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

[Jamman54]

We are back at the terminal…..

 

 

 

 

 

Patti wanted to get some pictures of me on our balcony, so I get back on the ship…..

 

 

 

 

Here are some views from our balcony. That is the other terminal over there where we docked the last time we were here….

 

 

This is the entrance to the port…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are getting ready to sail. Patti catches all the action from our balcony…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are sailing away from Ensenada…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are passing the other terminal where the seals hang out…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are leaving the port of Ensenada…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pilot Boat comes over to pick up the Pilot…..

 

 

 

 

 

We are heading out to sea…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Later, we meet Jim and Pat at Nick & Nora’s Steakhouse for dinner.

 

Jim and Pat…..

 

 

Jeff and Patti….

 

 

The Chefs are hard at work…..

 

 

Our bread plates….

 

 

The amuse bouche was great, even though I don’t remember what it was…..

 

 

Our appetizers included shrimp cocktail, French onion soup, and salads…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Our mains included lobster with a baked potato…..

 

 

Spice rubbed rib eye with wasabi mashed potatoes…..

 

 

New York strip steak with wasabi mashed potatoes…..

 

 

Lamb chops with sautéed mushrooms….

 

 

Desserts were peach ice cream and a chocolate sphere…..

 

 

 

 

It was a great meal all around! Afterwards, it was over to the Alchemy Bar for a nightcap. The Polaris Trio was playing there…..

 

 

The ship map says we are just cruising around at about 8 knots…..

 

 

Then it’s back to the cabin where we find our towel creature and some mail, including an invite to the Diamond Event tomorrow. Good night!

 

 

 

Coming up next: Our last day on the Carnival Miracle and another Covid-19 test.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

Loved all of the pictures of the seals, and the ones of you waving on your balcony! I want to try that on one of our next cruises.

[Linda the Book Lover]

It has been great sailing with you guys and with 7 days to go my DD and myself can hardly wait for our adventure.

[Jamman54]

Day # 13  (October 21^st)  -  Fun Day at Sea

 

We were up at 7 am for our final day aboard the Carnival Miracle. The seas are fairly calm, and it’s a sunny, although a little chilly day. We are sailing along at a leisurely 7 knots. Here is the view from our balcony looking forward…..

 

 

Here is our view looking aft…..

 

 

Here are today’s “Fun Times”…..

 

 

 

About a month ago we received an email from Carnival about Covid testing for B2B and Side to Side cruises on Carnival ships. Here is a portion of the email we received:

 

When traveling on back-to-back cruises on the same ship, guests will receive an antigen test in between voyages.

 

Back-to-back guests traveling on another Carnival Cruise Line ship within one day of disembarking their first voyage should inform onboard Guest Services in advance so they can receive the required pre-travel COVID-19 test before they disembark. Guests must present their negative test results upon arrival at the cruise terminal for their next voyage.

 

This is great news! We can get tested today here on the Miracle and not have to worry about testing on our day between cruises, before we board the Carnival Panorama . Sweet! So, we had called the Medical Center a couple of days ago and they said to come on down at 9 am today. Jim and Pat, who are also going on the Panorama, were told the same thing.

 

So at 9 am the four of us made our way down to the Medical Center on Deck A…..

 

 

There was quite a line of people waiting to be tested today. I guess there were more B2B’ers on this cruise then on the last one. We had to wait in the hallway outside of the Medical Center until they were ready for us.

 

We were there about an hour before we were tested, and as soon as we were done they told us we could go and come back for the paperwork at 3 pm. Wow, what happens if you test positive? I guess they will track you down!

 

Not going to keep you hanging, we all tested negative and received our paperwork to present when we board the Panorama on Saturday. At least the testing part is taken care of!

 

That being done, we all decided to head to the Sea Day Brunch. Once we were seated and had ordered, Francis the table magician paid us a visit…..

 

 

 

Here are Jim and Pat, and Patti and I, with our free drinks…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Since I don’t remember who had what, here are our Brunch offerings…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we went to Sam’s Piano Bar for the Diamond Party. There were plenty of drinks and snacks…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

 

[Jamman54]

We next went up to the Red Frog Rum Bar on the Lido for a few drinks. They were doing the pumpkin carving contest, hosted by our Cruise Director Savannah and DJ Silk…..

 

 

The contestants were carving up a storm…..

 

 

 

 

 

They can’t compete with a professional…..

 

 

 

 

It seems like the puking pumpkin always wins!

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The Groove for St. Jude was next but we weren’t going to hang around this time…..

 

 

We’re checking out some of the lunchtime offerings. Here are today’s Comfort Kitchen menus…..

 

 

 

Here are some of the Salad Bar offerings…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

My favorite is Chopsticks…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[68Blackjack]

On 11/5/2021 at 8:45 PM, Jamman54 said:

Day # 5  (October 13^th)  -  Testing Day & Harbor Cruise.

 

It’s another beautiful sunny day in Long Beach. We are now only two days away from boarding the Carnival Miracle. What does that mean? It means it’s time to get tested! We have brought our BinaxNOW Covid-19 Home Tests with us, and as a backup we have the addresses and phone #’s of two locations here in Long Beach that do the rapid antigen tests for $65, and have time slots open today and tomorrow.

 

So let’s get started. Right off the bat we had some compatibility issues with our Samsung phones, so we switched over to Patti’s tablet. We still had some connection issues, even had to re-establish connection in the middle of a test, but that was probably a result of the hotel’s not so great internet connection. But we were able to muddle through it and got both tests done. And the results are in…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

We’re going cruising!!! That was a big weight off of our shoulders. After flying all the way across country, what would have happened if one or both of us tested positive? Of course we know what would have happened, and it wouldn’t have been good. Not to worry, as we can now continue with this review!

 

To celebrate, we decide that we are going to go on the 45 minute Harbor Cruise. Around 12:30 pm Alex takes us over to the Rainbow Harbor to board our cruise. Here we are at the ticket booth. It’s just $10 each for us seniors. What a deal!

 

 

Here’s our ride around the harbor…..

 

 

Once we are on board, they sell beer too!

 

 

To be continued…..

Jeff,  I also bought the Abbott Covid Tests through the site Carnival recommended and will be taking mine on  Thanksgiving.  I was going to use my laptop instead of my phone so the medical people can see everything better.  Is that even possible?  Do you have to use a cell phone or tablet?  Do you have to have any VTC software like Zoosk or Google Hangouts loaded? Or special software to to read the datamatrix on the test kit?  Just want to make it through this with as few stumbling blocks as possible. 

[Jamman54]

31 minutes ago, 68Blackjack said:

Jeff,  I also bought the Abbott Covid Tests through the site Carnival recommended and will be taking mine on  Thanksgiving.  I was going to use my laptop instead of my phone so the medical people can see everything better.  Is that even possible?  Do you have to use a cell phone or tablet?  Do you have to have any VTC software like Zoosk or Google Hangouts loaded? Or special software to to read the datamatrix on the test kit?  Just want to make it through this with as few stumbling blocks as possible. 

 

You can use any equipment that you want, including a lap top, as long as it is compatible with  Navica. I'm thinking the smaller the equipment the better. And if there is someone there with you to hold the phone, etc, the better. We got through it just fine, and we aren't tech savvy by any means. don't sweat it. 

 

[Jamman54]

Today is the Chocolate Extravaganza…..

 

 

 

 

 

The ladies went back to the cabins to begin packing. Jim and I went to the casino to play some blackjack.

 

Around 2 pm, Patti made her way to the Phantom Lounge for the last session of bingo…..

 

 

When she got there, Cruise Director Savannah was conducting a Q & A session…..

 

 

 

 

After playing blackjack for over an hour, neither one of us had won any money, so we decided to drown our sorrows at the Alchemy Bar. The Checkmates Duo was playing there…..

 

 

After a few, it was our turn to do our packing, so we went back to the cabins.

 

To be continued……..

[Jamman54]

The sun is going down on this cruise……

 

 

 

 

 

Around 7:30 pm we went up to Horatio’s for our last dinner of this cruise. Patti got a turkey wrap from the Deli, and a salad from the Salad Bar…..

 

 

I wanted to try the Seafood Corner so I got and order of buffalo shrimp and the lobster rolls…..

 

 

Pat had the chowder from the Seafood Corner, and Jim had a couple of soups, turkey, and chicken from the buffet line.

 

Afterwards, we stopped for a couple of drinks at the Alchemy Bar, and then decided to call it a cruise.

 

We went back to the cabin where we found our last towel creation…..

 

 

Here’s the whole gang….

 

 

We finished our packing and then put our bags out in the hallway. I think we were in bed by 11 pm.

 

Coming up next: Back to Long Beach and we prepare for our cruise on the Carnival Panorama!

[Jamman54]

Day # 14  (October 22^nd)  -  Back in Long Beach.

 

We were up at 6 am just as the Carnival Miracle was docking back in Long Beach. Here is the general debarkation information……

 

 

 

Here is the priority debarkation information…..

 

 

We are in no hurry to get off the ship this morning, so after arranging our carry off bags, and vacating our cabin, we made our way up to Horatio’s for breakfast.

 

We met Jim and Pat down in the Atrium Lobby, and hung out there until 9:15 when they announced last call to leave the ship.

 

Locating our bags and going through customs was a breeze. The facial recognition technology really speeds thing up. We told our porter to take us where the Hilton shuttle would be picking us up, and lo and behold, Alex and the shuttle were already there picking up another couple. Timing is everything!

 

Now we are back at the Long Beach Hilton for our one day layover. Both Jim and I had requested early check in and it was granted! Patti and I would be in room # 1138 this time…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again we had a small balcony…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

This is our view looking down from our balcony…..

 

 

 

From our other window we could see the very back of the Carnival Miracle…..

 

 

After a short rest, the four of us hopped on the shuttle and had Alex take us over to Shenanigan’s for lunch. Looking across the harbor we could see the Carnival Miracle…..

 

 

Here we are at Shenanigan’s…..

 

 

 

 

Truer words were never spoken…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are a couple of more Shenanigan views…..

 

 

 

 

Our lunch is served…..

 

 

 

 

 

After we ate, the ladies went browsing the shops at Shoreline Village, while Jim and I held down the fort at the bar. Once they came back, Jim and Pat decided to head back to the hotel.

 

Patti and I walked over to the Pine Avenue Pier. She dropped me at Hooters and went over to the Pike Outlets. She was on a mission for me. I had neglected to pack a sweatshirt which I would definitely need when we flew back home, so she’s on the hunt.

 

After an hour or so she pulled me from Hooters to show me what she had found. I bought a nice long sleeved hooded sweatshirt from Levi’s thanks to her! That done, we called for the shuttle to pick us up. We got back to the hotel around 4 pm, bought some snacks, and went back to the room for the night. A short time later, from our window,  we saw the Carnival Miracle sailing away from Long Beach. We really enjoyed our cruises on her…..

 

 

 

 

 

Soon, the sun would be setting on Long Beach…..

 

 

Coming up next: We board the Carnival Panorama, though it won’t be smooth sailing at the very beginning!

[Jamman54]

Hey Gang!  We hope you enjoyed the Miracle portion of the review. We know that many of you are looking forward to the Panorama, and so are we! Patti can sit back and relax as she has done all of her work, but I need to do a lot of set up work before I can bring that to you. I'll be doing all that tonight and tomorrow, so be looking for the first post to go up on Friday.

 

In the mean time, if you have any questions about anything at all, please post them and I'll be sure to get you the answer! 

[meskel503]

I don't post often, but I really enjoy your reviews.  I have read them all, some twice.  We are taking our first Carnival cruise since 2009. (Have cruise other lines since then)  We will be doing a b2b2b Sept 2022 on Carnival Freedom.  You and Patti do a great job on pictures so even though it is not the Freedom it gives us a view on what it will somewhat look like.  

We have done the Mexican Riviera about five times (not on Carnival) and love it. 

Seen your remarks on St. Greg's review and sounds like you all had a good time.

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, meskel503 said:

I don't post often, but I really enjoy your reviews.  I have read them all, some twice.  We are taking our first Carnival cruise since 2009. (Have cruise other lines since then)  We will be doing a b2b2b Sept 2022 on Carnival Freedom.  You and Patti do a great job on pictures so even though it is not the Freedom it gives us a view on what it will somewhat look like.  

We have done the Mexican Riviera about five times (not on Carnival) and love it. 

Seen your remarks on St. Greg's review and sounds like you all had a good time.

I just booked Freedom to Alaska yesterday so you’ll want to check that out May 31st. I think @Jamman54 has Freedom booked as well. I know we talked about Freedom at the Alchemy.

[Webecruzen]

Thank you both for the compassion and support shown me on this trip.  It is great looking back at this first cruise of the trip that I feel like I was in a fog during.  We enjoyed our time with you guys as always.  We sure had some smiles and laughs during a time we didn’t think that would be possible.  My mom loved cruising and we were blessed to have cruised over 30 times with her.  
Pat.  

[meskel503]

11 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I just booked Freedom to Alaska yesterday so you’ll want to check that out May 31st. I think @Jamman54 has Freedom booked as well. I know we talked about Freedom at the Alchemy.

I will be on the lookout for it.  Thank you.  We, husband and I, are doing the 16day through the Panama Canal, 2 day Caribbean, and an 8 day Caribbean.  We haven't done the Caribbean so I an going to reread yours, Jamman, and Sid's reviews to get some ideas.  

We will be doing the Forts in Puerto Rico as your pictures were so great.  

 

thanks again