enfuego4cruising

A lot of upward movement on Carnival stock prices this morning. News today of a recent huge bet on Carnival stock. An informative article on Barrons' website today:

https://www.barrons.com/articles/carnival-stock-rallies-after-saudi-stake-disclosure-and-a-zero-sail-liquidity-assessment-51586186393

I am considering buying more shares, but as an avid cruiser, I am emotionally invested. So since I am not a financial advisor, I am running the idea by mine. At the end of the day, its gambling.

It would appear that Princess Cruise Lines was initially more realistic with their 60 day suspension of service, rather than Carnival's more 'optimistic' suspension period.

I saw earlier this week on the Carnival website where the Panorama was showing sailings in April. This included one with John Heald. Today on the website, nothing for the Panorama in April. Now showing May as the soonest available to book.

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience on board the Emerald Princess. So glad that your cruise went well and that there was no corona virus impact on board. We were closely following the progress of your cruise with great anticipation. We were scheduled to board on March 15th, right after your disembarkation. Having booked this, our first ever Panama Canal sailing nearly two years ago, the excitement and anticipation for our cruise continued to grow as the sailing date drew nearer. So of course we are disappointed (as are so many multiple thousands of others) by the mass cancellations and the suspension of service. But, a new countdown begins as we have re-booked our P.C. cruise for November 2020. I am sure that all of us who enjoy cruising are looking forward to the day when we shall sail again, and that all sectors of the economy are once again running full steam ahead! 

One more day!  Inaugural voyage of the Panorama.

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Carnival Panorama itinerary:

Oct. 31  Leave Marghera (Venice).  In fact, she is already on her way.  I wonder if the sailaway was a Halloween Party...

6 Nov.  Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands

17-18 Nov.  Montevideo, Uruguay  Pick up crew

26-27 Nov.  Valparaiso, Chile  Pick up Crew

08 Dec. Arrive Long Beach 04:06am

 

If you want follow along with her you can do so on https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:12.396/centery:45.350/zoom:12

 

I joined a FB group about Panorama trying to find out itinerary.  Got this from an entertainer group that is onboard.  EM

 

Update says they will stop in Puerto Vallarta on 5 Dec.  Guess they will need to hit the WalMart there...

Thank you for the information. Very informative.

That WalMart in P.V. is a location gold mine.

Great to see that the "keys" to the Panorama were handed over to Carnival and her Captain today. We are excited to see this happen in that we are on the inaugural voyage, and the next one immediately following. One day closer...

This will be our first time on a ship's inaugural voyage. So I am curious about the crew shakedown procedures. During the transit, will the ship be fully staffed with crew? I realize that this is a non-revenue sailing, but might there be VIP's, family, friends etc. aboard during segments (or all) of the transit to give the crew the benefit of training and polishing, before she receives her first paying passengers? Or will it be a partial crew,  therefore picking up the balance of crew in Long Beach? I have not been able to glean any official information regarding these questions (yes, I watched the delivery video, ...however painful 😉 ).

Any information, experiences, thoughts, or guesses on these questions are appreciated. Thank you in advance.

1 hour ago, mjrcruiser said:

 

Can I ask when you are sailing?  We are going in May 2020 and I cannot access anything regarding specialty dining. TIA

We are sailing the 3 day inaugural voyage and the following 7 day voyage this December. We booked a Chef's table and three other specialty venues. Also, they did not ask for a payment. Just a response notice to stand by for confirmation emails, although they gave no indication as to when those emails might arrive.

Hope that helps and that you are able to get your desired reservations.

Let the bookings begin! Just made all of our specialty dining reservations for our Panorama sailings. Fingers crossed while we wait for the confirmation emails. 

Hopefully the Carnival I.T. team have worked out all of the bug issues. Good luck all!

We are also So Cal cruisers and enjoy the convenience of sailing out of L.A./L.B. or San Diego. We have sailed down to the Mexican Riviera many times on all of the major cruise lines. Since RCL abandoned the west coast in 2010, we have focused on Carnival (Platinum) and Princess (Elite) sailings. Like others have already mentioned, fare pricing is all about supply and demand, and timing. 

We booked the inaugural 3 day Panorama voyage and the 7 day immediately following. This will be the first time that we have been on board for a ships' inaugural voyage. We booked  into a Cloud 9 Spa ocean view. It ran us $185 per person, per day. That is a bit pricey for a 3 day ocean view, however we were willing to pay for the  novelty of a maiden voyage (we booked several months after the initial release). The 7 day was also somewhat pricier than a  "typical" Riviera cruise, but again; supply and demand.

Like any commodity, the prices will always fluctuate. Once in a while you can still find 7 day cruises in a balcony category for less than $100 per day. With Carnival, Princess, HAL, and NCL all vying to fill their ships, the fare prices for the Mexican Riviera should remain competitive. After all of these years of west coast cruising, we are very happy to see that  the Royal Princess is here and that the Panorama is on her way. Now if only RCL would make a return to regular west coast cruising... 

Bon Voyage

Yes, that is the one. We noticed that there are other Marriott properties in the area as well, but have never stayed at them.

We cruised out of Brooklyn in the fall of 2017. We stayed at the Brooklyn Marriott on Adams St. It is about a ten mile cab ride from LGA. We arrived a few days early (we never want to chance a flight delay issue on embarkation day) to allow for some sightseeing. The hotel is in a nice area and is within easy reach of some great food (world class pizza at Juliana's) and sights in Brooklyn, and a not so bad subway ride into Manhattan. The closest subway station from the hotel was no more than a ten minute walk. On embarkation day there where plenty of cabs available for the short ride to the pier. However the doorman offered us a town car which ended up costing just $20 including the tip.

As far as dropping off luggage, I can only assume that the porters will accept it anytime after the incoming ship has tied up. That issue may be a moot point however if you overnight in the area.

Enjoy your cruise. We will be enjoying the east coast on the Regal a few weeks after you.

The gym does have newer and nice equipment. We posted up at the leg press machine during the muster drill.😉

We enjoy traditional dining. We always choose the late seating to allow for eating (think Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau) and staying later in the port. The occasional problem with the late seating is that the entertainment times can be in conflict and you may have to rush out of the MDR. We knew that we needed to arrive at least 20 minutes early to any given venue get a seat. Also on the dining subject, we twice enjoyed the Bayou Cafe & Steakhouse. The "Carpetbagger's trinity smothered filet of beef" was one of the best steaks that I have ever enjoyed...land or sea.

Of courser the fare is a strong consideration as well. There are many more positives about any given Princess cruise and they will typically outshine most any potential negative. Unfortunately for us, we are not embarking  again until October (Regal to New England/Canada).

Enjoy your cruise.

We just disembarked the Island Princess on May 8th, 2019. We sailed a B2B 7 day West Coast and a 7 day Alaska. We had previously sailed on the Island on a 15 day Hawaiian in 2006. So I knew going on that I would be comparing and contrasting between original layout and the remodel.

To your questions: 

The gym is now in a small, windowless space on deck 6. It is a sad space indeed. The pre-remodel location was much nicer (bigger and with windows) and was next to the changing rooms and saunas for a post workout steam and clean up. It is now buried  where the Universal lounge was once located. The Universal lounge was sorely missed. It was very strange to exit the aft elevators on deck 6 or 7 and see passenger cabins rather than the lounge. I found it to be a real shame that Princess did this to the Island.

The La Patisserie did not serve any type of food for the entire time that we were on board. When I asked  if they did serve food, they referred me to the buffet, where they sell specialty coffees as well. The La Patisserie  began serving coffee at 6 a.m. I had purchased a coffee package. Without a physical card to track purchase credits, I found that the staff would occasionally charge my card for a brewed coffee or tea. They would correct eventually correct this, but it is an unnecessary hassle. 

As mentioned in previous posts, walking the promenade necessitates an aft elevator lobby cut through, and the evening cocktail hour was held in the Explorers lounge.

The Horizon Court location is very unique and we enjoyed it. Lots of windows and light. Crowded of course during peak times. The food was good and the service was always prompt and friendly.

The pay-to-use Sanctuary is located aft. It is a well shaded and nice space. One curious note however; on Glacier Bay day, folks had paid a premium to reserve spaces and it was sold out. What was seemingly a bummer for them was that when we arrived at Margerie Glacier for our one hour stay, the Captain kept the ships bow and sides  oriented toward the glacier for the majority of the time. Only for the final ten minutes did he slow spin the the ship for ant aft facing view. Until those final minutes, the best views of the glacier's face were the free ones on the open decks.

Overall I found the Island Princess remodel to be a disappointment. Adding more cabins while subtracting the Universal lounge = more passengers in less public space. However the cruise was still amazing and I always see the glass half full,  with more on the way!

Of course choosing a cruise is primarily itinerary driven. Given choices however, the Island Princess, sad to say,  is firmly at the bottom of my list.

Here is a link for the Princess fleet dry dock schedule. It is very informative, but it is unofficial.

 https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/ships/fleet-drydock-schedule