Embarkation: We have sailed on this same cruise each of the past 4 years. We live in SoCal, so we like to drive, park, and relax. We also know what to expect and plan for. When we arrived at the port in Long Beach, we immediately noticed construction going on in the passenger staging area where the long lines usually were. With trepidation, I dropped the wife off with the luggage and parked in the terminal. I was expecting the worst. What happened was amazing! We arrived at the terminal at 11:15am and we were aboard the ship by noon! That is not supposed to happen.

The Carnival Pride efficiency that brings us back was it's usual upon entering our balcony cabin. As another review mentioned, the rubber door-stop makes the best way to wedge open the balcony door. Be aware if you practice this in Mexico, the native biting buts will be grateful. The Lido deck and it's Mermaid Grille was better than adequate. The entertainment was entertaining, and Bronson the cruise director was up to par. The Normandie restaurant was fine, but be aware - if you order red meat the choices are medium rare and medium well...and the medium well is very well....no pink whatsoever....

Casino alert! We actually fared pretty well during our cruise. However, they switched to a coin-free system that is problematic. In a nutshell, if you like to drink and have fun in the casino, you can easily leave money in the machines for the next player. You have to enter your code and have options for credits. However many credits you have acquired, if you just get up and remove your card without re-entering your code and transferring the credits to your card, your credits are history once another person sits on that machine! So be aware....my wife probably inherited more credits than she left behind.... Read more