Another Panorama Review 4/27/24-5/4/24

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Thank you so much for your review. 

 

We have experienced the bottleneck entering the port for our Panorama sailings, as well.  We usually arrive shortly after 10:00 AM and it can take up to an hour.  Could you please share what time you had arrived?  I'm wondering how long in the day this parking delay might last?  We'll be on the Panorama soon and we have access to the lounge but our whole group won't so I'm wondering about available seating, etc.  Sorry to hear you ended up on the floor. 😞

 

We have parked off-site a few times and what a pain in the ---!   We also have 2 cruises booked on the Firenze so we're going to get to experience this one way or another.  😞

 

Thanks again for your time.

[mkcurran]

22 minutes ago, Are.we.there.yet? said:

Thank you so much for your review. 

 

We have experienced the bottleneck entering the port for our Panorama sailings, as well.  We usually arrive shortly after 10:00 AM and it can take up to an hour.  Could you please share what time you had arrived?  I'm wondering how long in the day this parking delay might last?  We'll be on the Panorama soon and we have access to the lounge but our whole group won't so I'm wondering about available seating, etc.  Sorry to hear you ended up on the floor. 😞

 

We have parked off-site a few times and what a pain in the ---!   We also have 2 cruises booked on the Firenze so we're going to get to experience this one way or another.  😞

 

Thanks again for your time.

We hit the back up at 10 am. 

As for the space in the dome, boarding was an hour later than typical. The ship arrived late that day, and I'm sure that set off a chain of events. The floor was as comfortable as the benches, just harder to get up from. 😆

[Mike45LC]

On 5/16/2024 at 10:26 AM, Are.we.there.yet? said:

Thank you so much for your review. 

 

We have experienced the bottleneck entering the port for our Panorama sailings, as well.  We usually arrive shortly after 10:00 AM and it can take up to an hour.  Could you please share what time you had arrived? 

 

I hit the bottleneck at 9:45 [Sat, April 27].  It took almost an hour to get to where the attendant handed me a horrible map showing where to go for off-site parking.  I still had to crop off the luggage and my wife at the on-site parking structure.

 

Once we were waiting inside the Dome, the lounge was completely full.  There were a large number of seats roped off outside the lounge where we waited.  Fortunately, I was restless and kept wandering around, so that I was able to join the line to board as soon as they started allowing us to do so.  The announcements were not good.

 

[pandncruisers]

How long did it take you to get to the offsite parking and back to the terminal after you dropped your luggage and passengers?  What time was your actual Check in time?  Once you got in your timed check in line how long did it take you to get through the check-in process?  We are thinking of  doing a hotel with parking and shuttle but not sure yet.  thx

[Mike45LC]

1 hour ago, pandncruisers said:

How long did it take you to get to the offsite parking and back to the terminal after you dropped your luggage and passengers?  What time was your actual Check in time?  Once you got in your timed check in line how long did it take you to get through the check-in process?  We are thinking of  doing a hotel with parking and shuttle but not sure yet.  thx

Timeline:

 

9:45 a.m., bottleneck outside Queen Mary/Carnival

10:45, attendant handed me horrible map of off-site parking.  GPS to the rescue.

11:00, dropped off wife and luggage at on-site garage

11:20, I am parked at off-site parking, taking bus back to the pier

11:40, checked in, waiting inside very crowded Dome [priority check in, and we had an 11:00 time slot]

12:30, boarding.  Cabin was ready for us already.

1:00, looking for seats in Lido buffet.

 

 

 

[pandncruisers]

Wow I definitely think we will do a hotel with the park and shuttle.  Thanks for the info and hope getting to your next cruise goes better.

[edspec]

If you stay on the same side of the bridge as the ship there are three hotels, all within easy walking distance...Queen Mary, Residence Inn, or The Maya.  Well worth it to avoid the parking mess.  We've stayed at the Queen Mary and Residence Inn and both times I congradulated myself on making a good choice. I've also flown in morning of and used the Carnival transportation and that worked well also. 

I'm guessing August, September, and October will be less crowded due to Panorama's absence. 

[KKB]

On 5/16/2024 at 9:58 AM, Hogladyrider said:

@mkcurran...WOW that was some adventure!

 

I have never been able to convince my other half to cruise out of Long Beach and now I know it will definitely not be happening!  Very sad indeed.

 

I read on CC about the embarkation and debarkation issues that Firenza has been having in Long Beach as well.

 

At least you got to spend time with friends and had some fun time in the casino! 

 

We have moved away from Carnival and are trying other lines.

We sailed out of Long Beach Jan. 2023 & thought it was great...tho we flew in, so did not need parking. No bottledneck coming in (and we arrive early...probably 10AM or so)

Edited May 18 by KKB

[pandncruisers]

Thanks for the info we are looking at Maya but we will need to use their shuttle since I am recently healed from a foot stress fracture.  Does anyone know if the hotel shuttles have to wait in the same line to get into the port or do they have a different way in?

[mkcurran]

1 hour ago, pandncruisers said:

Thanks for the info we are looking at Maya but we will need to use their shuttle since I am recently healed from a foot stress fracture.  Does anyone know if the hotel shuttles have to wait in the same line to get into the port or do they have a different way in?

Not the Maya. That driver bribes port workers with cookies. Fast lane all the way!