This was our first cruise with Carnival. We were pleasantly surprised for the most part.

We arrived in Long Beach a day ahead of the cruise, and stayed at the Westin since it was near the port. A short taxi ride on Sunday brought us to the terminal adjacent to the Queen Mary.

The embarkation process was probably the low point of the cruise. We stood in line for 2 hours to "check in" and then board the ship. I realize that it will take a while for 20 reps to check in 2000 people, but I know it can be done better. I say this because I have twice cruised with RCCL out of Miami, and the same same process took less than 20 minutes for a ship carrying over 3000 passengers. Read more