My husband and I took this cruise with our parents. We've all cruised together before, but this year health and mobility was a real issue. Plus, I lost my dad last year, so I was fully responsible for getting my mom around. This could have been very hectic and tiring, but from start to finish, Carnival and the Port employees made everything so easy and convenient. I've heard stories from other travellers about passengers being inconsiderate towards disabled people in the hallways and elevators, but I never saw any of that. I planned our ship activities and shore excursions around our folks' abilities and we all had a good time. Good food, good company with other passengers we met. The crew did a great job anticipating our needs and helping out when necessary. Although, I will say that I'm looking forward to another trip where it can be just the two of us. I've written out details about the port and shore excursions below if you have questions about travelling with special needs.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We were cruising with our mothers, neither can walk or stand for long periods, so I was worried about them getting on the ship. After we got through security, if you go to the left, there are wheelchairs and you can request assistance. It took only a few minutes to get the moms situated and we were on our way. They got us on the ship and to the elevators easily. It's a long walk otherwise so if you or anyone in your party needs help, don't be afraid to request the wheelchair.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
I've never had a bad meal or dining experience on any cruise ship. I wonder about people who leave such negative reviews about the restaurants. That being said, we had nothing but good times at our MDR dinners. Food was excellent, our servers (Vincent and Putu) took good care of us and were friendly and entertaining. Every night between dinner and dessert, they would do a song and dance for us which was a lot of fun.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
If you keep going towards the back of the ship on deck nine, past the buffet areas, there's an aft deck and pool that was never very loud or crowded when we were there. It was a good place for my mom to sit and enjoy the view, by the glass windows at the very back, good view of the ship's wake and no wind. I enjoyed going to the lower outside deck on deck three. Right above the water, and very few people.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Love and Marriage show-hilarious as always. My favorite show on any of my cruises. We enjoyed the comedians and the music show. Hairy Chest contest is another hilarious thing to watch.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room steward was Elsa, and she did such a great job taking care of us. One night, my husband went to the room before I was ready to, and he realized he didn't have his key with him. He was wondering what to do when he says she just appeared behind him like a genie to open the door for him lol.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I booked our cabins on deck ten because even though they were inside rooms, just a short walk through the doors and we were on the outside deck. Very convenient with the lido just one floor down.
I was pleased enough with the cabin, the bathroom was decent sized and had plenty of shelves for toiletries. There are two usb ports on either side of the bed, but still only one outlet, so bring an adapter. This may just be specific to me, but the a/c in the room did not get it very cool (I like to sleep in an icebox) but we had brought a fan which helped. If you like a cool room for sleep I would recommend you do as well.
Ship tip
Probably my only complaint would be the dining room layout. We had the Silver Olympian dining room which is on deck three at the very back of the ship. But you can't get to it from deck three. You have to go to deck five, go to the very back elevators and then down to deck three. Of course, deck five is very busy and crowded and then another long wait for the elevators. ( my mother uses a walker and stairs are difficult for her) If you choose the My Time dining, you'll be in the Golden dining room which is a lot easier to get to, just past the lobby area on deck three.
We drove down and used Park Port Canaveral, which is attached to the Radisson, close to the port. The cost was about half of what it would be at the terminal. It was a busy morning, with three ships leaving, but we didn't have to wait very long, maybe half an hour for our shuttle to the port.
I was looking for an easy excursion that wouldn't be too tiring for our parents, so I chose the Ardastra Gardens and City Tour. There wasn't a lot of walking on the tour itself, but getting from the ship to the tour bus was almost too much for The Moms. If there was any type of transportation to the tour area I didn't see any. The city tour was fine, the driver was entertaining. The Gardens are small, with plenty of places to sit in the shade. Not terribly exciting, but we did get to feed apple slices to the lorikeets in their enclosure, and the flamingo show was fun to watch. There's also a small petting zoo with farm animals and you can buy a bag of feed pellets for a dollar. You can get some basic drinks and snacks and souvenirs. The young children who were on this tour with us were entertained, but older kids would probably be bored.
This was the day I was most looking forward to, and I wasn't disappointed. I booked a cabana for us, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We were on the first tender of the morning, were shuttled close to where the cabanas are, food, drinks, towels and snorkels were provided. The inside was air conditioned which was wonderful when it got hotter that afternoon. Just so you know, the higher the cabana number, the further you will have to walk to it from where you get dropped off. We were in number two, so didn't have far to go. It was also pretty close to where they served the lunch. We just filled plates and brought them back to the cabana and ate inside where it was cool and had no flies on our food. It was a bit of a walk to the bathroom, but you're on a sidewalk so easy enough to use a walker. The middle ones, 6-8 looked like the nicest ones to me, closer to the beach access and bathroom and stayed shady all afternoon. My husband and I were able to spend a lot of time snorkeling without worrying about Mom being uncomfortable. When we were ready to leave, we just let an employee know and the shuttle came back for us. There are stairs you have to navigate on and off the tender, though. If you can't do the stairs you have to request the wheelchair accessible tender, which we didn't do so I really can't say how that works.
Once we got down the gangplank into the port building, we were able to request wheelchairs for The Moms again. Just like before, it took only a couple minutes to get somebody. Customs was alarmingly easy, we didn't get a form to fill out on the ship like usual, didn't even talk to anyone, just showed our IDs as we walked out. When we got to where our luggage was, a porter put everything on a cart and they took us all the way to where we got on the shuttle to our parking. The Moms never even had to breathe heavy. It was all so easy and quick.
My husband has trouble walking long distance without stopping to rest quite often or just standing. He uses a cane on the ship but we always get help and they take him on the day we board and disembark in a wheelchair. At ports when we get off we try to wait for the crowd to get off so we can take our time and he can stop and rest. Sometimes the gang plank is quite steep and they always hold on to him to help him get down. Most passengers are very considerate but you always have a few that don’t care. So glad it all worked out for you.
I saw people using wheelchairs with Carnival on them, so I assume they requested to have them onboard like you did. If my MIL takes another cruise, we may go that route. What I found is that both passengers and crew were very accommodating so I hope that is your experience as well.
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your review. Although different ships and ports (Vista and Western Caribbean), there are common things I was concerned with. We are taking our moms too; husband’s dad passed a year ago; his mom has limited mobility and uses a regular walker (rollator got away from her); we are also all on the 10th floor. We booked a balcony before we asked them to come. We got them an ADA cabin (4j obstructed view facing front of ship). I just rented a wheelchair yesterday, from Scootaround... easier for us to rent than have to pack big one; and I’m sure we will use it more than we thought initially. We ‘were’ depending on the use of the rollator she won’t use again. I am so excited to take my mother in law! This will be her first cruise and I have been doing so much research for her/us. This has truly helped! My understating is that her wheelchair will be waiting for her in the terminal. We are platinum, but will wait until around 2pm, to avoid the crowd so she will be most comfortable. She is booked w/ my mom who has been on some cruises, but just prefer to all stay together. Thank you! So glad y’all were able to make more memories~
In the end, memories are what we have. My mom has been staying with me since my dad passed. They were always travellers, my childhood memories are of the trips we took. So now I try to take mom to new places whenever we can.
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