''Carnival Panorama'' is a operated by

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

. After Carnival finalized the ship's order with Italian shipbuilder

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

in December 2016, the vessel had her keel laid in January 2018 and she was formally delivered in October 2019 as the last ''Vista''-class vessel and the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

of the fleet; she has served in the latter role until the ''

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fa ...

'' debuted in 2021. Measuring and long, she is the largest of Carnival's three ''Vista''-class vessels. Since her debut in December 2019, she has been homeported at the

Port of Long Beach The Port of Long Beach, also known as the Harbor Department of the City of Long Beach, is a container port in the United States, which adjoins Port of Los Angeles. Acting as a major gateway for US–Asian trade, the port occupies of land with ...

and sails week-long itineraries to the

Mexican Riviera The Mexican Riviera refers collectively to twenty cities and lagoons lying on the western coast of Mexico. Although there are long distances between these cities, they are often collectively referred to as the ''Mexican Riviera'' because of the ...

Design and description

The vessel's public facilities are similar to and evolved from those offered on ''Carnival Vista'' and ''Carnival Horizon''. One distinct feature is a

Sky Zone Sky Zone is a Los Angeles-based company that operates indoor trampoline parks. The company is often erroneously credited with opening the first indoor trampoline park in 2004 (although it was not the first), and is controversial for the amount o ...

trampoline park in place of the IMAX theater found on her older sister ships. The ship also has activity venues including a Waterworks aqua park inspired by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greate ...

Construction and career

In March 2015, Carnival Corporation and

made an agreement for five ships to be delivered between 2019 and 2022. On an announcement released on 30 December 2015, Carnival Corporation further established that the planned 4,200-passenger ship was set to be delivered to Carnival's sister brand,

P&O Cruises Australia P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with operational headquarters as part of Carnival Australia, based in Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. Originally a sister company of P&O Cruises in the United Kingdom, it was ...

. A year later, on 15 December 2016, Carnival Corporation announced that the original order for P&O Cruises Australia would be transferred to Carnival Cruise Line as their third ''Vista''-class vessel. The announcement stated that a delivery for the vessel was set for the fall of 2019. To compensate for the order, P&O was to receive a retrofitted instead, however in September 2017, it was announced that ''Carnival Splendor'' would stay in the Carnival fleet and P&O Cruises Australia would get Princess Cruises in 2020. On 1 December 2017, Carnival Corporation officially announced that the third and final ship in the ''Vista'' class of the fleet would be named ''Carnival Panorama''. Construction officially began on the then-unnamed vessel on 7 July 2017 at Fincantieri's shipyard in

Marghera Marghera is a ''municipalità'' (borough) of the ''comune'' of Venice, Italy. It includes the industrial area known as Porto Marghera (English: Marghera Port) or Venezia Porto Marghera. Etymology The name Marghera is said in popular myth to come ...

with a steel-cutting ceremony. The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid on 10 January 2018. She was launched from the shipyard on 6 December 2018. Carnival Panorama (cropped)

Carnival publicly previewed the ship in the 2019

Tournament of Roses Parade A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. The

float Float may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000 * ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008 * ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013 Songs * "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022 * "Float", by Bush ...

, named "Come Sail Away," was modeled after the ship and contained trampolines and played upbeat music. On 18 July 2019, she completed her

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

. On 29 October, Fincantieri officially presented ''Carnival Panorama'' to Carnival Cruise Line at the Marghera shipyard. To travel from Marghera to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

for her christening and debut, ''Panorama'' embarked on a 38-day journey that took her across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and through the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural ...

to sail up the western coast of South America, making stops in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its ad ...

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, and

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalaj ...

. She arrived at her initial destination of the

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "America's Port", ...

in the early morning of 8 December for final preparations. On the afternoon of 9 December, ''Carnival Panorama'' moved to her home port, the

, for her welcoming ceremonies and docked there for the first time early that evening. The ship was christened the following day by her godmother, ''

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or '' Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-J ...

'' hostess Vanna White. Since her debut, ''Carnival Panorama'' has been homeported in Long Beach. She embarked on her three-day inaugural voyage to Ensenada on 11 December 2019. Upon returning to Long Beach, she began sailing 7-day

cruises to

Cabo San Lucas Cabo San Lucas (, " Saint Luke Cape"), or simply just Cabo, is a resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As at the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 202,694 inhab ...

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding '' municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip ...

, and

on a year-round basis, taking over the week-long itinerary from .

COVID-19 pandemic

When ''Carnival Panorama'' returned to Long Beach on 7 March 2020, a female passenger was reported to be ill. As a result, the debarkation was halted by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georg ...

(CDC) and the Long Beach Fire Department until the woman could be tested for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

at a nearby hospital. Initial reports stated that the ailing guest did not meet the criteria for coronavirus, but the CDC wanted to take "extra precautions". The CDC confirmed later in the evening that the guest tested negative for COVID-19, but the rest of the passengers spent the night onboard and disembarked the following morning. Due to the CDC holding ''Carnival Panorama'' one day late, her subsequent voyage was cut short to six days. The ship was returning from a trip to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

with scheduled stops at

and

, which were also scheduled stops for ''

Grand Princess ''Grand Princess'' is a cruise ship owned by Princess Cruises. It was built in 1998 by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani in Monfalcone, Italy, with yard number 5956, at a cost of approximately US$450 million. She was the largest and mos ...

'' during the previous month. ''Carnival Panorama'' is the third Carnival ship (the others being the Australia-based ''Carnival Splendor'' and ) to transport crewmembers back to their respective countries. She will be the only ship sailing from her homeport until April 2021, when '' Carnival Radiance'' will sail the itineraries previously served by and .

Notes

References

{{Carnival Cruise Line

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined i ...

Panamax cruise ships Ships built by Fincantieri Ships built in Venice