Carnival Miracle - Western Caribbean Feb 3 - 11 - Colon/Puerto Limon/Belize

Cruising : Mother and adult daughter from Toronto, Canada. Feb 2: arrived in Fort Lauderdale late evening after long flight delays and cancellations. We were suppose to arrive by noon and explore a bit of Ft Lauderdale but the snow storms in Toronto and in connection airport city of Chicago where we were to take a connecting flight to Ft Lauderdale. took this opportunity away from us. However, at O'Hare we were upgraded to First Class and this was a first for both of us. Enjoyed the meal and double shots of brandy - we had just come in from the cold, remember. At Ft L we took a shared cab ride to the hotel ($9 p/p) with 2 other cruise pax and the cabbie dropped us first. Our hotel room was great - Courtyard by Marriott on Seabreeze Boulevard. We got a corner unit and had a great view of the north/east area. We had got it on Priceline for a total of $107 if I remember right. The room was huge and I loved the body lotion they kept for guests, which I thankfully saved and dropped in my handbag on the way out. More on the lotion later. The 7-eleven is right across from the hotel and after a quick shower we went by to pick up a bottle of wine. We got a nice enough California Merlot for $10 something. Off to bed and we both slept like babies.

Feb 3: We woke up with huge grins on our faces. Today is the day we actually embark on our vacation. Had some coffee (I forgot the brand name, but the room had a fully functional coffee maker and excellent coffee). We took a cab to the cruise terminal at around 11 am and were there within 10 minutes. Cab fare was $18. Huge crowd and long queues which were handled efficiently and quickly. We were on board within 30 minutes and as we were informed that our staterooms would not be ready before 2 pm, we went up to the Lido deck and stuffed our faces with the first Carnival meal. Carnival has different food themes for the buffet area each day of the cruise something that they call Taste of Nations and the first day's theme was Italian. Lots of creamy pasta and the usual Italian fare. My daughter enjoyed the Parmesan chicken and some cheesy pasta dish. I am not into pasta so I went hunting at the other food stations. They also have a permanent "Asian" buffet station and as I have a very soft corner for anything Asian I always had something from there on my plate before looking at the 3 other buffet stations spread around on the Lido deck in close proximity to each other. Food is in plenty, however, quality is not - but then what can you expect when the cruise prices are so reasonable. Having sated ourselves and making sure that we had not missed tasting anything that looked edible on the Lido we explored the ship strolling leisurely around and got some great pics in places where the background would at other times be full of pax. We saw the dining room - a grand affair of vines and vibrant colors. We both loved it and made a mental note to read up on the Architect/designer when we got home. Yes, we are weird if that's what you are thinking, for loving the decor in the dining. We fail to see how time and time again on these reviews people seem to think that the setting or colors are gaudy. If grapes were that beautiful a color in reality, I would eat more of them. Its all in the eyes of the beholder and its all good that we all have different perceptions. Variety of opinion is the spice of life, eh ?! We saw Gatsby's Garden and it was such a lovely spot - ideal for reading or just sitting and thinking about the Great Gatsby and bringing a lump to your throat thinking about him and his tragic love story, if you are so inclined. At around 3 pm we entered our stateroom and were amazed with the size of the cabin and the ample storage room. We always travel light (two small wheelies and two carry alls) and hardly used even 30% of the storage. The upgrade fairy had kissed us long and hard and we had been upgraded from a guaranteed inside to a balcony stateroom with obstructed view. The room had a sofabed too besides the queen size twin beds.Thank you Carnival and thank you PVP at Carnival. Our room steward came knocking and introduced himself and wonder of wonders he happened to be from the exact same 1000 square kilometre spot on this planet where I started life. Okay if this smacks of special treatment from him - yup you are right ! His name was Bogdan and he and his team were super. He was an expert at towel animals and we got an anteater and an elephant and a teddy and a walrus and some others. Gotta look at the pics to refresh my memory. One disappointment I had was with the amenities that Carnival keeps in the stateroom. They are kept for you only on the first day and consist of 2 razors, sample shampoo and conditioner from L'oreal (which is used up in just one go in the shower) and 2 hand soaps and a couple of sample size toothpaste tubes. The dispensers had some yucky smelling bath gel and shampoo. No body lotion. This is where my lotion from the Marriott Courtyard came in handy as having very dry skin I cannot live a day without body lotion. Remember to add lotion, shampoo and bath gel to your list of things to take if you are cruising Carnival in staterooms which are not suites. They probably get good stuff in the suites - maybe. After the hated muster drill we relaxed a bit and checked out the TV stuff. You can see your dinner menu on TV and it was fun to check out what we would choose for dinner straight after coming back from lunch. We would laugh and say stuff like "ohhhhhhhhh I feel like a beached whale" and in the very next breath we would say "lets check out whats for dinner". This review is getting too long, but if I want to tell a story I want to tell it right and without missing out on the details, no matter how teeny weeny they happen to be. I wonder if the editor at CC will publish this in its entirety. Oh well, I can try. We had the second sitting at 8:15 pm and a nice spot it was too. However, I was more impressed with the Asian buffet station and the lunch buffet themes then I was with the quality of food in the dining room. That's just me, because firstly I am allergic to eggs and 9 times out of 10 anything that sounds French seems to have some egg protein so my choice was limited and I never touched any of the desserts that everybody raves about. I stuck to the butter pecan ice cream as that is tried and tested "no egg" ice cream I have had on other cruises and lived to tell the tale. My daughter enjoyed her desserts, especially the hazel nut chocolate cake and amaretto choc cake. She did not rave about the all time favorite melting chocolate. I warned you we were strange girlies !! We did not go for the show on the first night and after hearing reports about it realized we did not miss anything much. My daughter made a round of the lounges but did not see any action (for her action = dancing) anywhere. Read more