I've cruised 6 times before. 4 times with Carnival, once with Norwegian and once with Princess. Although I've consulted this site many times, this is the first time I've felt compelled to write a review.
For the life of me I cannot understand why the Miracle is rated as Carnival's #2 ship on this site. There are so many other better ships in their fleet that are superior. The reason that I booked this cruise was because of the favourable reviews.
The Good
The camel ride, nature tour and food were all excellent and I would highly recommend. I drank their lemonade and flavoured water provided by the excursion though and I think it made me sick. It wasn't the food as my husband didn't get sick. Just stick to the beer and you will be fine.
We took a yellow taxi cab to the Malecon, walked around, shopped and had lunch. It is so beautiful and a must see. If you want to save a few dollars, walk past the white cabs at the cruise terminal and hail a yellow cab. You can negotiate your fare with them. The white cabs want $8 US (set fare) to go to the Malecon, we paid $4US outside of the terminal area. You can also walk to the Walmart beside the cruise terminal. We bought a litre of Kahlua there for $8US and on the ship it was $22US.
Just got off the ship to visit the pharmacy.
Long Beach is a beautiful city! We flew in a day early and stayed at the Hyatt Regency near the beach. Lots of restaurants and scenic walks to take in the area.