About us: With me, I have my wife and two kids (2 years, and 7 months), plus my parents who both require use of wheelchairs...so we have to carefully plan things.
Pre-cruise:
We got a great deal at the Embassy Suites in Tampa..right by the water. This was our first time in Tampa, and I wish we had more time, it was very nice! We had breakfast in the morning, and I used my parents car to take all of our luggage right over to the ship, and come back to the hotel. My parents then took the car over and valet parked (very convenient, and cost effective) and we actually loaded the kids in the stroller and walked to the ship...never done that before!