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Today we were in Victoria. Shortly after we docked it was announced that health/safety inspectors had boarded the ship for a random inspection. And another announcement that we would get an extra hour in this port (so back on board by 8:30 pm instead of 7:30) - I'm not sure if the two were related. We had no plans for Victoria and just started walking towards town. We went past the Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel. Both are beautiful. We found a mall downtown and lots of little shops - did a bit of shopping before heading back to the ship. The entire journey was almost exactly 5 miles total, so lots to do within walking distance of the port. A very nice area with really nice people! I had to do some work while in this port and had good cell service as long as I stayed out on deck (I didn't buy wifi this time). Fortunately we had good weather (a little chilly in the shade but this is the first time I've worn the sweater I brought).

Sea Day - Tuesday was our last sea day and second formal night. We had pretty rough seas for about 24 hours (I asked a crew member if that was typical and he said no, just our sailing and the one before us). It was also pretty foggy so the views were not great, but we did spot 1 whale fairly close to the ship. One thing I really like about this ship is that you can walk all the way around deck 11 (I think it's 11) - it gets a little tricky by the basketball court where you have to either take a narrow path or go up then down about 5 steps. I thought it was way better than sticking to the little track which is only on the mid section of the ship. Dinner in the MDR was slow (not a big deal to us) but good. We loved the show that evening (America Rocks).

Skagway - the next day, we were in Skagway. It was very warm - about 70 degrees. We have done the train excursion in the past and would recommend it. This time, we chose the gold panning/sled dog excursion. We only wanted to see the dogs, but the only thing available was the combination. We didn't really care for the gold panning, but to be fair we weren't interested in it from the beginning. We absolutley loved the dogs. It was interesting to learn about the races, see the dogs, and best of all they had 3 puppies we could hold/pet. The next day was Tracy Arm Fjord (we didn't do the excursion since we've done glacier bay in the past) so it was another sea day for us.

Yes thanks for asking because that does make a big difference - we were lucky to be on the end so the whole window was not obstructed. It's 4345.

We've booked an assigned balcony once and got a fantastic cove balcony under the dining room (loved it) - now we try to book that room.

The Spirit is up here with us in Juneau.

This room is sold as an interior but it's an outside cabin on deck 4 with a lifeboat outdide the window - a great value my opinion!

I wanted to share some info on our Luminosa voyage to Alaska because i was not able to find much info on this fairly new (to Carnival) ship back when i booked. And the few reviews I found were not especially good. Fortunately we were pleasantly surprised. Living in Washington this is the one port we can drive to (and we've done the Alaska itenerary multiple times). I did not realize this was the weekend for the Seafair Festival in Seattle. So even though Seafair didn't technically start until the following day (the 4th) the Blue Angels were practicing their show, flying above Seattle when we arrived around 12:45 (making traffic a nightmare). But it was awesome to watch them from the ship. We purchased parking ahead of time at what I found to be the closest, most convenient location, at pier 91 through Republic Parking. It was a total of 206.50 for the week. A shuttle was waiting to take us to the terminal (although we thought it was close enough to walk). It was gorgeous in Seattle - 80 degrees and sunny. Embarkation was so easy - we continued walking from the time we entered the terminal, right onto the ship. No crowds at all, but that might have been due to the fact that it was around 1:10 by the we finally got there, and most were already on the ship. I had seen several negative reviews on this ship so i was nervous, but I didn't think it was bad at all (we were on Vista in June and it was in much worse shape). Granted, luminosa is an older ship, but overall very clean, well maintained, and has a nice layout. It never felt crowded to me and we didn't experience the long lines we have on other Carnival ships. It also has tons of seating all along the windows in various common areas of the ship. We could always find a quiet spot to sit and read or relax and watch the great views. We had dinner in the MDR and it was kind of slow but no more so than usual for the first night (and we were a party of 8 so that may have contributed). Our cabin was fantastic. For the price of an interior, we got an outside cabin on deck 4, with a lifeboat outside our window (so a full length window instead of a slider/balcony). The room had lots of storage. The only negative - our shower did not drain well and I'd have to periodically turn it off so it didn't flood the bathroom. Sea Day- The next morning, was very foggy - we'd planned to just relax in the cabin watching out the window but since we couldn't see anything due to the fog, we headed to the gym/track. It was warmer than i expected (around 70/75 degrees) but they still had the retractable roof closed (it had been left open the previous day). We went to the MDR for lunch where they had an asian theme menu. The food was very good and the porion sizes were small but with an appetizer, main, and dessert it was plenty of food. We checked out the casino and I was expecting it to be small and smoke-filled (based on reviews) but it was not bad at all. I heard this is a casino "Elite" sailing so it is super crowded. We went to the "Tea Time" later that afternoon where they had hot tea, delicious pastries and finger sandwiches. That evening was our first formal dinner night. Again service was very slow but the food was good (never hot but otherwise good). Juneau - this morning we woke up to an announcement that we had entered the inside passage, and from our window we could see beautiful snow capped peaks and very calm water. We didn't get to Juneau until around 12:30 (and we had set out clocks back an hour the first night so the ship would be on Alaska time when we arrived). It has been very warm so far, we haven't needed jackets or sweaters inside or out on deck, and today it's about 70 degrees. We have worn short sleeve shirts the entire time (and have been too warm). We didn't have anything specific planned, just walked around the town. With 3 other ships in port, i expected the town to be crowded but it wasn't bad. We came back to a nice quiet ship to relax in the sun on the back serenity deck clam shells.

The Panorama is one of my favorite Carnival ships (and we've been on nearly every one that is currently in service). I agree with the others that the Mexican Riviera itenerary typically has a couple cool days, but this ship has a lot of activities both inside and out for kids. Your 7-year old might really enjoy the trampoline park.

I totally agree - the cove balconies are so nice, especially for that many days.

We may have been on the same sailing - the soot was unbelievable. It's the first time I've seen them close several aft decks of the ship due to the mess (multiple times) especially when it rained. It looked like someone had poured chocolate syrup all over the track.

Dress in layers - I was surprised how much the temps varied. One port day sitting in the sun was so warm we were in t-shirts and shorts and while the teenagers did the water slides. But as mentioned, while the ship is moving and shaded it can be cool. Bring binoculars - so much to see from the ship (from whales to eagles to waterfalls).

Thank you for posting - we are so excited to see her for New Year's Eve (if all goes as planned)!

How did you like the ship overall? It looks nice in your pictures, but the reviews so far are not very good. How was debarkation? Do you recall approximately what time it started?

Of all the decks on a ship the only one I will never book again is under the Lido deck. Not only is there a lot of noise above you (foot traffic, dish carts, moving chairs, kitchen noise) but your hallway also becomes a tunnel under the pool deck for people who don't want to go outside and cross the pool deck to get to the buffet. We found it to be a really noisy heavily traveled area.

I wondered about that - we noticed that it was not considered an option for the Platinum complimentary beverage at Seaday Brunch either.

I am not sure why, but wanted to mention it's not just Carnival - we are booked on NCL for Europe next spring, I check periodically, but no excursions are listed yet either.

I just looked quickly so I might be mistaken, but it looks to me like 3116 and 3120 connect (I avoid those rooms if possible). Same with 3119 and 3123 (connecting rooms). I would choose 3115 or 3124.

We had done over 20 cruises before we tried a cove balcony and found that we have really been missing out! We returned home from a cove balcony on the Dream and immediately booked a cove balcony on the Horizon (same 8 day itenerary you are considering). I just love being so close to the water. So quiet and peaceful - we even saw dolphins. The only drawback for me is that a good portion of the cove balconies are under the galley (and I'm a light sleeper so that wouldn't work for me). Our cabin was under the dining room and it was fine.

We did a Carnival excursion that I would highly recommend if you like an active excursion – the Panoramic Hike to El Faro Lighthouse. It’s considered “difficult activity level” but we didn’t think it was that bad. It’s very similar to climbing Diamond Head in Hawaii. It is the world’s highest, natural, working lighthouse. It's a fun workout and we thought the views were beautiful.

I'm not finding it on the Delta Amex either, but what a great deal, I'm jealous!🙂

I totally agree. Yes, they had both regular movies currently in theaters and documentaries. The regular movies were more expensive than the documentaries (I think around $18 per adult - it was probably less for kids, but I didn't notice). The movies we saw were sold out so seemed to be quite popular.

We were recently on sister ships Vista and Panorama back-to-back (well not technically since one is in Texas and the other California, but 1 week apart). While the trips are fresh in my mind, I thought I’d mention some comparisons I noted between the ships. We really like the size, layout, food, and activity choices on this class of ship. We were on Horizon prior to the pandemic (and have a future cruise booked on her, so we are definitely fans of this class). Embarkation – was great at both ports. Extremely organized, quick, and efficient. We are platinum but in Galveston opted to board the Vista with group A01 in order to keep family members together. In Long Beach we boarded with the platinum group. In both cases, we were on the ship by 11:30. Vista – the temperature on the ship was very inconsistent. Some areas seemed to have working AC but other areas (especially hallways and stairwells) were extremely hot and humid. We had an interior cabin on both ships and our cabin on Vista never got cool enough. In general, the Vista appears in rough shape. We noticed ceilings with rust and mold (I took a couple pictures, one in Ocean Plaza and the other in the Lido, but there many areas like this throughout the ship), the windows were stained with hard water and rust. We noticed what seemed to be stains on the carpet of our cabin due to flooding (and later found out the area around our cabin did have a flooding problem). It smelled musty and the carpet in front of our cabin (about 20 cabins total) would sporadically get saturated with water. We couldn’t see where the leak was coming from, but maintenance crew were frequently working in a closet containing pipes near our cabin. Crew would use commercial carpet cleaners to extract the water and put out large industrial fans to try to dry it out. Unfortunately, this ship just didn’t look or smell clean to me. We still had a good time, I just won’t book it again. We enjoyed the Imax theater and the sky ride. The food was good, but the pizza place seemed understaffed on both ships. Always a long line and the crew seemed very busy. Panorama – the Panorama does not seem to have the AC issues that Vista does. The temperature was comfortable throughout. The first thing I noticed was how clean and well maintained this ship looked. Windows were clean and clear, carpets did not show wear or staining, and it smelled fresh/clean. The evening we left Puerto Vallarta, as the ship turned, rain mixed with soot made a huge mess on the track and back decks (it looked like someone had poured chocolate syrup all over – I’ve never seen anything like it). They immediately closed all impacted areas and started cleaning. The next morning the areas were spotless – you would have never known what a mess it was. I noticed that even the drains along the outside of the decks were sparkling clean. In over 20 cruises, this is the cleanest ship I’ve seen (considering its age). The Panorama does not have the Imax (unfortunately), but instead has the trampoline park, which the kids seemed to enjoy. We loved “Fresh Creations” salads up on the serenity deck on both of these ships. Strangely, the Asian Wok restaurant which is complementary for lunch (and becomes Ji Ji Asian Kitchen at dinner for a nominal fee) was open for lunch on embarkation day on Vista but not Panorama. If the information I found is correct, these ships are only 3 1/2 years apart in age (Vista launched 6/2015 and Panorama 12/2018) - I would have guessed the Vista was a good 10 years older. To be fair, Vista is going in to drydock in the near future and I feel like maybe they are deferring some maintenance until then. I thought both of these ships had more than adequate common space both inside and out. I tend to avoid the crowds and never had trouble finding a quiet place to relax or read. And lastly, as mentioned quite a bit recently, both of these ships have intermittent propulsion issues. On our voyages, Vista seemed fine and was right on time, but Panorama was 2 hours late getting back into port. The CD said that debarkation usually starts at 7:30 but would be 9:30 for our trip.

Great review so far. We were also on this sailing and really enjoyed it. The Panorama is such a great ship - whoever is responsible for maintenance/cleaning on this ship deserves to be commended! The ship looked and smelled clean the entire time and we were well over capacity (at check-in I was told just under 5,000). I was recently on sister ship Vista and the difference was significant (it is not nearly as clean and well maintained as Panorama).