Embarkation:

We flew into LAX early Sunday Morning. I had arranged a car service to get us to Long Beach. Several Carnival meet-and-greet staff stopped us when they saw are Carnival luggage tags and asked if they could help, although we did not need their services.

We arrived at the Long Beach Cruise Terminal around 9:30am, and a porter took our luggage as soon as it hit the sidewalk. We followed directions and signs to the Early Check-in office on board the Queen Mary. No lines to check in, but we did get a trainee who was obviously very green and nervous. After swiping our credit card and passports about a dozen times, a supervisor finally came over and helped him. Sign and Sail cards in hand, we were directed to 'Zone 2'. This was the only point at which there was a little confusion. We were actually so early that nobody else was in Zone 2, so we weren't sure if we were in the right area. A Carnival employee arrived very shortly thereafter and assured us that we would be boarding the ship some time around 11:30. Read more