This was my parents Christmas gift to my brother's & my families. 12 of us--6 adults plus 6 kids from 9-15. Oct. 24-31. We have cruised Princess & Disney; Mom & Dad have done Celebrity, RCCL, Princess & NCL; Brother had only done Carnival.

We flew into LAX the day before & had a limo waiting for the kids--they were tickled with the surprise! We stayed at the San Pedro Doubletree & was pleasantly surprised that it was more resort-like than I expected.

We headed over to the port at 10:00 Sunday and there were about 50 in line in front of us. We were let in about 10:30. First led to one set of chairs, then called to check in, led to another set of chairs. Unfortunately they did not open for embarkation until 12:15, and then there was standing room only in our section, and hearing them call for numbers was an issue. We did embark with little issue, and were actually on board by 12:40--tho your room isn't "ready" until 1:00 (not much fun to haul carry ons..) Walked around a bit, dropped luggage, headed to Windjammer for lunch--BIG mistake. NOWHERE to sit. We chose to head back to Promenade for a calmer bite to eat. Read more