This was our first cruise so i want to include information which i feel is relevant to first time cruisers as well as people looking for a review specific to Carnival Miracle. Our first impressions when queueing to board carnival miracle were not what we expected. It seemed to us straight away that this cruise may be at the 'budget' end of the market. I hope that this does not offend anyone who took the cruise, as i say its just an honest opinion. As we boarded it was the first time we became aware of the 'fun' ship element of Carnival Miracle and this was entirely down to a lack of research on our part - we were really looking to spend a lot time relaxing and enjoying peace and quiet with good food and nice weather, but we appeared to be boarding a disco boat to the Bahamas! The embarkation process was very simple and quick and the welcome lunch aboard the ship was a good chance to see what could be expected. The ship was larger than we expected and although the interior decor is very odd indeed, it was clean and well kept. Our cabin, on deck four aft with balcony was great. Very clean and larger than we expected. A lot of the things that we were unsure about before out first cruise were made clear very quickly although I am sure that arrangements vary on different ships and cruise lines.

The breakfast and lunches on this ship take the form of a giant buffet offering a wide range of options, cereals and cooked breakfasts andeverything from Burgers and Hot Dogs to Carvery and Chinese at lunch time. Some are better than others. One problem we had was my wife being a vegetarian, there were not many options and the foods that were suitable for vegetarians were being served up using the same utensils as the meat and fish dishes, the staff serving the food who spoke limited english seemed to have little concept of 'vegetarian'. Also, and I certainly dont want to offend anyone, there seems to be nothing on earth that can stop a hungry american in a buffet queue! The dining area, known as Horatios was at times like a turkish market - so many people fighting to get as much food as possible on to a tray that it made the whole experience more painful than necessary. There was however plenty of food to go around, the minus point being that there simply were not enough tables to seat the number of people at the busier times. I would recommend waiting until service has been running for an hour to avoid the rush.

The lido deck was busy with families and young people having 'fun', there was music playing throughout the day and plenty of activities, most people looked like they were having a great time, we found the 'serenty' deck at the aft of deck 9 which was adults only and this was a great haven for people seeking a quieter time. The only drawback being that unless you got there early it was hard to get a sun lounger. Read more