Carnival Miracle Review
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We honestly chose this cruise because we booked too late to get the ships and price we wanted out of Port Canaveral. I was very hesitant to book and worried because of the size of the ship. Most reviews were good, but I was concerned it would be too old and small compared to what we were used to (Magic and Dream). We LOVED this ship! There were 6 of us. 4 adults and 2 17 year olds. The embarkation process was the easiest we’ve ever had. We had 11:30-12 boarding and arrived at 11:25 and were on the Lido deck by 11:50 at the latest. Disembarking was just as easy. 2600 passengers makes a huge difference. If I had smaller kids, I would probably not go on this ship. It had one older water slide and the mini golf was shoved in the front with the basketball court which makes it very hard to utilize while sailing and blazing hot when in port. There are more than enough bars on this ship and yes we had the Cheers and Bubbles drink packages. Last year on the Magic it was too difficult and crowded to get a soda. This year we had few if any lines at all! The dining staff greeted us by name the first night and every night thereafter. We had Your Time Dining and had different servers most nights. They would greet us by name during the day throughout the ship. The Alchemy Bar was a hidden gem for sure. The Red Frog Pub was abosuley fun and there’s a really nice Sports bar to watch games as well. The comedy club was great, but overly crowded even though I think it’s a bigger room than on the Magic. The decor may be a little dated for those who get worked up over that sort of thing, but we could care less. The room was identical to the Magic/Dream. Lobby area same. The Serenity pool and bar are awesome. I love the fact they have 2 pools (in addition to the Serenity Pool) on the Lido deck. We never lacked a lounge chair. You always have the chair hogs, but we rarely sit anyways. My husband and I already talked about going on this size ship again. The 2 17 year olds did go to Club O2 and met lots of new friends.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Regular Balcony near the back of the boat. We also had an interior cabin across the hall for the other 4 guests we brought. Both rooms/Bathrooms were standard cruise rooms. My boys took most showers in the Spa for more room.
Port Reviews
Tampa
Easy port to embark and disbark from! Park at the parking garage across the street. I believe it was $47 for the week and easily within walking distance (we did it with luggage). The aquarium is right next to the cruise port as well if you’re looking for additional activities.
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
We jumped on the Public Bus (small vans) for $2.50/person. Don’t take the taxis for $5/person unless you don’t want to walk to the Main Street outside the tender area and wait for a couple of minutes. They are clearly labeled “Public”. Very nice place to visit. We went to the public beach area then walked about 10-15 min down the beach and essentially had our own private beach for 3 hours. Do leave earlier than necessary from the beach back to the boat. The traffic in the afternoon going back to the boat is VERY slow and congested. We left the beach around 1:00 and got back to the boat about 1:45 with a 2:15 deadline to board. Also, it’s a long line to tender back but goes fairly quick. Favorite port by far.
Roatan
No need to take an excursion. There’s a private Carnival beach with plenty of chairs, beach, snorkeling area all within walking distance. The chairlifts are a ripoff in our opinion.