pghsteelerfan

Hi Dana! I really enjoyed your review and reliving part of our cruise! We just got back from an unscheduled, emergency trip to PA for a week since my dad ended up having triple bypass surgery. All good and he's such a trooper, no one there can believe he's 91! We got back this weekend and can finally get back on CC. We did the self-debark and they had us waiting down on Deck 5 (outside). Luckily it was a nice, sunny and warm day since it seemed to take forever for them to call our number. Sometime between 9:30 and 10, a couple others out there with us who were also still waiting for their numbers to be called said we should all just go now and that's what we did. LOL!!! The lines had really died down so I don't know why they were weren't calling numbers. We took an Uber from our hotel to board Panorama and it was that Uber driver that told us it can be hard to get an Uber when getting off the ship on Sunday's. We were thinking about getting a cab but then after going to Deon's debarkation talk, we decided to just get the transport through Carnival to the airport. We caught the tail end of the towel animal demonstration while we were waiting for the debarkation talk. We normally don't attend, but our head waiter strongly suggested it and, well, it was Deon. We really enjoyed him and the debarkation talk was actually fun/entertaining. I'm kind of kicking myself for not doing a review this time but it had been so long. I wasn't able to get screen shots of all the menus (had forgotten at first) and even forget what we had for dinner some nights - didn't get pics. Hopefully the next cruise. I don't know when/where our next cruise will be yet but may do one that goes to Aruba/Curacao since that would be some new places for us. We had Magic booked in May 2020 out of Miami that went to HMC, Grand Turk, Aruba, and Curacao. Hope to find that itinerary again. I still miss the itinerary out of San Juan, my favorite. Thank you for taking the time to do another review - I've always enjoyed yours.

Yes, it was the longer cruise BUT there were a few hiccups. First, we sat in the same back-up you guys did when entering the port but when our Uber driver dropped us off, no porters to be found. We were walking around for about 10 minutes until we found them. They were still carting off luggage from previous cruise. Panorama was late getting in the morning we boarded (fog), so that probably had something to do with it. Love the "heart attack hill" - truth! LOL!!! The fuel barge was also late so when we were supposed to sail away, Panorama was still getting fuel. We left @ around 8PM but wow, seeing Long Beach lit up after dark, that beautiful sunset - not a problem for me. Also, due to the tropical storm that became Hurricane Lidia, they changed the itinerary. Two sea days at the beginning, La Paz and Mazatlan as scheduled, we missed PV (Hurricane hit in that area, think just south) and went to Cabo instead and had a full day. We had a bonus half day (morning) in Cabo as well, then a sea day before returning to Long Beach. We had great weather in ports, rain was ahead of us and it apparently rained in La Paz the day before we were there, then rain in Mazatlan the day before as well. I never really payed any attention to our CD's (Jorge Saldano, the comedian, was our CD on Glory in 2010) but we had Deon "Woo Woo" and I tell ya, he was GREAT! Now I understand how a cruise director can really have an influence on the entire cruise. He actually did the whole life jacket demonstration at the beginning of the sail away party (normal time in the afternoon when we were originally scheduled to sail out). We sat on those benches just to the left of where you were for sail away. We just reported to muster station, checked in, and were on our way to Lido. I felt the same way about Jorge Saldano. Saw him twice and both nights were the same. We sat in back and I dozed off too. LOL!!! Do you know if they had Panorama ship ornaments on your cruise? Didn't have them on ours, checked every day. Someone did tell us that due to the fog, they didn't get all the shipments in for our cruise. I loved the whole cruise, even with the hiccups and was really impressed with Panorama. The largest ships we've been on prior to that were the Conquest Class (Glory, Valor, & twice on Liberty). I wasn't sure how I'd feel sailing with almost twice as many people but the layout of Panorama was so nicely done that it never felt crowded. Hope to cruise again and soon - I missed it! Our last was 2015 on Liberty out of San Juan. Had two booked (2020 and 2021) but both were cancelled. The 2021 was to be out of San Juan on Fascination, but Carnival had to sell her. I'm really enjoying your review, just as I have the others I have read. I need to get caught up, haven't been on CC since shortly after Covid shut everything down. Thanks for taking the time to do these!

We tried going out one of the nights while we were at sea and couldn't see a thing. One of those things I totally forgot to do while it was light. So glad you went out and got pictures! I'm really enjoying your review and loved all of the zoo pictures. Those steep pathways remind me of a park which was formerly a golf course until 2019 that is a mile up the road that I walk to often. The former golf cart paths are used as walking trails and some of those hills are steep. No beautifuly painted walls along the sides, just trees, grass, & weeds.

Looking forward to this one - love your reviews! I haven't really been on CC since Covid & haven't cruised since 2015 until last October when we cruised on Panorama. You boarded her the day we were kicked off. 😂

I've used Shutterfly for years, have done 7 cruise vacation photo books and always loved the quality. I just started working on my 8th since we cruised this past October. I'm curious to see if the quality is still the same since 2015 was the last time I did one. I'm really hoping but saw this post to get some other ideas just in case, so will be following.

It's definitely been a while! We were on Panorama out of Long Beach, CA, this past October for 8-day Mexican Riviera with the bonus stop in La Paz. Loved it but didn't do a review. We had two cruises booked that ended up cancelled. May 2020 on Magic and Oct/Nov. 2021 on Fascination out of San Juan. Booked Panorama in May 2021, shortly after the Fascination cruise was canceled, and it was here before we knew it and I had nothing planned! LOL!!! We loved it and loved Panorama, although larger ship with 2x as many passengers as we're used to but the layout of Panorama was done really well so it never felt crowded. And now seeing Jamman54's review of Venezia, it is definitely the same layout with a few differences in style mainly and the closed in Lido pool. Is your email still the same one you had when we were last corresponding? If not, mine is dgieh at comcast dot net. 🙂

Exactly!!! 🙂 Tried to "like" the post but that doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Really enjoying your review and Patti's pictures! I'll be entertained for a while. 🙂

I've missed everyone here too! I was thrilled the other day when I hopped on and saw a lot of familiar names. This was our first cruise since Covid. We were booked on Magic in May 2020 (out of Miami to HMC, GT, Aruba, & Curacao), which obviously was canceled. We also had the Fascination booked out of San Juan for Oct/Nov. 2021 which was also canceled, not directly due to Covid but because Fascination was sold. We took the full refund for Magic and got vouchers for the airfare which we needed to use by end of 2022, but that summer United extended that to the end of 2023. Shortly after the Fascination cruise was canceled, I found the Panorama 8-day that included La Paz and booked that in May 2021. We currently have no cruises booked but our normal habit is booking cruises 3 months (or less) from the sail date. We want to go on one that goes down to Arbua/Curacao but now I'd really love to to the Panorama again. They will be offering more 8-days cruises that include La Paz regularly in 2025. We didn't get to Puerto Vallarta but did end up with an extra half day in Cabo due to a hurricane. Just wish Carnival would put another ship down in San Juan to do that itinerary again at some point - that was our favorite.

Thank you and so glad they got through without any issues. Panorama is definitely an amazing ship and even though we prefer smaller ships, we wouldn't hesitate to sail on her or her sister ships again. I still want to to that same 8-day itinerary with La Paz again. Happy to share and thank you too, for always sharing your trips and beautiful pictures with all of us.

Hi Karen! It's been a while - so happy to see you here too! We haven't cruised since our 2015 Liberty cruise out of San Juan (land vacations instead & the Covid shutdown). I haven't been on CC since shortly after the 2020 shutdown. Been keeping myself active and spending a lot less time on the computer but looks like I'm getting addicted to CC again. So happy to find Jamman54's review and so happy to see you and a few others I feel I know too!

So happy I found your review! I've just started. I haven't been on CC since right after the Covid shutdown and have been doing a lot of walking in our neighborhood (it's pretty large) and doing 5K's which keep me motivated to keep walking. I don't want to sit and rust, as a good friend's mom puts it. LOL!!! We finally cruised again this past October on Panorama, the 8 day out of Long Beach. I was on CC twice a few months prior, briefly, looking in the Ports of Call section for things to do in La Paz (not much info). I just happened to get on here again the other day seeing if anyone knew if ship ornaments for Panorama actually exist. I wasn't able to get one on our cruise, they didn't have any. Checking Ebay practically ever day since our cruise, I've never seen one for Panorama (or Vista & Horizon, all Vista Class ships). While doing the search, I saw Mitsugirly's post asking about the Panorama/same itinerary we just did & saw Deladane has a review of Panorama, same itinerary. Just browsing through, I found yours! So glad, I always enjoyed your reviews and looked forward to them and really looking forward to this one (just started). We haven't been on a cruise since our last Liberty cruise out of San Juan in 2015! We have been on other vacations, just not cruises. We had two that were canceled due to Covid but have been on other vacations, so we haven't been deprived.

I got it! Saw this morning but so much running around today and figuring out HOW to share those Shutterfly links to the pics. You can no longer email them to yourself but I think I got it figured out. Will reply with those links after dinner. 🙂

We've been right under Lido on our Valor and our second Liberty cruise and it really was never an issue. On the Liberty cruise, my husband did say he could hear the deck party after our day in Barbados going late but I fell asleep and didn't hear a thing. We could occasionally hear chairs being moved around, but it was usually fairly quiet at night. We did get a little extra shade on the balcony and I noticed in my pictures that you could always see it, but for some pictures I just worked around it. Attached a pic so you could see what it looked like. This was when we were sailing into Mazatlan before the ship turned and docked.

I have the same picture from the bus window of the cacti!!! They handled the shuttle busses differently than they did on our cruise. Due to the change in our itinerary because of the tropical storm that became Hurricane Lidia, we had two sea days at the beginning, La Paz and Mazatlan as scheduled, then two days (the second a half day) in Cabo. We missed Puerto Vallarta due to the hurricane. On that second sea day at the beginning is when you could get tickets for the busses. Tickets were available on Deck 10, just inside the pool area at 2PM but the line started forming at 1:30. We wanted the earliest time so I got in line for our tickets. We got the time I wanted, fortunately. There were a lot of complaints about that and the confusion. So glad you got to sleep in a little and didn't have a long wait. Maybe that's one of the issues the Carnival worked out because a lot of people were complaining about that whole fiasco. LOL! I'm really enjoying your review and beautiful pictures. I used my phone for most of my pictures too!

Funny you posted this pic, our balcony was one of those with the extended roof above us. We were on the opposite side of Panorama and the Red Frog Rum bar was directly above us. Never had any issues with a lot of noise and that was a concern. I'm really enjoying your review and, as always, your pictures are beautiful!

Hi Dana! It's been a LONG time! I'm still around, just haven't been on CC for a quite some time! We were finally on a cruise this past October - Panorama and the same itinerary that you just did, well, that's what was scheduled. Our cruise was affected by Hurricane Lidia, so there was an itinerary change. We ended up with 2 sea days at the beginning, missing Cabo since it wouldn't have been safe to tender; La Paz and Mazatlan were as scheduled; we missed Puerto Vallarta but it was replaced with Cabo. We got a bonus 1/2 day in Cabo the next day, sea day, then back to Long Beach. But still - I loved it. I want to do this one again. Our last cruise before that was our Liberty cruise out of San Juan in 2015, so it's been a while. We've still been vacationing, just not a cruise until last year. Haven't been spending time on the computer and that's the reason I haven't been on CC - but I need to get back with it. I am so glad you did a review and I'm looking forward to reading it. I did notice you have a son now - congratulations! He is just adorable!!!

Oh, forgot to add - the only downside was that if you collect the ship ornaments, the one that looks like the cruise ship model, good luck. LOL!!! They didn't have them on our cruise, we were told that they didn't get some of their shipment in due to the fog delays and the ship ornaments were one of those items. I've checked on Ebay practically every day since and nada. It's weird, I see the ship ornaments for most of the others ships, just not Panorama, Vista, or Horizon - all Vista Class ships. That's actually why I'm on here, I was going to ask if anyone else who'd been on Panorama was able to get them or even if they just saw them for sale.

Hi Mitsugirly! It's been a while since I've been on CC but we just did that same exact itinerary on Panorama this past October! I didn't do a review anywhere but can try to tell you a little about it. First of all, we LOVED it! Our itinerary was switched around due to Tropical Storm Lidia, which became a strong hurricane. The new itinerary was two sea days at the beginning, La Paz and Mazatlan as scheduled, then instead of Puerto Vallarta (hurricane hit just south of there), we went from Mazatlan to Cabo and had one full day and another half day in Cabo. The last day was a sea day then back to Long Beach. La Paz is a new port, we didn't have anything books since the available tours didn't interest us. We just wanted to experience the town. Since it's a brand new port, there are still some wrinkles to iron out but I think it is going to be a great addition for a regular port stop. We took the bus transport into the town and walked around. Only one souvenir shop that we could find, mostly restaurants. For the bus transport, we had to get in line for tickets and that was at 2PM. Line formed a half hour early. I was able to get tickets for the earliest time, which we wanted. We just walked along the Malecon. Got T-shirts at the one souvenir shop right along the Malecon and a magnet from one of the many local vendors that set up along the Malecon. The one major issue - no public bathrooms. From talking to other passengers, to use a bathroom at one of the restaurants, you had to purchase (meal or drink). There were bathrooms at the bus terminal where you're dropped off and picked up but they charged. The one bathroom that was free was the handicap access and the line was very long. Someone on our roll call said they eventually opened them up. ??? We ended up taking the bus back to town earlier than planned and just spent the rest of the afternoon on the ship & enjoying the skyride and ropes course (no line). There is the option to take the bus to the beach and then another bus to the town after. If you take the bus to town first, you need to take the bus back to the ship then get another bus to the beach. We did not know that ahead of time. So I loved La Paz, beautiful and has great potential, the only issue was the bathrooms. I tried talking my hubby into stopping in a bar and getting a drink and he just said we'd have to "go" even worse. Oh, forgot to mention, it's desert there so on the transport bus (if you end up taking it), you'll see the large saguaro cactus - lots of them. It's desert meets ocean - really cool. In Mazatlan, we did Carnival's excursion to Deer Island. The excursion was 5 hours but only about 2 hours at the beach at Deer Island. You need to take a bus to a marina, then from the marina a boat out to Deer Island. Food/drinks provided and drinks were flowing on the boat to/from. They were serving both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. We just stuck with the beer, which was good. There is a little mall-type area right at the port, so when we got back from the tour, the bus dropped us off there. There is a transport from the mall to the ship but we got some shirts & other souvenirs at the shops at the mall area before getting back on the ship. Sailing in and out of Mazatlan is just beautiful! It's a rather large city but still beautiful. We were there, years ago (Jan. 2000) and that time we just did the Gold Zone shopping and beach break. There is also a Malecon over in the area where the Gold Zone shopping and hotels are, we saw it from the bus, looked really nice. The scenery of Mazatlan, around the city, is lush and green. Our first day in Cabo we had the tour to Land's End (famous Cabo arch) in the morning. We were also in Cabo during that 2000 cruise and that time, we took and excursion through Carnival, which they still offer, that is a combo snorkel and sail. We snorkeled first, about an 1 - 1.5 hours then we sailed around and past the arch. Water was cold then so I didn't last snorkeling, but water much warmer in October. Since we'd done that before, we just took the tour that goes out to the arch - we wanted pictures. After that, we took a water taxi to Medano Beach for a couple hours. After that, we went back into town and had margaritas at Cabo Wabo. After that, souvenirs and back to the ship. We didn't overnight in Cabo so the could open the casino and Fun Shops. The next morning we just took the water taxi to town and walked to another beach that you can see from the ship. We didn't take our snorkels with us but wish we had. That beach is right next to the town (10 minute walk from where you get off the water taxi) and it's between the town and the Land's End formation that the arch is at the end of. Best way I know how to describe it. You'll see it from the ship, there is a large, blue wall that's painted with fish, turtles, other sea life. It wasn't crowded at all when we were there but there were others there. There is so much more to do in these ports, just can't do it all on a cruise stop. Since it was Mexico, we opted for excursions through the cruise line and mainly to insure our safety. We never felt unsafe. The largest ships we've been on before Panorama were Carnival's Glory, Valor, & Liberty, all Conquest Class ships. So Panorama was the largest ship we've been on. I wasn't sure if I'd like her or not but we both LOVED her. Even though there was almost twice as many people than we're used to sailing with, it never felt crowded. There was a nice flow to it. We loved Guy's & Blue Iguana (of course) and we also tried the Pig and Anchor (only open certain days). That was very good - loved it. Our CD was Deon "Woo Woo" and he was great. This is the first time a CD had an impact on our cruise. We hadn't planned on it but ended up ended up hanging out for the 80's deck party. We just stopped at Red Frog for a drink after the Punchliner show but ended up sticking around for the whole thing. On our cruise they also had the Halloween party and same thing, after comedy, stopped for drinks and ended up sticking around. Boarding wasn't perfect. Even though our hotel was pretty close to the cruise terminal, it took a while to get there since traffic was backed up. I'm not sure, but there may have been something else going on. The ship also got in late due to heavy fog that morning so that may have been part of it. We had the earliest boarding time for non-priority but it took us forever to get find a porter to drop our luggage off. We finally found them and made our way into the terminal. The porter issue may also have been since the ship was late and people from previous cruise had just gotten off. Once inside the terminal, the line was long but moved quickly. Oh, and because Panorama got in late, we didn't end up leaving until around 8PM. That was because the fuel barge was also late getting to the ship so we couldn't leave till she was fueled up. That worked in my favor since we had a beautiful sunset and the views were awesome. We just hung around outside on the ship until we had to go in and get ready for dinner (late seating). Getting off the ship was much easier. Now I'm wishing I had done a review! LOL!!! I have some of the pictures up on FB and could always add more to that. This is our first cruise since our Liberty cruise in 2015 (had two booked that ended up cancelled) and then other land vacations in between. We've done 2 weeks in Hawaii; a week in New Orleans with friends; Hollywood Beach, FL for 3 days then a week after that with friends in Kissimmee; & Myrtle Beach; and a few 3 - 4 day trips to the beaches in NC, so we've still been having fun. I really think you'll love the itinerary - the scenery is very different from the Caribbean but you'll love it. Since Carnival is no longer sailing out of San Juan, which was our favorite, this is one cruise I would not hesitate to book again. Just wish we could have gotten to Puerto Vallarta (were there in 2000 as well) but would have loved to have seen it again. I only had a film camera then (remember those?), so really don't have many pictures from that trip at all. Hopefully I can talk hubby into the Panorama again. When is your cruise? I'm already looking forward to your review. I need to get caught up on those - so many I haven't gotten to yet! I'm not spending as much time on the computer anymore, I'm out and keeping active. Been doing a lot of walking and have gotten into 5K's (keeps me motivated to keep my butt moving). I don't want to sit and rust. LOL!!!

It's been so long since I've been on CC, so I'm very happy I got on today and found your review. I've enjoyed everything you have to this point and am really looking forward to the rest.