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The carnival spirit goes on the riviera cruise? I am taking the carnival mexican riviera cruise on dec 7th, and ours is the pride. The pride is a staff of about 996, and ours was reviewed very well. Check on the carnival website to get specifics about your ship, and if it is about the same size or larger it should be very good. I believe that all of the ships are very new though, so no matter what ship, they all should be very good. Just make sure to try and get a room in the middle of the ship, the end can feel the rocking more, and the front of the ship you can hear the chain lowering the anchor.

For the excursions, I was told by someone that recently went on the carnival mexican riviera cruise that the water park is not good, but the dolphin excursions are worth it, depending on which ones they are. The tours are supposed to be good, some providing excerpts about the history of the city and area and pretty cheap, only about $40 or so.

Also, reviews have said to tip as you go better than providing all tips in advance. I know that's not activity related, but a lot of reviews have been saying that about the carnival riviera cruise. Not to say that the service is bad, everyone rates the carnival well, but they say it is just better to tip that way.

Also, remember if anyone going on the cruise has traveled with carnival in the past they will give each person a $100 discount and give you a free upgrade on your room from standard oceanview and above.