A little background: We are 40 something with no children. My husband is disabled and will use a scooter onboard whenever we cruise, so handicap accessibility is REALLY important to us. This was our third Carnival cruise. We have sailed on Princess twice, Royal once and Holland once. For us, the cruise IS the destination.

Hotel Information: We flew in a couple days early to take in Miami Beach. We stayed at the Kimpton. I HIGHLY recommend this hotel. They go out of their way for you. When we checked in, we arrived 14 hours later than anticipated (due to a flight crew member getting sick and not having another replacement to take their place hence they cancelled the flight and "made a new flight for us" 12 hours later) The staff was sooo sweet. They went and got us glasses of champagne from the bar when they heard our tail of cancelled flights and rescheduling. We ordered from the restaurant and highly recommend their Cuban sandwich - it is wonderful! Miami Beach is a mere 3 blocks away. Super easy to get to. Joes Crab shack - the wait was too long but their fried chicken was excellent, hubby says the crab was over rated.Took a cab from the hotel to the port. Less than a 10 minute ride.

Embarkation: We usually travel with a fold up wheelchair for my husband and because of this, we usually get to go to the head of the lines, which is helpful. The lines for boarding we moving fairly quickly. We also usually arrive later so the room is ready when we get on and the majority of people have already eaten at the buffet. Unfortunately that was not the case this time. We had a difficult time finding a place to sit down. Read more