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

[Jamman54]

42 minutes ago, Webecruzen said:

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.  

 

{{{HUGS}}}  {{{HUGS}}}

[Jamman54]

58 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.

 

 

Thanks for reading and your kind words! We won't be on the Freedom until April 2023. We will be doing the 8 day Southern Caribbean. That is the last cruise before the Freedom heads through the canal and up to Alaska for the 2023 season. The same day we get off the freedom we jump right on the Celebration for a B2B, so technically a S2B2B. I do have a review on the Conquest, which is a sister ship of the Freedom. 

[meskel503]

Thanks, I have read it but didn't realize it was a sister ship.  I will have to reread it.  We leave on Sept 16, 2022.  The reason we looked at this one is it leaves from our homeport of Seattle.  It is about three hours from our home.  

Looking forward to the rest of this review.  

[IntrepidFromDC]

On 11/16/2021 at 6:30 PM, Jamman54 said:

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…..

That lamb and mushrooms looks AMAZING!  Everything does.

[heffy2]

Thank you so much for another GREAT CC review Jeff! Maybe this is silly, but I really miss being able to read your past CC reviews, but I understand why they disappeared. Thanks for taking the time to do this.😎

[kdr69]

16 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

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! 

Noticed you ate in the Buffet for all meals, is that something you tend to do every cruise or just for this one?  Great review btw am contemplating some short ensenada sailings as well next year.

[Jamman54]

4 hours ago, heffy2 said:

Thank you so much for another GREAT CC review Jeff! Maybe this is silly, but I really miss being able to read your past CC reviews, but I understand why they disappeared. Thanks for taking the time to do this.😎

Thanks for following along once again! Plenty more to come. Yeah, it was sad to lose all those early reviews,  but all of our reviews from 2017 on are still available in my signature. 😎

[Jamman54]

2 hours ago, kdr69 said:

Noticed you ate in the Buffet for all meals, is that something you tend to do every cruise or just for this one?  Great review btw am contemplating some short ensenada sailings as well next year.

We did eat in the Steakhouse one night. Patti and I have always been MDR people, but when we were on the Horizon in August things changed. We had Your Time Dining and were enjoying dinner on the first Elegant night. They proceeded to sit another couple at the table 4" from us even though there was plenty of empty space throughout the dining room. Nothing against the other couple but what happened to social distancing? We ate in the buffet or at "other" venues the rest of that cruise. When you think about it, most of what is being served in the MDR is available at the lido. The food comes from the same place,  it's just plated and made pretty for you in the MDR. 

 

On the Panorama we didn't eat in the dining room except for brunch. We ate at the "other " venues for 6 nights and the buffet one night. 

We are doing a B2B on the Mardi Gras in April and I see us eating in the MDR only once or twice. 😎

[wajowander2011]

We are enjoying your fantastic review and looking forward to the Panorama review.  As always, Patti’s pictures and your review are very good.

 

[sportscruiser]

22 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

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…..

I've been reading and enjoying your reviews for several years now and I've noticed a few times now what looks to be a CAL hat....are you a Golden Bear? It's Big Game week and I work for the other football team so I may have to stop reading this review for a few days...😁 Thanks for doing all the work for us to enjoy!

[Jamman54]

2 hours ago, wajowander2011 said:

We are enjoying your fantastic review and looking forward to the Panorama review.  As always, Patti’s pictures and your review are very good.

 

 

Thanks for following along! The Panorama portion of the review will begin going up tomorrow. Enjoy! 

 

1 hour ago, sportscruiser said:

I've been reading and enjoying your reviews for several years now and I've noticed a few times now what looks to be a CAL hat....are you a Golden Bear? It's Big Game week and I work for the other football team so I may have to stop reading this review for a few days...😁 Thanks for doing all the work for us to enjoy!

 

Not a Golden Bear. It's just a generic California hat that I bought a couple of years ago the first time we were in Long Beach. 

[aztekpm]

9 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We did eat in the Steakhouse one night. Patti and I have always been MDR people, but when we were on the Horizon in August things changed. We had Your Time Dining and were enjoying dinner on the first Elegant night. They proceeded to sit another couple at the table 4" from us even though there was plenty of empty space throughout the dining room. Nothing against the other couple but what happened to social distancing? We ate in the buffet or at "other" venues the rest of that cruise. When you think about it, most of what is being served in the MDR is available at the lido. The food comes from the same place,  it's just plated and made pretty for you in the MDR. 

 

On the Panorama we didn't eat in the dining room except for brunch. We ate at the "other " venues for 6 nights and the buffet one night. 

We are doing a B2B on the Mardi Gras in April and I see us eating in the MDR only once or twice. 😎

 

You learn something new everyday!

 

We normally don't eat there, only occasionally breakfast or lunch. Now, knowing this, I may become a fan of the buffet for dinner instead of dressing, waiting, every night. LOL it does make sense when you think about it and much more casual and laidback on the Lido!

Edited November 19, 2021 by aztekpm

[smellywax]

Were you able to get all 7 main dining room menus in order? I’m trying to plan restaurant reservations for the steakhouse and others but wanted to check against the main dining options for that evening. Looking forward to your Panorama review!

[princess76021]

thanks for part 1, excited for part 2!!

hugs

nicki

[Jamman54]

7 hours ago, smellywax said:

Were you able to get all 7 main dining room menus in order? I’m trying to plan restaurant reservations for the steakhouse and others but wanted to check against the main dining options for that evening. Looking forward to your Panorama review!

 

Since we didn't eat any of our dinners in the MDR we didn't think to get the menus. I believe that Saint Greg got them all, or most of them, posted in his "Live" review. 

 

1 hour ago, princess76021 said:

thanks for part 1, excited for part 2!!

hugs

nicki

 

Thanks Nicki! Part 2 will begin going up shortly! 

[MalGee64]

19 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We did eat in the Steakhouse one night. Patti and I have always been MDR people, but when we were on the Horizon in August things changed. We had Your Time Dining and were enjoying dinner on the first Elegant night. They proceeded to sit another couple at the table 4" from us even though there was plenty of empty space throughout the dining room. Nothing against the other couple but what happened to social distancing? We ate in the buffet or at "other" venues the rest of that cruise. When you think about it, most of what is being served in the MDR is available at the lido. The food comes from the same place,  it's just plated and made pretty for you in the MDR. 

 

On the Panorama we didn't eat in the dining room except for brunch. We ate at the "other " venues for 6 nights and the buffet one night. 

We are doing a B2B on the Mardi Gras in April and I see us eating in the MDR only once or twice. 😎

Jeff, this is something we started doing some years back as well, but for different reasons. Most nights we’d grab dinner in the buffet on any given ship because we didn’t feel like dressing up for the dining room and didn’t want to put out the other folk who did. However, we’ve noticed the numbers in the buffet every night have been growing each cruise - is this your experience as well? Loving the review mate, hope to clink a glass with you some day at the Frog 

[Saint Greg]

8 hours ago, smellywax said:

Were you able to get all 7 main dining room menus in order? I’m trying to plan restaurant reservations for the steakhouse and others but wanted to check against the main dining options for that evening. Looking forward to your Panorama review!

 

Mardi Gras MDR Menus

[CruiseMGM]

32 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Mardi Gras MDR Menus

 

Ohhhh, lovely! Do you have them for your recent Panorama Mexican Riviera, too? Or are they the same? I looked around your site but didn't chance across it. New to Carnival, we'll be on the Panorama in April.

Thanks in advance!

 

Thank you, OP, I've been enjoying your blog and am definitely looking forward to your Panorama leg!

[Saint Greg]

26 minutes ago, CruiseMGM said:

 

Ohhhh, lovely! Do you have them for your recent Panorama Mexican Riviera, too? Or are they the same? I looked around your site but didn't chance across it. New to Carnival, we'll be on the Panorama in April.

Thanks in advance!

 

Thank you, OP, I've been enjoying your blog and am definitely looking forward to your Panorama leg!

 

I think they're all the same since they aren't doing port specific menus right now.

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, MalGee64 said:

Jeff, this is something we started doing some years back as well, but for different reasons. Most nights we’d grab dinner in the buffet on any given ship because we didn’t feel like dressing up for the dining room and didn’t want to put out the other folk who did. However, we’ve noticed the numbers in the buffet every night have been growing each cruise - is this your experience as well? Loving the review mate, hope to clink a glass with you some day at the Frog 

 

Hey Mal! It's hard to tell on the newer ships since there are so many food options, which spreads the people out. See you at the Frog!! 

 

54 minutes ago, CruiseMGM said:

 

Ohhhh, lovely! Do you have them for your recent Panorama Mexican Riviera, too? Or are they the same? I looked around your site but didn't chance across it. New to Carnival, we'll be on the Panorama in April.

Thanks in advance!

 

Thank you, OP, I've been enjoying your blog and am definitely looking forward to your Panorama leg!

 

Thanks! I'm about to get that portion started! 

 

27 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I think they're all the same since they aren't doing port specific menus right now.

 

Thanks Greg! Feel free to jump in anytime! 

[Jamman54]

Day # 15 (October 23^rd)  -  We board the Carnival Panorama!

 

We were up at 6 am to a cool and drizzly day. It will be sunny and 68 degrees later on. It doesn’t matter because it’s cruising day once again! This is what we have to look forward to…..

 

 

At 8 am we could see the Carnival Panorama docking at the Long Beach Cruise Terminal from our hotel window. This is good news, as she wasn’t even docking until 9 am the previous weeks….

 

 

We are going to go over to the Cruise Terminal with Jim and Pat. We vacated our rooms at 10:30 am, checked out, and thought that we would be getting on the next shuttle to the pier. It seems that a lot of Panorama passengers had spent the night here and had the same idea, so the list for the shuttle was very long.

 

Knowing that it would be a long time if we waited for the shuttle, Jim got on his phone and ordered an Uber XL. Twenty minutes later, the driver shows up in a Honda Pilot which is really not a true XL vehicle, but we’ll make it happen somehow. We just need to figure out how to get four adults, seven pieces of luggage, and four carry-on bags into it. The people waiting for the shuttle must have found this very amusing!

 

We first put Patti in the third row, and then flattened the other seats in that row. We then filled up every inch of available space in the rear of the vehicle with luggage and bags, including on top of Patti…….

 

 

There was still one piece of luggage left to load. Jim, Pat, and I crammed into the second row, and put the piece of luggage across our laps. The driver took pity on us, and put that last piece of luggage on the front seat, having us hold a light box of something or other on our laps. We then took off for the pier happy and amused that we had pulled it off!

 

 

 

 

We weren’t happy for too long though, as when we got to the pier there was only a single line going in, and it was moving very slowly, if at all. Then of course there were those impatient people whose time was so important that they would drive down the side of the line and try to cut in. Thankfully, our driver wasn’t putting up with that.

 

It took about fifteen minutes to get to where we could be dropped off. We were met almost immediately by a porter who grabbed our luggage…..

 

 

We got to the terminal a little before 11:30 am and the doors had already been opened, and they were letting people in. All four of us had the first check in time of 12 to 12:30 pm, and we all were in boarding group A02. They checked our boarding passes and waved us to the first station.

 

The first station is where they check your passport, vaccination card, and negative covid-19 test result. Jim and Pat were at the station next to us. Everything checked out just fine until they got to the five questions. The fifth question reads something like this: “Have you travelled outside of the United States in the last 14 days?”  Of course we had to answer “Yes”, because we had just been to Ensenada a few days ago.

 

Bells, whistles, sirens, horns, and flashing lights went off! Well, not really, but you would have thought so. “You’re going to have to be tested”. The same thing was happening to Jim and Pat next door.

 

I explained to them that yes, we had been to Mexico on Wednesday, and that we were tested aboard the Miracle on Thursday, and since it was only one day between cruises, that negative test was all we needed to board the Panorama today. Just as a reminder, I’ll post the protocols from the email we received, and Carnival’s website:

 

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.

 

They still insisted that we would have to be tested again, and called for a “runner” to escort us over to the testing area. I noticed that on their tablets, in big red letters, were the words:

 

“Not Approved to Sail” 

 

We are not happy, but at least on the way to the testing area we went through the security screening, so that part was now done. Upon arrival to yet another station, we explained to the agent there that the negative test from the Miracle was all that we needed to board the Panorama today. She listened and then said “let me call my supervisor”. There is hope at last! While we were waiting to hear back from the Supervisor, boarding for the cruise had started. We heard them call our boarding group, and here we hadn’t even checked in yet!

 

The agent received the call from her supervisor who told her to treat this situation like a “back to back”. “Great, can we go check in now”? “No, you all have to be tested”. We give up. She pointed to the registration desk for testing. We now had to stand in line with a couple of families with unvaccinated children to register. Oh. Joy! Patti got this picture of the registration desk and testing area prior to us boarding our first Miracle cruise…..

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited November 19, 2021 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Once we were registered, we were tested almost immediately. The staff doing the testing were extremely nice and gentle.  We were told to sit over on those socially distanced benches, and we would receive an email and a text in about 20 minutes.

 

While we were waiting for our results, an announcement was made that the boarding process had to be stopped due to some kind of issue. Great. Jim was the first to get his results back, then Patti and me, then lastly, Pat. We were, again, all negative.

 

Now, we were in another line to basically do the same thing that we did at the very first station. After about ten minutes the agent’s tablets said in big green letters:

 

“Approved to Sail”

 

Now we get to check in. The line is insanely long and probably would have taken at least a half hour to get through it. A “runner” took us, and then Jim and Pat, to the empty “Suite” line to check in. That done, boarding had not yet resumed. There was a line that stretched from the doors, so we got in it. Only a few minutes had gone by when the announcement was made that boarding had begun again. Those in line, and those that had been seated, pressed forward towards those double doors.

 

It was like cattle being led to the slaughter as we moved through the doors and up the ramp. I think the staff stopped even trying to check boarding passes as people entered. Moo! Moooooo! Up the ramps we went. Patti and I looked at each other knowing that the half dozen or so facial recognition machines in the upper lobby would not be able to handle this crowd. It was just a matter of time before we came to a stop, and frankly, we were surprised that we almost made it to the top.

 

Of course, impatient people pushed up from the rear of the line to cut ahead. Some people even used the “Special Needs” line to get up front, even though they didn’t qualify. The sad part was that the staff didn’t send them back, just let them through. Safe to say that with everything that had happened to us up to this point, we were fuming. In reality, we should have been on board an hour ago. We were at the point where they take the embarkation pictures. We decided not to take one for two reasons. First, we didn’t want to get out of line, and second, it would have been hard to smile anyway!

 

We have made it to and through the facial recognition machines. The worst is over, but there would be a couple more minor annoyances to deal with before we could finally relax and enjoy. We are finally crossing over the walkway to our home for the next seven days, the Carnival Panorama…..

 

 

 

I hope our luggage makes it on board…..

 

 

It is about 12:30 when we finally set foot on board the Panorama. We have boarded on to Deck 4, and I have read in the past that you will enter the ship into the Casino. Not this trip. As soon as we stepped on deck they made us turn right and head to the very front of the ship and enter right in front of the Liquid Lounge. Our cabin and muster station are all the way at the back of the ship.

 

The first thing that we want to get done is the emuster. Our muster station is D3, which is in the Vista Restaurant all the way aft on Deck 3. We headed aft through the Atrium and the Casino. This is where we should have entered…..

 

 

We continued aft until we hit the aft stairwell, then down a flight and into the Vista Restaurant……

 

 

 

They scanned us in, and then waited for the 15 or so chairs that were set up to be filled, then demonstrated how to put on a life jacket…..

 

 

Quick, painless, and easy! Now that’s done, here are today’s “Fun Times”…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are going to check out Jim and Pat’s cabin. We program an elevator to take us to Deck 8. They have a Havana Aft Wrap, cabin 8467. The cabin is ready and their Sail & Sign cards are waiting for them…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have a huge balcony…..

 

 

 

Their cabin looks down on to the Havana Pool area…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

They have great views of Long Beach from their balcony…..

 

 

 

 

Looking over at the Queen Mary and the Cruise Terminal….

 

 

There is still a long line of people waiting to check in and board…..

 

 

Patti and I are ready to drop off our carry-ons at our cabin. We told Jim and Pat that we would meet them at the Red Frog Rum Bar for our first drinks of the cruise. We programmed an elevator to take us to Deck 5, and as soon as we stepped off we were by the Havana Bar…..

 

 

 

 

 

We have a Havana inside cabin this cruise. We are in cabin #5218.

 

 

 

The cabin door is locked and there are no Sail & Sign cards for us. It’s already 1 pm and we don’t see any room stewards around. We’ll come back later, but until then we’ll have to carry our bags around.

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We go back to the elevator lobby and there are quite a few people there. We program an elevator to take us up to Lido Deck 10, but when it arrives and the door opens, it’s packed to the gills. We program another and the same thing happens. It’s apparent that those people boarding below us are not programming the elevators properly. It takes a couple of days before people realize what they have to do. What makes it worse, is that during embarkation the mid ship elevators are used for only moving luggage, leaving the forward and aft elevators to shoulder the load. We give up and decide to climb the stairs to the Lido Deck.

 

Once we made it out to the Main Pool, this message made us smile…..

 

 

We met Jim and Pat at the Red Frog Rum Bar. Though we had a rough start, we are safely on board, and we can now enjoy our first drink of the cruise…..

 

 

 

We had one more drink and decided that now that it was after 1:30 we would see if our cabin was ready, and then meet Jim and Pat at Cucina’s for lunch. Here are a couple of Main Pool views as we headed back to the cabin…..

 

 

 

 

We were able to program an elevator to take us back down to Deck 5. When we got back to our cabin our Sail & Sign cards were there, and we could see our cabin for the first time…..

 

 

 

Usual Carnival bathroom, but this time we got the good stuff!

 

 

 

To be continued……