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!

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.

Day 5 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico