Carnival Newbie. How’s Panorama?

[MamaToMany]

Hello all, I’m a semi-seasoned cruiser and have some experience on NCL, Royal, and Celebrity. I’m looking at a Panorama sailing at the end of May in a Family Harbor aft balcony on deck 2. Would love some experienced Carnival cruisers to chime in!

 

Are there many noise concerns being underneath (on deck 2) the MDR? How about issues with soot, as it’s an aft balcony?

 

I’m traveling with my 12yo who has been on 2 cruises, and my mother, who has never cruised. Do you feel like the offered activities will span a wide age range? I’m primarily interest in keeping my 12yo busy. She hasn’t loved kids clubs in the past, so the many onboard offerings look appealing.

 

How would you compare Carnival’s food to Royal or NCL? (I realize that’s a highly objective thing…)

 

What else should I know before I go ahead and put a deposit down? 
 

Love this board, and loving the live threads going right now. Looking forward to hearing from you all. Thanks in advance!
 

Edited October 27, 2023 by MamaToMany

[havanadaydreaming]

Carnival food = ncl in a couple areas.  MDR.  Guys burgers. Pizza Captain. 

 

Buffet is a half step down as is theatre shows. 

 

That said i bounce back and forth based on cost and itinerary.  CCL has been hard to beat since Covid 

[firefly333]

The day time activities will be very similar to rcl. Trivia, all that kind of stuff.

 

Mdr rcl wins, of course also celebrity etc. 

 

Pizza and burgers carnival wins. I'm not a fan of rcl pizza. I eat a few bites and pull the topping off the crust. Rcl has a bunch of premade crust already sauced. It cant compete with fresh made to order carnival pizza. I dont eat plain burgers, but I eat guys burgers. 

 

Like everything else pluses and minus. If the price is good grab it. 

[LatinaInTexas]

I really liked the Panorama and it's different itinerary. It's the first ship I have considered cruising on for a second time. We had a good time on the excursions we did and liked the ports, great shopping.

We did all dinners at specialty restaurants which were all excellent especially JiJis, went there twice. I'm not a big fan of Carnivals menus or food, it's ok just not very good or appealing. I loved all the meals I had on NCL, to me it was the best food I have had on the lines I have sailed with. MSC next, then RC and Carnival dead last.

[Yellowbird75]

We just booked on the Panorama for January and it will be our second time on the Panorama, third time on the Mexican Riveria itinerary. We love it! It's always nice to go out of your home port but it's also just always been a good cruise. If you have never done a cruise out of California, one thing to know is that the sea days are not always warm. We've done it in May before and had a variety of cloudy/cool days and sunny/warm days.

 

The Panorama is beautiful and well laid out. It has a good variety of premium restaurants. We also had some of the best crew ever on our last Panorama cruise; I know that can change but I'm hopeful some of that will still be there! I don't have any experience with the room type you are looking at but we have had a cabin right under the galley/MDR before and it was pretty loud very early in the morning. I would bring ear plugs, just in case. 

[vwrestler171]

I love the Panorama and the Western coast of Mexico.  Mazatlan and Cabo are 2 of my favorite ports. Good beaches and cheap, but good food options.