We (just SO and I went) had a great time on our cruise to the Mexican Riviera which took in the ports of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. It was a seven day cruise and we were in a balcony cabin. The ship was the Carnival Pride which was built in 2002 and can hold 2014 passengers. It's decorated in the Renaissance era. This was our first cruise so we really didn't have anything to compare it to so that was probably a good thing!

We thought the ship was kept very clean and our room functioned very well. Plenty of space for our clothes and we stuck the luggage under the bed. We were so glad that we got a balcony! We were so glad that we got a balcony! We are people that like to stay in our room to read and relax on vacation, so the balcony came in handy! The only drawback with the person next door smoked! When we were on the balcony at the same time of course-- you could smell it! We had hoped since they were behind us that the smoke would blow back but it didn't. We decided to get over it quickly as we didn't want it to ruin our vacation. We thought the beds were comfortable as I guess Carnival has changed their bedding so they can sell it! LOL Our steward came twice a day and she was friendly and functional. The towel animals were cute but SO thought they were stupid -maybe it is a guy thing! She kept us in ice as we tipped her first thing when we met and said that we wanted ice every day. She was pretty good about doing that. In my research I heard they charge for water and (of course) alcohol. We brought water and smuggled in some flasks and cranberry juice. We are not cheap but hey we were on vacation and drinks add up! (I had heard stories where peoples' debt at the end was more than what the price of the cruise cost!) Anyway, it worked out well as the bottle of water in the room was $3.50 each (big liter bottle), drinks were $3.50/$6.50. We saved a ton of money as we drink a lot of water (not to mention those drinks in the cabin getting ready for dinner.) I think our tab at the end was only a little less than $500 and that included the $140 for the tips they tacked on.

As far as food goes, we thought the dinner in the main dining room was very good. It was cooked right and presented well. We liked our waiter a lot and he really worked hard. We tipped him extra at the end. We felt the dinner food was on par with a nice restaurant. We go to fine restaurants in CA a lot so were a bit worried (based on reviews), but every dinner meal was great. Now, the rest of the food was below average. The buffet area where you can go during the day was just average. The breakfast in the mornings in the dining room were just averaged too. We did eat in the dining room for lunch a few days and thought it was quite good. We didn't try the special dining restaurant where you pay $30 each to get 5 star meals. Originally, we were going to try it, but felt the dinner food was on par with what we were accustomed, so we decided against it. Read more