We cruised on the Carnival Miracle August 27 - September 3, 2013. The ship itself was very nice, clean, and well appointed. Although the dining room was over the top in decoration (UGLY). The deck on the back of the ship was rotting away, was was a bit of a concern as well. The staff on the ship, as far as waiters, and room stewards, were all very friendly, helpful, and quite accommodating. I enjoyed many aspects of the cruise.

The food however, was just awful. It was at best "institutional cuisine". Not "international cuisine." Reminded me of gross hospital food. Even "Nick and Nora's" (the specialty restaurant) was good but not great. Most of the desserts looked pretty, and appetizing, but were just nasty in taste and texture, (especially the cheesecake), it had the texture of rubber and slime. One more thing. The "any time dining" is a nightmare. We ended up having to wait 10 to 30 minutes each and every time we went into the dining room. I found that to be an irritation. The are people stacked up all over the place trying to get into the dining room.

I felt the itinerary, although good, was not really thought out well. There was too much time on the ship, and not enough time in most of the ports. We were in Skagway forever (and it is a tiny place, but the other stops which were really more interesting, Juneau, Ketchican, and Victoria were way, way too short. They could have shortened the Fiord and Skayway a lot to make time in the other ports. It seemed to me that most of what Carnival Cruise lines is interested in is to promote was their gift shops on board as well as all of the shops they own in the ports of call. It was pretty irritating. Read more