Panorama vs Mardi Gras

[motheroftwocats814]

Hi-

Wanting to book a new ship and torn between Panorama or Mardi Gras.

We live in Boston and flying to either port is no worry.

Sometime between Jan-March to get out of the Boston winter.

Both ships look great just torn.

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

We’ve been on both and very much enjoyed both of them.  Mardi Gras has many more food options both for lunch and dinner, more venues for cocktails, a bigger casino, and overall quite a bit bigger.  Mexican Rivera is nice but you get the Caribbean with Mardi Gras.  Overall you’ll have great time on either but if you’ll only be doing one cruise coming up, I’d vote for Mardi Gras. 

[tree.critter]

Have been on both, the Cloud 9 Spa is much nicer on the Panorama as is the Havana area. I like the location of the Alchemy bar much better on the Panorama also. The shows are great in the Grand Central on Mardis Gras but must get early for good seats and there is continuous background activity. No bar service in the main theater on the Mardi Gras.

Both were beautiful ships and loved our cruises on both. I’d go for itinerary, we’ve done the Caribbean often so really enjoyed the Panorama and especially the Puerto Vallarta port with Rhythms of the Night. It was pretty special.

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by tree.critter
typos

[jerseygirlinAZ]

We were on the Panorama at the end of May and the Mardi Gras at the beginning of July.  We liked both ships, but are a little partial to the Panorama.  

 

We had a cove balcony on the Panorama and we really liked it.  My daughter also really liked the Kids Club on the Panorama.  Also, the elevators are pretty cool, which we really missed when on the Mardi Gras.  We LOVED the steakhouse on the Panorama and also the piano bar.  The staff was fabulous.

 

The Mardi Gras was also great.  We had a balcony room and liked the layout with the closing shower.  We had anytime dining and enjoyed a lot of the specialty restaurants.  The ship was easy to navigate, which surprised me.  We also enjoyed the different bars on board, specifically the Fortune Teller bar.  Also, the staff at Guys Pig and Anchor bar were very great.

 

You really can't go wrong with either ship, IMHO.  It might be a bit chilly Jan - March on the Panorama, but you will get the whale season.  I guess if I were going at that time of year (and I'm originally from New Jersey), I'd go Mardi Gras, though plan to book the Panorama in the near future.

[Moviela]

Rooms on Mardi Gras on the whole are smaller than Panorama. 150 sq ft on Mardi Gras and 180 sq ft on Panorama. Elevators are faster on Panorama, and the steakhouse is better too. Mardi Gras is huge compared to the already large Panorama. Panorama has Joey Boyes, one of Carnival's best Cruise directors. Mardi Gras has a shower door instead of a too "friendly" curtain. In the winter months it may be cool and overcast in Long Beach, but by lunch on the first sea day it is all sunshine and warm to hot weather in all three ports. The time in Cabo is short, as the ship arrives in the early morning, and back on board time is 1:30pm. Bottom line is either ship is nice, have great crews, good eats, and enjoyable entertainment. 

[tree.critter]

Forgot about the Mardi Gras rooms, loved the glass shower door but the smaller size was very noticeable. Also the Panorama elevator system, it was confusing for some at first, reading the instructions is key. I loved it and surprised it wasn’t the same on Mardi Gras. My may cruise on the Panorama caused me to switch a booking over from the Mardi Gras to the Horizon. 

 

Mardi Gras does have Bolt, it is a thrill seeking blast and worth at least one ride for the fun of it! 

[JillK]

We have not yet cruised on Mardi Gras but hope to over the next two years.

 

We recently cruised on the Panorama (July 9th) and would love to cruise her again. My three kids (16, 12 & 10) are accustomed to NCL and all agree that they would cruise the Panorama again in a heartbeat.

 

I have a lot of cruises under my belt on various lines, but rank this one in my top 5 easily. Fantastic ship and wonderful cruise experience.

 

That being said, you have to do what works best for you and it sounds from those who have been on both ships that you can't go wrong either way - that's what I call a win-win!! 

 

Happy cruising! 

Edited August 1, 2022 by JillK

[cruisingguy007]

15 hours ago, Moviela said:

Rooms on Mardi Gras on the whole are smaller than Panorama. 150 sq ft on Mardi Gras and 180 sq ft on Panorama. Elevators are faster on Panorama, and the steakhouse is better too. Mardi Gras is huge compared to the already large Panorama. Panorama has Joey Boyes, one of Carnival's best Cruise directors. Mardi Gras has a shower door instead of a too "friendly" curtain. In the winter months it may be cool and overcast in Long Beach, but by lunch on the first sea day it is all sunshine and warm to hot weather in all three ports. The time in Cabo is short, as the ship arrives in the early morning, and back on board time is 1:30pm. Bottom line is either ship is nice, have great crews, good eats, and enjoyable entertainment. 

 

Not sure this is still the case with Panorama, our cruise a few months ago was not 1:30 back on board. All the ports were nice long stops. 

[CruizinSusan70]

Have sailed on the MG twice and the sister ship to the Panorama, the Horizon twice.  If you choose the Panorama you need to fly coast to coast to go out of LA in the dead of winter to go to the Mexican Riviera.  But, if you choose the Mardi Gras or better yet, the Celebration you get to go to the Caribbean.  With the Mardi Gras, you need to fly into Orlando and you have a longer commute to the ship, about the same as from LAX to Long Beach, but if you choose the Celebration you have the option to fly into Miami or Fort Lauderdale.  The Panorama is 133.5 K tons, while the Excel Class ships are 180 K tons.   Some people that have cruised exclusively on Carnival think that the Excel Class is too big, whereas many who have traveled on comparable size or larger ships from their competition do not.

 

My first choice would be the Celebration, followed by the Mardi Gras.  If you wanted to stay in a Havana area cabin, that would be the only reason to choose one of the three Vista Class ships.

[jimbo5544]

Have sailed Vista class 5 times and the MG 3 times.  Hands down, the MG.

[Joebucks]

Have not sailed the MG yet. Had a fantastic cruise on the Panorama this past January. Very fun and modern ship. General consensus seems to be that Vista class ships sailing at full capacity don't handle the traffic well (it was 50% when I went).

 

I can't see myself not liking the MG more though. I love the bigger ship with more amenities. I am really excited to try some of the new food and bar options. As someone who has a few Carnival cruises under the belt, the MG offers a little more of a "fresh experience".

[jamie717]

We did not care for the Mardi Gras and have really enjoyed the Panorama.  

[cruisinqt]

After 20 years of Cruising the Mardi Gras is hands down our favorite ship. Why?

1. There were 6 or more comedy shows every night virtually  eliminating the long punchliner club lines.
2.They brought back the magic shows I always loved. 

3. Soda fountains on lido and at Guys Pig &  Anchor (no waiting at bars for sodas)

4. You can eat MDR food at other restaurants 

5. Charging ports and shelves on each side of the bed

6. Touchless entry for all public bathrooms

7. Glass shower doors 

8. With 16 restaurants there were very few lines at both lunch & dinner

9. It had some of the best produced high end production shows we’ve seen carnival do

I could go on about the great new changes carnival made with the Mardi Gras class, but it would take forever. I personally loved the addition of the hot dog stand and gelato place in the lido. They were really good. Street Eats had this Time Fries place that had a new french fry creation every day that I always looked forward to. But what was the best meal on the ship IMHO was the Teppanyaki place. It was festive with singing, the chef had the flames flying to the ceiling, and the food was perfect. It wasn’t just a meal it was an event. I think carnival put a lot of thought into this new class of ship and fixed a lot of problems. We liked it so much we booked it’s sister ship, the Celebration while still on our cruise.  We are contemplating going on the Mardi Gras again maybe late next year. 

[kona_wahine]

We are going on the Panorama in February, just got an offer we could NOT pass up. Man, I thought the Alaska cruise last month was a great offer. Happy birthday to me! 

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, jamie717 said:

We did not care for the Mardi Gras and have really enjoyed the Panorama.  

Was it because the MG was too big, since the Panorama was the second largest ship you've sailed and a ship 33% larger was too big for your liking?

It's nice to give a reason why you don't like something versus a simple "we did not care".

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, cruisinqt said:

After 20 years of Cruising the Mardi Gras is hands down our favorite ship. Why?

1. There were 6 or more comedy shows every night virtually  eliminating the long punchliner club lines.
2.They brought back the magic shows I always loved. 

3. Soda fountains on lido and at Guys Pig &  Anchor (no waiting at bars for sodas)

4. You can eat MDR food at other restaurants 

5. Charging ports and shelves on each side of the bed

6. Touchless entry for all public bathrooms

7. Glass shower doors 

8. With 16 restaurants there were very few lines at both lunch & dinner

9. It had some of the best produced high end production shows we’ve seen carnival do

I could go on about the great new changes carnival made with the Mardi Gras class, but it would take forever. I personally loved the addition of the hot dog stand and gelato place in the lido. They were really good. Street Eats had this Time Fries place that had a new french fry creation every day that I always looked forward to. But what was the best meal on the ship IMHO was the Teppanyaki place. It was festive with singing, the chef had the flames flying to the ceiling, and the food was perfect. It wasn’t just a meal it was an event. I think carnival put a lot of thought into this new class of ship and fixed a lot of problems. We liked it so much we booked it’s sister ship, the Celebration while still on our cruise.  We are contemplating going on the Mardi Gras again maybe late next year. 

The Excel Class is a game changer for the line.  Have cruised 20 times over the years on Carnival on smaller class ships.  Sailed on the MG twice and have 2 more booked on her and 5 on the Celebration.  That's how much we enjoyed our B2B last February on the MG.  With 9 sailings on the Excel Class, it'll be the only ships we've ever sailed on any line 5 & 4 times.

If you're looking for the next game changer, it's the Prima Class on NCL.

[jamie717]

13 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

It's nice to give a reason why you don't like something versus a simple "we did not care".

The rooms on Mardi Gras are much smaller, the bathrooms are way smaller, the staff was overwhelmed and many times tables were left for upwards of an hour on Lido before they were cleared, the ship had many instances of wear and tear (Feb. '22 and stairs on Lido broken and falling apart, rips in carpeting, the "metal" was worn away because it wasn't metal - it was painted on, palm trees on lido were falling apart), the food was not as great as anticipated.  

The reason I simply said we prefer the Panorama over the Mardi Gras is because I didn't want to sound like a complainer.  We are, after all, on the newest and "greatest" ship of the fleet sailing the Caribbean and despite having some dislikes...we're on a cruise sailing the Caribbean. 😀

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, jamie717 said:

The rooms on Mardi Gras are much smaller, the bathrooms are way smaller, the staff was overwhelmed and many times tables were left for upwards of an hour on Lido before they were cleared, the ship had many instances of wear and tear (Feb. '22 and stairs on Lido broken and falling apart, rips in carpeting, the "metal" was worn away because it wasn't metal - it was painted on, palm trees on lido were falling apart), the food was not as great as anticipated.  

The reason I simply said we prefer the Panorama over the Mardi Gras is because I didn't want to sound like a complainer.  We are, after all, on the newest and "greatest" ship of the fleet sailing the Caribbean and despite having some dislikes...we're on a cruise sailing the Caribbean. 😀

The week you were on the MG we also were on as the back end of a B2B and had a great time.  We'll be on again for 2 weeks over Labor Day and then she'll be in our rear view mirror since our Carnival 23 and 24 bookings are 5 weeks on the Celebration.  Happy cruising.

[jimbo5544]

17 hours ago, jamie717 said:

The rooms on Mardi Gras are much smaller, the bathrooms are way smaller, the staff was overwhelmed and many times tables were left for upwards of an hour on Lido before they were cleared, the ship had many instances of wear and tear (Feb. '22 and stairs on Lido broken and falling apart, rips in carpeting, the "metal" was worn away because it wasn't metal - it was painted on, palm trees on lido were falling apart), the food was not as great as anticipated.  

The reason I simply said we prefer the Panorama over the Mardi Gras is because I didn't want to sound like a complainer.  We are, after all, on the newest and "greatest" ship of the fleet sailing the Caribbean and despite having some dislikes...we're on a cruise sailing the Caribbean. 😀

Are you sure the rooms on the MG are smaller?

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Are you sure the rooms on the MG are smaller?

According to goccl they are.  Interior are 158 versus 185 on other ships.

https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5703/~/mardi-gras-(md)-stateroom-dimensions

[jamie717]

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Are you sure the rooms on the MG are smaller?

I didn't measure, if that's what you're asking! 🤣 I suppose I can't say with 100% accuracy that the rooms on the Mardi Gras are smaller but I know they sure seemed to have noticeably less room than on the Panorama.

[helene109]

We are torn between the Panorama and Celebration! Have been on Mardi Gras just worried too many people at full capacity!

[jimbo5544]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:35 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

According to goccl they are.  Interior are 158 versus 185 on other ships.

https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5703/~/mardi-gras-(md)-stateroom-dimensions

Also according to CCL the balconies are the same size or bigger…..

[jimbo5544]

On 8/4/2022 at 9:07 PM, jamie717 said:

I didn't measure, if that's what you're asking! 🤣 I suppose I can't say with 100% accuracy that the rooms on the Mardi Gras are smaller but I know they sure seemed to have noticeably less room than on the Panorama.

Balconies ARE the same size, more narrow but longer