Carnival Panorama - Mexican Riviera

Where this cruise calls, day by day

5 ports and 3 sea days over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Long Beach, CA

   United StatesDepart

   Carnival's Long Beach terminal is housed in the geodesic dome originally built to display Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose, which makes it the strangest cruise terminal on the West Coast. The Queen Mary is permanently moored alongside as a hotel and museum. It is almost entirely a turnaround port for short Mexico runs, and downtown Long Beach is across the water rather than out the door.

   • Tour or stay aboard the Queen Mary, moored beside the terminal
   • Aquarium of the Pacific in Rainbow Harbor
   • Shoreline Village and the waterfront bike path
   • Naples canals and gondola rides in Alamitos Bay

   Getting ashore

   Docks at the dome terminal next to the Queen Mary; downtown Long Beach is a short taxi or a long walk around the harbour.

   Best months

   Year-round (Sep-Nov warmest and clearest)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4

   Cabo San Lucas

   MexicoPort

   Cabo is a tender port, and one of the better ones - the boat drops you at the marina in the middle of town rather than a mile from anywhere. The setting does the work: desert mountains falling straight into the Pacific, with the granite arch at Land's End a ten-minute panga ride from the dock. Expect timeshare pitches from the moment you step onto the boardwalk.

   • Water taxi to El Arco and Lover's Beach
   • Médano Beach, the one bay in town that is safe to swim
   • Snorkelling at Chileno Bay or Santa María
   • Grey and humpback whale watching in winter

   Getting ashore

   Tender port - about 10-15 minutes to the marina, which puts you in the centre of town; heavy Pacific swell occasionally cancels the operation.

   Best months

   Nov-May is dry and mild, with whales Dec-Apr; Aug-Oct is humid and hurricane-prone

5. Day 5

   Mazatlán

   MexicoPort

   Mazatlán's berth is inside a busy commercial cargo port, so the first thing you see is containers and cranes. The fix is a pulmonía - the open-sided golf-cart taxis unique to this city - and ten minutes to Centro Histórico, where Plaza Machado and a restored 19th-century opera house make the case for Mazatlán better than the Golden Zone hotels do. Ships avoided the port for two years over cartel violence before returning.

   • Plaza Machado and Teatro Ángela Peralta in the old town
   • The malecón and the climb up to the El Faro lighthouse
   • Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra) for beach and coconut groves
   • The cliff divers at the Glorieta on the seafront

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock in the commercial port; a pulmonía or taxi reaches Old Town in about 10 minutes, and walking out of the port area is long and dull.

   Best months

   Nov-May is dry and mild; Jul-Oct is humid, rainy and hurricane season

6. Day 6

   Puerto Vallarta

   MexicoPort

   The Terminal Marítima is at the north end of the bay, next to the marina and a cruise-oriented shopping mall, so Vallarta proper - the Malecón, the Zona Romántica, the tiled church dome - is a 10 to 15 minute taxi away. Banderas Bay is deep and calm, humpbacks winter in it, and the town behind the seafront is a real one with an art scene and a long-established gay quarter.

   • The Malecón sculpture walk and the Zona Romántica
   • Playa Los Muertos
   • A boat to Yelapa or the Marietas Islands
   • Humpback whale watching, December to March

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Terminal Marítima; downtown is 10-15 minutes by taxi, and timeshare touts work the terminal exit hard.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr is dry and warm; Jul-Sep is hot, humid and the heart of the rainy season

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Long Beach, CA

   United StatesArrive

   Carnival's Long Beach terminal is housed in the geodesic dome originally built to display Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose, which makes it the strangest cruise terminal on the West Coast. The Queen Mary is permanently moored alongside as a hotel and museum. It is almost entirely a turnaround port for short Mexico runs, and downtown Long Beach is across the water rather than out the door.

   • Tour or stay aboard the Queen Mary, moored beside the terminal
   • Aquarium of the Pacific in Rainbow Harbor
   • Shoreline Village and the waterfront bike path
   • Naples canals and gondola rides in Alamitos Bay

   Getting ashore

   Docks at the dome terminal next to the Queen Mary; downtown Long Beach is a short taxi or a long walk around the harbour.

   Best months

   Year-round (Sep-Nov warmest and clearest)