Detailed Photo Review of Carnival Panorama 8 Night Mexican Riviera New Year’s Cruise 12/30/23

[deladane]

I’m not sure why I didn’t think to leave out jackets or extra layers of clothing, but OMG!  It was freezing outside!!  We all were just wearing a thin long sleeve t-shirt, and that was not nearly warm enough.  I considered searching for our sweatshirts, but I knew they were packed somewhere in one of the big checked bags, and I wasn’t even sure which one.  I wasn’t going to open up and dig around both bags and right here on the sidewalk, and I figured we’d be in the car soon enough, so we just made do.  Jason opened the Uber app on his phone and requested an Uber XL to take us back to his brother’s house where our car was parked.  It stayed on the screen where it said it was looking for an available driver for 10 minutes, then it bopped us out to the home screen again.  What?!  So Jason requested the ride again.  And again, after 10 minutes, it kicked us out of the request and sent us back to the home screen.  We have never had this happen before, especially not in a major city, but apparently there either weren’t any XL drivers available at 10am on a Sunday morning, or none of them were willing to pick us up at the Long Beach cruise terminal.  That was frustrating, so he tried Lyft.  Same thing!  After half an hour of trying and not getting anyone to accept our ride request, I took out my phone and tried too.  Jason used Uber and I used Lyft, hoping that one of us would get a driver and then the other could just cancel the request.  

 

Finally, after 40 minutes, an Uber XL driver accepted Jason’s request.  The problem was, he was still 20 minutes away!  We knew it would be hard to find a different driver who was closer to the port, so we just went with it.  We kept watching the car move along the map and get closer to the terminal, and watching the arrival time count down.  Then, when the clock said our driver was 5 minutes away, everything came to a halt.  Uh oh!  Remember all of that traffic we had trying to get to the port to be dropped off for our cruise last week?  Well the same thing was happening this morning!  It was all so chaotic, as more and more people got off the ship and were crowding onto the narrow sidewalk, with nowhere else to go as we all waited for our rides who were stuck outside the port gates in traffic.  At one point, Jason called our driver to ask if he wanted us to walk out to him in the line of traffic (not that I have any idea how Jason thought that was possible with all our stuff and just the two of us to manage it).  The driver said he was dropping off a family who were going on today’s cruise so he didn’t have space for us and our bags in the car quite yet.  At least we knew he wouldn’t make a U-turn and abandon us here!

 

Finally, at 11:10am, our driver called us to say he was here!  We had been standing outside on the sidewalk waiting for a ride for exactly an hour and a half.  No joke, my feet and fingers were completely numb from being so cold!  The only person who was happy was Ian, who was nice and warm, sitting in his stroller, snacking on graham crackers the entire time.  Lucky boy!  Anyway, the Uber driver said he was on the far side of the pick up area because that’s where they directed him to go when he arrived.  That must have been just as frustrating for the passengers he dropped off as it was for us!  So now, we had to figure out how to get all of our stuff across to his car, including crossing two lanes of cars.  Jason ended up going back and forth, taking as much as he could manage on his own, and I just stayed with the pile of stuff and with Ian until the last load when we all went to the Uber together.  Oye, this was definitely the worst drop off and pick up experience I have ever had for a cruise!  The good news was that our Uber XL was a nice big minivan with plenty of space for all our bags.

 

 

The driver was very patient as Jason installed Ian’s car seat, and soon enough, we were on the road to Jason’s brother’s house.  By the time we got there 30 minutes later, it was noon.  Considering we started the process to exit the ship with the elevator fiasco starting at 8:40am, it had been a looooong time since we had bathroom access!  Good thing we could fix that problem at the house prior to starting our long drive back to Phoenix.  We loaded all the luggage into Jason’s car, re-installed Ian’s car seat, and finally hit the road at 12:30pm, way later than we ever expected to start the 6-hour drive home.  

 

 

Luckily, there was no traffic and we managed to conserve gas enough to wait until the Costco in Palm Springs to stop and fill the tank and get something to eat for a late lunch.  After that, we drove straight through until we finally pulled into our garage at 8pm (thanks to the one hour time change).  

 

So that’s all, folks!  This cruise certainly had its ups and its downs, but overall it was a great first family vacation and hopefully we’ll get to cruise again one day soon.  We don’t currently have anything booked or planned, and I’m okay with that for the time being.  I’m sure a few months will pass, and I’ll start to get that itch to want to travel again.  And when we do, you know I’ll be right back here to write up another detailed review upon our return!

[vanislandcruisers]

Thanks again for a GREAT Review!!!...You have us EXCITED for April!!!

[deladane]

6 minutes ago, vanislandcruisers said:

Thanks again for a GREAT Review!!!...You have us EXCITED for April!!!

 

Thanks for following along!  I hope you have a wonderful cruise, and please come back to tell me how it went!!

[mitsugirly]

AWESOME REVIEW!!! I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to read/see your next...whenever that may be and see how much your mini has grown up. My turn to watch you. 😉 

 

👏

[dallasdan]

I have found it is faster to just take a taxi out of long beach, because the Uber and Lyft times are so long.  The price of the taxi is about the same as taking an Uber to the long beach airport.  Thanks for the great review and pictures.  

[pcvtmom]

I've followed your reviews many times, but with your "little guy" this one was special! We cruised with our teenagers years ago, and now we take our grandkids (along with their parents 😁).  As you found out, it's an entirely different ballgame with littles!! I came on here to say "well done", and I'm glad Ian has caught the cruise bug, too! I will look forward to your future adventures.

[ASR1996]

I really enjoyed your review!  Thank you so much for taking the time to write it. 

 

 

[AKR2011]

Thank you for the lovely review! I'm looking forward to watching Ian grow up as you continue your family travels ❤️⚓️

[MEUB1112]

Outstanding review!!

[LaRue1975]

I enjoyed your review so much, thank you! Especially because I was on board with you, first time to read a review for a cruise I was also on. Now there is another one as I was on the Panorama in October with Wildra too, who knew? We were a group of 10 retired friends celebrating my hubby’s 70th birthday on NYE, to say we had a completely different cruise experience would be an understatement, lol! I loved reading about Ian and how well he did and all the family fun you had together. The Panorama is my favorite ship so far, will board her again on the 18th with my best gal pal, Girls Cruise! Or more accurately Mature Ladies Cruise! 🤣🤣🤣 I look forward to your next review! 

[travelinjess85]

Thanks for a great review! We had a great time on the Panorama in August and it was fun to relive it all! Makes me need to book another one haha 

[EllieinNJ]

What a great review.  Even though I have grandchildren older than Ian I still enjoyed your blog.

 

We also are going in April and leaving from LAX and was worried that I have a 2:45pm flight that puts us in NJ at 11pm.  We could have taken an 11am flight or a 1pm flight but now I think we will stay with the original if it takes so long to get an Uber/Lyft,

[Waynehazle]

Finally got my review up at: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=711764

 

Also I have a thread & will add more pictures there

 

 

[notscb]

Thank you again for taking us along, and for the many details throughout. I plan trips a lot like you- every detail known and planned for with some flexibility built in so we have a good time.

 

I will echo that your experience with debarkation at Long Beach is the norm, not the exception, which is really a shame for such a neat port to sail out of. Uber drivers don't want to go there, traffic regularly backs up and the parking garage setup isn't really ideal for picking up and dropping off at the same time if the ship gets delayed for whatever reason. I had the same experience with Uber and Lyft and ended up jumping on a bus through Carnival to the airport.

[mrsv41605]

Thanks for the great review and congratulations on your beautiful little boy!  I've been reading your reviews for years, and you were a big help (without even knowing it! LOL) for planning our cruise out of New Orleans, your Mediterranean cruise, and your Paris and London trip.  

 

We cruised on Panorama last April, and the terminal experience was chaotic and ill-planned for embark and debark.  Same issues you had -- traffic at the port, chaos around the terminal, no where to sit, difficulty getting a ride out of there. Do better Carnival!! Ridiculous really, but the cruise itself and the ports were awesome.  

[sab666711]

On 1/20/2024 at 8:21 AM, deladane said:

As we were walking back to the tender dock, we spotted a restaurant with a good happy hour deal- $5.50 USD for Corona/Pacifico/Dos Equis and a shot of tequila.  After the day we were having, we needed a drink!  There was only one other occupied table when we arrived, but it filled in shortly after that.  We had a great view of the marina and all the people walking along the path, so it made for a fun pit stop before returning to the ship. 

 

 

 

 

I can’t remember the last time I took a shot of tequila, but when in Mexico… #YOLO  

 

 

We were enjoying ourselves and the great people-watching, so we decided to order a second round.  This was certainly better pricing than we’d get for drinks on the ship!  4 beers and 4 shots of tequila cost us $22 plus tip.  Can’t beat that!

 

When we finished our drinks, it was a quick walk back to the tender pier.  There was a big tour boat already filling up to bring passengers back to the ship.  We got on and quickly found seats for the short ride across the bay.

 

 

 

[sab666711]

Nice strike brewing shirt. I believe you guys used to live in SJ

[Kingsmom]

Thank you so much for the great review.  It got me all pumped and ready to board!

[deladane]

On 2/6/2024 at 11:10 AM, mitsugirly said:

AWESOME REVIEW!!! I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to read/see your next...whenever that may be and see how much your mini has grown up. My turn to watch you. 😉 

 

👏

 

Thank you!!  So glad you enjoyed my review as much as I always enjoy yours!  I made a mental note to check back in April to see how your cruise goes!

[deladane]

On 2/6/2024 at 11:52 AM, pcvtmom said:

I've followed your reviews many times, but with your "little guy" this one was special! We cruised with our teenagers years ago, and now we take our grandkids (along with their parents 😁).  As you found out, it's an entirely different ballgame with littles!! I came on here to say "well done", and I'm glad Ian has caught the cruise bug, too! I will look forward to your future adventures.

 

Thank you!  I'm so glad you enjoyed my review!!

[deladane]

On 2/6/2024 at 12:37 PM, ASR1996 said:

I really enjoyed your review!  Thank you so much for taking the time to write it. 

 

 

 

Thank you!

[deladane]

On 2/6/2024 at 7:18 PM, AKR2011 said:

Thank you for the lovely review! I'm looking forward to watching Ian grow up as you continue your family travels ❤️⚓️

 

Thank you!  

[deladane]

On 2/6/2024 at 8:43 PM, MEUB1112 said:

Outstanding review!!

 

Thank you!  It was great having you follow along!

[deladane]

On 2/6/2024 at 9:29 PM, LaRue1975 said:

I enjoyed your review so much, thank you! Especially because I was on board with you, first time to read a review for a cruise I was also on. Now there is another one as I was on the Panorama in October with Wildra too, who knew? We were a group of 10 retired friends celebrating my hubby’s 70th birthday on NYE, to say we had a completely different cruise experience would be an understatement, lol! I loved reading about Ian and how well he did and all the family fun you had together. The Panorama is my favorite ship so far, will board her again on the 18th with my best gal pal, Girls Cruise! Or more accurately Mature Ladies Cruise! 🤣🤣🤣 I look forward to your next review! 

 

Isn't it so funny how two people can experience the same thing in totally different ways?  Especially on a large ship with nearly 5000 passengers, and so many different things to do both on the ship and in port, everyone has a chance to enjoy what works best for them and their families.  I love that about cruising!  I hope you have a wonderful cruise next week!!  

[deladane]

On 2/6/2024 at 9:34 PM, travelinjess85 said:

Thanks for a great review! We had a great time on the Panorama in August and it was fun to relive it all! Makes me need to book another one haha 

 

Thanks for following along!  Now that I'm done with this review, I kind of want to book another cruise too, but it will have to wait for now (I think Ian would get back on a ship tomorrow if I let him, but Jason is still in recovery mode 🤣)