A Fall Escape: Horizon Edition

[Indytraveler83]

Quick note:

 

One thing I wanted to mention, as I haven't yet, is about our CD, Chris "Donkey" Salazar.  We heard announcements from Donkey about twice a day.  He always started his announcements introducing himself as the "voice from above" and they typically seemed shorter than most we'd heard.

 

Throughout the cruise, whenever Donkey would appear, he'd do whatever he needed to do, then disappear like magic, letting the talent he'd just introduced take center stage.  After having some particularly bad CD's in the past who seemed to think their jobs were self promotion and endless announcements, it was refreshing to have a CD who did just enough to keep you informed, then gladly shined the spotlight on everyone else.  We'd see him throughout the ship, friendly and fun, but he just didn't seem to act like he needed the spotlight to do his job, which was a very welcome relief.  

[Indytraveler83]

Day 5: Half Moon Cay

 

We were awaken by room service again, about 15 minutes before our alarms were set to go off.  Clumsily getting dressed, I took the tray, tipped the staff member, put it on the table, and promptly went back to sleep.  We slept in until around 9 am when we finally decided to have coffee and try to get moving.  

 

There was quite a bit of rain early in the morning, which left us even less motivated than usual to get going, but eventually we made our way down to the theater area to get our tender tickets.  Our new friend on staff had told us there was a nice reef on the far side of the beach, and I had my snorkel gear in tow to check it out.  Debarkation was fairly organized, and we got onto our tender around 10:30 am with rain threatening and many passengers choosing to stay on the ship.

 

The water was fairly rough, and we were glad for the tender ride from the ship to be very short.  Once on land, we made a bee-line for the far side of the beach.  Now, we didn't realize that the sand at Half Moon Cay stretches two entire miles, so it took us over a half hour to reach the end where it gets rocky and signs tell you not to go any further.  

 

I can't get over how gorgeous of a beach this is... even with bad weather on the horizon.  The sand is nearly white and almost as fine as flour.  What made it even better, was that only a handful of other people bothered to go that far down the beach, and as we found ourselves with plenty of space to lay out on the sand.  

 

One of the other couples out that far had also heard about the reef, and I saw one of them make it out to a point of interest before eventually coming in.  He'd said his better half chickened out in the rough water, but he'd managed to view some of the reef.  Jake has never been particularly interested in snorkeling, and especially not with hard waves slamming into the shoreline, so I went out on my own.

 

I reached the far edge of the reef where I saw little bits of coral clinging to a rocky outcropping, and quite a few small fish swimming around.  The waves threatened to push me into the higher parts of the rock, so I attempted to swim toward where I knew the rest of the reef was.  

 

Suddenly, I felt very cold water pulling me away and out to deeper water (toward the ship).  Even with snorkel gear, I couldn't resist the rip current, and did my best to try and swim sideways out of it.  It pulled me 50 or 75 yards before I finally was released, and found myself in a strong overall current and high waves.  Thankfully I'm a decent swimmer and had snorkel fins on, but it still took quite a while just to get back into shallow waters.  Once on shore, I ditched the snorkel gear and decided it was far too lonely and far too dangerous to keep trying.  

 

Instead of snorkeling, Jake and I played in the increasingly rough surf along the shore line.  The others who'd ventured out there to snorkel had all gone, leaving us alone on the beach as far as the eye could see.  It was a truly, one in a lifetime experience to have been on such a stunning beachfront without the sounds or sights of anyone else near us.  We wanted to savor those moments forever.  Once we grew tired, we decided to try and nap on the beach, laying in the sand with no one in sight.  Just as I drifted off, another particularly large wave washed all the way back to where we were, soaking our towels and much of our backpacks.  We decided this might have been a sign it was time to go, and with increasingly dark clouds gathering in the distance, we slowly walked back down the beach where everyone else was.

 

By then, it was after 3 PM and the Carnival staff was already packing much of their things away and lugging them back onto the ship, aware of the approaching storm.  We were starving, but the free buffet had closed, and we didn't really want to pay for whatever scraps may have been left behind at that point.  Instead, we decided to head back on board and find some food on the ship.  

 

It took a while for them to load the tender, and both of us were getting urgently hungry at that point, but we were still wet, covered in sand and badly in need of a shower.  As the packed tender pulled up to the Horizon and began connecting, I had a light bulb go off in my head.  The Hub app worked from where we were, so I logged on and ordered room service while the tender still was connecting to the ship.

 

Room service arrived at our cabin only a few seconds after we did, so we sat on the balcony, still sandy and wet, enjoying quesadillas and hot wings while we watched a rain storm roll and and start soaking those still trying to get back on the later tenders.  

 

We were lazy in the room until dinner time, but were still starving right at 5:30 pm.  I tried the pumpkin cheese pie, while Jake had the lasagna.  Both were good, but the staff must not have had the best feedback on the cheese pie, because they kept asking me if it was ok or if I wanted something else.  The table next to us were seated as we had dessert (the apple pie, which was ok, but not great).  Interested in conversation, we ended up ordering several more rounds of wine in the still nearly empty MDR as we chatted with the folks next to us.  

 

This night we went to the piano bar for a little while, but decided to attend the deck party with Donkey.  It was actually a lot of fun, and we danced with the other couples we'd started to grow close to during the cruise.  Donkey was a lot of fun, and this was really our first lengthy exposure to him so far.  My only complaint was that the deck party was only a very short 30 minutes, leaving most of us pretty energized and looking for more to do afterwards.  

 

We headed to the nightclub after, but our energy quickly crashed as the wine from dinner caught up to us (did I mention this is our first experience with CHEERS?) and we headed back to our cabin to try and prepare for our last full day on the ship!

 

Next up: pictures and then Bimini!

 

[Indytraveler83]

The end of the beach at HMC. Where the rocks jut out into the water is supposed to have a great reef, but the water was too rough to allow us to explore it.

We felt so far from the ship!  It was so surreal to be so far from everyone, and I only wish we could be back there just like that!

We got back onboard just in time as heavy rain rolled in just before 4 pm.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Indytraveler83

[bunnyette]

Great review!  Looking forward to more…

[spartn91]

Thank you for sharing.  Enjoying the review.

[MeganGC1983]

Thank you for this!

[Indytraveler83]

Day 6: Bimini (and our last full day onboard)-

 

Part 1: I'm definitely breaking this one down into two parts, because this was a tale of two experiences this day.

 

We woke up exhausted from staying up too late and overusing Cheers all week.  The weather was somewhat rainy, and we had booked the Beach 360 excursion which is an "on your own time" thing, so we dragged our feet in the morning.  We got breakfast in the dining room, then packed a few things to take to the beach club with us, hoping for only a relaxing day on the beach.

 

Getting off the ship, we were happy to see yet again that photographers were positioned on the pier and other places with cool backgrounds, rather than the annoying gangway photos.  (Quick rant: Why gangway photos?  The gangway is ugly, and it's always the worst photo showing the rusty part of the ship in a poorly lit area.  This trip, photographers were positioned to get photos with the islands in the background, or a little further to capture the entire ship behind you.  Dramatic improvement!)

 

The pier is VERY long, but there is a tram that parks right in front of where the ship docks and can take you all the way down the pier and to your destination.  The tram is definitely free even if you don't have an excursion.  Carnival does have a "priority" line for people going on excursions that need the tram.  We did hear after the fact though, that if you choose to walk instead, there's lots of marine life to look at below the pier, and the water is crystal clear.

 

We got on the tram, and took the short ride to Beach 360.  It was a little odd, because while they announced the free beach before, they didn't announce where we were when we arrived.  We got into the club without any issues, got our free drink and were brought out to a beautiful beach with the promised 2 chairs with a large umbrella over it.  At first, it seemed like exactly what we'd wanted.

 

Not long after we arrived, someone had some sort of medical issue on the beach.  I'm not entirely sure what happened, but there was a large crowd and it appeared serious.  It took a long while before he was wheeled off the beach and to an emergency crew that was in the parking lot.  Best wishes to him and his family, as that's not the way you want a vacation to end.

 

As we sat on the beach, some men were opening coconuts in front of us, then pouring drinks in, charging $15 initially, then $5 for a refill.  I ordered one and it was quite good.  Shortly after though, the police came and removed them from the beach.  I never found out why, but it was a bit unsettling.

 

The beach at the club is apparently free, but using the club chairs and facilities are not.  There is no signage, so we watched as people regularly took a seat, only to be told to pay or leave.  The first few times wasn't a big deal, but it became a pattern, and we noticed that the club staff seemed to wait for people to fully settle in, even taking drink orders before asking them to pay up or leave.  This caused the quiet beach day to quickly turn into a constant sea of people arguing with staff.

 

After a while, a small boat pulled up by the beach about 30 feet from shore, just on the other side of the buoys.  The passengers got into the water and the boat began blaring loud music that clashed with the club's music.  At this point, we were irritated and done.  We packed up and left, noticing that the stop after us was a large free beach that likely would have been much more peaceful.

 

Thoughts on Beach 360 overall: Don't bother.  It is beautiful, but poorly run.  If they want it to be paying guests only, they do a very poor job of enforcing that.  The constant patrol of staff kicking upset people off the beach is enough to be a pain, but combined with overpriced food and drinks, it just isn't worth the price of admission.  

 

Bimini overall is a decent port, and one I'd likely use the free beach on if we went again, but it doesn't hold a candle to HMC, Mahogany Bay, Grant Turk or the Grand Caymans.  There's just much better stops out there.  

 

We rode the tram back to the ship, not in the best of moods, and got back to the Horizon around 2:30 to try and make a better day out of one that had so far gone rather poorly...

 

Up next: Photos and then part 2- the last night onboard

[Indytraveler83]

Our favorite photo of the trip. See how much better these are than the old gangway photos?

Unfortunately the sun didn't pay us much of a visit today. 

Our view at Beach 360. Most of the people in front of us would eventually be asked to leave, not knowing they needed to pay for these seats. 

[Indytraveler83]

Day 6 Part 2:

 

Back on the Horizon, we were grumpy and hungry.  We ordered room service again, this time ordering a quesadilla and the spicy fried shrimp (forget what they call it).  Room service was again very fast, and we took our time eating and relaxing on the balcony, noting we were having a far better time here than on the beach.  We spent a few hours on the balcony doing what we wished we could have on the beach.

 

Eventually we showered and got ready for dinner, which was again very easy to get to.  By now our moods had improved and we were glad we'd gotten back on the ship early.  We were still docked during most of dinner, where the wait staff gave the typical goodbye song, and we were truly sad to leave them. The food and service in the dining room was well above the normal standard of Carnival, and while I wont' say it was 5 star dining or anything crazy, it was certainly a great experience that left me not caring at all that the menu and selections were much slimmer than before.  I'd rather they do 10 things well, than 40 things not so well.

 

After dinner, we ended up going to our only show of the trip, "One Night Only" which turns out to be every musician on the ship (except the piano bar singers) doing their own collaborative concert.  It was really cool, and really fun.  We aren't much into the "shows" that are put on usually, but this was purely a concert and was one of my favorite experiences in a ship's theater.  Another small thing we thought was really cool:  Donkey snuck out to watch the performances and was standing in an obscure corner to try and see everyone perform.  After a while, people starting to watch him instead of the performers.  As soon as he was aware, he disappeared again, refusing to steal any part of the spotlight.  Very classy.

 

After the show we returned to the piano bar to say goodbye to all of our friends as well as Eden.  What we didn't realize, was that Jeffrey Muntz stayed after his scheduled time, and with Eden they performed a little routine together as well, which ended with them playing "Hotel California" on the same piano, as the same time.  It was incredibly cool, and we were seated in a place where we could see both of their hands flying across the keys together.  After Jeffrey left, the show went fairly "adults only" with Eden and Mignon having an intense (and hilarious) "argument" between songs, and her joining him for a few songs as well.  We said somewhat tearful goodbyes to everyone afterwards and returned to our cabin a little after midnight, suddenly very sad.

 

Up next: Debarkation day and my final thoughts/summary

[Indytraveler83]

Debarkation Day:

 

We woke up around 7 am, still entirely unpacked.  It doesn't take us long to pack up our suitcases, and by 7:45 we were packed and showered, and went down to the dining room for our final meal on the ship.  As always, breakfast was wonderful.  At the end, the server asked "Can we do anything else for you?" and I responded "Hide me on the ship so I don't have to leave!" He thought I was joking... lol.

 

We returned to our room and vacated it around 8:30, in no rush to head to the airport, as our flight wasn't until a little before 3 pm.  We ended up sitting on the lanai, talking and catching up on our phones, now that we could pull them out of airplane mode.  We listened as the announcements went from "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you have to go!"  to "All zones are free to debark, feel free to make your way down, there's no line!"  to "All guests should debark immediately."  An officer walking the lanai gave us a side eyed look, so we figured it was probably time to finally leave the beautiful Horizon.

 

There was little wait to get off the ship, and customs has switched to facial recognition software that is way, way faster than the old method of some customs agent asking you random questions and giving you weird looks.  We found ourselves outside the terminal, standing in stagnant Miami heat as the taxi line was still very long, and other guests were pushing past to get checked in for the next voyage.

 

We were a ways back in the taxi line, getting rather warm, when we saw two women get into a taxi, then immediately get out.  The employee talked to a few people in line, then in a frustrated voice shouted "Is there a party of two that doesn't need an air conditioned cab?"  We waited a second, and noone in front of us moved.  Hmm... stand in the line in stagnant heat for another half hour, or get in a taxi with the windows down?  We bolted forward and the driver was very apologetic, but we didn't really care, as it was far cooler with the cab moving than it was in the line.  

 

The Miami airport was chaos, and particularly humid.  For as big of an airport as they are, they still don't seem to know how to handle all of the ships in port letting off passengers at once.  We got inside and had no idea where to go.  Eventually, we stumbled upon an empty American Airlines baggage check.  We checked our bags, and the agent at the counter got us checked in without an issue.  It all seemed odd.  As we were leaving, we saw someone else get kicked out of the area, and only then noticed a small, turned sign that stated it was First Class Passenger check in, which we certainly were not.  Aw well!

 

We got pushed to three different security check in lines, as each one got overwhelmed with passengers.  Eventually we got into the terminal, and even though it had taken nearly two hours, we still had a few more hours to spare before our flight.  We ate, and grew increasingly warm as the airport was already crowded.  It was here and now that we felt the least safe, in a very crowded airport with people of unknown vaccination status and mixed mask compliance all huddled together for a couple of hours.  If you are worried about your exposure, this is likely the place you least want to be.

 

The flight itself was mostly uneventful, but when we finally got out of the airport and to our car, we realized we had been wearing increasingly foul smelling masks for the better part of 12 hours, and were eager to finally get outside and remove them.  We were greeted with snow.  HMC had white fluffy sand.  Detroit had white fluffy snow.

 

Up next: Final thoughts

[Indytraveler83]

Think my dog missed me?

[Indytraveler83]

Overall Final thoughts:

 

The Horizon itself:  Having spent years avoiding the Vista class, we were shocked at how much we liked this ship.  I always thought of it as a bloated Dream class ship, but that is far from the truth.  They may look very similar, but the way they use the spaces are not very similar at all.  On the downside, the piano bar, steakhouse and Alchemy Bar are too small and packed every night, even on a half full ship.  On the positive side, there is so much more to do, so many more isolated alcoves, seating areas and places that I actually do think I like this more than the Dream class.  The loss of the scam art "gallery" was also something we appreciated.  Overall we are happy to return for the 8 day Southern Caribbean on this ship next fall.  I do however, think that the worst experiences on this ship would be likely during a crowded summer cruise.

 

Carnival Changes:  Usually we tend to dislike the "updates" that seemed to slowly take things away from guests these past years.  However, the loss of single use plastics didn't affect our experience at all, and things like the new Pixels Gallery, hub check in for dinner and new muster drill all made for a much better experience that seem to have removed several places where you previously stood in line or in big crowds waiting.

 

Food: The menu in the MDR is definitely smaller.  But there was also very little sign of the "microwave dinner" style meals that we've experienced in the past.  I'll gladly take this experience over any of our cruises before.  There are also many more options to eat on the Horizon than some of the other ships, which made us quickly realize we didn't even have time to try everything this cruise.  Our only complaint is that some places (Like Blue Iguana Tacos) are only open 12-3, which can make it tough to visit if you are doing other things.

 

Staff:  Absolutely wonderful.  Everyone seems to be grateful to be back onboard the ship, and we've never had a better experience.  These folks were simply amazing, and I can't say enough about how personal and friendly each and every person was.  

 

Ports:

-Amber Cove has some great excursions, but the port area itself isn't a destination on its own, as much as it tries.  A great place to have an adventure, or to step off the ship for a few hours.

-Half Moon Cay is beautiful.  One of our favorite beach ports of all time, even with the rain and rough waters we experienced.  I would go back in a heartbeat.

-Bimini was beautiful, but is just a rough enough experience around the edges to keep me from being excited about it.  It's true a different person on a different day may have had a much better time, but I still think it needs work to be anything more than just another stop in the Bahamas.

 

Overall:  

I'll be honest, I really don't do brand loyalty.  I've rarely bought the same brand of phone, car or stayed loyal to any provider of anything for very long.  I'm always looking for the best deal and best experience.  However, six cruises in, and I find that I compare RCI to Carnival and NCL, and Carnival has won my business every time.  The more I hear about the direction each company is taking, the more likely I am to stay loyal to Carnival.  While I'd love to try one of the Oasis class ships some day, I also have a list of Carnival ships I'd love to try (Pride, Sunshine, Mardi Gras) as well as two upcoming cruises with Carnival.

 

In the end, the stage shows aren't great and the food is pretty good, while the ships aren't quite as elegant as RCI's ships seem to be.  However, for a few music lovers who have to watch the total price, we find the the staff from our PVP all the way to the onboard staff are some of the best we've ever encountered, and the ships have a fun, informal feel that matches us really well.  We would fair poorly on a cruise line that put much energy into formalities or overly formal dress code.  

 

So goodbye for now Carnival Horizon, but we will see you again soon (and the Valor shortly after).

 

I thank everyone for reading, and if you still have questions about anything, please ask and I'll give you as much of an answer as I can.  For those of you who sailed with me, was your experience similar?  How did it differ from us?

[bgrmini]

I went on Horizon this September, same itinerary as yours. Really enjoyed the cruise, and lucked out that a bartender I am friends with was in the steakhouse on my sailing, so got a lot of drinking time with him having nothing to do but talk and make drinks for me and the wait staff. Nobody seems to know there is a tiny bar in the steakhouse.

 

I also just was on the Valor a couple weeks ago. The ship is ugly (thanks Farcus) but the staff is wonderful. And the piano player on board right now is the best Carnival has. I just recommend you behave the night before so you don't have to be such a mess on embarkation day. 😛

[Indytraveler83]

20 minutes ago, bgrmini said:

I just recommend you behave the night before so you don't have to be such a mess on embarkation day. 

😛

No kidding, right???

 

South Beach beat us down, we won't be making that mistake again!!!

[traveladdie]

Drop the Mike!!! Great review!  Thanks for the info, booked for March

[MeganGC1983]

Thanks for the review. Glad you made the ship and the best out of the Bimini day! 

[LaRue1975]

Thanks for the great trip report, felt like I was right there with you and I enjoyed all the photos. It takes time and effort to write up a report but it is a great way to cement the memories and it’s fun to go back and read them over the years, especially as you prepare for your next adventure. You and Jake seem like a fun couple, best of luck to you and enjoy your next cruise on the Horizon, I look forward to reading the report. I have the same cruise booked but not until 2024, I plan way ahead too!  Happy Sailing! 

[travelplus]

On 11/16/2021 at 1:47 AM, retiring soon said:

Hi all!

 

Me again! I was at the steakhouse the 1st night of the Oct 30  as a replacement for the Chef's Table I had booked & just found out wasn't being offered. I was there right at 5:30 & there was way more staff than guests but that changed in a hurry. I had the bone marrow & steak tartare, lamb chops & the fruit salad which I agree was very artfully done & delish. I got the free bottle of wine but never touched it again.

I found the Caesar salad I ordered in the MDR to have an anchovy taste although I never saw evidence of any. I pretty much tried all dining venues except Teppanyaki & enjoyed them all, over the course of 14 days.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

 

~Jo ~ 😊

NO Chef's table. I hope they gave you unlimited wine,appetizers and entrees to make up for it along with a free bottle of good wine.

[txgal08]

Thanks for the detailed review. You truly have a gift with words! I will be on the Horizon for Christmas. I’ve been on the Vista, so I feel like I know what to expect but your review was fabulous!

[MPH711]

Thanks for your review. At the beginning you said you would answer:

What capacity was the Horizon sailing at?
 

Maybe I missed it?

[Indytraveler83]

1 hour ago, MPH711 said:

Thanks for your review. At the beginning you said you would answer:

What capacity was the Horizon sailing at?
 

Maybe I missed it?

I was told our sailing was a little under 2,500 passengers, putting us at maybe 60%ish capacity. 

 

Was also told that the 8 day Southern Caribbean route is usually fuller, but that the 6 day with the replacement Bahamas itinerary (used to be Western Caribbean) is particularly slow right now. 

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

travelplus ~ ha ha you know they DIDn't, just gave me a refund.

I've bought it again for my Glory cruise in Feb so hope it's a go.🤞

 

Shaun ~ thanks for your review, was nice to follow along even though your cruise was much different than mine. SInce I am not a beach, pool or bar person the cruise was really different for me. I also was sailing solo, not with my partner, so there's that element too.

 

I was on the 8 day before this cruise & this was my 1st BTB . I hadn't realized that the shows & menus would be the same both weeks, which gave me a chance to make other choices.

 

I really enjoyed HMC as I took the trolley ride excursion around it which stopped at the Horse coral & Stingray beach where we also saw Starfish.

 

I had done a great excursion the previous week at Amber Cove so just stayed onboard that day.

 

At Bimini I walked down that LONG pier admiring the assorted fish alongside.

At the beach across the road we saw a little Seahorse which was a thrill for me. Those are the things I like on a cruise, nature, flowers & fauna, but of course food, shows etc.

I played Bingo once & was surprised at how big the prizes were, although I didn't win any.

 

I agree with your assessment of Donkey & was impressed that he gave the hearing impaired older couple with signer, a spot in the Love & Marriage show, a first for him.

 

Usually I play trivia on cruises but not this time. During Covid I've discovered audio books so spent a lot of time "reading" or playing around on my phone.

 

Different strokes eh? That's what's so great about cruising, you can make it your dream vacation. OH, that reminds me I loved the Dreamscapes & took pictures of them each time I saw a different one. I also liked the new elevator system, very efficient.

 

[Indytraveler83]

9 minutes ago, retiring soon said:

HI all!

 

travelplus ~ ha ha you know they DIDn't, just gave me a refund.

I've bought it again for my Glory cruise in Feb so hope it's a go.🤞

 

Shaun ~ thanks for your review, was nice to follow along even though your cruise was much different than mine. SInce I am not a beach, pool or bar person the cruise was really different for me. I also was sailing solo, not with my partner, so there's that element too.

 

I was on the 8 day before this cruise & this was my 1st BTB . I hadn't realized that the shows & menus would be the same both weeks, which gave me a chance to make other choices.

 

I really enjoyed HMC as I took the trolley ride excursion around it which stopped at the Horse coral & Stingray beach where we also saw Starfish.

 

I had done a great excursion the previous week at Amber Cove so just stayed onboard that day.

 

At Bimini I walked down that LONG pier admiring the assorted fish alongside.

At the beach across the road we saw a little Seahorse which was a thrill for me. Those are the things I like on a cruise, nature, flowers & fauna, but of course food, shows etc.

I played Bingo once & was surprised at how big the prizes were, although I didn't win any.

 

I agree with your assessment of Donkey & was impressed that he gave the hearing impaired older couple with signer, a spot in the Love & Marriage show, a first for him.

 

Usually I play trivia on cruises but not this time. During Covid I've discovered audio books so spent a lot of time "reading" or playing around on my phone.

 

Different strokes eh? That's what's so great about cruising, you can make it your dream vacation. OH, that reminds me I loved the Dreamscapes & took pictures of them each time I saw a different one. I also liked the new elevator system, very efficient.

 

 

I forgot about the elevators!  We only used them a few times, but honestly did like them. I'm not sure if they are faster or not, but they were certainly less chaotic. 

 

If I ever go to Bimini again, I'd do the same as you.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself as well!