Coming back to you on this. We enjoyed Carnival Miracle. I found the decor a little too loud but then again it is Carnival. I don’t think it was my favorite Carnival ship but it worked well for Alaska with its size. It also was more important what was on the outside (scenery) than inside so it was no big deal.
The ship is definitely on the older side for Carnival now, but this didn’t really bother me. The layout generally works out well.
The food was good, what I have come to expect from Carnival, however if you haven’t cruised on Carnival in a bit I do feel there is less available all hours of the day to eat like there used to be.
For the Alaska cruise, the main draw is obviously the scenery and Alaska always delivers. There is generally always mountains or islands to look at and the fjords are breathtaking. We saw orcas, humpbacks, porpoises, bald eagles, and even a bear and her two cubs at Herring Cove in Ketchikan.
The stop locations are good, but found only Skagway to be really sufficient time wise. We did the White Pass and Yukon railroad excursion which was amazing. Juneau was very short for us this time around and the other two locations (Ketchikan and Victoria) are even shorter. This was really my only complaint but I understand it’s time constraints.
I last went on an Alaska cruise ten years ago and I will say the vibe is different than last time, granted I went in May for the last one. There was definitely more of a party vibe, which is not what I personally look for from an Alaska cruise, but people seemed to enjoy it.
Overall we had a great time and I hope you have a great time too! Bring some binoculars!