Just off the Horizon today. A lot of Giving and a Great Cruise!

[SNJCruisers]

That should be a great sailing (08/28). John Heald is going on that one!

Thanks for the heads up about that. Did he mention it on his blog or on FB? Met him back in 2013 on our Breeze sailing, which is one of my favorites on Carnival.

[doublek2]

Thanks for the heads up about that. Did he mention it on his blog or on FB? Met him back in 2013 on our Breeze sailing, which is one of my favorites on Carnival.

 

He mentioned it on FB around the beginning of June. I remember the date well since I had to tell one of my co-workers who will be on that sailing as well!

[cruisin56]

We Just returned from an 8 day cruise on the Horizon this morning. We had a fantastic time and would consider cruising on her again. This was Carnival Cruise #16 for wife and I and # 13 for our son. Weather for the most part was beautiful and the seas were calm (even around Cape Hatteras which is rare!)

 

Rather than go into a full detailed review I am going to touch on a few of the highlights of this trip that made it unique as well as some random observations on both positive and negative things about this ship and cruise itself.

 

Embarkation was as smooth as we have ever done out of NYC. Terminal to ship in about 15 minutes. Debarkation was great as well. Ship to shore in 20 minutes. No more customs forms in NYC and customs basically checked our passports and told us to have a nice day! No questions or anything.

 

On the second day of the cruise we met our neighbors on either side of our stateroom on deck 10. We found out that they were all part of the same family. Our room had a connecting door to one of their staterooms and I thought it would be really nice if they could all be together in connecting rooms with the balcony divider open. I went down to guest services to see if we could switch our stateroom and sure enough management approved it!! I went back to our neighbors and told them that we would be willing to switch and that management had approved it. They were ELATED! We went downstairs and got new sign & sail cards and then moved all of our belongings. Stateroom steward then went in and cleaned the cabins again for us (after just cleaning them 2 hours prior). of course we compensated him accordingly!

 

It really felt great that we were able to do a random act of kindness and the tone for the rest of the cruise certainly was about giving - in a BIG way!!!!

 

On the last sea day was the usual Groove For St. Jude which we always participate in as do many passengers but what happened this year was amazing. The lines for donations started at 12:00PM and the line stretched from Lido deck all the way down to the stairs to deck nine!! While the Carnival team was taking donations there were other folks making substantial donations. first a $1000, Then another, Then a few $1500's then two people with $2000 dollars each. There were also several auctions including $1000 for a signed build a bear by the captain and $800 for a Carnival Horizon jacket. We were told that various staff members would "walk the plank" into the pool if we reached certain levels. We were told that the captain would walk the plank if $20,000 was raised. The most ever raised on a Carnival ship had been $17,000 (I Think on Splendor in 2012). Well that donation line stayed on the lido deck for two hours!! We did not just break the record. We shattered the record!! Total was somewhere around $27,500!! Captain did walk the plank and all I can say after that is WOW!! We are so grateful we were able to be a part of it!!

 

Okay. So those are the two things that made this cruise so unique. Now onto the positives and negatives. Let's go with the negatives first.

 

Elevators. Yes folks the elevators really are that bad! My office building uses this technology so I am sure It could work if programmed correctly. Often had to wait at least 10 minutes for an elevator. Did a lot of walking on this ship!

 

Liquid Lounge. There are very few seats with an unobstructed view in this theater. You need to get to show 20-30 minutes early to secure good seats. Lower level has the better views.

 

Grand Atrium. Or Lack of it I should say. While the new video screens are nice to look at and make for some nice pictures I just could not get used to not having the atrium that goes to the top of the ship with the glass elevators. I really missed it.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Maybe it is just me but I used to LOVE the chocolate chip cookies that were in the lido buffet every day (The ones in the bowl next to the cakes at the sweet spot). They are gone now:eek:. They are truly going to be missed. They do have chocolate cookies at the deli but I don't really like those too much.

 

That is it for the negatives. Now on to the positives :)

 

Gelato. They now serve Gelato every day in the lido deck with a wide variety of toppings you can add to it. There are two different flavors each day! This certainly softened the blow of loosing the cookies!

 

Playlist Production Shows. The shows of this ship were all very well done! All the shows had the usual 8-10 singers dancers but they also incorporated live music into most of them that really made them feel less cheesy. for example they used the Latin band for the Latin show, They used the horn section and another band for the Vintage Pop show. and they used the electric strings trio for the Celestial Strings Show. Nothing like the full production shows of many years past but these are actually very good and better that some of the other playlist shows we have seen on other ships.

 

Scheduling. On past cruises we always missed shows because of the way they were scheduled. Some during dinner, some too late at night (my wife and son are early sleepers). On this cruise we saw...wait for it... 16 different comedy shows and every single production show/other show. what they did was added a 5:30PM Comedy show which we were able to watch each night before dinner. then after dinner a 7:30PM show in the main theatre. then adult comedy at 8:30PM. each comedian had 2 separate PG shows that were repeated twice and two R rated shows that were repeated so 4 total comedians doing 4 shows each.By 9:00PM every night we had done all the shows and I was able to do other things (Casino, Walk around, Listen to music)

 

Lido Buffet. Much better layout with no lines (except for the usual lines for Pizza, Deli, Omelets). Speaking of the Deli I thought I had read that the sandwiches were pre-made now but it appeared to me that they were making all the sandwiches to order. The Know the wraps were made from scratch since I was able to see them making them. I Still waited 25 minutes for a Grilled Reuben!

 

Guy's Pig and Anchor Brewhouse. We had to give this a try since this is the only ship that has it. We went for dinner one night and it was arguably the best meal we had the entire cruise! Well worth the small upcharge! it was also nice to try some of the craft beers that were brewed onboard.

 

Cabin TV's The cabin TV's have a whole new interface. when you turn the TV on there is a greeting to everyone in the cabin. The part I loved the best were the four Ship cams that you could watch (Forward Aft, Port, Starboard). They were crystal clear. You could pick one and set it full screen on your TV Which by the way is large. These TV's are largest we have seen on a cruise ship. I would guess 42" screen. These ship cam channels would be awesome for someone in an inside cabin so that they could always see what is going on outside and even use it to wake up in the morning!

 

Dr. Seuss Waterpark. Very nicely done with plenty of slides/play areas.

 

Ship never felt overly crowded considering the size and number of people. Crowds were very similar to the Magic cruise we went on last year.

 

Neither a positive or a negative I will say that Horizon was beautiful and well layed-out. the décor is definitely subdued by Carnival standards however I really do miss the Joe Farcus designs on the older ships. I would always feel like I escaped into some sort of fantasy land each cruise whereas now I feel like I am on a floating resort.

 

Everything else on this cruise was similar to other ships we have been on. for example telling you that Guy's burgers are great is the equivalent of telling you the sky is blue. Chair Hogs have been around since the beginning of time and the pools will never quite be large enough (However the main lido pool was nearly 6 feet deep which I don't recall any of the other ships having the pool that deep.)

 

I Did not do MUTS but the resolution on the outdoor screen looks nicer than other ships.

 

We did not do the IMAX/Thrill Theater or the Skyride. A couple we met who did the skyride said it was a little tougher than they thought it would be.

 

That is it for now. Still can't believe I was on the ship on 7 hours ago. Now for the count-down to the next one!!:cool:

 

Feel free to ask any questions!

 

Kenny

What a great in depth report. I am so impressed when people like yourself take the time to give honest reviews! Thank you for your efforts and enlightening us. I just have one question; I know you mentioned the chair hogs, but I would love to mosey on over to the serenity deck to grab one of those nice loungers or sun beds somewhere around 10:00-11:00....any possibilities of getting one at that time?

[SNJCruisers]

I know you mentioned the chair hogs, but I would love to mosey on over to the serenity deck to grab one of those nice loungers or sun beds somewhere around 10:00-11:00....any possibilities of getting one at that time?

Only in Fantasyland. You need to snag one a bit earlier or wait and hover till someone vacates their chair and takes their towel so you know that they are leaving, not just getting up to get a drink or use the facilities.

[pearl71490]

Doublek 2...guess you had early seating for dinner...I have late and concerned I won't be able to see a lot of shows. How long are the shows? And the late night comedy is only at 8:30? Any later?

[AAAAmerican]

Dear easypeasy55,

Having Double BOXCars in your s/n is awesome.

On RCL :NYSE it is getting like the Nickle and Dime Line NCLH :OTC now. As once one does things other copy it. On wine bring aboard size matters too.

With H2O and Soda pop , really how many will rebottle, re-can them ? Wine still have some with real corks .. why , do some recork them too? lol..

Life is wonderful, cruising the waters of the world as well.

What wines do you appreciate most?

I myself besides the German Dessert wines enjoy a great Virginian wine.

 

 

I was on RC and we were not allowed to bring water or sodas at all. The only thing we could bring was 1 bottle of wine @AAAAmerican

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[doublek2]

Doublek 2...guess you had early seating for dinner...I have late and concerned I won't be able to see a lot of shows. How long are the shows? And the late night comedy is only at 8:30? Any later?

 

Production shows are 40 minutes long. There was one Adult Comedy Show at 10:00PM each night so you should be fine!

[SNJCruisers]

Doublek 2...guess you had early seating for dinner...I have late and concerned I won't be able to see a lot of shows. How long are the shows? And the late night comedy is only at 8:30? Any later?

Just saw a YouTube video of the Horizon Fun Times and if you have late seating dinner at 800, you're going to be SOL with adult comedy except on the first night when it's at 1100. There are identical PG shows at 530 and 730 by comedian 1 and then comedian 2 does identical adult shows at 830 and 930. If you're locked into 800 dinner, it will be difficult to make a 930 comedy show. Halfway through the 8 nights, 2 new comedians come on board.

[doublek2]

Just saw a YouTube video of the Horizon Fun Times and if you have late seating dinner at 800, you're going to be SOL with adult comedy except on the first night when it's at 1100. There are identical PG shows at 530 and 730 by comedian 1 and then comedian 2 does identical adult shows at 830 and 930. If you're locked into 800 dinner, it will be difficult to make a 930 comedy show. Halfway through the 8 nights, 2 new comedians come on board.

 

We had 8:30PM and 10:00PM Adult Comedy shows most every night with only one 11:00PM show (I just checked the entertainment schedule and the few fun times that made it home with me). Hopefully you can make the 10:00 show.

[SNJCruisers]

We had 8:30PM and 10:00PM Adult Comedy shows most every night with only one 11:00PM show (I just checked the entertainment schedule and the few fun times that made it home with me). Hopefully you can make the 10:00 show.

The video I saw was for 8 days with 1100 on day 1 and then 830 & 930 the rest of the week. 1000 & 1100 would make better sense because unless you eat at 600, it's impossible to make a 830/930 comedy and the main show at 730/930. I remember when late night comedy was at 1145 in the aft showroom. 830/930 is ridiculous and anybody with late seating can't go. Maybe that is why the 930 got changed to 1000.

[minimaria]

We Just returned from an 8 day cruise on the Horizon this morning. We had a fantastic time and would consider cruising on her again. This was Carnival Cruise #16 for wife and I and # 13 for our son. Weather for the most part was beautiful and the seas were calm (even around Cape Hatteras which is rare!)

 

That is it for now. Still can't believe I was on the ship on 7 hours ago. Now for the count-down to the next one!!:cool:

 

Feel free to ask any questions!

 

Kenny

 

Thanks for the info!!! I saw so many negative reviews I was concerned. I was wondering did you go on any excursions? What did you do at the ports

Edited July 9, 2018 by minimaria

[JaniceB]

Thank you for the well thought out detailed review.

[doublek2]

The video I saw was for 8 days with 1100 on day 1 and then 830 & 930 the rest of the week. 1000 & 1100 would make better sense because unless you eat at 600, it's impossible to make a 830/930 comedy and the main show at 730/930. I remember when late night comedy was at 1145 in the aft showroom. 830/930 is ridiculous and anybody with late seating can't go. Maybe that is why the 930 got changed to 1000.

 

Our 11:00PM show was on either night 4 or 5 and featured BOTH Comedians doing an adult show together. It was the night they both boarded and was the only comedy that evening . I believe it was actually held in the main show lounge!

[doublek2]

Thanks for the info!!! I saw so many negative reviews I was concerned. I was wondering did you go on any excursions? What did you do at the ports

 

For Grand Turk We walked down to Jack's shack and spent the day there. Much nicer beach and only a 10 minute walk.

 

For San Juan we did the Vivo Beach Break Excursion. Nice day at a beach club. Could swim in the ocean and the pool. San Juan has so much to offer and we have had this port many times before. We decided to take it easy this time (Plus the excursion we were originally going to go on (Caves tour) required closed toe footwear and my wife did not have any with her! We will do that excursion on our next cruise.

 

For Amber Cove we decided to do the Mega Truck w/Beach Break Tour. It was a great way to get away from the cruise port area and explore the DR countryside and culture. The tour in an open air truck makes a few stops where you can watch cigars being made, sample fresh local chocolate and coffee (both were very good!) and also sample some of the local wine (pineapple wine) and a liquor which I forgot the name of. Tour then takes you to a beach where you are served a "Dominican" lunch with about 90 minutes of beach time before you return. The truck ride is quite bumpy since most of the roads they used are unpaved. We are glad we did it (although a little sore after the ride).

[doublek2]

Thank you for the well thought out detailed review.

 

You're Welcome! Hopefully you will get to sail on her!

[minimaria]

For Grand Turk We walked down to Jack's shack and spent the day there. Much nicer beach and only a 10 minute walk.

 

For San Juan we did the Vivo Beach Break Excursion. Nice day at a beach club. Could swim in the ocean and the pool. San Juan has so much to offer and we have had this port many times before. We decided to take it easy this time (Plus the excursion we were originally going to go on (Caves tour) required closed toe footwear and my wife did not have any with her! We will do that excursion on our next cruise.

 

For Amber Cove we decided to do the Mega Truck w/Beach Break Tour. It was a great way to get away from the cruise port area and explore the DR countryside and culture. The tour in an open air truck makes a few stops where you can watch cigars being made, sample fresh local chocolate and coffee (both were very good!) and also sample some of the local wine (pineapple wine) and a liquor which I forgot the name of. Tour then takes you to a beach where you are served a "Dominican" lunch with about 90 minutes of beach time before you return. The truck ride is quite bumpy since most of the roads they used are unpaved. We are glad we did it (although a little sore after the ride).

 

So kind of you to give us this info. Thanks a bunch

[doublek2]

So kind of you to give us this info. Thanks a bunch

 

You're welcome. Hope you have a great cruise!

[SNJCruisers]

Our 11:00PM show was on either night 4 or 5 and featured BOTH Comedians doing an adult show together. It was the night they both boarded and was the only comedy that evening . I believe it was actually held in the main show lounge!

That would make sense because the video showed night 1 as having both at 1100 in the main showroom, so when the second crew starts on day 5, it would be the same set up. The rest of the week at 830 and 930 still makes zero sense to me, both logistically and time wise. How can you have two shows of "late night" comedy while late dinner is still going on?

[JaniceB]

You're Welcome! Hopefully you will get to sail on her!

 

Booked in May 2019, can't wait. In the meantime I am reading everything I can about the Horizon.

[Jeanninecampos]

Was the San Juan duty free shop open in the terminal

[doublek2]

Was the San Juan duty free shop open in the terminal

 

Yes the duty free was open in San Juan. They had the escalator off when we returned to the ship so we did not feel like going upstairs but everything was open.

 

San Juan was in very good shape and we did not see many remnants of the destruction from last fall's hurricanes.

[demottm]

M. M.

 

 

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