Cruising Carnival's Miracle

By Michele Blandino

In late June, my family and I set sail from New York City aboard the Carnival Miracle. Our seven day cruise took us to Port Canaveral, Florida and Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas.

To be honest, a cruise wasn't exactly my idea of a vacation - not with a seven year-old and two year-old in tow. But since the trip was in celebration of my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary, I dutifully packed my bags and got on board.

The Miracle is the newest addition to Carnival's fleet. Checking in at an impressive 963 feet, and weighing a mammoth 88,500 tons, the Miracle is capable of hosting 2100 guests at a time. Making its debut in May 2004, the Miracle will be sailing out of New York City until the fall of 2004 when it will make Tampa, Florida its new home port.

Welcome Aboard

While the boarding process was excruciating - we stood in line for well over two hours in the New York City terminal - the frustrations soon wore away once we actually boarded the ship. Passengers enter the ship on deck 2 and immediately enter the Metropolis Lounge which features an 11 story atrium. We found ourselves instantly overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the ship.

Since it is a new ship, the Miracle was meticulously clean and everything seemed to be in good working order. Our ocean view cabin was spacious enough for the four of us, and there was plenty of storage space.

Our cabin steward was very pleasant and she took the time to learn our children's names. When we returned from dinner each evening, there was a different animal fashioned from towels waiting for them on the bed and on some evenings, there were cookies as well.

Something for Every Taste

There are two primary dining options: the Bacchus Restaurant and Horatio's Cafe.  The Bacchus Restaurant has open seating for breakfast and lunch and assigned seating for dinner. The dress code for the restaurant is a bit formal for our taste - shorts were prohibited for dinner - but in spite of that restriction, we dined there 6 of our 7 nights.

Overall, the food at Bacchus was good, however the choices were somewhat limited. Each evening's menu featured 5 starters, two types of salad and 6 dinner entrees. Our table was served by the same team each night - one waiter and an assistant who were readily available and very responsive. Our bar waitress, on the other hand, was often difficult to track down; she was there to take a drink order shortly after we were seated and often didn't appear again until we were well into our entre.

The more informal Horatio's Cafe consists of several buffet stations each featuring different types of fare. With a deli, grill, Chinese food bar, fruit and salad bar, and 24-hour pizza station, in addition to a full breakfast bar, it's not difficult to find something for every taste. The cafe did tend to become very crowded from mid-morning until well into the afternoon and finding a clean table was often difficult. The cafe was far less crowded in the evening hours as most people opted to have dinner in the main dining room.

Activities

There seemed to be no shortage of things to do on the ship, but most of the activities were more appropriate for singles or people traveling without children. We did spend some time at the ship's pools, but because of their small size, they tended to become very crowded. The Miracle has three pools; however, one is reserved for adults only. For those willing to endure a 20-30 minute wait, there is a waterslide on the ship's top deck.

The evening's entertainment was in the Phantom Lounge. There were two main productions: Generations, a tribute to music over the years and Ticket to Ride, a salute to the Beatles. The remaining nights featured a talent show, a comedian, and some musical acts.

Should You Go?

Overall, our experience aboard The Carnival Miracle was positive. While we would have liked more family-themed activities, we nonetheless managed to find things to do. If you are not traveling with children, and book your cruise during non-traditional vacation periods, then you should have an enjoyable time. If, on the other hand, you will have children traveling with you, you may want to investigate other cruise lines.