Panorama Cruise Dec14-21

[kdr69]

Have never done a review before but thought since this is a new ship I would share my thoughts and lots of pics.  There was myself(54), my son(17), my mom(??) and my ex sailing on this family vacation this time.  We flew from Edmonton Alberta into L.A. two days early to catch some Disneyland as i wanted to see the new Star Wars Park. We left for the Airport at 4 am for our first flight which would take us to Calgary for our Connecting Flight to L.A.  It was a brisk -12 C(10.4F).  We landed in L.A.. around 11:30 am and after gathering the luggage we went to search for our booked shuttle.  I had prebooked through TripAdvisor a shuttle with SuperShuttle.  After Waiting almost 45 min while van after van went by us at the SuperShuttle loading zone I finally managed to flag one down only to be told he wasn't going our way to Anaheim but he would call it in.  I tried calling the number on our ticket and got hung up on 3 times and put on hold 4 times only to have call disconnect.  Tried flagging down another van this time was told they were out of business?? To which I replied "and yet here you are in uniform in a Supershuttle van picking up other people just not us" to which he shrugged his shoulders 😐 I was really starting to get heated by this time.  Finally we flagged down a totally different shuttle operator and paid another 100 bucks to get to our Hotel.  Was hopeful this was not a precursor for rest of trip.

 

Anyhoos after finally checking in and spending the next 4 hours at Disney California Adventure it was time to hit the sack.    The next morning we were up early as we only had the one day to do Disneyland and I wanted to get to the Star Wars Park before it got too crowded.  As we only had a day and a half for Disney I had only purchased the 2 day 1 park each day passes and skipped the Front of the Line pass.  While it was not a good choice when it came to ride access we still were able to do all the rides we wanted to do.  We had been to Disneyland over 10 years ago and the only part I was interested in was the Star Wars area on this trip and it was totally worth it in my opinion.  

 

Stay tuned for Embarkation Day...

[kdr69]

Embarkation Day...

 

We had the early boarding time and our arrival time was for 11:30 I believe.  Got up early and had a light breakfast as I was not wanting to fill up too much before lunch on the Ship.  2nd Shuttle Snafu of the trip... had booked them for 10:30 pickup as we were in Anaheim and I wasn't sure how long trip was going to be to Port since it was almost an hour from Airport to Anaheim. Learned it was only 45 min drive and thought oh great we will be a little early but not a biggie as we would just wait around there.  9:15 my driver texts he will be there in 10 min 😮.  I told him my pickup was for 10:30 and I hadn't even checked out yet.  He said he was booked for 9:30 and would see us shortly.  Mad scramble to get bags downstairs and checkout ensued. Once in the van and on our way Im thinking great now what to do as we will be at port almost an hour and a half before our time allotted. Sigh.  Once we arrived we unloaded our bags and found a Porter to take them from us.  Tipped him really well to make sure our bags got to ship and he was so happy he gave us great directions on where to go from there and which person to talk too.  We crossed over the street showed our boarding pass to the Carnival person on the sidewalk who directed us onward to the next Agent who put us in the early arrival line where we showed our passes again and were sent into the terminal.  

 

Once inside I had my first experience with the new check in procedure and I was fairly impressed how fast it went (10 min) and we were directed to the seating area to await Boarding which was not going to be for a few hours since we were so early.

The Terminal is quite new and looks very nice inside. One item of note is that we did not see anywhere to purchase drinks or a snack and the area that was marked Concession only held Wheelchairs??  There were drinking fountains outside the washrooms though so that was ok.  The terminal was fairly busy as they had issues with the Back to Back passengers.  There was over 500 of them and apparently from the one person I talked to there were only 250 new sail and sign cards printed for them.  They ended up waiting in the terminal with us right up to boarding time although they were the first to Board once the process started.

 

Once they had boarded then it was the Wedding Parties followed by Diamond, Platinum and then they started calling zones.  Starting with A to Z then A1's A2's A3's... well you get the picture.  After the first 26 letters of the Alphabet were called I was grateful we were Zone A3.  Person beside us was G16.  and then it was time to board....

 

It was a very long winding ramp up to the Gangway but because my mother had a cane we were routed to the elevator which had 5 wheelchairs in front of it and only looked big enough for one at a time.  We asked about using the escalator beside the elevator and were told we could as long as my mother didn't use her cane.  Nothing was standing between me and that Drink of the Day especially not a cane.  she made do.  lol.

 

Once upstairs and in line we fell victim to the photographers that wanted to take your Boarding shot and once we moved out of line it quickly filled in with lots of others who didn't want their picture and we ended up at the back of the line once the picture was taken. Insert another sigh here.🙄

 

 

[neecee23]

Just FYI, Super Shuttle has ceased operations, that may be why you had so much trouble, they were in a downward spiral. Same thing happened to my son in Dallas for Thanksgiving, he is now using Lyft and has had pleasant experiences, as have we.

[ecarbine]

We were on this sailing too, we were one of the back to backers.

Can't wait to hear about your experience, we had an amazing time!

[kdr69]

Ship Pics everyone YAY!!

 

Have to say I loved the interior finishes of this ship.  Very modern and fresh.  The funnel in the lobby area was also duplicated in the Casino as well and the colors and scenes were constantly changing.  The Library Bar is not a Bar but does have books and games to play.  Didn't get any interior shots of these two venues during the cruise im afraid.

[jimbo5544]

Nice start to your review

[kdr69]

We immediately sought out the Lido Deck and got some lunch.  I headed straight to Guys Burgers where I picked up a Lettuce Wrap cheeseburger and loaded up with toppings.  Food in hand next stop was the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar to pick up my first Margharita of many and introduce myself to the Bartenders.  They were very quick to learn my taste and remembered my name whenever I was there throughout the cruise.  I headed back to our table and the rest of the family was already eating away with their various picks.  The Buffet is well set up and did not feel crowded at anytime during the cruise.  Food was always hot and plentiful there with Dinner items mostly mimicking the main dining room picks.

 

Once lunch was over it was time to head to our room which was Balcony Cabin 6428 on Deck 6 which is just around the corner from my sons Favorite place the Arcade.  It was also next to Circle C and Club 02.  My son who is Autistic has been sailing with us since he was 4 and has liked all the kids clubs growing up where they have always been very attentive and great to him.  This was his first time at Club 02 and he enjoyed his time there.  I had booked this room specifically due to the closeness of the Arcade.  Noise was not an issue even being so near the teen clubs and Arcade.

 

That night we went to the Dining room as we did for most of the Cruise.  We had Anytime dining and with the Carnival app it was a breeze to book your table before leaving the room and have it ready by the time we reached the rear dining area on deck 4 for Anytime Dining.  I loved the App by the way you had the daily schedule at a glance and could bookmark and plan your activities, check your sail and sign account, see your pictures, chat and many other things.  Well worth downloading but recommend you do it at home before your cruise as its not easy to download on their WiFi.

 

The Elevators....As a Facility Manager I am well aware of Destination Elevators and their capabilities and it was very surprising to see them on a ship.  They are fairly easy to use if you know how to use them and also dont have 4000 some people wanting to use them at the same time such as you guessed it EMBARKATION AND DEBARKATION!!!.  lol.  The idea is to pick your floor outside the elevator and it will direct you to the elevator you need to take.  HOWEVER... you also need to pick that floor as many times as people you have in your party otherwise the elevator will be full by the time it gets to you and your party of 4 because it only holds 18 people and if you only put in once that you need the elevator it will keep stopping at every floor for the next party of 1(actually 4,5 or even 8)and takes forever to get where it needs to go. Example..party of 4 going to floor 8 would pick floor 8 four times not just once.

Carnival is apparently relooking at the programming to make this more user friendly but for now just be prepared to use the stairs on Embarkation day.

 

Ive attached a pic of the elevator lobby floor directory's

[kdr69]

20 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Nice start to your review

From someone who has read many of your great reviews I take that as a great compliment thank you!

[kdr69]

Cabo San Lucas..

 

We arrived to Cabo on a perfectly beautiful day where we had booked the Camel Riding on the Beach Excursion.  We had our tickets and proceeded to the Horizon Dining room which was our gathering spot and waited there with many other excursion goers for our excursion to be called so we could head down to the tenders.  It was a very orderly process compared to many other cruises ive been on and they ensured that they timed everything with lots of lead time to ensure no one missed their excursion and everyone got ashore.  Once ashore we found our excursion guide and waited for the rest of the group before heading to our transportation.

The coaches were very nice and comfortable as it was approx an hour drive to the Camel Reserve.  As you can see the picture of the countryside it was a very scenic drive.  The Beach pics are the beach we rode the camels down and it was very beautiful with the surf crashing against the shore while we rode.  

We were not allowed to take pics while riding the camels but they did take lots of Pictures as well as drone video for people to purchase after the excursion.  Prices were not totally unreasonable and we opted for the middle package of the 3 that they offered  which included a USB Stick of the photos and videos for around 98 dollars I believe.  

The Camels are all rescued from circuses and private collections and are well taken care of by the Reserve.  There was lots of great information on the camels during a talk by our guide after our ride.  Once the talk was completed we got to have pics of the camel kissing us and then we went to a tequila tasting where the buffet was located.  The food was hot and plentiful and the tequila tasting was fun.

[kdr69]

I have to download some more pictures to continue....be back shortly

[kdr69]

Heroes Tribute Bar

This is one of the best Areas on the ship for football lovers(it was always standing room only) on game days and by far in my opinion an absolutely tremendous idea on the part of Carnival.  I am understanding they will be rolling this out to all their ships fleetwide.  They also hold a veterans gathering here as well.  

[heffy2]

Great review so far!! She's amazing ship!!

 

[kdr69]

Mazatlan

In Mazatlán we chose the Aquarium and Beach resort and buffet excursion.  The Aquarium is quite nice and includes a sea lion show.  The show is conducted mostly in Mexican but its quite easy to follow along and I was there to watch the show not listen to the entertainers anyways.  The time allotted for the actual Aquarium viewing is about half an hour but it isn't that big and can be walked through in the time but doesn't allow for more than a quick glance at each exhibit before moving on.  Once your finished in the Aquarium you go feed the Parrots and then walk through a bird sanctuary followed by feeding some fish.  After that is the show where you can purchase a picture of you being kissed by a sea lion at the end for about 3 bucks.  Once done with the show its off to the resort.

The Resort is very nice although to get to the pools you have to take a short water taxi ride (two minutes) as it is located across the canal from the main hotel.  The beach however is right beside the buffet area and was very nice white sand with good waves as well as umbrellas and chairs.  There are a lot of vendors once you step on the sand that you just have to say no politely to and they will leave you alone.  Each one by the way even if they are standing next to each other when you say no to the first vendor.  I am now fluent in saying no gracious.

The buffet was good and consisted of tortillas and tacos and chicken wings(HOT).  The drinks never stopped and were free.  We enjoyed a great day relaxing at the beach for about 2 hours before boarding our coach for the ride back to the Port.

[kdr69]

More ships Pics

[kdr69]

The Waterpark was very well used by Families with Young ones as well as by older folks playing on the waterslides.  The Skyride was constantly busy and the last two days was closed due to high winds so I did not get a chance to try it out.  There was a lot of folks that did however.  One note is that you cannot use the Skyride without closed toe footwear.  So no sandals, flip flops etc.  they also have lockers at the start of the line for all your loose articles such as wallet, phones, hats as you not allowed anything that might fall out and drop on someone.  Makes Sense to me.  The Sports court was quite well used from what I saw by a lot of teens playing basketball. They also have giant chess and ping pong up there as well as some outdoor Exercise equipment that was unique. This is also the area where the mini golf is located.

[kdr69]

Bonsai Teppanyaki

We chose this Specialty restaurant for the evening as we left Mazatlán.  It was a great dinner and very good performance rolled into one super night.  There were two other couples besides us and the conversation was very good all round.  For the 30 dollar upcharge it was well worth the cost in my opinion.  The Chef was a master and put on a good performance.  One of the persons was a vegetarian and he made sure to cook all of their portions first before adding any meat onto the grill.  The portions are huge and the appetizers leading up to the main course help to whet your appetite.  Everyone gets the same appetizers and desserts(8 different kinds) and you choose your main dish.  For this event I chose shrimp and filet mignon.  A very good option or break from the Steakhouse if you like Japanese cuisine.

[kdr69]

Fun Shops

The shops were spread out over two floors and were a little different from what ive seen on older Carnival ships.  There was the usual Jewelry store with watches and cigarettes areas but There was also a section devoted to the new Swarovski line that is exclusive to Carnival.  I have only every found one other Swarovski item and that was on a Royal Caribbean ship many years back so I was very interested to see what they had.  Mostly Necklaces, earrings, bracelets etc.  but very beautiful pieces to be sure and I did end up buying a few pieces for my girlfriend back home.  There was also a store devoted to the Panorama Inaugural Season and it had Jackets and Hats and clothing as well as souvenirs such as ship ornaments and the Inaugural Coin which I just had to have for 12.98 US.  

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, kdr69 said:

From someone who has read many of your great reviews I take that as a great compliment thank you!

Wow, thank you, next one starting 1/5 on the Legend.

Edited January 1, 2020 by jimbo5544

[Buck Turgidson]

3 hours ago, ecarbine said:

We were on this sailing too, we were one of the back to backers.

Can't wait to hear about your experience, we had an amazing time!

ecarbine, on your back to back how is your luggage handled between the cruises, we will be in a different room for our second week

[ecarbine]

10 minutes ago, Buck Turgidson said:

ecarbine, on your back to back how is your luggage handled between the cruises, we will be in a different room for our second week

Buck,

We had to change rooms on the second leg too, we moved to the room next door. We left our bags in the room and the steward took care of everything for us.

[pinto18]

Thanks for a great review! Will be on the panorama in a few weeks. I love that you can vacation with your ex even with the gf back home! Way to be a family for your son!

[Joe817]

Wow!! What an incredible review! You narrative interspersed with several pics really holds the reader's attention! Thank you and well done!!!  👍👍

[Genuine]

Awesome review!!!!!!

[mk907]

Thanks for the look at your cruise! Enjoying your review. 

[kdr69]

Puerto Vallarta

For this port we booked the Mexican Fiesta, Dancing Horse, Tequila & Buffet excursion.  They started this tour with a walking tour of downtown taking us to the cathedral and a walk along the Ocean Boardwalk which ended at an Opal Store (I think the guide was payed to take us there) lol but it was a nice tour.  Our Guide was very informative and kept us all laughing along the way.  After the walking tour we headed out of the city to the Dona Engracia Hacienda where the remainder of the tour was held.  They make Tequila here so the tequila tour and tasting was quite interesting and you have a chance to purchase tequila at the end which as that was my whole purpose on this tour I did and a lot of it trust me lol.  The Mexican fiesta was very nice with different kinds of dances performed and a few competitions for us as well with prizes.  The dancing horses were not to bad either.  Food was again buffet style with Tacos, beans, rice salads etc. and you could purchase alcoholic drinks for I think 3 dollars a drink.