Booking: I decided to book with CCL Paradise after hearing so much about it. I booked my first family trip In October 2009 for Dec. 14-18th baja cruise.  i started joining carnival connections and cruisecritic.com to read everyones reviews.

EMBARKATION: We arrived at the port at 11:30am once i parked there were porters offering me there helping hand. i took a few photos before entering the dome. there was no lines the security was friendly. once going through security screening,my boyfriend, my 8yr old daughter and I had to sign these medical release form and handed it to the reception lady as she checked our IDs & birth certificates. She was really nice, and fast too we all got our SS Card immidately and she explained how it all works. as we walked away we took our first photos in a nice scenery backround and headed upstairs to the ship. We all handed our cards again to the last check point of security and took another photo and finally followed everyone else onto the ship. The first step inside i had to take a photo for security purposes and once that was done i was greeted by a female who handed me a camp carnival caper and the caper for the day. She advised us that our room wouldnt be done until 1:30p and guided us to the elevator onto the Lido deck for lunch. when we arrived up on the deck we were greeting by friendly wait staff offering us drinks i felt so welcoming but we arent drinkers so we said no thanks. I felt anxiety and a little queezy since my boyfriend chose to sit by the window even though the ship wasnt moving i was staring at the water and felt it rocking a little. i checked out the lido buffet and put a few things onto my plate but took a few bites and decided not to eat until i got used to being on the ship. while sitting i took alot of photos, 1:30 came around and decided to check out our room on the main deck it was a good size for a family of 3. the bathroom was a good size too. we started to unpack and checked out the rest of the ship. once 5:30p came around we all went up on the sports deck and took some video of the ship leaving that was awsome. at 7p i checked in my 8 yr old into camp carnival and went to have dinner in the elation dining area. i had the anytime dining it was fast service. the food and the menu selection was really good. the wait staff was friendly. by 10p i got my daugher out of camp carnival she enjoyed it they gave her a tshirt to color on the min we got to our cabin there was a cute towel animal, chocolates & a caper for tues catalina island waiting, At 11p we all went to bed i couldnt sleep well the first nite i wasnt use to being away from my own bed.