Hey, who wants to take a cruise to a country beleaguered by violence and kidnapping and risk catching one of those ship-board illnesses that often grip cruisers on a boat that caught fire in the middle of the ocean the last time it sailed? If this sounds like you, you'll be happy to know Carnival's Splendor is arriving back home in Long Beach this weekend, and is about to resume its Mexican Riviera cruise service, according to the Daily Breeze. more ›

More bad news for travelers booked on future sailings on Carnival's Splendor, as the company has announced they will have to cancel five more trips, according to ABC7. The Splendor was damaged by an engine room fire in November that left passengers and crew stranded at sea for several days without power. more ›

The Carnival Splendor cruise ship once headed to Puerto Vallarta from Long Beach for a seven-day luxury cruise that suffered an engine fire that knocked out power and stranded guests 200 miles off the coast of San Diego is now being tugged ever-so-slowly to shore. The 4,500 passengers and crew have experienced a different kind of luxury than they signed up for: no air conditioning, no hot water, no cell service, no internet connection, no fancy buffets. Instead they've had to settle for once-not-but-now-working toilets, cold water, Spam and Pop Tarts. more ›

A cruise ship headed to Puerto Vallarta from Long Beach suffered an engine fire yesterday knocking out power, air conditioning, hot food service, toilets and telephones leaving the 952-foot luxury ship like a bath toy, dead-in-the-ocean 200 hundred miles off the coast of San Diego. more ›

Hundreds of thousands will descend upon West Hollywood on Sunday night, clad like Lady Gaga, zombies or a plethora of other costumes (read LAist's 2010 trendy predictions) for the annual West Hollywood Halloween Carnival. But such a massive event means a multitude of street closures and parking issues. more ›

If you’re in the mood to get a taste of small town America, The Watermelon Festival presented by the Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club at Sunland park, with its game booths, watermelon seed spitting contest and all the carnival food a glutton can handle, is the place to be this weekend. Though today is the last day for the festivities, there’s still plenty of action left, including a watermelon eating contest, greased watermelon relay race, music by 60s and 70s cover band The Heist, and a drawing for a $500 grand prize. more ›

There were all sorts of costumes on display last night at the annual West Hollywood Halloween event, from the inventive to the obscene and from the politically charged to the politically incorrect. Of course, there's always room for the traditional, and often lots of naughtiness. Here are a few pics from the festivities as found on Flickr and in our inbox. more ›

Today's not just any Tuesday. It's Mardi Gras -- Fat Tuesday -- Shrove Tuesday -- Carnival. Whatever you want to call it, it's a day to rock yer socks off. And since we're not in Rio or in New Orleans right now flashing for beads and drinking Dixie Beer on the street, LAist has thought of a few places to celebrate around LA today: - Amoeba Records starts its festivities at 4 PM with... more ›