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No, but on Mardi Gras the Havana area is at the front of deck 8 and Pig & Anchor (8 aft - a short walk) has a full breakfast buffet (including omelet station). It was so nice, after the first morning when when the lido was chaos, we always went there instead.

I would book a Havana Cabana (or even an interior) every time on the Excel class ships if it weren't for the price. We have been in an extended (hump) balcony and a Havana Cabana on Mardi Gras. The HC was during spring break and the ship was extremely crowded, but you never knew it in the Havana area (nice and quiet, lounge chairs always available). We had a total of 5 family members (3 in HC and 2 Havana interior) and we spent so much time on our HC patio. We booked the HC back at the height of the pandemic and it was roughly the same price as an extended balcony. Every time I've checked since then it's at least $1,000 more.😕

If you go to guest services and let them know you have an early flight, they will put in the priority debarkation group.

Under normal circumstances, I think an 11:40 flight would be fine, especially if you are you planning on priority debarkation. Last Saturday, we were in the Uber by 7:55 and arrived at LAX by 8:30 (according to our receipt).

I'm jealous - that's an awesome itenerary (with Seattle being our closest port, we were looking at that cruise recently). Unfortunately, I can't be gone from work that long.

We were on the Panorama last week during hurricane kay. Approximately 24 hours into our trip we were told our itenerary was chaining, but were were still going to sail toward the storm (otherwise there would not have been any ports for us to stop at ... well maybe Ensenada). They decided to skip Puerto Vallarta, go straight to Cabo, then Mazatlán (where we started seeing the first of the overcast/wind/rain). When the storm was just off the coast of Cabo, we had sail back past it to start heading home. They told us exactly what time we'd be coming closest to the hurricane, and to be prepared for rough seas. From then on, our weather was cool/windy/rainy, upper decks were closed, pools were drained.

Oh sorry, I just looked again (at a 3rd party site) and it does say "sold out".

Is Thanksgiving on the 23rd that year? I can see availability on a Jubilee cruise out of Galveston Nov 18th - 24th. Are you on the Carnival site? Sometimes I have trouble clearing my filers and I have to completely log out and try again.

in our experience it varies by ship. I've never seen it enforced on a Carnival ship until this past week on Panorama. They had someone standing at the coffee machines every morning (you could not get your own coffee - even using their mugs). The crew member would ask if we wanted regulars or decaf, and then dispense it and hand it to us.

Although I'd never turn down a balcony room, I almost prefer an inside during hurricane season. Last week on Panorama, with weather from Hurricane Kay, we heard complaints that during the rough seas/wind/rain, people in balcony rooms couldn't sleep due to their balcony doors rattling with the wind gusts. We slept right through it in our quiet dark inside cabin. But in general we are only in our cabin to sleep, so we don't care all that much about the room. Getting a bargain is a lot more important to me. 😄

I'm not sure if this is typical (with the storm and all) but on Saturday we were docked early, and were off the ship by 7:35 (carried our luggage). We are platinum and they had told us to meet at 8:00 for priority debarkation, but by the time we got there at 7:30, everybody was gone and they ushered us to a very short line and we were off the ship before I knew it. I know you don't want to carry your luggage, but the luggage was being put out as we walked away from the terminal about 7:45, so I think the people who did not carry their luggage were right behind us.

Yes, I understand that. Living on the west coast, we spend a fair amount of time in Cabo and PV and have done this cruise itenerary several times, so it was not a big deal to us. But you are right, there were passengers who had traveled from places like Texas and they were not happy to miss PV. But I think Carnival did do their best by still getting us to Cabo and Mazatlán. The technology is amazing - they were able to tell us exactly when we'd be closest to the hurricane (Monday morning at 5:00 am) and warned us of the rough seas, etc. So we just took Dramamine and went to bed early that night.

I'm not sure if this is typical (with the storm and all) but we were docked early, and off the ship by 7:35 (carried our luggage) and the priority group was even earlier than that. We were at LAX by 830 for our 11 am flight.

They gave out free bingo cards to each cabin and are doing the game now - it's being broadcast in Liquid, Limelight and on the Lido. Prize is a free cruise. Pretty cool, in over 20 cruises I have not seen this. The lunch buffet has never been so quiet. 😄

Its not too bad - I have never slept so well on a cruise, the ship just rocks me to sleep. On the downside, one of our favorite food venues has been closed pretty much the whole cruise - Fresh Creations. It's located on the serenity (15) which has been closed for days.

Sorry I have not heard, but we were not supposed to be in cabo that day, so i think they were scrambling. Plus at that point, the hurricane was heading towards them. Just unfortunate timing I think.

We are close to California- I can see land. It looks like today might be a bit better. It is still overcast windy and drizzly, but they are currently filling the pool and sea is calmer. The track is open and people are using the sport court. I'm not sure what happened but we had tender issues in Cabo so I can't imagine trying to tender to Catalina. It took half the day to get everyone off the ship. Fortunately we had priority tendering (platinum) so didn't even realize there was an issue until we came back after lunch and ppl were still trying to get off. At dinner the next day we heard people waited 2 to 3 hours in line to get off. Some decided it wasn't worth it since they might have that much trouble getting back to the ship. Definitely some unhappy people this trip. Mazatlan was good - we hiked to the historic lighthouse. Highly recommend that excursion. Edited to add, we have 4200 this sailing.

I'm currently on Panorama. Our itenerary has changed several times. We did go to Cabo and Mazatlan (but not on the days expected). Puerto Vallarta was cancelled, and we were planning to go to Ensenada tomorrow instead. It was announced earlier today that winds will be too high to dock, and we will instead have another day at sea and return to Long Beach as planned on Saturday. The weather has only been bad the last 2 days (which have been days at sea) windy/rainy - we had one day (well mostly evening and overnight) where the seas were pretty rough. The upper decks are closed (we can't go up to serenity) and pools are drained (they were splashing all over the deck).

I have found it's a very different crowd, and not such a party atmosphere. As you said, this itenerary attracts people who are celebrating and want to have fun (bachelorette parties/graduation parties/birthdays). And Carnival knows this, thus the party atmosphere. When we have done 8 - 16 day itineraries (and even the 7-day) it's a more low-key feel, with people who want to relax and enjoy a vacation. It's typically a destination they want to experience, not just jump on ship with a bunch of friends to party all weekend (not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with that). 😄 We have found the Hawaii and Alaska itineraries to be a much different experience. But I also agree with you in that each cruiser will find a fit with the various cruise lines (...and it might change over the course of their lifetime). But if others want to give Carnival a try, I would not recommend the shorter Ensenada itenerary, as I don't think it's a true representation of the line overall.

Thanks for posting - I love to hear other perspectives. In addition to Carnival we have done NCL and HAL, and although I like them all fine, Carnival's amazing deals keep pulling me back (I can take 2 Carnival cruises for the same price as 1 on the other lines). To be fair, if I were to play in the casinos on the other lines, their deals/offers might be more similar. I was on this same itenerary about 8 weeks ago, and I agree, it's a young party crowd. I also agree about the décor on Miracle, as much as I love the size/space/layout, she is one gaudy ship.

Each port might be different, but in my experience, we were way outside our arrival appointment window in Long Beach due to a late flight. They didn't care at all. and ushered right through the regular line saying as long as you aren't too early you are fine.

We were on the Miracle out of San Francisco over the 4th of July. Unfortunately our boarding experience was kind of a mess too, but I think it might have been due to the holiday weekend and staffing issues. I heard someone mention that most of the employees had been sent from southern California and weren't accustomed to working that port. We arrived at 10:05 for our 10:00 – 10:30 arrival appointment time. The doors to the terminal were locked and there were lines outside separated by arrival appointment times. The doors opened around 10:30. We went through the typical check-in process. Boarding did not begin until 11:30, so it was a pretty packed waiting area by then. When they did begin boarding, instead of calling for guests in suites first and then proceeding down the line with Boarding Group A01, A02, etc. (as had been done on our other cruises this past year) they called for anyone with "priority" or "diamond/platinum" on their boarding pass which caused lots of confusion and nearly everyone in the waiting area rushed towards boarding, only to be turned back (to have to weave their way back through the crowd) when told it was not their turn to board yet. It was a mess. We were Platinum w/Boarding Group A01, so we proceeded on without issues, but I felt bad for everybody involved (including the staff), it was such a chaotic mess. On a brighter note, I have done the Hawaii Itenerary twice (both times in the fall) and it's my favorite. You will have such a good time!

In the last 9 months, we have seen 3 dogs (on different ships) which is more than we'd seen total in the previous 11 years. I think it's definitely more common to see them now. According to Carnival's website: The only dogs Carnival permits aboard our ships are working service dogs, which are legally defined and individually trained to meet disability-related needs by performing tasks like guiding a blind person, alerting a deaf person, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks. Working service dogs are not pets. Pets, or service dogs in training, are not allowed aboard. Emotional support dogs, which are not recognized by the US Department of Justice, are also not permitted on Carnival ships.

Yes, essentially anything you charge to your room will first by applied to the OBC (casino, drinks, gratuities, specialty restaurants, etc.).

This is interesting (thank you for posting). OP I think you are right - you and I both received the EL6 offer, which is erroneously linking to the EL7 offer (when we click on it), likely causing the "oh snap" error.