After changing our plans to cruise in Europe as we generally do each August, we found a last minute opportunity to take an 8 day cruise out of NY on the Miracle. Our group consisted of two couples in our early 50's, and our children ranging in ages 15, 18 and 26.

The check in was a breeze, and we found our cabins very quickly. They were adequate, roomy enough and fine for our purposes.

Having cruised on many ships both mega-sized and down to medium, Miracle felt "just right" to quote Goldilocks. Although fully booked the flow was very good and only when it was time for the dining room seatings did I notice any lines for anything. The only complaint I have regarding the ship's size was the pools were very small and few in number, and for an itinerary that consisted of many sea days that was not really adequate.

As I have discovered to be common on Carnival the people you deal with on land have no clue what they are saying with regards to what actually exists in reality on the ship and that fact was repeated several times to me by various crew members from lower staff to the Maitre'D.

We had requested to be seated at a table for eight, late seating. From the minute we booked our cruise and both I and the other party we traveled with were assured that we were to be seated at such a table. When we got on board we were given tables without each other at either late or early seating, but not together. We had called Carnival numerous times prior to the cruise to make sure this did not happen, but it did. Then we found out that there are not many tables for eight on the Miracle and no request was ever received by the dining staff in the first place. Even our individual TA's put in such requests. We value our dinner times together due to the diverse ages of our group and so this was a big negative on our vacation.

The food was usually pretty O.K., sometimes really good, one or two times really terrible -- but the dining staff was very gracious when informed and took care of the goofs.

	Article continues below

The entertainment was actually better than we anticipated, (our expectations are not the highest for cruises), the show we anticipated being better was the Beatles show, please spare us from schmaltzing up Beatle songs with corny backdrops and lounge singing or even worse, high pitched Whitney Houston wannabes, on a cruise on RCL some years ago out of Venice the house orchestra did a Beatles cover show that blew the roof off by just playing the songs like they were done originally.

Carnival's audience on this cruise was much hipper than this show would target, maybe they should try this show in a retirement complex in Florida.

The itinerary was good for relaxation, i.e., reading, eating and sleeping. Stopping in San Juan after 3 PM is useless. It's too late to go to the beach, even if the beach was close (which it is not). By the time you get there it is close to 5 PM. To walk around the area by the port is not a great idea after dark and there is nothing really there.

St. Thomas is nice, but most people have been there, done that.

Grand Turk was good for the free pool and beach at Margaritaville, almost like a private Island stop.

The most negative comment I can make here concerns the dining venue Nick and Noras, the steakhouse with the $30.00 cover. In theory it seemed like a good idea -- first class dining and service for $60.00 a couple. In reality, the food was mediocre at best, the lobster was horrible, tasted like preservatives, and the desserts were better at the buffet.

As for the ambience, I don't think the Art Deco atmosphere is enhanced by two lounge singers who sang like their last gig was the Holiday Inn at the Manila Airport.

All in all, we were expecting a relaxing cruise where all of us could be together before the demands of work and school tore us away from each other and that was what we had. If we were looking for action and bells and whistles we would not choose this ship for sure.