pppiglet

Just wanted to chime in and say I am so thankful for you putting your report in purple font!  I'm on limited time and it's so easy to scroll to find your installments.  I think I'm putting the Zoo on our "next trip" list.  

Also note in some parts of Mexico ATM's only take a 4 digit pin.  Mine was 6 and didn't work. Jim's was 4 and had no problem. (I found out the hard way)  Lol...

Did pretty much the same places a few weeks ago.  Walked from the port to Tacos Fenix, across the street to Taco Coronas, then around the corner to Tacos Castillos.  Walked to the other side of the city and stopped for a Margarita at El Corralito.  Excellent!  Touristy spot.  Can't miss it.  Pink building. 

The down the street to the La Guerrerense stand.  Really good. Stuffed and went back to the ship. 

A really good day. 

In July we tried to go brewery hopping but found most of them were closed or opened later.  

Just another note.  

After the cruise, the shuttle (which was a big bus) just dropped us off at the second parking structure and we had to lug all our luggage up the street to the 3rd structure.  They also had us pay when we first parked at the 3rd spot ($100) and we were hoping our car would be there when we returned as it was not in a covered spot and just off the main street. 

On 11/17/2023 at 6:04 PM, pppiglet said:

 

We are on the MIracle next week. (21st)  Do you think we can park in the structure instead of offsite since Panorama won't be there?  I just got an email update to our sailing, but it still shows the notice on it that parking for Miracle is offsite. 

We'll just an update to my question, they didn't let us park in the terminal and we were sent to an offsite structure with bad directions and we got lost, finally got to where they directed us too and they turned us away saying it was full, sent us to another structure that had a long line waiting to get into it, and cut off it right after the car in front of us.  Sent us to a 3rd location up the street and then we had to walk back to the structure to get on the shuttle bus to the port.  We arrived to the port finally an hour after our check in time. My husband was so mad!  (along with many other people)  Very frustrating way to start a cruise off. 

That being said, we had a nice time on the cruise and the Miracle was in very good shape. 

On 11/11/2023 at 6:45 PM, jsglow said:

BTW, Panorama is still docked in Long Beach. I suppose she has until the wee hours to clear the dock for Miracle in the morning. I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty confident they can't get a second ship tied up on that pier, even way out at the end in an inaccessible position relative to the terminal. 

We are on the MIracle next week. (21st)  Do you think we can park in the structure instead of offsite since Panorama won't be there?  I just got an email update to our sailing, but it still shows the notice on it that parking for Miracle is offsite. 

On 11/9/2023 at 6:07 PM, clairebearinaus said:

We were on the December 2 sailing too.  Impossible to postpone as we're coming from Australia and have locked in US city visits on either side.

 

We're just finalising plans to fly to Puerto Vallarta instead.  Very pleased with Carnival's decision to refund us so that could happen, instead of potentially coming all this way for a cruise full of sea days!

Sounds like a great plan to me!  We love Puerto Vallarta. 

Panorama has a great selection of beers!  The brewery on board sold bottles of beer also.  

The craft beer on tap (Carnival's) tasted stale to me so I drank cocktails instead when we were on the Radiance. 

On 8/30/2022 at 9:16 AM, pc_load_letter said:

I enjoyed Radiance more than I did Panorama.

We did too.  Panorama was just too big.  Too many rooms and people.  The best part about it was the Havana area.  I would only book the Havana area if going on this ship again.  

Radiance was just our size.  Loved our regular balcony room.  Food was better on Radiance, but both buffets didn't have much to select from and overly crowded.  

On 7/18/2023 at 7:37 PM, Thrak said:

 

The last time we were in Ensenada we just walked to Hussong's for drinks. The exchange rate was prominently posted on the wall. We each had 2 margaritas (small but very good) and then I asked for a "shot" of Cazadores. He poured what I would call a good double shot. Total cost: $16 US. We were quite pleased. Being a dorky gringo I just dropped a $20 US on the bar, smiled, and wandered back to the ship. Below is a pic from Hussong's. Not hard to tell we are tourists...🤪

 

Looks like you had fun! 

We stopped in Hussong's and had one of their beers while waiting for the other brewery to open.   Met a guy that lived 3 blocks away that used to be a Vet tech in Los Angeles years ago.  He kept us entertained with stories.  I told him he wouldn't recognize LA now with all the homeless everywhere. 

Knock on wood, but we've never witnessed a fight or overly drunk people on any cruise we have taken. We've only sailed out of Long Beach or San Pedro (except for a Disney Cruise from Florida in 2007)

Guess we've just been lucky! 

On 7/7/2023 at 1:48 PM, stobe1 said:

No. We go and get the tags with the last group numbers and maybe have one or 2 carry ons to take off with us for our last minute items and toiletries. We have never had a luggage issue at all.

 

What problems are you concerned about? Theft? Port personnel thinking the bags were unclaimed and left behind?

We did this too on our Panorama cruise. Feels good not to rush on your last morning on the ship. We easily found our luggage also.  

7 hours ago, john91498 said:

When we sailed on her, Carnival informed us that they were above capacity for the ship. It sure showed, there were always long lines at Guy's, the Cantina and Shaq's. Dining room wait times were ridiculous and you had to get to shows 15-20 minutes early or you wouldn't get a seat. Wait times to get on a water tender to go to Catalina were 2-3 hours long, so, we didn't go.

 

Other than that, it was a great cruise.

Ours was over the 4th Holiday week, so it was above capacity, but we only had the long line to get back on the tender to get back on the ship in Catalina. I think it was an hour or so.  We had the same thing happen to us on the Panorama Spring Break cruise, but that was over 2 hour wait!  

The tender off we didn't have to wait long.  We just got up early and got the ticket to get off the ship as soon as they started handing them out. 

We had anytime dining on Radiance and did not have to wait for the main dining and any ship we've been on usually has a line waiting for the shows to open the doors 30 mins before the show so we just got in line. The comedians on Carnival cruises are really good so I can see why the lines. 

We've never had rough seas going to Mexico.  We've gone in the months of November to beginning of July.  Maybe we've just been lucky.  I do know that I wouldn't book end of July through October as that is hurricane season for the area.  Lots of storms pop up in those ports.  

On 6/28/2023 at 4:24 PM, sdteacher said:

We were in Puerto Vallarta last week and took a taxi to meet our tour. Our driver dropped us off in completely the wrong place. When we questioned him on if this was the right place, he said it was a one way street and all we had to do was walked half a block and we would see it. He lied. We ended up having to get a new taxi to take us to the correct place which was another 3 miles away. We talked with others in our tour and they had used Uber. So we used Uber to get back to the ship. It was so easy to do and it was half the price of our first taxi. I would never take another taxi here again. 

This is not the norm and I could see why they may take you to the wrong tour drop off as there are many tour places in PV.  All taxi drivers know where the Malecon is.  🙂

2 hours ago, SelectSys said:

Cabo would be my choice for a "resort day" if you mean simply hanging out and going to the beach as there is more to do in PV in my opinion.  That said, I would defer to others on what hotels to use if you are truly referring to getting a day pass for a resort.

I agree with this.  Way more to see in Puerto Vallarta than Cabo.  Cabo even walking the beach you are always approached to buy drugs.   We've never had that happen in PV. 

8 hours ago, Are.we.there.yet? said:

 

 

   I will admit... one of our cabins had a smell of burnt pizza most of the trip but DH liked that!  LOL!!!!  

 

Tina

 

 

This is so funny because our room smelled like that too (faintly)  Wasn't an issue for us though.  We did order room service pizza late one night!  LOL...

Speaking of room service, we ordered coffee and muffins for 2 every morning and they told us 20-30 minutes, but they were always there within 10 mins.  Loved it.  

8 hours ago, Theosprey247 said:

My son loved our June 26 cruise on her. The Steakhouse was pretty full both times we went. Pro-Tip: hit up Shaq’s Chicken early in the cruise as most people don’t know it’s there and the lines are short or nonexistent (especially for breakfast). 
 

I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise. 

I wanted to try the 3 cheese omelet at Shaq's but never made it back.  The only issue we had with Shaq's was they kept making batches of the strips and everyone that wanted a sandwich had to wait in another line. They asked if anyone wanted strips on their sandwich instead of waiting so that is what I had.  It was really good though. 

10 hours ago, LRDR01 said:

We have a love/hate relationship with the Radiance.  Sailed on her several times since she has been sailing from LA.  Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and once it was great.   However, on our last cruise on her, we sailed in an Ocean Suite (loved the suite- but it was showing signs of being well used)..  We also had the breweries tour booked and they cancelled our tour the day before.  Said we were the only ones that booked it.  We have done that excursion several times and absolutely loved it.  Very disappointed.   We booked Cucina for the last night of our cruise and it was packed.  Main dining room was hit and miss.  Several cruises, it's been terrible, and for some of them, it's been great.  One of the worst meals we have had has been on the Radiance - Seaday brunch.  Can't even begin to explain all that went wrong with that.  But, despite all of the inconveniences and disappointments on this ship, we keep sailing her and find that we do have fun and there are always good and great memories that we bring back with us. 

We actually ended up Googling breweries in the area and went to one ourselves.  I'd do that

next time if they cancel on us again.  🙂

We didn't even try to do the seaday brunch. Didn't look appetizing at all.  

On 7/10/2023 at 11:51 AM, Are.we.there.yet? said:

Thank you for your review.  We really enjoy the Radiance and much prefer it over the Panorama.  Our daughter just got off of her this AM and we'll be on her again in 2 weeks.  YAY!!!

 

I don't know what it is but it just feels more comfortable. 🙂

I agree.  Way more comfortable to us also. 

On 7/9/2023 at 5:32 PM, jerseygirlinAZ said:

Thanks for posting! We sailed the Radiance to Ensenada right after the covid restart and I was unimpressed, but understood things were just getting back to normal.  

 

We just booked the Radiance again on a casino offer.  We'll be doing the same cruise in October.  Sorry to hear your excursion and Cucina got cancelled.  😞  We plan to do Cucina and the Steakhouse on this trip, though we always book the Steakhouse night one for the wine deals.  

 

Next trip we will be booking both of these for sure! 

On 7/9/2023 at 5:09 PM, notscb said:

 

I cannot tell you how it felt to hold my breath until the page loaded from the forum homepage, just to feel the relief and joy to see you say this right off the bat!

 

I had a great time on the Radiance in May and am really eager to get back onboard, even for the same itinerary. It sounds like you made the best of your cruise (even with some cancellations). Was Carnival helpful at all with rebooking you for a different excursion in Ensenada?

 

FWIW, I don't remember ever really seeing  the Italian place open when I was onboard- it was always really empty and when walking by on deck I think I saw people in there eating one night.

Carnival did suggest another excursion, but we just decided to do our own.  We had a good time. 

If my work schedule wasn't so hectic right now I'd book another cruise on this ship. 

On 7/3/2023 at 1:00 AM, kismetique said:

Get a taxi and go to La Guerrerense Carreta for tacos. It's a street vendor, very famous but you'll stand shoulder to shoulder with the locals to eat. Get a shrimp or octopus cocktail here... Very good!  Then go to Coastal Brewery for their artisanal beers. They are very friendly and have a great in door area to sit in the breeze look out at the ocean and drink all kinds of beer. Then taxi to Tacos Fenix. They have fried fish and shrimp tacos with amazing garnish. You order and eat and order and eat and then pay. Crazy!  Lots of locals here as well. Then back to the ship. Great day!

  Wish I saw your post before we sailed last week.  Our brewery excursion got cancelled last minute and we had to wing it.  I looked up some breweries but most didn't open until later in the day.  We ended up going to Chikilla which was a few blocks away from Hussong's.  (Small little place with a sushi restaurant next door.)  Lots of beers on tap and really good! Spent more time there than we thought we would so never made it to any other breweries. 

We had a great cruise!  Because of this being the 4th holiday cruise it had a lot of people, but only felt like it once and that was trying to get back on the ship from Catalina.  The tender line wrapped all the way down passed the boardwalk/pier.  We had hiked up to the Botanical Garden since we didn't book an excursion.  More of a desert garden. We had some beers at Catalina Brewhouse and then went to Coyote Joe's for a quick bite before going back to the ship. (Mexican food, eh...a little greasy and wouldn't recommend it) 

Red Frog Pub was our bar of choice this trip and they were excellent! Music was really good also. 

The only two negatives on this trip were that we had booked the Italian restaurant for embarkation night and they came around 2pm and gave a slip of paper confirming our reservation at 7, but at 6:30 no one was at the restaurant and I call them and they said they had to cancel as no one booked it for that night.  (you're telling me 4,000 people on the ship and no one booked it?)  The waitress in Bonsai sushi told us it's never open on embarkation night.  Not sure why they let us book it online then) 

We had the same thing happen with our excursion for Ensenada.  The tickets were in our room, but the night before there was a big pink notice on our door saying it had been cancelled because not enough people booked it.  (it was the breweries tour and it had really good reviews so I would think someone would have booked it)

Any how, seems like most people on this ship avoided the specialty restaurants and ate at the Lido buffet most of the time as it was packed and the restaurants empty.  

Ate at the main dining room once and it wasn't really good so most of the time we ate at the buffet too.  Bonsai Sushi was probably the best meal we had.  Shaq's chicken was excellent also. 

We had a balcony room 7419 Aft (the weird shaped room with the long balcony) and we loved it.  Used the balcony a lot.  Never saw our room steward until the 3rd day. He did his job though.  

Our experience on this ship was way better than when we cruised on the Panorama back in April.  It was our first time doing taking our bags off the ship ourselves instead of checking bags the night before, but buy the time they called our deck, they were already starting to call the tag.  We were still off the ship by 9.

I'd definitely do this cruise again.