We had the nicest time on our 16 night cruise and the few aggravations we did have were more to do with maintaining family harmony, not with cruising. We were not sure how being confined with two young children would play out, and mostly we had a blast! The worst part of our trip was being at the Holiday Inn LAX in a room by the elevator shafts. The Miracle embarkation was quick in Long Beach after arriving at 1:30. The platinum/diamond building offered lemon water and a place to sit while all four of us had our pictures and cards made up. We basically just walked through at that point and went to lunch on the lido, enjoying the Italian buffet (lately we do the burgers but somehow we ended up here and there was something for all of us). Our luggage arrived early and we unpacked and started exploring.

There is so much good to say about this cruise and I'm sure some of the other cruisers will do detailed reviews. I want to emphasize how safe and comfortable we felt with our captain and crew, the staff from the steward (Filomena) to the camp counselors (all 8 of them!).

Our 4k was a great value, quiet, and gave us fresh air and a small view between lifeboats. Read more