mcduffy1

WOW that's scary & then I just saw about the whale YIKES- we get on board on Sunday- sure hope nothing else happens 

Hello fellow cruisers

Just looking for some info for an upcoming cruise- I saw that there are light bites available from La Cucina  in The Cellar Wine Bar- does anyone remember if they are complimentary or would I have to use my Specialty Dining credit ?

Thanks 😀

Here’s hoping 🤞 

I’ll be sure to post pics if we get lucky -on another cruise the other passengers were calling me the dolphin whisperer because it seemed every time I went up to the sun deck we would see a pod nearby 🤣🤣🤣🤣

thank you again 🙏🏻

Thanks to you both- I am hoping that the Feb 25 sailing won't have many kids on board since it doesn't seem to be a school break time- we'll see, hopefully the "free" side will be empty 🙃 Really hoping to see some whales- we did this same itinerary (with Ensenada) on HAL and were lucky to see a few.

This has been such a wonderful read- your suggestions and experiences some great some well let's just leave the mishap to a not so good experience, ...are so helpful- we are doing this trip on Feb 25, 2024- have cruised on NCL quite a few times before, (on the Joy but first time on the Bliss) but you always learn something and the tip about Deck 19 is great instead of buying Vibe admission-maybe I will save my pennies to put toward the Thermal Spa if I can convince DH 🤣

Thanks for all the great advice & hope you don't have any lingering effects from your slip

Denise

Yeah !!!! Leaving on Saturday on the NCL Jewel 😁

Thank you all so much- I will be checking things out today & hopefully packing tomorrow 😉😉😉

Yes I know- thanks for the reminder

Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can get the best price for a last minute deal- I am in AZ so would be able to drive to either San Diego or LA- can leave in the next day or two- Thanks in advance 😊

Thanks to all on this thread - we sail out in 2 weeks from today & although we have been to PV, Mazatlan & Cabo in the past we were mostly on tours through cruise lines - we’re going to brave it on our own thanks to all the great advice 😁

4 hours ago, JillK said:

 

 

Depends how forward you are. If I had done what I usually do and meticulously studied the deck plans, it is apparent that our inside cabin (#9341) is directly in the middle of the action. I would recommend that you not worry about it and bring ear plugs just in case. It was annoying but certainly didn't impact the enjoyment of the cruise.

 

Our balcony cabin was a bit further forward (#9303) and they had no issues with noise from the deck above as they are all cabins on Deck 10 forward. That being said they were victim to the thoughtless loudmouths in the hall and my husband and two young sons were treated to multiple occasions of the couple in the cabin next to them having romantic time. Hubby told me it was happening two to three times a day and was rather lengthy. The person on the opposite side of this particular cabin had apparently had enough and one day my husband heard them yell "Just finish already!" when they were in the throws of it. Interestingly they didn't hear another peep for the rest of the cruise. Hubby found it awkward to try to explain to my 10 and 12 year olds what was happening the times they picked up on it (I think movies got blamed for a lot of it). Forgot to mention this in my first post as I didn't experience it myself. Moral of the story - the soundproofing will only stop so much! 

Oh boy that is so awkward - we are in 9229- first time in an inside cabin & hoping the location is forward enough...for the price I guess we can just bring earplugs like you suggested 🤣 Thanks for your suggestions and such a great review !

On 6/23/2022 at 8:53 AM, TxTeach79 said:

I’m terrible at math, except when it comes to computing value on a bar tab. We quickly determined that the pitchers of Caribbean Iced Tea were the solid (and potent) deal, and they got the job DONE… (and also put us in bed remarkably early) 

 

 

 

Looks great- this will be our first time going cruising without a beverage package....have to see if DH ends up overboard cause he wanted to save a buck 🤣

On 7/22/2022 at 11:35 AM, JillK said:

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a review but I thought I’d share some thoughts on our recent Panomara cruise (July 9th sailing).

 

This was our fourth Carnival cruise and second this year. We had been cruising primarily with NCL prior to the shut down so this was going to be our kids’ first Carnival cruise. We were curious to try the brand again as our last cruise on Carnival was on the Glory in 2013.

 

Embarkation

This was a seamless experience for us. We showed up at our appointed window and only had a 10 minute wait in the first line where you clear the verifly/documentation stage. We walked through security and had another 10 minute wait to check in. We were travelling five of us in two cabins so were told to separate but because our accounts were linked for payment, hubby had to come find me to finish the second cabin check in. Our boarding group was called just as we finished checking in so we immediately proceeded to line up to get on the ship. This was a good sized line but moved smoothly. This process took about 25 minutes and voila we were on board.

 

The Ship

Panorama is a gorgeous ship filled with fantastic activities and amenities. This was my 18th cruise and we felt that this was among the top 5 cruises we have done. There are areas of the ship that we didn’t get to experience (Havana area, Family Harbor area, Serenity) but we tried our best to do everything else. The ropes course is small enough that it’s fun for those of us who aren’t daredevils and SkyRide is so much fun that everyone should try it. The decor is pleasing and the flow of the ship makes sense so I didn’t spend all week getting confused and turned around as I have on some other ships.

 

The Cabin(s)

We split our group into two cabins on Deck 9, the three boys in a balcony cabin mid-fwd and the girls in an inside mid. Hubby had a much better promo than I did in his VIFP profile so scored a better cabin at a similar price to what I paid for the inside (still not happy about that one Carnival - you clearly don’t know that *I* make the travel decisions in my family).

 

The balcony cabin was spacious for our crew where the biggest negative is that the cabin is left with the bed deployed for the duration of the cruise so during the day, the guys would have to sit on their own beds rather than having a couch to use. That sucked for our family dynamic where on a few evenings the three kids would hang out in the cabin and watch TV/play video games and hubby and I would go to a show on our own.

 

The inside cabin was cozy and met our needs. The biggest issue was that in the month’s delay between booking hubby’s cabin and ours, the cabin I had wanted to book got scooped up so that when finally booked, I just picked the next one down the hall that was the closest. This means that I didn’t look at the deck plans - big mistake. We ended up being underneath or very close to the pool. This led to a significant amount of noise bleeding into our cabin, ranging from what I would describe as water trickling all night at least two nights, to the bass from anything happening on deck (movies, music) or stomping from dancing. Often we were at those parties so it wasn’t an issue but a few nights we retired early only to be kept awake by the late night movie or a party that was still going (one night until 12:30 am even though it was scheduled to end at 11:30 for example). I didn’t realize that I would have to re-learn a lesson I thought I learnt 15 cruises ago…. Always check your cabin location on a deck map!

 

I would also say that there was a large amount of fellow passenger inconsideration that would wake us up most nights. Why people insist on speaking at above normal volume when going down the hallways at all hours of the night was surprising. There was only one night when I was able to sleep through the night without some inconsiderate jerk practically yelling as they walked down the hall in the wee hours of the morning. I’m glad you had a fun night but I’m sure you could have managed to find your way back to your cabin without waking everyone as you found your way home. Maybe try a normal speaking volume or here’s a thought… whisper when it’s 4:00 am?

 

The Food

We did a miss mash of things for our meals on this cruise. There were a lot of burgers eaten and I feel that Guy’s burgers remain the best at sea. The breakfast burritos were a huge hit as were the tacos. We did two specialties this week - first night at the steakhouse (which has become a cruise tradition - go big while we still have an appetite) and another night at the Pig & Anchor. I would highly recommend the steakhouse though we all agreed the filet minion served in the MDR on the second formal night was every bit as good as the steakhouse (shocking as I will not even touch the steak in the MDR on NCL but the kids don’t discriminate). We would not return for pay at the Pig & Anchor - the servings, while plentiful and reasonably priced were super awkward to eat (I still haven’t figured out how they expected us to eat a full rack of ribs which was tough to separate with a regular knife) and while tasty, not worth the premium. Our server also completely ghosted us after clearing our dishes so we never received a bill after waiting for half an hour for someone to come back to our table. Stick with the freebies at lunch on sea days, it’s more than enough to get the experience all without the bill.

 

Our experiences in the MDR were really good - service was the fastest we can ever remember receiving and one server in particular (whose name we didn’t catch unfortunately) was exceptional by greeting us each by name and anticipating our needs (which reminded me of the old days when you had traditional seating and the same wait staff every night.) We liked everything we ordered so we were very impressed. The Sea Day brunch is really quite excellent though we found the service in our case lacking. Definitely a must-do one day so plan for it. The buffet was good - nothing spectacular came out of this area that I tried. Good salad bar and fair breakfast offerings but nothing on par with what you get on NCL at the Garden Cafe.

 

The biggest failure that we could see was the severe limitation of food options after 10:00. This did not affect us very much as we usually weren’t looking to eat that late, but on a ship the size of the Panorama, it’s shocking that they only have the pizza place (staffed by two crew members) and the deli (staffed by three crew members) open to serve food. Those five crew members deserve a raise and a medal for putting up with the onslaught of hungry people after 10:00. They could at minimum have a portion of the buffet open with a selection of cold things that are pre-made - sandwiches, cold cuts, cheeses, chips and salsa, etc. to ease the burden. This was the one thing that made no sense to us at all.

 

The Entertainment

The Sports court was incredible. We spent lots of time here playing chess, foosball, pingpong, mini golf, billiards (had to pay for that on NCL). Such a fantastic use of space with something for everyone and it’s very clever that a portion of it is indoors for when the heat is unbearable.

 

There was a lot of comedy and we did get out to a number of shows. We didn’t go to the broadway style shows… we had our fill in March but did enjoy the game shows in the Liquid Lounge and also Ocean Plaza and really had a lot of fun at most of the deck parties. The silent disco was a big hit with our family in particular. We did the dive-in movie one night and really enjoyed it - the movies repeat during the week so it’s a matter of finding an evening that works best.

 

We were surprised by the size of the two main pools given the size of the ship. They felt undersized and at times were very crowded (body to body). We used them only on port days when we elected to stay on board. The waterworks area was an awesome place for the kids to play and for adults to cool off. I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids did. The two slides are also a lot of fun and easily accessible on port days. Line ups are significant on sea days as expected.

 

The kids were signed up for the kids clubs but the teen wasn’t interested. The boys only went twice to their respective clubs but left quickly out of “boredom.” It was the first time the boys were separated (one is 10, the other 12) so I suspect this had something to do with it. I also think they should have gone when there was an activity happening but in any case, we were just as happy to hang out with them so it wasn’t a big deal. During the welcome aboard show they said there was over 1,000 kids on our sailing and it showed in the many families aboard and especially around the pre-teen/teen club area in the evenings where it looked like there were a billion teens.

 

The Spa

After so many cruises, I finally decided to treat myself to a thermal suite pass for the week. I managed to make it there five days and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was still getting up well before my family so I was often done at the spa when the rest of my family was getting up or had been up only a short while. I was surprised that the thermal suite only had 9 heated loungers and the whirlpool is quite small but they must dole the passes out accordingly as it was never so crowded I couldn’t get a lounger. The morning we had an early debark in Cabo I had the place to myself for over an hour. I found the experience very relaxing and may have found my new favourite routine when at sea. Well worth it for $149.

 

Disembarkation

A very easy process. We had a flight before 1:30 so Carnival gave us the option of 8:30 self-walk off or luggage delivery in terminal at 9:30. When it’s just hubby and I we do self but with three sizeable bags and the kids in tow, we felt delivery in terminal would be best. Once called, the line to disembark moved very smoothly and in no time we were off the ship. The line moved well to get down to the luggage concourse where we quickly found our bags and then we zoomed through a the line for non-US citizens with no wait to clear customs (the line for US citizens was significant at this point). We had a very friendly customs agent who especially kind to our 10 year old (made him show his build a bear’s birth certificate which made him beam with pride). After that it was a quick exit to find our transportation to the airport. Overall it was about 30 minutes from getting called to leave the ship to curbside.

 

Overall

This was a fantastic cruise and a great way to introduce our kids to Carnival who are accustomed to NCL. We wouldn’t hesitate to book with Carnival again, particularly on their newer ships due to the innovations they have (Mardi Gras, I’m looking at you). The only drawback vs. NCL as their offerings are so similar is that Carnival’s loyalty program (onboard rewards) cannot compare to NCL. We are four cruise days away from Platinum with NCL where the perks really start to add up but even at the gold level the perks include discounts on shore excursions, photos, laundry and spa services whereas with Carnival we get one free bottle of water. That's it. This may push us to stick with NCL more often assuming itinerary/ship/price are comparable. That being said, Carnival did a lot of things better than NCL… embarkation/debarkation were significantly faster and easier with Carnival and Carnival was able to give me a way to limit my kids’ spending while still allowing them to be independent (it’s full spending or none with NCL which is really dumb). Overall a fantastic week at sea and one that ranks up there among the best I’ve done.

Thanks for the great review 👌- we are sailing on Aug 13 & also are booked on deck 9 in a forward cabin- had been trying for one on Deck 8 but nothing was available yesterday- hoping the noise won't ruin our time...haven't been on Carnival in over 10 years- usually o NCL, HAL or Celebrity...saying prayers for a great time

Hi- DH & I have been on a few cruises & looking to go again...we have been to Dublin & Cork/Cobh but would like to do something that excludes those two stop but goes north to Belfast, Scotland and perhaps to Iceland- then would want to catch a ship heading to the Baltic area- anyone done this on back to back journeys ? We tend to stay with the usual lines- Celebrity, Royal Caribbean , Norwegian , Princess & Holland. I know this may not happen for  a bit- we were supposed to have done this in May 2020 but we all know how that went.....

Appreciate any suggestions

Good Morning

I have a good friend just off the Joy recently who suggested to meet in the Spice H2O bar are3a- said it won't be too crowed & also has great views from aft - thoughts ?

Thanks

Denise

We just got back from a 12 night Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity out of Barcelona- we had used Italy Tours.EU for two tours- one was an extended day in Tuscany & the other to Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast - wonderful time- great company todeal with- very responsive & very reasonable price.

We highly recommend them ! 

Gerry & Denise