Quick thoughts on Panorama

[pc_load_letter]

I didn't feel it was necessary to write a review as most of us know what to expect with Carnival and Panorama. For our last cruise, we generally had a great time.

 

I guess my wishes for Panorama in the future would be as follows...

 

• Swap the Seafood Shack with a Shaq's chicken. I think I saw three people get food from here. I think it would help ease the lines for the other options.
• Add to hottubs to the main pool deck where the circular sitting areas reside currently. I think this is largely dead space and would be better suited for hottubs since the aft hottubs get packed quickly.

 

As far as the cruise experience...my thoughts are...

 

• Marti the cruise director was not that good and even kinda boring. He somehow made Love and Marriage boring.
• At the start of everyday, the aft and sides of the ship were covered in black "soot". We like to get to out early so we were constantly dealing with this and it would routinely get on our clothes. I found this odd because I've never seen this on other ships or even Carnival ships.
• Shopping options are poor.
• Rolling Deal or No Deal into Love and Marriage sucked. I guess if you want to get good seats for Love and Marriage, get to Deal or No Deal first and sit through that garbage.
• Enjoyed MDR for the first time in a long time. Not sure if it's a new Carnival menu fleet wide but we enjoyed the options in the MDR.
• Door card reader "died" on us twice requiring staff to change battery. Yeah, it's fun standing outside your room with a security staffer (who also couldn't get in the room) with dozens of people walking by lol.
• I thought the elevators were fine
• Temperature throughout the entire ship always seemed to run hot. Except our room, AC in the room worked great.
• Buffet was very hit or miss. Some dishes were excellent and some were meh and cold.
• Gym was extremely hot. And gym is way to small for a ship that size.
• Free dry sauna was broke 😞
• Panorama house band was excellent
• Why do people think they need to slam their door to close it??
• Pizza cooks were nailing it! Never had to wait long.
• Deli was a dissapointment
• Steakhouse was good. Service was sloooooowwwwww though.

 

And as always, staff were all great and drinks were all strong. But I've said it before, I think I enjoy Radiance more.

 

Also, it was news to me but it looks like another berth (dock I dunno the correct term) looks to be being built. Hope they expand parking soon.

[mz-s]

They probably are doing some construction in the port of Long Beach to support the upcoming Firenze.

 

I agree Seafood Shack seems to be underutilized, I would love to see it replaced with Shaq's fleetwide.

[cacruisin]

Thanks for the information as we sail on her in 8 days!  

[jsglow]

Thanks for the update.  I'll have to look for that pier development. 

[pc_load_letter]

No 

24 minutes ago, cacruisin said:

Thanks for the information as we sail on her in 8 days!  

 

No worries, let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them.

[Jeafl]

I agree with you about the soot.  We were laying by the Aft pool with fresh drinks when all of a sudden black soot started floating down on everyone.  To Carnival's credit they replaced everyone's sooty drinks at no charge.  It only happened once, but that was enough.

[cacruisin]

Did the ship feel crowded?  Full of kids?  I am sailing with 4 teenagers so I'm likely to be more with the offender then the victim but just curious.....

 

Did you eat at Jiji's or Cucina?  

 

TIA

[weezal]

soot on panorama is a real issue. it was a problem in the havana area (deck 5 aft) almost daily

[pc_load_letter]

30 minutes ago, cacruisin said:

Did the ship feel crowded?  Full of kids?  I am sailing with 4 teenagers so I'm likely to be more with the offender then the victim but just curious.....

 

Did you eat at Jiji's or Cucina?  

 

TIA

 

Probably not the answer you want but I would say yes and no to feeling crowded. Definitely get to shows early. But in the evening, we found lots of seating in the atrium and Ocean Plaza bars.

 

There were kids but in the coming weeks with spring break it will be more so.

 

My wife would routinely eat at Jiji's for lunch. She loves the asian style bowls. Said it was always fresh and tasted good. Sadly we only did the steakhouse one night. The rest was MDR.

 

*That does bring up something I forgot. Experience at Guys was....odd. One day, the burgers coming out were the size of sliders with buns about the size of a .50 cent piece.

 

Then on the next day, they were large and seemed to have regular buns. IDK, maybe they had some surplus buns they needed to get through.

 

**And regarding shows, I thought they were all pretty good. I especially like the three violins show. Thought it was amazing. I thought it was a better show than NCLs production of "Six" that everyone raves about.

[tonit964]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ll be on her in October and I can’t wait, it’s been forever since I was on a Carnival ship!

[nwcruiselover]

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.

[darinb1345]

We ate at Seafood Shack several times while on the Panorama in Oct 22.  Of course, it could be because the lines were short or non-existent.  I'd selfishly vote to keep it, I get hangry waiting in lines 🙂 

[sanmarcosman]

I've sailed Panorama before and after the shutdown, 10 cruises altogether on Panorama. The aft soot has been an issue since day one. Last January I noticed there were larger sized mini-balls of soot and not just the specks seen on previous cruises. The oil in the soot gets into your clothes and causes a permanent tan colored stain.

 

The crew who work on deck 10 aft and I have compared our soot stains! The market umbrellas at Tides Pool have been replaced 3 times that I am aware of due to the black staining by soot of the red nylon fabric. 

 

I agree about adding hot tubs to the main pool so that Tides Pool would feel more like an adults area. Adding Shaq's Chicken where the underused Seafood Shack is also a great idea.

 

I like the Panorama more than Radiance because the upper decks provide more space for walking and sports/games. The warm weather in Mexico is a big plus in winter when Radiance is circling around in the rain and the cold temps. This winter has been the worst for San Diego County in many years.

Edited March 16, 2023 by sanmarcosman

[pc_load_letter]

Ah yes, forgot to mention I got the sushi boat in the MDR as my entire dinner one evening. (Was really craving sushi). I found it to be very good overall and a pretty good deal for around $30. I can't get a single roll in San Diego for under $12.

 

The soot thing is weird. I too noticed all the umbrellas near the Ocean Plaza bar covered in it. I was only on the innagural before this cruise and we sat in the back on that trip as well. I can't remember the soot being so prolific.

 

Thankfully, for the crew, it looks to be a normal day to day task as they were netting it out of the pool and wiping down chairs as early as 6:45am.

[cacruisin]

5 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

Ah yes, forgot to mention I got the sushi boat in the MDR as my entire dinner one evening. (Was really craving sushi). I found it to be very good overall and a pretty good deal for around $30. I can't get a single roll in San Diego for under $12.

 

The soot thing is weird. I too noticed all the umbrellas near the Ocean Plaza bar covered in it. I was only on the innagural before this cruise and we sat in the back on that trip as well. I can't remember the soot being so prolific.

 

Thankfully, for the crew, it looks to be a normal day to day task as they were netting it out of the pool and wiping down chairs as early as 6:45am.

How have I not been aware there is a sushi boat available in the MDR....good to know!  

 

[Derbie]

6 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

No 

 

No worries, let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them.

I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions.  We sail next week as well.  We are flying from Nashville, and going to Knotts before the cruise.  I would like to first ask what you did while you were in port?  We have a few things planned, but still open to suggestions. DH and myself have been there several times in advance, but the other travelers have not.  There are 8 people in our group.  Grandparents, our son and his family. I may think of more, so I hope you will bear with me.  I also want to eat the seafood restaurant!  Wanting a good lobster roll!  Jiji's is on my list for lunch. Any show you recommend we don't miss?  Thanks in advance! 

 

[nwcruiselover]

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.

[DPTexas]

1 hour ago, nwcruiselover said:

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.

Yes!!!! I, too, would highly suggest the "Rhythms of the Night" excursion as it was highly entertaining, including the boat ride there and back.  Once on the island, the food was good, but the show was the highlight - definitely Cirque de Soleil-like.  It is a long night, but very entertaining and well-worth the cost.  Take some extra cash for tipping the waitstaff after the dinner (which supposedly also supports the dinner entertainment), for the island entertainers when heading off the island back to the boat (not ship) and then at the end for the boat staff as you get back on the Panorama.  There are also some photos available to purchase taken during the boat ride and while on the island, but cards and cash are accepted for those.

Happy cruising everyone!

[kona_wahine]

We cruised on Feb 18, ate at Cuncina first day at lunch, it was really good! Probably only 1/5 of the tables taken, very fast. Then we went down and had the funfetti cheesecake everyone raves about. yum! 

[nwcruiselover]

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.

[pc_load_letter]

22 hours ago, Derbie said:

I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions.  We sail next week as well.  We are flying from Nashville, and going to Knotts before the cruise.  I would like to first ask what you did while you were in port?  We have a few things planned, but still open to suggestions. DH and myself have been there several times in advance, but the other travelers have not.  There are 8 people in our group.  Grandparents, our son and his family. I may think of more, so I hope you will bear with me.  I also want to eat the seafood restaurant!  Wanting a good lobster roll!  Jiji's is on my list for lunch. Any show you recommend we don't miss?  Thanks in advance! 

 

 

As far as shows, I highly recommend Celestial Strings and Soulbound. Celestial Strings was amazing. Love and Marriage is always a good time as well. The kids and young adults might like the various deck parties they do just about every night.

 

We've been to these points quite a bit over the years so we have been staying on the boat. But in Puerta Villarta, we take a taxi (you can find them easily right across the street from the dock) and head into "old town". Take some snaps of the old church then do some shopping. Head to the waterfront and there is good dining along the beach boardwalk.

 

In Cabo, I know people really like the dolphin encounter. The last time we did anything there we took the tender to port then lots of guys have boat tours for not much money. Cabo has gotten REALLY expensive lately.

 

In Mazatlan, I know lots of people like the bus tours around town. My buddy headed to the beach and did some parasailing. The guy brought him out a bucket of beers and they had a great time.

[OddJob]

23 hours ago, Derbie said:

I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions.  We sail next week as well.  We are flying from Nashville, and going to Knotts before the cruise.  I would like to first ask what you did while you were in port?  We have a few things planned, but still open to suggestions. DH and myself have been there several times in advance, but the other travelers have not.  There are 8 people in our group.  Grandparents, our son and his family. I may think of more, so I hope you will bear with me.  I also want to eat the seafood restaurant!  Wanting a good lobster roll!  Jiji's is on my list for lunch. Any show you recommend we don't miss?  Thanks in advance! 

 

Make sure you hit Jiji's for dinner.  It is very good (and not like lunchtime).  I almost want to book another cruise just to eat dinner at Jiji's again

[Derbie]

On 3/17/2023 at 5:47 PM, OddJob said:

Make sure you hit Jiji's for dinner.  It is very good (and not like lunchtime).  I almost want to book another cruise just to eat dinner at Jiji's again

Is it primarily an Asian type restaurant?  I have seen people mention it, but I haven't really done a lot of digging into the specialty restaurants. 

[nwcruiselover]

Yes, it’s Asian fusion.

[Derbie]

42 minutes ago, nwcruiselover said:

Yes, it’s Asian fusion.

Thanks!  What kind of price range is JiJi's?  Do you happen to know where the secret deck is located?  I have an older screen shot of a post where the person was able to see the stars from an area in the secret deck.  It is on my bucket list to see the milky way, etc.