This was my third cruise on the Carnival Elation. My first two trips we left out of Galveston. This was my first Mexican Riviera/Baja, California cruise. I cruised with a total of 8 people, all family.

Day 1 - We flew in to San Diego the day of the cruise. We landed about 9:30 AM and took a shuttle to the pier. The local shuttles are much cheaper than a Carnival shuttle by over half the price. We paid $6 a piece. We got to the pier about 10:15 and were able to check in our bags. We walked to a local store to buy some wine and sodas to take on board. About 11:15 we entered the Carnival pier area and checked in for the cruise. We walked straight to a customer service rep without waiting at all. We then sat in the waiting area about 15 to 20 minutes until we were able to board the ship. Once our section number was called it took about 5 minutes to get on the ship. The whole process was amazingly fast.

The only downside to getting on the boat that early was our rooms were not quite ready. We sat at the back of the boat behind Tiffany's and drank while watching the local boats. We decided to check on our rooms about 2:00 and they were ready. The muster drill was very easy and you didn't even have to wear your life jacket! They only require you to hold it. After the drill we left the pier and started our vacation! Read more