jerseygirlinAZ

DAY FOUR - PUERTA VALLARTA Woke up and sent hubby to grab breakfast from the marketplace. We had an excursion to swim with sea lions to get to! The breakfast was your typical stuff ... eggs, pastries, sausage, fruit. Ate a bit and headed off the ship. I've never been on a Carnival excursion before. We mostly book off-ship or just explore on our own. We got down to the meeting place and stood around for what seemed like a long time though, in actuality, I think we were just early. We left at about our planned time on an air-conditioned bus with 50 of our newest friends. The drive to the excursion was about 20 minutes and our driver was great. We arrived and were taken to our three different groups (some were swimming with dolphins and I don't know what the others were doing). We got a brief safety briefing and then were off to see the sea lions! This excursions gets mixed reviews on the Carnival site, so we we're sure we were making a good choice. All in all, we had a great time! Yes, the time in the tank with the sea lion was about 30 minutes. Yes, you are with other people you may not know. And, yes, the photos are gonna cost you some money (and you're kind of on the hook because you are not allowed to take your own photos). That said, we would recommend this excursion and do it again. The buffet lunch was pretty good and we ran into some local cats at lunch. We explored the area a little bit as I believe our excursion wrapped up before the others.

Sounds like a good plan! We are both 50 and have a nearly 7-year old daughter. Hubby and I have done Nassau before, but are thinking about walking to the Ardastra Gardens and doing a tour. Might head to the pirate museum as well. Last time we were in Nassau, we took a wrong turn and were heading in the wrong direction. A nice gentleman (who will initially ignored) asked where we were going. Fortunately, he got us turned around the right way.

Did a three-day cruise in March with no issues. Just got back from a seven-day and three of the five of us have tested positive. We'll cruise on though. We have a seven-day planned for July 2. Thinking we'll be good by then and not too at risk of getting covid again so close to having just had it.

Hooray! Another awesome review from Willdra! Sorry I'm late to the party, but we were on Panorama while you were on Mardi Gras. Really appreciate your review as we'll be sailing on Mardi Gras July 2, though with different ports. Thanks for sharing!!

DAY THREE - FUN DAY AT SEA Decided to sleep in since we were all out the night before. Daughter didn't start stirring until after 10:30 a.m.! I read a book (something I rarely get to do) while she slept and hubby went to the spa. Daughter couldn't get moving in time for us to catch the late lunch on Lido (closes at 11:30 a.m.) so she had ice cream for dinner and I waited until things opened at noon. Had a pretty low-key day. Caught the ice sculpting by the pool, which was fun. Daughter went to build-a-bear, which she enjoyed. Hubby and I sort of bar hopped around the ship, stopping in to a few places to make sure we got our money's worth from Cheers! My parents had reservations for the steakhouse this night, so it was just the three of us for dinner. We were moved upstairs, which is where the people who have anytime dining eat. Our table was beautiful. We had a great view of the ocean. We really enjoyed it. The staff were excellent! Funny thing happened though. Somehow there was a shard/piece of glass on our table. My husband was running his hands on the table cloth and the glass got stuck in his thumb. Not a major deal, but also not great. The staff made sure he was fine and asked if he wanted to go to see the ship's health staff. Nope, not that major. Just needed a band-aid. A supervisor came over later and offered him a drink, which he declined since we have Cheers! He was then offered a steakhouse selection, which he said he would use another night. I was very impressed with all the concern from the staff as it really was a minor thing. This night the MDR was offering one of my favorite things: spring rolls! I took a pic because I just had to. Sorry we don't have many other pics from this night, and I honestly can't remember what else was offered besides the dessert (remember, we were bar hopping earlier). Hubby said the chocolate panna cotta was very good. I obviously had the molten lava cake, which was delicious. Daughter wanted to go to Camp Ocean again so we let her go for an hour since we had an excursion planned for the next day. Hubby and I went to the piano bar and enjoyed a set by Dara. She was awesome! Definitely a must see. The piano bar is small, so get there early if you want a seat. Dara mentioned she would be taking a hiatus to travel and perform up and down the West Coast so she may not be there during your cruise. Didn't stay out too late since we were going to Puerta Vallarta the next day. When we got to our cabin, we saw that Wayan continued to take care of our fluffy friends. Next up: Puerta Vallarta!

Adding the pics from day two since they weren't viewable in my original post.

Hooray! Glad they are showing now. I will post more, but am a little tired. Just tested positive for the covid. Guessing it was from the cruise. Noticed a lot more coughing at the end of the week than at the beginning and did hear that there was at least one family in quarantine. Guess these are the chances we take these days. All three of us have mild symptoms so we are grateful for that.

Let me know if you guys can see the photos in the last post. Thanks!

Can I edit my posts? I can't seem to figure out how to do that.

Well, dang about the photos. I'll see if I can fix that.

No weather. Just busy, I guess.

Yeah, last day at sea was chilly, but what can you do ... except go to the bar and casino, lol? Hubby and I did okay at the casino. Kinda broke even, especially with some comps. Didn't have any trouble with uber from the terminal, but we had trouble when we arrived in Phoenix. Waited over AN HOUR for our bags to be delivered. Seriously, we waited longer for our bags than it took us to fly from Long Beach to Sky Harbor. Atrocious. But, again, what can you do? We just sucked it up and called it a day.

Thanks! I have the Google Pixel phone. Love it because it automatically backs up to my drive.

Day Two - Fun Day at Sea Got up at a decent hour and headed to breakfast. Daughter had ice cream, chocolate milk, and mini croissants. I had huevos rancheros from Blue Iguana. We were both happy! Daughter went to hang with the grandparents and hubby and I went to check out Cloud 9 spa, which he paid for for me. It was pretty crowded on sea day and he decided to leave and hit the gym. The gym was pretty large for a ship and I heard someone say it looked like an LA Fitness. I can't speak to that as my fat ass did not get to the gym this cruise except to tell hubby it was time for lunch. I checked out a few of the rooms, some of which I liked and some of which I didn't care for. Right before lunch, I was able to get a heated lounger, which was nice. Hubby never made it back to Cloud 9 during the cruise. I went twice more, but I'm not sure it was the price we paid. Here is my view (and non-gym legs) from Cloud 9: Next we hit Serenity for a drink and to check out the salad bar. The salad bar was amazing and not crowded anytime we were there. The chef prepares it for you and there is a lot more available than in the Marketplace. The Serenity salad bar is only available during lunch on sea days, fyi. There were a lot of towel animals out by the bar on Serenity: We went down to Marketplace for lunch as my daughter is picky. Guy's was packed as was the pizza area. We liked the fries at Guy's on this ship better than on the Radiance (not sure if they were fresh-cut or frozen). Had to wait for non-seasoned fries (see "picky daughter"). The biggest issue with this was that my hubby wanted in one line to order a burger and then was told that he had to wait in another line to request non-seasoned fries, even though all the cooks were within 15 feet of one another. That was annoying, but not anything to ruin a cruise! We sat in the Tides Bar area as it was outside and never crowded. If you want a nice spot and to avoid crowds, Tides Bar area is calling you! Daughter sat at a table while I waited for pizza (and could still see her) and hubby was at Guy's. It made things easier. We asked for the whole pizza since we knew there weren't many later night options for eating. Stashed half the pizza in the fridge. Also, for my vegetarian friends, Guy's DOES have a veggie burger, even though it is not on the menu. I learned this as my hubby waited for the non-seasoned fries and his burger and some other gentlemen order eight (yes, eight!) veggie burgers for them and their families! Upon learning this, I, too, went to Guy's and waited for a veggie burger and it was great! Sadly, there were so many vegetarians on this cruise (or at least I am guessing that was the case), that the delicious veggie burgers were gone by the tail end of the cruise and I was kinda sad. The staff did try to made their own veggie burgers, but they just weren't the same. After lunch, daughter wanted to go to Club Ocean so we obliged and headed to the Pub Tour/Tasting at Pig and Anchor. There were about 20 of us there. It started a bit late, but it was a good time. It was cool to learn about how they brew beer on a ship. The samples kept coming and we were all friends by the end of the "tour," lol. After that, we picked up daughter and went to get ready for dinner. This was our first elegant night. We ate in the MDR with my parents. They had eaten there the night before with our daughter and were upset that their table hadn't been moved as one of the chairs was in the main thoroughfare of the waiters. Hubby and I weren't aware of this, so we were in the dark about what was happening. We weren't able to change tables that night, but the maitre d came over and offered to move us upstairs to the Horizon dining room for the duration of the cruise. He also offered a complementary bottle of wine to the table. Everyone was so nice. My parents were happy to be moved, but said the staff there was wonderful and they felt a little bad about leaving them. Later, daughter went to Camp Ocean and hubby and I were in the casino again, lol. Things were up and down in the casino. It was a fun day at sea! And Wayan again took care of our cabin and critters: More tomorrow!

Indeed! Yesterday's travel day was a complete mess, but more on that later, lol!

I don't usually pay too much attention to cruise directors, but I agree that Joey did a nice job. We ran into him a few times and found him to be very funny and personable. We managed to spend some time on the balcony, but we enjoy the colder weather since we know we won't experience it again for many months being from the Phoenix area. I agree that the late night food options were a bit lacking. We found ourselves ordering a whole pizza and stashing half of it in the fridge for late night snacking. I guess I should be happy about the lack of late night options as I still managed to gain three pounds on this cruise, lol! We don't really do too many shows onboard. Sorry to hear they were subpar. 😞

Day One On Ship We got onboard by 12:30 p.m. at the latest, I'd say. (I should have taken better notes, lol.) We planned to have lunch at Guy's Pig and Anchor, but I messed up and didn't know they were closed that day. (My parents were on earlier and informed us of our error.) Hubby, daughter, and I headed up to Lido where we hit Red Frog to get drinks as we bought Cheers! It was pretty empty as you can see from the picture of my daughter dancing on deck ... So, after we grabbed our drinks, we headed to the Marketplace for lunch. Our first cruise since resuming from covid was on the Radiance in March and, while we had fun, the Panorama food in the Marketplace is WAY better. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality and options. I had some mac and cheese, which was good. Can't remember what everyone else had. Remember, we had already been to the bar pre-lunch. After lunch, we went to our muster station. I know everyone has said this (and I said it in my Radiance review), but oh praise the heavens for this new muster station process! We were in and out in a few minutes and didn't have to wait for all the idiots and drunks who we used to have to wait for pre-covid. (Apologies if you were ever one of those people.) After muster, we headed down to Center Bar for a drink and to duck hunt and hide. Daughter hid three ducks in the area and couldn't stop looking to see if anyone found them. I love her excitement. Our rooms were ready at about 1:30 p.m., though our luggage hadn't arrived yet. We had adjoining cover balconies, which are on the second floor. We've stayed in balcony rooms before and love them, and the cove was no exception. It was nice being so close to the water, especially in the morning and evenings. And, these balconies seemed more private to us. It was fun to watch the luggage being delivered to the ship. There was some cursing from one of the forklift operators though as it sounded like one of the newbies on the crew made a mistake and was doing something to put himself in danger, but it didn't bother us none. Just a heads up if you're out there watching. 🙂 We met our room steward, Wayan, who was incredible the entire trip. In fact, we found the entire staff to be wonderful. We headed up to the water slides as I always back my daughter's bathing suit in our carry on luggage. Here she is enjoying the slides and time with her grandpop: For those with kids, you have to be 42" to ride the blue slide and 48" to ride the red one with the innertube. My daughter was 1/2" shy of the red slide, but she did manage to get on it once later in the week. (Guess she grew, lol.) While my daughter was on the slide, my parents and husband rode the skyride. It opened at 2:30 p.m. or 3:30 p.m., I can't remember. It was not very crowded so it is a good time to ride. I don't have any pics since I was at the waterslide. We soon headed to our rooms to get ready for dinner and Wonderful Wayan had taken our bags and placed them in our cabin. Here is a view of our cabin while the ship sailed: Parents and daughter ate in the MDR the first night, but hubby and I had steakhouse reservations. I have always enjoyed the steakhouse, even as a vegetarian, but the steakhouse on the Panorama was exceptional. In addition to dining here on the first night, we dined again with my parents later in the week as the casino comped our dinner. (More on that later.) Here are our mini tasters (mini burger and sorbet) and appetizers (tuna tartar and stuffed mushrooms), all of which were delicious: For our entrees, I got a specialty pasta and hubby got ribeye. For sides, we had onion rings and some sort of garlic broccolini (can't remember the real name). My pasta was beautiful and delicious. Ribeye was cooked to perfection. Sides were awesome. Just a side note to any vegetarian who dines with meat eaters and not wanting to go to the steakhouse ... the chefs will accommodate you and they do a phenomenal job. Definitely my favorite place to eat on the ship! One of our favorite parts of the steakhouse was that it is adjacent to the piano bar, and they open the wall during dinner service so you can hear the instrumental tunes by Marcelo, who is simply wonderful. It definitely added to our night. Oh, and yes, there is still a free bottle of house wine offered on the first night of the cruise. For dessert, hubby had the apple cobbler/dessert, which he thought was a bit doughy, and I had the cheesecake, which I thought was okay. That said, I'm not a big dessert person, so what do I know? I can tell you that the wine was tasty, lol. And the service (except for the short delay in getting a Manhattan) was excellent. Highly recommend the steakhouse on Panorama! After dinner, our daughter headed to Camp Ocean, which she loved! It was open most of the day except for some meal times and night owls was offered on select days. There weren't a ton of kiddos on this cruise, so we never had to make a reservation for sessions (outside of night owls), though the app did have it listed. So, if you cruise on Panorama or any other ship soon, you might want to ask about whether a reservation is needed. Hubby and I headed to the casino and stopped on the way to listen to the violinists. They were super and we enjoyed listening to them multiple times at the center bar. Hubby and I made it to the casino where I gave my daily Carnival donation and he made friends at the craps table. Picked up our daughter by 10 p.m., which is when Camp Ocean closed. Headed to the room. No towel animal tonight, but I know the staff busted their butts all day. (Looked like the ship docked a little later than expected.) Wayan did tuck in my daughter's stuffed animal though, which she loved. More on our cruise tomorrow. Am still recovering and tired from vacation, lol!

Hello fellow cruisers! We are just off the Panorama June 4, 2022. Our party included my parents (both 70 next month), my husband and me (both 50), and our daughter who turns seven next month. My parents are diamond members, my hubby and I gold, and this is my daughter's second cruise. We flew into Long Beach from Phoenix the day before the cruise since there have been so many flight cancellations. Had no problem with our Southwest flight. Got into Long Beach, called uber and headed to the Marriott Residence Inn, which is very close to the Maya Hotel and the cruise port. The hotel was very nice and offered a free breakfast in the morning. They do not offer a shuttle to the port. We were able to walk over a bridge to the main part of Long Beach where we had dinner at the Chili's. It was typical Chili's fare. Service was a little slow, but I expect that nowadays. The food was good. Walked back over the bridge to the hotel. Daughter wanted to go swimming. It was cold, so we spent a short time in the hot tub. Ordered grub hub for dinner from Outback and just hung in the room waiting for the next day. Parents had a 10:30 check in time. We were at 11 a.m. Took an uber to the port and arrived at about 10:00 a.m. People were still coming off the ship. We didn't sit in too much traffic, but the back up did get worse as the morning wore on. Not too many people were there early, so my parents got in about 10:10 and we were in the building and checked in by 10:30 a.m. Here is a pic of my daughter with the ship in port and in the check in area. As someone else mentioned, masks are still required in the check in area during both embarkation and debarkation so make sure you bring one. More info to come ...

We were on the same cruise and I was just going to start a review now. I agree with most everything you said. We had a great time on the Panorama!

Jamman54 is the man! Thank you for another great review. Looking forward to its continuation.

Just saw a post on another site that said Diamond and Platinum events are being suspended as well (but drinks or OBC are being offered).

Hooray for this review!

Got approved today for our sailing on May 28!

We're planning on keeping a sandwich or two in the room for those nighttime hunger pains. Will likely take a cheese plate to go from the MDR as well.