposition to these you have
vivid wild colored lighting fixtures and abstract art. There is teak,
guilded gold/silver, and neon intermixed. They should have picked one
style and gone with it. A lot of the areas seemed very closed in and
the ceilings seemed low because of abnormally high adornment. (A
claustraphobic may have problems on this ship.) The diningroom is
especially gawdish. The staterooms, however, are very tastefully
decorated although the bathroom is rather bright in turquoise and royal
blue. I can't imagine why they chose to use some crazy little rope loop
thingies instead of normal handles for the drawers and closets???
Someone with arthritis or limited mobility must have a heck of a time
with these.

The ship design also seemed to hinder proper traffic movement. Our
dining table, 158, was in the extreme back. Access could only be gained
by squeezing around a serving station or cutting through the large food
prep area. I felt sorry for the wait staff having to deal with it.
Horatio's food court had a similar problem with the serving/cleaning
stations set up in the way of the main path of traffic flow. People
also had to walk through the casino on a path to reach the show room on
the 2nd floor. Not the best set up I've seen. (The Big Red Boat was
similar.)

The itinerary worked very well with our first and last days at sea
(which happened to be our youngest child's birthday on 12/20 and
Christmas on 12/25). The other days were Grand Cayman, Costa Maya,
Cozumel, and Belize. All nice stops.

Now it's back to real life of cooking, cleaning, laundry, and work.
Visions of our next cruise are dancing in our heads

wrote:

I can't imagine why they chose to use some crazy little rope loop
thingies instead of normal handles for the drawers and closets???
Someone with arthritis or limited mobility must have a heck of a time
with these.

Thanks for your review. We sailed on the Conquest in Nov. and they
have the same rope pulls. I have arthritis in my hands and found the
rope pulls very hard to use.

sue

Can't wait top go on her in August.
Ken G........

Can't wait top go on her in August.
Ken G........

wrote:


Duane the piano player in Sam's was so bad it was funny. Some of us
would go in nightly just to sing off key while he played slightly off
tempo selections. Even though the capers would list a nightly theme
such as Jimmy Buffet etc, it would always come as a surprise to Duane
when people would keep requesting songs by the published artist of
the evening. (?) One of the highlights is the revolving piano which
seems to get Duane even more befuddled when it kicks into action.
This is truly the place to let your inhibitions go and have some fun!

OK, now I have to check out Duane at Sam's, it sounds like you had a lot
of fun at the piano bar. I hope he is still there in May. Is Sam's
very smoky?

Becca -----thanks for the review!