We spent Thanksgiving Week, 2003, aboard Carnival Pride cruising the Mexican Riviera. It was our second cruise, having been on a Celebrity ship four years ago. This trip was a first for my wife and I on two accounts: the first trip on Carnival and the first visit to the Mexican Riviera. Our ports-of-call were Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. We sailed out of the newer Carnival port at Long Beach, CA.
GETTING THERE was not a problem. We flew out of Phoenix on Sunday morning directly to Long Beach. Our flight was to arrive at 12:30 pm with plenty of time to make the short transfer to the ship before its 4:00 departure. We were a little apprehensive about possible flight delays which were put to rest by an on-time flight and meeting other folks going on the same cruise.
EMBARKATION time was mostly spent in two lines - the first to wait for a porter to take the luggage (30 minutes) and the second to access the "dome" where the actual processing takes place (30 minutes). Once into the process it went rather smoothly - through airport-like security, paper work and getting the clever Sail and Sign card. This is your credit card, identification and stateroom key all in one. The total time spent from the time we got to the terminal until we were in our stateroom was approximately 1.5 hours. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that we received an approximately 5 category upgrade putting us on deck 8, midship.