My first west coast cruise on the Carnival Panorama

[Honolulu Blue]

Thanks for sharing.  I was supposed to be on the cruise just before yours, but I literally missed the boat. 🙁

[havanadaydreaming]

Pausing this series for a coiple days, i sprained my ankle on sailboat today and having trouble putting weight on it.  

 

Gonna rest it and try to hobble around for anniversary dinner tonight.  

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, havanadaydreaming said:

Pausing this series for a coiple days, i sprained my ankle on sailboat today and having trouble putting weight on it.  

 

Gonna rest it and try to hobble around for anniversary dinner tonight.  

Feel better! 😎

[havanadaydreaming]

Thanks jam. It appears i greatly exaggerated my "demise". Was able to walk to coffee shop this am, a little hitch in my giddyup but certainly functional.  And almost pain free.  Hip hip! 

 

Ive forgotten what day it so.... 

 

Mazatlan - all excursions we considered sold out. I was selfish, wanted to book them on board and not prepay them from home.  Dumb move. This port is, uh, not glamorous.  Theres not much within walking distance.  Failure to plan ahead is honking the failhorn. We did hit up the Oxxo and bought a ton of snacks to give away to crew. Three full bags of goodies was like $15.  We went back and did ship day.  

 

I did sports trivia and legitimately missed one question, but sat out saying how many i had correct.  Three other folks had perfect scores.  Tiebreaker was what year did magic johnson retire for the third and final time.  All missed by a good number of years, one fiftysomething dude missed by 10 years. (Yes this fella had it right but i wasnt certain. I knew it was close) I feel for those who played it straight up without knowing the answers from previous cruises.  They had no chance for a ship on a stick. 

 

Had a huge run at casino but the comped Woodfords took their toll and gave me false bravado to increase wagers.  In the end i broke even. (Lost my winnings but not daily bankroll) 

 

 

[havanadaydreaming]

Cabo - this was the reason we booked this cruise.  Holy moley, Land's End is my second most impressive visual from a cruise.  (#1 Pitons in St Lucia, but its closer than i could have anticipated) 

 

630am arrival??? The general consensus onboard is *****?  Leaving this amazing port at 230 suuuuuucks.  Id totally give up mazatlan for an overnight stay at cabo.  In a heartbeat. 

 

We took the luxury sailboat excursion.  It was $139  pp and worth every penny.  Ship was great. Crew were great.  Food was great. I didnt snorkel or drink booze thanks to previous night. Water only over here. 

 

The only bummer was popping my ankle, preexisting condition, which caused us to miss Cabo Wabo.  I love Van Hagar and Sammy, ive been wanting to go for decades.i just couldnt walk there and back in the one hour we had before sailaway.  C'est la vie.  As sammy sang in Van Halen's "Cabo Wabo":

 

Cabo, go there once youll be there twice.  

 

We will teturn Cabo, prolly at an all inclusive resort in a year or two.  

 

So, mostly boring rest of day.  Elevated ankle and was functional by dinner.  Went to MDR and really enjoyed it.  I had salmon and Mrs had filet.  Great service and food.  A surprise was the crew song not being Sweet Caroline. Instead it was Rolling on the River.  

 

[Black Magic]

I hate to hear that you missed the Cabo Wabo.  It really is a blast!  I suggest a return visit to Cabo in October for Sammy's B-Day Bash!

[havanadaydreaming]

Final day - slow rise and shine.  

 

Lunch - blue iguana and guys busy so buffet. Glad to see chinese options, the bourbon chicken was strong. 

 

Weather was a little chilly early but got to read book in sun later. Went through the shops one more time for kicks and giggles.  

 

Saw the broadway show in theatre. Went to casino for pre dinner dranks, wife hit $500+ jackpot on $0.75 spin.  

 

Dinner was Guy BBQ. Got the feast for 2, couldnt come close to finishing dish.  I liked it. 

 

Early to bed since i hate 7am wakeup on debarkation day. Out of room by 830 off ship by 9.  Through customs in a couple minutes.  Caught lyft to airport hotel for midnight flight home.  

 

Ordered some waygu burgers to eat poolside.  Got stuck watching Fish Called Wanda waiting for food delivery and typing this update.....

[Itried4498]

Nice report.  A couple random thoughts:

- Obviously PV and Cabo are the headlining destinations on this itinerary, but Mazatlan is heavily underrated.  If you followed the blue line, it would’ve brought you into the historic downtown.  Cops are always stationed through the blue line when ships are in port.  The beach is also a short walk from port (you can also get there via historic DT if you’d like).  The beach is beautiful, usually uncrowded if not deserted and is touted as having the longest continuous walkway alongside it (20+ miles IIRC).  You could’ve also got a day pass at a nearby resort for about $20, which is fully redeemable toward food and drink.

 

- The port times for Cabo suck but this is because it’s going to feel chilly headed north year round, so the two sea days are timed headed south.  That said, there are a handful of itineraries where Panorama stops at Cabo first.  Eliminating Mazatlan isn’t going to change this - it’d add an overnight at Cabo, and tendering ain’t cheap.  When Carnival dropped Mazatlan a decade ago or so, they added an overnight at PV as well as some yucky PVR - Cabo - Ensenada runs (Ensenada sucks).

 

- if you want an extended stay at Cabo, the Miracle is operating a handful of overnights on 5-day itineraries from LB.  
 

- if you want to stay in Cabo, now is a good time to go.  For example … The Grand Fiesta is one of our favorite hotels, but for two adults it’s climbed to $600+ Per night for a standard room during the shoulder season.  This year they have rooms for about $200, which is a great bargain IMO.