Panorama 3/9-16 review

[PattiPB]

Getting there

Brian and I booked the Panorama to the Mexican Riviera last year for our Spring Break cruise. We took advantage of a very rare free Cheers promotion, and used it to the fullest!

We took the chance of flying from Las Vegas to Long Beach the morning of the cruise. It was a little stressful, but we took the first flight in the morning, with plenty of flights throughout the day that would have worked just in case. Mark and Jess met us at the airport, and everything went off without a hitch!

Landing around 8:30 am, we knew we had some time to hang out near the port. We lined up around 10 for check-in, and were let into the dome at Long Beach around 10:15 with our 10:30 arrival time. By 10:30, we were sitting in the Platinum section waiting for boarding. M&J had a 12:30 arrival time, but they did an “all call” around 10:30, so they were in the dome by 10:45.

 

Embarkation

Quick. Simple. Painless. We were on board by 11:11, heading to The Pig and the Anchor for lunch. M&J met us by 11:45, even though their boarding position was E9—that’s how fast they boarded the crowd that was waiting. 

Muster on deck 4 took only a few minutes, and we had already started using our Cheers package by 12:30.

When they announced rooms were ready it was only 1:15, so we immediately changed into the bathing suits in our carry-on and hit the Serenity deck! With everything going so well, we definitely felt like we stole an extra day on this vacation, and it was great!

 

The cabins

We had an oceanview (3232), and M&J had an inside (2203). This was probably the lowest I’ve been on a ship in over a decade, and it was absolutely fine.

We were on the Lobby deck, with extremely quick and easy access to Guest Services, Port Adventures, and the Atrium Bar. We heard almost no noise from anywhere in the ship—including through the connecting door I didn’t realize we had! Great location and cabin, and I highly recommend it. Obviously, everything was in working order, and our cabin steward was attentive and very stealthy! 

Cabin 2203, however, I don’t think I can recommend. It is inside, with no ability to put the beds together. That wasn’t the problem. M&J reported that the noise—extremely loud banging morning, noon, night, port and sea days, made it difficult to relax and nap in the room. This is the furthest cabin forward on the second deck, which I’m sure contributed to the noise. Do not make this reservation if you are a light sleeper! The cabin itself was great. 

 

The food

We never ate one single meal in the buffet. I went through there once or twice for croissants and coffee, or a dessert or two. But not one single meal. How did we do it? EASY!

Breakfast, or sea day brunch, are served every day in the main dining room. We love both of the menus they use for this early meal, and enjoyed mimosas and Bloody Mary’s every morning while munching a parfait and some fresh cooked meals. The early meal doesn’t take much longer than 30-45 minutes, and is a relaxing and enjoyable way to start your day. We met every day for this meal and mapped out our plans for the entire day. Did I mention I did it while sipping a mimosa?

Carnival kicks everybody else’s butt when it comes to lunch. Hands down, even my beloved Disney doesn’t do it better than my sweet Carnival. From Guy’s Burgers to Blue Iguana to the Pig and Anchor, to the Serenity salad bar, I loved—and had—lunch from somewhere different each day. We took the advice to hit Pig and Anchor on embarkation day, and it worked out beautifully. That Serenity salad bar—which I didn’t even know was a thing—was absolutely wonderful. Be aware that Pig and anchor and Serenity lunches are only on sea days, so plan carefully.

  We do not do specialty restaurants. Where we live, we can patronize those types of places every day for a year and not scratch the surface of the offerings, so on a ship we stick to the main dining room. It didn’t disappoint! Dinner each night was served by our wonderful team. The first night we had a killer table by the window watching the sunset with excellent waiters, so we immediately made a standing reservation for that table and time—it’s a little known perk of booking “your time dining”. You can actually change it to fixed time and table with only a word to the maitre d’ on the first night. The food was excellent, and we had trouble choosing our meal each night. Of the four of us, there was not one item that went uneaten. We thoroughly enjoyed—and shared—the majority of menu items offered throughout the week. 

Extra food options have diminished throughout the years, with room service now charging even for breakfast. We did enjoy the midnight buffet on the last night, but wish it had been earlier in the week. The chocolate extravaganza—also on the last day—lacked the chocolate fountain I love and included much less than before Covid. I also missed the snacks available in different locations I enjoy on other ships, like bar snacks on Disney, for example. 

 

Sea days

This itinerary had three sea days, which I absolutely love. Nothing beats reading a fun novel on the deck in my bathing suit watching the water go by. We like our sea days to be mostly relaxing, with Deal or No Deal thrown in here or there. The Panorama had a wide range of seating options from loungers to cushioned chairs on deck 11 to clam shells in Serenity. From what I saw, despite almost 5000 people, there seemed to be enough seating areas to go around. 

We found a fantastic area on deck 5 near Pixels with cushioned chairs overlooking the water that was nice and shady, comfy and quiet enough for a little snooze. Plus, the Havana Bar and Parched Pig bar were just inside the doors! Score!

Trivia abounds on every ship we travel lately, and I guess it’s quite popular. Not with the four of us, so we didn’t have a ton of options on sea days. While that didn’t bother me at all—sun worshiper here—I know it would have bugged my parents, who used to love to do other activities in the afternoons on sea days. For us, the sports deck included not only the requisite mini golf, but two pool tables and two foosbol tables to use. 

The big draws on the Panorama have to be the FREE top deck activities. Not only do they have two slides—one tube and one not—but they have the famous and exciting ropes course that I love! That is, I love to say I’ve done it ONCE! The Skyride pedal coaster is up there, too, although we didn’t invest the time in line to try it. Maybe next time…

 

The port days

We did a little of everything in the ports. With disembarking both forward and aft, we had no lines, which was a pleasant surprise. Having done this cruise before, none of the ports were new to us, but all of them were new to M&J. Here is the rundown of what we did:

• Puerto Vallarta - Getting off the ship was easy, as was finding a taxi. For $5 a person, we were taken to the beginning of the Malecon for a nice walk in the beautiful weather. We walked quite a ways down, doing some shopping along the way. We enjoyed the sand sculptures and especially the rock towers on the beach. Very cool. Walking back, we chose a restaurant right on the beach and enjoyed a very authentic and inexpensive meal of fresh seafood. Taxi back that afternoon was $20 again, and easy to find.

• Mazatlan - Booking a private tour through www.Mazatlantours.com, we did a fantastic day at Stone Island. We were greeted at the port and directed to a waiting taxi. On the large, comfortable ship to Stone Island, we were offered drinks and given a great tour inside and outside the harbor. Upon arrival in Stone Island, we were taken to a great beachfront location. The open bar was already flowing, and we spent a few hours lounging on the beach, enjoying a great open-fire lunch, and enjoying the open bar. The tour we booked was only $40 per person, and included everything I mentioned above PLUS two activities per person. Activities included snorkeling, horseback riding and a banana boat! We found this 6 hour excursion a great value for the money and strongly recommend it.  

• Cabo san Lucas - With M&J never doing a seven nighter, we had to go whale watching in Cabo! We booked through the Panorama, so this tour was more pricey than a private option, but we were quite satisfied. The large ship easily help well over the 100+/- people on this tour, and we never felt crowded or had trouble getting a good view. Open bar (are you seeing my theme!) and fresh snacks were offered throughout the three hours, and the three levels of the ship included indoor and outdoor options, with excellent restroom facilities. And THE WHALES!!!! We had incredible views of whales, whale tales, and one whale that breeched over and over again for about half an hour. At $80 per person, the convenience of the tour, the open bar and snacks, the energy and customer service of the staff, and a captain who could find whales nonstop, we felt we got our money’s worth. 

 

Disembarking

The last morning was quite relaxing. Choosing the latest disembarking time gave us until about 10:30 to relax and lounge on deck. We had a final breakfast in the main dining room, then headed up to deck 11 and those comfy chairs in the shade. We had some coffee and pastries while the ship started to empty out.

Final call for disembarkation was around 10:30, and we hit a short line to leave the boat. We were surprised how crowded the dome was waiting for customs, but with 5000 passengers, I guess it makes sense.

We were outside the dome waiting for our Uber driver by about 11:45—making this my longest disembarkation from Long Beach, but not overly inconvenient. We were at Long Beach airport around noon, effortlessly getting back home to unpack and reflect.

And, of course, to start looking at cruises to book next…

 

[Theosprey247]

Thanks for the review. Being a somewhat local I’ve been on this itinerary many times. I ve enjoyed everyone. 

[Journey11]

Wonderful review. Thank you for sharing it. I’m glad you had such a good cruise.

[mitsugirly]

5 hours ago, PattiPB said:

Mazatlan - Booking a private tour through www.Mazatlantours.com, we did a fantastic day at Stone Island.

 

Using that link...it goes to a weird looking website. I clicked on the bottom for tours and nothing comes up like this tour. Are you sure you have the right link? I see one for Deer Island (which is where we actually wanted to go) but it looks like you kayak to it (which is not what we want to do).  I don't see the tour you are describing at all on there. 🤷‍♀️

[EllieinNJ]

This might be the one she mentioned.

 

https://www.mazatlantours.org/

[PattiPB]

Thank you! It is .org!!!

[Jeafl]

Great review!  Panorama is our favorite ship so far, and I agree with all of your assessments.