Carnival Splendor, June 15, 2019

Carnival Splendor,  Long Beach, Mexican Rivera Cruise,  June 15, 2019

Before we even moved to Southern California,  we booked our first Mexican Rivera Cruise out of Long Beach. It was a special Carnival Premiere Casino Cruise. We were on Carnival Miracle in February 2016. Since we took that cruise, in 2017 and 2018 we took the shorter 4 day Catalina and Ensenada Cruise on Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration out of Long Beach. 

We decided since it is now a different ship doing the week long Mexican Rivera Cruise that it would be a great time to cruise it again.  Carnival Splendor is in Long Beach now but eventually it will be moved to Australia. Eventually, Carnival will be going back to San Diego and bringing a brand new ship. That will probably be the next time we do this same itinerary.

Our cruise on Carnival Splendor was our tenth cruise on Carnival. Four of the ten have been Carnival's smaller ships, Carnival Splendor was the youngest Carnival ship that we have been on. We had hoped that since it was only 10 years old that it would be in good condition. Sadly, we were disappointed in the shape of the Splendor. It looked to us that Carnival put off some much needed maintenance and repairs since the ship is doing a massive upgrade and dry dock before it goes to Australia. 

Overall, the cruise was great! We had fun in all three ports and we really had a good time on the ship. Our cabin was in a great spot. We opted for an ocean view cabin this time. We have really enjoyed having the extra room. I think we are both over packers. We bring coordinated outfits for the photo ops each night. We probably took 100 plus pictures and we bought quite a few!

Carnival Inspiration, February 2018

Carnival Inspiration

February 26, 2018

Long Beach, CA

Catalina Island, CA

Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

Our second Carnival Premier Getaway, our 3rd cruise out of Long Beach, Our second short Mexico Cruise. 

This was our 9th cruise on Carnival. When we originally started cruising on Carnival in 2015, our plan was to not repeat the Ship, Embarkation port, or Itinerary. So far, we have not cruise on a Carnival Ship twice. We have done the same itinerary twice, and this was our third cruise out of Long Beach.

We board the Carnival Inspiration and then went to Catalina Island the next day. We decided to take a tour around Catalina Island and get to see some sights. It was a great drive to get to view around the Island. When we had been there before we did something else. 

Our next stop was Ensenada Mexico. This was my third time in Ensenada. Our first time we drove there. From where we are in Northern San Diego County county, it takes about 90 minutes with no traffic to get to the border, and then it is about 2 hrs to get to Ensenada after crossing the border.  The second and third time we visited Ensenada we were on a Carnival Ship.

Ensenada is a fun tourist town. The weather is pretty good all year, so there is a ton to do as far as activities. This trip we did a wine country tour. People do not really think of Baja California as being Wine Country, but it is. Due to the wonderful weather, it is a great place for grapes and olives, not just the infamous Agave for tequila. Our wine country tour included a bottle of wine at the first vineyard. The second vineyard had way more than just wine. It had all sorts of oils, spreads and seasonings. It was a great tour even for those who do not drink. 

Carnival Inspiration February 2018

Carnival Inspiration

Premier Getaway Cruise

February 2018

In October of 2017, we took our first Carnival Premier Getaway Cruise out of Long Beach, CA. The first cruise was on the Carnival Imagination.  At this point, we had taken 4 other Premier Cruises by Carnival. Premier cruises are basically a "Bonus" for Carnival Casino Players. The cruise goes on as normal, but there are special things in and out of the casino for players who booked their cabins with the special promotion.

Previously, when we had cruised out of Long Beach, the cruise terminal had been under some remodeling, so we were basically sitting outside waiting on our boarding group to be called to proceed. Then when we walked through, we could see that most of the terminal was blocked off. This was our first time where the cruise terminal was actually open and we walked through the entire thing. 

The cruise on Carnival Inspiration was very similar to the previous cruise on Carnival Imagination. The ships are close in age and are the same size.  Even on 2 ships that are close in size, age and style, every cruise is a completely different experience.

Our cruise went to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Ironically, due to where we live in San Diego County, both places are easily driveable. Well, we can drive to the ferry to Catalina. Obviously, we could not actually drive to Catalina Island.

Our first stop was Catalina, then Ensenada, then a Sea Day, then we disembarked back in Long Beach.  Each day of the cruise, whether we were in a port or Sea Day, there were special things going on in the casino at various hours. Some of the events like the slot tournaments are open to anyone in the casino who has enough points to qualify, but there are some events that are only open to the Premier invited guests. 

Even though the cruise is shorter than the regular Premier Cruises that Carnival organizes, the Premier Getaway is definitely not an afterthought. Carnival Players Club makes sure that these shorter cruises where they have organized a Premier Getaway Cruise are just as much fun for the Premier Players as any other cruise that they have been on, Premier or not. 

Carnival Glory, June 2017

Carnival Glory

Bahamas, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, Puerto Rico

Port of Miami

This was our first cruise out of Miami on Carnival. This was our sixth cruise on Carnival. Each itinerary so far we have cruises on a different ship, out of a different port, and the itinerary has been slightly different each time as well. 

This was our second time in Half Moon Cay, but this was our first time in St, Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. My husband had been to St. Thomas and San Juan as part of a Navy cruise a long time ago. But he didn't remember much. However, he had never been to any part of Turks and Caicos. I was excited, FINALLY a country that my husband has not been too!

Carnival Miracle - Mexican Riviera Cruise - February 2016

We started cruising Carnival in January of 2015. We took our first cruise to the Bahamas, followed by a 2nd cruise to the Bahamas, and then a 3rd cruise to the Western Caribbean all in 2015.

In the process of finalizing the check in procedures for our Western Caribbean cruise, I noticed that due to my husband's regular casino playing, he had several free cruise offers that were what Carnival Classifies as a Premier Cruise. We decided to book the Mexican Riviera Cruise out of Long Beach Premier Event since we would have moved to the west coast by then.

So our cruise in February 2016 was many firsts. It was our first Premier Casino Cruise, Our first cruise out of the West Coast, Our First Cruise on Carnival Miracle and Our First Mexican Riviera Cruise.
Needless to say, we knew before we even boarded that Carnival Miracle was going to be a trip we would never forget.

Carnival Valor

Our cruise on Carnival Valor was a 7 day, Caribbean Cruise out of Port Canaveral, Florida.

We boarded on Saturday, Sunday was a sea day. 
Monday was Cozumel Mexico, Tuesday was Belize City, Belize, Wednesday was Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras and Thursday was Costa Maya Mexico. 
Friday was a Sea Day and we returned Saturday. 

Carnival Valor was a great ship and we had a great time. 

We ended up with a handicapped room, which gave us a bigger bathroom, but less storage space in the cabin.