This was my fifth cruise, and my first one on Carnival. We had a family of four, me, my wife, 18-year-old daughter, and 15-year-old daughter.

Why the Carnival Miracle, and why the Western Caribbean? Price at the time. I booked late (only about three weeks before the cruise.) I used a travel agent who I had used for booking a prior cruise.

We booked the Carnival Miracle based on a special fare promotion from Carnival. Due to various mixups and miscommunications, the actual price we paid was a bit higher than I thought it would be going into the cruise, but overall, I thought I got a reasonable value for the money. Read more