Ak4n3

Thank  you for following along so far.  Onwards!

Thoughts on Cabins:

My family and I booked a Deluxe Oceanview Cabin 1268.  I liked the lower decks and it doesn’t feel claustrophobic as we can have natural sunlight in the room.  I was thinking of getting a balcony but DH was afraid Aria might take a flying leap off the railing.  I don’t mind, the extra space that we have is useful and we have a spot to keep Aria’s menagerie of towel animals by the end of the cruise.  

The extra bath tub/shower area is really convenient when 4 of us are getting ready at the same time.  The bathtub area has a sink, so this is where I wash my Carnival drink tumblers and water bottles. It's a bit of a tight squeeze though, but I managed.

The only thing is at certain speeds there is a creaking sound between the walls.  I don’t know if it was just me or it’s because the ship is still new.   At first I thought it was furniture rubbing against the wall and I was trying to see if I can do anything about it.  No…it’s IN THE WALL.  Unless I take a  welding machine and torch the thing, I will not be able to get into the wall  and relieve us of the sound.  It does stop, but it was annoying when you’re trying to get some sleep.  This happened on the first day going down to Cabo, then again coming back up from the Cabo area (2^nd sea day).  A pillow over my ears did muffle the sound a bit so I was able to sleep.  DH wasn’t bothered by the sound, though.  He said he had it worse back on Navy ships.  I only hope that the “growing pains” of the new ship would eventually settle down since  I never had that issue with older ships (Imagination,  Inspiration, Miracle, Legend).

The Olds got a porthole cabin as inside guarantee.  The room was huge and had some natural light from the 2 portholes.  Monami said she slept fine.  Pops also slept okay but he can hear the waves slam into the hull of the ship.  I did warn him what to expect especially when we’re traveling over open ocean in top speeds.  But at least he wasn’t motion sick! Yay for the stabilizers!

12 hours ago, AgentMinusOne said:

If you do not have mobility issues, I can agree that this is a decent alternative to long lines in and around the parking structure...at least until this loophole gets closed, that is. Also, If there are any big events such as Dark Harbor or Christmas at Queen Mary, you can not get as close as the roads will be blocked.

 

There is also a dropping off point behind the parking structure (after right-hand side ticket gates use left lane and turn left instead of continuing straight) that you might be able to use. This, however, isn't useful if the traffic is packed up all the way outside the ticket gates.

 

Blue is for the QM side, red for the cruise terminal side of the ticket gates.

 

I can attest to that!  The red drop off line (curves from Windsor past the fire station) is where the long semis would go through for their deliveries/pick ups so it will clog at certain times (from about 7am-11am I estimate).  If dropping off, the blue line area would be advisable to avoid the grid lock.

thanks, @AgentMinusOne for the map and @klfhngr for the tip!

Friday 3rd Sea Day

Thursday 2nd Sea Day

Wednesday Puerto Vallarta

Tuesday Mazatlan

Fun Times

Monday Cabo San Lucas

Let's get the fun times out of the way;

Sunday First Sea Day

5 minutes ago, glrounds said:

I leave in 2 days, so please hurry with your review ! 😁

 

Will drive to the port also (about 1 hour). Did you talk to anyone utilizing the OFF SITE PARKING ? If so, what were their opinions ?

 

Thank you for your review.

Well, I'll do what I can in the short time.  If I don't get to finish, I hope your experience will be a nice pleasant surprise.  😄 

I didn't speak to anybody who used offsite.  I will be going to park offsite in April for the Imagination cruise.  I found parking at the structure easy, however YMMV.

More thoughts on Embarkation Day:

Does it feel more crowded?  Not really.  Well, for the first day, there seemed to be more people milling about at the elevators.  The midship elevators (or was it the forward) are used for luggage delivery, plus there is a learning curve for the smart elevators.  Eventually, the elevators were quick once you get the hang of them.  There are times when I could've sworn there were only 2 other people who pressed the panel, then I was squashed in the elevator with about 10 people.  

Luggage arrived when  the cabins were available at 1:30pm.    We couldn't do much exploring as the sodas, wine, and other carryons were a bit much of you're going up and down decks.  Not fun at all.

Muster drill was painless, too.  My group was B4 in the Horizon Dining Room (mid) and the Olds were B3 in the Casino.  I don't have our boarding pass right now, I may have mixed the two muster numbers but those are our locations.  Everyone was able to have a seat in comfort while the crew showed us how to wear the life vests.  

I grabbed 2 Kid's club activities to give you an idea what they do.  I just realized on the Hub App that they also have the kid's schedule there.  I never noticed that before.  This is a great idea to have the kids' schedules on hand without getting the physical copies lost or wet at the pool area.

Circle C

Camp Ocean - Penguins

We never got to utilize the Owl Jams or Night Owls (after 10pm activities), though, so I don't have any thoughts on that. 

Bren comes and goes as he pleases at their club. He has his own phone app and we purchased a chat for our family so we can easily find each other.   We basically chucked Aria in Camp Ocean once we are able to.  She's there after lunch and after dinner.    She enjoyed the activities and the counselors call her by name on the second day.

Here are the fun times.  

Embarkation Day.  I hope it's readable.  Please let me know.

Thoughts on Embarkation day:

Parking was easy, construction doesn’t look like it started yet.  Then again, we sailed on a Saturday so I don’t know what it looks like during the regular work week.  Boarding was a breeze, even though our arrival time states a later time.  DH’s group boarded ahead of the Olds and I but we caught up with them that we enjoyed lunch before 12! 

I must say that like what the other trip reviewers said, the entry to the ship was underwhelming.  No "wow factor" of seeing the atrium as soon as you get on the ship. It's just wall and casino.  Because of the size of the ship and the height of the ramp, we entered on the fourth deck off the casino and thru the Heroes Tribute Bar (formerly the sports bar) to get to the aft elevators for Lido. 

I did enjoy the new ship smell and the Casino still hasn't absorbed enough cigarette smoke to ruin the first impression, if you know what I mean.

Some embarkation day snaps

Not too crowded in the Dome.  Ample seating for everybody.  There are arcade games off the side.  And if you need a bathroom, there are rest rooms.  

Monami and Popsie

The olds and the kidlets

View from Lido Deck. 

Enjoying our Guys burger (Aria got buns and fries only  😑).  We brought our own wine and Coke products to enjoy.  But I still got my traditional embarkation day funship drink.

39 minutes ago, MEUB1112 said:

We will be following, we were on this cruise with you. It was outstanding!!

Come along for the ride down to memory lane...from last week 😉 

16 hours ago, Wanna_Cruize said:

Thanks! Can't wait. Do you perhaps also have the menus from the MDR? The one's I've seen so far have been from the holiday cruises, so they have been altered from the norm. 

15 hours ago, alliecat1970 said:

If you have menus I would greatly appreciate them thank you janet 

I do apologize, we didn't take screenshots of the menus.  Since the holidays are over, I find that the menus are similar to some, if not all, 7 day Carnival cruises that the other trip reviewers posted.  We must be cruising too frequently that my son knows the day's menu highlights even before seeing them.  

Embarkation Day Jan 4

We left home at 10am.  It was an easy drive on a cool day.  When we reached the entrance of the Long Beach Cruise Terminal by 1030am, the lane for the drop off /pick up was clogged.   That it affected the entrance of the parking structure itself.  We probably were stuck about 5-10 minutes before we managed to squeeze on the left side.  We were pleasantly surprised that we managed to snag parking at the ramp between the first and 2^nd level.  From our parking spot, we can see there are ample parking spaces available at the second level.  I guess since the Imagination cruisers were parking offsite, it’s not as crowded for Panorama and Inspiration passengers. 

Side note:  We will be cruising again in April on the Imagination so I will be prepared!  Most likely, I’ll have DH drop us off at the Queen Mary side rather than the cruise drop off and take the kids and luggage to the porter before letting him drive off to the off site parking.

There are a lot of previous cruisers milling about, probably waiting for their rides.  It doesn’t look crowded, though.  I have a feeling the ship docked early, despite the schedules showing 9Am arrival time and that majority of them already left.  This is a good sign.  It might mean we’ll be able to board earlier.

After handing our luggage to the porter, we went straight to the early/late arrivals line to check in.  The check in process was quick and painless.  All that is left is the waiting.  And Aria was getting antsy. 

We have boarding zone A12 with arrival appointment at 1230p-1p.  Pops and Monami’s boarding zone was B11 with arrival appointment for 1p-1:30.  They started calling boarding at 1130am with the  wedding groups, diamond, and plats first.  About 10 minutes later, they started calling out the zones.  I believe, the As were up to A24.  Then they called the Bs after 10 minutes. 

DH and the kidlets went ahead and told them that we’ll meet up at the lido and save us a seat.  I had to stay with the parentals since they haven’t been oriented to the big ship and I’d feel bad abandoning them. Well, I was about to abandon them as I can hear the sizzle of Guy’s burger calling my name and let them play hunt for the lido on their own.  But knowing Monami, she’d end up below decks at the crew area or somewhere she is not supposed to be.  We didn't have to wait long as we also boarded not long after.  We found them at Guys burger with our traditional first of many many burgers, buns, and fries.

Introduction: We are a family of 4. DH is a Navy Veteran who I had to drag kicking and screaming on our first cruise back in 2012.  Now, he likes it as much as I do.  “At least I can have alcohol on the ship.”  My kids Bren (14) and Aria (5) loves cruising as much as I do.  They both love  to go to the kids club and are usually pretty good on the cruise.  We booked this cruise two years ago and got the deluxe oceanview cabin 1268 (riviera deck). 

Popsie (73) and Monami (72) decided to join us last minute in October 2019 when Pops found out he had a casino deal.  So I ended up booking inside guarantee for them.  We received their room assignment a week later, they got a porthole cabin first deck (riviera).  I had difficulty with their dining assignment, however.  Up until the day we boarded, they were waitlisted for early dining.  I called Carnival customer service for help but even they can’t place my parents for early dining.  She could only link my booking with theirs in the hopes that we are able to eat together.    When we finally saw our cards, I was happy that we were placed in the same table seating.

Planning: Like our Alaska Cruise, we lucked out on the weather.  Two weeks before, our servers said that it rained on their port days and that Carnival cancelled some excursions.  When I checked the weather website for our cruise duration, Mexican Riviera temps ranges from  a sunny 82-86 degrees F.  Yay!  No thick jackets or sweaters to pack.  Shorts and tshirt weather all the way!

We were supposed to stay Hotel Maya on Jan 3rd and booked our hotel ahead of time as I am wary about the parking situation  at the terminal.  When the parentals decided to join us, we had to cancel our hotel room as it would be too expensive to book two rooms just to park one vehicle at the hotel.  I just decided for us to wing it on the day itself, if we end up parking off site or beg someone to take us to port.

15 minutes ago, Wanna_Cruize said:

Sorry, one more question. About how long do the classes last? 

We started at 10am and ended a little past 11am.  Nice noon time snack.  They will not allow up to take our food.  Health regulations and all that.

1 hour ago, Wanna_Cruize said:

 

Hmm, I don't see a pasta class? Does that mean it's sold out already?? or did you mean the pizza class?

 

It’s Pasta Class.  It must’ve sold out already.  There were only 18 available slots for our class

I'll be posting a new Carnival Panorama review of our trip along with the fun times for planning purposes in the next few days .  This is a thank you for all the CC members who are very helpful in the forums.

Cheers to future voyages!

We did the pasta class. It was fun and very informative.  My 14 year old son liked it.   They gave each of the attendees a silicone spatula with Carnival Kitchen logo to keep and they emailed the recipe.

Yes, AARP now accepts credit cards.

Hi,

The elegant nights are  first sea day, and second sea day.

Argh!, I didn't luck out.  I need a few cards since my final payment date is fast approaching.  I just went ahead and bought 2 AARP cards (my account and hubby's account) but we still have a balance.  I need some luck on the Allstate rewards site.  😭