Cruise #25 – Carnival Panorama

This was the 7 day Mexican Riviera, round trip from Long Beach, on the Carnival Panorama. Suzi and I were celebrating 2 anniversaries. August 27th was our 31st anniversary since we met and August 29th was our 29th Wedding Anniversary.

The Panorama is a Vista Class ship and is one of our favorite ships of all we’ve sailed on. So many options for dining!

This was purely a getaway vacation. Perfect timing as the week after, the Panorama was interrupted by Hurricane Kay. We drove ourselves to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal by 10:00 AM. Got checked in and onboard by 11:30. Booked the same stateroom as the last trip, Stateroom 9216. Off to the buffet on Lido deck, where I was re-acquainted with my favorite device, the handwashing station. Place your hands in two cylinders and they start to spin and spray jacuzzi temperature soap and water for 12 seconds. Thus, I call it the “Hand Spa”. There are several on the Lido Deck and I’m pretty sure I used all of them.

If you read my previous review of the ship, the other piece of “tech” I like is the elevators. Each elevator is assigned a letter. You select the Deck from the panel in the lobby, then the system will tell you which elevator “letter” to go to. Each member of the party should make a selection so the system can determine how many elevators are needed. Our first journey on the Panorama was after the industry pause, so there were only about 50% of capacity. This time, it was fully booked, so there was a little confusion as Decks 3, 4, 5 and 10 could get rather busy and require more elevators. The only real downside was on disembarkation day. Too many people wanted to self-disembark, us included, that since only 1 person was hitting the button, elevators were far and few between. When they did arrive, many were full. This is the first time we’ve ever chosen to self-debark and may not again.

As expected, the weather was hot and humid. We knew that going in so did not book any excursions. We got off in Puerto Vallarta to walk over to the Mall. We stayed on the ship in Mazatlán and Cabo.

We did not eat in the MDR. Instead, we ate primarily in the buffet. On anniversary night, I splurged and got a pound and a half lobster from the Seafood Shack. We also enjoyed the included lunch from JiJi’s and who can pass up Guy’s Burger Joint or Blue Iguana Café!

We find the buffet a great alternate. I’m a casual guy, always in dress shorts. If a menu posted for the MDR looks really good, we’ll give it a go. The meals offered just didn’t appeal that much to either of us.

A “benefit” of hot and humid weather also brings the chance of a thunderstorm. A few cruises back, we were able to sit on our balcony and watch lightening across Banderas Bay when leaving Puerto Vallarta. What a sight! Fortunately, we were given the same show but a bit further away. Same the the next evening. Wonderful to see Mother Nature in action.

Disembarkation, as stated earlier, was not well organized. The walkway is on Deck 4 Midship. Only those guests whos group was called could go to Deck 4. Good luck getting an elevator. When there was an elevator it was either full or… when it got to Deck 4, it was so congested, you could not exit the elevator, rendering it unavailable for other passengers waiting to go to Deck 3 or 5. Going forward, we will stick with the latest possible disembarkation time and relax on the Lido Deck.

Currently getting ready for the next cruise. We will be flying into Rome where we will staying 4 nights before heading to the Regal Princess for a 15 day journey across the pond to Florida.

The Pause…

Long time no blog. I wonder why. Not much has happened, has there? Let’s just say it was a very loooonnnnggg 18 months. We had a back to back (B2B) cruise booked for April, 2020. In fact, we were going to be traveling with two other couples during one of the legs. Canceled.

Per Princess, they were expecting the pause to last until mid May, so we booked Alaska. Canceled. Let’s try Europe for the summer. Canceled. Another B2B for October. Canceled. The only good thing was that Princess offered 150% Future Cruise Credits (FCC) if we kept the money with them. Since we had the cruises budgeted out, we went for the FCC’s.

So not only was the industry shutdown, ships were anchoring off the coast in Long Beach. On one day, we counted 7 ships, mostly Princess. Talk about adding salt into the wound. So close, yet so far. We took weekly drives across town to see ships docked in San Pedro. Sad, but kept the dreams alive that someday, they’d be back.

Finally, with the pause ending in sight, we booked Ruby Princess for Sept. 18th and Majestic Princess for October 30th. Another cancelation… Ruby was being transferred to its new home in San Francisco.

Since I already had time off booked for the week of Sept. 18th, we looked for an alternate on Princess but none we could do in that time frame. We had exactly 14 days before becoming Elite on Princess and 14 days booked, so we really wanted to find a way to make this work. We have a 15 Day Hawaiian cruise booked for April, 2022 and wanted to board as Elite (free laundry) instead of having to wait until our next cruise.

Well, drop back and punt. The Carnival Panorama was sailing out of Long Beach on Sept 18th and going on the same itinerary, so we booked it.

Cruise #19 – Catalina and Ensenada

So this was our totally spur of the moment “gotta couple of days off while out of town family is here”… Let’s do the 4 day cruise on Carnival Imagination out of our home port in Long Beach. This is the cruise I mentioned in https://theverandalife.com/2019/06/ . We tried to get the entire family, but failed.

That’s also the post where I mentioned I was really looking forward to Guy’s Burger Joint. It did not disappoint. Considering Guy’s Burgers are part of the fare, and not extra, excellent! Have I had better? Yes. Did I pay a premium for that better burger? Yes. So… Was it the best burger I’ve ever had? No. Was it the best burger I’ve had on a cruise ship? Yes. Am I going to ask, then answer another of my own questions? Absolutely!

The 6 of us drove two cars to the port and parked at the terminal. $17.00 per day, so not bad for the convenience. We got there about 10:30 but were right at the front of the line. After a half hour and the Faster To The Fun passengers were checking in, our turn.

Totally different check in process than Princess. Firstly, the Long Beach terminal dome is where Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose used to be before transforming it into the Carnival check in area. Beautiful.

We are used to a terminal where one whole side of the room is filled with what seems like 300 check in agents. At Carnival, you are directed to one of the many separate round tables. It’s just you and the rep. Another difference is, they don’t give you your Sail and Sign card. Those are waiting for you at your stateroom.

We were both on the Main Deck, Deck 5 Port side. There were three of us in each room. We had the older nephew with us.

Being an older ship, there weren’t many balcony staterooms so we did an outside cabin. Although we did like the larger shower than we are used to on Princess, we prefer the Princess Stateroom layout. (And not counting the extra bed that made it necessary for this old guy to climb over his wife…)

It really did not take too long to learn where everything was on the ship, especially where food was involved. Oh, and we found where all the bars were, too…

We only went to the Dining Room once, on the first night. We were hoping for a table for 6, but it was for 12. It was fine, we just went to the buffet the other nights. The rest of the family either joined us or did their own thing.

Beautiful day for Catalina. We relaxed and didn’t head out to the Tenders until 10:30 or so. Walked down the main drag and stopped in a bunch of shops. After a couple hours, we headed back to the ship.

Next day was Ensenada. Suzi and I walked into town while the other 4 opted for the shuttle. We all met up by the shuttles drop off point and did some walking and shopping. Sis and both nephews decided to head back to the ship while Suzi and the brother continued on. We ended up going to Papa’s & Beer for a Pina Colada and some guacamole made table side. NICE.

On the way back, we stopped by a liquor store. If you’ve read my past blogs, you know my passion for Damiana. A bottle here in the States at a big box beverage store is about $32. Last time we were in Ensenada, I picked up a couple bottles at the Port for $20 each. In town? $15.

We all three walked back to the ship. They built a really nice footbridge that takes you from the port right to the Malecon. Great addition!

The next day was a “Fun Day at Sea”. Ship was just circling around, doing about 8 knots. We saw the Hairy Chest Contest and the Marriage Game. All fun.

So if you are on a Carnival Ship and like to dabble in a little alcohol, you gotta go to the Alchemy Bar. The staff there are all “mixologists”. Really good at what they do. They have specialized drinks only available there. They will also create something new once they get to know your tastes. I got hooked on “The Remedy”. Can’t tell you what all was in it, but similar in taste as Pina Colada but on the rocks. All Top Shelf here.

All in all, a fun little getaway. Would we trade Princess for Carnival? No way but it’s always good to check out other cruise lines even if they are under the same parent company.

55 Days to 10 Day Sea Of Cortez. Our first on Royal Princess. Can’t wait!

Timing Is Everything

The older the young ones get, the harder it is the schedule a family cruise.

Case in point. Suzi has two brothers. One moved from California to Florida, married with two boys between 12 and 16. The other brother is out here in California, married with two boys about the same ages.

The Florida gang (or simply “Florida” as we call them) is coming out for three weeks in July. Every time they are here, they talk about going to Catalina Island. Catalina is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California with daily boat trips, on the Catalina Express, from several ports in the area. It’s a beautiful island with really just one city, Avalon. Avalon is a quaint, sleepy, little town and boasts an iconic Art Deco Casino at the end of the harbor.

Florida thinks about making the trip, but when they do the math, it can be an expensive day, so they usually opt for something else. Now, going to Catalina has just been a running joke. “Hey, what should we do when we visit California? I know, let’s go to Catalina!!! Ha Ha Ha Ha”

Well… The Catalina Express isn’t the only ship that goes there, so does Carnival…
(Here is Suzi looking at the Carnival Imagination from Avalon Harbor on our last jaunt over for the day.)

So… When we were talking to Florida, they joked, “Let’s go to Catalina!” That’s when we mentioned the 4 Night Carnival cruise from Log Beach. After Avalon, it also goes to Ensenada, Mexico followed by a day at sea.

If you’ve followed the blog (you have been, haven’t you?), you know Suzi and I both work. All of my time off for the year has been accounted for. We did our Hawaiian Cruise in April and Sea Of Cortez coming up in October. Well, as luck would have it, I got three Comp days for working at a customers site.

Based on coworkers vacations, I was assigned specific days off. It landed after a weekend (Sunday / Monday), so I was able to string the 5 days together. It was also the last week that Florida would be here, so we found a Sunday through Thursday itinerary and jumped on it. It was the most spontaneous booking we’ve ever made!

Truth be told, although I am really looking forward to the cruise to spend time with family, the real reason I’m looking forward? Three words… Guy’s Burger Joint. I know, I know, it seems a bit selfish but… it’s Guy freaking Fieri and his burgers. Ever since I heard of his partnership with Carnival, I’ve been trying to find an excuse to take a Carnival cruise. I even tried last year. Suggested the 3 or 4 day itinerary for Suzi’s birthday. Sure we’d celebrate her birthday, I’d just celebrate it over a Straight Up or Chilius Maximus… (Note to Mr. Fieri… My expectations are sky high… This better be good!)

Now time to tell the California brother and family. It would be awesome to have us all together, so I sent the invite.

Oh S#!t. The oldest CA nephew is taking an accelerated Chemistry class over the summer. Accelerated meaning “you-cannot-under-any-circumstance-miss-a-class”. Period! The younger nephew will be volunteering at a marine aquarium, so they both have conflicting commitments.

It’ll be very bittersweet. When the six of us are available, the other four aren’t. When the four of them are available, we aren’t. Guess we’ll need to book another one.

Princess – On Board Credits

We all love OBC’s. Here are a few ways we maximize money we have to spend on board. This may not work for you, but it fits us just fine.

Princess Visa. Since our vacation of choice is a cruise and our cruise line of choice is Princess and we don’t rely of air mileage to get to the port, we use the Princess Visa exclusively. We just do our normal monthly spending and use the card. We never spend more than we can fully pay off, so never carry a balance or pay interest. We get double points for Princess purchases and single points otherwise. $100.00 in OBC uses 10,000 points. $500.00 OBC, however, is only 40,000 points. Of course you can redeem for a variety of products or services, but we go for the OBC. Another plus is… OBC’s from redeemed points is fully refundable, so anything left over comes back to us by check.

CCL Shareholder Benefits. Purchasing the required 100 minimum shares of Carnival Corporation stock just to get the shareholders benefit is NOT a good reason to buy stock. It would take you 112 1 – 6 day cruises or 55 7 – 13 day cruises or 23 14 days or longer cruises to recoup your investment. If you are like me and like to make a long term investment in companies I am a consumer of, it’s worth looking into. I look at it as an extra dividend every time I step on board.

Future Cruise Deposit. Leave a deposit, normally $100.00 per person, and get OBC based on cruise length and cabin type.

Use a Travel Agent. I must admit, that I am completely capable of handling all of my own arrangements and did so until just last year. After following my friend. Sheri, at CruiseTipsTv, I tried it out. The agent Sheri uses is about 3 miles away, so I made an appointment with CTA Travel. Although they do charge a minimal service fee, Karen always gets us enough of an extra OBC to cover the fee. a TA will also keep track of any fare changes, handle special requests and sends us personalized guides of where we are going.

Bottom line, we usually get on the ship with at least $700.00 in “free” money. Takes care of tips, excursions and extras.

Every time I pull out my Princess Visa, I’ll say “Cruise Points!!!!”

Cruise #3 – Caribbean 2004

Due to two weddings and two ordinations, our next cruise had to wait until January, 2004… 8 years is just way to long to go without, but family is most important. Although we tried to keep up with our goal of one cruise every two years, it wasn’t possible.

My brother and his wife are both Rabbi’s and live in South Florida, (They are actually In-Laws but in this family, we do not use the term “In-Law”.)

Since it was very close to Hanukkah, the Temple put together an 8 day cruise to the Caribbean on the Carnival Legend, So the cruise was 8 nights as is Hanukkah. For those not up of the story, among other things, there was enough oil to light candles for 1 night but the oil lasted 8 days. I told my brother that during his first sermon he should tell his congregants that in keeping with the Hanukkah spirit, since we are on an 8 night cruise, he asked the Captain to only have enough fuel in the ship for 1 night…

Having a Hanukkah celebration was something Carnival had not really done. Carnival provided an electric Menorah. My brothers congregation printed out prayer books and my brother came prepared with his recipe for latkes (potato pancakes).

On the first night, we all met in the Atrium. There were about 50 congregants but as the service continued, more and more guests arrived and participated. By the final night, every deck overlooking the atrium was packed. After every service, the staff prepared latkes. At the end of the cruise, we provided the copies of the prayer books to Carnival if they wanted to do this every year.

This cruise was my introduction to “The Veranda Life”. No more outside Staterooms. We ended up with three balcony staterooms together. Suzi, Cousin Jerry and I had the middle one. Suzi’s folks were on one side and our brother, sister and their young son on the other side. Once you go balcony, you never go back…

The itinerary was St. Marteen, Barbados and Martinique. We took an excursion we booked through Carnival in St. Marteen that circled the island so we could see the Dutch and French sides. Beautiful.

In Barbados, we took a cab into Bridgetown and walked around a bit. Not too impressed. Really pushy vendors telling me I really must not love my wife unless I bought something my wife didn’t even want…

Martinique… The three of us, Suzi, Jerry and I met up with a family of 4 all looking to hire a tour. We met a very well dressed gentleman with a Mini Van. He spoke fluent English and offered a great price, so we piled in and started the tour. Jerry sat up front with the driver. Both Jerry and the driver spoke several languages, so they began speaking in Spanish, German and French. The rest of us were constantly interrupting them and saying “please speak English…” It was a great tour. He took us all around the island then up into the mountains and back.

As for the ship, the entire congregation had late seating dinner in a Private room. Our servers were a brother and sister team, Eva and I. Super personalities and great service. Suzi generally puts in a standing order and has the same things every night. Steamed veggies, baked potato, soups and sauces to dunk everything in. Eva and I were always on top of things and suggesting things she might like.

So this cruise raised the bar. No more Outside Staterooms (Inside is too claustrophobic anyways) and nothing shorter than 8 days. Here we go!

Cruise #1 – Mexican Riviera 1993

Suzi and I got married in August of 1993. Suzi had been on a re-positioning cruise from LA to Vancouver for the 1986 World’s Fair with her family, so when it came time to plan our honeymoon, a cruise was at the top of our list.

We chose Carnival Jubilee, round trip Los Angeles to Mexican Riviera. It was 7 days and included stops in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

Since my Best Man and his wife never really had a honeymoon, we asked if they could go with us. They scraped and saved enough to join us. All we could afford at the time were Outside staterooms waaaayyyy up near the bow of the ship on the lowest passenger deck.

Back in 1993, you could invite family and friends on board to hang out prior to setting sail, so we had quite a few people join us.

Time for the sail away Party! Two words – Run Twizzlers. Okay, three words Complimentary Rum Twizzlers!!!! Those were the days. Standing on the open deck, waving at our family and friends in the parking lot as they fade into the distance.

I lost count at the number of times I had been to the port in San Pedro. My Dad grew up there and my Aunt lived there with her family, so we visited may times, especially the area known as Ports Of Call. Seeing it From the channel, riding high on the deck of a cruise ship, was breathtaking.

The addiction to cruising had begun.

Our first port was Puerto Vallarta. The four of us took an excursion to the hotel site where they filmed The Night of the Iguana. Afterwards, we walked around town. It was a bit scary when we went by a bank and saw a man in military camouflage, holding a machine gun. Other than that, I had no idea how tropical it was.

Next stop, Mazatlan. No excursion, just walked to a tchotchke shop and bought some souvenirs.

Cabo… It was a Tender port and we arrived at 8:00 AM and scheduled to leave at 12:00 PM. We opted to stay on board, where our friends spent a few minutes on shore.

Dining was our favorite memory. even though it was 25 years ago, we remember our waiter. Dinzel. Great service and lots of fun!