The Carnival Miracle, newest of the line's four Spirit-class ships, offers a nice casino (on a very nice ship) that has only one thing lacking: VIP players crowding its tables. Blame it on Tampa!

While the Carnival Miracle's sister ships, the Carnival Pride cruising out of Los Angeles and the Carnival Legend sailing out of New York, have very busy casinos, the Miracle -- which sails weekly from Tampa -- does not seem to get as much high-roller (or even medium-roller) action as its spacious casino deserves.

For much of this midsummer cruise, a $25 blackjack table was nowhere to be found (though casino management was quite willing to open one upon request). That's not to say the $5 and $10 tables weren't busy. In late evening, there were players at most of the tables, and the casino stayed open some nights until 4 a.m.

The casino on the Miracle, like its twins on the other Spirit-class ships, has 14 tables arranged in two banks (7 multi-deck blackjack tables including one face-up blackjack, one three-card poker, one Caribbean stud poker, one Let It Ride, two roulette and one craps table). The Caribbean Stud game features a progressive jackpot linked to games on the ships of other members of the Ocean Players Club. For a dollar side bet, a player drawing a royal flush in diamonds on this cruise stood to win more than $200,000. In one corner of "Mr. Lucky's" casino, there also is a low limit Texas Hold 'em table that was busy the entire cruise.

More than 180 slots are arrayed on one side of the casino offering a variety of opportunities, including a shot at winning the Ocean Players Club progressive Megacash jackpot. It's been more than a year now since the Megacash has hit, and on this August 2006 sailing, the jackpot was climbing past $830,000.

For slot players, the Miracle was promoting the benefits of "coinless gaming" now available to Ocean Players Club members on all Carnival ships. It also was featuring the BMW "Win a Car" promotion currently running on all Carnival and most Princess Cruise Line ships. Play a 2-cent slot machine (you actually have to play $1.80 to have a shot at the car) and you could win a sporty BMW Z4 convertible roadster, a BMW X3 sports utility vehicle or a BMW 325i sedan.

For those wanting to wager while watching sports events, the Miracle has 5-cent slots built right into the bar countertop of one of the best sports bars at sea. It is a pity that artificial broadcast restrictions for the most part prevent cruise lines from showing the sports events with the broadest appeal to U.S. cruisers.

The dealers on the Carnival Miracle were competent and extremely friendly, and casino hosts comped drinks for the few Ocean Players Club members playing for higher stakes.

Overall, this is a pleasant casino in which to while away some hours. But VIP players looking for hot-and-heavy action at sea might want to consider passing up Tampa in favor of a Carnival ship sailing from New York, Los Angeles or South Florida.

--The Savvy Cruiser