Mexican Riviera 2022!
Carnival Panorama Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
First Mate
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 98
7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 07, 2022
Ship: Carnival Panorama
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 5209
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Would definitely do again! Loved the ship and ports of call! Havana experience is worth it! Relaxing and a great time!Embarkation
Embarkation was a breeze!!! My sis and I downloaded VeriFLY and uploaded everything (also brought paper copies too). Our check in time was 11-11:30, we arrive about 10:50 and walk to the entrance. There were 3 signs with check in times. 11-11:30, 11:30-12 and 12 on I believe. People were lining up in their respective times. We showed the guy our boarding pass and we were led straight in. Once in our VeriFLY app was checked (she didn’t ask for any paper docs); our luggage was scanned and we walked in to the next line for our photo to be taken. We stayed in line about 15 minutes then sat down until boarding. I’d say that was about another 30 min or so then they started calling boarding groups! I was on the ship enjoying my Burrito by 12:40!
My sis and I went to the muster “drill” first, all crew were very helpful in telling us where to go.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I ❤️ the burritos at Blue Iguana!
I ❤️ burgers at Guys!
I ❤️ Sea Day Brunch - those hash brown potatoes are THE best! So mad I waited till the last brunch to get Huevos Rancheros, that was sooooo good!
My sis and I ate at the MDR every night, unfortunately we were by some odd people at the table next to us so I didn’t get to do my usual chat and meet new people thing!
I thought the food was good, and I love how you can order as much as you like! Though this time you had to order all your courses at once, they staggered it but I legit had to pick everything soon after I was seated.
I ❤️ the pizza! My sis went to the gym once and I went and ate pizza! I was laughing haha!
The sandwiches and wraps at the deli! Yummm
I did not like any of the cakes at the buffet, they were all dry! The chocolate chip cookies and of course ice cream were so good!
Onboard Activities
As mentioned before I loooved the Havana Pool, the exclusivity was great!
The Dive in movies was great! They can do without Dune though blech!
My sis and I played mini golf, but it was a weird layout, holes 7-9 were upstairs? 🤔
My sis worked out everyday and loved the gym. We walked the track in the mornings - beautiful sunrise!
Serenity was awesome!
The trivia was great! Loved the Golden Girls trivia 😂
I had fun playing the quarter game in the casino - if anyone has the coveted “S” let me know! Lol I have BONU 😂
Overall great!
Entertainment
I did not see any of the shows, but we walked in on one that was already going, it was packed and it looked good. No where to sit so we left. We went to comedy every night, we tried the piano bar but the piano guy stunk! He had no pizzaz! I also noticed the piano room was connected to the steakhouse so I’m not sure if that’s why he wasn’t getting rowdy like other piano guys. We listened to the Latin music in the Havana Bar, those guys were good!
Service and Staff
Service was out of this world!!!
I honestly did not see any crew shortage, and every crew member I walked by always acknowledged me and said hello! 👋
My room steward Aung was so great! He was hilarious and made my stay so enjoyable. My sis and I are tidy people so one day he even asked if we slept in our beds the night before! 😂 so he would turn down our beds leave our Cuute towel animal and always organize our sandals haha.
The crew in the Havana Pool was top notch, they really made sure if you didn’t have your wristband you had to leave but they weren’t rude about it.
Neenee at the coffee shop was so sweet! I went daily, sometimes twice and she always made you feel so welcome!
Ship Quality
Someone was always cleaning!!!
The stairs, elevators, public areas always cleaned!
After you ate in the buffet, someone always came by and picked up almost immediately.
Loved the layout too. Easy to get around, beautiful and modern.
Cabin / Stateroom
Loved the Havana Cabana!! Perfect size room and the balcony with your own lounge chair, swing and table was great! I loved the Havana perks as well. Will definitely do again!
Ship tip
Book a Havana Room!
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
First time at Mazatlan and loved it!!
I was curious when we first pulled into port into a legit port haha but then I followed people to a line and trams took us to the front with some shopping!
Love “the blue line” into the city! My sis and I followed it from the ship. We arrived at a plaza with lots of restaurants and shopping. I noticed a sign that said Malecon and we followed the arrows. Loved putting our feet in the ocean and watching the cliff divers! Went to the old Basilica and there was a service of some sort going on, really cool to see.
We didn’t do an excursion here, but we still had a nice time! My sis and I got off the ship and took pics of the ship and we walked across the street to the mall, nothing was open yet so we just walked around.
Long Beach (Los Angeles), California
Love flying into Long Beach airport! Small and easy to get in and out. Our go to hotel is Hotel Current, we always fly in the day before.
No excursion here, we just wanted to walk around. We followed the path around the Marina.
Disembarkation
Unfortunately on the last sea day I wasn’t feeling so well. I had decided to move my airline flight home the next day from 4pm to 11:30 am out of Long Beach. Joey the CD said he was going to dismiss by muster station but as I’m standing on my balcony I see a ton of people walking off. So I told my sis let’s just get in line and hopefully they don’t say anything (I’m normally not THAT person, but I really just wanted to get home). So we go down to deck 4 they scan our card and we walk off! Back in the terminal there were two lines, birth certificates and IDs or passports. We both had our passports, the line went quick! We didn’t even have to see an officer, we just stood up at the screen and it turned green and off we went! We hailed our Lyft and were at Long Beach Airport by 9:30am.
Traveler Photos
