We chose this cruise because of the dates and ports to visit. We always try to visit at least 1 new port every time we cruise. We had a group of 7 this time, most of us in our 50's, one 75 and 1 was 19 (our son). We had a blast and were pleasantly surprised that there were not more drunks being obnoxious all over! Many families and people of all ages. We have sailed from Port Canaveral many times and it usually goes very smooth. We stayed overnight in Cocoa Beach and our hotel has park and cruise guests processing in and out down to almost perfect timing. There were many of us departing on a cruise that day.
Embarkation went quite smoothly. Once we were allowed onboard, we found that the dining room was opening in about 10 minutes so we waited for that vice going to the Lido, which is usually quite hectic and confusing. We ate most of our meals in the dining rooms vice the Lido due to allergies and just enjoying not having to stand in lines or fight for a drink. Guy's burgers were great and most of the dining room food was good, hot or at least very warm. Sometimes some of the choices were not to my liking but mostly because of my allergies, but our waitstaff was great. was a bit disappointed with the "American Table theme tho. They memorized our names immediately and were very helpful even when they were so busy. We did hate walking thru the casino due to the smoke, but otherwise, we were not bothered by smokers very much. We played a lot of trivia which we always enjoy. Always a good time. Most of the service in all areas of the ship was pretty good. We had a cabin (handicapped accessible) in the spa area of deck 11 and that was great! Our son, 19, hung around with someone from the group part of the time and by himself the rest of the time but said he really enjoyed the cruise. Meals were always fun and we loved all the kids thinking my husband was Santa (he is actually)!! so many little ones had their vacations made by "Santa" taking a photo with them or talking with them. We have sailed a variety of the lower priced cruises and still enjoy most of our Carnival ones. The Military reception was really great and informative, and Schwartz was a great cruise director! Was not impressed with the shopping expert. She was long winded and repeated information too many times.
We didn't do excursions in every port, but 3 of us did the Monkey Jungle in the Dominican Republic and had a blast. Then we 3 also went snorkling in Grand Turk and it was fun too, but getting dropped off on the beach and having to find our way back to the port area was NOT fun. I had a really hard time walking in the sand and ended up using my scooter for the rest of the time onboard due to pain in my knees and ankles from walking in the sand. The crew on the boat was very good and helpful, highly recommend the Ultimate Snorkling adventure and the Monkey Jungle. We would go again on this ship.
This was the last available handicapped accessible which we need as disabled Veterans. I usually have my scooter with me as I can only walk so long. This cabin was great! lots of room for 3 of us, bathroom big and roomy, except the floor outside the shower tended to get quite wet. Room stewards were great and very accommodating.
Ships are easy to get to and Cocoa Beach is beautiful with lots to do there. Also the Kennedy Space Center is near and very interesting to visit.
The port area is fairly new it seems and not really big but has some nice stores there.
St. Thomas is nice. We rode the cable cars to the top and hung out there eating some nachos and having some drinks. We then went to town and shopped a bit but didn't stay long.