Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Miracle Cruise Review
Western Caribbean

Roy

Embarkation was a breeze in Tampa. Best port I've gone out of. We pulled up, dropped our bags off with the porters. Wife and sons 18 and 6 watched the bags while I took the car back across the street to the parking garage. ($12 a day) Don't bother with valet parking as they don't go get your car after the cruise.

The cruise was terrific. We stopped at Grand Cayman Island where we did the Carnival Sting Ray City Excursion. We all loved that and the water was beautiful.

The next port was Cozumel where we were able to dock. The four of us caught a cab over to Paradise Beach ($12) and had a wonderful day. Wristbands are $8 if you want to use the floats and water trampolines etc. Chairs and umbrellas are free if you spend some money there. Drinks were reasonable (compared to the ship) and the beach, water and facilities were great.

The next port was Belize where only my 18 yr old got off the ship (another tender port) He enjoyed some shopping, some food and some local beverages. If you don't do a tour I wouldn't bother and the pools on board were empty for a change.

The only other dock where the ship could tie up was Costa Maya. It is a very long concrete dock but there is a shuttle that continually goes back and forth. After a tour of the shopping village we had lunch on the ship and then took a cab down to the so called village of Mahahual. Looks more like a flea market next to the beach. However, the water is nice, the beers are cold and cheap and everyone was having a good time. ($3pp cab there and $2pp yellow cab back.)

Food on board was hit and miss in the dining room. Some nights great,( filet and don't miss the pumpkin soup) and others disappointing. Food in the casual dining (Horatio's) was good in some places, burgers/dogs, deli section, and the 24 hr pizza was great. The other sections very so/so.

I found the service on board to be very good for the most part although the bartenders don't hustle since the tips are going to be added anyway.

Camp Carnival for my 6 yr old was fabulous. We gave him the options on dinner etc. and he always wanted to go to camp. The camp is closed at lunch time except for port days. Babysitting after 10pm was also fun for him and very well done. Great Job Camp Carnival.

Shows were ok. Our older son enjoyed the comedy shows and I thought the Legends show was pretty entertaining where cruisers performed.

All in all a good trip but don't forget to budget for that sign and sail tab.........ouch.