Another California Adventure! – Baja Mexico & Mexican Riviera aboard the Miracle & Panorama (with pics) – October 2021.

[Jamman54]

Ahoy, Cruise Critic family! My beautiful wife Patti and I have just returned from another California Adventure. This time we did a B2B for a total of 7 days on the Carnival Miracle to Ensenada and Catalina, followed by a 7 day cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo san Lucas on the Carnival Panorama. We also spent some time exploring Long Beach and Los Angeles pre and post cruises. We had a fantastic time, saw and experienced a lot of new things, and met a lot of fellow Cruise Critic members. We are so excited to bring you all the action that we hardly know where to begin!

 

So let’s begin at the very beginning. I’m going to call this section “How to build a California Adventure”. Around two years ago, shortly after we returned from our first California Adventure, where we cruised on the Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Splendor, we decided that in 2021 we would head back out west. We would make the Carnival Panorama the focal point of our return. At that point we hadn’t cruised on a Vista Class ship before so this would be our first. (It turns out that we did cruise on the Horizon this past August, but that was a last minute deal that we couldn’t refuse). Now, when to book? We normally cruise in the April / May or September / October time frames. Being retired now, we avoid the spring break, summer break, and holiday peak times, which are more expensive and crowded. We decided on October 23^rd, as we could get an awesome deal on a Havana interior cabin, and enjoy the Havana experience for ourselves.

 

Next, we wanted to book a cruise on the Carnival Imagination, as it was the only Fantasy class ship that we hadn’t been on. We decided on the October 18^th 4 day sailing to Catalina Island and Ensenada. And then the pandemic came. In July 2020 it was announced that the Imagination, along with the Fantasy and Inspiration would be scrapped. It was then announced that the Carnival Radiance, and her Cruise Director Lee Mason, who we like, would be replacing the Imagination in Long Beach. Since we enjoyed her sister ship Carnival Sunrise so much, we decided to add the October 15^th 3 day sailing to Ensenada and create a B2B. They also moved us from the ocean view cabin that we had on the Imagination, to a balcony cabin. They gave us the same balcony cabin for both legs. Now, fast forward to February 2021, when the announcement was made that the Radiance would not be ready until at least November. They also announced that the Carnival Miracle would now be taking over the Radiance’s cruises from Long Beach. Now, we had to decide if we wanted to keep the bookings. Since we love the Spirit class ships we decided to keep the bookings, and our PVP made sure that we had the same balcony cabin for both legs. So that’s how we booked the Imagination, and wound up on the Miracle!

 

The next step in the process would be to book the flights. When booking on United the earliest that you can book is 11 months out. Because we are both tall with bad legs and feet, we need to fly Business Class. We find that you can get exceptional Business Class rates if you book them as soon as they become available. After that, the prices sky rocket. Most people that flew Business Class with us on our flights paid two or three times the price we did! To get our VERY good rates, we had to fly out the morning of October 9^th, and return the evening of November 1^st.

 

Now that we know our flight dates, we could go ahead and book our hotels for before, between, and after our cruises. Because we are Hilton Honors members we booked the Long Beach Hilton for the six days before our Miracle cruises, and also for the day before our Panorama cruise. We stayed here the last time and loved it, and the location, as it is close to everything we want to see. Post Panorama cruise we booked the LAX Airport Hilton for three days, giving us time to explore Los Angeles before flying home. We didn’t book any sightseeing tours for Long Beach or Los Angeles prior to flying out, preferring to wing it as we went. So that’s how we planned this California Adventure.

 

This is going to be a looooong review so be patient with us. Patti took well over four thousand pictures during this adventure, so I have a lot of sorting, cropping, and re-sizing to catch up on. Even though I took my laptop with me and worked on the photos from time to time, there’s no way I could keep up with Patti’s itchy shutter finger! As of today, I have completed the Long Beach and Miracle portion of pictures, and will work on the Panorama and Los Angeles portion daily until I am finished. For those that are wondering, our go to camera is the Canon PowerShot XS720 HS, and our water camera is the Fuji FinePix XP60. We also have to catch up with life, work, and such, so we may not post anything for a day or two from time to time, but just remember, we have not ever not finished a review.

 

As usual, our reviews start and end at home and cover everything in between. I know that some people like to get right into the cruise stuff and I understand that, but when doing these reviews we want to re-live the whole vacation, not just part of it. So, the cruise stuff may take a few days to get to, but once we’re on it, we’re on it!

Our format will remain the same as our past reviews with a day by day account. As always, there will be many, many pictures with plenty of explanations and details. We strive to make you feel that you are cruising right along with us. So, grab yourself a DOD, hop on board with us, and join the fun!

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Day # 1 (October 9^th)  -  California here we come again!!!

 

We were up at 3 am to get ready for our 8:40 am flight from Newark (EWR) to Los Angeles (LAX). We packed up the car and then posed for our traditional “leaving the house” picture….

 

 

We left the house at 5:30 am. Our son Ryan is driving us to the airport this morning. We arrived at the United Airlines terminal a little after 6 am, said our goodbyes, and headed inside with our bags. When we checked our bags, two of them were slightly over 50 lbs. (both Patti’s   ), but that’s okay because if you are flying Business Class you are allowed 70 lbs.

 

Next, we joined the line at the TSC checkpoint, which was pretty long but moved quickly. For the first time in forever I didn’t get wanded, but for some reason Patti did. Her carry on got sent down the naughty line as well because she had forgotten to take her tablet out and send it through separately. That quickly taken care of, we were down at our departure gate, C-121, with an hour to spare…..

 

 

This is the Dreamliner we will be taking to Los Angeles……

 

 

The flight began boarding at 7:50 am, and we were one of the first to board. We had Business Class seats 9D & 9F…..

 

 

 

 

 

We were supposed to push off from the gate at 8:40 am, but we left late because of a “service” issue and heavy departure traffic, so we didn’t take off until 9:30 am. Once at cruising altitude, the drinks started flowing, and shortly thereafter our breakfast was served. Patti had the French toast, and I had the eggs and sausage….

 

 

 

And with real silverware no less……

 

 

We drank and ate our way across the country. About half way through our six hour flight we were served this tasty snack….

 

 

We touched down in Los Angeles at 12:15 pm, about a half hour late, but no worries, we have made it back to California!

 

To be continued…..

[lidoplease]

Yay! Welcome home and thank you both for taking us along! Love your reviews and Patti's pictures. 

[Jamman54]

For our journey from LAX down to the Hilton in Long Beach, we had booked AM Limo Services. The driver was supposed to meet us at the baggage claim, but because of heavy volume, construction, and closed parking garages, he would pick us up at the curb. We made it to baggage claim # 3, and soon our bags appeared. We grabbed them and made our way outside. What a mess! People were waiting in their cars to pick up people that hadn’t even arrived yet, blocking the way. We witnessed one girl picking up another girl, and then spend 10 minutes outside of the car hugging, taking selfies, and making no attempt to move so others could be picked up. Because of these incidents, and others, it took our driver nearly a half an hour to get to us. Once he had us safely in his vehicle, we were happy to be leaving LAX…..

 

 

We are heading down the 405 to Long Beach. The traffic is fairly heavy…..

 

 

 

We pass a couple of Princess cruise ships that are taking on passengers in San Pedro…..

 

 

 

We are crossing the Gerald Desmond Bridge into Long Beach…..

 

 

 

 

From the top of the bridge we can see the Carnival Panorama over at the Long Beach Cruise Center…..

 

 

After a 45 minute ride we have arrived at the Long Beach Hilton…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

4 minutes ago, lidoplease said:

Yay! Welcome home and thank you both for taking us along! Love your reviews and Patti's pictures. 

 

Congrats on being the first to the party. Glad to have you aboard! 

[Saint Greg]

25 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love the seats! You're looking like Jean Luc Picard there. I don't know about that food though...

[Jamman54]

18 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Love the seats! You're looking like Jean Luc Picard there. I don't know about that food though...

 

Hey Greg! Yea, those "eggs" were a little suspect, but I ate them anyway. I figured my rum would keep me safe! 

[Jamman54]

We checked in at 2 pm, and took an upgrade to a corner balcony room for only $14 more a day. We were given Room # 419 on the fourth floor, only a couple doors away from where we stayed two years ago…….

 

 

Here are some views of Room # 419…..

 

 

 

 

The bathroom was fairly large……

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a vanity outside of the bathroom…..

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Here are some more views of our Room # 419. We had a walk in closet…..

 

 

The television in the room was fairly large….

 

 

This desk was perfect for my laptop, and we had a small refrigerator…..

 

 

This was our small corner balcony…..

 

 

Looking to the right from our balcony, you could see the swimming pool area on the 2^nd floor…..

 

 

Looking straight out you had a good view of the Gerald Desmond Bridge…..

 

 

Looking out to the left you could see over to the container port…..

 

 

Here is the view out the other window, and if you looked over to the right, you could just make out the top of the Carnival Panorama…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

After we unpacked and relaxed for a bit, we made our way down to the Enclave, which is the bar and restaurant in the lobby of the hotel……

 

 

 

 

 

The check-in lines have become insanely long. There wasn’t any line at all when we checked in……

 

 

They checked this flight crew in separately which I thought was a good thing…..

 

 

I’m having my first drink since arriving in California……

 

 

Here is the Enclave dinner menu…..

 

 

Patti had the chicken quesadilla and I had a bar pie…..

 

 

 

After we finished eating and had a few more drinks, we made our way back to the room for the night. The jet lag was kicking in!

 

Coming up next:  We begin exploring Long Beach again, and the “jambalaya” incident!

[TravelGirlinDallas]

Yay! Looking forward to reading all about it and seeing all 4,000 pictures!!! 😁

[pcvtmom]

Yes!!  I've been checking daily for your review, ever since I read that you were on the Panorama.  I enjoyed "checking in on you" through St. Greg's live review!

[Jamman54]

5 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Yay! Looking forward to reading all about it and seeing all 4,000 pictures!!! 😁

 

Glad to have you aboard! Well, I won't be using any way near all of those pictures on the review, but once they are all uploaded to my hosting site, you'll be able to see them there. 

 

3 minutes ago, pcvtmom said:

Yes!!  I've been checking daily for your review, ever since I read that you were on the Panorama.  I enjoyed "checking in on you" through St. Greg's live review!

 

Glad to have you following along! Spent quite a bit of time talking with and having drinks with SG. Great guy, much like me! 

[ScottsSweetie]

As a recent transplant to the "left coast" I'm excited to see your adventures in California. Also, although we cruised on Panorama in September (and possibly again this month), we've not been on the Miracle, nor have we traveled to Ensenada or Catalina. Looking forward to all the great new info!

[mjrcruiser]

Former Jersey girl here.......lol....   So looking forward to your review!  We had the Panorama booked in May 2020 with my brother--in-law (and we all know how that turned out 😔), and I had followed your previous review/recommendations to actually plan for our trip.  I hope one day soon I will be able to sail the Panorama. 😁

[Jamman54]

20 minutes ago, ScottsSweetie said:

As a recent transplant to the "left coast" I'm excited to see your adventures in California. Also, although we cruised on Panorama in September (and possibly again this month), we've not been on the Miracle, nor have we traveled to Ensenada or Catalina. Looking forward to all the great new info!

 

Glad to have you along for the ride. We've got plenty of the Miracle and those ports to show you. 

 

 

4 minutes ago, mjrcruiser said:

Former Jersey girl here.......lol....   So looking forward to your review!  We had the Panorama booked in May 2020 with my brother--in-law (and we all know how that turned out 😔), and I had followed your previous review/recommendations to actually plan for our trip.  I hope one day soon I will be able to sail the Panorama. 😁

 

Glad to have you aboard once again! Hopefully you'll get the chance to book the Panorama again. 

[sid_9169]

Great start so far!... I guess that you won't be featuring a photo of Saint Greg in your review, so I'll have to wait until we actually cruise together on the Celebration later next year... I can't wait to read about your adventures...

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Hey Greg! Yea, those "eggs" were a little suspect, but I ate them anyway. I figured my rum would keep me safe! 

 

oh....those were eggs.

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, sid_9169 said:

Great start so far!... I guess that you won't be featuring a photo of Saint Greg in your review, so I'll have to wait until we actually cruise together on the Celebration later next year... I can't wait to read about your adventures...

 

Hey sid! Thanks for dropping by. Always glad to have you along. No, there will be no picture, but I'll delve into that some more once I reach that part of the review. I did have fun tracking him down though. Looking for....a single guy.....at a bar......with a monkey! 🤗

[JRL81]

Woohoo!!! I know it was coming @Jamman54 I will follow along and try to keep up while toasting you on the start of my adventure!!!!

 

[KmomChicago]

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Coming up next:  We begin exploring Long Beach again, and the “jambalaya” incident!

 

Color me intrigued. . . .

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, JRL81 said:

Woohoo!!! I know it was coming @Jamman54 I will follow along and try to keep up while toasting you on the start of my adventure!!!!

 

 

Thanks Jay! I'll be following along on yours as well. Enjoy your B2B! 👍

[Jamman54]

58 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Color me intrigued. . . .

That's why it's called a teaser! Great to see you Kmom! 😎

[AK2CA]

Looking forward to reading this review.  Hope you and Patty are well. 

[Webecruzen]

Happy to have your review to follow along with.   It has been a crazy week back at work after being away over two weeks.  Thank goodness the jet lag didn’t hit us on this side, however, will enjoy that extra hour Saturday night.  Glad you and Patti were able to get home safe and sound without delay.