If you’ve never cruised before, Carnival makes for a great first-time cruise. If you have cruised before, but have never been on Carnival, then this line makes for a great alternative. And, if you’ve cruised before on Carnival, then you know exactly what I’ll be talking about and you might even recognize some of our shore excursions.

Our family decided to cruise with Carnival because, even though we are experienced cruisers, we had never cruised with Carnival before. Hence, this is our perspective on being Carnival Cruise first-timers and our desire is that you might take our experience so that you can make the most out of your Carnival Cruise experience.

You might be wondering “How did you choose which Carnival ship?” For us, it was very simple. We didn’t want to pay for airfare and since we live in Florida, there are a few options that were close enough to drive to. However, in our case, we had a friend drop and pick us up. If you can do that, that’s perfect!

We chose our closes port which was Tampa. From there, we looked at our travel dates. We knew we wanted to cruise in the summer and for an entire week. The next step was to see the destinations. We chose a ship that was landing at 3/4 destinations most of us had never been to. Ultimately, we chose the Carnival Miracle ship and we were not disappointed! Now, come dive in with me to our first-time Carnival Miracle Cruise experience!

Pre-boarding

Carnival has this option called “Faster to the Fun.” Many people that I know had recommended this. If you purchase this you will be able to board & disembark before everyone else! There are many advantages to do this because you can be among the first to get to your room, eat lunch, have the pool basically to yourself, and relax. We did this and it was well worth the extra $90! This price is per cabin, not per person.

On Board

The ship inside is absolutely beautiful! I kind of went camera happy, but I hope you can see exactly what I mean. Let’s start with the food! You have the option of eating at the buffet’s or in the dining room. We ate mostly in the dining room for most of our cruise, but we did hit the buffet a few mornings.

Food

The way the buffet stations are broken down is by the type of food. For example pasta, desserts, pizza, American, Chinese, salads, etc. You can literally eat something different every night. Or, as I mentioned before, you can head to the dining room and have a sit-down meal with your very own requested (optional) waiter.

Our Room

Having a balcony makes a big difference. Everyone has a preference, but there’s something about being able to step outside instantly. This is my opinion, but I would not recommend a balcony if you have young children. The rails are high, but I would not feel comfortable. Seeing the sunset with my feet up is a great way to end the day!

Around the Ship

It is so true that the cruise director works A LOT! He or she literally can either make your cruise experience a dud or awesome. We had a fantastic cruise director! Even if you don’t get off the ship, there is always something to do. You will never be bored!

The shows are spectacular! I honestly did not expect them to be good, but I was very surprised. The cast works very hard to do about 4-5 different shows while you’re on board.

Grand Cayman

Stingray City

If you’re looking for an excursion to do at Grand Cayman, I have a great one! We took the Stingray City tour. When it comes to excursions, you have two choices. One is to stick with Carnival’s recommended excursions. The second is to explore your own excursions online. We preferred to stick with Carnival’s excursions, except two and you’ll read about those further down, because if for some reason you are late getting back to the ship, Carnival will actually wait for you before they sail away. If you choose the latter, you will need to find a way back home or to the next port on your own. This is the reason why I strongly recommend you carry your passports, not your copies when you get off the ship.

A cabin cruiser will take you out about 30-45 minutes away to a sandbar that seems out in the middle of nowhere. The cruiser crew will provide you with a snorkel & mask in case you don’t have your own. The crew knows exactly how to handle the stingrays. They are not maltreated in any way. The stingrays will be brought to you with food. It was very cool to feel the suction of their mouths literally feeding out of your hand!

The water is cold the first time you get in, but you’ll get used to it. You absolutely cannot beat the crystal clear water though! The entire experience lasted about 3 hours. This is great because this leaves you with plenty of time to shop back at the port.

Mahogany Bay

Mahogany Bay is located on an island off the north coast of Honduras. It is officially a part of Honduras.

This port had one of the BEST views while docking. You can see what I mean!

Daniel Johnson’s Monkey & Sloth Hangout

The excursion we took was NOT offered by Carnival Cruise. Therefore, we decided on Daniel Johnson’s Monkey & Sloth Hangout in Roatan based on rave reviews from others on TripAdvisor. We did this one because the one that was offered by Carnival was sold out. Seems like many people had the same idea as us to hold & hug a live sloth! This company offered very reasonable prices AND it included roundtrip transportation to/from the port. You will spend a max of 1.5 hours here leaving plenty of time again for more shopping or riding the ski-style chair lift!

Belize

This was our most adventurous excursion by far! This one was once again by Carnival. I was in awe to actually see these ruins in person! We took the Lamanai Mayan Ruins & River Boat Safari with Lunch. I suggest if you do this tour to pack an extra snack and water. Also, if you have a picky eater or someone who likes a big meal, I suggest you pack even more snacks.

Lamanai Mayan Ruins

This tour will take you the entire day. You will start your journey by hopping on a bus ride that will take about 1 hour. It will not seem like a 1-hour ride if you end up with the same tour guide that we had – Bernie.

Once you arrive, you’ll go on a powerboat where everyone is required to wear a life jacket. It was so much fun! If you can, try to get upfront seats so you can see exactly where you’re going. And, hold on to your hats!

Once you arrive from the boat, you have officially arrived at Lamanai. It is a bit remote and you will then need to do quite a bit of walking from here on until you see the Mayan Ruins. Make sure you’re wearing a good pair of sneakers!

While you’re walking, the same tour guide that was on the bus will be the same tour guide throughout your entire journey. Keep vigilant while walking because you’ll see some cool things along the way!

As we arrive at the Mayan Ruins, again, I am in awe. To think that these have been here for so long and the civilization that preceded us is interesting to me. There is so much history & culture even now among these ruins. Make sure you don’t take this time for granted and soak it all in while you’re there. You won’t just see one, you’ll see a few of these. Bernie, our tour guide, was excellent in giving details & historical facts!

This is the point where if you don’t feel comfortable climbing or are afraid of heights, you can sit this one out. You have the option of going up the ruin. However, there is a backway that they want you to go to. This is a great place to get your camera ready!

As you head back, it is time for lunch at a really nice palapa (like a tiki hut). We had chicken, rice, plantains, and juice.

Cozumel

Arriving at Cozumel is like arriving at a party. It is very festive! There is music, shopping, and people dressed in traditional Mexican clothing. There are MANY photo ops that will make for some great photos memories!

Mr. Sancho’s Beach Club

Mr. Sancho’s Beach Club is not a part of Carnival’s excursion list. I honestly think it should. We were so happy to book this! It was very popular among Facebook travel groups I’m a part of and TripAdvisor.

We took a taxi ride and there is a price list that is listed depending on how many are in your party and where you’re going. This makes it easy for everyone. We were charged $17 each way and there are four of us. Mr. Sancho’s is only about 15 minutes away from the port.

***Make sure you get there early to stake out a good spot for you or your family!

We booked the “All Inclusive Day Pass” back at home prior to arriving. You can book it with just $5 per person online. You can pay the rest when you arrive. With the all-inclusive option, you can drink and eat to your heart’s content. You can either order what you want with your waiter and have it brought to your table/beach chair or walk up to the buffet. The food and service are fantastic!

There are 2 pools with swim-up bars, hammocks, great snorkeling, massages (extra $), kayaking, lockers, cabanas, inflatable water park (extra $), horseback riding (extra $) and shopping on site. As you can see, there is something to do for everyone.

We had staff come around with macaws and iguanas in case we wanted a photo. Because we had photos with macaws already at Mahogany Bay, we decided to get a photo of our son with an iguana. This iguana had a diaper on! Bring cash because these photos were $10 with your camera or $15 with their camera.

The pools are absolutely beautiful, but if you have younger children make sure they’re in earlier in the day, before lunch. It can get a little wild later in the day with adults swimming and drinking.

Snorkeling time!

Horseback Riding

Carnival Cruise has a lot to offer. If you’ve never taken a Carnival Cruise, you should at least go on one once so you can experience it for yourself!

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