Carnival Splendor ... March 14-21 2010

Preamble: This year's cruise will take us to the Mexican Riviera with stops in PuertoVallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. As usual, we will be on a Carnival Fun Ship,and couldn't be more excited to board one of Carnival's newest, the Splendor. My wife, Sharon and I will be joined by daughter Brittany, she is 22 and on her 6th cruise, and our son Matthew who is just 5yrs old and on his 4th cruise!! The rest of the family had to stay home for this one....oh well, their loss, right? We are particularly excited to be meeting with a very nice family we first met on the Valor a few years back. We have tried to coordinate a cruise together since then, and have finally made it happen. I am pleased to announce we are leaving out of Los Angeles so there will be no flying, just a 5 hour drive which is a lot cheaper and much easier to pull off. We did our usual research on Cruise Critic and mingled with other cruisers on the Roll Call..even exchanged numbers with another Arizona couple that was driving so we could text along the ride and keep an eye out for each other. After month's of anticipation, March 14 arrived and it was time for yet another, Spring Break Cruise!!!

Day 1: We left AZ around 7 am and got to Long Beach at about 12:30.We texted our driving buddies a few times and were in a friendly race the whole time. Parking was a breeze (cost about 115.00 for the week) and we only waited in line to register and get sail and sign cards for 30 minutes. We saw our friends, but they were a few groups ahead , so we spoke for a bit and then decided to meet again after boarding. We got back in line and Sharon texted our driving buddies. Turned out they were right in front of us in our groups line( we hadn't met before) and they had brought 2 friends with them. The crazy part is that I knew the guy they brought because we had played little league together over 25 yrs ago...literally on the same team back in New Jersey where we grew up!! I was blown away!! After chatting a bit, our group was called to board and after a short walk through the terminal, and over a pretty long gangway, we were onboard and ready to party!! Since it was about 2pm when we boarded, we went to check out our cabin... deck 7, room 7427 aft and were surprised to see 3 of our 4 bags were already there and the 4th was soon to follow!! I am convinced it was the $10 dollar bill I gave the porter for a tip! Sharon did a quick unpack and we headed for the lido deck and our first buffet lunch and to see our friends. We enjoyed drinks, a shot, and getting re-acquainted with our friends from years ago. The muster drill was easy, no more lifevests, and a while later (around sail away time) we headed for dinner in the mid-ships Black Pearl Dining Room. We were level 1, table 158, early seating, with Elmer as our Head Waiter. We planned ahead for a table for 9 and we had our friends at our table with us which was great. That's how we originally met, at our dinner table on the Valor 4 years ago. We hit it off with our friends as if we hung out all the time! Edward (E.J.) and Martha (Marti) are 40 and they have 3 lovely daughters...Samantha (16) and the twins, Sarah and Sidney (12). They remind us of ourselves with 3 daughters (we only brought one but have 2 more at home) and all the usual chaos that comes with a large family. After a great meal, E.J. and I enjoyed a few more drinks and we all went to the nightly show in the Spectacular Lounge. Afterwards everyone was pretty exhausted so we hit the sack (although I might have wandered by the casino for a bit) and got ready for 2 days at sea before hitting the ports. Read more