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Carnival Cruise Line has reached out to travelers booked on every upcoming sailing planned for Carnival Panorama with news that the ship's departure time has been changed.
Instead of leaving her homeport of Long Beach, California at 4:30 p.m. as originally scheduled, the ship will now depart at 4 p.m. Pacific time. While this shift is only a 30-minute change, it could impact travelers planning to drive to the cruise port or those who prefer later cruise terminal arrival appointment times.
"So we can get the fun started, all guests must be on board no later than the final boarding time specified on the boarding pass," the notification confirmed.
The exact final boarding time is available to travelers shortly before their cruise sets sail and will be printed on their boarding passes or available in the Carnival Hub app with their cruise documents.
No explanation has been offered for this earlier departure time. It is the same change, however, that Carnival Cruise Line already announced for Carnival Pride from Baltimore, Maryland and Carnival Spirit from both Mobile, Alabama as well as Seattle, Washington.
For Carnival Panorama, every single sailing date from December 6, 2024 through and including April 25, 2026 is impacted with the exact same 30-minute earlier departure. At this time, this impacts a total of 73 different sailings.
The 133,868-gross-ton, Vista class ship offers 6-, 7-, and 8-night Mexican Riviera itineraries. Depending on the cruise length and departure date, ports of call include the vibrant destinations of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, Ensenada, and La Paz.
Carnival Panorama is fresh from her first-ever extensive upgrade since she first debuted in 2019. The dry dock at the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore included adding an Effy Fine Jewelry store to the ship's Fun Shops, as well as introducing a non-smoking casino, installing a new miniature golf course, and more.
In addition to general refurbishment, the ship was also the last in the fleet to receive the new red, white, and blue hull livery, completing the transformation of Carnival's ships that began when Mardi Gras debuted in 2021.
The refreshed ship was welcomed back to Long Beach on November 5, after concluding her 24-night transpacific cruise from Singapore.
With hundreds of cruises on different ships now planned to set sail earlier than originally scheduled - and Carnival Cruise Line may yet make similar adjustments to different vessels - what is going on?
To be fair, this cruiser is not going to complain about an extra 30 minutes of pure vacation time. There's no better feeling than when your ship starts to move away from the pier and your cruise has officially begun.
While the cruise line has not offered an official explanation for the changes, it is likely related to better efficiency in passenger processing with updated procedures and new technology.
Setting sail earlier may also have a small change in the pier fees and taxes the cruise line pays to remain docked, and so can be a cost-saving choice.
Facial recognition technology has been gradually introduced at different US cruise homeports. This dramatically speeds up how quickly guests from one cruise can debark and get on their way, as well as how quickly guests on the next sailing can be processed to be permitted on their cruise ship.
Carnival Cruise Line introduced this technology to Long Beach, California in October 2021, and now it is clear that ships can set sail sooner without difficulty.
My own personal experience is that without facial recognition, it can take a half hour or more to clear through customs processing after a cruise. This may be even longer if a person is sailing with a birth certificate and drivers license rather than a passport.
Read Also: Do I Need a Passport to Go on a Cruise? - Full Guide
With facial recognition, however, I have moved through cruise terminals in five minutes or less after a cruise, even on larger vessels with thousands of passengers.
Carnival Panorama can welcome 4,008 travelers at double occupancy, or up to 5,146 guests if fully booked with all berths filled. Kudos to Carnival for helping everyone set sail earlier for a longer cruise vacation!