With years of being an ocean liner nostalgic (reading dozens of books on the golden age of transatlantic liners of a bygone era), I boarded the Carnival Inspiration with mixed feelings. This ship was the one chosen by the group I traveled with, a mixed group of Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks, hearing family members with a Deaf relative, and ASL interpreters.
I was most curious to see how Carnival would handle staff/crew interaction with Deaf guests using ASL on a daily basis - and to see how Deaf-friendly the cabins would be. This cruise was part one of a three-part vacation, and out of three hotels and one ship cabin, it is clear that the ADA has a long way to go when concerning Deaf guests.
Giddy with the prospect of boarding a realio trulio ship after touring the RMS Queen Mary several years prior, I was among the first to board the 4-day cruise out of Tampa with a port of call in Cozumel.