LIVE(ish) from Carnival Panorama – 7-day Mexican Riviera starting 4/30/22 - With Photos!

[nyonefivetwo]

Let's give this another go.

Hello Cruise Critic! I'm cruising in T-minus 3 Days, 6 hours, and 30-ish minutes on Carnival Panorama, and I can't wait! I attempted a live-ish update in December on a short cruise with my mom to Cabo San Lucas on Carnival Miracle, but we had a death in the family part-way through. Needless to say, that threw off my groove completely, and I gave up on the thread. Soooo let's try this again.

The Background Info

A couple weeks after returning from my December 2021 cruise, Carnival's My Offers page sprang to life with some deals I could not refuse. I leapt on the $20 balcony deal and cruised on Carnival Radiance in February. Shortly after I booked that, I received another offer for a deeply discounted cruise with $250 in Fun Play and free drinks in the casino (basically a free-ish cruise if you count the money-back in Fun Play (which I do...because I plan on turning that into a jackpot...or so I keep telling myself). I recently graduated with a master's degree, and my mom recently retired after 37 years in education (bless her soul) – so we decided to book this itinerary for a big celebration! And by big, I mean we invited Dad this time.

 

I booked a deluxe ocean view (6M) stateroom on deck one for myself, and we booked my parents into a cove balcony (7C) on Deck 2. Close enough to meet up for dinner – far enough away that we can escape from each other when we need to. 😅 This is Dad's first time on Carnival (his second cruise overall after a family trip aboard Freedom of the Seas a few years ago) and Mom's second time on Carnival. I'll reach the not-all-that-coveted VIPF Gold status this cruise, having previously experienced Carnival Inspiration, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Miracle, and Carnival Radiance. Bring on that "free drink on the final evening!" Who out there can recommend a good celebratory drink on Carnival? (I've heard the spiked milkshakes are divine...)

 

The Itinerary

I loved Cabo San Lucas in December and can't wait to return, and I'm so excited to visit Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta. Also, I'm pretty stoked to check out Carnival Panorama. I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Carnival Breeze a few years ago, so I think her big sister Panorama will show us a great time. We're flying into Long Beach the day before the cruise (any advice on showing my parents a good time?), and we have an arrival window of 11:30 on Saturday. We've reserved one night at the steakhouse, one night at Cucina del Capitano, a Carnival Kitchen pie-making class, and the "Rhythm of the Night" excursion in Puerto Vallarta that everyone raves about. Apart from that, we're going to play it by ear and enjoy the much anticipated rest, relaxation, and Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake. Here's what we're looking at itinerary-wise:

 

• Day 0 – Fly to Long Beach, CA (70° and Sunny)
• Day 1 – Board at Long Beach, CA (70° and Sunny)
• Day 2 – Fun Day at Sea + Fahrenheit 555° Steakhouse
• Day 3 – Fun Day at Sea
• Day 4 – Puerto Vallarta (91° and Partly Cloudy) + Rhythm of the Night
• Day 5 – Mazatlán (84° and Mostly Sunny) 
• Day 6 – Cabo San Lucas (89° and Some Sun) + Cucina del Capitano
• Day 7 – Fun Day at Sea + Carnival Kitchen Pie-making Class
• Day 8 – We don't talk about debarkation day (Coming home with a high likelihood of post-trip blues)

 

The Build-Up

Have I told you yet just how excited I am? It has only been two months since I last cruised, but it feels like I'm more ready to escape for a while now than I was in February. I've finished all my pre-cruise shopping, but I haven't even thought about starting to pack. We'll do our COVID-19 tests tonight or tomorrow, get all VeriFly'ed for the trip, and get the heck out of dodge on Friday!

 

The Equipment

I brought my Sony A7III camera and lenses with me on the last cruise, and I used the camera a whopping two times (who wants to cart that around all day when you're supposed to be relaxing?!). This time, I'm bringing my graduation present along: a Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VII. It's much more manageable, and – therefore – much more likely to make it out and about with me. 

Other than that, I'm bringing my phone (gotta love that Carnival Hub app), my Kindle (currently reading the Hell's Super series – which I recommend for everyone who loves some raunchy humor and an easy read), and some sunscreen (low on the SPF so I can work on that summer "not blinding white" look).

 

Let's do this thing!

I'll check-in with y'all soon!

Edited April 27, 2022 by nyonefivetwo
Fix Picture

[greenie082756]

My DH and I will be "taste testing" the Carnival Panorama next October for our 44th anniversary.

 

We have done 1 Disney cruise and 9 Princess cruises.

 

We are trying out a lot of different main cruise lines and Carnival is first up to bat in October.

 

I know absolutely very little about Carnival ~ so this will be like a newbie all over again 🙂

 

Following...

[Saint Greg]

The only potential issues I see is you have the steakhouse on lobster night and no JiJis at all. 

[nyonefivetwo]

2 hours ago, greenie082756 said:

My DH and I will be "taste testing" the Carnival Panorama next October for our 44th anniversary.

 

We have done 1 Disney cruise and 9 Princess cruises.

 

We are trying out a lot of different main cruise lines and Carnival is first up to bat in October.

 

I know absolutely very little about Carnival ~ so this will be like a newbie all over again 🙂

 

Following...

I hope you love it! Princess and Disney are next on my to-do list, alongside Virgin and Celebrity. 

 

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

The only potential issues I see is you have the steakhouse on lobster night and no JiJis at all. 

I did notice that...I'm not the biggest lobster fan, so looking forward to the Steakhouse more than the MDR that night 🙂 Also – I really want to try JiJis! I may go myself one of the nights. I've loved your reviews! Hope to do them justice.

[arctickitty]

Thanks for bringing us along!

[dallasdan]

We will be boarding when you are disembarking.  Can't wait to follow along.

[pinto18]

We will be on the ship with you so looking forward to your review!

[nyonefivetwo]

7 hours ago, pinto18 said:

We will be on the ship with you so looking forward to your review!

We're going to have a blast! 🙂 

[Wanna_Cruize]

Definitely plan on seeing Celestial Strings show. The violin trio plays often in the Atrium around dinner time and is wonderful. Seeing them merged into a playlist production show is awesome!

 

[Love2cruise77]

Would you happen to have the daily planners from your cruise that you can share?

[Drew B 58]

I’m so excited to see someone else who sailed with a casino offer!  This will be my ELEVENTH Carnival Cruise and I had no idea to look for “My offers” on the Carnival website.  I shudder to think how much money I wasted!!!

 

Well, I just booked a week on Panorama in September because there was an offer that was too good to pass up!

 

• “Free” balcony (meaning we pay $200 for two people and get $200 in onboard credit)

• $200 additional dollars in “Fun Play”

• “Drinks on Us” not just in the casino but everywhere on the shop (this last one applies to only me and not my guest)

 

How could I say no to that?!