Panorama, Glory or Celebration?

[helene109]

Trying to decide between the 3! We have been on the Glory,Horizon.Vista,Dream and Mardi Gras. Never been to California. Know nothing about Hotels and port.

Love New Orleans have been on ship. Going to Miami for a cruise in April.

 

We really want to do a fishing excursion in Mahogany Bay and it is similar in Mazatlan.

Opinions please for our 30th next year!

[cruisinqt]

Between the Glory and the Celebration I’d choose the Celebration hands down. The itineraries are similar but the Celebration is a brand new ship and much bigger with more stuff to do on it. I personally love the Deal or No Deal and Family Feud shows on the Celebration plus it has a roller coaster and lots of extra eating places to choose from. As for the Mexican Riviera on the Panorama we are doing it this November so I’ll do a review and let you know. It will also be our first time cruising out of LA. I was impressed with the wide selection of excursions they had. One port even had riding on camels as a tour. 

[helene109]

2 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

Between the Glory and the Celebration I’d choose the Celebration hands down. The itineraries are similar but the Celebration is a brand new ship and much bigger with more stuff to do on it. I personally love the Deal or No Deal and Family Feud shows on the Celebration plus it has a roller coaster and lots of extra eating places to choose from. As for the Mexican Riviera on the Panorama we are doing it this November so I’ll do a review and let you know. It will also be our first time cruising out of LA. I was impressed with the wide selection of excursions they had. One port even had riding on camels as a tour. 

So helpful! How did you pick your pre cruise Hotel in LA?

[notplatinum]

5 hours ago, helene109 said:

Trying to decide between the 3! We have been on the Glory,Horizon.Vista,Dream and Mardi Gras. Never been to California. Know nothing about Hotels and port.

Love New Orleans have been on ship. Going to Miami for a cruise in April.

 

We really want to do a fishing excursion in Mahogany Bay and it is similar in Mazatlan.

Opinions please for our 30th next year!

It's your vacation. You choose

[LatinaInTexas]

Sailed the Panorama for the first time this Feb. and was very excited for a new itinerary, total change of scenery. It just so happened that mid cruise the mask restrictions were lifted going forward but this cruise still had to comply which made for plenty of disgruntled crew and pax so it wasn't my favorite cruise.

But I loved the ship and the itinerary and the excursions we did. Loved the size of the ship and of course loved Ji Jis.  We flew into LA and flew out of Long Beach.

I'm definately planning on sailing Panorama again in the future. You should try this itinerary at least once.

[tallnthensome]

You stay in Long Beach. I've done that one on the Panorama. Great little city to spend a couple days pre -cruise.  Hyatt Centric Long Beach. It's a nice cruise itinerary. 

[helene109]

49 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Sailed the Panorama for the first time this Feb. and was very excited for a new itinerary, total change of scenery. It just so happened that mid cruise the mask restrictions were lifted going forward but this cruise still had to comply which made for plenty of disgruntled crew and pax so it wasn't my favorite cruise.

But I loved the ship and the itinerary and the excursions we did. Loved the size of the ship and of course loved Ji Jis.  We flew into LA and flew out of Long Beach.

I'm definately planning on sailing Panorama again in the future. You should try this itinerary at least once.

Glad you liked it! Where did you stay the night before? Thanks again 

[helene109]

26 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

You stay in Long Beach. I've done that one on the Panorama. Great little city to spend a couple days pre -cruise.  Hyatt Centric Long Beach. It's a nice cruise itinerary. 

Thanks going to check out the Hotel and reviews!

[LatinaInTexas]

12 minutes ago, helene109 said:

Glad you liked it! Where did you stay the night before? Thanks again 

We were arriving early evening just needed a place to sleep so we were somewhat budget minded. Stayed at La Quinta Inn and suites by Wyndham LAX. It had a free airport shuttle, and a breakfast buffet that was good. It wasn't in an area where you could walk for dinner choices but there was a small restaurant on site.

All in all it was a great stay.

[Joebucks]

Did the Panorama cruise in January. It was great! Our first time going to any of those ports. Definitely considering a future trip to Puerta and maybe even Cabo. 

 

Our next trip will be on the Celebration. The prices are too good for a brand new ship and experience (for us). 

[rjcortinas]

I have done this itinerary several times and love it! This will be my first time on the Panorama. My sail date is in January 2023. This time we are staying at the Pacific Inn in Seal Beach. We wanted to stay somewhere with lots of restaurants and walking distance to the beach. The Pacific Inn got great reviews. 

[HB.Blake]

Have done the Panorama in Feb 2020.  Doing another 7 day on the Panorama 7 day mexican riviera April 2023 and looking forward to it.  It is a beautiful ship.  We really liked the Thermal Spa onboard and the Serenity deck even has a salad bar for lunch.

[helene109]

19 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Did the Panorama cruise in January. It was great! Our first time going to any of those ports. Definitely considering a future trip to Puerta and maybe even Cabo. 

 

Our next trip will be on the Celebration. The prices are too good for a brand new ship and experience (for us). 

Torn between them! Your right new ship too! Ugh

[helene109]

8 minutes ago, rjcortinas said:

I have done this itinerary several times and love it! This will be my first time on the Panorama. My sail date is in January 2023. This time we are staying at the Pacific Inn in Seal Beach. We wanted to stay somewhere with lots of restaurants and walking distance to the beach. The Pacific Inn got great reviews. 

So helpful thanks!

[helene109]

21 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

Between the Glory and the Celebration I’d choose the Celebration hands down. The itineraries are similar but the Celebration is a brand new ship and much bigger with more stuff to do on it. I personally love the Deal or No Deal and Family Feud shows on the Celebration plus it has a roller coaster and lots of extra eating places to choose from. As for the Mexican Riviera on the Panorama we are doing it this November so I’ll do a review and let you know. It will also be our first time cruising out of LA. I was impressed with the wide selection of excursions they had. One port even had riding on camels as a tour. 

So helpful! How did you pick your pre cruise Hotel in LA?

[helene109]

Any other opinions? Thanks!

[jsglow]

Okay, I've been to all the ports and both a 'Glory' class as well as a 'Panorama' class ship. (I know, I know... just making it easy.)  I've not been on the new Mardi Gras.

 

Let me preface what I am about to say that I am absolutely NOT a 'ship guy', but rather a 'destination guy'.  That means I never run out to get on the newest builds, much less pay a premium for them.  Others are different.  You have to decide for you.

 

Personally I would choose the Panorama cruise.  It provides you with a completely new itinerary not available on any of scores of Atlantic departures that get you to the western Caribbean.  It'll be easy to back-fill that some other time out of any of at least 4 Carnival departure ports.

 

My last choice would be Celebration.  As I said, paying a premium for a new ship and getting one less day, and going to some of Carnival's most frequented ports is not the way I approach it.  Again, YMMV.   

Edited September 6, 2022 by jsglow

[helene109]

39 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Okay, I've been to all the ports and both a 'Glory' class as well as a 'Panorama' class ship. (I know, I know... just making it easy.)  I've not been on the new Mardi Gras.

 

Let me preface what I am about to say that I am absolutely NOT a 'ship guy', but rather a 'destination guy'.  That means I never run out to get on the newest builds, much less pay a premium for them.  Others are different.  You have to decide for you.

 

Personally I would choose the Panorama cruise.  It provides you with a completely new itinerary not available on any of scores of Atlantic departures that get you to the western Caribbean.  It'll be easy to back-fill that some other time out of any of at least 4 Carnival departure ports.

 

My last choice would be Celebration.  As I said, paying a premium for a new ship and getting one less day, and going to some of Carnival's most frequented ports is not the way I approach it.  Again, YMMV.   

That helps a lot! Having a hard time with finding ports we haven’t been too! Thanks again! It seems high but Panorama is much higher the week before. Have you done the Radiance? 

[jsglow]

22 hours ago, helene109 said:

That helps a lot! Having a hard time with finding ports we haven’t been too! Thanks again! It seems high but Panorama is much higher the week before. Have you done the Radiance? 

No, but I've done here sister ship Sunrise several times and like her a lot.  She's perhaps my favorite 4/5 night boat.  So I'm sure I'd like Radiance. 

[helene109]

7 minutes ago, jsglow said:

No, but I've done here sister ship Sunrise several times and like her a lot.  She's perhaps my favorite 4/5 night boat.  So I'm sure I'd like Radiance. 

Thanks we did a 8 day Horizon in May and my Husband thought it was too long!

[jsglow]

1 minute ago, helene109 said:

Thanks we did a 8 day Horizon in May and my Husband thought it was too long!

Ha!  In retirement we've become fans of cruises up to 14 nights. Cuts down on the travel/embarkation/disembarkation.  We've even started to build our own via B2Bs. Those can be done quite inexpensively. 2022 was epic for that but with Covid restrictions now lifted those days are over.

 

Let your hubby know that to get anywhere truly 'exotic' one needs to go at least 8. (St. Maarten/Aruba, for example)

[helene109]

8 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Ha!  In retirement we've become fans of cruises up to 14 nights. Cuts down on the travel/embarkation/disembarkation.  We've even started to build our own via B2Bs. Those can be done quite inexpensively. 2022 was epic for that but with Covid restrictions now lifted those days are over.

 

Let your hubby know that to get anywhere truly 'exotic' one needs to go at least 8. (St. Maarten/Aruba, for example)

Good points! Trying to make the next one different! He has a few more years to go for retirement. He won’t do an all inclusive. I wish the Radiance was longer than 4 days. Back to research. I have until 10-31 to book something to get our $500 obc

[cruisinqt]

On 8/30/2022 at 10:51 AM, helene109 said:

So helpful! How did you pick your pre cruise Hotel in LA?

Sorry it took so long to respond. I’m a freelance muralist and had a big job to do with a tight deadline. 
I picked my hotel based on location and price. It’s super expensive in the LA area. I ended up booking the Hotel MDR (a Hilton Doubletree hotel) because it’s located between LAX and Venice beach with a mall next door and restaurants nearby. We ended up paying $180 a night which isn’t bad for an upscale hotel. Even the really cheap rundown places wanted over $100 a night. 

[helene109]

33 minutes ago, cruisinqt said:

Sorry it took so long to respond. I’m a freelance muralist and had a big job to do with a tight deadline. 
I picked my hotel based on location and price. It’s super expensive in the LA area. I ended up booking the Hotel MDR (a Hilton Doubletree hotel) because it’s located between LAX and Venice beach with a mall next door and restaurants nearby. We ended up paying $180 a night which isn’t bad for an upscale hotel. Even the really cheap rundown places wanted over $100 a night. 

Thanks for responding! I would fly into Long Beach. So need a Hotel and then transfer to pier. Was your Hotel close to Long Beach airport or LA? Thanks again!

[cruisinqt]

6 hours ago, helene109 said:

Thanks for responding! I would fly into Long Beach. So need a Hotel and then transfer to pier. Was your Hotel close to Long Beach airport or LA? Thanks again!

It’s 27 miles from Long Beach airport and the cruise pier and 5 miles from LAX. We chose it because we are flying in from LAX and wanted something near the airport.