My husband and I decided to celebrate his graduation by taking a cruise with friends to Mexico. We had traveled on a Disney cruise in the Caribbean in 2006 and decided we really enjoyed cruising but wanted to take a longer one (Disney was 3 days). We chose Carnival because they were the last ones cruising to Mexico in May.
The embarkation process was very unorganized. We arrived on Alaska Airlines around 9 a.m., with the first shuttle supposedly leaving at about 11. We spent some time in the international terminal waiting and came back around 10:30. There were no representatives with signs pointing us in the right direction, and when we saw a Carnival shuttle outside we went up to it only to be told to go back inside and wait in a long line that had already formed. Once we got to Long Beach, people were walking around and some had decided to form a line. We asked a Carnival representative if we should wait in line and he directed us to one. By the time embarkation was to start, two lines had formed and the other line (which formed after ours) was let through first. The process inside the building went just fine after we got in.
The inside of the ship is very flashy. Having been on the Disney cruise first, we were hoping to find a more adult atmosphere (minus characters on the walls and Disney music playing in the halls). There was art all over the walls, and quite a bit of nudity. While I appreciate art and history (and am in my 20's with all my friends on vacation), it was just a little much for me. We got an oceanview balcony on deck 6 which was great to have (no noise above or around). Though the rooms are a little smaller than Disney's, there is a lot of closet storage space. I would highly suggest bringing a shoe rack for the back of one of the doors as it can easily hold all your sunglasses, tickets, flip flops, etc. The only thing lacking in the room is a bathtub, which I found were in the suites if you wanted to spring for one of those. Our balcony had a table and chairs and always had a great view of the port or dolphins swimming by.