Review - Carnival Miracle exotic Souther Caribbean cruise - Feb 7 - 15, 2011

[Cruizer]

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 – Debarkation

We are docked and I’ve already had breakfast. I woke up in time to see us come into the port, though I did so via the TV, rather than from the balcony. We are the only cruise ship in port today. There is a freighter docked where the Navigator of the Seas was docked eight days ago. It has a cargo of yachts. I believe there is a boat show in the next week or two.


And so I reflect upon the cruise. It had its positives and negatives. The positives far out weighed the negatives. The noise across from my cabin was a little annoying a few times, but in the end no big deal I missed the energy the kids bring to a cruise, and as a result only went swimming once. Had the weather been a little warmer I might have gone swimming a little more. Had the pools been a little livelier, then I definitely would have gone swimming more. However, swimming was not the reason I booked this cruise.

Basically I go on a cruise to relax, have fun, and see new sights. This was my first cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. Interestingly enough, my next cruise will leave from Fort Lauderdale also (on a day when one of Royal Caribbean’s new big ships is also in town). It was my third cruise on a Spirit class ship (my favorite class of Carnival ship) and my first on the Miracle. Three of the four ports were new to me, even though I didn’t explore La Romana. And it was fun, though I would have preferred a more active group of passengers. My next cruise is in June and I am going with friends, so that should make the next cruise a little more special.

Would I do this cruise again? Yes, but I would go later in the year, like April or May. This cruise was just like my last February (2008) cruise in the Caribbean. The last sea day is a little too cool for swimming. Well, it is 8:00am, the self assist people are done, and they have called zone one (I have zone three), so I’ll catch you later.



One of the air boats.



I’m in the FLL airport and there is an hour until boarding begins. As of now the flight is on time. This time it was my camera bag that required a second run through the x-ray machine, but that was all it needed. They didn’t empty it and check it five times for explosives.



One of the birds.



The airboat ride in the Everglades was great. Some of the birds are rather friendly. In fact, they come when called. We also saw lots of alligators, and I got a few good pictures of the alligators. Also, I took a window seat on the port side of the airplane, and got some good pictures of the Miracle in Port Everglades, preparing to leave on another cruise.



Bob the alligator.



Hopefully the flight home will be uneventful and I will not have much to add when I arrive home.



An alligator sunning himself on the bank.



All the flights were on time and uneventful. However, though I was book in seat 5A on the flight from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta, I ended up in 1A - a bulkhead seat, which means no room under the seat in front of me to put my carry-on luggage.



The same alligator showing off his teeth.



The first class seats in the Delta 767 were not nearly as nice as the first class seats in the American Airlines 767 first class seats. Basically the first class seats on the two Delta flights were just bigger coach seats with more legroom. The American Airlines first class seats were truly first class.



The Miracle in Port Everglades getting ready for its next cruise.



There was at least a 45 minute delay between landing and getting our luggage, and I wonder if they was due to the crazy way airlines do business. Back a few years ago it was sometimes less expensive to book a flight from point A to point C which passed through hub B than it was to book a flight from point A to hub B. Then there are non-stops, which as we all know actually does stop. Of course the favorite is direct, which means you could fly from San Diego to San Francisco to Seattle to Denver to St. Louis to Chicago to Pittsburg to Washington to Miami and as long as you don't change planes, that would be considered a "direct" flight from San Diego to Miami. And then there is what we have. Delta flight 17 goes from Atlanta to Los Angeles to Australia. However, though the flight number does not change, the airplane does, which means all passengers, and luggage, has to deplane. I wonder if that had anything to do with the delay in getting the luggage to the passengers.

At any rate, at 11:30pm local time (2:30am body time) I finally arrived home.

I've started an album with 66 photographs from this cruise. I'll add more later as time (meaning work) permits. The link to the album is ... Carnival Miracle pictures from cruises photos on webshots

[ShipMaven]

As always, a great revue and wonderful photos. It's always a pleasure to read your reviews, Cruizer. Thank you for taking us with you on your Miracle cruise.

[audrey]

what a great review thanks for posting it I loved all your pictures also.

[Karry]

I just finished reading your review in the review forum and looked at your pictures in webshots and THEN found this! Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. We will be on the Miracle for the 3rd time in May. Love the Spirit class ships. Favorite is the Spirit, but she is across the country from us.

[Jeanie]

A very nice review, enjoy reading it -- love the photos

[Cruizer]

I finished added pictures to the album - Carnival Miracle pictures from cruises photos on webshots
There are now 118 pictures in the album.