Carnival Pride by Gerardo -- Mexico September 21, 2003.

BACKGROUND: My wife and I were celebrating our 5th year wedding anniversary. This was our second cruise on Carnival. We cruised on the Carnival Elation 5 years ago to the Mexican Rivera. First, let me acknowledge that my wife and I are very customer service-oriented since we are both managers in our profession. This was the Carnival Pride's first cruise on the Mexican Rivera since moving from the east coast. My review is somewhat long but I want to make sure I cover all areas. I also want to provide a point of view from a couple that enjoy nice vacations and don't let the small things ruin our vacation.

EMBARKATION: We arrived at Long Beach around 11:30 am and checked in at the Queen Mary. We had to walk a little bit from the new Carnival terminal (The Spruce Goose) to the Queen Mary, but it wasn't a long walk. We waited in line for about 20 minutes. Once we checked in we walked back to the Carnival terminal and walked inside without waiting in line. Once inside we had to go through security, take our welcome aboard picture, and stand in line just a bit on the gangway while they took our security picture before boarding the ship. I really enjoyed the early check in at the Queen Mary because the process was smooth and quick. I believe we boarded the ship and were in our room by 12:30pm. They do close the early check in around 12:00 pm. I noticed the main check-in line at the terminal was getting pretty long. I would suggest arriving early and taking advantage of the early check-in. The new Carnival Long Beach Terminal is a big improvement over the old San Pedro terminal. Let me add that 2,400 passengers board the ship, so please remember to be patient. Carnival can only speed up the process so much. Read more