My 9 year-old, “H,” and I recently disembarked from a special week long mother/son cruise onboard the Carnival Panorama. And while “H” was excited for a kid-friendly Fun Ship (after our 10-night Christmas cruise on Holland America’s ms Zuiderdam where he almost didn’t get any gifts because Rudolph trotted off the job arguing that five kids in the middle of the Pacific wasn’t worth the risk of a sea landing and the possibility of getting quarantined in a cruise ship cabin with eight colleagues too large to fit in the bathroom and a rosy-cheeked man who would remain annoyingly jolly in spite of the smell), it was “H” who had to drag ME off the red waterslide when it was time for dinner: “If you leave right now without throwing a fit, I’ll let you order mac n’ cheese and a banana split.”
Which brings me to the 25 things I, I mean “H,” loved about the Carnival Panorama.
While my bill for onboard charges, 90% of which were for the arcade, means I’ll be surviving on watered down canned soup until I can pay off my Carnival Mastercard, both “H” and I loved the large Warehouse Arcade on the Panorama with a wide variety of different games, many offering tickets players can exchange for prizes.
Where is the arcade located on the Panorama? Deck 6, forward.
How much are arcade games on the Panorama? Prices range from $1.75 to $5.00 per game.
Tip for the Warehouse Arcade on the Panorama: Visit the Guest Services desk and have them apply a spending limit to your mom’s ship card. Or be prepared for watered down canned soup when you return home.
FYI. On our sailing a group of resourceful (if dishonest) teens figured out how to cheat the ticket counting machines (I won’t tell you how they did it, because it’s stealing and created a lot of disappointment for the younger and honest kids), which meant they amassed a huge number of points which they used to completely buy out all the good prizes in the prize machines. This meant that kiddos, like mine, who spent a lot of money saving tickets to get a good prize toward the end of the cruise, ended up pretty disappointed. We did report it to the Casino manager (who’s in charge of the arcade), but there weren’t any prizes left onboard to refill the machines with. We ended up spending a few hundred dollars for a bunch of cheap keychains that broke within a few days of returning home.
Did you know that there’s a banana split on the kid’s menu in the main dining room and that anyone can order one (or two – they’re small)? True story! But that shouldn’t stop you from also ordering a Carnival melting chocolate cake with TWO ice creams, because one really can’t have too many ice cream desserts on a cruise.
My son has recently developed a passion for basketball which works out great for me because I can just send him to the court in our apartment complex to play for hours on end while I plan cruises. It also worked out great on the Panorama because I could send him up there for hours on end while I avoided both the child I came with and ALL children on the adults only Serenity Deck.
The court is available during the day for open basketball play as well as for some organized activities such as various basketball-related games, dodgeball, and soccer. We were a little disappointed it wasn’t open later into the evening, but I guess those who paid extra for a romantic dinner at Ji Ji’s Asian Kitchen or Cucina del Capitano (located directly below the court) were expecting the “thunk, thunk, thunk” sounds to come later in the evening.
Where is the basketball court located on the Panorama? Deck 12, aft.
While it was surprisingly chilly on our Mexican Riviera cruise onboard the Panorama, it’s a well known scientific fact that children don’t feel the cold. Mind you, the Beach Pool is heated, but still, I turned blue just watching kids saunter from the water to grab an ice cream cone from the buffet before drip drying on their way to a lounger, any lounger, because all the adults were inside at the bar complaining about the weather!
The Beach Pool is the larger of two main pools (the other, the Tides Pool, is on deck 10, aft) and the kids loved it!
Where is the Beach Pool located on the Panorama? Deck 10, midship
Is the Beach Pool on the Panorama heated? Yes.
Are there life vests available for the pools on the Panorama? Yes, several different sizes are available.
Is there a lifeguard at the pool on the Panorama? Yes. With a whistle to keep everyone following the rules.
Are beach towels available at the pool on the Panorama? While beach towels will be provided to you in your cabin on the first day, there’s also a towel stand on the Lido deck near the pool where you can pick up additional beach towels whenever you need them.
Have you seen that commercial for Golden Corral where one guy asks another guy something like, “if you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?” And the second guy is like, “a buffet.” And the first guy is like, “that’s like the opposite of one food though.” And the second guy seems to concede this point, but follows up with, “BBQ buffet.”
Well that commercial totally resonates with me! Except I’d substitute a cake buffet for the BBQ buffet. And specifically Carnival’s lunchtime cake buffet. It’s not unusual for me to request a slice of each cake, shrugging as I tell those behind me in line that, “I’m feeding an army of teenagers,” before sitting down at the closest table to devour every delicious, sugary crumb myself with only a minimal amount of shame. My kid loves it too, although he’s slightly more restrained.
Where can I find this glorious buffet cake? In the aft section of the Lido Marketplace (buffet) on deck 10.
When is buffet cake available? Buffet cake is available every day at lunch.
Pro-Tips for buffet cake: Different flavors (except for the German chocolate which is offered every day) are offered each day and you’ll want to try them all! Also, since it’s only available at lunch, you might consider ordering a few extra slices to store in your cabin fridge for a late-night snack.
While I can’t guarantee your kids will love Camp Ocean (mine refuses to go anymore), I can nearly guarantee all parents will love it (free babysitting, yo!). Camp Ocean is Carnival’s supervised children’s program for guests 2-11. Children are divided into groups by age: Penguins (ages 2-5), Stingrays (ages 6-8), and Sharks (ages 9-11).
Here are some of the activities (for the 9-11 age group) that were offered on our sailing. A full schedule will be available on the app.
Do kids have to be vaccinated to participate in Camp Ocean on the Panorama? On our sailing, only vaccinated kids of all ages could participate in Camp Ocean (double check on this for your sailing as policies change frequently).
What are the hours for Camp Ocean on the Panorama? On our sailing, reservations (made via the app) were required and open hours were:
Note that there will be a small fee for late night supervision (called “Night Owls”).
Where is Camp Ocean located on the Panorama? Deck 11, midship.
Intended for “tweens” and young teens ages 12-14, Circle C is a spot to hang out and plot how you’re going to cheat the ticket counting machine in the arcade (kidding, mostly). While Circle C is supervised, participants can check themselves in and out. Typically open in the afternoons and evenings, activities include board and video games, sports, water slide races, themed parties, scavenger hunts, movies, and karaoke.
Where is Circle C located on the Panorama? Deck 6, forward.
This lounge and hangout spot is designed for high school aged teens (15-17) and is generally unsupervised (although there will be some organized activities throughout the cruise). Activities include movies, video games, sports, and karaoke. On some sailings there will even be a “prom.”
Where is Club O2 located on the Panorama? Deck 6, forward.
If you’re anything like me, you really, really miss cooking on vacation. And you especially miss cooking three different meals that your kid refuses to eat before giving up and serving him Cheez-Its with a side of ice cream. Well you’re in luck, because the Panorama features cooking classes so you can learn to make cruise foods your family will actually like!
Or better yet, make your partner take the class with your kid so THEY can make YOU cruise foods you like! In all seriousness though, the classes offered through “Carnival Kitchen” on the Panorama are really fun and, the best part is, you get to eat what you make!
What Carnival Kitchen classes are offered on the Panorama? At the time of our sailing, 11 classes were offered: Cupcake Academy, Pit Grill and Smoke Master, Carnival Classics Workshop with Dinner, Bake Shop & Pie Town, Cake Workshop, Pizza Master Class with Lunch, Tailgate Party, Pasta Master Class, Sushi Making 101, Morning Hustle, and It’s an Ice Cream Kinda Day.
How much do the Carnival Kitchen Classes cost on the Panorama? At the time of our sailing, classes were $30-$59.
Pro-Tip: Many classes will sell out fast – there are only ten, two-person stations available per class. Book in advance under your reservation on the Carnival website to ensure you get the classes you want.
There are four groups of people you’ll find at any given time in “Cherry on Top,” Carnival’s onboard candy store: grandparents, parents feeling guilty for leaving their kids home, unsupervised kids spending their college fund on a 5 lb gummy bear, and Prof. Cruise (what can I say, I have a tooth so sweet it was born with cavities). While prices are high (be careful, the bulk candy adds up fast!), it’s a great place to pick up a gift for your kids or grandkids or use up some onboard credit (yes, you can use onboard credit in the shops).
Where is Cherry on Top located on the Panorama? Deck 5, forward.
That’s “dive-in” movies not “drive in” movies, but no worries if you prefer to take in a flick dry and warm. Several movies are played each day/night on the large screen above the Lido deck on the Panorama and you can sit comfortably on a lounger with a blanket (provided for free from the towel stand). You can also watch from the pool if you’re a literal type.
If your psilocybin mushrooms were confiscated by ship security at embarkation, Dr. Seuss’ Bookville is the next best thing (That’s a joke – I don’t recommend trying to sneak any illegal substances onboard a cruise ship. If you think an inside cabin is small, wait until you spend 7 nights in the brig.)! And your young kids will love it too! With bright colors and asymmetrical shapes, this funky, unsupervised space offers comfy seating to curl up with your kiddos to read your favorite Dr. Seuss book.
Where is Dr. Seuss’ Bookville located on the Panorama? Deck 11, midship.
Those willing to spend a bit of extra $ for a Family Harbor stateroom (or, better yet, those with grandparents willing to spend lots of extra $$$ for a Family Harbor suite), a block of family-friendly cabins located on deck 2, will have access to the exclusive Family Harbor Lounge. Between 6am-9pm, your key card grants you access to a large nautical flag-themed hangout space with comfy seating, tables, and computer terminals. Features and offerings include:
Pro Tip: Family Harbor interior cabins are usually just a bit more ($120-$150) than standard interior cabins. This difference in price not only allows access to the Family Harbor Lounge, but also includes:
I did a double take when I first spotted the gelato station in the buffet on the Panorama and briefly thought I’d fallen through a wormhole and ended up on a much fancier line (I’m sure it was a total coincidence that I was binging season 2 of Russian Doll on Netflix at the time).
But then I looked around and saw approximately 6 billion kids in bathing suits sampling cubes of jello with their fingers before serving themselves up a giant plate for lunch or, more likely, a food fight and I knew I was still on Carnival! Kidding, kidding.
But seriously, the two rotating flavors of gelato each day and the extensive toppings bar were so good! You can even skip the gelato and load up a plastic sandwich bag with sugary toppings for a snack later. #cruisehack
People of a certain age (my age) remember a simpler time when there were two places one would lie to their parents about being with friends when they were actually drinking Zima on top of the water tower: the miniature golf course or the bowling alley. It figures then that my son beat me at every game of mini golf we played on the Panorama. But it also occurred to me that mini golf is actually a lot more fun than drinking Zima on top of the water tower. Joke’s on me.
Where is the mini golf course located on the Panorama? In the Sports Square on deck 12, aft.
Pro Tip: Order two portions of dining room mac ‘n cheese (available on the kid’s menu at dinner and brunch) for your kid, “he’s extra hungry tonight!,” and slide one over to your own self. Trust me.
While my son is partial to a Shirley Temple, bartenders on the Panorama can make most frozen drinks virgin, or “zero proof” as Carnival likes to call them. There are also some great zero proof drinks on the bar menus. You can find all the Carnival bar menus HERE:
The Panorama has so many complimentary dining options in addition to the buffet and main dining room and two of our favorites were the Mongolian BBQ and the Captain’s Pasta Bar, both open daily for lunch. But do you know that saying, “childhood is wasted on the young?” Well my experiences eating at these restaurants with my son were perfect examples of this. Kids love having choices and “H” enjoyed the disposable paper menus provided on which he could customize his noodle/pasta dishes and order sides. So what did he end up with Every. Single. Time? Either noodles with soy sauce or pasta with butter sauce. That’s it.
Where are the Mongolian BBQ and the Captain’s Pasta Bar located on the Panorama? Mongolian BBQ is located in Ji Ji’s Asian Kitchen (speciality restaurant open for dinner) on deck 11 aft and the Captain’s Pasta Bar is located in Cucina del Capitano (specialty restaurant open for dinner) on deck 11 aft.
Where can I find the menus for Mongolian BBQ and the Captain’s Pasta Bar? You can find the menus within my Guide To Complimentary Dining Venues On Carnival.
Pro-Tip: Both the Mongolian BBQ and the Captain’s Pasta Bar will be open on embarkation day. They are great alternatives if you want to avoid the crowded buffet.
During the pandemic, when our gym closed, my husband bought a giant elliptical machine. And while I hate it because it takes up approximately $2,000 a month worth of square footage in our tiny, overpriced apartment in downtown Seattle and constantly reminds me that I should be exercising, my son wants nothing more than to injure himself on it, I mean play on it: “kid, someday you’ll understand how weird it is that you desire this thing.”
So the outdoor “fitness equipment” on the Panorama, available to all ages, but used primarily by children who think anything forbidden must be awesome, allowed me to finally say “yes.” I purchased travel insurance, so I figured, “what the heck, go for it, kid!” And that night at dinner when my son asked me for a sip of my wine and I said, “trust me, you’ll hate this,” he said, “I don’t believe you mom, that elliptical machine was so fun!”
Where is the outdoor fitness equipment (Sky Fitness) located on the Panorama? Deck 12, aft.
I have an idea. Hear me out. I’m thinking of putting together a group cruise on the Panorama for acrophobics (people afraid of heights). I’ll jack up the base cruise price, promising “exposure therapy provided by Dr. Cruise who holds a Ph.d. Psychology.” While that statement is technically 100% true, I’ve never been licensed to provide therapy (I was a college professor before I retired to cruise full-time) and by “exposure therapy” I just mean that I’m going to line you all up at the start of the ropes course while wearing a “Scream” mask and threatening to throw you overboard if you don’t don the harness and get out there. Free soft serve for anyone who survives!
Okay, so never book a group cruise with me. But do try the ropes course if you aren’t afraid of heights. It’s a unique, challenging, and fun experience.
How tall do I need to be to go on the ropes course on the Panorama? 48″ tall
Is there an extra charge for the ropes course on the Panorama? No, it’s included as part of your cruise fare.
Get some exercise, take in sweeping views, and race your kid on recumbent bikes elevated on tracks 150 feet above the sea.
Pro Tip: Don’t be overconfident and taunt your kid in line only to go down in humiliating defeat. #lessonlearned
Pro Tip: Lines can get long during peak hours on sea days. Get there a few minutes before posted operating hours.
How tall do I need to be to ride on the SkyRide? 52″ tall
Is there an extra charge for the Sky Ride on the Panorama? No, it’s included as part of your cruise fare.
The Sky Zone on Carnival is one part trampoline park and one part challenge zone at sea! With bouncy floors and walls, the trampoline side offers free jumping as well as slam dunking and organized dodgeball games. The challenge zone offers tug of war, jousting, a rope ladder challenge, and an interactive climbing wall. My son loved this so much we booked it four times! You can read my complete guide to the Sky Zone with pricing and scheduling information HERE:
This is a great spot to ditch your kids for hours on end to “teach them independence.” Between the outdoor and indoor games, the Sports Square and The Clubhouse (the indoor area at the Sports Square) will keep your kids busy and happy while you work your way through the cocktail menu at the pool bar. #momoftheyear
Where is the Sports Square located on the Panorama? Deck 12, aft.
Swirls: Proof that children, and their mothers, can survive on almost nothing but ice cream and frozen yogurt for a full week.
Located in the buffet on deck 10 (and in the Family Harbor lounge on deck 2 if you have access), Swirls soft serve ice cream and frozen yogurt machines are available 24 hours a day as verified by yours truly.
What flavors are available at Swirls? Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and twist.
The only times I walk into a room and cheerfully declare, “it’s like a zoo in here!,” are when I see towel animals on a cruise. Otherwise I’m at home and there’s yelling and my husband and son are like, “you need a cruise!”
While certain other lines (I won’t name names to protect the guilty. Cough, NCL) no longer provide towel animals, Carnival still does and we received some great ones in our cabin on the Panorama. There were also some elaborate and adorable creatures out by the Beach Pool toward the end of our sailing.
While I admit to prior bouts of exaggeration, I legit spent so many hours of our cruise on the red water slide that while receiving treatment at the medical center for 1st degree sunburns covering 70% of my body, the doctor joked: “Were you trying to match your skin color to the color of the slide or what?”
And while I never tried the blue slide due to claustrophobia exacerbated by an early morning elevator malfunction just a few weeks prior (you can read the full story in my review of an inside cabin on the Panorama) and because I don’t look good in blue, the red slide will go down as one of my favorite features of the Panorama. My kid liked it too, the few times I gave him a turn.
How tall does one need to be to ride the water slides on the Panorama? 48″ for the red slide and 42″ for the blue slide.
In addition to the two giant slides, there’s a water park with features that younger children will enjoy as well as a secret weapon for husbands who want to get out of taking formal night photos with their wives. Just tell your wife to close her eyes, that you have a romantic surprise for her, and direct her to the area under the giant red bucket below the miniature whale tail in the photo above. Inform her that according to cruising legend it’s good luck to kiss under a Carnival whale tail. But as soon as it starts to tip, jump out of the way and try to look horrified and sorry as her gown and carefully applied makeup and hair style get drenched. Viola!
And with that…
Class Dismissed.
Homework (10 points): Read about the REAL reason my son almost didn’t get any Christmas gifts on our HAL holiday cruise HERE. Then check out my other recent Carnival posts, including recently updated dining room menus:
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