This was our sixth cruise and my parents first. We took our two children, ages 5 and 7 as well.
We drove from the Dallas area and my parents drove from San Antonio. We all stayed at the Best Western Suites close to the port since they offer free breakfast and parking. The hotel was ok, but I did see moldy spots in the bathroom, very poor construction/repair work done around the hotel that looked shabby. Beds were ok. Hotel staff were very courteous and responsive. The food was decent. They were fairly organized getting us to and from port. Overall, the hotel was fine.
*********************************THE CABINS****************
We had two balcony rooms. My parent's room was on the Aloha and ours was on Baja. Their bed(s) were nicer than ours. (two twins) My husband is still recovering from back pain from the awful beds. The bed was worse than some Motel 6 beds. It was really, really worn down. We even bring a tempurpedic pad with us, that is an inch and a half thick and it still didn't help. On the third day, the nearly non-existent cabin steward brought us a egg crate pad as well. It helped some, but my husband is 6'1" and 200 pounds. A non supportive bed is really hard on him. :( The room size seemed fine for my parents, but it really became frustrating with 4 of us in this room. There was not ever enough room for us to 'unpack' fully and we never got organized enough to feel comfortable. We were always looking for stuff and having to pull out a million things to get to the items we needed. We have been on Carnival Magic, Sensation, Dream, Conquest, and Disney Magic in balcony rooms. This is the smallest room we've ever had.
We barely saw our room guy but at least our bed was made when we got to the room. My parents got a wonderful steward for their room. They were raving about him.
The bunkbed my daughter was in was rattling ALL night long the first two nights.
So, I got so frustrated that I moved the mattress to the floor and had her sleep there.
It stopped the rattling! But, now we had to step over her to get to the bathroom in the night!!!