I booked this cruise three weeks out as a present for my Mothers 60th birthday. This was her first cruise, and my forth. I booked through carnival at 179pp ig. I found out through the cc board that the past guest rate dropped to 159pp. Called carnival and they offered me an 8 cat upgrade to 6D and outside cabin. Took that instead of a OBC. My review is biased by the price. This was an very inexpensive trip and considering the ports of call, Catalina and Ensenda I did not expect much.

Since I live in San Diego, I drove to Long Beach dropped Mom off at the curb with the luggage and self parked in Carnivals garage. From the time I left the car to the time we were on the Lido deck eating lunch was just one hour. We arrived at the terminal around noon. Note to you booze hounds... check your alcohol. I saw them dump one guys flask and two girls huge jungle juice containers at the security screening. All my alcohol made if fine in my luggage.

Overall, the ship was clean and the staff very accommodating. My room steward and head waiter were excellent. Food was better in the main dining room than the buffet. I thought the quality of the International stations in the buffet had gone down hill, but again for the price I can not complain. The pizza was always excellent. Read more