LaRue1975

I have a suite on the Radiance January 9th sailing, our boarding passes and luggage tags say priority, no mention of the suite, just deck and cabin number. Good idea to say you bought FFTF if he notices and asks about the priority tags. I have told my hubby we have a suite this time but he never listens when I talk about travel plans so he’ll probably be surprised too! 😜

Yes, people that have cruised on Miracle post dry dock have confirmed that the casino bar was removed and replaced with slot machines. Bummer!

I wasn’t sure we could use the stairs in the aft, thought they might be for crew only. We have an aft wrap on deck 6 on the Panorama so this is good news, thanks !

It happens occasionally but it should show up again by tomorrow. It’s happened to me and I was concerned too but by the time my PVP called me back the next day it was already back in my planner. The Carnival website is very glitchy.

I am excited to try Radiance, I’ve had this one booked for awhile, it’s a casino Getaway cruise and I scored an ocean suite for $900 which I think is a good rate. Heck we pay $700 for 4 mid week nights in a nice RV Park near the beach out here, it’s cheaper to cruise! We’re excited about Catalina as we used to take the kids there but that was decades ago, I bet it hasn’t changed much which is a good thing! We are doing the 14 day round trip to Alaska in September on Miracle with our BFFs. We were late to the party but I kept searching and we were able to get extended balconies near each other. I continued to search daily and when a bowling alley extended balcony popped up I grabbed it and switched, super score! Thank you to whomever cancelled that cabin! So you are a snow birds? That’s nice as you can winter in different places every year if you like, I’d like that! Hope you find another cruise deal this winter, happy cruising!

Living 60 miles from Long Beach that sounds great! I was curious so started a cruise search and it looks like the Radiance is sailing the 6 night and 4 night cruises to Mexico between the 14 day Hawaii cruises, along with the Panorama sailing 6, 7 and 8 day cruises in early 2025. I wonder if the Firenze will do the 3 and 4 day cruises the Radiance is doing now, we used to have the two ships doing that route. Whatever they decide it will be an upgrade for us, I was thrilled we finally got a ship with balconies for the short cruises.

You are welcome! I saw a post on a Facebook group about the Panorama NYE 2004 cruise so I checked for the Hawaii cruises and bam! Our BFFs and the hubby and I scored apposing bowling alley balconies on the 6th deck. Our last cruise together was to Alaska many years ago on the Spirit, we had the corner wrap suites on the 7th deck, amazing! We picked this week because they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary, ours isn’t until 2026 and yes, we attended each other’s weddings, when I say BFF I mean it. Sorry, I’m a little excited, only 26 months to go, lol! I board the worst ship in the fleet for the first time in 20 days, can’t wait!

The Radiance will start doing the Hawaii 14 day round trip from Long Beach in October 2024. I went ahead and booked the February 2025 cruise as I had been waiting for them to be released but was surprised it was the Radiance and not Miracle. There are very few cabins left if any for the 2023 and 2024 Miracle sailings so they appear to be popular.

Good call by the Uber driver! Thank you so much for the fun live review, I enjoyed it all but especially the drink photos and 15 challenges met, you rock! I am quite a bit older than you but I am going to accomplish this one time and that will probably be enough, lol! Also glad you didn’t find the water too cold, you would need a wetsuit this time of year in SoCal. I think your kids will LOVE Panorama, we took our 9 year old grandson on the Panorama in October, it was his first cruise. He had the time of his life except for the last night when he had to say goodbye to his first cruise BFF and there were tears on the drive home too, I think he’s hooked! I have a tip for the 80s Rock N Glow Party, I brought a bunch of glow in the dark balls from the 1.25 Dollar Tree Store, they were a huge hit! We passed them out to the kids, my grandson was showing everyone how they work, it was a lot of fun. Then after the party was over he and his cruise BFF were tossing the balls back and forth with their parents on the 11th deck. I also brought glow in the dark necklaces and handed them out but the glow balls were the bomb! Looking forward to your next Live, thanks for bringing us along on this one!

iMessages while logged into premium WIFI worked well for us on the Vista in April and Panorama in October. On the Panorama we cruised with family and it was great, we all have iPhones. I am hoping it works with the value plan too, booked it for our next few cruises after the price hike.

It should be 80 tomorrow in Cabo and mid 80s in Puerto Vallarta, warmer weather ahead! Alcohol has excellent warming capabilities when needed, cheers!

Thanks for the link, we are doing the 14 day Alaska round trip from Long Beach next September. It will be our first Journeys cruise too, really looking forward to it!

Thank you, it’s on the list, we are all about the shenanigans! 🥳🍸🍹🥳

We had the same experience in October, got right in after our 10:30 appointment but they didn’t start boarding until after 11:30. After that their computers went down and the people outside were stuck out there for another two hours. It was a hot day, we were grateful we were already inside.

Thanks, we are staying at the Renaissance before our January 9th Radiance cruise, feeling great about my choice! Kings Fish House is looking good for dinner too after drinking our way around Shoreline Village. It’s a beautiful day for sail away, I think you will love the Panorama, thanks for bringing us along, cheers! 😎🥳🍸🍹🥳😎

You might want to catch the end of the game after all…..

I get it completely, Caleb Williams is a gift from God as you just saw. You can root for Utah, no need to worry about the USC fans, they’re nothing like Raiders fans, lol!

The game is about to come on at every bar you will go to, you can shake your fist at Reilly and admire William’s skills. Don’t blame you for being bitter!

The Yard House in Shoreline Village Is really good. It’s original Yard House, been there 20+ years, they have seats outside on the harbor. Good drinks too.

Wait until you see the price in Long Beach! 😳😳😳 Post a pic if you get one so everyone can feel our pain. Safe travels and have fun tonight, I love Opening Day! 🥳🍹🥳

Great start, I’m looking forward to following along. I was on the Panorama in October and was surprised by how good the drink service was at almost all the bars, not many stingy pours. A few were so strong I had to leave them behind because I didn’t want it to be my last one for the day, lol! Our group especially enjoyed the bartenders in Pig & Anchor, definitely a good hang out spot in the evenings, my daughter and son in law were in there every night. Beware of the Smokey Watermelon Margaritas or maybe I should say enjoy! Looks like you might get decent weather on Saturday, I live 90 minutes north, we’re supposed to have rain through the weekend but the storm will hopefully stay north of Long Beach. The water out in here in the Pacific is cold, probably qualify as freezing in California for those used to the Caribbean, good thing you are bringing the “swim clothes”. The water will be warmer in Mexico but not Caribbean or Florida warm and it was uncomfortably hot and humid on land in October, looks like it will be perfect next week, can’t wait to read all about it! 😎🍹😎

Thank you so much! The hubby and I are doing this cruise January 9th so perfect timing, I look forward to going through all the menus and fun times. We shouldn’t have a lot of kids as they will be back in school, love being retired. I appreciate the info on the water shuttle too, we are determined to go onshore in Catalina. It’s been 20+ years, we enjoyed vacationing there when our kids were still kids, I will be prepared to be patient, lol! Thanks again, this post made my day!

You pay the 18% gratuity on the cost of the drink package, if you get more than 5 or 6 drinks a day the servers and bartenders do not get a full tip, if any at all after it’s all pooled. Regardless, it’s not out of control for you if you don’t tip, why do you care what others tip? America does has a culture of tipping and some of us actually enjoying showing our appreciation to servers, bartenders and others in the service industry that make our vacations and other experiences better. If you treat them well sometimes you get better service and extra alcohol in your drink but I always tip because for me it’s the right thing to do, especially on a cruise ship. IMO they are the hardest working members of the service industry and do their jobs far away from home and loved ones to help provide for their families. If it bothers you too bad, not sorry. 🙂

I have been able to accept and send text messages with other IPhones when we purchased premium WIFI, does this work with the value plan also? It was great on the Panorama when we traveled with my daughter, we didn’t need the Chat feature as we were able to text each other without using the App. I have ordered the value plan for my next few cruises and I’m hoping it works with that plan also.

My daughter did the Chefs Table last week on the Panorama, it is completely back to the way it was pre Covid. It included a galley tour and making the chocolate melting cake. She said it took 3 1/2 hours and was fabulous!