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most comprehensive onboard children's programs: the line's excellent age-defined Camp Carnival. The programs are geared to age groups to accommodate the various age interests.

These programs are intended to keep children and teens occupied in fun things for a good portion of each day while parents enjoy their special time aboard ship. Another plus, which for some reason Carnival does not make a big fuss about (though we would!) is that trans-fats have totally been eliminated from the food service menu. This means parents need not worry about the snacks and junk' food kids are consuming.

But there is much more to cruising than children's activities. The layouts on Miracle and her three sister ships are identical. The difference is in the themes and dcor. Aboard Miracle, fictional characters from books, movies, fairy tales, and even comic books, rule the seas. The lobby and atrium are named after the Metropolis of Superman fame. The foyer is the Batman-inspired Gotham Lounge. The upscale Nick & Nora's Supper Club is a tip of the hat to the lead couple in The Thin Man films of the 1930s and 40s. The nautically-themed Horatio's Restaurant, decorated with wall-hanging busts of a circa 17th century naval officer, is not named for Britain's greatest naval hero, Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson but rather the fictional swashbuckler Horatio Hornblower. The lobby lounge is called the Jeeves Lounge, after the fictional butler in the P.G. Wodehouse novel series. All things considered, Miracle proffers novel readers a fantasy escape experience.

Miracle entered service in 2004. The Spirit class ships have been called the most efficient and successful cruise ships ever built.' Even now, with larger, and some say more elaborate cruise ships in service, Miracle and her three sisters remain at the fore of cruise ship excellence.

Sailing from U.S. ports, better than 85% of her passengers are U.S. citizens. Most are generally above age 30, including honeymooners and family traffic. When Miracle sails out of New York, a majority of the passengers are from the tri-state area and the East Coast.

To the popular, tried and true ports of San Juan and St. Thomas, Carnival has added Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, so voyagers on the 8-night cruises get three ports of call. The listing of shore excursions in each port are too numerous to list. Suffice it to say that whether a passenger's interest is beach time, snorkeling, swimming with dolphins, helmet dives, shopping, sightseeing, or nightlife,

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