I usually solve in this way:
- Kill the gnome-panel on (Ctrl-Alt-F1) terminal
- return to desktop (Alt-F7)
- click where the log-out icon should be on the panel (the panel is completely empty but the icons on it works)
- I log-out
- I log-in again. This time the panel is fully working.
I'm affected by the same bug.
I usually solve in this way:
- Kill the gnome-panel on (Ctrl-Alt-F1) terminal
- return to desktop (Alt-F7)
- click where the log-out icon should be on the panel (the panel is completely empty but the icons on it works)
- I log-out
- I log-in again. This time the panel is fully working.