nwcruiselover

Two large bottles of water per cruise, not per day.

Yes, please do report back. I would call my PVP and ask, but I don’t have any more future cruises in mind and I don’t want to waste his time.

I use a PVP also. In the past he used to book me as a solo and add DH on later if he decided to come. Recently though he recommended booking myself and a TBA. He said that would lock in the rate and that I could change the TBA to a person’s name anytime prior to final payment, and I could remove the TBA anytime if I knew for sure he wasn’t coming.

I order my foreign currency through my on-line Bank of America account and it’s delivered to our local branch the following day. Decent exchange rate. Also, if you don’t use it all, the bank will take it back at their “buy” rate. You lose a little, but at least they do take it back.

I’m not on the Panorama now, but my sailing on January 7th had a similar situation with weather bringing the ship back to Long Beach late. The morning of boarding all the incoming passengers received a text telling them to arrive one hour later than their arrival appointment. I had 10:00 - 10:30 and I arrived about 10:30 because of having to be out of my hotel by 10:00. I arrived to a HUGE long line for 10:00 - 10:30, and also very long lines for each the other arrival times. It took forever for the line to start moving us into the terminal because the departing passengers weren’t off till after 11:00. After finally getting into the terminal there was a long wait in a very crowded Captains Lounge for Diamond/Platinum. They started boarding at 1:00 and rooms were supposed to be ready at 2:30, but not all of them were. It was a stressful day. I hope it’s better for you tomorrow.

I’m hoping and praying your new passport gets to you in time for the cruise. My sister recently renewed hers with expedited handling and expedited return, and she received it in 4 weeks. I hope you’re as lucky as she was!

That is true about certain third party insurers waiving pre-existing conditions. The only caveat is that the person who is to be insured needs to be medically able to travel on the date the insurance is purchased.

Nwcruiselover is now Nancy & Vince. Thank you for making this list.

The secret decks are at the front of decks 6, 7, 9 and 10.

Yes, it’s Asian fusion.

I haven’t been on a cruise where property damage has happened, but lately there seems to be more kids than ever on cruises, seemingly left to do as they please with no parental supervision. What bothers me the most is kids running at top speed through the ship with no regard to people using walkers and canes or on scooters. I haven’t seen anyone actually get hurt, but it’s very disturbing to see this happen. I wish the cruise line staff would address these issues.

I had exactly the same experience boarding Panorama in January. They had time-specific lines for entering the terminal, and they were adhered to without regard to FTTF status. Once inside, there were priority lines, then after check-in Diamond and Platinum went into the Captain’s Lounge to wait for boarding. FTTF area was right outside the Captain’s Lounge. They called Diamond first. Since I’m Diamond I didn’t hear the order of boarding past Diamond. So it’s not everywhere that Diamonds/Platinums can ignore their arrival time and arrive anytime they want.

No, it doesn’t require testing or vaccination.

I have stayed in them, as recently as January on Panorama. The one thing I miss is having a couch. Most of them don’t have a couch.

One more thing about “Rhythms of the Night” is that on the boat ride over to the island, we saw whales. There wasn’t time to stop very long like on a whale watching tour, but the boat captain did slow down a bit so people could get pictures.

I highly recommend the “Rhythms of the Night” excursion in Puerto Vallarta. It’s pricey at $159.99 per person, but it includes a one hour (each way) boat ride to a private island, with open bar. Also a good meal, again with open bar, and a Cirque de Soleil-style show. It’s well worth the price.

I was on the Panorama B2B in January, and I didn’t notice the soot. I wasn’t in the Havana area though—LOL. I quite enjoyed the Seafood Shack and ate dinner there 3 times on the second cruise. That being said, I liked The Big Chicken on Celebration and wouldn’t mind having it on Panorama. I ate at JiJi’s for dinner and it was wonderful. Same with steakhouse and Cucina. Bonsai Teppanyaki was excellent as always. I didn’t find the ship to have a crowded feel, but it was necessary to get to the comedy club very early to get a seat. The main theater usually had decent seats available 10-15 minutes before the show. I really enjoyed the Panorama and she’s one of my favorite ships.

Potstickers and Kung Pao Chicken.

Same thing happened in Long Beach getting off the Panorama in January.

If you’re really more interested in the cove balcony, you might want to call Carnival to find out whether there are any that aren’t under the galley.

Even though you were told a month ago that you couldn’t change to early seating, but it wouldn’t hurt to call and ask again. If they say no, ask to be put on a waiting list for early dining. If that doesn’t work, go to the dining room on embarkation day to request the change. The maitre’d is usually there for awhile starting around 1:30 to take such requests.

If you choose the deck 2 balcony, it will be a cove balcony. I love cove balconies, but make sure you don’t get one under the galley, which can be quite noisy. Look at the deck 3 plan and look at the large gray area between the 2 restaurants. You would want to avoid a deck 2 cabin below that area. Being below the either of the restaurants would be fine because they’re carpeted to muffle the sound, and they’re closed at night.

I would choose the Terrazza inside cabin for the perks of the Terrazza area.

It means that when you sign up for dining on your planner, you have priority for your selection of either early, late, or anytime dining. It doesn’t give you priority for getting into anytime dining earlier than anyone else on the day, just for the selection of which dining you’re assigned to. I’m not sure what that means at specialty restaurants.

Not allowed.