The ATW-3, the third and final leg of the ATW, was a 14-day cruise on the Carnival Miracle and little more. The “little more” included the trip from Rome to the port in Civitavecchia and the auto trip (via rented auto) from the port in Tampa to home in Lehigh Acres FL, with a detour to Coral Springs FL to retrieve Marlene’s dog, Becky. Those trips by land were described in “ATW-3 Day 1: Embarkation” and “ATW-3 Day 15: Disembarkation in Tampa FL” so this is almost exclusively a review of the cruise.

By the numbers:

• 15 days, 14 nights
• 3 ports en route: Cartagena Spain, Ponta Delgada Azores and Nassau Bahamas

The ship:

• The Miracle is a sister ship of the Pride which we took back in 2023 from Tampa to Barcelona (TC2). That was our first cruise together and we liked the ship. We liked the Miracle too.
• Our cabin was, for an interior cabin, spacious with lots of closet space.
• The food was good, but not as good as the food we had on the Luminosa in ATW-1. We and everyone else on board were mystified by the “syrup” that was provided for the pancakes, waffles and french toast. It tasted like sweetened molasses. Disgusting. But, overall, the food was good.
• There were only 3 full-scale theatrical productions in the 14 days, but the quality of the productions was good.
• The casino was large and spacious with a nice mix of machines and table games. It wasn’t kind to us, ultimately (though Marlene was up for most of the journey) but was better than the casino on the Norwegian Jade.
• The weather was too cool for using the pools and hot tubs for most of the journey, but were fine the few times we used them.
• The cruise director, Gary Blair, was very good.
• The crew, including our cabin attendant, Nataria, were pleasant and helpful.
• The musical acts were not as good as those on the Luminosa but were okay. We didn’t dance much, but that was mostly due to Marlene’s leg injury in Ponta Delgada.
• The decor was tasteful.
• We ate most of our dinners with strangers and met some interesting people that way.

Highlights:

• Cartagena. This city, where Jett spent days in the hospital in 2018 (TC1) is a nice place. It was good to see it again, without having my wife in the hospital.
• Ponta Delgada. We enjoyed this city, right up to the moment Marlene fell down the stairs.

Lowlights:

• Falling down the stairs. I thought for sure Marlene would be seriously injured when I saw her tumble, face first, down 4 or 5 stone steps. She banged up her knee pretty good but was very fortunate to escape with no broken bones.
• Marlene’s all-nighter in the casino. She was winning until that night but lost a lot of money then. I guess I should have realized sooner that she wasn’t in bed and gone to fetch her, but I slept right through.
• The syrup. Worst syrup I have ever had anywhere. Someone needs to talk to the chef.
• The rough seas. The weather before and after the Azores was bad enough to kick up the seas. We had 4 days where the ship was rocking pretty severely. I actually wore my anti-nausea wrist bands for 2 of those days.