Carnival Panorama – Mexican Riviera, March 02 – March 09, 2024

[ASR1996]

My partner and I were on the Carnival Panorama March 02 – March 09, 2024, and as usual, we had a terrific time. There is absolutely nothing I can complain about.  It was a perfect week and I wish it could have lasted much longer. 

 

This was our 29^th cruise, 9^th with Carnival and our 3^rd time on the Panorama.  We are easygoing vacationers, and we don’t let a lot bother us.  We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to travel and we try to make the best of every situation.    

 

We live about two hours from the Long Beach cruise terminal and after an uneventful, albeit very wet, drive, we arrived without incident at about 11:00 AM.  There were the usual lines of cars waiting to get into the terminal and it took us about 30 agonizing minutes just to go the last half mile but once we got in, we quickly found a parking space in the parking structure and gave our luggage to one of the many porters. We found our 12:00 PM line and even though we were early we entered the dome right away.  We were rushed through the check-in process and through security and on the Panorama by 12:00. As usual for us, the Long Beach terminal check-in process was fast and painless.           

 

The Panorama remains my favorite Carnival ship due in part to the colors, the décor, the ships layout and to me, it still feels really new.  The first thing we did was go to our muster station located in the Liquid Lounge on deck four and then we headed to our cabin. 

 

On our previous Panorama cruises, we stayed in Havana cabins with patios.  We really like the Havana area and everything it has to offer but this time we had an incredible casino offer with a free Ocean Suite so we thought we would try it and compare it to our Havana experience. We were in forward cabin 7241. It was a very different location for us, but it wasn’t bad, just different.  The cabin was nice.  It was definitely nice having the extra storage space and the larger bathroom with the double sinks and shower/tub combination.  At the end of the cruise, we decided that both cabins had their advantages, and we would give them both a ten out of ten, just for different reasons.            

 

Our week was filled with meals at the Seafood Shack, Fahrenheit 555, Blue Iguana, Ji Ji’s, and the Lido Marketplace.  Our favorites being the Seafood Shack, Ji Ji’s and Fahrenheit 555.  Every meal was good with incredible service.  We attended all of the production shows in the Liquid Lounge, which were all amazing. Celestial Strings, which features the String Trio, is still my favorite cruise show of all time.

 

In PV and Mazatlán, we disembarked and walked around, did some shopping, and ate lunch.  In Cabo we stayed on board and enjoyed the pool.  It was quiet and peaceful with everyone ashore.  We enjoyed all three port days very much. 

 

At 11:00 PM every night the Limelight Lounge becomes the night club, and we went every night and met some really nice people and had a great time.  The nightclub was open from 11:00 PM to late and on several nights, we didn’t make it back to our cabin until after 3:00 AM.          

 

We had a great time on the waterslides, we did a lot of trivia in the Ocean Plaza and met and visited with a lot of really nice and friendly people.  We attended two deck parties, which is something we do not normally do, but I am glad we did because we had a great time at both. We were happy to see the Quest adult scavenger hunt in the Fun Times because we always have a great time at the Quest, and this time was no exception. The cruise director was great, and he did a great job hosting.

 

Our cruise director was Deon Williams and I have to say he was the best cruise director we have ever had. His message seemed genuine and sincere, and we found him to be fun, professional, approachable, and authentically himself.  Thank you, Carnival for Deon!          

 

Disembarkation for us, as usual for Long Beach, was very smooth.  We chose to carry off our luggage and we were off the ship, through customs and to our car by 8:20 AM.  Our drive home was uneventful, and we were in our driveway by 10:30 AM. In our experience, the Long Beach Cruise Terminal and Carnival seem to have embarking and disembarking down pretty well.       

  

OVERALL

 

We had a great time and met some really nice people who we enjoyed visiting with and getting to know.  For the most part we found the food to be good. Our favorite places to eat were the Seafood Shack, Fahrenheit 555, and Ji Ji’s.  We had a lot of fun in the casino, we enjoyed the layout of the ship – nothing ever seemed to be crowded.  The only lines we experienced were at the Java Blue Café, and that was only during peak hours. Sometimes we did have to wait, for what felt like forever, to get drinks in the casino and that was frustrating. The staff everywhere worked so hard, always smiling, and saying hello.  I look forward to being on the Panorama again. 

[OddJob]

Your review makes me want to cruise on the Panorama again.  We loved dinner at JiJi's.  Love the Seafood Shack.  We love the Alchemy bar.  And the relaxing vibe of cruising on down to Mexico.

 

Nice review!

[rzyjzq]

Thanks for your review!  Glad you had a good time,.

Susan

[vanislandcruisers]

Thanks for the Review!!!