{"id":15758,"date":"2025-11-26T17:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T22:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/?p=15758"},"modified":"2025-11-26T21:05:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T02:05:24","slug":"atw-3-wrapup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/26\/atw-3-wrapup\/","title":{"rendered":"ATW-3 wrapup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The ATW-3, the third and final leg of the ATW, was a 14-day cruise on the <em>Carnival Miracle<\/em> and little more. The &#8220;little more&#8221; 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&#8217;s dog, Becky. Those trips by land were described in &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/10\/atw-3-day-1-embarkation\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/10\/atw-3-day-1-embarkation\/\">ATW-3 Day 1: Embarkation<\/a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/23\/atw-3-day-15-disembarkation-in-tampa-fl\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/23\/atw-3-day-15-disembarkation-in-tampa-fl\/\">ATW-3 Day 15: Disembarkation in Tampa FL<\/a>&#8221; so this is almost exclusively a review of the cruise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>By the numbers:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>15 days, 14 nights<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3 ports <em>en route<\/em>: Cartagena Spain, Ponta Delgada Azores and Nassau Bahamas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The ship:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <em>Miracle <\/em>is a sister ship of the <em>Pride <\/em>which we took back in 2023 from Tampa to Barcelona (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/06\/tc2-wrapup\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/06\/tc2-wrapup\/\">TC2<\/a>). That was our first cruise together and we liked the ship. We liked the <em>Miracle <\/em>too.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Our cabin was, for an interior cabin, spacious with lots of closet space.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The food was good, but not as good as the food we had on the <em>Luminosa <\/em>in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/12\/atw-1-wrapup\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/12\/atw-1-wrapup\/\">ATW-1<\/a>. We and everyone else on board were mystified by the &#8220;syrup&#8221; that was provided for the pancakes, waffles and french toast. It tasted like sweetened molasses. Disgusting. But, overall, the food was good.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There were only 3 full-scale theatrical productions in the 14 days, but the quality of the productions was good.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The casino was large and spacious with a nice mix of machines and table games. It wasn&#8217;t kind to us, ultimately (though Marlene was up for most of the journey) but was better than the casino on the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/04\/ncl2-wrapup\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/04\/ncl2-wrapup\/\">Norwegian Jade<\/a>.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The cruise director, Gary Blair, was very good.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The crew, including our cabin attendant, Nataria, were pleasant and helpful.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The musical acts were not as good as those on the <em>Luminosa <\/em>but were okay. We didn&#8217;t dance much, but that was mostly due to Marlene&#8217;s leg injury in Ponta Delgada.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The decor was tasteful.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We ate most of our dinners with strangers and met some interesting people that way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251121_122500.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"15759\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251121_122500-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15759\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251121_122500-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251121_122500-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251121_122500-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251121_122500-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251121_122500.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Casino<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251119_235028.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"15760\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251119_235028-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251119_235028-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251119_235028-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251119_235028-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251119_235028-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20251119_235028.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dining room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cartagena<\/strong>. This city, where Jett spent days in the hospital in 2018 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/26\/tc1-wrapup\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/26\/tc1-wrapup\/\">TC1<\/a>) is a nice place. It was good to see it again, without having my wife in the hospital.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ponta Delgada<\/strong>. We enjoyed this city, right up to the moment Marlene fell down the stairs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lowlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Falling down the stairs.<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marlene&#8217;s all-nighter in the casino.<\/strong> She was winning until that night but lost a lot of money then. I guess I should have realized sooner that she wasn&#8217;t in bed and gone to fetch her, but I slept right through.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The syrup. <\/strong>Worst syrup I have ever had anywhere. Someone needs to talk to the chef.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The rough seas.<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ATW-3, the third and final leg of the ATW, was a 14-day cruise on the Carnival Miracle and little more. The &#8220;little more&#8221; 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 &hellip; <a class=\"read-excerpt\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/26\/atw-3-wrapup\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&raquo;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[121,140,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atw","category-atw-3","category-cruise"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1VniU-46a","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15758"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15767,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15758\/revisions\/15767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourwanderyears.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}