I was traveling with my half sister (30 something), my best friend (male 28) and my 15 year old nephew. It was the first cruise for all of us. We flew into Long Beach the day of embarkation. I happily recommend flying into Long Beach. The airport is small but very functional. The taxi stand and shuttles are right across the street from the main building. Very accessible and it was cheaper to fly there than to LAX from Salt Lake City.

We grabbed a cab ($24) and headed to the port. We arrived around 1:30. Next time I will arrive early and use the early check in on the QM because the line was ridiculous!! The porters quickly grabbed our luggage from the cab driver so that was a non-issue. It took us about 30 minutes from entering the line to getting though security. Checking in was easy. Obligatory picture then the ship. I have to say...seeing a ship like that for the first time was amazing. I hope that all my future cruises, I get that feeling when I first see it. We checked out our interior stateroom which was as aft as you can go on the Upper deck. I was surprised at the roominess. During the entire trip, even with four people, it never felt too crowded. Up top to explore, eat and have a drink. We ended up eating so much and so well that by the time dinner came, none of us were hungry enough to venture to the dining room. Went through the muster drill. I can't really comment on the rest of the evening as I got a touch of motion sickness and spent the rest of the evening in bed. Out steward was fantastic! He kept us in towels and pillow chocolates with the best of them!

The first port was Catalina Island. We booked a glass bottom boat tour through Carnival. We road the tender to the docks and shopped for a while before the tour. Both were enjoyable. The second stop was in Ensenada. We didn't book a tour. Instead, we were going to catch a bus to downtown and shop. Found out from our bus driver that they offer tours to La Bufadora for cheaper than Carnival was offering it. Good points: Cheaper, excellent guide and driver. Bad points: Older vehicles and long drive. La Bufadora was cool and the Mexican market was a lot of fun. You get a free drink coupon from the tour company to Habana Bananas. When you go to redeem it and if you are hungry, they have really yummy tacos that are NOT on the menu. You have to ask for them. Really, really good!! Be prepared for the onslaught of people with flyers. Even a polite no thank you or no gracias was enough to sway them. I just took the flyers and stuffed them in my bag. I ended up using them as a background when I was scrapbooking my pictures of La Bufadora, so I guess they came in handy. ? One hint about La Bufadora...they have clean bathrooms, but you have to pay to use them. If you tend to go a lot...bring quarters. Read more