We loved it!

Item: Carnival Panorama
Rating: 4.8
Author: iCommodore

Carnival Panorama Cruise Review

iCommodore

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 80

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5

7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 17, 2022

Ship: Carnival Panorama

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Balcony. Naps. Hot tubs. Great food and laughs!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

We always get FTTF. It’s well worth it. Priority boarding. Priority luggage delivery. (Though in our case only 66% of the time 😂).

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

MDR was a miserable failure. Cold, crusty food meekly slung by exhausted, cheerless waiters under the hawk-eye stare of the ever pacing maitre d’ …made for a slightly amusing though flavorless and disappointing meals. Only two bright spots in the MDR. The melting chocolate cake, and the sea day brunch. Do not miss those! I found the buffet a great option on this cruise. Well staffed by cheerful helpful people. Hot food’s hot, cold food’s cold.

Alchemy Bar

5 out of 5

Great staff. Stuff drinks. Had a good time here with some bar flies. I really liked the Island Old Fashioned. Rum instead of bourbon. Tasty. Definitely try the martini sampler. Delicious. After that… well, everything else was absolutely wonderful, too. Say hi to Amel.

Bonsai Teppanyaki

5 out of 5

OMGosh, so fun and delicious! The kids and I loved it. Sashimi appetizer was delicious. Pork belly appetizer was the best pork belly I’ve ever had. That’s a lot of pork belly, folks. The steak and lobster were tender, perfectly cooked. The sauces very flavorful but not overpowering. The dessert… 😮😋 a picture is worth a thousand words. I was too busy to tuck in one of the pieces is off center. Well worth the money.

Bonsai Sushi

4 out of 5

Had a “sushi ship” from here. $23 up-charge, delivered to your table in the MDR. It was good. Better than the MDR food by a country mile. I hear that’s further that a paved mile.

Ji Ji Asian Kitchen

5 out of 5

We enjoyed both the food and the very attentive service. For $18 you get a very fancy dinner of selections from Korea, to China to South East Asia. Delicious. Every dish was very good. Presentation was beautiful. The ginger crème brûlée was awesome. This was my daughter’s favorite of the paid restaurants.

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Mainstay for lunch. They’ve got the rhythm down for a perfect burger every time. Toppings bar always has chili, and those super crispy shoestring potatoes. Because calories don’t count at sea. I really wanted to eat tacos more, but this was just. So. Good.

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Fantastic meal. Delicious food. Beautifully and attentively served. You get an app, a main with two sides, and dessert. We agreed everything from the sea salt crusted puff pastry dinner roll, with two butters, to the melting chocolate sphere dessert, was amazing. Delicious …and time very well spent.

Pizzeria del Capitano

5 out of 5

As the only free 24/7 food option the pizza place gets a lot of traffic. Luckily that oven is like 1,000°F. My fave is the prosciutto with fresh arugula on top. Kids love the pizza, d’uh!?

BlueIguana Cantina

5 out of 5

Tacos 🌮 Delicious tacos. Beef, chicken, or fish in fresh made tortillas. An extensive salsa bar. Yummy. Wish I got a chance to eat here more.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

We always look forward to the dive in movies… not great choices in films this time. Even the comedians were kinda mid (as the kids say) this time around. Although I only caught a couple shows.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Room steward was good. Alway smiling, greeted us by name (how do they do that?!). Every staff member I encountered was friendly and helpful. Morale seems down, though. Staff seem tired, stretched thin.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Start with a Balcony. Finds nice one around the middle of the ship sandwiched between two residential floors and away from stairs and elevators. With all those boxes checked look for staterooms without connecting doors. Book that one. You’ve done all you can. If you feel you must, Pray for quiet neighbors.

Ship tip

FTTF gets you off the ship quickly at Cabo, a tender 🚤 boat shore. Do that. Grab a breakfast burrito to go from iguanas. Go ashore. Grab a water taxi to lovers Beach. Eat your burrito. Go stand in the Pacific Ocean, then come back to the sea of Cortez.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5 out of 5

We did the Vallarta thing. We walked the Malecon, took pictures, it was all done up for Xmas so everyone was taking lots of photos. We had some ceviche tostadas at a stand where a lot of Mexicans were ordering. Look for those. Always good. Then, the most amazing aqua fresca. A liter cup was a dollar. Walk the flat area on the south side of the river for a taste of the local life and more cheap eats, or hike up the hill behind the church for amazing views. Don’t pay more than $15 total - NOT a per person price 😂 - to and from town.

Thumbs Up 0

Mazatlan, Mexico

5 out of 5

We lucked out with a great cabbie. Took us to different parts of town than the typical round the cabbies do. We invited him for lunch. He took us to a hole in the wall with amazing smoked Marlin tacos, and video’d my son and I having his first “legal” drink (18 in Mexico). Jorge was a great ambassador for Mazatlan. Msg me for his info.

Thumbs Up 0

Long Beach (Los Angeles), California

5 out of 5

Quality Inn has a great rate on a room, transportation to/from and car storage.

Thumbs Up 1

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

5 out of 5

Cabo is special. Just walked around this time. Bought some souvenirs. It’s growing like crazy. 8 or 9:00-2:00 is not enough time for Cabo. But that ride back to the ship is always beautiful.

Thumbs Up 3

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Some confusion in the morning over where the FTTF disembark line was. Had to do a couple unnecessary laps dragging our suitcases, but we were off the ship in record time and through custom by 8:15.