Carnival Panorama Cruise Review
Just The Facts
Ship: Carnival Panorama
Sailing: February 4, 2020 - 7 day cruise
Captain: Luca Lazzarino
Cruise Director: Emma Pack
Ports: Long Beach California, Cabo San Lucus Mexico, Mazatlan Mexico, Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Long Beach, California.
This is my 1st time on the NEW Carnival Panorama, my 75th Carnival Cruise Line cruise, and my 152nd cruise overall. I am sailing with the Dear Wife and many of my good cruise friends.
Ship: Carnival Panorama
Sailing: February 4, 2020 - 7 day cruise
Captain: Luca Lazzarino
Cruise Director: Emma Pack
Ports: Long Beach California, Cabo San Lucus Mexico, Mazatlan Mexico, Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Long Beach, California.
This is my 1st time on the NEW Carnival Panorama, my 75th Carnival Cruise Line cruise, and my 152nd cruise overall. I am sailing with the Dear Wife and many of my good cruise friends.
Day One—Saturday—February 8 — Embarkation
We drove to Arlington Texas on Friday evening so that we could take an early 9:00 am flight from DFW airport to LAX. We arrived early enough to enjoy a breakfast at Pappadeaux’s. Traveling on the day of a cruise debarkation can be risky, but It’s only a 3+ hour flight and we pick up two hours of time going west so we usually do this when sailing from California. We had a smooth flight and landed at LAX about 10:30 am local time. We picked up our bags, found the Carnival shuttle representative, and we were soon on our way to Long Beach. Friends happened to be on the shuttle so the FUN began early. We arrived at the port about noon, checked our bags with porters, then walked over to the new improved port facilities to be processed through security and checked in for the cruise. A bit of walking but we basically went straight through and boarded the new Carnival Panorama and in our cabin by 12:45 am. Embarkation was much improved for Long Beach. We have one of my favorite porthole cabins (2221) and was pleasantly surprised to find in a bit larger on the Panorama and everything is so new as the ship has only been sailing for a few weeks. New shower curtain, no scratches in sink or walls, new carpet, new bedding & curtains, large flat screen TV, and everything just seems fresh an new. We rested in the cabin from the boarding activity then timed our arrival at the Lido Buffet for 1:30 when cabins open to guests…that gets them out of the buffet. DW had a nice taco bowl from the Blue Iguana and I had a plate of assorted vegetables and beef tips from a buffet station.. They have a new style of ice creme machines for soft serve and we were both amazed at how cold the ice creme and yogurt was today. Coldest ever experienced anytime in my long life. Different. We went to the new Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse/Brewhouse to enjoy a beer about 2:15. They serve BBQ with indoor and outdoor seating and have a pub atmosphere with a stage for evening shows. A good concept to help serve food on sea days yet maintain an area for entertainment and premium evening dining as well. A Pilsner Urquell for me but I did sample a brew done on board. No Red Frog other than on Lido Deck. Muster Drill was between 3:30-4:00 pm, we were in A4 the theater so not too bad an experience. I could sit. When we returned to the cabin our bags were there and we met Angel our Cabin Steward. We unpacked and did some cabin set up for the rest of the day. We ordered some room service for DW and I ordered a test BLT…even better than in the past, if that’s possible. I went by the Alchemy Bar and it was busy but not overly so. Saw many of my friends before dinner. FUN. For dinner tonight I ordered: the Roasted Tomato Soup, the Heart of Lettuce salad with Tomato Vinaigrette, and the Honey Glazed Pork Loin entree. For dessert the Strawberry Creme and a Fruit Plate. Entree was good, the rest just so-so. Retired after dinner to the cabin and started this review, but it was very late by Texas time and soon asleep.Day Two—Sunday—February 9th—Fun Day at Sea
I slept very well with the smooth seas overnight. I went to the Sea Day Brunch in the Vista Restaurant (MDR) about 8:50 am and not too busy…I had a sharing table with other Diamonds and some newbies (Blue Cards) so interesting. I ordered a nice Fruit Plate, the Huevos Rancheros eggs, Tomato Juice, and hot milk. Everything was very good including service. It’s a long walk from my far forward cabin to the Vista Dining Room located far aft, but good for me. I have adjusted to the NEW elevator system on the Panorama…no up or down buttons nor floor button inside the elevator. You enter your desired deck in elevator lobby area and it tells you which elevator to use. I like it. We had invitations to the Diamond Guest function at 11:00 am. in the Limelight Lounge. There were at least 75+ guests in the room, I’m just not used to that many Diamonds on a normal 7-day cruise. but they had plenty of servers for the hors d'oeuvres and bar servers for cocktails. We had photos taken with the Captain but the best surprise was that my favorite Carnival Cruise officer was on board, Mr. Milan Petkovic. It was great catching up with him. Most of our cruise friends were in attendance so we basically sat and drank cocktails. Some of us too much. After the party I retired to the cabin for a nice nap. Many went to the Pig & Anchor for lunch and wine. The DW, my vegetarian, had the special Macaroni & Cheese dish. I’m still napping. The NEW Playlist Productions show: Broadway Beats was tonight as well as a full variety of entertainment options. The Punchliner had four comedy shows, and entertainment in Lobby area, Ocean Plaza, and Pig & Anchor all evening. I’m still napping. They did deliver Strawberries to the cabin sometime during the afternoon. It’s Elegant night, but I don’t really do elegant myself. Only six of our ten showed up for our 8:15 pm dinner, but I wasn’t one of them as I was still napping. I finally woke about 9:30 pm and wasn’t hungry so decided to stay in bed since I had it all warmed up. It was a very restful day on the Carnival Panorama.
Day Three—Monday—February 10th—Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Smooth seas overnight and I slept very well even with yesterdays extended nap. We went up to Lido Deck for breakfast and I had two very nice Huevos Rancheros from the Blue Iguana. IMHO they were better than yesterdays Huevos Rancheros in the MDR. DW had pastries. We sat out side and saw several whales as we enjoyed breakfast. We went up to deck 11 to enjoy the weather and whale watch. The ship barely moves as it crosses over the whale migration sea lanes as we approach Cabo. We had some cabin time as we waited for a less busy time to board the water shuttles to the main land. We walked down to deck 0 about 12:20 pm and strait onto a smaller fast water shuttle…no lines…very easy. In Cabo there are lots of tours to the beaches, whale watching, or to the cliffs/arches, but we decided to just stay around the pier/port area today. We saw friends on shore and stopped at Captain Tony’s Bar & Grill for some beers, diet coke, and guacamole. The food was good. Cabo is interesting, DW's first time here and my second. I did a whale watching cruise and close pass by the Arches previously. We walked around the harbor and shops a bit and enjoyed the perfect 72º weather before heading back to the water tenders to the ship. After some clean up and cabin time our friends all met at the new Guy’s Pig & Anchor for either beer, appetizers, or full meal. They have an interesting menu of BBQ items, but they do charge $ in the evenings. I had a Pilsner Urquell and the Trash Can Nachos, DW the Macaroni & Cheese. It was very nice to have entertainment as they do nightly here. Since we did the appetizer route we went to the Horizon MDR for a late dinner at 8:30. I ordered a Shrimp Cocktail and the Rosemary Lamb Shank entree. For dessert a Fruit Plate and Butter Pecan Ice Creme. It was OK, but I should have stayed at the Pig & Anchor for BBQ. We walked the Promenade and saw some entertainers in the main lobby before retiring to the cabin. It was a good day in Cabo San Lucas and on the Carnival Panorama.
Day Four—Tuesday—February 11th—Mazatlan, Mexico
Smooth seas overnight and I slept very well. We were docking in Mazatlan in an industrial area by 8:00 ish this morning. We have decided to stay on board today to take advantage of the ship activities and specialty food. We did turn our clocks forward one hour overnight but we still had time to make it to the Vista MDR before the 9:00 am closing time. Rarely do both of us go to the MDR so it was different…we had a very nice casual breakfast. I did order a large breakfast but they brought much more than I ordered, maybe as the MDR was closing. DW had a cheese omelette and I had a banana, two melons, baked apple, four eggs, four hash browns, a special corned beef hash, double bacon, toast, pastry, and tomato juice. Excellent. We did a walk about on the upper decks…it’s very nice weather for those going ashore. They have a HoHo bus that picks up at the pier or a shuttle that takes guests beyond the industrial area to the boulevard. It was interesting watching guests debark. I returned to the cabin and did some business online the rest of the morning. I finally messaged AnnaMarie and caught up with her at the Lobby Bar. Terry met us as well. Since it was a port day and easy to get into the specialty lunch venues I had the Mongolian Wok located in JiJi’s on deck 11. It was great, one of my Carnival favorites along with the Guy’s Burger and room service BLT’s. I have already completed my food trifecta early in the cruise. We had a great table on deck to enjoy the very nice afternoon weather, it was nice and we had local cellular cell service for telephone or WiFi. It is nice since we have not had WiFi at home ten weeks. We had apéritifs at the Alchemy Bar and visited with old & new friends, the Alchemists, and Milan & crew. We also found friends of our DIL (daughter in law) from Arlington, Texas and also sailing on this cruise. We had a full table of ten at dinner this evening in the Horizon Dining Room. Tonight I ordered: a Shrimp Cocktail, and two entrees: Chicken Milanese and he Braised Short Ribs. For dessert I had the Popcorn Pot de Creme and a Fruit Plate. The Chicken Milanese was exceptionally good and the beef was nice with fresh Horseradish. Lots of activities this evening and our group did the Comedy Club, Music in the various venues, and Casino time. We had a walk around the Promenade deck before retiring to the cabin. It was an interesting day with great food today on the Carnival Panorama.Day Five—Wednesday—February 12th—Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Smooth seas overnight and I slept very well. We were up about 7:00 am and I did some business as the markets open at 7:30 local time. We are docked in a beautiful area of PV with views of the mountains, the Pacific Ocean, the harbor, and new town area. We have decided to stay on board the ship again today so we took our time and didn’t go up to the Lido Marketplace for breakfast until about 10:00 am. I had scrambled eggs, ham, and bacon, then a Huevos Rancheros from Blue Iguana. DW had an omelette from the Omelette Station. Very good breakfast. We enjoyed the outdoor weather and our cellular service from a nice table on the open deck for he rest of the morning and early afternoon. At 2:15 we had lunch in JiJi’s, not busy since most guests are off the ship. In the business world all three major market indexes set all time highs today. Also a good time to purchase Royal Caribbean since all cruise stocks are down due to the Coronavirus. I added some RCL today. After our late lunch we watched a movie, Second Chapter with Jennifer Lopez. It was a good movie. We had another stroll on the outside decks, did some shopping in the retail shoppes on board then watched some classic movies on TCM in the evening. We had a Room Service dinner, DW had a Grilled Cheese with Potato Chips, and I had two BLT’s with Pickles, Potato Chips, and extra Mayo. Very good. It was a Fun yet restful day on the new Carnival Panorama.Day Six—Thursday—February 13th—Fun Day at Sea
Rolling seas overnight as we sailed further from land as we have all cruise once we left Puerto Vallarta. Some waves crashing on hull at our location on the ship were interesting, I don’t mind them but the DW says they wake her…I notice them but slept fine. We were up early and I checked the markets before going to the Sea Day Buffet in the MDR about 9:00 am. I ordered the Eggs Benedict with Bacon, Hash Browns, & Corned Beef Hash. It was good and filling. We walked around the ship and visited with friends on the aft deck. I had cabin time in the afternoon then we both had a Taco Bowl from Blue Iguana. We had complementary (12-2:30pm) Gelato for dessert, Mango for me and Coffee for DW. Lots of people out on the outer decks taking in the sun as we sail north. We had our apéritifs at the Alchemy Bar, Nicola prepared some unique cocktails for us. We attended the Playlist Productions feature show: Broadway Beats a new show and only on the Carnival Panorama. It was various popular songs done to a New York City story line. The music and dance was very entertaining, but perhaps the set itself was best thing it production. I do question the theme of the show…in the planning stages for this show they must have known that it was going to Los Angeles and a New York themed feature seems out of place. A Hollywood or LaLa Land theme would have been perfect. Folllowing the show we went direct to the Horizon Dining room for a nice meal. We started with a nice Prosecco sent to us for our Anniversary by Mr. Milan, the Beverage Manager. I ordered: the Stuffed Mushrooms, the Fusilli Mushroom Creme Pasta (as a starter), the Filet Mignon entree with Baked Potato, and Creme Brulee for dessert. It was a very good meal. We retired after dinner. It was a fun and busy day on the Carnival Panorama.Day Seven—Friday—February 14th—Fun Day at Sea
Smooth seas overnight and I slept very well. Cooler today but clear weather. I was up by 6:30 when the markets opened and I am watching it closely as I own all three of the Cruise companies (CCL, RCL, NCLH) and all have been very volatile with the Coronavirus scare. I’ve actually been trying to add to my RCL position when it dips in price so I need to monitor it somewhat. No better place to do it than from a cruise ship. We had a cabin morning with Breakfast in Bed today, it was nice. I’ll be working on this review most of the day today. For lunch we went up to Lido deck, DW had a Marketplace lunch and I had a nice salad then a SeaFood Shack lunch of Lobster Rolls ($12) one butter and one mayo served with large fresh cut French Fries. Very Good. At 5:00 pm the Panorama hosted the Platinum / Diamond Party in the Liquid Lounge theater. It was a near full house on the lower level. I was surprised that they called my name as the most senior Diamond with 528 days sailed on Carnival Cruise Line. I usually drink the Titos Vodka & Lemon-aid at this function, usually easy to get to their station. I had my share and enough extras for our gathering in the Lobby area following the Diamond meet. I just had time to change for our final dinner on the Panorama. We had all ten again and I ordered the Baked Onion Soup, Escargot, the Penne, Shrimp, & Bacon Pasta, the Prime Rib entree, and the Baked Alaska for dessert. Yes their were flames again on the Baked Alaska, something I have not seen in many years. I believe it’s sterno or similar in a container in the middle of the Baked Alaska. The dish is browned in the kitchen, not by flames covering it. Still looked good. The waiters did their ‘Farewell’ song and it was a good final meal with good service. We went directly back to the cabin to pack and had our bags out 15 minutes before the 11:00 pm deadline. It was a Fun and easy final day on the Carnival Panorama.
Debarkation—Saturday—February 15th—Queen Mary -- Long Beach, California
Smooth seas overnight and we were docked on time. Our group purposely traded all the number 1 luggage tags for number 21 so we would be among the last to leave the ship. This was because everyone is staying in Long Beach tonight and no need to rush as hotel check in would be later in day. We all met on Lido Deck aft by 9:00 am. I had my first Western omelette from the omelette station with side of bacon and hash browns and it was all very good. It was nice to wait until about 10:30 am to debark the ship as there was no rush at the end. We only stopped once on our movement from Deck 10 to the Queen Mary including elevators, check-out, baggage claim, and Customs check point. Our walk to the QM was longer due to the Scottish Festival as we had to go around along the road to a new entry. We checked our bags as cabin wasn’t ready and went to the Festival. It was interesting since the Texas Scottish Festival was my business for 30 years. We had our cabin about 2:00 pm and our bags shortly afterward. I changed into shorts and a Texas Scottish Festival T-shirt and we were back to the Festival. Scored some great shortbread and cookies. I did see some folks I knew including entertainer Eric Rigler, we had not seen each other in 25 years. Small world. We had a nice Meat & Cheese platter in a Pub set up on the QM itself for dinner. Nice food and entertainment in one of the historic ballrooms. We love our cabin, larger than what we had on the Panorama and unlike the Panorama we could open these portholes. An easy Carnival Panorama debark and great day on the Queen Mary and at Scottish Festival.Ship
The Carnival Panorama is the newest and last of the Vista class ships and newest Ship in the Carnival fleet. This only the ninth sailing of the ship so everything is NEW.
Length: 1,055
Guest capacity: 4,008
Gross registered tonnage: 133,500
Inaugural cruise: December 11, 2019
Cabin
We have cabin 2221 a Port Hole cabin forward on deck two on starboard side. The room is actually a little larger than this same cabin on other Carnival ships. It has: key pad safe, hair dryer, makeup mirror, nice shower, Stool at vanity/desk, mini refrigerator, couch, and a great large flat screen TV and location above bed. Everything is NEW. The air conditioning was the coldest we have experienced on a Carnival ship. Pleased with location although it’s a long way to the aft MDR for breakfast. I like this cabin, DW not as much. Internet work very well.
Crew
Overall very good. My cabin steward Angel from the Philippines was very good, we always had a clean cabin. Our MDR waiter and team were also good. The Captain is one of the best. The CD Emma did a great job. It was great to see Milan again.
Food
I found the food to be good, about average for most cruise lines . Service always above average to exceptional. Plenty of room for tables in both MDR and Lido…you are not hitting or bumping into adjoining chairs or tables. The Mongolian Wok, Guy’s Burgers, and Seafood Shack were great. Ice creme soft serve machines were new and very good.
Highlights of the Cruise
Sailing with Cruise friends
The NEW factor of the ship
Guy’s Burgers, Mongolian Wok, Room Service BLT’s
Cabo San Lucas
Internet (although satellite, it was 1st we have had in 9 weeks)
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