SUMMARY

This was a wonderful cruise for myself and my 15 year old son. Although this was our fourth cruise, it was our first time with Carnival. We had such a great time and will definitely sail with Carnival again!

PREPARATION

Some people will call me an organizational freak, but the following items worked very well for me:

Dinner Clothes:
Plan out ALL your dinner clothes well in advance and write down each item for each day. Take them all to the cleaners and when you get them back, sort each outfit by day and leave them in the plastic. The morning you leave just place them all in a garment bag. Unpacking is a breeze (just hang them in the closet). I had NO wrinkles.

	Article continues below

Envelopes / Cash:
Prepare your own envelopes ahead of time. In each one I had money set aside for certain things. Parking ($70), Porter ($5), Room Service ($26), Cabin Steward ($50) Waiter ($50), Busboy ($30), Head Waiter ($10), Maitre D ($5), PV Shops ($40), Mazatlan Shops ($40), Cabo Shops ($20), Bingo ($130), Horseracing ($12), Slot Tournaments ($30), Raffles ($5), and don't forget the Casino (this was the thickest envelope).

Sail & Sign Card:
I used my ATM Bank Card. No problem what-so-ever. I figured out ahead of time what I thought I would spent on it. I came pretty close-within $40.00 but made sure I had about $200 extra in there. Pictures, Kid's Coke Card, Gift Shop, Ship Tours, Cook Books, Internet Cafe, Drinks from lounges and bars.

I did find out while on board that Bingo can be put on the Sail & Sign card or you may pay cash.

EMBARKATION

Got to terminal about 11:30am. WATCH OUT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE JUST RETURNING. We got in the wrong line and wasted about half an hour only to realize that we were in the passenger pick-up line and not the luggage drop-off line. Make sure you stay in the furthest line to the right. Ask one of the parking people if you are unsure.

After dropping off luggage we went to park the car. Again, ask for directions. You do NOT pay for parking until you get back so make sure you don't spend that parking envelope. ($10.00 day = $70.00 total)

Went thru Security and Check-In...very painless...took about 10 minutes. They gave us a paper with Boarding Group #12 on it. Again, about 10 minutes until our group was called. We headed up and got our picture taken and then received our Sail & Sign card. As you board the ship, they have you put your card in this machine and they snap your picture. Whenever you return to the ship after port, you insert this card and your picture appears on the screen. This is also a tracking device on who is still out at port.

We boarded the ship at 12:45pm.
We went immediately to our cabin. (U153) The cabin was much larger than any ship I've been on. What a nice surprise! (Now, if they could just do something about the size of the showers.) We unpacked our carry-ons (including the MUST HAVE closet sweater organizer and the over-the-door plastic organizer that actually fit better over-the-towel-rack.) I will never cruise again without those two items.

We went to Tiffany's for lunch. They had the hot food line and salad bar open, but we had the pizza and caesar salad instead. Both were very good.

When we went back to our cabin, lo and behold all 4 pieces of our luggage were outside our door. We had everything unpacked by 3:00pm. As we unpacked, we could see lines and lines of people trying to get on. Trust me, the earlier you get there the better!

We explored the ship until the life-boat drill at 4:15pm. We were at the front of the ship for "take-off", this was pretty cool. The ship actually left at 5:00pm instead of the 4:00pm sailing time. The Crystal Harmony was docked next to us. Beautiful ship but appeared much smaller than ours.

There are now four dining times. We had the earliest, which I didn't like at first but got used to it quickly. (5:45 - 6:15 - 8:00 - 8:30)

We had a booth that sat 6 people. We had the most fantastic waiter named Amin and our busboy was Oswald. This is the only cruise I've been on where the headwaiter spent so much time at our table. He was wonderful also.

Food:
The food was excellent everywhere! Dining Room, Tiffany's, Pool Grill, Room Service. Every morning we had coffee and danish brought to our room. If you do call in your order, have your tip ready as they will be at your door just as soon as you hang up the phone. (I still don't know how they do this!)

Shows:
Don't miss any of the comedy shows. We saw 3 and they were all so funny! They had 2 different Vegas Style shows that fill up quickly. Also, plan to attend any game shows they offer. They are a lot of fun to watch.

Activities:
So many to chose from. Slot tournaments, survivor game, bingo, horseracing, guest talent show, ice carving demonstration, and the not to be missed Galley Tour. Bring your Sail & Sign card because you can buy cookbooks and Carnival items after the tour. (I regret not buying the bathrobe for $39)

Weather:
Sunday-warm
Monday-At Sea - cool, windy & overcast till 1pm then sunny & warm.
Tuesday-At Sea - Sunny & warm
Wednesday-Puerto Vallarta - very hot and humid, but windy on ship at night
Thursday-Mazatlan - raining but humid, rained cleared up early, beautiful
Friday-Cabo San Lucas - hottest port
Saturday-At Sea - cool and windy

Puerto Vallarta:
We took the Mayan Beach Party ($16.00 per person) Carnival Tour I liked the tour but it was much too short. (8:00am - 1:00pm) A bus took you on a 20 minute ride to the Paradise Village Resort-it was located on the beach and was beautiful. There were fun activities that you could either participate in or watch, as we did. You could swim in the warm ocean water (but there are a lot of vendors selling things here) ,take a leisurely walk or lay out by the magnificent pool (no vendors allowed). If you're hungry, they have the best nachos right there on the beach for $6.50. Remember, lunch is not provided. Unfortunately, the day was over before we were ready to leave.

We were back on the ship by 1:40pm and had lunch at Tiffany's. We braved the heat again and went out to the "Flea Market" at the dock. We didn't buy a thing. Every shop was the same and every vendor was very pushy.

Mazatlan:
A few months prior to sailing, we booked a private tour over the internet with Randi's Happy Horses. She can be reached at: Randi@mazinfo.com Or if you'd like to preview her tour: www.mazinfo.com/hordebackride

This was such a beautiful ride! It's amazing how far away you feel from reality when you are on this tour. It's a must do!

Randi met us at the ship at 8:30am - even though it was raining. She had two helpers with her, Chris and Miguel. Between the three of them they were very organized in getting all of us (about 16) to our final destination on Stone Island. First was the tram to the pier, then the taxi to the water, then the boat to the island and finally a tractor wagon (yes, a tractor wagon) to the horses. Do not let any of this scare you. It was fun to try all the modes of transportation and it is all included in the $40 per person price. I had only ridden a horse once and I had the best time. It was very peaceful and the scenery was beautiful. On the way back we rode the horses on the beach and even stopped to take pictures. Once we brought the horses home, we walked a short distance to Victor's, where we ate lunch. (Our bill for two people including tip was $18.00) My son swam in the ocean and loved it. My first impression of Victor's reminded me of the outside cafes I've eaten at in Greece. It shocked me a little at first, but was soon very homey and welcoming. The only complaint I had was the constant vendors that approached you. If you need to do any shopping however, this is the place. Randi and her helpers were like old friends. Very funny and very polite. I am very glad we decided to take this tour!

Cabo San Lucas:
Since the ship is only there from 7:00am - 12:30pm we did not book a tour. We did however take the tender to the pier and spent an hour or so at the nice shopping area there. Although it was extremely hot, the shops are located outside under tarps. I found the vendors here to be the nicest of all the ports. People say the prices are higher and they don't bargain as much...this may be true. But, I'll take nice people over pushy people any day. The water is SO blue and the port the nicest also. Like everyone else, I wish we had more time here. Be sure to get in line for the tender by 11:30 am as it took us about 30 minutes to get back on the ship.

Debarkation:
Arrived in San Pedro at 7:00am. Ordered room service and was out of cabin by 9:15am. Went to Tiffany's for breakfast and hung out there until our luggage color was called. The first color was called at 10:10am. We were the fifth color called at 10:37am. It took us about 15 minutes to get down to our luggage. (PLEASE people, enjoy your last morning on the ship. Hang out anywhere EXCEPT the hallways) We found 3 of our 4 pieces immediately as they were right next to each other. A few moments later we were in our car for our 30 mile drive home. Debarkation was NOT a problem.

I'm Glad I Brought:

Coffee Mug with Lid
Lightweight Windbreaker (the air conditioner works everywhere!)
Over-The-Door-Organizer
Sweater Size Closet Organizer
Highlighter Pen (to mark Carnival Capers activities)
Small Notebook (for travel diary)
1" Binder with plastic inserts (to keep Carnival Capers, Photos, etc. in)

I hope anyone that reads this finds it helpful! Bon Voyage!