Well, this was our 10th cruise with Carnival, and so we had certain realistic expectations. Sadly, these expectations were not met by a long shot. From the moment we boarded in Vancouver we noticed that something was definitely "off" about this ship, and that feeling never left us the entire voyage. Service was incredibly poor by Carnival standards. The ship had just arrived from Hawaii, and a crew exchange had occurred while in port. Their appeared to be a shortening of staff, and we rarely saw any servers offering refreshments. There were obvious maintenance issues (rust, damaged decking, poor upkeep) and the ship was experiencing engine problems which reduced its speed. The decor didn't make a lot of sense and was actually a bit disturbing, especially in the dining room which appeared as a gaudy, purplish conundrum of vintage decor. We had to change tables after the first night due to the poor and inconsiderate service we received during late dining. In the morning we were bum rushed by bar servers trying to sell liquor at 8 AM while waiters rushed past not even offering a glass of water. This was the first sailing of the season for Alaska, and the port shopping guide did not appear familiar with the shops at Juneau, Skagway or Kitichikcan. Many of the stores had not even opened up in these ports as we arrived. Although the weather was for the most part fantastic and the sailings into Glacier Bay and the inside passages was .breath taking, our experience aboard the Miracle was a poor one, and unexpectedly below Carnival standards we had come to expect. We originally planned to book a future cruise while aboard but, after this dreary and odd experience, have postponed future Carnival bookngs until we can be comfortable that our most recent experience is an exception and not the new standard for this troubled cruise line. BTW, lock your stateroom doors, cause the stewards had a strange habit of "one knock and bursting in", which was off putting when just jumping out of the shower.