Horizon Oct 30 to Nov 7 Review

[JaniceB]

Boarding for us was the fastest ever.  We walked up showed our paperwork, went through security and walked right on board. 

First interior cabin ever and will book one again for right price and location.  We had a Havana interior and loved the area and the bartenders and servers were great.  Hot tub was just right and pool felt great on warm days.

 

This was our first time cruising during Halloween and many people dressed up.  The lido was packed for the costume contest.  It was the only time I felt like there was no social distancing enforced.

 

We bought the 3 for $60 specialty dining promotion and I booked the Bonsai Teppanyaki before we left. Specialty dining was very good except Cucina del Capitano for us.  I will say that no suggestions on meals or what wine to include were given and we did not ask.  We ate at the Steakhouse the first night and loved it.  Didn’t they use to show us the meats and explain before ordering? At the Cucina I ordered chicken parmesan, which I normally love but the chicken was patted flat and did not have much taste nor the sauce.  I will pass on this the next time I cruise.  I know everyone says get the pork chop, so I may have to try that. Bonsai Teppanyaki was excellent but the chef gave bigger portions to some of the group and left some of us with very small portions.  Is it a steak for each person and a lobster when you order the combo?  I wanted to ask but my husband gave me the don’t you dare look.  Jijis was also very good.  We also ate there for lunch one day for the Mongolian that was also very good.

 

Sewage smell almost every day right at the Pixel and Alchemy bar deck 5.  Strong at times.

 

We were able to watch football on Sunday but the sports bar was packed.  The game we wanted to see was 4:00 game and so we were able to get a seat.   The head bartender announced the games and whoever cheered the loudest got the game on TV.  He was able to have 3 large screens with different games and smaller screens too.  For the 1:00 games, we stumbled upon the Pig and Anchor and they had 2 games on TV so we watched for a little while. 

 

Pig and Anchor was our second favorite bar after the Havana.  The food served at the buffet during lunch was all very good. We ate there 3 times but never at dinner.  The bartenders were amazing.  They have some great beer choices and the cocktails they make rival the alchemy bar. 

 

We had anytime dining and really enjoyed the entertainment by a singing server.  I really like Ken on the Pride and this young man was very talented.  There was no other entertainment when we were in the dining room.  I noticed our portion sizes were very small compared to pre-pandemic.  An example was the wedge salad.  It was a slice not a wedge.  The service was very fast but not without a few hiccups.  I missed a little of the conversation and the suggestions on what to order.  Drink service was pretty fast, too.

 

We did play a little in the casino, didn’t win but had fun.  There was a lot of smoke in the casino. I missed the bar.  Others have said drink service was fast but I did not experience that at the tables or the slots.

 

Entertainment was very good.  The Horizon band, the strings and the guitar player and singer (forgot their name). We did see 1 production show and enjoyed it and many comedy shows.  I liked that some of the comedy shows were in the Liquid Lounge.  I never did hear anything to R rated.  The Piano bar was also excellent.

 

We had 4 ports of call

Aruba – did the Carnival excursion on a Catamaran with snorkeling, lunch, drinks and beach time.  We had a nice time and saw lots of fish snorkeling.  Make sure you bring your drink with you off the catamaran for lunch or you will have to pay for an alcohol beverage.  They did serve us drinks on the beach that were included.

Curacao – did an Irie tour with a stop at Mambo beach

La Romana – did a Carnival excursion Altos De Chavon and River Boat Cruise.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learned many interesting things and had a nice time on the boat cruise with rum drinks.

Amber Cove – walked just around, shopped, and went to the Sky Bar.  The view is great at the sky bar.

 

Debarkation was delayed by an hour.  The ship was rolling on the way back to Miami.  We are platinum and had zone tag 4.  We went to the midship dining room.  They left people off that had carried their bags with them because our luggage had not left the ship.  When it finally was off the ship they just said, everyone line up and leave.  As we left the dining room we encountered many people that were leaving that were not priority.  It was a little backed up, but really was a very easy debarkation with facial recognition.  We took a cab to the Miami airport for $27 and arrived in plenty of time for our flight.  I will say the American terminal was a zoo.  American has you tag your bag and then get in line to check them.  The lines were crazy and so was the security checkpoint for precheck and priority boarding.  Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time.  We arrived by 9:15am and we were not to the gate until 10:30 and we precheck.

 

We had a very nice cruise vacation on the Horizon.  It was great to get back to cruising after a 21 month pause for me.

[JaniceB]

Some photos from sailaway

[JaniceB]

Halloween on Lido

Edited November 10, 2021 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

[JaniceB]

Singing in the dining room by a server

[JaniceB]

Queen set by the strings

[JaniceB]

Pelican Pier in Aruba where Catamaran docked and we ate lunch and lounged on beach.

[JaniceB]

Aruba sunset

[JaniceB]

Curacao

[JaniceB]

Altos de Chavon is really beautiful.  We saw an amphitheater and a chapel along with views of river.  Frank Sinatra, Jennifer Lopez  and Ricky Martin have performed here along with many others.

[JaniceB]

Along the river, not sure what excursion this was.  Some other sights along river.

[JaniceB]

[JaniceB]

Amber Cove

[JaniceB]

Leaving Amber Cove 

Edited November 10, 2021 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

Sad cruise day when you see this on your bed.

[luvcruzing]

Is del Capitano still open for free lunch on embarkation day?

[firstimecruiseronncl]

16 hours ago, JaniceB said:

Bonsai Teppanyaki was excellent but the chef gave bigger portions to some of the group and left some of us with very small portions.  Is it a steak for each person and a lobster when you order the combo?  I wanted to ask but my husband gave me the don’t you dare look

 

I think I spoke with you in the Havana pool about this. We did go after I spoke with you and our waiter gave us the whole lobster and steak that we ordered. The food was delicious! They did mess up when it came to charging us. The other group at our table got charged for our drinks (even though we had a drink plan). I saw them later on during the cruise and it was straightened out. 

[firstimecruiseronncl]

16 hours ago, JaniceB said:

 

Sewage smell almost every day right at the Pixel and Alchemy bar deck 5.  Strong at times.

Yes, we noticed that too! This was my first cruise experience on the Star. The whole area stunk of sewage. You would think they would figure out the issue on the newer ships. 

[JaniceB]

12 hours ago, luvcruzing said:

Is del Capitano still open for free lunch on embarkation day?

I believe it was.

[JaniceB]

1 hour ago, firstimecruiseronncl said:

 

I think I spoke with you in the Havana pool about this. We did go after I spoke with you and our waiter gave us the whole lobster and steak that we ordered. The food was delicious! They did mess up when it came to charging us. The other group at our table got charged for our drinks (even though we had a drink plan). I saw them later on during the cruise and it was straightened out. 

I knew I should have complained about our portion size but I didnt go away hungry. I think they are really rushed to get you out for next group glad it wS straightened out for the other people. They should expand somehow.

It was me at the pool.  It was so nice meeting you.  Hope you had an uneventful trip home.

Edited November 11, 2021 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

1 hour ago, firstimecruiseronncl said:

Yes, we noticed that too! This was my first cruise experience on the Star. The whole area stunk of sewage. You would think they would figure out the issue on the newer ships. 

You would think but I guess not.

[firstimecruiseronncl]

1 hour ago, JaniceB said:

I knew I should have complained about our portion size but I didnt go away hungry. I think they are really rushed to get you out for next group glad it wS straightened out for the other people. They should expand somehow.

It was me at the pool.  It was so nice meeting you.  Hope you had an uneventful trip home.

I agree - I was shocked that they only had two tables in there. 

 

It was nice meeting you too!