Our daily experience aboard Panorama

Chris Dikmen 3/5/20 Chris Dikmen 3/5/20

Panorama Videos

Below are some videos you can find on our YouTube channel

Chris Dikmen 2/14/20 Chris Dikmen 2/14/20

Day 7 - Fun Valentine's Day at Sea

It’s Valentine’s Day aboard Carnival Panorama.

This is our last day aboard Carnival Panorama, and the last day of any cruise always comes with mixed feelings. But, Cruise Director, Emma, and her staff have tons of activities going on all over the ship. We stopped by the Liquid Lounge where the housekeeping staff was teaching cruisers how to create towel animals.

We also took part in a few more trivia contests. I really thought I had a chance with the Game of Thrones trivia. I got 13 out of 15 right, but a couple of other players got all 15!

It is also Valentine’s Day, so we booked a special lunch reservation at Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse (Deck 5 Midship). A special Valentine’s menu scroll was waiting for us when we were seated.

Our meal starts with an amuse bouche consisting of a tiny grass-fed beef slider.

Rickee ordered the Sea Bass, which was quite large and delicious. I went for the 18oz bone-in Ribeye which arrived perfectly cooked and quite tender. For dessert, we both enjoyed the cheesecake Creme Brulee. The meal was very good and a good value at $55 per couple.

We spent most of the afternoon packing for the trip home, relaxing and playing another game of trivia. We also stopped by Pixels, the digital photo studio, where I purchased and downloaded one of the photos to my smart phone. When we returned to our stateroom, we were greeted with a little mouse on the bed along with a message from our Room Steward, Puthut.

*A Towel Mouse Greets Us Upon Return To our Stateroom*

We have really enjoyed our week aboard Carnival Panorama. We think it is our best Carnival cruise yet. Watch for our final review and new YouTube videos coming soon.

Chris Dikmen 2/13/20 Chris Dikmen 2/13/20

Day 6 - Fun Day At Sea and Carnival Kitchen

We discover the Lanai and have dinner at Carnival Kitchen.

This Fun Day at Sea begins with a morning visit to the Liquid Lounge (Deck 4 & 5 Forward) for another round of trivia followed by the Morning Show with Cruise Director, Emma Nixon, and her sidekick, Nadia.

Another morning round of trivia was held in Ocean Plaza (Deck 5 Midship/below left) and we are all in hot pursuit of the elusive, and highly valuable, 24-carat gold plastic Ship-On-A-Stick (below right), awarded to the winning trivia player.

For lunch today, it was back to Guy’s Burger Joint for my last cheeseburger of the cruise (this makes my third). They are just too good to pass up.

After lunch, Rickee and I give the gelato a try, and it was very good. There are two new flavors each day and today’s flavors were Coffee and Mango. There is also a toppings bar where you can load your cup of gelato with additional sweets.

We spent most of the afternoon lounging in the sun (me in the shade) at the Lanai on Deck 5. This out-of-the-way spot has the only padded loungers we have found on Panorama and is rarely crowded. It is much quieter than the Beach Pool or Tides Pool.

For dinner this evening, we have reservations at Carnival Kitchen, Carnival’s new cooking class venue. The theme of our class/meal was The Orient Unknown. The Carnival Kitchen is located on Deck 4 Midship and the space has a long dining table at the front of the room and several individual cooking stations at the rear.

Carnival Kitchen offers guests the opportunity to learn cooking techniques from their team of chefs. As you can see below, our cooking station has all of the ingredients already portioned in small bowls and there are two induction burners for cooking.

We learned how to prepare minced Chicken Satay, a soup dish and Udang Bakar, a Balinese spiced grilled shrimp. Below, you can see I am cooking the shrimp, and on the right, the finished product. After we prepared our dishes, we get to sample the results.

After learning how to prepare three different dishes (different classes have different numbers of dishes to prepare), we get to sit down at the dining table and be served the same dishes, this time prepared by the master chefs. Massive bowls of various oriental dishes served family-style begin to fill the table. It was much more food than our group could eat.

This particular class cost $59 per person and Carnival has a variety of classes with varying topics and culinary styles of cooking. One couple in our class had already participated in two other Carnival Kitchen classes this cruise!

After Carnival Kitchen, we had just enough time to get to the Punchliner Comedy Club to catch Julie Scoggins’ show. She was hilarious! All of the comedians have been excellent on this cruise.

Tomorrow is our last Fun Day at Sea, and our final day aboard Carnival Panorama. Soon, we will be posting a full review of this new ship, crew and itinerary. We will also be posting several reviews of the various dining experiences on board. Watch our website and YouTube channel for more about our Carnival Panorama cruise.

Chris Dikmen 2/12/20 Chris Dikmen 2/12/20

Day 5 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

We visit the Havana Pool and try out Carnival Waterworks.

This morning, Carnival Panorama is docked at Puerto Vallarta, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. We were here a couple of years ago on another cruise ship and we were docked in a completely different area. We were hoping to find that area since there was a lot of great souvenir shopping there. When we disembarked Panorama, we were handed some typical shopping promotional materials (below). One mentioned a FREE SHUTTLE to a shopping area. Was this the place we were hoping to find?

So, we hopped on the cute little shuttle, which drove us along a beautifully landscaped path to a pier opposite from where Carnival Panorama was docked. We immediately realized this was NOT the place we remembered. This is a brand new shopping mall called Puerto Magico. Most the building is still empty, so the main attraction is yet another Dufry Duty Free store! Can we not escape Dufry? They are everywhere!

Once you enter Puerto Magico, you cannot simply turn around and walk out and back to the ship. Signs continue to lead you to the exit, which, if you follow them like we did, will dump you out in the middle of town somewhere with no direction on how to get back to the ship. In hindsight, we should have just turned around and walked out of the duty free shop and walked back to the ship. Instead, we ended up walking down a sidewalk on a busy street to get back.

Once back at the pier where Panorama is docked, there are a few local vendors in the parking lot that have some souvenirs for sale, but nothing like we saw on our previous cruise here.

We did not book an excursion in Puerto Vallarta, but there are a lot of great ones offered by Carnival. If you want to spend a nice day on your own, you can get a taxi to take you to Malecon, the city’s waterfront pedestrian area with tons of shops and restaurants. It is about a 20-minute taxi ride to Malecon, and it will cost between $5 and $7 to get there. Here’s a tip: if you are going to hire a taxi, go outside the port security gates and grab a taxi there. You will save some money. The taxis inside the port area have to pay a heavy federal tax which is passed on to you. Also, if you have pesos, you will get a better deal.

The main reason we did not go to Malecon on this trip is because we wanted to take advantage of the last port day to experience some of the other outdoor fun onboard the ship. It is much easier for us to take photos and video of these attractions with fewer people onboard. Today, we wanted to try out the water slides at Carnival Waterworks on Deck 12. Sure, Carnival Waterworks is designed for kids with slides, huge buckets that fill with water then dump onto your head, and other water-themed attractions. But, kids of all ages can enjoy the slides.

The Red Fun slide is a more relaxed journey where you sit in an inner tube and float down the chute.

Blue Fun is a bit more intense where it is just you inside the blue tube (below). You can get going pretty fast in Blue Fun. Below is a still frame from a GoPro video I shot going through Blue Fun.

After a few trips down the two slides, we stopped at the Lido Marketplace for a quick lunch. Rickee had a delicious toasted ham and cheese sandwich, although the French fries were cold and stale. I tried some of the BBQ pork ribs and some fried rice from the buffet. The ribs were too salty and the rice was pretty bland. Overall, the Lido Marketplace buffet is our least favorite dining venue, but the Deli sandwiches are an exception to that.

After lunch, Rickee was in the mood for some sunshine. We were fortunate to be invited to spend an afternoon at the Havana Pool (Deck 5 Aft). The Havana Pool is a private area accessible only to guests staying in Havana staterooms or suites. And, because Carnival does not allow small children in Havana staterooms and suites, you can enjoy the sun and pools here without noisy kids.

There are plenty of wicker loungers facing aft with tables in between. We were a little surprised that Carnival did not include padded covers on these lounges, but who knows, maybe that is in the works?

The Havana Pool (below) is shallow enough so you can stand and enjoy the infinity view out the back of the ship. There are even little tables where you can set your drinks while you lounge in the pool. Two large hot tubs flank the pool, each one large enough to hold six to eight adults.

My favorite spot is on one of the round, padded, two-person loungers which are partially protected from the sun. Pressing a small “Service” button sends a signal to a crew member that a drink order is needed. Soon, my delicious, fruity Rum Punch arrives. It’s like magic!

*Circular Shaded Loungers At Havana Pool*

For dinner this evening, we had reservations at Cucina del Capitano, Carnival’s Italian-themed restaurant (Deck 11 Aft). When we arrived, we were immediately seated at a quiet table for two. The restaurant was less than half full on our visit. We had a wonderful meal and shared a bottle of sparkling red wine. I will be posting a full review of Cucina del Capitano to our website soon!

The atmosphere in Cucina del Capitano is warm and intimate. This is a nice, quiet place to enjoy an Italian meal.

After dinner, we attended yet another Punchliner Comedy Club show, this time featuring Cee Jay Jones. We saw Cee Jay on Carnival Vista in 2017 and loved his shows. Tonight’s show was even better than we remembered. We laughed so hard it hurt!

Tomorrow will be the first of two fun days at sea before arriving back at the Port of Long Beach.

Chris Dikmen 2/11/20 Chris Dikmen 2/11/20

Day 4 - Mazatlan, Mexico

We visit Mazatlan, Mexico and experience a Rock Revolution.

This morning, Carnival Panorama is docked at the Port of Mazatlan, a very industrial port mostly used for container ships. As such, there is not much to see or do near the port. Fortunately, Carnival offers a variety of shore excursions including All-Day Beach Resort Getaways, Zip Line, ATVs and more. You can see the entire selection here. If you opt to go on your own, you can take a free shuttle to the cruise terminal building where other choices are available.

*Complimentary Shuttle To Cruise Terminal*

The Cruise Terminal at the Port of Mazatlan is sort of a jumping-off place for shore excursions but also has a fairly large souvenir marketplace inside.

Inside the terminal building you will find dozens of small vendor shops and kiosks, most of which are selling the same stuff. Here you can find items like souvenir magnets, t-shirts, knick-knacks, unlicensed NFL caps, jewelry, clothing, leather items. Most of these items, I am sure, are made in China. We collect refrigerator magnets and we did not have one for Mazatlan, so we were on a quest to find the perfect souvenir magnet.

When you exit the cruise terminal, you will find more of what? You guessed it…vendors! For the most part, they sell the same stuff as inside the terminal building. And, if you walk about 50 yards through the parking lot, there is an even larger building filled with more local merchants! So, when it comes time to stock up for your next garage sale, this is the place!

Of course, there’s more than just souvenir shops here. There are also a few pharmacies selling cheap prescription drugs without the need for a prescription. I have purchased prescriptions before in Mexico with good results. You may need to know the actual chemical compound of your prescription in some cases because the same drug from the same manufacturers may have different brand names, or no brand name at all in Mexico. You should also know that it may not be legal to bring these drugs back into the US.

You will also find several local tour operators selling a variety of tours (see below). Some of these can be a very good value. We overheard a group of 9 book a van for an all-day local tour for $20 per person. Remember, however, that when you “do your own thing” in a port, it is your responsibility to get back to the ship before it sails. If you hire a taxi for a tour and the taxi breaks down 30 miles from the ship, the ship will leave without you. On the contrary, when you book your tours through the ship, the ship will wait for your tour to return, even if there is a delay.

You will also find a few vendors selling food at the terminal and soft drinks. Rickee found her favorite, Dr. Pepper for $2 a bottle and brought three bottles back to the ship. Dr. Pepper is not available on Carnival ships since they only offer Pepsi products.

We spent the afternoon by the pool watching The Lion King on the big screen and just being lazy because some days you just want to do nothing. I had another Guy’s Burger Joint burger (the best cheeseburgers on any cruise ship).

This evening, we wanted to try the Alchemy Bar. We have been hearing so much about how great the drinks are there, we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I mean, after all, it’s just a bar, right? Turns out, the hype is for good reason. This place fills up fast and remains full through the night. We arrived before they opened, about 4:45pm, and there were already other patrons seated at the bar. Basically, Alchemy Bar is a Martini bar. If you want a Bud Light, move along. If you want a Bloody Mary, or a frozen drink with an umbrella, go elsewhere. Because, when Zoran Dimitrievski arrives on the scene, the show begins with splashes of vodka, gin, fruit juices, nectars and other ingredients being combined to make the best damn drinks you have ever had!

You can select from a wide variety of specialty drinks listed on the backlit menu, or, request a custom concoction. Rickee started with a Lemon Drop Martini ($10.95) and I ordered a Moscow Mule ($10.95). Both were very good. Rickee said her Lemon Drop was the best she has ever had (and, she has had a quite a few over the years).

But, our favorite drink of the night was the Cucumber Sunrise, which Zoran tells us is the most popular cocktail at Alchemy Bar fleetwide. This was a delicious mix of vodka, muddled cucumber, watermelon nectar, fresh squeezed lime juice and a splash of orange juice. It might be the best cocktail I have ever had and Rickee agrees.

After two pretty stiff drinks at Alchemy Bar, we though it best to have a little food in our stomachs before going to the evening show. Fortunately, Bonsai Sushi is located right across from Alchemy Bar, so we grabbed a couple of seats at the Sushi Bar and each ordered one of the Noodle Bowls ($7 ea). You can choose from Ramen or Udon noodles and we ordered the Udon. Then, you can add beef, chicken, mushrooms or even add a hard boiled egg. The bowl of noodles arrives in a little pot filled with a steaming, rich vegetable broth. There are more than enough delicious noodles and meat (if you add meat) to satisfy a substantial appetite. It was really delicious and a great value. We have not had anything at Bonsai Sushi yet that was not tasty.

We arrived in line for the evening show, Rock Revolution, at about 6:55, five minutes before they opened the doors. The line to get in was already massive, so we did not get the seats we wanted, but still had good seats on Deck 4. Plan to arrive by 6:40 to get in line if you want the best seats for this 7:30 show.

Rock Revolution features music from 1969 and it was the best rock-themed production show we have seen on any cruise. We were entertained with excellent vocals, great dance choreography and live musicians on drums, guitar and horns backing up some really great taped music. The show has all the visual stimulation you could ask for with laser lights set to the music, and even one number with lighted drones floating overhead. Very cool! Carnival has really stepped up their entertainment since our last Carnival cruise in 2017.

Tomorrow, Carnival Panorama will be docked in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Chris Dikmen 2/11/20 Chris Dikmen 2/11/20

Day 3 - Cabo San Lucas

We decide to stay on board and see how much fun we can have on Carnival Panorama.

*Anchored off the coast of Cabo San Lucas*

This morning Carnival Panorama is positioned off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Having been to Cabo many times, we decided this would be the perfect day to spend on board the ship to explore some fun activities while most guests go ashore for excursions. We head up to Deck 14 Midship where we find only two ladies in line for the SkyRide attraction. When I did the SkyRide on Carnival Vista, I had to wait in line for 45 minutes!

The SkyRide is free for all guests (under 250 pounds and at least 53” tall) and is a blast. After you are strapped into one of the two SkyRide cars, you pedal your way around a track that puts you nearly 150 feet above ocean! The cars are very easy to pedal and there are some exciting dips and turns along the route. It only takes about five minutes to make one lap around the track.

Rickee and I rode in cars next to each other and I was able to video her on the SkyRide with the famous rocks of Cabo San Lucas in the background. The lines were so short, we rode the SkyRide three times today and never had to wait more than 10 minutes in between rides!

After the SkyRide, we decided to take a shot at the Ropes Course, located just across from SkyRide. After getting fitted with a safety harness, we climb about 25 feet above the deck and start making our way across a series of rope obstacles. Balance is the key and the course is quite challenging. There are actually two courses, with the one on the left side being the easier of the two. As you can see in the photo below, the step pads on the right are much smaller than on the left where Rickee is walking.

The Ropes Course was quite challenging, but once you get the hang of it, and the fear of plummeting to your death goes away, it becomes fun. Only Carnival could figure out how to turn fear into fun!

After our Ropes Course adventure, we grabbed a quick slice of pizza before heading back to Deck 10 Midship where Aladdin was playing on the Dive-In Movie screen poolside.

It was just warm enough to warrant a couple of frosty Piña Coladas from the Blue Iguana Bar ($11.21 each). Carnival has done away with plastic straws and replaced them with thicker ones made from some sort of sugar. They seemed to work pretty well because my glass was emptied in short order. And, when you are finished with the drink, you can eat the straw! And, by the way, the drinks were delicious.

At 6:00pm this evening, we went to the lobby on Deck 3 for our reservation at The Chef’s Table. This is the premier dining experience on Carnival and is limited to 14 guests. After being greeted by a Sous Chef, we were led through the dining room and into the main galley on Deck 3, where we all washed our hands before proceeding to the first tasting area.

*Meeting for the Chef’s Table On Deck 3*

Here the Sous Chef prepares an Amuse Bouche of yogurt, white chocolate, a crumble and a thin slice of sirloin on a cold plate which freezes the yogurt/chocolate instantly. It sounds like an odd combination, but it was delicious.

After three appetizer tastings in the galley, we are eventually seated at a table in a special dining room inside the galley. Each person has a personalized tasting menu before them. We are offered a choice of a red Cabernet Sauvignon or a white Australian Sauvignon Blanc. Still or sparkling water is also poured.

*Chef’s Table Menus Are also place cards For Each Guest*

It takes nearly three hours to get through the 11-course meal. One of my favorite courses was the crispy lamb neck alongside a perfectly roasted chunk of lamb (below). There is no way to go through the entire meal here, course-by-course, but to summarize, the Chef’s Table is something that every foodie should experience at least once. The cost is $95 per person plus gratuity which, in our opinion, is a good value for this type of dining experience.

We will be posting a much more thorough, detailed review of The Chef’s Table to the Cruise Ship Dining section of this website soon, so stay tuned.

*Perfectly Roasted Lamb with White Asparagus Cheesecake*

After the Chef’s Table, the only activity we could think of was sleep! We went back to our stateroom where we were greeted by a friendly towel bear.

*A Friendly Bear Greets Us Upon Our Return To Our Stateroom*

Tomorrow, Carnival Panorama will be docked in Mazatlan, Mexico.

Chris Dikmen 2/9/20 Chris Dikmen 2/9/20

Day 2 - A Fun Day At Sea

A sea day filled with great food, fun and entertainment.

As Carnival Panorama sails to our first port of Cabo San Lucas, we get to enjoy our first “Fun Day at Sea”. What better way to start off the fun than by sitting in on the Live Morning Show with Cruise Director, Emma Nixon. Emma is the most energetic and visible Cruise Director with whom we have ever sailed. And, we have sailed with more than 120 of them!

*Live Morning Show with Emma Nixon and Belo*

We spent most of the morning trying to compete in the many trivia contests going on around the ship, but sadly, no 24-carat gold (plastic) “Ship-On-A-Stick” will be coming back to our stateroom today. Today was a good day to spend indoors since it was 52 degrees and cloudy for most of the day.

We did stop by Pixels Digital Gallery on Deck 5 midship to take a look at some photos we had the ship’s photographer take of us last night. On Carnival Panorama, cruise ship photography has finally gone all digital. You no longer have to search for yourself through hundreds of photos on wall after wall of photos. At Pixels, you walk up to one of the many iPad-style terminals, type in your folio number and birthday, and voilà: all photos of you will appear on the screen. You can order prints right from the screen, or obtain a digital copy on a USB thumb drive. You can also do all of this from your smart phone or iPad using the Carnival Hub app (free to download). Purchased photos can even be downloaded directly to your smart phone! It is very cool, and a technology that is long overdue.

For lunch we decided to enjoy a couple slices of pizza at Carnival’s legendary Pizzeria Del Capitano on Deck 10 aft. I am pleased to report that Carnival’s pizza is as good as ever, certainly one of the best on any cruise ship. I had a couple of slices of Pepperoni and Rickee had the Quattro Formaggio (four cheese). You no longer even have to go to the pizzeria on Deck 10 to enjoy Carnival’s pizza. Just use the Carnival Hub app to order your pizza delivered to your stateroom, or anywhere on the ship! There is a charge of $5 per pie for delivery.

Carnival’s pizzas are made fresh with real mozzarella cheese and San Marzano tomato sauce. The crust is thin, crispy and has just the right amount of chewiness. It is really good. Pizza is available 24 hours-a-day, and if you go pick it up yourself at the pizzeria, it’s FREE!

This evening, we stopped by Piano Bar 88 (Deck 5 midship) to enjoy Ben on the piano. Piano Bar 88 is a little different than we remember on Carnival Vista. The room seems smaller and it is now open to the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse dining room. I am assuming that a wall will close off the bar from the dining room when the sing-along starts at 9:00pm.

We were a little surprised that nobody came over to take a drink order from us at Piano Bar 88. We sat there for about an hour while waiting for our dinner reservation at Bonsai Teppanyaki. We saw a bartender and a waitress, but nobody came over to take an order. There were five other occupied tables, and we only saw one of them waited on. A few walked up to the bar to place an order, which I certainly could have done. I think I just wanted to see how long it would take for someone to come over to take a drink order.

Our experience at dinner could not have been more of a contrast. Once we arrived at Bonsai Teppenyaki, we were greeted and shown to our seats at one of the two ten-person Teppenyaki tables. I don’t want to go into too much detail here because we will be posting a separate and thorough review of Bonsai Teppenyaki on our website soon. However, I can tell you it was one of our most fun and enjoyable cruise ship dining experiences in recent memory.

Bonsai Teppanyaki is a new concept on Carnival and it is one we hope they expand. There is a $32 per person charge to dine here, and it is worth every penny. Not only was our Chef, Ronaldo, very funny and entertaining, the food was delicious. Bring a big appetite because there is a LOT of food.

After our excellent dinner, we had time to get in line at Liquid Lounge (Decks 4 & 5 forward) for this evening’s production show, Celestial Strings. The Liquid Lounge is set up differently than other Carnival ship theaters we have seen in the past. The center section of Deck 4 seating is made up of individual, moveable chairs. This allows the theater seating to be re-arranged to accommodate shows like Celestial Strings.

There are stage elements placed throughout the seating area so, depending on where you sit, performers are literally singing and dancing right in front of you.

The combination of costumes, choreography, dance and amazing vocals make this the best production show we have ever seen on a Carnival ship. We recommend that you arrive early and get a good seat on Deck 4. The seating in the balcony on Deck 5 comes with a lot of blocked sight lines and just does not give the best viewing experience.

Our first day at sea was filled with a lot of great entertainment, good food and most of all…FUN!

Chris Dikmen 2/8/20 Chris Dikmen 2/8/20

Day 1 - Embarkation in Long Beach

We board Carnival Panorama in Long Beach, California

Feb 8, 2020 - The fog is so thick this morning that we can’t even see the Queen Mary docked about a half mile from our hotel room in Long Beach. By the time we check out of our hotel, the fog is beginning to lift and it looks like it will be a nice, sunny day. Rather than take a shuttle or Uber to the cruise terminal, we decide to walk. It is only a 10-minute walk from Hotel Maya to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal. We pass right by the Queen Mary, which is now a hotel and permanently docked next to the cruise terminal.

On this cruise, we decided to travel with three rolling suitcases (overhead bin size). Our plan was to drop one off with the porters outside the cruise terminal and have it delivered to the stateroom, but we must have walked right by the luggage drop as we entered the cruise terminal. No big deal, they are easy to roll onto the ship, and then we can unpack as soon as we get to our stateroom. Check-in at the Long Beach terminal was a little different than we have seen at other ports. Instead of going to a long line of registration agents, agents are standing at a row of chest-high tables where you can fill out the mandatory health questionnaire. The agent then scans passports, takes your photo with a small handheld device, stamps your boarding pass and sends you to the security line. It was quite efficient.

The cruise terminal is nice, with plenty of seating and even a few Instagram photo booths where you can take your own pre-boarding photos.

You probably will not have any trouble finding another guest willing to take your photo in exchange for taking theirs. We were fortunate to have Priority Embarkation so we were one of the first 100 or so to board Carnival Panorama. Unlike other cruise embarkations, this was the first time I can recall boarding a ship without a stateroom key card. Instead, our Boarding Passes were scanned and we were informed that our stateroom keys would be waiting for us in our mailbox outside our stateroom. The excitement begins to build as we walk through the long bridge linking the cruise terminal to Carnival Panorama.

*Bridge connecting Carnival Panorama to cruise terminal*

We stepped aboard Carnival Panorama on Deck 5 and walked aft to the aft elevators and stairway. We were hoping we could at least drop our luggage in the stateroom, even if it was not yet ready for occupancy. At this point, we realized that decades of using elevators proved useless as Panorama has an entirely new elevator system. The new system requires that you select your desired destination deck using an electronic panel in the elevator lobby. The system then tells you which of the four elevators (A, B, C, or D) will take you to your selected deck. Once you board the elevator, it already knows at which decks to stop. There are no buttons inside the elevator to select another deck. It is a little confusing at first, but it seems to work pretty well.

*Select your deck destination in the elevator lobby*

After we arrived on Deck 6, we could see that the fire doors were closed and a sign was posted indicating that the staterooms would not be ready until 1:30pm.

So, we took our rolling bags with us up to Deck 10 for a quick lunch at Lido Marketplace, the ship’s buffet. The buffet offerings did not really interest us, so we decided to walk forward and get a burger at Guy’s Burger Joint located poolside. These are still the best cheeseburgers you will find on any cruise ship, and actually even better than Five Guys, in my opinion. We were trying not to eat too much since our documents show that we are supposed to be dining at The Chef’s Table tonight, which is a huge, multi-course meal.

After lunch, we still had a little time to kill before our stateroom was ready, so we decided to visit Guy’s Pig and Anchor for a traditional embarkation drink. I had a Michelob Ultra ($6.50 + gratuity) and Rickee had a glass of sparkling wine ($10.50 + gratuity). Drink prices have definitely increased since our last Carnival cruise in 2017.

When we got to our stateroom, we used our GoPro to shoot a tour of our Balcony Stateroom (6392). This video will be posted to our YouTube channel soon after we return from the cruise. There are lot of interesting little tidbits worth knowing before you book this category stateroom.

At 3:30, we attended the mandatory muster/safety drill. Our muster station is the Limelight Lounge on Deck 4 aft. The safety drill only took about 30 minutes and we were not required to bring our life vests, which makes the process much easier.

This evening, we were preparing to meet for the Chef’s Table dinner, as today’s date was on our documentation. However, there was no indication where we were supposed to meet. After getting dressed for the dinner, we walked to Deck 5, thinking that we could find someone to direct us. An officer said we should check with the hostess at Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse. After visiting with the hostess at the steakhouse, she informed us that our Chef’s Table reservation was actually for Monday! That was a relief for us since were were still pretty full from our Guy’s burger at lunch. We were a little hungry, but not Chef’s Table hungry. The hostess also re-arranged some of our other dining reservations and was able to get us into Bonsai Teppanyaki for tomorrow night.

After getting our reservations straightened out, we decided to have a much lighter dinner at Bonsai Sushi.

Bonsai Sushi was one of our favorite dining spots on Carnival Vista and the one on Panorama looks nearly identical. In our opinion, this is one of the most underrated hidden gems on Carnival ships. The à la carte menu is very reasonably priced and you can order a little or a lot, depending on your appetite. Watch for a complete review of Bonsai Sushi coming soon to our Dining Reviews blog and our YouTube channel.

After a light meal, it was time for our favorite evening activity aboard a Carnival ship, a visit to the Punchliner Comedy Club. The first “adult” comedy show was at 8:30, and we arrived at 8:00 and were able to get a great seat. As always, the room was packed when Vince Morris took the stage. Vince is a veteran comedian and his entire act was based around interacting with the audience. It was hilarious, and we look forward to more Punchliner comedians on this cruise.

Tomorrow is a “fun day at sea” as we sail toward Cabo San Lucas. We are looking forward to more fun, food and entertainment aboard Carnival Panorama.

Chris Dikmen 2/7/20 Chris Dikmen 2/7/20

Pre-Cruise: Long Beach, California

We spend a pre-cruise night at Hotel Maya in Long Beach, CA.

Feb 7, 2020 - Since it is the first time we have sailed from Long Beach, CA, we decided to fly in a day early and spend a night in Long Beach before the cruise. Our flight on American Airlines was delayed out of DFW, which has now become pretty typical and yet another good reason to fly into a port city a day or two ahead of the cruise. We landed at LAX about 30 minutes later than our scheduled arrival, so the delay was not as bad as some we have experienced on American.

After collecting our checked luggage, we began looking for the area to grab an Uber to our hotel in Long Beach. Getting Uber, Lyft or even a taxi at LAX is challenging, to say the least. When we exited the airport, we found a long line of other travelers waiting for a shuttle to take them to the Taxi/Ride App pick-up area.

*Line of people waiting for Uber/Lyft shuttle*

It took about 15 minutes for the shuttle to arrive and we were the last ones allowed to board the shuttle before the doors closed for the drive to the pick-up lot. I ordered our Uber ride while we were on the shuttle bus and as soon as the bus dropped us off, we found our Uber “Comfort” ride, a beautiful new Lexus ES 350 Hybrid. The driver even had bottles of water for us! The drive to Long Beach took about an hour, even though it is only 22 miles from LAX. The traffic is horrendous. The Uber ride was $54 + a $10 tip, so a total of $64. The additional expense and hassle of getting from LAX to Long Beach would make us consider flying into Long Beach airport from Dallas Love Field on Southwest next time.

In the spirit of full disclosure, Hotel Maya hosted us for our one-night stay on this trip. We arrived at about 4:20pm and check-in was quite fast and easy. The hotel is situated south of Long Beach on a piece of land that is also home to the cruise terminal and pier where we will embark Carnival Panorama tomorrow. The Queen Mary is also permanently docked here and now serves as a hotel and museum. Our King Deluxe room with a view (3206) was located in Building 3 on the second floor.

For a more complete review of the Hotel Maya and details of our stay, check out our website under Hotel Reviews.

*Queen Mary is visible in between the two palm trees*

Tomorrow at about noon, we will board Carnival Panorama. As it turns out, there is a very nice sidewalk going from our hotel to the cruise port, less than a mile away! We will probably just walk to the ship. In tomorrow’s blog, I will talk about the Long Beach Cruise Terminal and our first day aboard the new Carnival Panorama.

Chris Dikmen 12/21/19 Chris Dikmen 12/21/19

Pre-Cruise: The Carnival Website

The Carnival website lets you plan virtually every aspect of your cruise in advance.

Carnival has one of the best websites for enthusiasts to plan their future cruise. Once you log into the Carnival website, you will have the ability to complete your cruise documentation and check-in, print out your Boarding Pass and Luggage Tags and pre-book just about anything available on your cruise.

As you can see in the image above, the Cruise Manager section will alllow you to pre-purchase/pre-book all sorts of onboard activities and packages. We always pre-order 2 12-Packs of bottled water. At $4.95 it is a great value and a great convenience. The water is waiting for us when we arrive in the stateroom. You can also pre-order a 1.5 litre bottle for $3.95, which is also a good value and comparable with what you might pay for water in port.

Carnival offers two drink packages: Bottomless Bubbles is an unlimited soft drink package while Cheers! is an adult-beverage package. Bottomless Bubbles is restricted to soft drinks and juice, and only those served by-the-glass (not cans or bottles). With Cheers!, you can enjoy all the beer, wine and spirits with a drink price under $20ea. during your cruise for one price. Cheers! participants can also enjoy canned or bottled beers and soft drinks. The Carnival website makes no mention of additional gratuities. There are other restrictions that apply, check the Carnival website for details.

The Cruise Planner section of the website lets you easily see what you have planned for each day of the cruise. As you can see in the image below, we have a specialty dining reserved for this day at sea.

Pre-booking your shore excursions is easy too.

Overall, the Carnival website has the nicest and easiest to use interface of any cruise line website we have seen to date.