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I LOVE the short ribs. I don't think there's anything else on the MDR menu that I look forward to as much as the short ribs. 

4 of us stayed at the Homewood Suites New Orleans French Quarter in October. https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/msyfrhw-homewood-suites-new-orleans-french-quarter/

We really enjoyed the hotel. Rooms were spacious, clean, it was easily walkable to all the nightlife on Bourbon street. There's also a gas station just down from the hotel for any snacks/drinks you may need (but if I remember correctly they do close fairly early so just be forewarned). They also offer free hot breakfast and the breakfast was actually pretty good. Lots of options. Getting an Uber to the port was easy peasy and was a quick trip. 

My hubby and I started dating on the Splendor in August of 2012. We went with a group of friends (8 of us in total) and it was also my first cruise. My first actual vacation that wasn't a family vacation. All of us had an absolute blast. We took our 'honeymoon' on Carnival Miracle November 2015 (a little more than a year after we got married). Since then we've been on Splendor once more before she moved to Austrailia, Triumph, Glory, Radiance, Mardi Gras, and Panorama (2nd time on panorama coming up in 2 months!). We'll also be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary aboard the Horizon in September (where hubby should also be turning platinum!).

I love the fact that with cruising you get to check out multiple ports of call to see where you may want to travel back to at a later date. Plus you can be as active or as lazy as you want to be. We haven't ventured outside of Carnival yet, haven't really felt the need too, but eventually I do wanna try out some other lines. Thinking about planning a Disney cruise next year.

I don't think I've read any of your reviews, but you seem like my kind of people! Following along as I'll be on the Horizon for the first time in September! Also in a Havana cabana for the first time. 🙂

On some ships, I have seen bags of chips in the sports bar (or I guess it would now be the heroes bar). As others have said, i've also seen Pringles (maybe other chips but i'm not positive) in one of the gift shops. 

Like others I like to bring some chips with me in my suitcase, for when those salty snack cravings hit. I usually like grabbing the Lays Stax since I feel like their cans hold up the best. 

I dont use it, but I would think mid tier or highest tier should work for you. But for the price difference between those 2, I'd just get the highest tier package.

On 2/21/2024 at 9:01 AM, travelinjess85 said:

I had been thinking about booking Rudi’s for our cruise. It looks delicious! We always love the steakhouse and teppanyaki so deciding if we should do a 3rd specialty dining. 

I was on the Mardi Gras in January of 2022 and while i'm not a seafood fan, the steak I had at Rudi's far surpassed the steak I had at the steakhouse. The rest of my party did order seafood and all raved about their food as well. I would highly recommend!

I love your reviews and I absolutely love your hair 😍😍. You're review is getting me excited for May, which will be the 2nd time my hubby and I are cruising on Panorama. Long beach is our home port and we also used to be annual pass holders for disneyland, so I've loved reading your pre-cruise festivities. 

On 1/26/2024 at 1:03 PM, StephPS79 said:

 

I do like John Heald, but he has been known to not always be accurate.  I would prefer to see this in policy somewhere.

 

Edited to add:

 

The Cheers FAQ very clearly states:

 

• Program allows for up to 15 alcoholic drinks, per 24-hour period (6:00am - 6:00am). Once the limit is reached, the guest will not be served ANY additional alcoholic drinks 

 

So I do find it odd nothing about 15 drinks is listed under the Beverage Policy.

 

 

I also find it odd since I know i've read trip reports with people saying if you thought you were going to go over your 15 drinks on cheers then be sure to say you want to pay for you drink before you get to number 14. 

I also don't see how they can essentially limit someone to buying 15 drinks without cheers, because what if you're traveling with a group of friends and your buying rounds? Lets say you go with a group of 6 people and you buy 3 rounds, you're then over your 15 drink "limit" and they won't serve you anymore for the day even though you only had 3 drinks for yourself? That doesn't make much sense to me. 

19 minutes ago, Megan_Strick said:

We aren't getting cheers since I don't drink.

If you're not purchasing cheers he will not have a 15 drink limit. The 15 drink limit is only if you're on the Cheers plan. Otherwise you can purchase as much as you'd like as long as you're not stupidly drunk and they stop serving you.

In answer to your bucket of beers/will they be open question. I know they usually open beers for you, but I don't think they open all of them for you if you open a bucket. It's been awhile since i've purchased a bucket so I could be wrong on that. You could always ask them to not open them though (or open them) depending on your preference.

Have fun!

If you happen to be cruising in May, we may be on the same sailing. 😉

While the west coast definitely does not have the crystal clear blue waters of the Caribbean/Bahamas, the water out here is just as beautiful in its own right. I've attached a couple panoramic pics I took when we were in Cabo a number of years back. Long Beach is my home port, so we've been out of Long Beach 5ish times now. 

Depending on when you're going, the weather on this side of Mexico can either be really pleasant or really hot and humid. But I don't think we've ever really had "bad" weather anytime we've done the Mexican Riviera.

We do not tend to do an excursion in Cabo. The first time we went we did a snorkeling excursion and while it was fun the water was pretty choppy and we didn't see much. We usually walk around the port area and grab food and drinks. When we were there in April 2023 we tried out Solomon's Landing for the first time and really enjoyed the food and the service. If you're into craft beer, Baja Brewing has some solid beers and eats. We haven't been since they moved locations, but I'm sure they're still just as good. A lot of people say they don't like Cabo because it's basically a desert, but I love Cabo. 

The last couple times we've been to Puerto Vallarta we've done an all inclusive day at the Hyatt Ziva. The first time we did it it was offered through Carnival, but the last time we went it wasn't offered through Carnival so we just booked it on our own and then took a taxi to/from the resort. Taxi's are super easy to grab in Puerto Vallarta. Highly highly recommend the Hyatt Ziva. Their food and drinks are great and the staff is wonderful. There is also a Walmart right across from the port area in case you need to grab anything. Puerto Vallarta also tends to be one of the ports that you have the most time in so you can really get your moneys worth in my opinion. We've also walked the Malecon before which provides you with tons of things to see and places to walk through. One trip we did the Rhythms of the Night through Carnival and while it was fun, we didn't have the greatest experience due to the super rough seas. 75% of our boat to the island area got sea sick. I wasn't able to enjoy dinner and I still didn't feel good throughout the show. We have friends that went a different time though and said it was great. I hesitate to this one again personally just because the price has gone up on it astronomically. 

Mazatlan is a working port so it's definitely not the prettiest when they dock (at least if you're looking out at the side facing the port, the other side view isn't bad). We've actually never done anything in Mazatlan (only been twice since Carnival didn't always sail there due to crime). On our family trip last April my BIL/SIL and their spouses did a kayaking excursion (it was this or ziplining I don't remember which) through an outside company and they all had a lot of fun with it. 

La Paz we have not been to yet and this will be our first trip here so I don't have any tidbits of info for this.

Panorama is a really nice ship. This will be our 2nd time on her and this time we're trying out the Havana area. I'll come back and add any other tidbits I think of that may be useful. 🙂

Our tradition is to take a patron shot as soon as we get on board usually followed by muster. Sometimes muster and then a shot. It always commences the start of our vacation. 

I received this survey as well, and completed it, but I know that I was not on a casino offer. My goal this cruise though is to hopefully gamble enough/more to get some perks in the future.

50 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

There is normally no need to mess around to check in on any particular day. All you need to do is select an arrival time and save. You can do all the rest later when things are working better.

That is true, but the website kept timing out on me for pretty much every step of check in even with jumping around to the different sections. At least it's over and done now and we have 13 days till cruising. 

I was supposed to check in for my cruise yesterday (or Saturday night after 9pm since i'm on the west coast) and I was finally able to do so yesterday evening, but it was like pulling teeth. The website was still definitely very glitchy and kept giving me errors. After over an hour I was finally able to complete check in and I logged in this morning to confirm everything was actually there. Definitely agree that there should have been more testing or something before launching the site. 

Just spent the last 4 hours going through all 60 pages of this trip report. It was great! Getting me excited for my October 1st cruise on Glory. First time on Glory, but not the first time out of NOLA. Cant wati!

Thanks for the heads up! I actually had it on one of my Chase cards. Not the card I'd have preferred to use, but I'm not gonna complain. I ended up maxing out the discount by getting $500 cruise cash, the wifi I still needed to purchase, and purchased a shore excursion.

Enjoy!! I'll be boarding when you're getting off on the 6th. This will be my first time on the Radiance! (Not first time on Carnival.)

I soooo agree with you about the bathrooms on Mardi Gras! They were so confusing the first couple times I used them and then I got the hang of it. Some bigger and/or better signage on how to use them would be great! 

Loving your review!!

Thanks for the review! I just booked this cruise for a weekend in May and I've not been on this ship before. We also haven't done a 3-day cruise before so I've been trying to read as many reviews as I can. Can't wait to be on the ship relaxing in the sun!!

15 hours ago, lizord said:

This is a weird rate code... Free INT stating from $75?

I agree, but the offer matched another one I had been looking at that had disappeared. After the $50 pp obc the rate I paid comes out to $15pp (plus taxes/port fees). 

Hello!

I just booked my hubby and I on a 3-day cruise out of Long Beach in May. The offer code I used says it includes a bon voyage item. I was curious if anyone has used this same offer recently and could tell me what that item is? 

Thanks!

2 minutes ago, mondello said:

Sorry I can't address your questions directly. Just want to say as for desserts, don't forget to check out the ice cream at Cherry On Top candy store. Next door, Java Blue coffee has milkshakes and sweets, cupcakes, donuts, cookies and chocolate cake. These may have an upcharge but sometimes ya gotta have it. 

I don't believe Cherry on Top on MG offers ice cream. The one time we went in there we didn't notice any kind of ice cream or menu boards for ice cream. Java Blue definitely had a selection of cupcakes and desserts though. 

I was on Mardi Gras 2 weeks ago and while I didn't go to Lido every day for breakfast, the couple times I did go up there it seemed like they rotated between pancakes and french toast. I don't remember seeing waffles as an option. I can't speak to family harbor at all. The couple times I ate lunch or dinner on lido they also had less dessert choices than other ships. The lido options are definitely more limited on Mardi Gras than on other ships.

See you on board! I'm awaiting my e-med test results now, but so far it's looking good. 😎