Any GOOD Horizon reviews?

[jordanaire]

My wife and I are avid Carnival cruisers (22 so far) and are considering the 8-day Southern cruise aboard the Horizon next year (May 2-10). I've read several not-so-good reviews here on Cruise Critic about the Horizon. Should we give more consideration to this cruise, or decide on another ship to sail on. We've never been on the Horizon. We are open to all suggestions. Thanks!

[bigcartman]

We were just on the Horizon on April 6 - 14 loved it..Food was great ..Staff was fantastic and ship was amazing. I wrote of review on it. https://captcrunchypants.blogspot.com/2019/04/cruising-carnival-horizon-with-nut.html

[jerrya72]

Here is a good one.

 

[ray98]

Most people who have a 'good' experience simply don't post about it.  The trip met their expectations which to most is not very notable.

 

Don't put so much stock into reviews.  Think of the last cruise you had a great time on, go search the reviews and you will find some who had the worst trip of their life on the very same cruise.

Edited April 23, 2019 by ray98

[bingomamma19]

1 hour ago, jordanaire said:

My wife and I are avid Carnival cruisers (22 so far) and are considering the 8-day Southern cruise aboard the Horizon next year (May 2-10). I've read several not-so-good reviews here on Cruise Critic about the Horizon. Should we give more consideration to this cruise, or decide on another ship to sail on. We've never been on the Horizon. We are open to all suggestions. Thanks!

It depends on what you are looking for in a carnival ship.

 

We just got off the Horizon last month and really missed the glass elevators with the grand atrium (horizon has no grand atrium..there is a ceiling at the third level), the main theater is much smaller and has chairs for most of the main floor middle seating,( not the booths/benches and tables), the comedy club is smaller, the elevator system was slow and many people never understood how to use them, the pool areas are the same size as smaller ships but the horizon has many more passengers and there are only 2 hot tubs for general passenger use.  Also the casino was smaller than the other ships and no non smoking section.

 

Those are things that we decided we didn't like, so our next cruise is back to the Breeze, our favorite ship.   But each person is different.   If those things are not going to bother you...the ship is beautiful and does have a lot of fun things, food venues etc.    We did have a great time. 

[TNcruising02]

4 minutes ago, bingomamma19 said:

It depends on what you are looking for in a carnival ship.

 

We just got off the Horizon last month and really missed the glass elevators with the grand atrium (horizon has no grand atrium..there is a ceiling at the third level), the main theater is much smaller and has chairs for most of the main floor middle seating,( not the booths/benches and tables), the comedy club is smaller, the elevator system was slow and many people never understood how to use them, the pool areas are the same size as smaller ships but the horizon has many more passengers and there are only 2 hot tubs for general passenger use.  Also the casino was smaller than the other ships and no non smoking section.

 

Those are things that we decided we didn't like, so our next cruise is back to the Breeze, our favorite ship.   But each person is different.   If those things are not going to bother you...the ship is beautiful and does have a lot of fun things, food venues etc.    We did have a great time. 

I had similar issues on my Vista cruise and will not sail on that class again.  The Breeze/Magic size is perfect to me.

[JaxsMama]

I'll be on that cruise!  Never been on the Horizon before but super excited to try the Havana area. 

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, bingomamma19 said:

It depends on what you are looking for in a carnival ship.

 

We just got off the Horizon last month and really missed the glass elevators with the grand atrium (horizon has no grand atrium..there is a ceiling at the third level), the main theater is much smaller and has chairs for most of the main floor middle seating,( not the booths/benches and tables), the comedy club is smaller, the elevator system was slow and many people never understood how to use them, the pool areas are the same size as smaller ships but the horizon has many more passengers and there are only 2 hot tubs for general passenger use.  Also the casino was smaller than the other ships and no non smoking section.

 

Those are things that we decided we didn't like, so our next cruise is back to the Breeze, our favorite ship.   But each person is different.   If those things are not going to bother you...the ship is beautiful and does have a lot of fun things, food venues etc.    We did have a great time. 

 

My review would be almost exactly the same as this one. We were on Horizon last month and had a great time as always. However, I prefer Dream, Spirit and Conquest class ships over Vista class ships.  Between the Vista class ships I prefer Vista because I like the Red Frog Pub more than the Pig and Anchor. I really like the beer they brew on Vista, can’t say that about the beer they brew on Horizon. 

[jbethel11]

Carnival Horizon was by far the best Carnival Ship; if not Cruise Ship (besides the NCL Breakaway) I've been on! The food was outstanding, and the staff was personable and compassionate. I made so many friends on that ship from the teens club that I still keep in touch with to this day. The waterslides were okay, not as cool as Harmony of the Seas, but the pools were refreshing!  I am sure you will find tons of positive reviews about this ship on other websites, but here at Cruise Critic, we tend to complain more than I've seen elsewhere, lol. But nonetheless, you will love the ship!

[Joebucks]

Aside from some complaints about the comedy club, liquid lounge, etc, you'll find that many people actually had more fun on the Horizon than other ships.

[PhillyFan33579]

5 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

Carnival Horizon was by far the best Carnival Ship; if not Cruise Ship (besides the NCL Breakaway) I've been on! The food was outstanding, and the staff was personable and compassionate. I made so many friends on that ship from the teens club that I still keep in touch with to this day. The waterslides were okay, not as cool as Harmony of the Seas, but the pools were refreshing!  I am sure you will find tons of positive reviews about this ship on other websites, but here at Cruise Critic, we tend to complain more than I've seen elsewhere, lol. But nonetheless, you will love the ship!

 

Good feedback but I am pretty sure the majority of posters on this site are not going to teen clubs on Carnival. But I do think Carnival is a great cruise line for kids. Tough to compete with Disney, but Disney cruises are significantly more expensive.  

[mdin]

I cruised on Horizon back in February and really enjoyed it. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise on her again. I did a short review here:

 

 

[purplephenom]

This isn't mine, and it is from 2018, but this person always does great reviews.

 

 

[wytygr8]

Weird, the reviews I’ve seen have been overwhelmingly positive.

[JaniceB]

Biggest complaints tend to be the liquid lounge, elevators and not a grand foyer.  I can't wait to see for myself next month, I'm off to see the Horizon.

[purplephenom]

i'm also reading every review i can find on the Horizon so I appreciate all those who posted- I have my next 2 cruises booked on this ship- and it is by far the biggest ship I've been on.  So I go back and forth between super excited and nervous about the issues that pop up repeatedly...but mostly I'm excited for Havana! 

[WashCoCruisers]

We took this same cruise last month, it was wonderful!!  The ship was fantastic, the shows were great, food was Carnival, we had a blast!!!  These ports were so much fun and we really enjoyed this cruise!  We have no negative things to say, the elevators were something to get used to, but we did!!!!

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, JaniceB said:

Biggest complaints tend to be the liquid lounge, elevators and not a grand foyer.  I can't wait to see for myself next month, I'm off to see the Horizon.

 

That is consistent with what I have read and experienced first hand.  If you don’t care about production shows or comedy shows, that eliminates one of the biggest negatives of Vista class ships.

[Cruisin sun and fun]

DW (51) and I (53) did this cruise the end of March and loved it.  Embarkation was a breeze, showed up at 12:00 and were on the ship by 12:15. Thought the food in the MDR was the best we've had, did ATD for the first time and worked out great for us, never waited for a table. A lot of kids (spring break) but well behaved for the most part and had no problems.  Lido was very crowded, all loungers were saved by 7:30 am, chair hogs😣  Found new places on the ship but if you like the action of the Lido deck good luck finding a spot. The line for pizza was the longest, all others were a 5-10 minute wait. Saw all the comedians and all but one show and never had a problem getting a seat, we would show up about 10 minutes early.  Didn't find the elevators to be an issue at all, besides debarkation morning, ended up dragging our luggage down the stairs.  Now that we travel without our kids I'm always wondering if we'll get the itch to try another line, not yet for us, we still really enjoy Carnival.

[MalleyCat]

We sailed on the Vista when she was less than 2 months old, the reviews leading up to the cruise were really negative. We had a blast and she is still our favorite ship. It takes a while for everything to gel. Don't focus on the nit pickers, go in with a positive attitude and you'll be fine.

[bjd2]

We sailed on 3/9, 8 night southern. We were in a Havana interior and had a fantastic cruise!

[WashCoCruisers]

We took this same cruise last month, it was wonderful!!  The ship was fantastic, the shows were great, food was Carnival, we had a blast!!!  These ports were so much fun and we really enjoyed this cruise!  We have no negative things to say, the elevators were something to get used to, but we did!!!!  One of the best things on this ship was the funnels at the 2 bars.  They were fascinating, and always changing!!  We didn't wait in any lines for a long time.  Reported for embarkation and was on the ship within 15 minutes, very smooth!!!