Dec 21 to 28 2019 panorama review

[Nevada Jen]

19 minutes ago, newdestination said:

This is a great review.  Thank you for doing it!

The other choice is actually doing my work.  I wish I was better with photos but there are plenty of photos of the ship around, so I guess people are not missing much.

[Nevada Jen]

THe Land Part:

 

First stop was Cabo.  You have to get a tender ticket the day before on the 5th floor (near pixels if I remember correctly).  The tender boats are small and it takes a long time to get everyone off the ship, so if you have a non carnival excursion, pay attention to when those tickets go up.  I feel like it was a good hour after clearance before they got through groups 1-3.  We had three big ships in port, so that might have made the tender process extra slow.  We had 47 (which was the end of the "early" tenders"  I feel like we got off the ship at about 11:30.  Word to the wise, these are not big stable boats that its easy to move from the ship to the tender.  There is a pretty big gap between the ship and the tender and the tender was really bobbing around.  I don't think anyone other than a fully able bodied adult or at least a grade school aged kid could have transferred safely. I few people tendered with strollers but it was scary watching them carry a baby or toddler onto the tender.  The port has a good sized market right off the ship.  We really hated the in your face aggressive sales of excursions and trinkets in Nassau and I was worried about this port. There were a lot of sellers but they were actually very nice and it did not feel threatening like Nassau.  We just ate at a restaurant and shopped in the little bazar in the port area.  Maybe I was supposed to negotiate but I thought the prices were like slightly low American prices.  We wanted to go to Medano beach and it would have been easy to find a water taxi there but I wasn't positive on how we would get back and it just seemed a bit sketchy to me (single mom with a non adventurous kid).  We were happy enough with our experience and happy to get back on board and enjoy the sunshine.  Unlike previous cruises, a lot of people stayed on board at every port.  Many of these people had done this same cruise multiple times or land vacations to these places and were happy to stay on the ship.

 

Next Port Stop was Mazatlan.  This is the one with all the homeland security safety warnings.  So of course we decided to take a countryside ATV non ship tour.  My kid is obsessed with driving and I called and they would let his 14 year old butt drive his own ATV so we were in.  The guide met us at the port.  He was easy to find and we waited a bit for a group from the Joy to join us and then we boarded pick-up trucks with canopys and benches in the back and headed a good ways through town to the ATV shop.  We saw some areas of Mazatlan not meant to be seen by cruisers and it was obvious that it is not as safe as it looks from the pier.  Unlike other countries where I would describe areas as shockingly poor, these areas looked war-torn.  The streets were empty and we were in a moving vehicle, so I didn't feel particularly unsafe but I definitely wouldn't have wanted to be on foot in these areas.  The area around the shop was busy and touristy and seemed safe.  We each got our own ATV and took off with basically no instruction on busy city streets and highways for a good 4 miles!  I was not expecting that or I probably would not have let my 14 year old drive.  They let a 12 year old girl drive by herself also!  Despite this, it did not feel unsafe.  There was a tour guy at the front and back and then one crusings back and forth on the line next to us in a motor cycle.  We drove through dirt trails and forrests (the 12 year old ran into a tree) on some pretty rough terrain and then headed for a really deserted beach where we got to go fast.  One 15 year old flipped his ATV (or it flipped him) into the ocean and he landed under it.  That was pretty scary and it took about an hour to get going from there because the ATV had a flat and they wouldn't just leave it there.  Luckily there was a doctor in the group and the 15 year old was fine.  This was a really fun excursion for us.  Really great for a group with teens.  Probably not thrilling enough for thrill seeks or boring enough for 50+ folks without teens in the mix.  Looks like the tour was through mazatlan tours dot org.  It was definately a local tour operator and unregulated but we chose that so my 14 year old could drive.  We felt safe enough for my comfort level but my mom would have thrown a fit over the how unsafe it was (she still uses the non existant brake on her side of the car agressively when I drive).

 

More in a bit.  I am going to force myself to make 3 work calls.

[Calvin]

Hi Jen,

I just wanted to be one more person to thank you for this review. It's so great when people take time out, with absolutely no obligation to do so, to write in detail about their experience.

 

One thing we have in common is that I also am not a heavy drinker. Despite being 6'3", 250lbs, I am very much a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. HOWEVER, I always buy the drink package for 4 reasons:

 

1. I get to taste a bunch of drinks that I would never order at a bar on land, and I don't feel guilty about leaving them, or feel awkward about asking a bartender to switch it for something else.

2. On Carnival you only need about 5 drinks at an average of $10 per, to break even ($52 per day if you buy before boarding). That's actually fairly easy for me because I can drink 2 glasses of champagne with my breakfast/brunch since I don't have to drive, 😂. They, unlike other cruise lines, limit you to 15 drinks per day but I doubt I can even come close to that.

3. It includes milkshakes, specialty coffees, sodas, etc.

4. It gives me the emotional feeling of being at an all-inclusive/open bar event for 7 straight days!

[Smooth sailor77228]

9 hours ago, Nevada Jen said:

THe Land Part:

 

First stop was Cabo.  You have to get a tender ticket the day before on the 5th floor (near pixels if I remember correctly).  The tender boats are small and it takes a long time to get everyone off the ship, so if you have a non carnival excursion, pay attention to when those tickets go up.  I feel like it was a good hour after clearance before they got through groups 1-3.  We had three big ships in port, so that might have made the tender process extra slow.  We had 47 (which was the end of the "early" tenders"  I feel like we got off the ship at about 11:30.  Word to the wise, these are not big stable boats that its easy to move from the ship to the tender.  There is a pretty big gap between the ship and the tender and the tender was really bobbing around.  I don't think anyone other than a fully able bodied adult or at least a grade school aged kid could have transferred safely. I few people tendered with strollers but it was scary watching them carry a baby or toddler onto the tender.  The port has a good sized market right off the ship.  We really hated the in your face aggressive sales of excursions and trinkets in Nassau and I was worried about this port. There were a lot of sellers but they were actually very nice and it did not feel threatening like Nassau.  We just ate at a restaurant and shopped in the little bazar in the port area.  Maybe I was supposed to negotiate but I thought the prices were like slightly low American prices.  We wanted to go to Medano beach and it would have been easy to find a water taxi there but I wasn't positive on how we would get back and it just seemed a bit sketchy to me (single mom with a non adventurous kid).  We were happy enough with our experience and happy to get back on board and enjoy the sunshine.  Unlike previous cruises, a lot of people stayed on board at every port.  Many of these people had done this same cruise multiple times or land vacations to these places and were happy to stay on the ship.

 

Next Port Stop was Mazatlan.  This is the one with all the homeland security safety warnings.  So of course we decided to take a countryside ATV non ship tour.  My kid is obsessed with driving and I called and they would let his 14 year old butt drive his own ATV so we were in.  The guide met us at the port.  He was easy to find and we waited a bit for a group from the Joy to join us and then we boarded pick-up trucks with canopys and benches in the back and headed a good ways through town to the ATV shop.  We saw some areas of Mazatlan not meant to be seen by cruisers and it was obvious that it is not as safe as it looks from the pier.  Unlike other countries where I would describe areas as shockingly poor, these areas looked war-torn.  The streets were empty and we were in a moving vehicle, so I didn't feel particularly unsafe but I definitely wouldn't have wanted to be on foot in these areas.  The area around the shop was busy and touristy and seemed safe.  We each got our own ATV and took off with basically no instruction on busy city streets and highways for a good 4 miles!  I was not expecting that or I probably would not have let my 14 year old drive.  They let a 12 year old girl drive by herself also!  Despite this, it did not feel unsafe.  There was a tour guy at the front and back and then one crusings back and forth on the line next to us in a motor cycle.  We drove through dirt trails and forrests (the 12 year old ran into a tree) on some pretty rough terrain and then headed for a really deserted beach where we got to go fast.  One 15 year old flipped his ATV (or it flipped him) into the ocean and he landed under it.  That was pretty scary and it took about an hour to get going from there because the ATV had a flat and they wouldn't just leave it there.  Luckily there was a doctor in the group and the 15 year old was fine.  This was a really fun excursion for us.  Really great for a group with teens.  Probably not thrilling enough for thrill seeks or boring enough for 50+ folks without teens in the mix.  Looks like the tour was through mazatlan tours dot org.  It was definately a local tour operator and unregulated but we chose that so my 14 year old could drive.  We felt safe enough for my comfort level but my mom would have thrown a fit over the how unsafe it was (she still uses the non existant brake on her side of the car agressively when I drive).

 

More in a bit.  I am going to force myself to make 3 work calls.

This is absolutely hilarious. I feel like I’m reading a really good book one chapter at a time. Can’t wait for the next chapter lol

[kimba9615]

Hi Jen!!!! 

I am loving your review! I feel like I was right there with you and I can hear you telling your review, lol!  It was so great meeting you and your son on board. I wish we had met earlier in the week. If you are ever in San Diego you must get in touch!

 

Kim

[JoSutt]

Thanks so much for doing this report Jen.  I am loving your review.  I am a disabled wheelchair user, and had no idea that I would not be able to board the tender, so glad you mentioned this.  I some how thought they would have the boat secure enough for me to transfer then help get the wheelchair on.  Although disappointed about this, at least I can cancel my plans, so thanks for that.  Looking forward to reading more, and its so kind of you to take up your time doing such a great detailed review.

[CACruiseLady]

On 12/30/2019 at 1:19 PM, Nevada Jen said:

THe Land Part:

 

First stop was Cabo.  You have to get a tender ticket the day before on the 5th floor (near pixels if I remember correctly).  The tender boats are small and it takes a long time to get everyone off the ship, so if you have a non carnival excursion, pay attention to when those tickets go up.  I feel like it was a good hour after clearance before they got through groups 1-3.  We had three big ships in port, so that might have made the tender process extra slow.  We had 47 (which was the end of the "early" tenders"  I feel like we got off the ship at about 11:30.  Word to the wise, these are not big stable boats that its easy to move from the ship to the tender.  There is a pretty big gap between the ship and the tender and the tender was really bobbing around.  I don't think anyone other than a fully able bodied adult or at least a grade school aged kid could have transferred safely. I few people tendered with strollers but it was scary watching them carry a baby or toddler onto the tender.  The port has a good sized market right off the ship.  We really hated the in your face aggressive sales of excursions and trinkets in Nassau and I was worried about this port. There were a lot of sellers but they were actually very nice and it did not feel threatening like Nassau.  We just ate at a restaurant and shopped in the little bazar in the port area.  Maybe I was supposed to negotiate but I thought the prices were like slightly low American prices.  We wanted to go to Medano beach and it would have been easy to find a water taxi there but I wasn't positive on how we would get back and it just seemed a bit sketchy to me (single mom with a non adventurous kid).  We were happy enough with our experience and happy to get back on board and enjoy the sunshine.  Unlike previous cruises, a lot of people stayed on board at every port.  Many of these people had done this same cruise multiple times or land vacations to these places and were happy to stay on the ship.

 

Next Port Stop was Mazatlan.  This is the one with all the homeland security safety warnings.  So of course we decided to take a countryside ATV non ship tour.  My kid is obsessed with driving and I called and they would let his 14 year old butt drive his own ATV so we were in.  The guide met us at the port.  He was easy to find and we waited a bit for a group from the Joy to join us and then we boarded pick-up trucks with canopys and benches in the back and headed a good ways through town to the ATV shop.  We saw some areas of Mazatlan not meant to be seen by cruisers and it was obvious that it is not as safe as it looks from the pier.  Unlike other countries where I would describe areas as shockingly poor, these areas looked war-torn.  The streets were empty and we were in a moving vehicle, so I didn't feel particularly unsafe but I definitely wouldn't have wanted to be on foot in these areas.  The area around the shop was busy and touristy and seemed safe.  We each got our own ATV and took off with basically no instruction on busy city streets and highways for a good 4 miles!  I was not expecting that or I probably would not have let my 14 year old drive.  They let a 12 year old girl drive by herself also!  Despite this, it did not feel unsafe.  There was a tour guy at the front and back and then one crusings back and forth on the line next to us in a motor cycle.  We drove through dirt trails and forrests (the 12 year old ran into a tree) on some pretty rough terrain and then headed for a really deserted beach where we got to go fast.  One 15 year old flipped his ATV (or it flipped him) into the ocean and he landed under it.  That was pretty scary and it took about an hour to get going from there because the ATV had a flat and they wouldn't just leave it there.  Luckily there was a doctor in the group and the 15 year old was fine.  This was a really fun excursion for us.  Really great for a group with teens.  Probably not thrilling enough for thrill seeks or boring enough for 50+ folks without teens in the mix.  Looks like the tour was through mazatlan tours dot org.  It was definately a local tour operator and unregulated but we chose that so my 14 year old could drive.  We felt safe enough for my comfort level but my mom would have thrown a fit over the how unsafe it was (she still uses the non existant brake on her side of the car agressively when I drive).

 

More in a bit.  I am going to force myself to make 3 work calls.

Thank you SO much for your review!  What time do you need to be back in the ship in Puerto Vallarta?

[Nevada Jen]

1 hour ago, JoSutt said:

Thanks so much for doing this report Jen.  I am loving your review.  I am a disabled wheelchair user, and had no idea that I would not be able to board the tender, so glad you mentioned this.  I some how thought they would have the boat secure enough for me to transfer then help get the wheelchair on.  Although disappointed about this, at least I can cancel my plans, so thanks for that.  Looking forward to reading more, and its so kind of you to take up your time doing such a great detailed review.

 I'm really sorry that you can't transfer but honestly, Cabo is not the worst port to miss.  My daughter was in a wheel chair and very disabled. So we never cruised until she passed away because I didn't think it would be possible in a wheelchair.  Now that I am more experienced, I can see that it would have been possible but we would have had to miss some things.  But it does give me the ability to judge wheelchair friendliness.  Some tenders I think we could have pulled off in a wheelchair but not Cabo.  In Mazatlan you have to take a tram from the ship to the end of the port.  Its a working port and they will not let you traverse through there.  You might want to contact Carnival Special Needs and make sure they have wheelchair accessible shuttles.

The ship itself is pretty wheelchair friendly.  One of my giant pet peeves was always high table only restaurants.  There is a good mix of table heights.  Not a lot of spots where you have to go a million miles to get an elevator because you can't make it up a flight of stairs.  I think you will love the buffet set up because its not one long line of stations which makes it easier to manuever.  I don't think you will be able to get into a hot tub because I think they were all raised and required steps.  I don't remember any bars with low sections but the roving waiter service was pretty good on our cruise.  The havana bar has great seating for wheelchair folks because the chairs all move.  If shows are important to you, see if they will let you scope out a spot in the showroom (what is the dang name of it!) beforehand and maybe enter to get seated beforehand. Not a lot of crowd pinchpoints on the ship which is nice is chair.

[Roscoe13]

4 hours ago, JoSutt said:

Thanks so much for doing this report Jen.  I am loving your review.  I am a disabled wheelchair user, and had no idea that I would not be able to board the tender, so glad you mentioned this.  I some how thought they would have the boat secure enough for me to transfer then help get the wheelchair on.  Although disappointed about this, at least I can cancel my plans, so thanks for that.  Looking forward to reading more, and its so kind of you to take up your time doing such a great detailed review.

Here is the Cabo tendering info.  I think they can or will at least try to accommodate a wheelchair in an accessible tender.

[JoSutt]

13 hours ago, Nevada Jen said:

 I'm really sorry that you can't transfer but honestly, Cabo is not the worst port to miss.  My daughter was in a wheel chair and very disabled. So we never cruised until she passed away because I didn't think it would be possible in a wheelchair.  Now that I am more experienced, I can see that it would have been possible but we would have had to miss some things.  But it does give me the ability to judge wheelchair friendliness.  Some tenders I think we could have pulled off in a wheelchair but not Cabo.  In Mazatlan you have to take a tram from the ship to the end of the port.  Its a working port and they will not let you traverse through there.  You might want to contact Carnival Special Needs and make sure they have wheelchair accessible shuttles.

The ship itself is pretty wheelchair friendly.  One of my giant pet peeves was always high table only restaurants.  There is a good mix of table heights.  Not a lot of spots where you have to go a million miles to get an elevator because you can't make it up a flight of stairs.  I think you will love the buffet set up because its not one long line of stations which makes it easier to manuever.  I don't think you will be able to get into a hot tub because I think they were all raised and required steps.  I don't remember any bars with low sections but the roving waiter service was pretty good on our cruise.  The havana bar has great seating for wheelchair folks because the chairs all move.  If shows are important to you, see if they will let you scope out a spot in the showroom (what is the dang name of it!) beforehand and maybe enter to get seated beforehand. Not a lot of crowd pinchpoints on the ship which is nice is chair.

Thank you so much for all this very helpful information Jen.  I really appreciate it.  I will phone Carnival today about the Mazatlan shuttle.  Good to know the situation on the ship.  So very sorry about your daughter.  Thanks again for your help.

[JoSutt]

11 hours ago, Roscoe13 said:

Here is the Cabo tendering info.  I think they can or will at least try to accommodate a wheelchair in an accessible tender.

Thank you Roscoe 13 for this information.  Maybe I will be able to go to Cabo.  I hope so.  Very kind of you to look this up for me, I really appreciate it.

[Calvin]

1 hour ago, JoSutt said:

Thank you so much for all this very helpful information Jen.  I really appreciate it.  I will phone Carnival today about the Mazatlan shuttle.  Good to know the situation on the ship.  So very sorry about your daughter.  Thanks again for your help.

Hi JoSutt,

 

I apologize if I'm misreading your question but, if the issue is whether or not you can use the Mazatlan shuttle, I don't think there will be any problem at all. I've been to Mazatlan many times and, unless they've changed things, the shuttle is a big, open air trolley-like vehicle. The ride is ~ 2 minutes and all they do is cross the huge containers over into the mini-mall. I'm not a disabled user so it would be a good idea to verify this with Carnival, but I'll bet you will be fine.

[JoSutt]

Hi Calvin,

Thanks for the reply.    Yes Jen above mentions the Mazatlan shuttle and didnt know if it was wheelchair friendly.  If its a big open air trolley and I can fold the wheelchair I should be fine.  Thank you for letting me know that.  I appreciate it.

[Nevada Jen]

Part 2 of the land part:  I saved the best for last.  I usually do not choose a Carnival Excursion if I can avoid it just because they tend to be a bit tame for us.  A number of people had said the Carnival's Sea Safari was extremely fun and a family who seemed similar to us was doing it for a second time.  So we signed up. 

 

So a little aside I am sure some of you will get a kick out of.  I met a family through a social network site who were white with a black kid the same age as my son.  We are also white with a black kid.  Recently my son got to spend a lot of time with two transracial adoptees and he mentioned it was the first time in his life he ever met a family like ours.  I wanted to make it happen again and plus this family seemed like we could be friends.  Plus I was determined to be more daring socially on this cruise.  Dangit!  I was going to make new friends if it killed me. 

 

So we board and I find out the bad news about smoking and get off to smoke.  In the terminal on my way back in (perhaps a couple of drinks in) I see the white people with the black teen girl!  I know they will be so happy to meet me!  I get in her face and over the top tell them how excited I am to meet them.  The teen is a beautiful dark brown.  The mom is a bit standoffish compared to online and doesn't seem to remember our connection as being significant.  But whatever.  We determine we will chat on board.  At the Sea Safari.  Turns out dad is a smoker, so we see each other a few times.  Then it is PV day.  We will force the kids together on the Sea Safari. 

 

We get off the ship but we do not see them.  I see another white family with a lighter black kid but not my friends.  And then the other family says "Hey are you Jen?"  Oops.  Wrong white parents with white kid in the terminal.  I talked to that dad all week and I must have scared the crap out of the mom.  They probably thought I was nuts mentioning Sea Safari.  If you are reading this, super sorry!  My mom used to accost random asian families (did I mention my sibs are Vietnamese?).  I have officially become my mom!

 

So onto the the Sea Safari excursion.  Spoiler Alert:  It was awesome!!!!  I was super worried about the horses.  I grew up riding, but 15 years ago I had a surgery where they accidentally cut a nerve in my leg.  I have completely compensated and you really can't tell.  About 7 years ago, when I was much skinnier and in way better shape, I tried to ride on a family vacation and I could not get my muscle to fire in the direction to lift me up over the horse.  Like just nothing happened.  I was really worried I would ruin the excursion by not being able to ride.  I swore I would lose 30 pounds and get a personal trainer to work on that specific motion in the year leading up to the cruise.  Didn't happen.  I got fatter and more sedentary.  Shocker.  So a week before the cruise I started messing around on the stairs a few times a day trying to mimic making that muscle fire, but I was really worried.  Long story short, it was no problem!  THe horses were short and the guy helping knew exactly where to assist on my leg to help me pop over the horse.

 

Backing up a bit, we met on the pier.  There were a ton of people.  We were at the back of the line but it had all the makings of a giant slow boring group tour.  We had to wait a while for our small boats because another cruise ship in port was doing manuevers.  Finally they broke us into small groups when they put us on the boat. Maybe about 25 per boat and we never saw the other boat groups again. We got a guide named Danny.  Turned out to be the best luck of the cruise.  He was awesome.  Super fun and get the party going type of guy but still caring and safety conscious.  He obviously loves his job.  So first we took a zodiac boat ride to a pennisula, where we got on horses and rode to a waterfall.  The horses were slow and knew where they were going, so zero riding skill was required but some of the ride was a bit treacherous so it had a good bit of thrill to it.  (I should mention, Danny was nice enough to point out each spot we could get alcohol for the next leg of the journey and the horses were slow enough we could drink and ride at the same time.)  We rode to a really pretty waterfall.  There was a little resteraunt there and we had the best guacamole in the history of the world.  Some people went in the water and jumped off the falls, but I think I mentioned, I'm not a fan of cold.  We rode the horses back, jumped on the boat again and then went to a cove to snorkle.  Not gonna lie, this was lame.  You had to keep you life jacket on and there were too many boats and people.  But it was nice to just float in the ocean and know there were 200 people to save you if a shark got you.  Then we got back in the boat.  At some point we saw whales.  These were not big boats.  The whales were much bigger than us.  We stopped to watch them play.  Which was a total added bonus.  Then, we went to an even more remote end of the pennisula and had a buffet lunch (which was gross in my opinion) and an open bar.  Again, Danny was quick to point out the bar, and people were doing shots and having lots of fun.  Finally on the way back, not more than 50 yards from our 20 seater boat, a giant whale jumped out of the water in a huge arch, way higher than our boat and splashed back down.  I got 8 photos.  4 empty water, 1 whale nose in the very corner if you use your imagination, and 4 giant splashes.  It was pretty much the coolest thing I have ever seen. Finally we headed back to port and the fun was over.  Best excursion ever and we had a super fun group of people with us that made it even better.  I am sure we will stay friends with two of the families and we now have a rating system for how bad we need to pee based on whether it is "worse than Ace."

 

A few things.  Carnival's website describes the excursion activity level as Difficult or extremely difficult or something like that.  I would't say you need to be in top physical shape to do this but there was a good bit of hard walking, some walking through streams with a bit of a current and a few places where you had to get in out of a boat and wade to shore and transfer between aggressively  bobbing boats in the middle of the ocean.  Carnival says the minimum age is 10 and that is about the minimum age I would feel safe with (recall that I am not a huge safety freak from letting my 14 year old drive an ATV on city streets in a do not travel zone).  Honestly, the hardest part is boat parts.  You really fly around and have to hold on.  My 70 year old dad could easily do this (my mom could too, but recall the fake brake).  I don't think I could do a 3 mile hike very easily and I was just fine on the excursion.  My point being, its difficult compared to riding around on a bus, but this is not extreme adventure stuff. If they don't say it, you should wear at least capri's for the horseback riding part.  You can bring a bag with you that they will help you attached to the saddle horn but don't bring a ton.  We brought one beach towel for the two of us.  I can't recall if they required closed toed shoes but I wore mine for the horseback ride and the beach and was glad I did because of rocks.  There is a person in addition to the guide who takes photos the whole time and also helps.  You can buy the photos at the end and it was a good deal for the flash drive.  Its a long excursion.  We did not get to see PV.  We were exhausted when we came back.  So tired we missed Christmas Dinner on board.  My son fell asleep sitting on the bed.  I never did see the nice white family I accosted in the terminal after that point.  I still feel bad how much I must have freaked them out!

 

Next up:  Debarkation

[jimbo5544]

What a great review, cannot wait for the debark and wrap up, thanks for doing it.!

[AKR2011]

Your review is so down to earth, and man, that story about the family you met in the terminal...🤣 Thank you so much for sharing!

Edited January 2, 2020 by AKR2011

[mkcurran]

On 1/1/2020 at 6:32 AM, JoSutt said:

Thank you so much for all this very helpful information Jen.  I really appreciate it.  I will phone Carnival today about the Mazatlan shuttle.  Good to know the situation on the ship.  So very sorry about your daughter.  Thanks again for your help.

The back row on the shuttles in Mazatlan is wide enough to accommodate most chairs, walkers, and strollers. They have ramps to load and unload as well. Learned this when Mom was using a walker in Mazatlan. 

[katstoy]

On 12/31/2019 at 3:30 PM, Nevada Jen said:

  In Mazatlan you have to take a tram from the ship to the end of the port.  Its a working port and they will not let you traverse through there.  You might want to contact Carnival Special Needs and make sure they have wheelchair accessible shuttles.

 

Yes, the shuttles are wheelchair/scooter accessible.  We were there in November on the Miracle and the very last car and row of the tram has a ramp that comes down for access.  That row is also at least 3-4 times as wide as the regular rows to accommodate chairs/scooters.  I didn't see anyone use that feature but I did notice it.

 

Edit -- Ok, so it's a double post of what's above.  That's what happens when you don't read the thread all the way through before posting!

Edited January 2, 2020 by katstoy

[Nevada Jen]

Sadly, the end:

So it was finally debarkation day.  Not gonna lie, the last two sea days were very rough sailing.  It didn't bother me much because I was mainlining benedryl by this point because of breathing ship air.  I think I said, the last night I finally gave up and slept out on the balcony.  I feel a bit bad because I am sure the comforter I dragged out there was covered in soot, but holy cow!  The stars and the silence on the balcony were really amazing.  The last night we packed our bags. 

 

You pick up baggage tags the day before about mid day somewhere (I feel like it was Deck 7, but I can't really remember).  Get one for each bag you are having Carnival take into the terminal for you).  We got number 12 luggage tags.  We put the bags out at about 9 that night (I think we had until 11:30).  The next morning we had to be out of our room by 8:30.  This is really early for a girl who got less than 3 hours of sleep on a balcony.  And they were knocking on our door at 8.  I had my alarm set for 8:07 and had the "snoozzin" sign on the door.  This is the third cruise they have done this to us on, so it is clearly their practice.  It really annoys me.  I was going to be out on time.  I didn't need to lose those 7 minutes of sleep just to assure them of that.  Also, I should have smoked, because right at 8:30 they announced the no smoking anywhere on the ship rule again.  We had tag 12 of close to 50 numbers, so I figured it would not be a long wait.  My time is a little off that morning (unlike previous ships, they change the time frequently on this cruise and you really have to stay on top of it) but I think we pulled into port about 7ish.  

 

Yet they did not announce self debark, starting at the bottom floor until 11.  and then numbers went really, really slow.  They did a few decks of self debark one floor at a time and then started adding in the luggage people a couple of numbers at a time.  I am pretty sure 3/4 of the ship stayed on deck 1 or 2 and self debarked.  THat took more than an hour to get them off.  I think our number finally got called around noon.  We basically walked right off the ship without delay at that point.  I was in great need a smoke at that point and I had heard that it is much faster with a porter.  So we got a porter.  The porter line was 10 minutes at customs and the regular line was over 30 minutes according to our porter and that looked correct.  I was super nervous that maybe I was supposed to declare those cartons of cigarettes and was fighting an inner battle about whether I should set a good example for my son and be truthful or go with my "understanding" of the allowances or flat out lie about the cigs if asked.  And then we got to the customs guy and handed him our already opened passports and he snapped "stay with your porter!" and slammed the books back in my hand and the crowd pushed me along and I was outside.  Weirdest thing ever.  Didn't even ask our names or say anything other than the porter sentence.  I am used to the questions because my kid is a different race than us.  We got outside and I told my son to wait on a bench with the bags while I went to smoke and he said "OK.  Give me my passport in case we get separated and I have to go through customs by myself."  He literally didn't even know we had gone through customs it was so perfunctory.  

 

We walked across a drive was and caught a cab to LAX.  THe cab ride (not doing uber again from the port after our ride in, plus the cabs were right there) was 79 dollars.  Ouch.  We were at LAX with plenty of time to spare.  In fact I am pretty sure it was 11:30, so clearly my debark time table is off somewhere!   There was no line at security.  The moment I went through, I bought a Diet Coke and drank that as I walked to the next store and bought a Diet Dr. Pepper.  I even had time to go back out and smoke a couple of cigarettes and go back through security.  Again, don't be afraid of LAX if you are flying in on Southwest.  It was painfully easy and compact.

 

Closing thoughts.  This was a nice vacation and the cruise was somewhere between great and wonderful.  I hate when people call Carnival the Walmart of cruiselines.  That is really not at all fair.  I have cruised one other line and this Carnival ship was nicer and the staff was more down to earth and friendly.  This ship is so big that the kind of tacky things they do are super easily avoided.  You tend to see the same people over and over again depending on where you hang out and your schedule. It seemed to be a mix of passengers mostly from Texas and California.  In case you did not get the memo, these two states might as well be two different countries. There was a good bit of loud conversation that is perfectly acceptable in Texas but is not a good idea in CA. I never saw a fight but there was a noticeable dichotomy.  Also, on previous cruises (all out of Florida) the teens always seemed young and unexposed compared to my son. That was not the vibe I got on this cruise, the older teens didn't appear clean cut and innocent as a group.   Not sure if that means anything or was even true in actuality and if it was California cruising versus Florida cruising or related to Christmas.  I would be interested to see if people who cruise Panorama in the future have the same take.

 

Despite my positive experience, I think we will move on to Royal Caribbean.  All things being equal, I am picking the ship with Diet Coke.  Also, we realize that our favorite part of cruising is the shows, the food and the ports.  We don't want trivia or games or pools or waterslides and we don't like Sea days later in the cruise.  Also, I want to try someone else's ship air and see if that helps me not get sick.    

 

I know people have a ton of little questions about Panorama, so I hope this has been helpful even without photos to make it more exciting.  Feel free to ask any questions you might have and I am happy to try to answer.  Thanks for reading.

[Calvin]

3 minutes ago, Nevada Jen said:

Sadly, the end:

So it was finally debarkation day.  Not gonna lie, the last two sea days were very rough sailing.  It didn't bother me much because I was mainlining benedryl by this point because of breathing ship air.  I think I said, the last night I finally gave up and slept out on the balcony.  I feel a bit bad because I am sure the comforter I dragged out there was covered in soot, but holy cow!  The stars and the silence on the balcony were really amazing.  The last night we packed our bags. 

 

You pick up baggage tags the day before about mid day somewhere (I feel like it was Deck 7, but I can't really remember).  Get one for each bag you are having Carnival take into the terminal for you).  We got number 12 luggage tags.  We put the bags out at about 9 that night (I think we had until 11:30).  The next morning we had to be out of our room by 8:30.  This is really early for a girl who got less than 3 hours of sleep on a balcony.  And they were knocking on our door at 8.  I had my alarm set for 8:07 and had the "snoozzin" sign on the door.  This is the third cruise they have done this to us on, so it is clearly their practice.  It really annoys me.  I was going to be out on time.  I didn't need to lose those 7 minutes of sleep just to assure them of that.  Also, I should have smoked, because right at 8:30 they announced the no smoking anywhere on the ship rule again.  We had tag 12 of close to 50 numbers, so I figured it would not be a long wait.  My time is a little off that morning (unlike previous ships, they change the time frequently on this cruise and you really have to stay on top of it) but I think we pulled into port about 7ish.  

 

Yet they did not announce self debark, starting at the bottom floor until 11.  and then numbers went really, really slow.  They did a few decks of self debark one floor at a time and then started adding in the luggage people a couple of numbers at a time.  I am pretty sure 3/4 of the ship stayed on deck 1 or 2 and self debarked.  THat took more than an hour to get them off.  I think our number finally got called around noon.  We basically walked right off the ship without delay at that point.  I was in great need a smoke at that point and I had heard that it is much faster with a porter.  So we got a porter.  The porter line was 10 minutes at customs and the regular line was over 30 minutes according to our porter and that looked correct.  I was super nervous that maybe I was supposed to declare those cartons of cigarettes and was fighting an inner battle about whether I should set a good example for my son and be truthful or go with my "understanding" of the allowances or flat out lie about the cigs if asked.  And then we got to the customs guy and handed him our already opened passports and he snapped "stay with your porter!" and slammed the books back in my hand and the crowd pushed me along and I was outside.  Weirdest thing ever.  Didn't even ask our names or say anything other than the porter sentence.  I am used to the questions because my kid is a different race than us.  We got outside and I told my son to wait on a bench with the bags while I went to smoke and he said "OK.  Give me my passport in case we get separated and I have to go through customs by myself."  He literally didn't even know we had gone through customs it was so perfunctory.  

 

We walked across a drive was and caught a cab to LAX.  THe cab ride (not doing uber again from the port after our ride in, plus the cabs were right there) was 79 dollars.  Ouch.  We were at LAX with plenty of time to spare.  In fact I am pretty sure it was 11:30, so clearly my debark time table is off somewhere!   There was no line at security.  The moment I went through, I bought a Diet Coke and drank that as I walked to the next store and bought a Diet Dr. Pepper.  I even had time to go back out and smoke a couple of cigarettes and go back through security.  Again, don't be afraid of LAX if you are flying in on Southwest.  It was painfully easy and compact.

 

Closing thoughts.  This was a nice vacation and the cruise was somewhere between great and wonderful.  I hate when people call Carnival the Walmart of cruiselines.  That is really not at all fair.  I have cruised one other line and this Carnival ship was nicer and the staff was more down to earth and friendly.  This ship is so big that the kind of tacky things they do are super easily avoided.  You tend to see the same people over and over again depending on where you hang out and your schedule. It seemed to be a mix of passengers mostly from Texas and California.  In case you did not get the memo, these two states might as well be two different countries. There was a good bit of loud conversation that is perfectly acceptable in Texas but is not a good idea in CA. I never saw a fight but there was a noticeable dichotomy.  Also, on previous cruises (all out of Florida) the teens always seemed young and unexposed compared to my son. That was not the vibe I got on this cruise, the older teens didn't appear clean cut and innocent as a group.   Not sure if that means anything or was even true in actuality and if it was California cruising versus Florida cruising or related to Christmas.  I would be interested to see if people who cruise Panorama in the future have the same take.

 

Despite my positive experience, I think we will move on to Royal Caribbean.  All things being equal, I am picking the ship with Diet Coke.  Also, we realize that our favorite part of cruising is the shows, the food and the ports.  We don't want trivia or games or pools or waterslides and we don't like Sea days later in the cruise.  Also, I want to try someone else's ship air and see if that helps me not get sick.    

 

I know people have a ton of little questions about Panorama, so I hope this has been helpful even without photos to make it more exciting.  Feel free to ask any questions you might have and I am happy to try to answer.  Thanks for reading.

 

 

Godspeed.  Almost any mass market cruise line will do for me, though some are better than others for specific desires.  I'm going on my 34th on the Panorama and am looking forward to it.  I did want to make one tiny point.  If I'm not mistaken (I've never done it) Carnival allows each guest to bring a 12 pack of soda. So if you and your child sail Carnival again, you might be able to bring up to 24 cans of soda for the week!

[jbethel11]

12 minutes ago, Nevada Jen said:

I think I said, the last night I finally gave up and slept out on the balcony.  I feel a bit bad because I am sure the comforter I dragged out there was covered in soot, but holy cow!  The stars and the silence on the balcony were really amazing.  The last night we packed our bags. 

I think I need to sleep on a balcony at sea right about now.

10 minutes ago, Nevada Jen said:

Also, on previous cruises (all out of Florida) the teens always seemed young and unexposed compared to my son.

Sorry, could you elaborate on what you mean by this statement?

11 minutes ago, Nevada Jen said:

the older teens didn't appear clean cut and innocent as a group.

Wait until you sail from NY!

[Nevada Jen]

Jbethel, My 14 year old grew up in Vegas.  Seeing scantily clad women on billboards and cabs on a daily basis.  He was traveling alone with teens and spending 30 hours a week without a parent with teens and coaches when he was 7 because of his sports involvment.  He uses Uber better than me.  The past two cruises the kids in Circle C have seemed way too young for him.  Like the most mature were playing minecraft and thought being free to come and go as they pleased was a huge treat, while my kid was taking an uber downtown to go see a play or participate in a women's rights rally.  My is a city kid.  This cruise, the kids his age were more like him in maturity/exposure level.  I suspect it is because the cruisers generally came from the same area of the country where we live.  

[chefchick]

Great review.  Could you elaborate on the noise from your cabin?  I am booked in one of those deck 7 Havana insides you spoke of.   How bad was the noise?  I was across from a crew closet area my last carnival cruise and it would have been almost comical how loud the banging was except there is nothing funny about a vacation with no sleep 🙄. I booked deck 7 because I was concerned about a deck 5 inside being too close to the Havana bar/music area....did I make a mistake?

[Nevada Jen]

15 minutes ago, chefchick said:

Great review.  Could you elaborate on the noise from your cabin?  I am booked in one of those deck 7 Havana insides you spoke of.   How bad was the noise?  I was across from a crew closet area my last carnival cruise and it would have been almost comical how loud the banging was except there is nothing funny about a vacation with no sleep 🙄. I booked deck 7 because I was concerned about a deck 5 inside being too close to the Havana bar/music area....did I make a mistake?

 That is a tough call.  The Havana bar part of deck 5 where the interiors are is actually really quiet.  There are just little sitting areas there in kind of sectioned off alcoves.  The band is in that middle section of the bar and faces the back of the ship (away from your room).  Those might be better spots than deck 7.  Or you could get a loud family who plays board games against your wall in the little sitting area all night long.  

 The noise on deck 7 is the housekeeping crew for at least the half the floor getting all their cleaning carts and stuff out pretty constantly in the hallways along those balconies. And talking while doing it. From my room it was a bit of banging things against the hallway walls which were as far as possible from my bed.  From the cruise deck plan site your entire back wall is against that area and I think your side wall may be also (remember I said I thought the cruise deck plan is not entirely accurate for that room?).  Here is the thing, I heard the hallway noise through my room door but I did not hear room to room noise.  Maybe someone who had the rooms on either side of me will chime in with whether they could hear me coughing all night.  So it is very possible you would not be bothered by the crew area noise. The areas against your back wall could very well be shelves for linens. The area they enter and exit and did set up in the halls was in front of my room, not yours.  The more I think about it, I think you chose right.  There is a chance this turns out really good for you noisewise.

[annviv]

On 12/30/2019 at 4:19 PM, Nevada Jen said:

THe Land Part:

 

First stop was Cabo.  You have to get a tender ticket the day before on the 5th floor (near pixels if I remember correctly).  The tender boats are small and it takes a long time to get everyone off the ship, so if you have a non carnival excursion, pay attention to when those tickets go up.  I feel like it was a good hour after clearance before they got through groups 1-3.  We had three big ships in port, so that might have made the tender process extra slow.  We had 47 (which was the end of the "early" tenders"  I feel like we got off the ship at about 11:30.  Word to the wise, these are not big stable boats that its easy to move from the ship to the tender.  There is a pretty big gap between the ship and the tender and the tender was really bobbing around.  I don't think anyone other than a fully able bodied adult or at least a grade school aged kid could have transferred safely. I few people tendered with strollers but it was scary watching them carry a baby or toddler onto the tender.  The port has a good sized market right off the ship.  We really hated the in your face aggressive sales of excursions and trinkets in Nassau and I was worried about this port. There were a lot of sellers but they were actually very nice and it did not feel threatening like Nassau.  We just ate at a restaurant and shopped in the little bazar in the port area.  Maybe I was supposed to negotiate but I thought the prices were like slightly low American prices.  We wanted to go to Medano beach and it would have been easy to find a water taxi there but I wasn't positive on how we would get back and it just seemed a bit sketchy to me (single mom with a non adventurous kid).  We were happy enough with our experience and happy to get back on board and enjoy the sunshine.  Unlike previous cruises, a lot of people stayed on board at every port.  Many of these people had done this same cruise multiple times or land vacations to these places and were happy to stay on the ship.

 

Next Port Stop was Mazatlan.  This is the one with all the homeland security safety warnings.  So of course we decided to take a countryside ATV non ship tour.  My kid is obsessed with driving and I called and they would let his 14 year old butt drive his own ATV so we were in.  The guide met us at the port.  He was easy to find and we waited a bit for a group from the Joy to join us and then we boarded pick-up trucks with canopys and benches in the back and headed a good ways through town to the ATV shop.  We saw some areas of Mazatlan not meant to be seen by cruisers and it was obvious that it is not as safe as it looks from the pier.  Unlike other countries where I would describe areas as shockingly poor, these areas looked war-torn.  The streets were empty and we were in a moving vehicle, so I didn't feel particularly unsafe but I definitely wouldn't have wanted to be on foot in these areas.  The area around the shop was busy and touristy and seemed safe.  We each got our own ATV and took off with basically no instruction on busy city streets and highways for a good 4 miles!  I was not expecting that or I probably would not have let my 14 year old drive.  They let a 12 year old girl drive by herself also!  Despite this, it did not feel unsafe.  There was a tour guy at the front and back and then one crusings back and forth on the line next to us in a motor cycle.  We drove through dirt trails and forrests (the 12 year old ran into a tree) on some pretty rough terrain and then headed for a really deserted beach where we got to go fast.  One 15 year old flipped his ATV (or it flipped him) into the ocean and he landed under it.  That was pretty scary and it took about an hour to get going from there because the ATV had a flat and they wouldn't just leave it there.  Luckily there was a doctor in the group and the 15 year old was fine.  This was a really fun excursion for us.  Really great for a group with teens.  Probably not thrilling enough for thrill seeks or boring enough for 50+ folks without teens in the mix.  Looks like the tour was through mazatlan tours dot org.  It was definately a local tour operator and unregulated but we chose that so my 14 year old could drive.  We felt safe enough for my comfort level but my mom would have thrown a fit over the how unsafe it was (she still uses the non existant brake on her side of the car agressively when I drive).

 

More in a bit.  I am going to force myself to make 3 work calls.