We cruised on the Carnival Pride 5/25/2008-6/1/2008. This was my 5th cruise and my girl-friend's first. I previously had cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. We visited San Diego before joining the cruise.

Most people are eager to get on the ship to have lunch and to start their vacation but if you arrive before 1 pm, you spend time waiting, so we could have had a relaxing lunch in Long Beach and then gotten on board without waiting. (Rock Bottom Brewery is excellent).

The Pride is not as large as others I've sailed on, so it felt cozier; on other larger ships, it took a week just to learn where everything was. It was 62 degrees when we left Long Beach and it did not warm up until we arrived in Puerto Vallarta, so there were not too many people on deck. Read more