We have only sailed once before and this was our first sailing with Carnival. We didn't want to fly to a port so that limited us to the long beach port or Galveston, TX. Since we were dropping the kids in AZ for some much needed adult vacation time Long Beach was the winner. I would of gone with a different cruise line to begin with but sailings are limited and our time frame was tight. We settled on a 7 day to the Mexican Riviera on the Splendor. We drove to the port and stayed with family. We were droped of at the port and it was really nice not to have to worry about parking the car.

We spent the morning at the beach and having lunch with the family so we got to the port after 1. Porters were plentiful and within a few minutes they had all of our bags and we were off. We took 1 carry on with us filled with the essentials a case of water and 2 12 packs of soda. I saw security shaking single bottles of water but they seemed laid back and I heard many people in line waiting for our sail and signs that they had successfully smuggled liquor through. One guy called for a mouthwash party at 3pm in his cabin I thought that was an ingenious tactic and we saw him hammered by the pool at about 4pm. Lines were not bad at all and from drop off to our first step on the ship it was about an hour.

With all of my research pre cruise I thought I was sufficiently prepared for the loud decor but I wasn't. This ship is LOUD and in your face with the pepto pink and pink zebra print. Not me or my husbands taste. Honestly it kind of reminded me of the acid scene in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Since it was 2 by the time we got on the ship we headed to our Spa Interior room to check it out. Our luggage wasn't there yet obviously but we were able to ditch the carry on and water which is one reason we like to board later. Read more