deelightfull

I'm mostly a diet soda gal, but on my last night on the Panorama, our veteran waiter saw that I had bubbles and insisted on getting me a virgin cocktail, almost like a slushie. I didn't know to order it, it wasn't offered anywhere, but he insisted it would be good. He was right, it was very yummy, almost like a orange/pineapple smoothie. That was the last night though. So I didn't have it again. I can't tell you exactly what is and isn't included, but if you decide to go for it, ask your waiter and keep on asking. 😁

Most Carnival ships have self service laundry, if that's your thing. The machines run on your sign and sail card, naturally. I've done laundry on the Panorama and the Radiance (yes, it was a three night cruise, argh, hope too never have to do that again!). On the other hand, most Norwegian ships do not 🤷 Those are the only two lines I've cruised with, but you're here for Carnival anyway. The one time I've used ship board laundry services, it was with NCL, and it was a paper bag and I "lined" it with a plastic grocery bag, the thick reusable ones we have in California, before stuffing it with our tightly rolled laundry. I gave them all the jeans & Dockers & a few tees for my family of three. I washed the quick dry pants and the undies in the bathroom sink and hung them on the line in the bathroom that's made for that purpose. Have fun!

Long Beach Terminal, for both of these. Last December (2022) we're hyped, hubby signs us up for 9:30 arrival time, by the time we were done with paperwork and check-in and all that it was close to 10. Ship started boarding by 11:30, since we weren't in a suite or anything like it(boarding group B09?), we boarded close to noon, about two hour wait. In February we went on the Radiance out of the same port. This time we were much smarter and got a 12:30 arrival time, and never sat down. We went straight from paperwork to walking up the long, long ramp. Those early arrival times look fun, but there's no point. 🤷

I've looked it up, and right now they don't have any plans. It's a Monday, so The Panorama will have just left port the day before. In theory they could book it down to the exclusionary zone, but that would be expensive, the cruise would surely cost more. The Radiance is in port Long Beach that day and the Miracle will be on its way to Hawaii. Mazatlan only had two berths, and right now they're both scheduled, by the Discovery Princess and the ms Zaandam. (Technically Carnival Corp, it's Holland America, but not what you were looking for 😁) Of course, all this could change, we know cruise ships change their ports all the time, but that's what's currently scheduled.

And I recommend a late arrival time. Once boarding starts, it goes pretty quick. First appointments sit around in the terminal for an hour or two. Late appointments can go through the sign in process and then straight on the boat.

Teenage son on the Dawn had no complaints and he's a fairly big kid. We were in a "deluxe" balcony and had a curtain between the bed and the pull out sofa bed. I don't know if the curtain is standard for balcony rooms or a feature of the deluxe rooms. It was nice to have. In our room the bed was closer to the hall and the sofa was closer to the balcony but I believe some rooms are the reverse of that.

DLs + birth certificate, I believe, is sufficient.

We were on the Panorama with our one 15 year old, and I'm going to be that grumpy cruiser that didn't spend any extra money on the ship except for photos and wifi (for sea days). 🤷 He did look longingly at the sky zone, but I never got over there to investigate the prices. I do know Build a Bear was INCREDIBLY popular and if I had a younger one the Suess green eggs and ham meal looked fun. 😁

I'm sure St. Greg's video is great. I'll add that you get yourself out to the sidewalk, ask any staff member and they'll point you to the right place on the sidewalk to stand for the ride share shuttle. Keep asking you'll get there. There's one place to stand for hotel shuttles, a different place to stand for parking lot shuttles, and so on and so forth. Everythings got signage. I don't walk very far with my luggage either, it was totally doable. (LAX is my "home" airport, when I fly in, I'm headed home. 😕)

Boarding time is determined by LOTS of factors, 95% of which are out of your control. However, there is one factor IN your control. Two weeks before your cruise you get to check in and select an ARRIVAL time at port. When boarding is ready they will go in an established order. First all the various VIPs get called (suites, diamond, platinum, wedding groups, I don't know what they all are, I don't know the order, just think VIPs...) The next group is people who've paid for early-ier boarding, that's called faster too the fun (or FTTF around here) and lastly, the "regular people" (that's me, probably you too) will get called in order of scheduled arrival time. Sometimes ships get delayed, there were issues getting people off the ship in a timely manner, etc. etc.and even though you have an "arrival time" of 10:30, you may not be on the ship till noon. But you'll still be on before people who had an 11:30 time. 😁 Have fun!

Hey, it's 8 months later and I'm dropping by to day thanks for letting this list updated! 👍

Broccoli for scale 😁

Yes, when we visited Spain in January of 2020 the food costs weren't bad. Casual meals were similar in cost to eating out at a casual place at home. We went to one fancy restaurant and I didn't pay attention to the prices there. Of course, overall, food was more because we were on vacation and eating out as opposed to eating at home in our "civilian" life. 😁 That was not our experience in Northern Europe, there almost all the food prices were higher than we were used to, but that's okay, just something to factor in. Many places we travel in Mexico we eat in restaurants for cheaper than we can buy groceries at home. (Not true in any resort areas or cruise ship ports, of course, but inland eating can be EXTREMELY cheap.)

We cruised the Baltic with NCL this summer. It was a good fit for us because I dislike moving hotels and hubby likes to cram as many cities as possible into his vacations. A port heavy cruise fits the bill for us. On our particular cruise there were no at sea days. We don't ever get excursions though the ship, that's just or style. Hubby just researches the heck out out of it. 🤷‍♀️ We've also been to Europe one other time, in January of 2020, (when we had no idea what was in store for us later that year!). One big difference I noticed between our cruise and our land vacation was the food. It was really tempting to minimize the food we bought in port, because there was so much "free" food on the ship. (And European food costs are as high, and usually higher, than comparable food costs at home.) But eating local foods is a big part of the vacation for me. So after a couple ports of minimizing food purchases off the ship we started to indulge a little bit more. It cost a bit more, but added so much enjoyment, it was well worth it. Absolutely add as many days before and after as you can. 😁. Once you make those long expensive flights you may as well maximize your enjoyment!pan widget

Love seeing the same cruise from different eyes. Feel free to keep 'em coming!

I get it, I have a niece with severe excema who has to be really careful about what soap she uses. A laundry service wouldn't work for her either. I don't know about the Royal ship, but you're right, Mardi Gras didn't have laundry on board, you're going to have to do yours in the sink and hang over the tub or just go to the most convenient laundromat. Once again, don't worry about reviews. American laundromats almost never have good reviews and they work fine anyway!

Laundromats never have good reviews. I don't know about the ones near the port, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. People who are happy don't bother to leave reviews, only people who are upset. Just pick the closest and go for it. Also, all cruise ships have some sort of laundry, because they have to wash their linens. So any cruise ship will do laundry for you, for a fee. Lastly, you can bring detergent and do your own laundry in the sink. When we were on a cruise ship with no self serve laundry we paid for one "load" that included jeans and our heaviest clothing and I did the rest in the sink. 🤷‍♀️ I brought small packets of detergent that were pre measured to be the right size for a sink. But the detergent itself wasn't special, just the size of the packet. Good luck!

Me too!! Less than three weeks! Thanks for the preview. 😁

Looking forward to the rest!

Awesome, thanks all!

I already know that at embarcation I can bring 12 cans of soda on board. What's people experience with walking back on board after being in port? (We'll be on the Panorama in December.) Will they ask me to dump my half full Mexican coke (in a can, of course)? Will they care if my husband brings a couple of sealed sodas back on board? Thanks!

Thanks!

I'd like to check these out, where should I be looking? In the excursions? Somewhere else? Thanks! (I'm sailing on the Panorama Dec 17-24)

Don't do anything you wouldn't do in New York or Chicago or Washington DC and you'll be fine. Start searching for "cheap drugs", and not from the pharmacy, there's a medium possibility you'll run into issues.

To pile on to a million correct answers, my Father-in-law started a business as a tour guide in Mexico City (in the 1960s) specifically so he could get paid in US Dollars. 😁 Your tour guide won't have a problem at all with dollars.