Itinerary Poll: Carnival Panorama vs Carnival Vista?

[jbethel11]

Hello! I've cruised on the Carnival Horizon, and to date it is my favorite ship and favorite cruise in general! That said, I am looking at a few sailings in August of 2020. One of them is a 7 Day Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles, and another is a 7 Day Western Caribbean out of Galveston. Without creating a bias, and giving you my opinion now, which ship/itinerary would you chose, and why? I will just say I really want to travel to LA, and explore, but it is a whopping $500 difference between the two, in benefit of the Vista. Below, I have listed the complete itinerary, and in bold are the places I have visited.

 

Panorama

Day 1: Long Beach

Day 2: At Sea

Day 3: Cabo San Lucas

Day 4: Mazatlán

Day 5: Puerto Vallarta

Day 6: At Sea

Day 7: At Sea

Day 8: Long Beach

 

Vista

Day 1: Galveston

Day 2: At Sea

Day 3: Cozumel

Day 4: Belize

Day 5: Mahagony Bay

Day 6: At Sea

Day 7: At Sea

Day 8: Galveston

 

[Joe817]

I would travel on the Vista. Even if the cost were the same for me traveling either to Long Beach or Galveston, I'd still take the Vista cruise. Simply because of State Department advisories. YMMV

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Mexico.html

 

It's worth a look.

[jbethel11]

4 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

I would travel on the Vista. Even if the cost were the same for me traveling either to Long Beach or Galveston, I'd still take the Vista cruise. Simply because of State Department advisories. YMMV

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Mexico.html

 

It's worth a look.

Looking at your map, Cabo San Lucas and Cozumel/Progresso (where I traveled to last week) and Belize is in the "Exercise Increased Caution" zone. However, Mazatlán is in the "Do Not Travel" zone, while Puerto Vallarta is in the "Reconsider Travel" zone. Likewise, Roatan is in the "Reconsider Travel - Contains Areas with Higher Security Risk" zone.

[shof515]

Vista.

 

Panorama is a brand new ship which always has high pricing for the first year or two,. Eventfully, the pricing will go down as the ship gets older

[jbethel11]

@Joe817 and @shof515, I must add. My younger brother loves Sky Zone, and it would be pretty cool to have it on a ship. I also really want to see El Arco and Lovers/Divorce Beach in Cabo!

[FiredogCruiser]

I think I would pass on both, but if had to pick one, would take Vista out of Galveston. Have sailed from Long Beach before, but Galveston would be a new port.

[jbethel11]

Just now, FiredogCruiser said:

I think I would pass on both, but if had to pick one, would take Vista out of Galveston. Have sailed from Long Beach before, but Galveston would be a new port.

Which itinerary would you pick (between 6-9 days), preferably on a Vista or Dream class ship?

[Joe817]

14 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

Looking at your map, Cabo San Lucas and Cozumel/Progresso (where I traveled to last week) and Belize is in the "Exercise Increased Caution" zone. However, Mazatlán is in the "Do Not Travel" zone, while Puerto Vallarta is in the "Reconsider Travel" zone. Likewise, Roatan is in the "Reconsider Travel - Contains Areas with Higher Security Risk" zone.

Thanks for taking the time to look at the website and the maps, jbethel11. I hope you enjoy your cruise, whichever one it is.

[jbethel11]

1 minute ago, Joe817 said:

Thanks for taking the time to look at the website and the maps, jbethel11. I hope you enjoy your cruise, whichever one it is.

Thank you, and I did appreciate your map, as it may be one of the ultimate deciding factors (that and the pricing, of course)! 😁

[ABQrobin]

Honestly, thousands of tourists go to each and every one of these ports DAILY and nothing happens to them as long as they are drunk walking around in a bad section of town after dark.   I wouldn't do that in most cities in the US. 

 

As a guy told me years ago... don't ever go to Jamaica, I got robbed there.  Where were you?  I was walking down the street in Kingston around midnight, drunk off my ....  you get the story.  Well cruise ships don't go to Kingston start with.  Plus I don't go to bars at midnight, and I don't get drunk... so I think I am good.  

 

We regularly go to Mexico, Belize, Roatan, on land vacations and/or cruises, like once a year for 20 years.  Not once have I ever felt unsafe.  Do a ship's excursion if you want, then you are with a group and going where they are sure you will be safe. 

 

 

 

 

 

[jbethel11]

4 minutes ago, ABQrobin said:

Honestly, thousands of tourists go to each and every one of these ports DAILY and nothing happens to them as long as they are drunk walking around in a bad section of town after dark.   I wouldn't do that in most cities in the US. 

 

As a guy told me years ago... don't ever go to Jamaica, I got robbed there.  Where were you?  I was walking down the street in Kingston around midnight, drunk off my ....  you get the story.  Well cruise ships don't go to Kingston start with.  Plus I don't go to bars at midnight, and I don't get drunk... so I think I am good.  

 

We regularly go to Mexico, Belize, Roatan, on land vacations and/or cruises, like once a year for 20 years.  Not once have I ever felt unsafe.  Do a ship's excursion if you want, then you are with a group and going where they are sure you will be safe. 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with you 100%. Every country on the map @Joe817 provided says "exercise normal caution". Even in the US, this is applied, if not furthered as you've mentioned! 

[jbethel11]

This poll is closer than I had originally hoped. And, in a direction I am very surprised in! I would expect more people to say the Panorama, but 10 members (compared to 8) voted for the Vista.

[LaRue1975]

I would choose Vista in your situation. IMO the Caribbean itinerary is so much better than the Mexican Riviera, it’s not even close. I understand your desire to see LA, the ports and the brand new Panorama but I wouldn’t do it in August. We have amazingly comfortable weather in SoCal most of the year but it will likely be very hot in July, August and early September. The Mexican ports will be as hot and humid as the Caribbean that time of year also. There is a good possibility the prices will eventually come down on the Panorama, we are pretty excited to have a new ship out here with all the bells and whistles! 

 

Have a wonderful cruise whatever ever you decide! 

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, jbethel11 said:

This poll is closer than I had originally hoped. And, in a direction I am very surprised in! I would expect more people to say the Panorama, but 10 members (compared to 8) voted for the Vista.

 

If you know what you want to do, why start a poll that is not going the way you want?  In my opinion there is no comparison itinerary wise, which is why I would pick Vista if faced with the two options you listed. 

[footballbabe3]

We are doing the Panorama cruise in april as a Casino Premiere. We have been on the Vista

already. I would do the new ship with new ports.  

[MzOhioLady]

I vote for the Panorama ! Simply because it is a new ship and it's the exact one I'm also looking at doing. I did the Mexican Riviera back in 2010 on the Splendor and I Loved It and would do it again in a heartbeat. We went down ahead of the ship and also toured LA and the surrounding areas plus hung out in Long Beach. And we hit Universal Studios. It was fun and very doable again. Definitely check out Lover's Beach in Cabo. The water is simply beautiful and clear blue just like it is in the Caribbean Ports.

[outdoors27]

On 9/3/2019 at 4:01 PM, shof515 said:

Vista.

 

Panorama is a brand new ship which always has high pricing for the first year or two,. Eventfully, the pricing will go down as the ship gets older

I agree that prices on a new ships tend to be higher but so far the a Panorama has been cheap for a 7 day trip. I just canceled our February 2020 sailing and rescheduled for June 2020. The February trip for four of us was $2600, cat 8F Balcony deck 10. The airfare from Boston for that trip would have been more than the cruise. Our June trip is costing us a little more same cabin for $3800, still far cheaper than when we sailed on the Vista when she was brand new. That trip at minimum wad around 4800 at least for the 4 of us. Just myb2 cents.

[jbethel11]

3 minutes ago, outdoors27 said:

I agree that prices on a new ships tend to be higher but so far the a Panorama has been cheap for a 7 day trip. I just canceled our February 2020 sailing and rescheduled for June 2020. The February trip for four of us was $2600, cat 8F Balcony deck 10. The airfare from Boston for that trip would have been more than the cruise. Our June trip is costing us a little more same cabin for $3800, still far cheaper than when we sailed on the Vista when she was brand new. That trip at minimum wad around 4800 at least for the 4 of us. Just myb2 cents.

Right now, the poll is neck and neck! But Panorama was trailing significantly! 

[sanmarcosman]

On 9/3/2019 at 1:01 PM, shof515 said:

Vista.

 

Panorama is a brand new ship which always has high pricing for the first year or two,. Eventfully, the pricing will go down as the ship gets older

Not so. We're booked in the same cabin # for February on Panorama that we had on the Dream last February and are paying 5% less each.

[jbethel11]

1 minute ago, sanmarcosman said:

Not so. We're booked in the same cabin # for February on Panorama that we had on the Dream last February and are paying 5% less each.

Is $2000 for 2 people reasonable for a balcony cabin in late August?

[sanmarcosman]

2 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

Is $2000 for 2 people reasonable for a balcony cabin in late August?

I wouldn't think so but then we never cruise anywhere when the temperature and humidity are high so summer cruises don't make our list.

[jbethel11]

Just now, sanmarcosman said:

I wouldn't think so but then we never cruise anywhere when the temperature and humidity are high so summer cruises don't make our list.

Oh because that's what it would cost, compared to $1700 for 2 people on the Vista.

[PhillyFan33579]

13 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

Not so. We're booked in the same cabin # for February on Panorama that we had on the Dream last February and are paying 5% less each.

 

You have to consider the itinerary too when comparing prices. There is a reason Carnival has not put a large ship on the West coast prior to Panorama. No doubt Carnival will be watching bookings closely to see if the West coast can support a larger Carnival ship long term. 

[glrounds]

PANORAMA for sure. No airfare for this SoCal guy so that's a big plus. Have been booked on the January 18th cruise for over a year. Have done this itinerary a zillion times on the SPLENDOR, the PRIDE, and back in the day, the ELATION and the TROPICALE. Love it. Used to fly to these ports frequently. Never a problem. Safer than LA in my opinion or, God forbid, Long Beach !

[sanmarcosman]

3 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

You have to consider the itinerary too when comparing prices. There is a reason Carnival has not put a large ship on the West coast prior to Panorama. No doubt Carnival will be watching bookings closely to see if the West coast can support a larger Carnival ship long term. 

Correct, we've sailed different cruise lines since '87. The western Caribbean ports on the Dream this year were nothing to write home about. Happy Cruising.

Edited September 6, 2019 by sanmarcosman