Great cruise on Carnival Panorama! They were in a crew transition phase as those who have been aboard since the restart are leaving and a new crew is being trained and taking over. Therefore the service was a bit lacking at times but it's understandable given the situation. Overall, it was an amazing cruise on a beautiful ship and we had a great time!
Embarkation
4 out of 5
The line was long but moved steadily. It took about 90 minutes even though we arrived at our appointed time while others did not.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The menu is the same as is has been since the restart so no surprises. The specialty restaurants and places like Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana were fantastic. The Mongolian Wok for lunch was phenomenal.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Lots of trivia and games with the Fun Squad, great shows, great music poolside. Overall a super fun atmosphere.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Room steward was awesome. Dining room teams and overall service was less than previous Carnival cruises (even post pandemic).
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Crew were CONSTANTLY cleaning, sanitizing, scrubbing.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Larger room (220 SF vs standard 185 sf) and a second bathroom were awesome! We ran into a nasty storm that had people on higher decks sick the entire last 2 days. We felt very little of it because we were on the lowest deck. The waves crashing against the side of the ship were actually soothing, like being at the beach.
Did 2 excursions, one day and one evening. Jeep Safari during the day was super fun but that's because the guy in our group who drove the Jeep made it super fun and entertaining. The excursion itself was okay and it ran over by an hour. Not a big deal for others but we had an evening excursion planned and wanted that hour to get cleaned up and changed for the second one.
Second excursion was a sunset sail around the bay. It was beautiful and we got to see a mama whale and her newborn calf playing in the bay. We had an open bar and snacks provided (charcuterie and then chips/salsa/guac).
We did the Mazatlan by sea and land excursion. The sea portion was great and loved it. Open bar, great guide and crew. The land portion was completely rushed and just riding around on a bus with only 2 opportunities to get off - one for the cliff divers, which were okay but then they literally ran to harass you for tips even after you already tipped. One dive and then a constant bombardment for money, chasing you until you were on the bus. The other stop was for shopping in the "Golden Zone", which is far from Golden. It was a rundown area of kitschy souvenir shops all selling the same items. We were told the bus and guide would remain in place but when we got back after 20 minutes of walking around, the bus was gone. We were told that our bus had to move so other buses could park in the space. But our guide then left too and we had no way of finding out what was going on. The bus came back late and the rest of the tour was rushed.
For the other "stops", the driver got off at the flower market and brought an arrangement onboard to see, and the guide got off at the shrimp market and brought raw shrimp onboard. My husband has a severe shrimp allergy and it was a problem when she walked through the bus with raw shrimp, waving it back and forth and slinging shrimp "juice" around, then touching many surfaces with contaminated hands. They should ask about allergies before introducing items like that to an unknown audience.
Our favorite port of this cruise. It was beautiful. We did a whale watching excursion and saw many whales. Guide was super informative and really nice to talk to.
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