Christmas on the Miracle. DH and I both teachers in our late 50s living in south Georgia. This was our 17th cruise, 9th with Carnival and 4th Christmas cruise. We drove the 7 hours south to visit DH and SIL in Sarasota the day before the cruise, then headed across Alligator Alley the next morning, arriving in Ft. Lauderdale at 11am. Parking garage was right by the ship and we were onboard having lunch in Horatio's with champagne in hand before noon. There seemed to be many extended family groups because of this being a Christmas cruise. Before we left home we had received an e mail informing us that because on the Miracle's ongoing propulsion problems we would be going to Grand Turk instead of St. Lucia and would be getting a $50 obc. We had never been to either of them so we did not mind too much. We like the layout of the Spirit class ships having previously sailed on the Legend and had no trouble finding our way around, and were delighted with our 8H extended balcony room 7258 which has a wonderfully large balcony. We enjoy spending time outside on the balcony and really enjoyed the great space which had plenty of room for the two loungers, two chairs and a table plus space left over. Our steward was Erfan and he was excellent. Attended the required muster drill [outside this time], and was surprised that people were not allowed to take photos. This was a new one for us. I can understand not taking photos during the drill, but why not before it. I am into scrap-booking and we always take pictures of each other for the scrapbook. The weather was less than perfect being overcast and windy and stayed that way for the next two days. We sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale into choppy waves which were to stay that way until our arrival in St. Martin, and meant that the top decks were fastened off because of the wind. We had early dining in the Bacchus Dining Room and yes everything they say about the dEcor is true, however it never stopped us eating there! We were at an 8 top table, and as usual we seemed very lucky with our tablemates making great new friendships. Our wait staff, Vermista and Warren, were friendly, efficient and helpful. The food was good rather than great, but as we always enjoy trying different things, we have no real complaints about the food. Although we always intend trying out the specialty dining areas, we usually get on so well with our table companions that we just end up returning to the MDR. We also ate breakfast and lunch there most days. The only complaint we had about service on the entire cruise was at lunch the first sea day when we were at a table for two and after taking our order, the servers did not return for 35 minutes. The tables either side of us who came in after us had been served and left before we received our meal. We were on vacation so we waited which would not normally have been the case, but when we left, DH had a word with Pagi the assistant maitre d' giving him the table number and suggesting that there was an opportunity for some retraining. Every time we saw Pagi after that, he made a point of chatting and making sure everything was fine. On the occasions we ate at Horatio's we found a good selection and as those were port days when the MDR was closed, there were always plenty of tables available, and they were cleared promptly as soon as other diners left. We used room service once and it came very quickly and was very good. We always try to attend the shows and any backstage tours as I used to teach theatre and cannot miss a show whether good or bad. While we enjoyed the shows, especially Ticket to Ride, I have seen better performances on other Carnival ships. We felt that the entertainment in general was lacking especially as this was a Christmas cruise. Although we do not spend time in the casino or playing bingo, we did manage to win our first "ship on a stick" at one of the trivia games and also spent time doing some of the crafts which took place on sea days. However perhaps it was because of having the great balcony, we spent most of our time relaxing and reading out there. After the choppy seas, it was pleasant to arrive in St. Martin. As we have been there several times before, we did not arrange an excursion but took the water taxi across to the shops and wandered around town doing some shopping. Some day we will try to get to the neighboring island of Saba, [site where the original King Kong movie was filmed], as SIL's father is Dutch, was born on Saba and says it is beautiful and unspoiled. We arrived in St. Kitts to early morning drizzle but by the time our excursion [booked through Carnival] was ready to start it had cleared up a little. We went to Brimstone Hill Fortress, the Batik shop and gardens. Our driver took us to the fortress first and even though the "liquid sunshine" started while we were there, it was really enjoyable and without the rain and low clouds would have fantastic views. We were there for only about 30 minutes and I wish we could have spent longer. The rain had cleared by the time we reached the gardens which were beautiful and we enjoyed watching the batik process. As we were driving around St. Kitts, the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in September was very obvious but nowhere nearly as bad as it was in Grand Turk. The arrival at Grand Turk was again in the rain. The cruise port has been specially built at one end of the six mile by one mile island and contains the usual shops, dining locations, a pool complex and beaches. We took a taxi into the town and along the way the tremendous damage caused by the hurricane was very obvious. Our driver took us past her home on the way to town, and half the roof was still covered with plastic sheeting. Almost every building received some form of damage. If you go into town, do not miss the maritime museum. For a small museum it has some excellent exhibits and is well worth seeing. The old building built in the 1800s was one of the least damaged on the island. While checking out the museum shop, we chatted with the owner's son who told us that because the school still was not open after the hurricane, he would have to go to school in the U.S. to complete his senior year of high school and was getting ready to leave in a day or so. Many teachers had left the island because of having no homes to live in and school consisted of a tent where some of the younger children were taught by whatever teachers were still on the island. Grand Turk does have some beautiful beaches and excellent diving, but several people we spoke with on the ship were complaining about replacing St. Lucia with a location still so badly damaged by a hurricane. Overall we enjoyed the cruise and spent a great deal of time just relaxing which is one of the things we love about cruising. Embarkation and debarkation: A Ship-condition/cleanliness: A Stateroom: A Food: B Service : B+ Entertainment: B- Ports: B- Value for money: B+ Weather:[not Carnival's fault]: C