Mitsugirly's PANORAMA detailed review and pictorial

mitsugirly · April 28

We had went down so far and decided to do a U turn and head back on the opposite side of the street. There was a lot of closed and broken down buildings along the way. We made it to an area with little stands and turned down the street. I had heard people mention there was a farmers market and I wasn't quite sure if this was what they were referring to or not. They did have a lot of fresh produce but nothing we could have purchased. HOWEVER, Karl was complaining about being hungry and he managed to stop at a few of the stands for a "taste test". LOL

We continued on and the hubby found a skate park. Of course he had to stop for pictures to show his buddies back home.

mitsugirly · April 28

We passed several restaurants along the way to see what they had to offer. They were all very crowded and expensive. I'm now feeding a family of 4 this trip and had to consider that. We just decided to head back to the ship instead.

When we had gotten off the bus earlier in the day, I put a marker on my phone to know where to go back to get back on the bus.

There was quite the line at the bus stop. It wrapped around the side of the building and down the street.

I had Karl and Sakari hold our place in line while I went across the street to take a picture of the line. When the line moved, and they weren't paying attention to us, we ducked behind a large truck and moved positions, then watched them trying to figure out where we went to. lol

The line did move rather quickly and we were inside the building in 13 minutes according to my time stamp on my pictures.

Now this is a working bus station for people living there. They had to buy tickets to where they were going.

I just find it odd to know we are getting this for free. The cruise line must have some type of deal/contract they worked out with La Paz to get the cruise ships to come there for them to make money and free bus service must have been in the deal.

Now when we were waiting in line, the hubby had to use the restroom. He told me it was free. Once we were inside, I noticed this:

It looked like you had to pay. I ask him how he did this. He pointed in the opposite direction and said "Those ones are free"...um, ok. Those look like handicapped bathrooms to me. He said "oops".

The line was still going, even after getting out of the bus terminal and the buses were lined up out back. We managed to get a nice cozy coach bus for our ride back to the terminal.

We were pulling out of the terminal at 1:02pm

Destaw71835 · April 28

I’m glad that you stood your ground with the “photographer”.

mitsugirly · April 28

I took some pictures on the way back of...more statues of course.

Notice the rocky beach area. They said the tide had been low and exposed all the rocks.

mitsugirly · April 28

There's a lot of cacti along the way as well. I always find it so interesting to see cacti in the area when there's the ocean near by. I just always picture them to be in the flat desert...like Arizona.

mitsugirly · April 28

It took 25 minutes to get back to the port entrance.

Here is a map I had made so that I would know where to go IF I had done the tour with Tuna Tuna. They were located a little bit further than where the bus drops you off at but will show you the distance of the Malecon to the cruise port.

mitsugirly · April 28

We did a little bit of shopping at the stands lined up at the port and then headed back to the ship. Following Karl's yelling stomach made it easy to find our way up to the buffet and to my surprise we must have timed it right today because it was still open...although I can't say it was very good. I felt like the quality of food on the ship was a hit or miss throughout the cruise. Today was a miss for me. I tried to counter act the offerings with a little bit of ice cream. One thing I found during this entire cruise is that everyone seemed to go to the same side for ice cream. The line would be forever long. I did discover that by walking to the other side, there was hardly ever a line. I'm not sure why but I took note of this and did this every time and never had to wait for more than 2-3 people in front of me versus probably about 30 in the other line.

After lunch we went up to the Sports Square and it would be the first time I seen the Sky Ride open. They had the ropes course open as well. Sakari said she was cold and didn't want to try out the Sky Ride "today". She wanted to play ping pong but the tables were taken so they wanted to play pool. Quickly we found that the balls just rolled all to one side of the table and it was impossible to play. Ok, next suggestion would be to go to the library and play chess and cards. Nope, it was closed and they were setting up for an Art Auction.

That only left one thing to do...nap (according to the kids).

While they napped, I took pictures.

Then it was time to leave the port.

They waved goodbye to us and we were outta here. Maybe next time La Paz...I'm still holding out hope of swimming with the sea lions one day.

A few pictures as the sun was starting to go down.

I always noticed the land looked foggy as we passed by places. Is it always like this?

mitsugirly · April 28

The kids looked like they were sleeping just too peaceful so I had to do what any bored mother would do...tickle their feet and wake them up! I ask them if they wanted to go to the Sky Zone and check it out. They agreed and I booked them a spot for 6:30pm. The Sky Zone is an indoor trampoline park in the middle of the ship on Deck 7. The cost is $15 per person if you go during the day. (I believe it is $18 at night)

When it was time to head up there, they told us that there was only 2 other people booked for this time slot and that meant they would not be able to play dodge ball. They did offer for them to come back that night at 11pm and they were having a Glow Party at that time and they would have enough kids to play dodge ball. As much as Sakari loves the glow parties, she does not love being up that late...especially knowing that we would have to get up early the following day for port. They decided to just stay and jump around. The other 2 guys that showed up opted to come back at night. So, I guess this meant that they were jumping by themselves.

Inside they had a trampoline area, which included basketball and I assume that's where they play the dodge ball.

On the other side they had various activities from tug of war to sparring with large foamed thingys, to climbing a ladder without falling and also a rock climbing wall.

The rock climbing wall was different than I had ever seen before. It lit up and you climb up to different things as they lit up and you had to smack them with your hand. They would explode and then another would light up. They were crawling all over the place.

There's one fact that I would learn about Karl during this cruise, he may be fast at running since he does track, but the boy has no balance at all...nor is he very strong. I'm pretty sure Sakari showed him up in everything they did from tug of war, climbing a ladder and sparring. However, since he is so tall, he did have an advantage over her on the rock climbing wall...he was able to reach higher and easier without climbing as much as she did.

They do have an area with stands in here and you could sit and watch them. We only stayed for a little bit and decided since the kids were having their "kid time" we were going to have our "adult time" and and headed to the casino.

mitsugirly · April 28

I headed to my favorite slots and would also try a few new ones. I did fairly decent.

Sakari messaged me to say their time was up and they were heading back to the room. I guess that means adult time is up as well and we called it a day walking away with a little more than I put in.

We decided we wanted to go to the MDR for dinner tonight. I immediately opened the app and put in our reservations. Sakari headed for the shower but she didn't have enough time to do her hair before they were telling us our table was ready...10 minutes is all they will hold it for...

They had pumpkin soup on the menu tonight. I was pretty sure that I had tried this before and liked it. This time...not so much. I mean it wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I wanted again or could finish. Both the hubby and Sakari liked it. I think my taste buds are changing or something.

I did have a back up salad. It was supposed to be a Blue Cheese crumble salad...only there really wasn't much "crumble" to it. That was a little disappointing.

For my main, I ordered the stuffed mushroom. It came with only one, but it was fairly large. It was good.

The hubby and Karl elected for the Steak meal.

Sakari had the Chicken

For desert, the hubby had the sugar free ice cream and I decided to live a little and had a cheesecake

After dinner we were all tired and went back to the room for the night. We watched a little tv and I pulled out my "treasures" from today that I found at the beach we went to and showed Sakari.

We always hunt for sea glass and the hubby found a corroded coin.

mitsugirly · April 28

4 hours ago, Destaw71835 said:

I’m glad that you stood your ground with the “photographer”.

Me too! I wasn't about to pay for that crap. He couldn't even capture one usable photo.

jerseygirlinAZ · April 28

So glad you saw whales! Your pics are awesome! I've seen whales in Cabo, but they were never this active. Good for you!

Your pics of La Paz gave me PTSD.

deladane · April 29

I just got caught up. I’m so sorry your La Paz tour was cancelled. I was looking forward to living vicariously through you swimming with sea lions and whale sharks! It’s weird that it was so chilly for you in early April. I think we had warmer weather in early January!

deladane · April 29

5 hours ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

Your pics of La Paz gave me PTSD.

🤣🤣🤣 IYKYK

EllieinNJ · April 29

We are on the Panorama now but only 7 days so no La Paz. Tomorrow will be our first stop PV. Enjoying your review.

mitsugirly · April 30

On 4/28/2024 at 7:55 PM, jerseygirlinAZ said:

So glad you saw whales! Your pics are awesome! I've seen whales in Cabo, but they were never this active. Good for you!

Your pics of La Paz gave me PTSD.

Me too! We were very lucky there were so many still around and so active.

I don't understand...why did La Paz give you PTSD? I'm confused.

On 4/29/2024 at 1:09 AM, deladane said:

I just got caught up. I’m so sorry your La Paz tour was cancelled. I was looking forward to living vicariously through you swimming with sea lions and whale sharks! It’s weird that it was so chilly for you in early April. I think we had warmer weather in early January!

It was such a let down and I still don't understand why they said the port was shut down. It was perfectly fine out that day. I'm still left wondering if it was for real or it was this vendor 🤷‍♀️ But then again, people on my roll call said Carnival cancelled theirs as well. So idk.

Yea the weather definitely wasn't what I was use to when cruising for sure.

On 4/29/2024 at 1:13 AM, deladane said:

🤣🤣🤣 IYKYK

Why? I'm confused?

13 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

We are on the Panorama now but only 7 days so no La Paz. Tomorrow will be our first stop PV. Enjoying your review.

I hope you are having a great time and good weather!!

mitsugirly · April 30

APRIL 2: MAZATLAN 8-5pm

Up next is another one of those ports I had never heard of until this cruise. As I did my research on this place, it seemed like "the thing to do" was to go to Stone Island, which really isn't an "island" at all. I researched the place, looked at videos and pictures and for some reason...it just didn't really appeal to me. I don't know why. It just didn't catch my attention at all. So more research brought me to Deer Island. There seemed to be some snorkeling around the area and places to explore and it seemed more "our type" of thing to do.

However, I was really struggling with how to get there. I had read that you could take a taxi or pulmonia to the golden zone and catch a boat to go over. However, it seemed like this might be risky and the "unknown" cost to me wasn't appealing. Some said around $25 for 3 people one way...but we had 4 and then the cost to get over...who knows. I just really wanted to secure something with a vendor.

There was an excursion that would take you there for an hour and then back over to the Golden Zone to stay at some hotel. Not what I wanted to do. I wanted to STAY at Deer Island.

Then there were multiple excursions you could book and go over by kayak...not what I wanted to do.

Then I ran across one vendor that was really close to port...5 minutes away (Aqua Sports) that had a tour. It would be $20/pp for this excursion and you could stay as long as you wanted. It sounded perfect! And that's where perfect ended. I contacted them, they replied. I ask several questions and then crickets. I emailed again saying "So I take it you don't offer this since you have not responded back". That got them to respond finally with answering my questions. They had also offered transportation for all of us, round trip, for $25. I told them I wanted to do that to make it easier on us and I would like to book. Then crickets again and again and again. No matter how many times I emailed, I got nuttin!

I was really flying by the seat of my pants on this port as well. Now there would be no Deer Island. 😞

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were up by 6:45am and the sun was coming up.

It was a nice balmy weather of 66 degrees outside. I don't like balmy. I like warmer if not hot! Ugh. I was hoping the day would get warmer as it went on. Fingers and toes crossed...fingers and toes.

Since we were in no hurry to get off the ship, I sat out on the balcony and watched us pull in while the family came to life and started getting ready for the day.

We decided to head up to breakfast at 7:30am. Karl was not willing to wait any longer and I think the hubby had already went up to get coffee twice by now. You see the luxury in not being a coffee drinker and drinking pop? It's readily available in your room and you don't have to go anywhere to get your caffeine fix!

The bacon was not showing its face again today...back on bacation again. It takes more vacations than I do!

mitsugirly · April 30

After a leisurely breakfast, the family got up and started to head to the room. "Wait, where are you guys going?" They said back to the room to get our bags. "What bags??? We aren't going to be needing any bags today." The deer in the headlights look on the hubby's face was priceless. "Wait, you mean I don't have to carry anything today?" Nope, he was bagless today and I would be the only one carrying a purse with my equipment in it.

We headed off the ship by 8:30am. This port is another weird one. You get off the ship in a shipping area and have to be transported over to the port on these trolley like contraptions. They are like the limo version of the palmonia's I guess. And look how fast they are...they have racing stripes!

We made our way through all the containers and it reminded me of some action packed movies I've watched. Has anyone watched the movie The Container? It was pretty good.

Pulling up to the port

mitsugirly · April 30

Once in port, it looked like a regular port with shopping vendors and places to hang out and eat at...but of course we weren't interested in that...we were ready to get our day started.

We headed out of the port to find a taxi driver. Yes, they will all be out there ready to take you anywhere you want to go.

So what are we doing today? Many people suggested to take a tour in the pulmonia for the day. We are not really tour people (again, unless staying there) and I ask Sakari about it she definitely did not want to spend the day driving around. So, she decided she wanted to go to the aquarium here. She loves places like this so why not try it out! At least it would be something to do.

The taxi driver said he would take us for $15. It took us a total of 15 minutes to get there.

Cruising_Addict · April 30

Ahhhhhhh!!!! I am just noticing this now and I'm so excited! I have to say that during the pandemic when I was really missing cruising I dug up your old reviews to read just because they make me feel like I am on a cruise. So I'm looking forward to ready this one since my next cruise isn't until December. 🙂

Cruising_Addict · April 30

On 4/19/2024 at 8:39 PM, mitsugirly said:

Now let's talk air flights! Or should I call them fights because I was really fighting to pull the trigger on getting back home. They were so expensive!! They should cut me a break for having to endure such a long flight and the time change involved in this trip. Don't all you east coast people agree?

Totally agree! My recent trips have been an Alaska cruise, a Norway cruise and a trip to Vegas from the east coast. The long flights kill me. Just booked our BOS-TPA flights for December. Nonstop, just a bit over 3 hours. What a difference! I would love to sail out of California again, but it’s such a trek from the east coast to the west.

deladane · April 30

8 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

I don't understand...why did La Paz give you PTSD? I'm confused.

Why? I'm confused?

Kim, JerseyGirl and I were on the same New Years Eve cruise. She posted in my review about her insane day in La Paz when she went out on the boat to see whale sharks and it was horrible seas and very dangerous and they were so late coming back that they nearly missed the ship. You definitely read about it when she posted in my review in January! Just thinking about her day raises my heartbeat!

mitsugirly · April 30

3 hours ago, Cruising_Addict said:

Ahhhhhhh!!!! I am just noticing this now and I'm so excited! I have to say that during the pandemic when I was really missing cruising I dug up your old reviews to read just because they make me feel like I am on a cruise. So I'm looking forward to ready this one since my next cruise isn't until December. 🙂

Aww, glad you found the review. Hey, we were still vacationing (to the ports we visit while cruising) during the pandemic...did you happen to read any of them? We had such a great time!

Where are you cruising in December to and what ship?

2 hours ago, Cruising_Addict said:

Totally agree! My recent trips have been an Alaska cruise, a Norway cruise and a trip to Vegas from the east coast. The long flights kill me. Just booked our BOS-TPA flights for December. Nonstop, just a bit over 3 hours. What a difference! I would love to sail out of California again, but it’s such a trek from the east coast to the west.

Yea, I'm not a fan of the long flights but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined but still very long.

2 hours ago, deladane said:

Kim, JerseyGirl and I were on the same New Years Eve cruise. She posted in my review about her insane day in La Paz when she went out on the boat to see whale sharks and it was horrible seas and very dangerous and they were so late coming back that they nearly missed the ship. You definitely read about it when she posted in my review in January! Just thinking about her day raises my heartbeat!

Oh ok, I remember now. But honestly, the time we spent in La Paz it was pretty calm I thought so just didn't understand it.

mitsugirly · April 30

We arrived at the Gran Acuario Mazatlan and headed inside to pay for our tickets. They charge $460 MX per person or around $30 US.

About the aquarium:

There are 30 habitats including an aviary, crocodile, flamingo area, penguin and sea lions but most important...the aquariums!!! We love our aquariums.

In we went...

We decided not to take the stairs up into the building because...well, I was saving my legs for all the walking we were about to do. They do have an elevator! Woo hoo!

Up to the top we went.

mitsugirly · May 1

It was time to explore our favorite area...the aquarium. You'll walk to different rooms seeing different creatures and fish and excitement grows wondering what is around the corner.

There are some curious fish in here.

They have some VERY large display tanks...it kinda reminds me of the one we have here at our local zoo. I could spend hours just sitting and watching it.