jrtmouse

On 2/23/2024 at 11:18 AM, tidecat said:

The barbecue salmon was good. It appeared to be quite popular the night it was offered on my sailing.

That BBQ salmon we had on Panorama just a month ago was an absolute hit at the table! 

I have to agree, sailing Panorama the first time in 2022, the food was lackluster. We chalked that up to coming right out of the C* Era. This last time, I loved IT ALL and was very pleased.

With that said, we sailed RCCL Navigator of the Seas in 2023, expecting that while we paid more $ for a shorter cruise on Nav, our experience would be better. It wasn't! That food was straight up awful. I gave up ordering the entrees because it wasn't worth my caloric intake. 

It's no surprise Carnival is noted as having some of the best all around food. I look forward to our sailing on the Firenze in July!

How was the pizza line? In 2022 they had about 1.5 people working there and the lines were awful. 

On 2/7/2024 at 1:44 PM, pinto18 said:

I think you are thinking of Puerto Vallarta with the Walmart and Sam’s club ?

Oh snap. You're right! They're in PV. Shoot, what did we do in Mazatlan?  Maybe we really did stay on the ship completely that day. 

We chose to stay on the ship with our three young kids when we were in Maz in 2022. I had been to Mazatlan MANY times before and really enjoyed having the ship to ourselves. With that said, I find visiting Sam's Club and Walmart in other areas fascinating because they tend to carry different and local items, including cheap souvenirs, vanilla, etc! You may not find it exciting, but both are located across the street from the cruise port, in the event you feel like getting off for just a little bit. Just a thought.

Sailing Panorama again Mar 2. Remind me how and when we start snagging check in times? We cant do online check in until 2/17 but I assume we'll want to do that first thing then and checkin times become available then?

Thanks to everyone!  Great information. It's been a minute since I've been on a cruise with a chocolate buffet, at least not since before the c-apocalypse. There wasn't a chocolate buffet on my Panorama sailing in 2022 or on Navigator last year, so I I'm excited...and already exhausted from looking at these Fun Times!  Yeaaa for my upcoming sailing in March!

Has anyone sailed 7 day Panny to Mex Riv recently (e.g. 2023) to report any special nights such as chocolate buffet, white night, etc.?

I had concerns being in the immediate area of the arcade so we took two available cabins on the 8th floor.

Booked two balconies (6261/6273) on deck 6 near arcade according to deck plans. Sailing beginning of March, hopefully missing spring breaks. With that said, any experience of kid noise near that area? Our other options were cove balconies on deck 2, but weren't crazy about how those coves felt. 

On 1/1/2024 at 1:41 PM, hptraveler2 said:

We will be sailing on the Panorama on the March 2nd departure and returning on March 9th 2024. Somewhat off topic but I was wondering if anyone has information regarding the time of arrival at Long Beach and the start of disembarkation on the first sailing back from repairs?  BTW after 35 cruises on most of the lines we found the Panorama to one of our favorite ships. We sailed March 2023 and found the entertainment very high quality throughout the ship and the food to be just as good as Princess or NCL. Perhaps we're easier to please and look for the positives! Thanks

I would agree, Panorama is definitely one of our favorite ships as well. While the entertainment at the very least should be entertaining, having the lead singers seriously off tune isn't pleasing to ears (and it clearly wasn't to many others in the audience). I would like to think those people are long gone since we sailed early 2022. As far as food goes, I'd have to say in general, it was better on the Panny than RCCL Navigator of the Seas. Since sailing that RCCL ship, I'm sure the MDR on Panny isn't so bad after all. Here's a positive for ya, who would have thought that line of beautiful cakes in the buffet area would have been edible and delicious!  🙂

On 12/31/2023 at 4:44 PM, TiredTrucker said:

Just an update after talking a bit more with my buddy, he mentioned the food and food presentation were not what they were expecting but that the food was still good, just not great.  Wait times at the MDR were bad but the service was "stellar".

 

This was an Xmas cruise and first for them on Panorama but they have been on other full cruises in the years past, mostly Carnival but some Royal.  Given prices and quality they are going to try out the other lines before doing another Carnival unless they get a great deal. 

 

Can't speak for most shows because they had a toddler that kept them too busy. 

 

Hope that helps you out some. 

I'd say this is exactly how we felt, food meh, but with stellar service. It was after our cruise on Panorama we tried Navigator of the Seas. As mentioned before, more expensive and the food was REALLY not good. My brother was less than impressed on RCCL Allure of the Seas as well, both physical condition and food quality. Personally, after having been on a number cruises before, several on Carnival, at least one on RCCL, Princess, and NCL, it was just surprising considering Panorama was one of their newest ships.

Certainly after sailing that old *** Navigator of the Seas, we decided we'd stick with newer ships and steer clear of anything less than 7 days. I think you get a different kind of service on anything but.

People talk crap about Carnival all the time but I've never had a bad experience. While on Navigator, there was a group of people talking absolute smack of Carnival. My wife asked if they had ever sailed Carnival and they replied no!  LOL 

With that said, I really do think Panorama is a magnificent ship, well thought out, and sails beautifully. While the MDR food didn't knock my socks off and the lead singers of the shows at the time were seriously off tune, I was just hoping to hear of some improvement. West Coast cruise ship options are quite limited so we can't afford to be overly critical.

Thanks again everyone for your input. 

3 hours ago, TiredTrucker said:

My buddy just got off Panorama today and told me he felt the food had really gone downhill since he sailed last (pre covid).  He wasn't aware of the post-covid cuts before sailing either and felt the overall cruise experience had "gone downhill bad" with the food at the top of his list. 

 

His first text to me after disembarking was "Carnival got bad", but that's just a friend's secondhand opinion so take it with a grain of salt. 😉

Interesting. That's too bad.  Back in April 2022 I felt the food wasn't anything to write home about. I can't say it was awful, it just wasn't "cruise spectacular" like many others I had been on. I gave them the benefit of the doubt then and chalked it up to the C*. Upon reading many reviews from others here on CC I soon realized there seemed to be an issue across the entire cruise industry as far as getting back up to speed. We sailed RCCL Navigator of the Seas last year and there were nights I just passed on the MDR entrees all together, and that cruise was more money for a shorter period of time too!  I'm not going to sit and eat something that's so-so when there's a ship of other things available. I'm looking to sail with a different set of family members and thought Panorama was such a beautiful ship, I'd check to see if the few complaints I had a few years back would still be valid. 

And yet, I feel cruise prices are pretty hefty right now, so I'm confused as to why quality isn't picking up speed again. 

Thanks for the feedback. 

I sailed the Panorama back in April 2022. The ship itself is beautiful and very well laid out. I'm thinking of sailing again but curious to hear if 1) the quality of the food is decent in the MDR (because it was Denny's grade in 2022) and 2) if the quality of the shows has improved. The two primary singers were absolutely AWFUL and needed to be replaced, some of the back up singers had fantastic voices but hidden behind the wretched front vocals (ask anyone one of the people sitting near us at any of the shows, all of us looked at each other in shock at the horridness.

Anywho, any updates you could provide would be much appreciated. 

Thanks everyone! We'll look to purchase something now.

Boarding NOS in a few weeks.  Wondering if we should purchase wifi pkg prior to boarding or if they'll have something better upon embarkation.

Any idea if they'll allow two adults and three small kids to ride a 4 person golf cart?  

Also, are there any formal nights on this 5 day cruise?

Booked with three kids for spring break. Wife is an educator as well so unfortunately we're limited to traveling during the most busiest times but grateful we're able to do so.  You mentioned the ice skating show and Showgirls.

Very much looking forward to the ice skating show. Do we need to make any reservations for shows via the app are they still first come first served on NOTS?

I presume Showgirls is their big production. Did you see it? Thoughts on appropriateness for kids (7-12)?

Lastly, did you dine in the MDR at all? If so, what should we expect? This is cruise #10 for me so I've experienced it all. Just need to know where my expectations for MDR should be, or even Windjammer. 

Thanks!

2 hours ago, LHARTWICK said:

Agreed.  We've cruised twice since the restart.  No major issues with our overall cruise experience, but the staffing shortage is definitely noticeable, especially in the dining room.  Just pack your patience and understand those who are working on board are doing the best they can right now - such hard workers!! 🥰

From everything I've read, generally speaking, people have had pretty good service from the staff they have.  I don't think most are disputing those who are working are doing the best they can right now.  I could pack all the patience in the world but that doesn't make up for Carnival's lack of judgement in getting their entire fleet up and running without regard to quality vs quantity!  Shame on Carnival for putting the staff they do have in the position of having to work twice as hard to make up for staff shortages.  It's not right. That's what I struggle with.  Our MDR and cabin staff on Panorama were excellent.  The one guy working the pizza bar was working his tail off.  Poor guy was working as fast as he could despite the line of 20 people waiting in line just to order a pizza.  It's nonsense.  At least cap your passenger capacities fleetwide while your staff is down until your ratios are where they should be.  I can have patience for that.  I don't have patience for the greed.   

Just sailed Panorama a few weeks back.  My wife seemed pretty content with the GF options.  

As Lasekeye stated earlier, MDR staff were always good about bringing the menus for the next day (both breakfast and dinner menus) so she could preorder for both she and my daughter.  

There seemed to always be a GF option at the cakes near the buffet.  To that I'll also add I had VERY LOW expectations of the cakes when I tried them on the first day.  OMG, they were surprisingly amazing, like REALLY good!  So do try them and they change from day to day!  Even the GF options I personally hadn't realized were GF until my wife told me were delish!

While the burgers at Guys were GF, she didn't trust the fries so opted out.  When she asked one of the staff at Guys about a GF roll on day one and he then proceeded to roll his eyes, she gave up and ate the plain patties.  You'll know who I'm talking about too.  That wasn't the only time I saw him give attitude. (PS, there was a lot of attitude from staff that week!)

If you're willing to wait EXTRA long, there are options at the pizza place but be prepared to wait.

As far as the buffet, yes, there is a kiosk there with someone to help you but from what I saw, the buffet was extraordinarily pathetic so we never bothered.   

1 hour ago, MistyRo76 said:

Unfortunately supply chain issues and staffing shortages are going to be around for the short term, I'm afraid. I had a friend on the Freedom last week and said it was very noticeable that there were not enough staff to take care of the now full-ships sailing. And they also had issues with running out of certain supplies after a couple days (she didn't elaborate on what items they ran out of on her sailing). I have not yet sailed post-Covid (though I wish I could have gotten away for a sailing while ships were sailing at reduced capacity). My next sailing isn't until October, unless I book a pre-school year cruise for me and the kiddo in August. So hoping these issues are resolved by then. Until that happens, I hope everyone can give the hard working staff some extra patience and grace and still enjoy your vacation! 

I understand the supply chain and staffing issues.  With that said, Carnival probably shouldn't fill their ships to capacity until these issues have been taken care of.  While our MDR and Cabin staff provided excellent service on the Panorama a few weeks back, there were definite shortages elsewhere.  You can't provide mediocre food and service to a ship of 4600 passengers.  I'm willing to give them time to transition back into full service sailing if they'll reasonably consider prices and accommodations.  

3 hours ago, sunkey1 said:

Just had a similar experience on the Magic in April, after a fantastic cruise on the Mardi Gras last October. I'll give Carnival another chance but I'm going to stick to newer ships.

We just got off Panorama, a new ship for all intents an purposes, and there were definite issues.  I try to stick with relatively new ships for this reason and was somewhat disappointed in a variety of things.  While I enjoyed the physical aspects of the ship, other areas came up lacking.  It seems they could be having issues across the fleet.

13 hours ago, 80sGal said:

How is the cruising weather this time of year out of SoCal?  

For us, a few weeks back it was high 60s, windy, and cold there and back. It was warm once we got further down.

CruiseMGM, not intending to hijack your thread but I did want to post my experience as we sailed the week after you.  Ditto to so many things you’ve said!  Here’s my experience to reiterate some of the things you’ve mentioned.

We (including wife and three kids ages 5, 7, and 10) sailed the Panorama the week following you (Apr 9-16), the week leading up to Easter.  Having sailed each of the other lines before, this would be my fourth cruise with Carnival.  My prior sailings on the Carnival Liberty, Spirit, and Magic have been wonderful with very minimal (if any) complaints, despite that public opinion of Carnival being considered a "Walmart" brand.  However, this last sailing on the Panorama was straight up Walmart!  Not to mention their handling of C* protocols, an entire s-show in and of itself, including their money grabbing tour restrictions for those unvaccinated.  Complete inconsistency and I can go on quite a bit about that but we’ll move on. I will also say that requiring staff to wear masks at this point was very hard to see.  I spoke to some staff who said they’ve been vaxed by four different brands and are checked every other week.  Let it go Carnival!  How much more…?!?!?! .

Embarkation was relatively smooth.  We started at our scheduled time, kids were tested (AGAIN) and we were onto the ship shortly thereafter.  We (except kids) had Verifly setup.  According to the attendant, up to the week prior there was mix up with the attendants requiring both Verifly and actual documents which we both agreed made zero sense but it seemed they got that cleared up.  How long have they been at this and they’re still figuring this out?  Unreal.  Anywho, off we went.

Apparently our occupancy was at about 4,500, with 1,500 being kids!  No surprise considering peak spring break season.  Our kids weren’t allowed into the kid zones because of vx status but we soon realized it was for the best.

We had considered the Cove area as well but had concerns about noise level and it sounds like we made the right decision to stay elsewhere considering that particular week.    

Food was indeed a disappointment.  I completely agree with you.  I was less than impressed with the dining room food, at least for dinner.  It was Denny’s.  When you can taste the freezer in the vegetables, I’d find myself ordering 3-4-5 appetizers (alligator beignets, escargots, shrimp cocktails, etc) and an obligatory entrée.  Thank goodness for the shrimp cocktails and cheese platter and Chocolate Melting Cake for dessert! Ya can’t really screw up shrimp cocktail and a cheese platter!  😄 With that said our table staff could not have been better!!  We dined for Sea Day brunch a few times and enjoyed the peach French toast…and that parfait!  YUM!  Other egg dishes weren’t good and I needed a chain saw to cut through my breakfast sandwich. 

Thank goodness for Guys Burger joint, the pizza place, the deli, and the Blue Iguana.  I had more burgers than I probably should have that week, LOL.  With that said, there were times when the pizza place had only two people working, to no fault of their own, with long lines and waits.  When your buffet is smaller than small and quite mediocre, and the only two things open past 11 PM are pizza and deli, you should probably beef up your alternate restaurant staff!  One of the guys at Guys Burger joint had continuous attitude with his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his head shaking at others.   

I heard great things about the steakhouse but I wasn’t paying $30 a piece for my kids to eat there.  I had also heard great things about Bonsai as well but never made it to see.           

I’ll say I initially had very very low expectations of the cakes displayed near the buffet.  Oh. My. Gosh. Was I pleasantly surprised!  Those were delicious, esp. that Peanut Butter cake….oh man, wish I had a piece.

Another thing I’d like to note is with two of our people having food sensitivities, everyone was very accommodating.  If you have allergies, fear not!

I was impressed with the physical aspects of the ship itself.  Between the LEGIT ropes course, serious water slides, and the sky bikes we occupied quite a bit of time with those.  I was displeased with, once again more inconsistencies, as my 7 year old daughter hovered around the height requirement for the Sky Bikes.  After successfully riding them several times two days in a row (not to mention many times over going down a waterslide with the same height requirement) she was told she wasn’t high enough to ride them.  Crazy!  We continued the fun after putting her hair in a bun and waiting for that dink staff member to be switched elsewhere.  We were back to business. 

The number of elevators was astounding!  I counted at least 16, and we’re talking real elevators, not the mini lobby glass kind.  I was confused why the newfangled button system at first but after the first day it made COMPLETE sense to me!  It did a great job in directing and redirecting traffic.   I hope other ships take note and give it a try.  The ship sailed beautifully and maneuvered with precision, it seemed. 

The theater (Liquid Lounge) was the worst I’ve ever seen, physically and performance wise.  Physically, those poles will screw you!  There are only a few good seats, otherwise someone in your party is screwed with a pole view.  I don’t understand why they’re still building them like this.  The Grand Princess and Star Princess have pole-less theaters.  I don’t remember my other ships but those two stand out to me from prior voyages as exceptional theaters. 

Let’s talk about that lead female singer you mentioned (I believe they referred to her as “Amethyst”).  You are 100% correct in referring to her awful “screech”, we believed to have sabotaged each and every show.  She was awful.  We thought both David, the second line male as well as the second line female singers needed to be lead singers!  Our neighboring cruisers agreed as well, so it wasn’t just our American Idol tuned ears.  I’m not sure what’s happening there.  How she continues to SCREECH her way OFF KEY is beyond my comprehension.  Of all the talent out there, she’s the lead?  Anywho, Spellbound was better than the first show, with the best being the Celestial Strings towards the end of the week, more strings and second line vocals and less Amethyst!  Oh, and while listening to Q&A with Christian the Cruise Director (who did a great job) one of the dancers was holding the mic for questions.  She made a very rude comment to one of the passengers after his questions.  That was really disappointing to see.  I witnessed a lot of attitude on this ship.  Maybe it was because the Walmart crowd is rude! 

Aqua-Holics cover band was entertaining to watch. 

Having been to Mex Riv about 8 times before, I was fine with spending more time on the ship while everyone got off in port and boy was that amazing to have the entire ship to ourselves!

We also got two adjoining interior rooms which worked out really well having the kids in one and us in the other and propping the adjoining doors open.  Again, our room steward was AMAZING!  Poor guy probably felt doomed when he initially saw who was staying in his room.  Apparently there was a family with a similar circumstance the week before us and the kids were absolute pigs.  A few nights of having us he told us he was pleasantly surprised at the status of our rooms.  My kids are currently obsessed with making beds and keeping things picked up so that worked out in everyone’s favor, LOL!

With all of that said, this was probably the least impressive cruise I’ve been on.  Food is definitely a “thing” so expectations tend to be high.  I’m also a show person.  It was very disappointing to have lackluster dining and not so excellent talent.

Would I sail this ship again?  So hard to say.  Definitely can’t beat what we paid, especially for Spring Break.  Again, I enjoyed the actual ship itself for the most part.  Replace the chef(s), the two lead singers, the dancer and the guy at Guy’s with attitude, and expand those buffets a little more and we could talk. 

We considered the Majestic Princess and Bliss.  My concern about Princess is they don’t have the slides, ropes, rock walls, etc. for the kids (and the big kids 😉).  Having been on NCL before, we absolutely hated Anytime dining, not having set staff, one of the things we enjoy about cruising.  It’s hard to say.  I’ll be looking into a cruise with dudes (cousin getaway) and food will definitely be a consideration.  I was pushing Panorama before having sailed it but I can’t say I wouldn’t be embarrassed by the food or recommend Panorama as it stands today for my dude trip, but then Princess would be asleep by 9 PM, so there’s that.  LOL.  I realize we’re slowly coming out of a pandemic and we were also sailing Spring Break.  However, neither one of those should affect the taste of my food or inconsistent handling of many different things.  Not to mention this is for all intents and purposes a new ship.  They should have some of the best staff on board.  So, I’m not sure what the excuse is. 

18 hours ago, Markmom18 said:

Hi,

  I’m on the Panorama right now.  Rest assured there still is the MDR. You have options as to the time you’d like to go to dinner.  
 🛳🛳

  Bobbi 

My apologies, not meaning to hijack this thread but we leave next Saturday and I'm having a hard time determining if there are still two formal nights or just one (in context of MDR).  Thanks in advance!