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pghsteelerfan

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About Me

  • Location
    Virginia
  • Interests
    Travel/cruising, photography
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Carnival
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Caribbean

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  1. Hi Dana! I really enjoyed your review and reliving part of our cruise! We just got back from an unscheduled, emergency trip to PA for a week since my dad ended up having triple bypass surgery. All good and he's such a trooper, no one there can believe he's 91! We got back this weekend and can finally get back on CC. We did the self-debark and they had us waiting down on Deck 5 (outside). Luckily it was a nice, sunny and warm day since it seemed to take forever for them to call our number. Sometime between 9:30 and 10, a couple others out there with us who were also still waiting for their numbers to be called said we should all just go now and that's what we did. LOL!!! The lines had really died down so I don't know why they were weren't calling numbers. We took an Uber from our hotel to board Panorama and it was that Uber driver that told us it can be hard to get an Uber when getting off the ship on Sunday's. We were thinking about getting a cab but then after going to Deon's debarkation talk, we decided to just get the transport through Carnival to the airport. We caught the tail end of the towel animal demonstration while we were waiting for the debarkation talk. We normally don't attend, but our head waiter strongly suggested it and, well, it was Deon. We really enjoyed him and the debarkation talk was actually fun/entertaining. I'm kind of kicking myself for not doing a review this time but it had been so long. I wasn't able to get screen shots of all the menus (had forgotten at first) and even forget what we had for dinner some nights - didn't get pics. Hopefully the next cruise. I don't know when/where our next cruise will be yet but may do one that goes to Aruba/Curacao since that would be some new places for us. We had Magic booked in May 2020 out of Miami that went to HMC, Grand Turk, Aruba, and Curacao. Hope to find that itinerary again. I still miss the itinerary out of San Juan, my favorite. Thank you for taking the time to do another review - I've always enjoyed yours.
  2. Yes, it was the longer cruise BUT there were a few hiccups. First, we sat in the same back-up you guys did when entering the port but when our Uber driver dropped us off, no porters to be found. We were walking around for about 10 minutes until we found them. They were still carting off luggage from previous cruise. Panorama was late getting in the morning we boarded (fog), so that probably had something to do with it. Love the "heart attack hill" - truth! LOL!!! The fuel barge was also late so when we were supposed to sail away, Panorama was still getting fuel. We left @ around 8PM but wow, seeing Long Beach lit up after dark, that beautiful sunset - not a problem for me. Also, due to the tropical storm that became Hurricane Lidia, they changed the itinerary. Two sea days at the beginning, La Paz and Mazatlan as scheduled, we missed PV (Hurricane hit in that area, think just south) and went to Cabo instead and had a full day. We had a bonus half day (morning) in Cabo as well, then a sea day before returning to Long Beach. We had great weather in ports, rain was ahead of us and it apparently rained in La Paz the day before we were there, then rain in Mazatlan the day before as well. I never really payed any attention to our CD's (Jorge Saldano, the comedian, was our CD on Glory in 2010) but we had Deon "Woo Woo" and I tell ya, he was GREAT! Now I understand how a cruise director can really have an influence on the entire cruise. He actually did the whole life jacket demonstration at the beginning of the sail away party (normal time in the afternoon when we were originally scheduled to sail out). We sat on those benches just to the left of where you were for sail away. We just reported to muster station, checked in, and were on our way to Lido. I felt the same way about Jorge Saldano. Saw him twice and both nights were the same. We sat in back and I dozed off too. LOL!!! Do you know if they had Panorama ship ornaments on your cruise? Didn't have them on ours, checked every day. Someone did tell us that due to the fog, they didn't get all the shipments in for our cruise. I loved the whole cruise, even with the hiccups and was really impressed with Panorama. The largest ships we've been on prior to that were the Conquest Class (Glory, Valor, & twice on Liberty). I wasn't sure how I'd feel sailing with almost twice as many people but the layout of Panorama was so nicely done that it never felt crowded. Hope to cruise again and soon - I missed it! Our last was 2015 on Liberty out of San Juan. Had two booked (2020 and 2021) but both were cancelled. The 2021 was to be out of San Juan on Fascination, but Carnival had to sell her. I'm really enjoying your review, just as I have the others I have read. I need to get caught up, haven't been on CC since shortly after Covid shut everything down. Thanks for taking the time to do these!
  3. We tried going out one of the nights while we were at sea and couldn't see a thing. One of those things I totally forgot to do while it was light. So glad you went out and got pictures! I'm really enjoying your review and loved all of the zoo pictures. Those steep pathways remind me of a park which was formerly a golf course until 2019 that is a mile up the road that I walk to often. The former golf cart paths are used as walking trails and some of those hills are steep. No beautifuly painted walls along the sides, just trees, grass, & weeds.
  4. Looking forward to this one - love your reviews! I haven't really been on CC since Covid & haven't cruised since 2015 until last October when we cruised on Panorama. You boarded her the day we were kicked off. ๐Ÿ˜‚
  5. I've used Shutterfly for years, have done 7 cruise vacation photo books and always loved the quality. I just started working on my 8th since we cruised this past October. I'm curious to see if the quality is still the same since 2015 was the last time I did one. I'm really hoping but saw this post to get some other ideas just in case, so will be following.
  6. It's definitely been a while! We were on Panorama out of Long Beach, CA, this past October for 8-day Mexican Riviera with the bonus stop in La Paz. Loved it but didn't do a review. We had two cruises booked that ended up cancelled. May 2020 on Magic and Oct/Nov. 2021 on Fascination out of San Juan. Booked Panorama in May 2021, shortly after the Fascination cruise was canceled, and it was here before we knew it and I had nothing planned! LOL!!! We loved it and loved Panorama, although larger ship with 2x as many passengers as we're used to but the layout of Panorama was done really well so it never felt crowded. And now seeing Jamman54's review of Venezia, it is definitely the same layout with a few differences in style mainly and the closed in Lido pool. Is your email still the same one you had when we were last corresponding? If not, mine is dgieh at comcast dot net. ๐Ÿ™‚
  7. Exactly!!! ๐Ÿ™‚ Tried to "like" the post but that doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Really enjoying your review and Patti's pictures! I'll be entertained for a while. ๐Ÿ™‚
  8. I've missed everyone here too! I was thrilled the other day when I hopped on and saw a lot of familiar names. This was our first cruise since Covid. We were booked on Magic in May 2020 (out of Miami to HMC, GT, Aruba, & Curacao), which obviously was canceled. We also had the Fascination booked out of San Juan for Oct/Nov. 2021 which was also canceled, not directly due to Covid but because Fascination was sold. We took the full refund for Magic and got vouchers for the airfare which we needed to use by end of 2022, but that summer United extended that to the end of 2023. Shortly after the Fascination cruise was canceled, I found the Panorama 8-day that included La Paz and booked that in May 2021. We currently have no cruises booked but our normal habit is booking cruises 3 months (or less) from the sail date. We want to go on one that goes down to Arbua/Curacao but now I'd really love to to the Panorama again. They will be offering more 8-days cruises that include La Paz regularly in 2025. We didn't get to Puerto Vallarta but did end up with an extra half day in Cabo due to a hurricane. Just wish Carnival would put another ship down in San Juan to do that itinerary again at some point - that was our favorite.
  9. Thank you and so glad they got through without any issues. Panorama is definitely an amazing ship and even though we prefer smaller ships, we wouldn't hesitate to sail on her or her sister ships again. I still want to to that same 8-day itinerary with La Paz again. Happy to share and thank you too, for always sharing your trips and beautiful pictures with all of us.
  10. Hi Karen! It's been a while - so happy to see you here too! We haven't cruised since our 2015 Liberty cruise out of San Juan (land vacations instead & the Covid shutdown). I haven't been on CC since shortly after the 2020 shutdown. Been keeping myself active and spending a lot less time on the computer but looks like I'm getting addicted to CC again. So happy to find Jamman54's review and so happy to see you and a few others I feel I know too!
  11. So happy I found your review! I've just started. I haven't been on CC since right after the Covid shutdown and have been doing a lot of walking in our neighborhood (it's pretty large) and doing 5K's which keep me motivated to keep walking. I don't want to sit and rust, as a good friend's mom puts it. LOL!!! We finally cruised again this past October on Panorama, the 8 day out of Long Beach. I was on CC twice a few months prior, briefly, looking in the Ports of Call section for things to do in La Paz (not much info). I just happened to get on here again the other day seeing if anyone knew if ship ornaments for Panorama actually exist. I wasn't able to get one on our cruise, they didn't have any. Checking Ebay practically ever day since our cruise, I've never seen one for Panorama (or Vista & Horizon, all Vista Class ships). While doing the search, I saw Mitsugirly's post asking about the Panorama/same itinerary we just did & saw Deladane has a review of Panorama, same itinerary. Just browsing through, I found yours! So glad, I always enjoyed your reviews and looked forward to them and really looking forward to this one (just started). We haven't been on a cruise since our last Liberty cruise out of San Juan in 2015! We have been on other vacations, just not cruises. We had two that were canceled due to Covid but have been on other vacations, so we haven't been deprived.
  12. I got it! Saw this morning but so much running around today and figuring out HOW to share those Shutterfly links to the pics. You can no longer email them to yourself but I think I got it figured out. Will reply with those links after dinner. ๐Ÿ™‚
  13. We've been right under Lido on our Valor and our second Liberty cruise and it really was never an issue. On the Liberty cruise, my husband did say he could hear the deck party after our day in Barbados going late but I fell asleep and didn't hear a thing. We could occasionally hear chairs being moved around, but it was usually fairly quiet at night. We did get a little extra shade on the balcony and I noticed in my pictures that you could always see it, but for some pictures I just worked around it. Attached a pic so you could see what it looked like. This was when we were sailing into Mazatlan before the ship turned and docked.
  14. I have the same picture from the bus window of the cacti!!! They handled the shuttle busses differently than they did on our cruise. Due to the change in our itinerary because of the tropical storm that became Hurricane Lidia, we had two sea days at the beginning, La Paz and Mazatlan as scheduled, then two days (the second a half day) in Cabo. We missed Puerto Vallarta due to the hurricane. On that second sea day at the beginning is when you could get tickets for the busses. Tickets were available on Deck 10, just inside the pool area at 2PM but the line started forming at 1:30. We wanted the earliest time so I got in line for our tickets. We got the time I wanted, fortunately. There were a lot of complaints about that and the confusion. So glad you got to sleep in a little and didn't have a long wait. Maybe that's one of the issues the Carnival worked out because a lot of people were complaining about that whole fiasco. LOL! I'm really enjoying your review and beautiful pictures. I used my phone for most of my pictures too!
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