I had booked a land vacation about 8 months ago for myself and my two sisters in Cancun, Mexico. But then the hurricanes came and dashed our dreams of beach filled bliss. After recouping what was left of our budget less the vacation insurance refund I began to search the internet for a similar vacation with out spending more money. I then found a stellar deal, on Orbitz of all places, for an 8 night pacific mexican riviera cruise on carnival spirit. I was a first time cruiser and felt the need to read any and all info I could find. Web sites like this one really helped. Thanx! Our sailing date was 1/3/06, departing from San Diego. We live in the social area so we didnt have to worry about booking a flight etc. We instead were able to just park our cars in long-term parking across the street from the pier. For an 8 day cruise its 108 bucks but thats a lot cheaper than a plane ticket and a lot less hassle.

Firstly embarkation was a breeze, we didnt get down to the pier until 1:30 so I guess we missed the crowds every one is always talking about. The staff was totally friendly and the process took us 15 minutes. No kidding.

We booked a category 9A extended balcony. It was worth every penny. The room was more than ample for the three of us and even accommodated three chronic over packing women with too many clothes, shoes, and bath supplies. The bed linens were the nicest I have seen in a while, with a duvet cover and fitted sheets on the bed! I havent seen fitted sheets on a hotel bed since I paid well over what some people make in a week for one nights stay. Great touch carnival. There were two (small) twin beds and a couch. There was also a bed in the ceiling but we decided against using it, since the couch was made up by our amazing stewardess every night so it wasnt an issue at all. The balcony was great for sunning in the afternoon, or sitting with coffee on those slow to start mornings that somehow stretched to noon. The room is larger than most standard balconies I believe due to the location. There are only 4 rooms of this type on each floor located behind the aft elevators. We never heard any noise at all. If its available and your looking for a little more room but not wanting to pay as much as a suite would cost I suggest looking into it. Our stewardess only came by one morning to ask when we would be gone and after that learned that we werent exactly the types to completely clear the room by 10am. She was a very tall Russian woman and we tipped her extra at the end of the cruise for her stellar service. I also left her a bottle of wine in hopes that she might find time to put her feet up and relax. Read more