mitsugirly

Well you did a great job and I really enjoyed it! Thanks for the visual of the port. We always find something different to do there as well...just not one of my favorite ports.

I've seen several reviews with them writing on the mirror. They've never done that on mine before. Do they only do it for milestones? It's weird people put names of crew members on their reviews but the minute I do it, I get dinged for it and the post taken down in my review saying we are not allowed to post crew members names. 🤷‍♀️ So wait, if you are VIP you get a ship ornament? I haven't even been able to find them on the ships in the shops on my last 3 cruises on Carnival or NCL. (I collect these). It looks like I'm going to have to find a new collection hobby soon since I can't find them. 😞 Our Panorama cruise didn't need the cards either. I remember the first night I took the card out and everything stayed on and I went around turning all the lights off. lol LOL, I seriously laughed at this. (Shamelessly admitting I've done this before). I really love that room! So much space! Loving the review but so much more to catch up on! I can't wait to see the ABC's part!

Are those lights on the top of the porthole? I've never seen anything like it before. Love the shelf! Yes, this is a Bermuda Chub. 🙂 Wow it's really beautiful there! I hope to make it there some day. On another note, I loved your review. Nassau looks like it has really changed a lot. I'm having a hard time picturing this area. I just remember getting off the ship and walking down the long pier and then you go out onto the road area. Where are all these vendor shops located? I just can't picture this area now. (We've been here multiple times and I try to book a cruise to avoid this stop so haven't been in awhile).

SPEEDY RECOVERY AND HEALING VIBES PATTI!!

Now that is really cool!!!! The neatest thing we had on our Panorama was the marbles that kept flowing into it and swirling around (which I loved) but this is on a whole other level. (And the "halloween" ones too. So cool. Oh my gosh I LOVE this picture. So pretty with the sky all pink like that. I always wondered how this happens. So you have to get all the way off the ship and start the process again by getting back on. Good to know in case we ever do this (have done back to back but changed ships in the past). So you just managed to book the same room on both trips and just left your stuff in the room right? That's awesome!

It seems like they have a lot of new things since we were there. This is definitely new since we were there last. I like it! I don't remember them having a water slide either. $5.00 unlimited sounds like a decent deal. I'm going to have to walk a little more next time we come here. So many new things and places I didn't go before. I also didn't realize they would let you walk up to the top of the zipline for pictures. (I was secretly hoping she was zipping lol)

People have suggested these to me as well and I don't think I'd like people looking down into "my area". Now, after seeing the pictures, I know I wouldn't. I feel Patti's pain with my injuries. I know exactly how she feels...we must go on. I made sure that I didn't stop cruising or taking all the pictures for reviews...even when I was in a wheelchair. Taking the pictures and having the experience makes our pain a little less of a burden but oh at the end of the day... I hope she's able to get relief. I'm thinking of her. ❤️ It is so pretty there! The color of the water is amazing! I miss it. We've only been once and would love to go back again some day. These must be new since we were there last. I have never seen them before. I have to laugh at that. 😄

Thank you so much! Glad you liked it. I'm gonna head over to read yours now. 🙂 Yea, I can believe that. It's definitely a place I would want to try for a land vacation (and maybe even Cabo). Thanks for the info. I will definitely check into it the next time we do this route. That would give me the option to do the other things I want to do in PV then. Appreciate it.

Thanks so much! I hope so too. He was just talking about it again yesterday. The marine life in PV was simply amazing! Thanks and I hope you found something useful. Thanks and I hope you found something you'd like to do in it. Yes, that weather was not at all what I was expecting. I'm not taking any more chances. 😄 Really? Is it clear enough to really see? I hadn't read anything about diving there when I was researching. Some people mentioned Mazatlan, over by Deer Island, but it seemed to be a hit or miss on whether you'd get clear water or not. If I would have known La Paz was good diving I would have probably found a place there so that we would have been able to do one of the other places I had on my list to do in PV. Aww thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I will definitely get to ROTN one day. As far as booking on a land trip. I found that the only place that takes you there was Vallarta Adventures and I had emailed them about something else (asking if they did a discover scuba because they had it listed on their website). They responded those on cruise ships needed to book with the cruise line to assure getting back in time and blah blah blah with a bunch of other information that had nothing to do with what I had asked them. Then said "I hope this answers your questions". I responded back that it answered none of my questions and also about the ROTN with no response. 😕 So I gave up on doing anything with them. Several dive shops, while on vacation, have told us if we didn't want to get certified there's another level to it that we can obtain that would let us dive without having to do the class each time but yet not be completely open water certified (I can't remember the name, others on here have mentioned it too). I've checked into it once before with our local shops and they all said it's about the same price as getting certified and you still do all the classes/modules that becoming certified does except maybe one of two of them. So they always act like they don't want to do the class and try to convince you to just "go all the way". So, I always just drop it. Although we've been down to 70' before, I still have no desire to go any deeper than 40', do any night dives, go without an instructor/guide or anything else. I'm perfectly happy with what I'm doing now. So the class they are talking about would be perfect for us...if only we could just do that.

Love that airport! Yea, I've heard they come back late. It sounds like a neat thing to do. I'll get there one day. So many options, so little time to plan. 😄 He's very sweet and caring, just like Sakari. They make a great pair. See you over on my blog. 🙂

FINAL THOUGHTS: Whew what a trip. I love "firsts"! I have been saying I'm expanding my travel horizon...except not on the Horizon but on the Panorama this time. I have to say this was definitely different than what I had expected. I expected to have some chilly weather here and there. I expected to have cooler water temps. I expected to not have blue water. But I don't think I really expected it to be THAT cold for THAT many days during the trip. I definitely didn't think the sea water would as cold as it was either. For a family that lives in the water...I'm pretty sure it threw me into depression. The color of the water...I was actually pleasantly surprised for the most part. It was definitely pretty (except for the green cloudy water during scuba). With it being so cold outside, it made it impossible to use the pools or the water slides, which we really wanted to do but wasn't willing to take on all the shivering afterwards. So my conclusions on cruising the Mexican Riviera...I will NEVER go again for Spring Break. It's just too cold for my liking. I WILL go back however, maybe during the summer, warmer months. The PORTS: CABO: I really had the most amazing time here. Seeing the show the whales put on is at the top of my list (and yes I have a very long list) of one of the most exciting things we've done. Never in my life have I experienced this and I highly recommend going during whale season. You won't be disappointed. If it's not whale season, taking a boat ride over to the arch, past the sea lion colony and pelican rock is still a great thing to experience. I really hope some day to go back and make it to Lovers/Divorce Beach. It looked a lot more beautiful than Pelican Beach. LA PAZ: I guess there's not a lot of beach choices for beach-y people like us but the one that we went to was definitely beautiful along with everything around it. Had the water been warmer, we would have definitely stayed longer and enjoyed our time there. Walking around the Malecon was beautiful and all of the statues they have there makes for a good day of exploring the area. Had the statues not been there, well I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. The free bus service is an added plus and super simple to use...even with a long line, it moved rather quickly I thought. Hopefully they will continue this service. MAZATLAN: Going to the aquarium was a good day/choice of things to do. It might seem a little on the expensive side to visit such a place, but we enjoyed ourselves and it gave us something interesting to do. I'm still amazed at the parrots that flew so far and managed to come back. The sea lion show was good, despite not being able to understand what they were saying. The aquarium itself, which is the highlight of the place, had so many aquatic animals to see and it was definitely worth it. Walking along the Malecon afterwards was pretty as well with the waves crashing against the rocks, various statues, and visiting the "Beatles" area was unique and great opportunities for pictures. I'm sad that we missed the cliff diving so we may have to give that another shot on a different trip. PUERTO VALLARTA: If you have a chance to either snorkel or scuba at Los Arcos...you MUST go. Simply amazing. I've never witnessed anything like that before...even in Roatan. You won't see the beautiful coral as you would in the Caribbean but the traffic jam of fish definitely makes up for that! All the unique fish we've never seen in the past...so many firsts for us! If you ever want to see a puffer fish...THIS IS YOUR PLACE!! I have to make note of that unclear green water on the swim there though is less than desirable. Just saying... Of course all the things I said I had on my list do to...I'm definitely going to have to return here one way or another (either by ship or land vacation). I will one day make it to Bandaras Bay/Marietta Islands some day and I will make it to Las Caletas Beach (during the day) to experience what a beautiful place it seems to be and also going back at night for Rhythms of the Night. On my bucket list of things to do for sure!!! EMBARKATION: It was super simple and super fast, other than our blooper of not printing off our boarding passes on separate pieces of paper. Oops. I'll know next time to change my printer settings. I know people have said it was a cluster...but our experience was totally opposite. Maybe it was because we were a little late to arrive at our scheduled time and we were catching the tail end of our group going in? The traffic...well, that's another story. People are not lying when they say they waited in traffic to get there...forever! DEBARKATION: It was a lot slower than getting on for sure. But, we were constantly moving for the most part and it was super easy to walk up to security, scan your beautiful face, then walk on out. THE SHIP: Oh the ship. What a beautiful and clean ship she was. With over 4000 people on it, and during Spring Break, I have to say I was a little skeptical about how crowded it would be. I had read that the flow of the ship makes it feel like there are not as many people on there with you...and people were right. We never really felt overly crowded and needless to say, I was shocked. It was pretty comfortable. The elevators, I think during the muster drill, there needs to be a short presentation on how to use them so that everyone knows...push the button for as many people as you have in your party and life will go so much better. The non-existent bar in the casino was definitely an issue and if this is going to be what they do, they need more bartenders running around. The service was terrible and those people were running around trying to please everyone. I definitely didn't get my "free drinks on us" from the casino as much as I had planned. OUR ROOM: Our room steward was great. Always cleaned everything nicely and even left clean towels...even when we would hang them back up saying we'd use them again. He always spoke to us in the hallway and was always pleasant. He brought me ice daily and even gifts we had no idea where they came from...too bad it wasn't something we could use. LOL We were excited to see a new towel animal each day. We definitely picked the right side of the ship to be on while cruising and I was happy about that. The shows: Ehh, they were ok but not as good as other ships we have been on. I felt like only a few of the singers could really sing. They were all very energetic though and put on quite the show so props for that. My favorite was the show with the drones. The comedian was good and we enjoyed him. Jonathon Timpanelli has an AMAZING voice and we liked his show. Tenna Torres had an amazing voice as well...just it wasn't an interesting show. THE FOOD: To us, it was a hit or miss. Some days were good and others not as good. This is in the buffet. I mean it kept us alive, but.... Now the MDR the food was always good but the service was a hit or miss. You win some then you don't. The Dr Suess Breakfast just wasn't the same and I will not do that again...especially for the price. We all know the JiJi story so I'll let that be. THE PARTIES: They were all fantastic and Dion knows how to get the party going. He is entertaining, can really sing and dance and we had a blast. Just the repeated singing at the end after the music stopped and him getting carried away was only funny the first few times. Just saying... His announcements that always started out with "Heyyyy yaaaaaaa'lllll. I sAid Hey" got to be a little annoying...especially when my kids would non-stop say it after the first few days. I've heard enough Hey ya'll's to last a lifetime by now. Of course our absolute favorite party was the Silent Party. We will always seek this out now for sure. THE PHOTOGRAPHERS: I normally don't mention them too often but they were amazing and took so many pictures that you are sure to get a good one that you liked. Bravo! It wasn't a click one and done type of deal. FLYING INTO/OUT OF LONG BEACH: We absolutely loved it. I love small airports. It seemed to run efficiently and didn't seem too crowded. I will probably always do this when I take a cruise out of here. HOTEL: We really enjoyed our stay at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. It was a beautiful hotel. We loved the location and being within walking distance to almost anything we needed. It was an added plus that they had the swan boats there as well. Even though it was colder than all get out, it was fun. The staff there was so amazing and friendly and the room was clean. There was only the one blooper with no electric during the middle of the night (although I should have been in bed sleeping) but management did reach out to me via email after our trip apologizing and told me there was some type of outage in the area and it had never happened before. Of course I did get a discount during check out so I was happy about that. I would 100% stay here again in the future. That's all I can think of right now. It's been a busy day at work and my brain is spent for the day. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll try to answer them the best I can. Yes, I will be back to the Mexican Riviera. Yes, I will repeat this cruise some day in warmer weather. Until then...it had me wanting to head back to the Caribbean. 😄 I'm looking into doing a land vacation next. Probably some time in August. So many things swirling around in my head for options: Curacao Bonaire Anguilla Dominican Republic Turks & Caicos Costa Rico Some of these Southwest fly to and others do not. Sometimes that's a factor on what we decide...sometimes not depending on the price. We were looking at a few older vacation photo's with Karl and he loved the idea of trying out a SeaTrek walk too. They do have them in Curacao, Anguilla, DR. But he's just excited to go anywhere again at this point. All he has talked about it trying scuba again. I told him I think I'm going to take him to the local dive place here (where Sakari first took her PADI seal diving classes when she was 8 years old) and have him to a few Discover Scuba Dives there in the pool to get used to it and actually SEE what he's supposed to be doing. I think that will help him a lot. Until our next adventure...HAPPY CRUISING!!

I see a lot of people doing that as well. The funny thing is, I didn't get one this time. 😶 It's like they new I had something to say. Aww, I hope he finds a good one. Some of them can be absolutely wonderful. Others...well... We anticipate some time in August we will go somewhere. I'm thinking we might do a land vacation to acquaint Karl with a better experience. Thank you so much. We absolutely loved coming in and flying out of there. I like the small airports. Things seem to go so smoothly there and not overly crowded. Ok, I'm going to look at my time stamps. Walking off the ship at 9:49. Picking up luggage at jumping in line for security at 10:01am. Not exactly sure what time we made it out but it was fairly quick. We were in our Uber at 10:17am and pulling up to the airport at 10:37am. I hope that helps. Thanks so much Maryann Thank you. I had a great mothers day and the hubby and Sakari took me out for dinner to celebrate both occasions. 🙂

I will be back after work to give my final thoughts on everything....stay tuned. I hope everyone enjoyed the review and maybe found some of the things we did interesting and it possibly helped you in deciding if it is something you might (or might not) want to do when in some of these ports. As always...happy cruising and enjoy the memories!

We arrived in Columbus safe and sound but man was we tired! It was such a long day. The time change difference really throws you off for sure. At least we had grown accustomed to the California time zone and it felt as if it was only around 11pm, that's still past our bedtime. Even though Columbus is a major city, our airport is pretty small compared to others. I honestly don't think a lot of people fly into it during the very late night hours. It always seems so abandoned after getting off the plane. We always try to have a "different" colored luggage than most so that we can easily spot them. I would notice that people are starting to catch on to this and there was a lot of color on that baggage carousel. Sometimes it's hard to spot your luggage now. We were in Karl's suv and our normal food stop on the way to our city was closed. It was later than we've ever arrived at home. We went ahead and headed home, greeted our eager dogs at the door...then back out to find SOMETHING to eat because we were all starving at this point. We ended up at Waffle House and I believe the kids darn near fell asleep at the table. Poor babies. They were so tired. We eventually made it home and in bed by around 3:30am....and life is back to normal.

I believe we had something like a little over 5 hours to wait for our next plane to home. We explored the airport, got something to eat (of course and Karl ate twice I believe), charged our phones and.... ....actually made some money while we waited. We went to play the slots several times during our layover and walked out with more than we walked in with so that was a plus. There was a little "store" that was a self serve check out. I've never seen anything like this before. You put your items in this area and it scans everything there and somehow knows what you have and then gives you the total price and you pay using your card. As we continued to wait for our plane, we made new friends and talked cruise and Caribbean talk. She and her friend were such lovely people. I told her about our adventures and my website and cruise critic and she told me of all the places they've been. Hi Debbie if you managed to find me on here. 👋 Then we got a notice on our phones...our flight was delayed. We were supposed to leave at 6:25pm, but now...it would be 6:47pm. Well, it wasn't much longer and we had yet another delay... Our time was getting later and later to arrive back home. It was definitely going to be a longer day than expected. We were now going to arrive back to our home airport of Columbus at almost 2am!! Yikes!! We were boarding the plane by 6:33pm and time to give us a little bit of luck and safety. The sunset approaching was giving off a pretty pinkish color to the mountains in the distance. We took our spot in the Southwest line of planes and awaited our turn for take off. We were airborne at 7:10 and FOUND THE SPHERE all lit up. Look how big it looks from above: