Carnival Miracle

The 2004-built Carnival Miracle cruise ship is the 4th/last of the SPIRIT-class CCL liners, with sisterships the fleetmates Legend, Spirit and Pride, as well as Costa's liners Atlantica and Mediterranea. The USD 375-million liner was last refurbished in 2020.

The vessel (IMO number 9237357) is currently Panama-flagged (MMSI 354277000) and registered in Colon.

History - construction and ownership

Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) is a US shipping company, trademarked brand and subsidiary of Carnival Corporation (shipowner). CCL was founded in 1972 as an independent company by Ted Arison (1924-1999, co-founder of NCL Norwegian). 

CCL has the Corporation's largest fleet as number of vessels and GT-tonnage (ship sizes/volumes and passenger capacities). In 2023, CCL had ~9% (by revenue) and ~19% (passengers) share of the cruise industry's worldwide market. In 2024, the parent company (Carnival Corporation) had ~51% stake in the US$64+ billion industry.

The 2124-passenger ship Carnival Miracle and her Spirit-class sisters represented some significant firsts for Carnival: amazing alternative steakhouses found on each Carnival new-build thereafter and onboard wedding chapels. Spirit-class cruise ships also offer an awesome 80 % ratio of outside cabins, as well as lots of nice little touches - such as museum-quality artwork and "designer" martinis.

Decks and Cabins

Carnival Miracle staterooms (1062 total, in 28 categories) include 50 Suites, 634 Balcony, 171 Oceanview and 215 Inside cabins. The ship has 17 wheelchair-accessible cabins but no Spa cabins. Most cabins are sized 185 ft2 (17 m2). Most cabin balconies are sized 40 ft2 (4 m2). Suites are 4 types (Grand, Vista, Ocean, Junior), the largest are Grand Suites (300 ft2 / 28 m2 plus 115 ft2 / 11 m2 terrace).

The boat has 12 passenger decks, of which 6 are with cabins.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Carnival Miracle's main restaurant for dinner is the Bacchus Dining Room, which is named after the Greek god of wine. There is only one dining room on all Spirit-class ships, while even older Carnival ships feature two main restaurants. However, the two-deck-high Bacchus easily accommodates all guests in two seatings or on a flexible basis, via "Your Choice Dining" program. Nick and Nora's, situated under the skylight in Carnival's red funnel, offers unforgettable dinner that is worth the $30 charge considering the exquisite atmosphere, extra-attentive service and the quality of the meals. Horatio's lido buffet is a one-level restaurant boasting full breakfast and lunch buffets. It is also a casual dinner alternative and late-night bistro. A sushi cart is set up each afternoon outside of Maguire's Bar with rotating options like shrimp, assorted rolls and salmon, all free of charge. Sake is also available, unfortunately not complimentary.

Follows the complete list of Carnival Miracle restaurants and food bars.

• Bacchus Restaurant (1122-seat aft Dining Room, with two fixed dinner seatings, or “Your Time Dining”; offers “Seuss At Sea” themed breakfasts for $5; with the 36-seat Ariadne Room restaurant annex).
• Nick and Nora’s Steakhouse (744-seat reservations only restaurant, serving seafood and prime beef steaks; with dance floor and stage for live performances)
• Horatio’s Lido Buffet Restaurant (1396-seat self-service restaurant with complimentary food stations; operates as dinner bistro in the evenings)
• Sushi Bar (complimentary).

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

Still, Joe Farcus always has a theme, and Carnival Miracle's is "fictional icons" - passenger hallways feature drawings of popular literary characters such as Robin Hood and Robinson Crusoe (and the more darken Belgian detective Hercule Poirot). The lobby and atrium are called after the Metropolis of "Superman" fame, and there is also a Gotham lounge, which gets its name from "Batman".

The 3-level main show lounge on Carnival Miracle is fashioned after "The Phantom of the Opera" and Paris Opera House. The elaborate production shows include a high-energy popular music medley from the last decades, called "Legends", as well as a Beatles-themed production. Frankenstein's Lab is ship's 2-deck disco. It received new carpeting and furniture as part of the recent refurbishment.

Follows the complete list of Carnival Miracle lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens, and adults.

• Mad Hatter’s Ball Lounge (425-seat, hosts Punchliner Comedy Club/brunch)
• Dr. Frankenstein’s Lab Disco and Nightclub (211-seat, 2-level Dance Club)
• Phantom Theatre (1400-seat, 3-level main show lounge, also used for movies, bingo games, game shows)
• The Joker Card Room (30-seat)
• Fountainhead Cafe (28-seat specialty coffee bar and patisserie)
• Taste Bar (serves complimentary appetizers); Maguire’s Bar (10-seat sports bar); Sam’s Bar (88-seat piano bar); Snack Bar; Towel Bar; Gotham Foyer Lounge and Bar (100-seat)
• Frankie and Johnnie’s Jazz Club (425-seat jazz lounge)
• Mr. Lucky’s Casino (108-seat, served by Lucky’s; with 6-pocket Legend Pool Table)
• Miracle Atrium Metropolis Lobby (11-deck high midship open area with dance floor and stage, served by Metropolis Lobby Bar)
• Jeeves Lobby Lounge (23-seat wine bar)
• Gatsby’s Garden Interior Promenade (23-seat)
• The Raven Library and Internet Cafe (17-seat, 24-hour Internet computers)
• Wedding Chapel (30-seat)
• Kane’s Way Upper Promenade (55-seat)
• The Fun Shops (offers “Bon Voyage” items, duty-free liquor, jewelry, fashion boutiques, souvenirs, logo items); Formalities Shop (tuxedo rentals, special occasion gifts); Studio Photo Gallery and Shop
• Wizards Video Games Arcade (24-hour)
• Circle C (kids' lounge complimentary area with video games, parties, movies, planned activities)
• Camp Carnival (aft located kids' lounge area with complimentary kids programmes and supervised activities)
• Spa Carnival complex (with Steam Rooms, Saunas, Whirlpool, 10 Treatment Rooms, Venus Beauty Salon and Fitness Center)
• Sirens Pool; Ulysses Pool (with Sky Dome sliding roof). Both pools are served by Odyssey Bar
• Serenity (adult-only relaxation area with Whirlpool, Pool, Bar and sunbathing area with lounges)
• Club O2 (teens club lounge with video games, movies, karaoke, and themed parties)
• Aqua Park (with 72 ft Twister Waterslide, pool play area, jets, fountains, splash pools).
• Volleyball-Basketball Court; 9-hole Mini Golf Course; Jogging Track, Shuffleboard.

Itineraries

Carnival Miracle itinerary program is based on departures from Los Angeles (Long Beach CA) and week-long roundtrip Hawaii and Mexico Riviera cruises to Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and Mazatlan. There were plans for Carnival Miracle to be repositioned to Asia (China, early 2018), but those were later canceled. In 2018-2019, the ship operates on 7-day Western Caribbean cruises from homeport Tampa.

In Tampa, Miracle joined Carnival Paradise (operating 4-8-day itineraries) to Caribbean and Cuba. Both ships had combined annual passenger shipping capacity from Tampa around 280,000. The 7-day Tampa cruise departures are on Saturdays or Sundays. Itineraries visit Cozumel Mexico, Grand Cayman Island, Roatan Island (Mahogany Bay) and Belize City. The 6-day itineraries offer day-long port stays in Cozumel, Belize City and Costa Maya (or Roatan). The 8-day Panama Canal cruises (departures 2018 - April 14, Sept. 8) and 2019 (Feb 2, April 6) offer partial transition and stops in Costa Rica (Limon) and Grand Cayman Island. A special 14-day "Carnival Journeys" itinerary (roundtrip Panama Canal cruise from Tampa) was scheduled for December 2, 2018, visiting Cozumel, Limon, Panama Canal (transit), Cartagena Colombia, Aruba, Curacao, Jamaica (Montego Bay).

Starting December 1, 2019, Carnival Miracle is homeported in San Diego CA for a 3-month season to Hawaii (14-15-day) and Mexico (5-7-day). In 2020, for the first time, Carnival offers roundtrips from San Francisco CA with Carnival Miracle cruises to Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico (itineraries lengths 4- to 15 days). The ship returns to homeport Diego for winter 2020-2021 schedule (3- to 15-day voyages). With San Francisco, Carnival had a total of 19 homeports in North America. The San Francisco homeporting starts on March 19, 2020, and includes 4-day weekend cruises to Ensenada (departing Thursdays, returning back on Mondays). 5- and 6-day itineraries visit Ensenada, San Diego, and Catalina Island.

In 2021, Carnival Miracle had planned 10-11-day roundtrips to Alaska from San Francisco. The other Carnival Alaskan ship was Carnival Freedom (homeported in Seattle WA). However, due to the Coronavirus crisis and Canada's extended (through 2022) ban on cruise ships, CCL's entire Alaska 2021 program was canceled.

The ships 2024-205 schedule (fall-winter-spring/beginning October 16th, 2024) includes roundtrips from Galveston Texas with itineraries ranging 9-10-11-12 days.

Fun Ship 2.0 upgrade was done in 2015. Miracle is Carnival's last SPIRIT-class liner, with sisterships Legend, Pride, Spirit and also Costa Atlantica and Costa Mediterranea.

The vessel was christened by godmother Jessica Lynch (retired US Army private). The inaugural cruise/maiden voyage started from Jacksonville Florida on February 27, 2004. The 3-night Bahamas itinerary visited Freeport. In summer 2004, Carnival Miracle was deployed on the East Coast USA for 7-day roundtrips from NYC New York and Baltimore Maryland, and in November started a year-round homeporting in Tampa Florida.

The vessel (Kvaerner Masa-Yards Helsinki Shipyard hull number 503) was delivered by STX Finland on January 17, 2004. It has volume 85942 GT-tons, DWT-deadweight tonnage 7089 tons, max draught 8 m. The powerplant is based on 6x Wartisla marine diesel engines (model 9L46C) with combined output 62,37 MW (83640 hp). The propulsion is based on 2x Azipod thrusters with combined output 35,2 MW (47200). The registered shipowner is CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC, while the registered manager is CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES INC.

Staterooms with oceanview are 80%, of which 80% have private balconies. The vessel has an 11-story Metropolis Atrium featuring a ceiling is made of ruby-red glass. Miracle ship's interior design theme is "fictional icons" (done by Joe Farcus). There are drawings of the famous Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood and Hercule Poirot. Miracle's cruise passengers can visit the Gotham Lounge – a name taken from the Batman movie. On board, there are a wedding chapel and alternative steakhouse. In January 2012 the Miracle ship was refurbished and more trendy Carnival's features were added, like the Serenity adult deck.

In March 2013 the ship was repositioned through Panama Canal from New York to California to replace Carnival Splendor there. There was a plan for Miracle to be deployed to Asia in spring 2017 for roundtrips from China (year-round Shanghai port departures). However, this decision was revised, and Miracle stayed in North America. According to CCL's' ship deployment schedule, the Carnival Asia-based ships were Carnival Splendor (repositioned from Miami to China in spring 2018) and Carnival Spirit (during 2017-2018 winter season only). Both ships were to be homeported in Shanghai.

As part of "Carnival Journeys" itinerary program (offering longer enrichment-themed voyages), in 2017 (September 2-16) Carnival Miracle had scheduled a 14-day Alaskan roundtrip from Los Angeles/Long Beach CA. This was CCL's ever first Alaskan roundtrip itinerary from California. It also included CCL's maiden visit to Icy Strait Point/Hoonah and a full-day passage through Glacier Bay.

The list of onboard activities included Alaska-themed cultural and culinary events and themed seminars (photography, arts, crafts, cooking, celestial navigation).

The Alaskan shore excursions included hiking, sea kayaking, canoeing, helicopter flightseeing tours, lake snorkeling. Next is shown the itinerary's call ports (dates and times).

Prices started from USD 1630 pp (double occupancy interior cabin rates).

Carnival Miracle refurbishments review

The ship's last drydock refurbishment was in 2022 (October-November). The scheduled maintenance and class works were conducted at Vigor Shipyard in Portland OR. The works also included hull cleaning and coating/repainting with Carnival’s new livery (red-white-blue, introduced on the flagship Mardi Gras), also works on both stabilizers and the bow thrusters, plus some hotel updates.

During drydock 2020 refurbishment (February 14 - March 4, done in Freeport Bahamas) were conducted regular maintenance works, repairs, cabin renovations. The USD 40 million drydocking project also included adding to the vessel Carnival's signature Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades - Guy’s Burger (Lido deck), Blue Iguana Cantina (Lido), Carnival WaterWorks (deck 10), Red Frog Rum Bar (deck 3).

Refurbishment 2015

The list of deckplan changes after the ship's “Fun Ship 2.0” drydock 2015 refurbishment (in March) includes:

• adding new bars – RedFrog Pub (best Caribbean rums and beers selection), Alchemy Bar (the liquor pharmacy with resident mixologists), SKYBOX Sports Bar
• new shop (Cherry On Top) - premium candy store
• new entertainment program - Playlist Productions (4 evening shows with live band music performances /popular pop and rock songs). The names of the shows are 88 Keys, 80's Pop To the Max, Heart Of Soul, Getaway Island.
• new kids' fun venue (Seuss at Sea /by Dr. Seuss Enterprises) – kids library, family-themed activities, storytelling
• Hasbro The Game Show (playing classic board games in giant versions). The list of games features Connect4 Basketball, Yahtzee Bowling, Sorry Sliders.
• Spin U (DJ Academy) - teens-only DJ training program /by DJ IRIE, nominal fee PP applies) – DJ 101 level US$20, DJ Master level US$100, Private Lesson US$125.