The four of us who made the trip have all been on many cruises. Since we come from New Jersey, we had a limo service drop us off. Our bags were taken immediately by a porter but the wait to board the ship was excessive. We did have seats for a while, but there was a lot of standing once we got into the check-in area. This is the first cruise where this has happened to me, so this may be an area that Carnival needs to work on. The cabins had more than enough storage space and we had the balcony partition removed so that all of us could sit out and talk together. This request was handled expeditiously. Angel, our steward, kept our rooms in order and did his job well. None of us are "picky" eaters, so we were all able to find something to eat at all times. Horatios does have a lot of choices, and we all ate breakfasts and lunches there. At times, the area was pretty crowded, but we always found seats and the waits were usually not long. I especially liked the pizza and the deli sandwich area (especially the Reubens). The dining room is a little gaudy for my taste, but the food and service were on par with other cruises I have been on. Our waiters were Joseph and Joseph and they took care of our needs. After a few days, they remembered that we all drank iced tea, and left a plate of lemons there for us. I am not a big eater, so I found the portions adequate. The lobster tail was small and someone at another table ate three. Requests for additional starters or meals were no problem, so if you want more, don't hesitate to ask. The Chocolate Melting Cake seemed to get the most rave reviews! Entertainment was fine. There was a comedian, a hypnotist, jugglers and singing and dancing acts. I liked the Tribute to Frank and Sammy, the Passenger Talent Show, Legends and Ticket to Ride. Activities around the ship were typical of most cruises - trivia contests, pool activities, Family Feud, Not So Newly Wed etc. There is plenty to do for everyone. If you are interested in shopping, don't miss Lance's talk. He is very knowledgeable, gives away a lot of free items, has many free and discount coupons for stores in port, and talks for about two hours without repeating himself. As for the ports - San Juan - My sister-in-law and I went shopping. There is a lot of walking - mostly uphill. If you have trouble walking, take a taxi. St. Thomas - My husband and I took the Best of St. Thomas tour. I enjoyed it very much. I especially liked the view from Mountain Top. If you go there, try the Banana Daiquiri. It was first introduced there. We had been to St. Thomas before, so I was familiar with Havensight. If you want to do some shopping for souvenirs, this is the place to go. It is within walking distance of the ship, and you can find things at reasonable prices. Tortola - My husband and I did not get off the ship as we had already been here. There are not that many shops and they are all a good walking distance away. If you want basic souvenirs such as t shirts, there is a flea market type area that you can walk to. The only complaint that I had about the ship was that they removed the carpet from our hallway one morning, and when we came back from shopping in San Juan,we were unable to get to our cabins as they had an access door locked since they were putting down new carpet. We were able to get there by going up to another deck and coming from the other end, but it would have been nice if they had told us this in advance. They did apologize, and on another day, we were notified that balconies would be cleaned during certain hours and to stay off them. If only they had done so on the day of the carpet installation. Overall, we had a great cruise and as we are frequent cruisers, we plan on going on more. The ship is spotless, and I commend them on this. The only thing that might be added are hand sanitizer dispensers which I have seen on other ships. In addition, the ship I went on last year has someone spray the hands of each passenger when they return to the ship. This addition to the Miracle might help them in their overall efforts to maintain the cleanliness of the ship.