This was a cruise to celebrate my friend's birthday and a gift for 40 years of being best friends. I've sailed on a total of 34 cruises from 5 different cruise lines: Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, NCL, and Celebrity. For perspective, my favorite, which tends to change over the years, is probably NCL, with Princess a close second. My wife's favorite (who didn't attend this one) is Celebrity. Carnival Panorama: Pros: Dining ranged from very good to excellent. The casual lunch food was terrific, with many options (Guy Fieri's burgers, pizza, deli, Mongolian Wok, Pasta Bella, Blue Iguana Cantina, Guy Fieri's BBQ). Fun factor was excellent and high. I was like a little kid going on the water slides and I even splashed in the kid's water zone, replete with a bucket of water slamming on my head. The Sky Zone was fun, and was enhanced by the nighttime glow event. Elevators were great, unusual, but great. You push a touchscreen to indicate your floor, then you are assigned an elevator. Once inside, you cannot press, or change floors. This cuts down on the 87 people trying to jam into one elevator. Entertainment was excellent. They really pulled out all the stops with certain production shows. One show even had Drones. The comedians were also good to excellent. Ship was huge, and beautiful, holding over 4K passengers with many options to keep people entertained. I love how Carnival has so much music in so many different venues. Recommendation: If you do not download the Carnival Hub App, you are making a big mistake. We had "Your Time Dining" and we simply pushed a button when we were ready to eat. They would then send a message like "estimated wait time is 5-10 minutes." You would get another text when your table was ready. No lines in front of the MDRs and no waiting around. The app also had menus as well as the daily planner. The planner was interactive so you could choose your events for the day and they would be filed under the "my planner" tab so you would receive reminders, as well as a note telling you who in your party was also interested. Cons: The lido buffet was underwhelming because, though they had plenty of room and space for dishes, they were repeated. IE, they would have a 4 place station on one side, and often they would have the same dishes for the other 3 stations. They did have a lido buffet in the front and the back, which was sometimes different. Wait times could get high. The Deli often had only 1 server, so even with 10 people, it could take a while. The burger line and pizza lines could get really crowded at peak times. Allow me to make the caveat that, despite a few wait times, the overall ship did not feel overwhelmingly crowded and Carnival did a great job of managing throughput for so many. Overall, I loved this ship's experience and will not hesitate to sail her again. Read Less

We chose this cruise due to other family members having booked on same sail date. The great: Cruise director: Emma 500 stars. She is a ball of energy and engages people easily in activities, her personality is amazing. Cabin: Balcony 9th deck starboard side towards the bow - great room, room for 4 with a pull down bed from the ceiling. View is amazing. The bike ride: fantastic, though I did not go my son and daughter enjoyed this very much as well as other participating family members. Rope walk: again son and daughter and others enjoyed, anyone stuck or scared to move was helped by a staff member. 1 time the crew pulled up on the harness a bit hard on my adult son, and well.. it hurt. They liked that you can move and choose a side of the coarse. Lido mid ship pool is heated! There are chairs built into the pool on each side. Lido mid ship area had a huge screen for movies, etc. Average: We enjoyed the buffet on the Lido deck, honestly the food was not as good as we have experienced on other Carnival Ships. The food is hit or miss and all of us experienced tummy issues. Anytime dining was good: Food again was so so depending on the meal. Service is still working out the kinks. Each night I requested iced tea and my daughter lemonade and we had to remind them every single time about our drink orders. View is amazing from the aft at this dining area. Pizza was good: I did see the staff being rude on the last morning prior to departure (5 am ) where pizza was denied "breakfast is ready" but the man came back as breakfast was not ready and they finally made him his pizza. Cabin staff: not as friendly as on other ships we have been on. Casino was ok.. 4th deck no windows. Beautiful bar area with changing graphics in the center. Staff again seemed tired. WE did have lights on the vanity. Not so great: A family member had a cabin in the family harbor: They had noise above them every single night and they and their children could not sleep much as a result. This was a middle room and below the 3rd deck service area - it was sooo noisy. A door did not work on the area for the family harbor game /food area anyone could walk in. They called numerous times to alert about the noise, ear plugs were not effective. Food most of the time again.. not so great. Undercooked steaks/ cooking is not consistent. I would wait until they work out more bugs and get into a flow. Elevators: You have no option to change your mind about which floor you are going to. Once you are in, you are committed. Also the elevators were overcrowded. Maybe they need to add a "how many in party" to the elevator to help route other elevators if there are large amounts of people going to a certain floor? Read Less

Although this was cruise #50 for me, we have only done a few Carnival weekend cruises. When I saw a new ship from our home port (1/2 hr drive!) we booked immediately (3/18) for our Jan 2020 Family cruise. DH was a bit afraid of such a large ship, as he has mobility issues, but did fine with the new elevator system. Grandaughters ages 5 & 9 loved the water park. Embarkation went really fast, and boarded "special assistance" with our boarding zone to be on board before noon! We booked adjoining cabins, and with the balcony divider down loved it! Cabins were new, comfortable, bur a bit smaller than other balcony cabins. However, family fit 4 in fine with a sofa bed & a bunk bed over it. Kids loved it1 Can't compliment staff enough! Everyone seemed to know my name by the second day, and went out of their way to say "hi". Everyone loved being on the ship, and you could feel the vibe. Our server, Jenny, in particular, was outstanding. Every day when we sat down had shrimp cocktails waiting for us! kids meals were served with our appetizer course, and kept the drinks coming on Cheers! Only other comment- DH had salt-free diet, but was very bland. I changed to regular menu, which I thought was better than any other cruise, including Celebrity & Oceania! Cruise Director Emma was energizer bunny- she was everywhere, keeping things going. I am collecting social security, but don't like a ship where everyone is in bed by 9pm! The live music was exceptional- the musicians knew all requests, keep the mood going for the most part, and had some crazy-fun jams! Rock show was my favorite- lots of classic rock. Other shows were ok- too loud for DH, even with his hearing aids off! Although we usually do our own excursions or through cruise critic, this time we did ship excursions for DH. Prices were fair, and we had done both before. In Cabo we took the Pirate Ship for the kids. Loved it, food was great. Best to do it as a snorkel, but we did not snorkel. There was a bit of a mix-up at first about alcohol- as we weren't snorkeling they at first weren't going to serve us, but got sorted out & we had plenty to drink! Also, boat left late as was a bit oversold. But crew more than made up for these. i made a comment at shore excursion desk, and they refunded 30%, although i didn't ask for anything and didn't really complain, just commented. Would definitely recommend Cabo Pirate ship, especially for price. if you do it is PV it is alot more expensive. In Puerto Vallerta we did the Mexican Fiesta for the girls. Beginning of tour was shipping & downtown, which we really didn't want. Fiesta and tequila tasting was good. Tour leader, Hugo, was a bit curt, but i guess needed to do that to keep the group together. Bus was late due to ADA problem I was told, so they gave us free margaritas. Would not recommend this tour. I know alot of people put down Carnival as being a "booze cruise" and lesser quality than other lines, but I disagree. They are really stepping up their game by catering to families, excellent food, etc. My family is ready to book their next cruise! Read Less

This was our 7th annual New Years Cruise with Carnival. We were excited to be on a new boat, and were looking forward to our trip. Although overall we had a great experience, Carnival Panorama seemed to try very hard to not make it a good trip. I will start with the negatives, and move on to the positives: Walking on board was a huge disappointment for us as we were used to walking on to a large and sprawling atrium. This one is 3 levels high, and we did not even enter the boat at the atrium itself. The floor to ceiling video projection pillar is very cool. But it was not the atrium we were used to on other ships. Checked luggage. Two of our three bags arrived right on time. Our third bag (the one with all of my girl-friend's clothes) did not arrive until nearly 6 pm. When I asked about this from a luggage person, I was told that it was because one of our bags had an item confiscated, and suggested I go to guest services. I said there was no way an item would be confiscated as all it had was clothes. But he insisted. So I went to guest services. After waiting for 35 minutes (the line was full of people having difficulty with their keys), I was told that the bag would probably not arrive until 7:00 pm and that was their policy and that I could read the website and find out the same thing (I did read it, Carnival, and nowhere does it say that your luggage will arrive 2.5 hours after departure). The bag finally arrived, but well after the time we were hoping to have dinner in the dining room. Dining room. Carnival hub allows you to request a table and not wait in line. We did this three times, and never once did it work well. We were told to go to one part of the ship and we went there, and then were told our table was not available at that restaurant, and we had to go elsewhere. Every time we went to the dining room they couldn't find our correct table from the app and we had to wander around following someone trying to find it. The service was ok. However even though we requested it, we were never seated in a spot in the dining room where you could watch the show the servers put on. Room-service. We like to take advantage of the limited breakfast delivery service and like to put in an order for coffee, cereal, and bagels to start our day. Never once did our order come correctly or on time, and once not at all. They advertise that if you put out your order by 3:00 am, they would deliver. On New Years Eve we put out our order at 1:30, and the next morning it was still on our door. The "Liquid Lounge" theater where the nightly shows are put on was a huge disappointment. The shows themselves were outstanding. But the theater is way too small for 4,000 guests. On the last night guests were lining up 3 hours in advance to get a seat. We estimated that MOST of the seats are obstructed in some way - both upper and lower level. (Tip - they will allow you to stand at the bar for the show which was by far the best "seat" we had). The "Limelight Lounge" served as the venue for the comedians and the New Years Eve night-club. It also had Karaoke. While the lay-out was great, it was WAY too hot and stuffy most of the time. Even the DJ complained about it. This stuffi-ness was present many times around the ship and in the cabin. Be prepared to pay extra: Everywhere you go on the ship there are people trying to sell you stuff. Every time we ordered a drink, the server requested we make it a "double shot for just $2.00 more." They were often annoyingly insistent. It was difficulty to walk across the ship without someone shoving a "raffle ticket" in your hand requesting you come back to hear their sales pitch. There are multiple dining options, but almost all of them have extra costs. "Open Times" are not as advertised. On our last day the only thing we had left that we really wanted to try was the Mongolian Wok restaurant which states they are open until 2:30. We got there at 1:15 and were turned away because they were "too busy". Another time at lunch in the lido buffet one of the buffet bars was randomly closed at 2:00 - even with food still there. I just wanted a bread-roll and was told I would have to go to the other buffet. It rained on us during one of our port days. No problem with rain, it's unavoidable. But what really bothered us is that on the lido deck the rain pools up in the bar area. You cannot walk across even the covered areas of the lido deck without walking through an inch or two of water. The PROS of Panorama: THE ENTERTAINMENT IS BETTER THAN ANY WE HAVE SEEN. As at least one other reviewer said, the Rock Revolution is better than any show we have seen on Carnival. THE FOOD IS OUTSTANDING. Guy's burger joint is an upgrade. Even better is Guy's "Pig and Anchor" - even though there is almost always an extra cost. However we went down during our first sea day and it was a free buffet with some of the best barbecue we have ever had to be sampled. We ended up paying extra for two dinners there because it was so good, and the extra cost was not extravagant. The taco stand was also a favorite as they make fresh tortillas as you order, and are some really great tacos. THE CABIN STEWARD "RICKY" WAS OUTSTANDING! Ricky really went above and beyond for us. We had a bottle of champagne that we were saving for our last night, but Ricky made sure it was always on ice for us. CLOUD 9 SPA IS AN UPGRADE! We have done several cruises with Cloud 9 amenities, and we liked this one the best. Although the whirlpool is way smaller, it was overall a better experience. We just got back today and both agreed that was a good experience and we do not regret it. But we will not be going with Panorama ever again, and may give up on Carnival all together as the direction that the company seems to be going is to pack more nickel-and-dime opportunities on their ships. Read Less

First off, the ship is new and definitely nice. I appreciated knowing everything would be somewhat clean and barely used. Rooms were decently sized and our ocean view on the 1st floor had 2 bathroom for just the two of us, which was appreciated. However, some big gripes. They charge extra for a lot. Specialty restaurants, items on the menu every night, internet is a huge rip off, $1.25 per game arcade, and much much more. I was not willing to spend extra for anything and it really felt like 40% of the experience was missed. While I know that isn't true, it just felt that way and that I was missing out on a lot of what the ship had to offer. The cruise ran out of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Peroni, certain basic wines, and much more with 3 days left on the trip... I am not sure how that is possible. Do they not have accurate estimates on how much they need to have on board? The dining experience was lacking. We ate in the dining room where you choose your time. Each night we had a different waiter and they were slow and it took a while every night. The main issue I had with the dining room was that the dinners and desserts always came out luke warm as if they had been sitting for a while. Entrees were warm and ice cream on the desserts was melted every single night of the cruise. The last 2 nights I stopped ordering entrees and desserts and just went to the buffet or pizza afterwards (I had to go to the dining room to be with extended family for dinner). The cruise is packed and every morning people had their beach chairs picked out by 9am. Anything left after 10am was in the wind and cold locations. No one would be sitting in the beach chairs until noon, but there was no enforcements and people just left towels clipped to the chairs. Read Less

This was our twenty-something cruise with Carnival. We like the price of the cruise and now what to expect. This was the 3rd sailing of the new ship. Still smelled like new carpet. In all, it's a very ship. While I don't miss the the rack hold accents, this ship is pretty plain jane. Most public walls are laminated maple with iron railings. There is no atrium which is a huge loss. the main gathering at spot is now centered on the ground floor with 2 levels of shops abov.e. The changing tornado scree is centered in this area. Really miss the glass elevators. Food was the same as recent menus. Prime rib was featured 3 nights since it was New Years cruise. Missing the filet mignon and chateau briand. The staff was amazing as usual. I have always been impressed with Carnival's quality control. We had one incident with our meal and the wait staff went way beyond to make it right with sincerity. The buffet lines have been the biggest improvement I noticed. Instead of 2 long lines along the sides, they have broken up the hot buffets into 4 smaller central buffets. The cereal and fruits are in other areas. It works well. Very impressed with Heroes Sports Bar. Any appreciation for our military is very deserved in these politically divided times. Playlist Productions have improved a lot of over the few years. Rock Revolution was amazing in talent, technology and production. Carnival has made up for the days of silly sailing shows with the addition of Epic Rock, America Rocks, and now Rock Revolution. Hope they continue this rock theme for a while since the rock generation is currently buying cruises (Gen X and Gen Z). All in all the Carnival product remains solid but affordable. I do miss some of the upscale decor and finer dining but there has been some balance to the cutbacks. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the New Years celebration and wanted to check out the new ship. This would also be our first Carnival cruise as we have sailed Royal Caribbean once and twice on Princess. Embarkation was fluid and the most organized part of the cruise. We scheduled to arrive at 2 but got there at 11:30 and they let us right on. Being our 4th cruise I felt like we knew what we were doing somewhat though it's been a decade since our last so things have changed. But there is so little information given and it seems the cruise line relies on you seeking information or already knowing what you are doing. I also felt the food outside the main dining room was pretty below average with the exception of Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana and the Omelet Bar. I do not get the hype on the pizza, it is just globs of cheese on soggy bread with very little flavor to the sauce. Pig and Anchor free lunch is also terrible but the paid meal was alright. Buffet always looked gross with the exception of fruit or sealed items like the yogurt. The sandwitches at the sandwich station were all flavorless and just not very good. The premium coffee's weren't that great. The entertainment was great if you could catch it, but the fun times is so overwhelming that it is tough to really plan your day around it, so you just catch what you can. Emma is a great host though and had loads of energy the whole cruise, I'm not sure how she is going to keep it up for 9 months straight. The new year's deck party was kind of lame, even the countdown was somewhat botched. The new years eve eve party was actually better. They really struggled keeping billing correct. We were billed for laundry service we never used. We received a happy birthday gift card in someone else's name. We were double billed for a spa treatment. And we got charges to our credit card that exceeded what we were supposed to be billed for the final sign and sail total. The ports were great though, had the most fun in Cabo which coincided with the best weather we had the entire cruise. Puerto Vallarta was ruined by unseasonable torrential rain, not the fault of Carnival of course. And debarkation took forever. They start with people on deck 1 who didn't check luggage and work their way up. They got to deck 6 then started calling people who checked luggage. It took almost 2 hours to get to deck 9 and then another 30-45 minutes to get through customs. I'm not sure I'm cruising Carnival again, I think I need to cruise another line to see if the entire industry has gone down hill or it is just Carnival that is the problem. Or maybe it was just a product of a new ship and crew still learning? I hope that is what it can be chalked up to. Read Less

We sailed on the ship's 4th voyage, over New Years 2019. Overall, we had a great time. The positives - we always choose an inside cabin because I can't see spending big $$ for the amount of time you are in your cabin. This is our 8th cruise and I have to say these were the best inside cabins we've been in. They were spacious (actual room to walk around the bed) and the bedding was quite comfortable. The free on demand movies were great too. Before bed time each night we watched a movie, saw 5 in total. Typically cruise TV consists of a loop of pre-recorded stuff. We actually got CBS news, HGTV and Food Network, along with a few other channels. We also enjoyed all of the fun activities that were planned for families (i.e. Interactive Trivial Pursuit, trivia contests, Sky Ride, Ropes Course, Fooseball Tables, nice workout facilities, Sky Zone (costs extra), Lip Sync Battle, etc.). Emma, one of only a handful of female cruise directors at sea, was terrific! She is loaded with boundless energy and conducted a very informative Q&A session with guests, which we attended, in which guests could ask her anything about life on a cruise ship. Even though there were 4,000 passengers on board, it never felt that way. We didn't feel like we had to push to get food or rush to miss out on getting a seat. Probably because there are so many things to do, passengers are doing things at different times, which helps to spread out the crowds. We took excursions in each of the three ports, two of which were booked through Carnival and one we booked independently. Actually, the one we booked independently was the one we enjoyed the least. At Cabo, we took the camel excursion, which was excellent! In Mazatlan, we booked our own tour and in Puerto Vallarta we booked the Extreme Adventure excursion, which was extreme, but so much fun! The negatives - You almost had to bribe someone to get you any fresh fruit. It became a running joke in our family. We are in Mexico, for crying out loud, so where are the fresh pineapples, mangoes, and so on?? I wanted a banana one morning and I asked our waiter for one. The look on his face when I mentioned 'banana' was priceless! My family told me I just ruined his day. He eventually came back with half of a mushy, overripe banana, but I am not picky, so I gladly took it. On the buffet each morning on the Lido deck, was just canned peaches, grapefruit, cantaloupe and honeydew. No grapes, pineapple, banana, mango, etc. Very strange.... Being that this was our 8th cruise and having sampled many buffets, this was our least favorite. Carnival needs to up their buffet game. We ate there the first day, because there wasn't another choice, but only returned each day afterwards to see if anything had changed. It's more quantity over quality. Even the presentation was bland. Simple rectangular trays lined up over warming plates, in a small, crowded space. The salad bar was nothing more than plain lettuce (no spinach or anything else) and a few toppings. When I say few, I mean few, bordering on pathetic. Norwegian and RCCL buffets blow away Carnivals - not even a comparison. So, we scoped out other places to eat, like the taco stand, which was tasty. Here is our other MAJOR complaint, and I'm putting this here in case others have a dietary need like mine. I have to be gluten free, not the other members of my family, just me. So, if someone does a search of these reviews for 'gluten' they will hopefully come across my review. I have recently cruised with both Norwegian and RCCL and those lines handle GF needs wonderfully! Not so with Carnival. Now mind you, I did not starve. It's just that things were more of a hassle for me to eat and I did not have as many choices. I spent a lot of time standing and waiting around while the rest of my family had their food and ate. Basically, the best way for GF to be handled on the Panorama was to eat in the main dining room. The buffet items were not tagged as being GF. The buffet area also did not have any GF waffles, bread, pancakes, etc. in the morning. Both Norwegian and RCCL not only have these items readily available in the morning on the buffet, but they also have a dedicated GF toaster oven in the buffet area as well. This toaster oven is behind the buffet area, so only cruise personnel can use it, but you can see it. And both Norwegian and RCCL have an actual GF section on their buffets. Not so with Carnival. One morning I asked for GF bread and literally spent 20 minutes waiting for toasted bread, just standing there, while people stared at me and asked me if I needed help. I was told the sandwich station would have GF bread, so one day after a long excursion and returning late, I went to the sandwich station and ordered with my family. I waited 15 minutes past when my family got their sandwiches before I got mine. Apparently the GF bread isn't kept at the sandwich station, you can just ask for it there. The sandwich must be made far away and brought to the station. All my family members received french fries with their sandwiches, mine was plain. I am going to guess that they don't have a dedicated fryer for GF items, so it would have been cross contamination. I figured out that if I asked in advance at the taco station, they would put an order in to get me corn tortillas, because again, it took time to get those tortillas made and brought to the taco area. Strange as we are in Mexico, where corn tortillas reign, but everything at the station was flour. One afternoon they advertised a 'Chocolate Extravaganza' up on the Lido deck, stating that they would have treats for 'everyone.' Well, the GF option was a slice of something that tasted and looked like chocolate jello. I took one bite and that was it - tasteless. If I can buy a GF box of chocolate cake mix from Aldi or Pillsbury, why couldn't the pastry chefs of the Panorama come up with something (anything) for the Chocolate Extravaganza or for dessert in the main dining room? Besides eating ice cream (they only have vanilla, chocolate or strawberry - really, how about butter pecan, peppermint or chocolate chip for those GF folks who need a little variety) I had a baked apple one night for dessert. There really isn't much in the way of sweet offerings for GF folks. The moral of the story is if you have a dietary need, you will be best served in the main dining room - kind of a pain to have to go there, during set hours, each day. We ate all our dinner meals in the main dining room. Carnival handles the GF dinners in the same fashion as Norwegian and RCCL. Each night your waiter gives you the next night's menu and you pre-order. However, instead of ordering with the head chef (who probably knows more about how dishes are prepared and if they can be made GF) you order with your own waiter. I think Carnival needs to follow their competitors and have the head chef come out to take a pre-order from those with dietary needs. Since I like to cook and know what substitutions can be made for things, at times, I was telling our waiter that yes, this particular dish can be made GF. Our waiter also told me that I could pre-order a breakfast (like GF french toast) and it would be available for me the next morning, in the main dining room. So, we ended up eating most of our breakfasts and dinners in the main dining room. Lunches were spent waiting around the ship for GF bread or corn tortillas, etc. Now, did this ruin our vacation - no. It's just that Carnival has a way to go to meet the competition regarding satisfying dietary needs!! I hope this review helps someone else. Read Less

For the last 8 years we have done our Christmas cruise to the Mexican Riviera, and were excited to be on a new ship (2nd regular cruise for the ship). Already booked for the same suite for next year. Our steward, Kadek, was there when needed, and never intrusive. He and his team were great, as usual. The ship is beautiful. Much more modern, and no more of the super bright colors (which I kind of missed) like on the Miracle, Splendor, and Elation. The Atrium is the cool centerpiece of the ship. With a much larger ship, it didn't feel at all crowded. Embarkation was painless- except for the ramps. The Panorama was easy to navigate- getting from one end to the other on multiple decks. People have mentioned the elevators, which were different, but easy to get used to. People have also complained about the 'money grab'. Yes, there are more restaurants you could choose to pay for, and for drinks at the bar, but it was a choice you could make. The steakhouse Fahrenheit 555 was amazing, as the other steakhouses have been. The service there is always top notch! Pig and Anchor was delicious. One of our FAVORITES was the Seafood Shack. The fish and chips were some of the best we have ever had and made some new friends there. Well worth the extra cost! The food at the Blue Iguana was great (fish tacos were delicious), Pizzeria, Deli (who doesn't love a grilled cheese?), and of course the buffet... yummy! Sea Day Brunch is always delicious- French toast and skillet cakes were delicious. Hubby always gets steak and eggs, which were great. Bars... Our favorite was the Blue Iguana on Lido deck. Jorge, Percy, Larry, and Flor were amazing! Red Frog Bar was fun too. Staff was amazing in all areas! Of course there was shopping... Buying Panorama Inaugural gear was fun! Ahmed was super! Tag Heuer, Cryil, was excellent. EFFY staff was nice, but we missed the staff on the Splendor last year, especially Oelena. Debarkation was great (except for waking up an hour late). We took our own luggage, and were off the ship by 8:30. Read Less

So I have never done one of these before because there are always hundreds of reviews already, but since this ship is only a couple weeks old, I figured I would chime in. Cruised with my wife and daughter 20 and son 16. We have cruised together at least 5 times and my wife and I an additional 2-3 times. We have done Oasis of the Seas, a couple other RC ships, Disney Magic, and a Carnival cruise or two. Overall the ship was great to excellent. We sailed on 12/21 which was the second full week. I was somewhat concerned about the new ship, new crew, new situation, but honestly if I didn't know going in it was the second cruise, I would have had no idea. Ship and all the spaces were obviously brand new so no wear and tear whatsoever. Overall design was classic cruise ship. Nothing bars, restaurants, or common area wise that was over the top fantastic. Not sure what I was expecting in that realm, but there wasn't a lot of wow! check that out, that is unique. One possible exception was the video tower thing in the main atrium, that was pretty good. My opinion of the ship overall was that it was a big ship that they seemed to try to make small if that makes any sense. Take the Lido Marketplace buffet. Other ships I have been on, the buffet takes up the back or front of the ship and you know you are in a room with 100+ people. In this case, it is still 100+ people but the buffet is broken up over the back of the ship and broken up into sections, so you more feel there are 30 people in your section as opposed to 100+ overall. The Grand Atrium had the cool art and video installation, but was pretty small in terms of square footage going up several decks. Compare that the main promenade on some of the Royal Carribean ships where it is a huge open space in the center of the ship that goes up 4-5 decks. You walk into that and say "wow" because it is a massive "inside" space on a cruise ship. Now when you think about what you do in that space, it is perhaps a lousy use of space above your head. So my overall satisfaction wasn't affected by that missing, I just found it interesting. Cabins were small in my opinion and the balcony was small. Now there is a chance if you gave me the square footage of the cabins I have had, I would not be surprised if it was pretty close to others, but it felt small. A little more squeezing past the end of the bed to get to the balcony, squeezing out the door to get to the hallway, it just seemed that things were cramped. Balcony had a table and chairs and they seemed kind of "fit in" to the space that was there. We also had an inside cabin that seemed a little small as well. We were on deck 9 towards the back which is a great spot for access to the Lido Marketplace and the back pool deck. Cabin service was good. Things were clean. I did find it interesting that the cabin steward asked us early on when he should come in for the day and he came in one time. In the past it seems that every time you left, the dude came in like a ninja and folded towels and stuff, This time, he kind of came in once a day, Maybe once at night a couple times, but you didn't get the feeling where the guy was always around waiting to jump in when you left. Room was clean and that was totally fine with me, but something I noticed. Restaurants and Food In the past on other ships we have done the specialty restaurants often, but not on this cruise. Primary reason was that pretty much all the restaurants were sold out 6-9 for the entire cruise when we got on. I had not had that experience in the past. You can always get in the steakhouse or the asian place, but things were pretty booked up. We did cruise over Christmas and there were a lot of groups so maybe they booked out places, I am not sure. Dining room food was good and service was excellent, On our first day I think we sat in the section of Ivica, Nedelko and Musna. They were absolutely fantastic. My time dining always works better for my family, but the service and the relationship with the staff always suffered. You have more of that "cruise experience" when you do the structured seating in my opinion. In this case we requested their section every night and had to wait maybe an extra 20 minutes a couple of times, but it wasn't much of a hassle. They were great. The food overall in the dining room was pretty good. A good variety over the course of the week and I never resorted to the steak or fish on the "available every day" menu. Always plenty of food of course. Having the table waiters handle the bar is so much better than it used to be when you had to find the "bar" waiter. Additional food thoughts. Lido Marketplace food was good. The two different sections have some different food choices if you want to check out both. The Guy's Burger Bar on the pool deck was quite good. The Blue Iguana burrito and taco bar is kind of like a chipotle and is very good as well. 24 hour pizza was good as well. These were the primary 3 places open when you got back on the ship at 4 or 5 and they did a pretty good job of handling the pressure. Specialty restaurants - we did JiJi Asian kitchen one night and it was good. Presentation was nice and the selection was good. Plenty of food of course. Entertainment was good. I am never blown away by cruise entertainment but the production value and sets and such were good. Voice quality was at or above other cruises I have been on. Lots of live music all over the ship and that seemed to be emphasized which is nice. Activities - we did the deck dancing, played some bingo and some trivia. My son did the SKyzone trampoline park three times. it is pretty small, but he enjoyed it and the games and interactions were good for a sixteen year old. He said the skyride thing was fun and the top deck activities were good to excellent with cornhole, ping pong, soccer billiards. They never got to putting the actual score zones on the shuffle board which makes that game pretty stupid. Maybe they put it on by now. Ports and shore excursions. We did nothing through Carnival....but here you go. Long Beach - Is in LA so it's LA. We did Disney for a day on Friday before departure on Saturday so that was cool. Cabo San Lucas - we did ATVs with Cactus Tours through Costco Travel. It was okay, A little long. My girls were pretty tired after the trip as bouncing over stuff takes it out of you. Equipment was okay and training was pretty minimal. They kind said "4 gears, pull up to shift, let's go" and the shifting was rough some times. If you do this, you may want upgrade to the automatic for someone that isn't comfortable. Mazatlan - Stone island Bay and Beach party through Shore trips. Ended up being run by King David Tours. Ship was a little worn that took us around. Guy that ran the trip was good, but it was really just a boat ride to see a sea lion and an island off the coast and then we ended up at a nice beach On Stone Island that was about a 100 yards from the ship by water taxi that costs a dollar. If you are a beach person, ask someone at the port where to get the 2 minute water taxi to Stone Island, hike ten yards across the jetty and you are there. Plenty of restaurants, chairs to rent, tables to rent, banana boat rides, etc. Puerto Vallarta - Dune buggies with Unqiue ATV tours. Had to cab to their office for like 10 minutes. Always negotiate the cab fare in PV. Tour was good. Drove through town a little and up the mountain on dirt roads. So that is all I got. Struggled with the actual ratings a little. You can see I used the word "good" a lot and that is how I feel. Everything was fine and what you would expect on a big ship, but not something I would say you have to go on the Panorama for X. Never felt real crowded and there were lots of people. Would I take the cruise again when it is time for another cruise? Sure. If someone asked would I recommend it? sure. We pick cruises on itinerary and departure port and we prefer the big ships. LA was cheap to get to at Christmas and the cruise was great so I would say the value was there and would recommend it. A final thought - Christmas cruising seems to be a way of life for a lot of people. Coordinated outfits, pajamas, decorations, etc. It was fun to see it if you never have. If you have questions, let me know. Read Less

This was our 9th cruse with Carnival and we booked the Panorama because were excited to finally have a new Carnival ship on the West Coast. We are in our 50's and our kids are 18 and 15. We drove into Long Beach from the SF Bay Area. Departure City: We drove into Long Beach and stayed pre cruise in Seal Beach at the Pacific Inn with their park and cruise package. My family enjoyed the included breakfast and the room was adequate with 2 Queens with a microwave and fridge. Tip: reserve your shuttle times in advance. They had overbooked the shuttles but payed for a Lyft to the ship the on cruise day. It took about 20-30 minutes to get to the ship due to a parade. We have stayed at the Hotel Maya right in the cruise port before and found that hotel to be more convenient to the port. The drop off area for luggage takes a bit of patience as people are still departing the previous cruise or waiting for rides. This was expected and they do their best. Embarkation was a breeze as we were on time for our reserved 1/2 time slot, did every pre-requirement, had documents and passports in hand and had set up our onboard accounts online. We were onboard very quickly with absolutely no waiting. We booked 2 Havana Interior rooms on the 7th floor. I chose this floor to get as far away from the late night live Havana band noise spilling into the room. I could still hear the congas and bongos in the room but I do have very good hearing. They often played until 12:30AM but it wasn't a big problem for us. What I didn't expect from the new ship is that our cabin room door was sticking and very hard to unlock, close all the way and lock. I had to put all of my body weight on the handle to unlatch the door. Because the ship is new it hasn't settled and the screws and moldings are still so tight that they cracked and popped very loudly when the seas were a bit rough. I imagine this will lessen as time goes on but we did have 2 nights of horrible sleep with loud creaking and snapping from the ceiling area. If you book the upper Havana areas on deck 6 and 7 it is important to know that the online floorplans show a staircase on port and starboard side on the aft but there is actually only a staircase on the port side. We used this staircase all the time to access the Havana Pool area. We missed having the usual 3 closets but managed with the 2. We used the large open shelves by the fridge for room service dishes (which were removed daily), pool towels and the bottom for shoes. I was able to fit a pop up hamper in the closet but not many shoes. Our closet was packed with wooden hangers. Havana Pool: We loved this area! It was usually quiet and always well taken care of. The hot tubs were wonderful and not crowded and the infinity pool lovely. Pool temperature was not too cold and we waded or swam in it very comfortably. There are attendant buttons on each cabana for service but we got our own drinks from the outside bar which wasn't crowded. Sometimes there was light music and sometimes no music. This area was a game changer for us and it would be hard to return to packed deck chairs and constant noise on the Lido. Too each his own but as we age we like the party noise less. Havana Bar: We loved this area but didn't stay very long inside as the air conditioning was too cold. Others used the game areas constantly for domino games or cards. It is beautifully themed and the design of the Havana bar is very nice. On the other Vista class ships there are tapas and snacks served in the Havana area but the bartender told us they removed this from the Panorama. Ocean Plaza deck 5: There is a small breakfast buffet here to avoid main deck 10 buffet crowds. My teens (18 and 15) enjoyed the live evening bands and it always seemed to have some trivia or crafts scheduled if you enjoy that in this multipurpose area. Room service: I use this regularly and didn't care for the quality of the room service food on this ship. The delivery people were nice but the quality was lacking in comparison to our other cruises. Dining: The waiters did a great job. We chose assigned dining at 8:15 but we were very disappointed that assigned dining is now in the smaller one story Horizon dining room. It felt cramped and with low ceilings. You can find videos about this on youtube. We really missed the grand open 2 story dining rooms we always had in the past. The "any time" diners get this larger Vista dining room now. So if you enjoy the large open opulent dining rooms be prepared to select "any time" dining. However, I've heard that the anytime service is much slower with long wait lines. We purchased a wine package of 5 wines and the waiters always pulled our bottles and had them ready at our table when we arrived. Entertainment: We enjoyed the entertainment a lot. I am a retired dancer and the show Rock Revolution was absolutely the best I've ever seen on a cruise ship. Don't miss this show! The fresh choreography, live music, projections, wonderful costuming, talent, unique makeup design, direction and most importantly commitment from the dancers was exceptional. Audiences loved the lighted drones. We also enjoyed the show Celestial Strings but the music of Rock Revolution was my favorite. Get there early for a good seat and note that the entertainers work throughout the main floor. We did have difficulty with the volume level in the Atrium Bar where musicians play in the evening. The string players were wonderful but the speakers were way too loud. It was impossible to sit at the Atrium bar and have a conversation. Service: Our servers were all very pleasant. There were a few items I had to ask my room attendant for (fresh washcloths, ice, clean glasses) but they were always provided when I asked. The wine I preordered was waiting for us in the room upon arrival. Our room service attendant asked us to pick a time for cleaning each day and I appreciated knowing when that would be. Excursions: As a veteran West Coast cruiser I arranged our excursions. We've done Carnival excursions before and there are benefits to that also. In Cabo I booked a 42' sailing yacht independently with Cabo Sailing. They provided snorkeling gear, towels, unlimited drinks and lunch. The team was personable and we loved it! Cruisetipstv has a great youtube video about this. We stayed onboard and enjoyed the ship in Mazatlán as it's not our favorite. In Puerto Vallarta we hung out in the Havana pool in the morning and took a taxi to the Malecon in the late afternoon for lunch at Bar Oceano. Walk all the way out of the port area for a less expensive taxi ride to Hotel Rosita and enjoy the walk along the Malecon to your lunch destination. Our taxi ride back to the cruise port was only $2 per person. Our children 18 and 15 enjoyed the water slides, pizza, ice cream and ropes course. They enjoyed the sky ride. The sky ride line was usually about 20 minutes but we talked to a fellow passenger who waited 1 1/2 hours. Our kids wanted to use the trampoline area but the only open reservations were during dinner. It's $12 per hour but more expensive for the rock and glow time. Food: Our favorite lunches were the Guys Pig and Anchor (free lunch on sea days out door bbq). Or at paid times the Pig and Anchor trash can nachos. We also like the Guys burgers on the Lido area. We tried the sushi place and it was great. I did not enjoy the $12 lobster roll from the crab shack. I asked for butter instead of mayo but still got mayo. I didn't finish it but the fried were good. My son really loved the fish and chips from the crab shack. Our drive home over the grapevine to northern CA was gorgeous as they had a huge snowstorm while we were gone. We are exhausted and I can't wait to book our next get away! Read Less

We are just back from a 7-day Christmas Cruise on the Carnival Panorama yesterday, and I wanted to write this quick review before too much time passed. We left Long Beach, CA on Saturday, Dec 21 and returned Saturday, Dec 28. There were 7 of us traveling. Myself, my husband, our daughter, her husband and our 6-month grandson, our other daughter and 10-year old granddaughter. I’m going to make this quick and simple by listing the pros/cons – but please know up front the “PROS” far outweighed the cons. This was an exceptional cruise, and because we took a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Barcelona in September 2019 – I have to throw in a few comparisons. This is our 11th cruise overall. PROs 1. The staff deserve top ratings. Everyone was friendly, energetic, and customer focused. We were over the top impressed by our room steward and his assistants. No request at any time of the day was too much to ask. AND – even more so – our dining room waiter – Vlad – was one of the best we’d ever had. With a large group, one child and one infant – they provided us with amazing service every single night! (As a contrast, the last 2 RCCL we took – the staff all seem tired and bored). 2. The FOOD. We ate at the Steakhouse on Christmas Eve only because it was a special occasion. Certainly not needed, because the food in the main dining room was exceptional with lots of variety. (We did traditional early seating). Not to mention the really, REALLY GOOD offerings at the Guy’s Burger and BBQ joint, Blue Iguana Burrito and Taco Bar (try the fish tacos – yum), Sushi Restaurant, and even the 24-hour pizza. The pastries in the coffee bar were light and fluffy, and worth every bite! So, the food was superior. (Another RCCL contrast – the food on our last cruise was bland and boring – not worth the calories). 3. The DRINKS. At the bar, the drinks are reasonably priced (under $10) and they actually taste like real drinks are supposed to taste. And, the wine on the dinner menu is good quality at a reasonable price. By contrast, the RCCL drinks are expensive (>$12) and taste like sugary, watered down versions of what you would expect. And, I could even find a wine on their menu I could drink (yes, I'm a little bit of a wine snob). I had several variety of drinks and wine on the Carnival Panorama, and every one was amazing. 4. The Carnival HUB app. If you haven’t tried this yet – it’s a life changer when traveling with a large group. We were able to stay in touch and “chat” our plans. Critical with a baby and 10-year-old. I personally cannot image cruising without this app again. It also replaces (for me) the daily newsletter, and if full of tips and the schedule of activities - AMAZING! 5. The Carnival Kitchen. My granddaughter and I took a pie baking class in this new ship featured area on our last day at sea. This was one of my favorite things of the entire trip, and the layout of that area and the chef staff were A+. I would highly recommend doing one of these classes if you have any interest in cooking or baking 6. The ship itself is incredible. The many activities and the way it is laid out make it fun to walk around and explore every day. We enjoyed the water slides, the ropes course, the sky bike, and our granddaughter really liked the jump zone. The putt-putt golf was totally geared towards kids, so we didn't do our usually round of golf after dinner like we do on other ships. But, that was okay. 7. The Havana suites included use of the exclusive pool area. This was a really bonus, and something we would have used every day if not traveling with family. This would have been our favorite place to hang out, but our cabin is the only one that qualified so no one else in our group could use it. BUT, that is what makes it so special. Less crowds and quiet with no kids! 8. The Spa. Our kids did two days in the Thermal Spas, and really enjoyed it. I had a massage/facial combination – and it was one of the best ever on a cruise ship. I would highly recommend the team on this ship for their exceptional service. 9. The COFFEE. Even the regular drip coffee available in the buffet area or with dinner was great. Most cruise coffee tastes like stale Folgers, but this stuff was strong and drinkable! CONs 1. Our cabin 7452 was an AFT extended balcony in the Havana area. My #1 complaint. I thought we paid extra for this room (?). Unfortunately, it was the smallest cabin we have experienced in all our cruises to date. I looked at other rooms as we passed, and it seems to be unique to this room type. Even our daughters inside cabin rooms seemed to have more space than ours. The closet would not fit all our clothes, there was not enough drawer space, there was not a separate couch area, and overall it lacked storage and room to maneuver. The bed was so close to the window and French door that the curtain had to rest on the bed until I tied it back with my phone charger cord. The balcony was nice with 2 chairs and 1 lounger, but the smell coming off the Lido Marketplace and soot from the smoke stacks made it feel dirty and smelly. I would not recommend this cabin. 2. Embarkment/Disembarkment. Driving into the port was a congested nightmare, and leaving wasn’t any better. The entire process of getting onboard and off was chaotic. Overall, I don’t believe the port of Long Beach (although a beautiful facility) is made to handle a ship of 4000 passengers. 3. The itinerary. Cabo and Puerto Vallarta were lovely. Mazatlán is Tijuana with a "slight" topical twist. So, if not taking a cruise arranged excursion, I would not recommend getting off the ship in Mazatlán. Finally, the last two days at sea are difficult to endure. The weather turns cold (always) and the wind is howling as the ship heads quickly south back to Long Beach. And, all those 4000 people on the ship head indoors (into suddenly very cramped space) to try and find warmth. On the last day the seas were so rough that even those with the strongest stomach couldn’t go to the higher decks. I would not recommend this itinerary, but the options are limited when sailing out of Long Beach. 4. The GYM. Such a surprise, but I hated the gym on this ship. I usually spend every day of my cruise in the gym (it’s something I always look forward to). But, on this ship the gym was small with a very low, sloping ceiling. I tried to use it 3x, and gave up each time. It just wasn’t inviting. Instead, I jogged the track (7x around = 1 mile) and found that to be a good substitute. Although afterward my attempts to lift weights in the gym just didn’t work – it was just too claustrophobic. Read Less

We live in So Cal so Long Beach is easy to get to, and thus have cruised on the Imagination and Inspiration (both Fantasy class) more than once. We were excited for Long Beach to finally get a new ship, and sailed on the Christmas 2019 sailing (Panorama's second "normal" sailing). Embarkation was amazingly smooth. We drove to the port and arrived right in the middle of our scheduled arrival window (12:30-1:00pm) and it was a breeze getting checked in, through security, and onto the ship. The new terminal that Carnival built at Long Beach a year or so ago has helped a lot in improving the embarkation flow (not that I found it much of an issue in the past) The downside to cruising over the holidays is that everyone else has the same idea, and the ship was pretty full. By the time we reached the Lido deck to await opening of the cabins and grab lunch, it was so full that we had to sit outside on the pool deck. No big deal. Once cabins opened up at 1:30pm, it was a mad stampede for the elevators. The one criticism I have is that they closed some of the elevators to dedicate to the porters delivering checked baggage. That really clogged up traffic. We ended up foregoing elevators and climbing stairs all the way from Lido (Deck 10) to our cabin (Deck 1). Good exercise! I got to check out the laundry room because I always iron our dressy clothes on embarkation day, to avoid the rush of people waiting until elegant night to do so. There was only one iron/ironing board but three sets of washers/dryers. Best of all? They scan your Sail & Sign card so you don't have to fuss with quarters. $3 per wash load, $3 per 45-minute drying load. Everything on the ship for the rest of the week was amazing. Our son checked into the teen club and more or less vanished for the rest of the cruise ;-) A few favorite highlights: -- riding the Skyride! I showed up right before they opened on the first port day and waited approximately 40 minutes. Great way to take in the views of the ship and of Cabo! -- Dive In movies. Picture and sound were great! We saw a nighttime showing and a daytime showing, and both turned out well. I love that the towel shack lends out fleece blankets during the nighttime movies so we were nice and cozy! -- Dessert! About a year ago I read an article on Cruise Radio announcing new desserts being added to Carnival, and the various scrumptious cakes did not disappoint! -- Touch-free handwash stations all around the Lido deck -- Amazingly comfortable mattresses and pillows! More comfy than my own bed... where can I buy this mattress?? -- Being able to view portraits on the Hub app not long after pictures are taken, and not having to purchase prints just to get the digital version We ate dinner in the MDR every single night. Our head waiter, Mario, was amazing. The food was fabulous and service was impeccable. For lunch I mainly stuck with the Lido buffet because there were plenty of offerings (and because DESSERT!). The buffet area is so large that there are two sets of food stations-- one closer to mid-ship, and one closer to aft. Each section offered *different* food for the same meal (except for breakfast) so if you're like me and prefer to eat a little bit of everything, be sure to make the rounds to both stations. We did dine at Bonsai Sushi for one lunch-- it was delicious, and so well-priced! Much cheaper than land-based sushi restaurants. Christmas Day was the third port day (PV), so they changed the itinerary slightly, making the second elegant night that night instead of the following night (second sea day). There was also a special Christmas menu in the MDR, which John Heald had posted to his Facebook several weeks prior. Festive! As always, we enjoyed the Punchliner comedians. We recognized Sebastian from our Dec 2017 sailing on the Imagination. Small world, even on the open ocean! I liked that they rotated comedians halfway through the cruise, so that you got fresh faces after a few days. Karaoke was interesting because it was in several different locations over the course of the week: Havana Bar, Limelight Lounge, Ocean Plaza. Singing in the Limelight Lounge (same place the comedians perform) was an interesting experience, because it was more of a show setting, with all eyes on you, rather than a bar where people are just hanging out and drinking. Cruise Director Emma was very entertaining! We enjoyed the Love n Marriage Show, and she ran the Military Appreciation gathering superbly. We stayed on the ship in Cabo (perfect time to enjoy a deserted Serenity Deck!) because we'd been there before, toured Mazatlan on our own, and did a Carnival excursion in PV (Top 10 Best of PV), which was great for seeing the highlights/main tourist traps, but we could have done without the silver and tequila shopping. While we appreciate that having photos available electronically reduces waste, beware that the system is still new and they might lose your photos. My son did a casual shoot, hoping to use one for his senior yearbook photo... but it never showed up on our Hub app. It took a couple of days' worth of inquiries with multiple people before we reached the conclusion that the files had simply been lost due to several system downtimes. By the time we figured it out, we had only one day of portraits left, and none of the backdrops were appealing. So if you don't see your photos within a few hours of them being taken, make inquiries right away! Overall, we really loved the ship. I know a lot of people detest larger ships, but the ship didn't really feel all that big to me. I swear the distance from the Limelight Lounge (aft) to the Liquid Lounge (forward) didn't feel any longer than the distance between those respective lounges on the Fantasy-class ships. It was easy enough to get around, and because it's so much larger, there was so much more room to accommodate everyone. Larger pool area, larger Serenity Deck, larger Atrium Bar area, and overall just a much better use of space. Debarkation was pretty smooth, too, but I think part of that is due to the fact that since we stayed in Deck 1, we were the first regular deck called off the ship. Everyone had to be out by 8:30am, and we were called a little after 8:00am, so we were able to stay in our rooms, with luggage, until it was time to leave. Although there were lines everywhere, they moved quickly. From the time our deck was first called, to the time we arrived at our car in the parking garage, took maybe 35 minutes total. Our friends on Deck 2 were still waiting to be called by the time we hit the freeway ;-) All in all, the whole experience was terrific. I particularly enjoyed having everything decked out for the holidays, made the cruise just a bit more magical! Read Less

We were a family of four, two adults, two children. We were pleased to discover that carnival passengers had free access to the Queen Mary ship docked in Long Beach. Don’t miss visiting this historic cruise ship. Embarkation was a bit chaotic but the staff were pleasant and welcoming. Our family cabin for four was larger and better equipped than previous cruises. Our Indonesian cleaner was full of smiles and friendly and helpful. The family rooms are located in the family harbour zone which has its own restaurant where you could go to relax, watch videos/ play games and help yourselves to drinks and snacks at any time during the day/evening. Food was awesome! Pizza 24/7 was delicious. Hot tubs could be slightly warmer, but still good fun. Gym is very well equipped. The band was called “The Night Shift” and it was worth going on the cruise just to see them. Awesome musicians who can play anything by request and mingled with the audience every night. We really recommend doing the brewery tour. Colin (the beer admiral) does the tour and is funny, interesting and very knowledgable. Also recommend doing the tequila tour in Puerto Vallarta. Only sad thing is that we will probably never go on a ship as nice as the Carnival Panorama ever again. Read Less

Overall it was a great time. New ship, new crew, new facilities all of that. Carnival did a great job with this new ship in creating some new classes and fun things to do onboard. Also the new Long Beach terminal was easy and fast for both embarkation and debarkation. However, the stateroom seemed smaller than on other Carnival ships I have sailed on, and the overall design of the ship made it seemed closed off and confined. The other critical thing that I want to mention is that a person needs to be aware that when they go on a Holiday Cruise, it is also a holiday for the ship crew. Many areas closed earlier in the evening than advertised so that staff Holiday parties could occur, and there were many additional people wearing staff uniforms in lines, such as at the pizza place, the speciality restaurants, etc, with their families and special guests. This made the lines move slower and things feel more crowded. It s not that I don’t think crew members are entitled to a holiday party, it is just something I have not seen on other cruises at the holidays and I was not prepared for. Overall it was a great cruise on a beautiful new ship. Read Less

It was great being on a brand new ship. I was on the inaugural 7-day to the Mexican Riviera. A few Great things... I don't know if they have been doing this in other places for awhile but we no longer have to wait in long lines for our Key Cards and Pictures. Pictures are taken directly from the Passport, or if security can pull it from the passport, they take the photo right then and there. The Key Cards are waiting for your at your cabin. Such great streamlining! I really enjoyed the new design. Took some time to get used to where everyone was. The library was great.It had a ton of games and books to read. There were many specialty dining options, including the teppanyaki. Make sure you get a reservations in EARLY! The cooking class was a great addition. We did Pie Making, another group did the BBQ and another did Cake making. They bring out the Pie that you made at dinner time (in the restaurant) so you can enjoy it. The same for the BBQ that was smoked. They hold it until dinner time so your group can enjoy it! I tried the Sky Zone ($$) with me brother and it was a lot of fun. The have 18+ at night so you are not jumping with kids, which was great. Everyone is able to benefit. The Heroes Tribute bar is a fantastic idea and option. it was always packed and sports was on at all times. We didn't make it on the Skyride because every time there was a line, but we did do the ropes course and that was a lot of fun! They have an easy option and harder option. The Serenity Spa was nice. We ended up there even after it closed. The worker notices we were having a good time and gave us like 2 more hours. I think he acted like he was doing other work. HAHA! One last thing I liked was the Lido deck Buffet. They configured it where you pretty much have (4) buffets (the same food) and you don't have to wait in long lines. It was great. A couple things that I was a little "Eh" about... It took us a long time to figure out how to turn the lights on. You have to put your key card in a slot to turn the electricity on (even electrical plugs). I found out later you can actually put ANY card in there and it worked, but being that it was my first NEW ship, maybe a little card on what to do would have been helpful. They didn't have lights around the vanity which sucks. I had to do my makeup in the bathroom. I really enjoy going to the nightclub (yes they have one) but this one is a make shift one. It's like they added all of this additional stuff, like the cooking class, and ran out of room. The room they use for the comedy club is turned into the club. They move the chairs around and put up a make-shift bar in the corner. I was really disappointed here because the club used to be the hang out spot. You used to be able to sit at the bar, hang out around the DJ Booth..."eh". Kind of the same thing with the first floor of the stage area where they do the shows. There are moveable chairs in there. nothing in place with lots of room at tables from your drinks. That was a down grade. All in all, it is a beautiful ship. They did cut corners to fit other stuff in which was noticeable. One last thing, the Cruise Director was amazing! Read Less

I thought this would be a nice cruise considering the ship was new and I really enjoyed my last Mexican Riviera Cruise on Royal Caribbean. ( Yes it was a long time ago) The ship is new and this was it's second voyage and that's where the fun ends. Honestly the best part of this cruise was going ashore at the 3 stops. The problem started right from the beginning, 4 room keys were left at the door to the room and none of them were working. No problem, I'll just go to guest relations and some new keys. Well apparently other passengers had a similar experience and the line was long. After waiting for 30 minutes, I had 4 new keys and yes they worked this time. But there was another problem with the new keys which I will get to later. Thew next issue I have with this cruise is the ridiculous amount of money that everything costs, yes the food is included but no drinks are, which is fine all other cruises have the same policy. What I take exception to is the outrageous $3 per pepsi, of course coke is not available. I don't mind paying for the drinks but $3 for a can?? Give me a break. This cruise has a gaming area where kids can play video games, again $1 per game, $1.25 per game, $1.50 per game? Really? I mean these chuck e. cheese type activities should be included or maybe .25 cents per game. This brings us back to the room keys, one of the activities they have on this ship is sky zone trampoline park. Which for $12 an hour is actually reasonable, so we thought we would give it a try. Signing up at the kiosks turned out to be an adventure, oops something went wrong every time I tried to book it. Six different times and six failures, oh well I give up. But little did I know at the time my card was charged for 6 skyzone adventures at $24 a pop, $12 for each kid. Even though we did not get to use the park a single time. On to guest relations for a refund, waiting in line again. This time it was not so bad, guest relations said they would contact sky zone and get my card refunded. 2 days later when I checked my account the money had not been refunded. This time I had to go to the sky zone manager who was aware of the situation and had authorized my refund but for some unknown reason guest relations had not processed the refund. The skyzone manager met me at guest relations and had them process my refund. This is where I found that there was some type of computer problem that caused many passengers to have the same issue with skyzone. So apparently if you had your original card replaced for any reason, the skyzone purchases would no longer work even though Carnival was charging the card. The problem seemed limited to skyzone because the card could be used everyplace else on the ship without any problems. On to the other stuff, the pools were great if you are a penguin or a polar bear, but for humans much too cold. Same goes for the water park, you would think Carnival would heat the water to at least 80 degrees to make it warmer and maybe the guests might actually enjoy using the pools and the park. But instead it seemed as though half of the passengers were huddled into the only 2 hot tubs at the back of the ship. While the pools remained mostly empty with an occasional brave soul enjoying a polar bear swim. Then there is the gestapo police watching over people at the pools, no not life guards but employees that are there to make sure nobody has any fun at the pools. No jumping, no running, no diving, what's next no swimming? Can we stand in the water or is that against the rules? Maybe we can walk on the water like Jesus, is that allowed Carnival? Bigger and warmer pool water is a must, same goes for the hot tubs. On to the internet, this is the biggest scam going on the ship. A bigger highway robbery than anything in the casino. They charge $100 per device, not per room. So if you have a family of 4 and you wanted decent internet service you would have to fork over $400. That was the fastest service they offer and it was still terrible. I suppose you could get the cheaper internet plan but considering the high speed version was like 3mbs I can only imagine how bad the lower speeds would be. I suppose if you wanted to check email and not much else then the lower speed plan would be fine. Internet = money grab, drinks = money grab, kids entertainment = money grab, photos = money grab. Photos? What century is this? Everyone has a professional camera in their pocket. Photos today cost nothing, I could understand these charges 30 years ago where film had to be developed. But today a picture printed out at Costco costs 19 cents. Anything else you want to charge for Carnival? Are pay toilets coming in the future? Speaking of toilets, the toilets in the rooms are definitely not made for Americans. I am not a particularly large person at 5'11 and 190lbs. I am considered average maybe even thin for an American and I had trouble sitting on those tiny toilets. I can only imagine the difficulty many of the larger passengers had. The water pressure in the showers could be improved. On to some good things, the lunch and breakfast buffets were excellent. The food was fresh and tasty. The dinners were excellent as well, there's nothing to complain about there. The service from the wait staff was top notch. There's tons of entertainment on the ship, casino if that's your thing. We didn't get a chance to see the comedy shows because of the kids. Having a movie theater in an outdoor setting is a nice touch. We would have definitely utilized it more but my kids are pretty spoiled and had seen all those films. Lounge and dining room music was nice. Bingo is not my cup of tea, but cash prizes are nice. The ship was smooth and not too bumpy, but I guess that largely depends on the ocean conditions. Another issue issue I had is the only place on the ship you can use cash is at the casino. I would prefer to have a cash option available at the bars and the paid food areas. One last gripe about money, the bars and most other areas automatically add gratuities on the check, ummm shouldn't tipping be at my discretion? I don't appreciate having that decision taken away from me. I don't know if other cruises do that, I'm assuming it's common in the industry, but I don't like it. Same goes for the gratuities for housekeeping and the wait staff just charged to my room one day before the cruise is over. Choose fun? More like choose money! News flash to Carnival and all other service oriented industries, TIPPING IS NOT MANDATORY! Tipping is at the customers discretion, it is not my job to pay your employees a living wage or a minimum. A tip is provided for receiving excellent service. Figure out how to charge the appropriate prices for your tickets pay your employees enough money so they can live and leave the tipping out of it. Read Less

Ken the singing maitre D is on the ship for a short time, what a treat! Borrrrrris, amazing Maitre D as well was a hoot and took care of a few issues toot suite! Jose Luis was our Head Waiter in Horizon and while shy at first, he warmed up and was very kind and pleasant! Emma, of course was OFF THE HOOK. Her , "Hello, its me" each morning was perfect. Her energy level was crazy!!! Lei Lei and Aussie Neil was equally on point! Bring your 70s clothes, your best whites, if you are a veteran, your clothing to represent. ROCK REVOLUTION cannot be missed! Watch out for flying drones! Ocean Plaza deck 5 aft was my favorite spot on the ship!! Those elevators.....tip.....hit the deck your going to multiple times!! There are no trash cans around the ship.....so carry it around till u find something....lol The comedian we saw, Sebastian was hilarious! For the over 18 show, we also had a ASL interpreter in the room......he played off what she was signing.....it was too much!!! We went interior this time, lots of room even with 3! Beds r so comfy I gave embarkation a 2 because there were issues with the B2B folks which horribly delayed the rest of us Both shore excursions were cancelled day before leaving us scrambling.......fishing for 175! Who doesnt want to dothat? Read Less

We are an older couple. We did not go on any of the ships' shore excursions. The ship is beautiful. There are many dining venues, swimming pools and a variety of entertainment. A great ship for families traveling with kids. There are special cabins for families and many activities of interest for both kids and adults. The assigned table restaurants' food was excellent and the service was great, but it felt rushed. They served a 4-5 course meal in an hour. In the middle of dinner they would stop everything to do the Macarena... No matter if you took early or late seating in the restaurant, you will not be on a time schedule which will allow you to see a whole show in the theater. Food in other venues was good also, but there seemed to be a problem every day with the ice machines. The print on the paper deck plans and the daily activities list is so small that you need a magnifying glass. Be sure to get the app for the ship on your phone. The room and the balcony were both extremely small for the money. There was plenty of closet room, storage under the bed for suitcases and a safe. All cabins doors look about the same except some are large than others. It's good to have some decorations to hang on yours to distinguish it from others. Read Less

Truly enjoyed the inaugural 7- day cruise of the Carnival Panorama. We are avid cruisers (71 cruises and counting) and have not been on Carnival in many years. Our expectations were not the greatest, although we thought it would be great to try out this new vessel. We were extremely surprised on so many levels, which I will get into later in this review. It’s wonderful that Carnival has placed a brand-new, State of the Art, vessel into Long Beach. For many years, the west coast has not seen any new vessels. It’s very nice that Carnival Corp. has made the decision to invest in this coast. We were very happy when Royal Princess came to this coast and are now very pleased with the Panorama being here. Long Beach is a very nice pre-cruise stay. There are so many wonderful choices of hotels here, due to its convention city status. We enjoy staying at the Hyatt Regency, but there are, again, so many hotels to choose from. Also, the city has many wonderful restaurants, sights and entertainment venues all within blocks of these hotels. The embarkation area for Carnival is 5 minutes by taxi or Uber from most LB hotels. Embarkation takes place in the massive ”Spruce Goose” dome, which Carnival converted (and wonderfully) into a very nice embarkation/debarkation area. Our embarkation took some time, but we chalked this up to the first seven-day cruise that this ship was on. I would be surprised if this happens again. Once onboard, we were quickly able to go to our room (where our room keys were waiting for us). We chose an oceanview cabin towards the bow of the ship on Deck 3. We were very happy with our room, including the bed, storage space and bathroom. Surprised to see a shower curtain on a brand new ship as most have done away with those. It did NOT diminish our accommodations, and we were very pleased. Our steward, Angel, did not see us until early in the evening. We felt he was rushed and maybe the ship was a bit understaffed in this area. We never saw him again on the cruise. A very minor criticism is that our room was only cleaned once per day. When the room was cleaned, it was set up for turn down? We did call housekeeping a few times and received towels when we needed them. The vessel itself is spectacular! Every inch of the ship was clean, beautiful and stunning in its décor. The atrium lobby and bar, with a three-story LED tower was incredible! The fact that everything was decorated for the holiday season also added to the beauty. Foodservice disclaimer: We did not dine in the MDR except for one morning brunch, so I don’t have much to say here. The brunch food was okay and the service was okay (although the three courses we ordered were all served at one time). We ate in all but one of the Specialty Restaurants and we were blown away by the tremendous presentations and food quality in each one. FARENHEIT 555: (extra charge) The steakhouse, with its dry age refrigeration unit and open kitchen as a focal point, was nothing short of spectacular! We have only seen food like this on Crystal and Oceana! I don’t know if Carnival will keep this up, but it is some of the finest food at sea! USDA Prime Steaks were excellent. The presentations AND the tastes of every dish were unbelievably good. We ate in this restaurant three times in our seven days, and tried almost every dish on the menu. Kudos to the chef for such outstanding work, from the different Amuse-Bouche each evening, to the dessert presentation that will blow you away! Great wine list, beautifully served and presented by Alex, the mixologist/sommelier of the room. Vanja, the Steakhouse manager, was both extremely professional with her staff, as well as wonderful with the guests. I can absolutely qualify this outlet (as of now) as the finest Steakhouse on the sea. PIG AND ANCHOR: (extra charge) This Guy Fieri BBQ outlet was very nice. The brewed beers are all made onboard (as the tanks are directly across from the bar), and the BBQ is all smoked onboard as well. We found this outlet, along with great entertainment, a wonderful hangout for many guests. JIJI ASIAN KITCHEN: (extra charge) Spectacular food, both in taste and presentation. Excellent service as well. The Pork Belly and Crispy Dick are two of the items that I will not forget for a very long time. CUCINA DE CAPITANO: (extra charge) Again, wonderful staff (loved the Mambo Italiano dancing by the staff). All of the food was served piping hot and excellent in both quality and preparation. Pastas were very good, but my Tomahawk Pork Chop was the Bomb!! It was perfectly cooked and delicious. BONSAI SUSHI: (extra charge) Beautifully decorated open restaurant that is an ala carte outlet. Everything we dined on here, including sushi rolls, Ramen Soups, appetizers and desserts tasted great and were presented wonderfully. Cannot overstate the quality of the food as it has really decreased on most cruise ships. BONSAI TEPPANYAKI: (extra charge) We did NOT dine here, but wished we had. This is a very small outlet with only 20 seats. IF you want to dine here, I suggest either reserve BEFORE you board or immediately after you board. It will be filled quickly. SEAFOOD SHACK: Another extra charge outlet located next to the aft pool. Food was incredibly fresh and delicious. All items were made to order (including breading all of the shrimp and clams as you wait). Lobster Rolls were excellent and the French fries (dusted with Old Bay Seasoning) were great. PIZZERIA DEL CAPITANO: Excellent (no charge) pizza cooked almost to order! Great crust and a wonderful product considering there was no charge. Lines can get long here, but worth the wait. For $5.00, you can order a pizza thru your onboard app and have it delivered ANYWHERE onboard the vessel! BLUE IGUANA AND GUY’S BURGER JOINT: (no charge) Located at the main pool, these outlets served made to order items. BI served delicious tacos, as well as burritos. Guy’s cooked burgers from scratch, with many toppings and extras. Both were excellent, but lines can be long due to proximity to pool, as well as no charge. THE MARKETPLACE BUFFET: Not great quality of food here as this is a mass feeder. The area is broken up into many stations, and like most ship buffets, can get overwhelmed during peak periods. The Gelato station was very nice, but again, gets very crowded. BARS AND LOUNGES: There are so many choices on the vessel that I will not go into most of them. I will mention a few favorites: SERENITY BAR: This area is located on the bow of the ship on deck 15. It has the feel of a Las Vegas day club AND (yay) is for Adults only!! Great drinks, wonderful area for sunning (along with two hot tubs) and a really nice salad bar, served with wonderfully fresh ingredients. ALCHEMY BAR: Located near restaurant row, this bar seemed to be the busiest bar onboard. Always busy, with a great vibe to it. HAVANA BAR: This bar, located aft, should be a very exciting area, but for some reason, it is not! Beautiful surroundings and nice drinks. Opens up on an infinity pool and bar that is only for Havana Suites guests (which I have no problem with). This bar just suffered from lack of guests and a poor Latin band that really needed to play livelier Latino music. This was our biggest disappointment, as we love Latin music and Mojitos!! ENTERTAINMENT: We enjoyed all of the mainstage shows we saw. They were all different and very high energy. The added Christmas show was just perfect for the holidays. The PUNCHLINER COMEDY CLUB, was a highlight. The comedians were all great and hilarious. A warning here as the EXPLICIT shows later in the evening are incredibly raunchy!! Hysterical, but very dirty. Be warned if you take your 18 year or older children here. We really loved it though!! The CRUISE DIRECTOR: Emma, the cruise director of the Panorama, was the most energetic, hilarious, campy and overall wonderful CD we have seen in many years. She must be a spokesperson for RED BULL, as she is on from sun up well past 11 p.m.!! I would book any ship she was on just to envelop myself in her energy levels! KUDOS to her and her staff for making every waking minute as much fun as you can take! The ELEVATORS: You either LOVE them or HATE them. Once you get used to the technologically advanced elevators, I believe you will enjoy them. Be patient when you first board as it takes a bit of getting used to. The Waterpark and Sky ride areas are great for kids. Be aware that on Sea days, the lines can be brutal. IF you really want to ride the Skyride, I suggest PORT days, when the lines are really manageable. Disembarkation was simple, although it seemed many people were confused. It was not as smooth as most, but once we were off the ship, we breezed thru everything and were on the way to the airport. I did notice many handwashing stations and the obligatory Purell stations everywhere, but we did NOT see much emphasis on washing your hands. All of the cruises that we have been on lately REALLY emphasize this, especially during the safety drill. It was not on this ship. Just an FYI, nothing more. We are very excited that this great new vessel is on the West Coast. This is a wonderful alternative to taking your family to Disneyland!! Everything you could possibly want is onboard. The ports of Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta have something for everyone; if not, stay onboard and have the time of your life!! Read Less

We choose this curise because we always enjoyed Carnival cruises and wanted to experience a new ship. I have never written a review before but after reading the two negative reviews here I needed to tell my experience. It was just my wife and I and we truly enjoyed every minute. The one reviewer here obviously did not do much research before sailing. I know cruises can get expensive but doing your research before you go can help save money. An example would be to take your own sodas instead of paying as he said $3.00. Not sure where he got $3.00 pepsi, I only paid $2.50. Other than his room keys not working most everything he complained about could have been known beforehand with research and could have saved him some money. The dining, entertainment, and excursions were all great. The crew was the best. We did not have any problem at all with any of the crew. The only problem I would say we had was the Embarkation and that was mainly because of all the back to back cruisers that were allowed to go back on the ship first. I would definitely recommend this cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we cruise with carnival in the past and really enjoyed the experience we’ve had. We knew that this was going to be the inaugural cruise for the panorama and we’re super excited to get on board with a balcony room. Our experience all started off with our luggage being delivered and having a Broken shoulder strap caused by the luggage delivery service that carnival provides. While in route to Ensenada our first evening we had gone to sleep only to be awoken around 3:15 in the morning to water dumping into our room and onto our bed while we were sleeping. We called maintenance and they promptly moved us within the next 30 to 45 minutes to another balcony room. The on-duty supervisor said they would call us the next morning with some sort of compensation for the trouble we had gone through between the water dumping into our room and my back being delivered in a broken condition. They never called us and I actually had to go down the next morning and engage the contact only to have them give us a $50 meal coupon to bonsai sushi for the negative experience that we had. We gratefully excepted the meal coupon but also welcomed something more than just a meal coupon. Fast forward to later that evening where we went to check in for our anytime dining. We had a check in time for our meal at 5:45 PM we waited in line at the front of the dining hall for over 30 minutes and what seem to be absolute pandemonium trying to get into the dining area with people shoving to get to the front of the line. By the time we gpt seated, it took an additional 20 to 30 minutes to have anyone even acknowledge us at the small table at the furthest most rear part of the ship. After some water and bread we decided to just go back to the room and order room service which turned out to be a big mistake. Later that evening and into the early morning hours after consuming a Caesar salad in what looked like more of a soup, my wife started experiencing stomach pains which was followed by dry heaving and vomiting. For the next two days and last two days of the cruise my wife was stuck in the cabin in bed with what appeared to be a fever and flu like symptoms. She could barely get up on her own accord and was only able to get out for about an hour on the second day then right back to bed. When I made the infirmary aware of what was going on they told me to give her some aspirin which they charged me for. I’m not complaining about the ship but our experience was absolutely terrible. Carnival had every opportunity to make it right and they’ve only offered us $100 per person to use towards our next onboard credit. I am quite frankly disgusted with the lack of customer service we received or empathy for that matter and more than likely will not be cruising with carnival ever again. Read Less

I was super excited about the inaugural cruise on the Panorama, i honestly did not find the value in the 3 day cruise i paid almost $1900 with drink package for 2 people in a cloud 9 spa balcony. i was mainly not a big fan of the layout of the ship. The ship is big and offers many amenities and restaurants but all those come with an extra cost. it seems carnival just took away and spare space they could have and shoved in other paid facilities. For example the Atrium although very beautiful it felt so small and claustrophobic, with it always being crowed and it not stretching multiple decks like other ships. Another example was the size of Alchemy bar which is a very popular bar, you can tell Carnival decided to down size the bar in order to squeeze in more Specialty paid dinning. So the bar was always crowded with people. Something else that bothered me was that the Cloud 9 spa is co-ed so you have to be sharing facilities with the opposite sex. While on other ships there is a woman's and men's separate facilities, again another example where they squeezed in more places where they could make more money on, like extra massage rooms. I understand it is a business and they are here to make money but i just didn't get the relaxing experience i have gotten from other carnival cruises especially with paying a higher price. i know i can get the exact same things offered for free on this cruise on a much cheaper older carnival cruise ship, and have a better experience. Another thing is that they never had coconut water while i was there not a big deal just annoying. But i can honestly say i will not be sailing on Panorama again or at least not if i am paying that high of a rate. i prefer the other ships Imagination and Inspiration, much cheaper and offer same free restaurants and amenities, at a lower price point. Crew amazing as always on any carnival cruise as well as the food, very very delicious. Read Less

A small group of friends in three cabins sailed on the Inaugural cruise. One had the Havana Cabana cabin on Deck 5, one had Oceanview on Deck 6, and one had interior on Deck 7. We all had a great time. There were a few kinks to be worked out. But overall, it was a fun weekend. My cabin had YTD in the Vista dining room. The service the first night took 2 and half hours, but the second night was one hour. The last night we weren't that hungry and went to Lido Marketplace for Grilled Cheese sandwiches and salad. All of the food was well-prepared and delicious. We did Blue Iguana for one breakfast and Guy's Pig and Anchor for one lunch. Both were excellent. We enjoyed the variety of activities and music aboard ship. The Electric Violins in the Atrium were a favorite. Also the Make it with Michaels craft. But we truly loved the two new shows Broadway Beats and Rock Revolution. Do not miss these! My friends did the Sky Ride and Ropes course. There are height, clothing, and weight restrictions. They have a scale for you to step on to ensure that you don't weight over the limit. They had a blast. We checked out, but didn't try the trampoline park. Looked like fun. Despite the size of the ship and the number of passengers, it never felt crowded. And it was easy to walk from our room forward of the forward elevators to the aft elevators for dining. The elevators were the only tricky thing. You must select your destination before boarding. There is no way to choose a floor once inside. And you must select once for each person in your party (I also did once for each suitcase). If you do this, there will always be room for everyone to board when the doors open. There were no signs providing this information. The Library Bar is not actually a bar but a combo of library and game room. It is not quiet if there are a lot of games being played. The Havana Bar has dominoes tables. We saw people playing mahjong and cards on these as well. They sell straws now. I purchased the reusable silicone straw in a pod. They also have metal straw sets and silicone straws without the pod. Frozen drinks come with edible straws. Embarkation was fast. We arrived about 15 minutes before our appointment but our group had been called so we went straight on. Debarkation and customs took about 15 minutes as we walked straight off, claimed our luggage, and used a porter. I would definitely sail on the Panorama again. Read Less

I have always wanted to go on the maiden voyage of one of Carnivals ships. Finally I just did it. I planned an overnight stay at the Queen Mary Hotel, which in its self is an an awesome experience. The convenience of walking off one ship(Hotel) right on board another cruise ship was fantastic.I came from Florida so I had to come a day early. I have now been in the Havana Cabana area on the Vista, Horizon and now the Panorama. I love these fantastic stateroom even though this time I had an inside on deck 6. The ship was flawless and I never saw one thing go wrong during the cruise.The staff was perfect, I love Ensenada Mexico.Our excursion was my best ever in 16 cruises. I did the Ultimate Local Food Teller led by Zoe, an awesome young lady that had our entire group feeling like we had been friends forever. Great lady and so much fun. We stopped at several food stops and several drink stops as well as a candy shop sampling at each stop. I had a Sea Urchin taco at one stop and did not like it one bit but Zoe told me I wouldn't, just wanted to try it. It didn't put a damper on my fun at all. One thing I liked a lot was the fact that nobody got drunk and ruined the tour like so many can.A great time thanks to Zoe and our fun group. The Vista class ships have so much to do that it is hard to cover everything onboard. Just go and have a blast, that's what I did. Read Less