We enjoyed our cruise but were a bit disappointed with the layout and style of the NEW ship. Some how they made a bigger ship seem very small and a special trip seem mediocre. All in all the Panorama seems minimal and about efficiency at the expense of the cruiser.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Easy, we were early and got right on!!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Main dining room: barley adequate, very rushed, seemed distracted the diners. Specialty: we went to the 555 Fahrenheit and it was amazing. Our service, the food, the atmosphere were all wonderful. It's our first time to pay for specialty dining and it was worth it. We did the free lunch at Guys (both), Seafood Shack, El Capitano, Mongolian Wok, Blue Iguana and all were great. We don't really do the buffets but the few items we tried were good. Also, we had a Fresh Salad at the Serenity Salad bar and it was great.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Lots of fun things to do on board. We loved the Skyride and the water slides.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The shows are ok. The musicians are really great. The DJ's did great. The comedians could use some upgrading. Cee Jay Jones was really funny, if you get a chance to catch his show you will love it. The other comedians you won't be missing much.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our room steward ADE on Deck 7 was great. He was above and beyond on his service. Our MD service was not great. Both our servers were friendly but the service was really off. They forgot things ordered, they consistently served dessert then much later asked about coffee, the dining as a whole seemed very rushed (as if they were short staffed & on a time clock to get us out quickly. We were late dining). Emma the cruise director and most of the Fun Squad were very fun and tried to plan things but most scheduled events seemed geared toward the under 50's (maybe 40's) crowd.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
We were not fans of the ship design. It seemed to be built on a very tight budget & very minimal in decor. For such a large ship they used every space there was not much elbow room. Trying to walk around the casino to a table game you had to squeeze against the wall or bump the back of the players chairs to get around (there was only one way to get to the table games) The stairways and hallways were much narrower. We love the tall lobby areas and the Panorama only has 3 floors in the lobby with NO glass elevators (again budget, minimal, easy to clean, no personalty or character) Lots of plastic & glass.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our cabin met all our expectations. We loved the 7th floor balcony. It was a standard balcony room with plenty of storage. Very comfortable. We could whale watch from the room and the balcony. Our steward ADE was awesome our cabin was always clean.
Ship tip
The elevators are not that difficult but people don't follow directions. Be patient!!
We loved downtown Long Beach. We stayed at the Renaissance which is walking distance to Seaport Village, the Pike, the Marina, the Symphony, and many fantastic restaurants. We felt very safe walking during the day and into the evening.
We think Cabo is beautiful. We did a self guided excursion, we jumped on a boat (the Maria Bonita soon to be the Chicago) with Junior from Adventure travels. He and his driver took us on an amazing whale watching trip. We were so blessed to have more than 10 sightings and even followed a mom and her calf for a little bit. Afterwards we felt very safe to take a walk to our favorite place Los Claros Marina with our favorite waiter Christian for the best Gaucamole & Marlin quesadillas, FANTASTIC.
We also love Puerto Vallarta. It is an easy taxi ride to the downtown area ($4-$6 per car) Once in Malecone you are able to walk to many shops, restaurants, along the beach, tour the old Church without any traffic (the street foot traffic only) Very beautiful. We enjoyed more guacamole and pico on the beach!!
Very easy. We had nothing to declare and we self debarked. We ended up taking the Carnival shuttle bus to LAX. We paid after we debarked at the shuttle site.
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