Willdra's Heavenly Carnival Horizon Apr. 29-May 7 Cruise Review

[willdra]

1 hour ago, tradewinds traveler said:

I really enjoy your reviews, they are so entertaining. Thank you so much!

 

Thanks for this! 🥰

[willdra]

1 hour ago, bunnyette said:

It’s your body catching up after working so hard, you get on a relaxing cruise and all you want to do is chillax!

 

I like the way you broke this down! 😃

[willdra]

1 hour ago, rwest898 said:

We are considering this excursion so I'm glad to hear your thoughts in it.

 

Do it. We had a great time, and we got to experience the land and sea. The only con was the short time that we had at the beach. 😉

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, willdra said:

Side note: I normally take screenshots of the PDF version of the FunTimes by clicking on the link in the hub. For whatever reason, on this cruise, they didn't update them everyday, and we didn't always receive a paper copy. That's why I don't have all of them. I think maybe the crew hadn't gotten back in the habit of updating and distributing them regularly yet. 

 

I have pictures of the paper copies from your cruise if you want any of them.

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

I love it when Wildra takes us on a cruise 😄

[l2f]

10 hours ago, willdra said:

Side note: I normally take screenshots of the PDF version of the FunTimes by clicking on the link in the hub. For whatever reason, on this cruise, they didn't update them everyday, and we didn't always receive a paper copy. That's why I don't have all of them. I think maybe the crew hadn't gotten back in the habit of updating and distributing them regularly yet. 

We were on Deck 7 as well.  I saw the forward cabins every mail slot had FunTimes.  I asked our steward and he said he only provided if requested.  But just asking that question, he gave us a FunTimes every day.

 

I have PDF for all the FunTimes.  I can email them to you if you would like to include the missing ones.  I made this offer in my review.

 

GREAT REVIEW!!!

Edited June 29, 2023 by l2f
clarify a statement

[Drew B 58]

20 hours ago, willdra said:

Our first stop was The Chapel of our Lady of Alto Vista. We had 15 minutes there. It was a small but popular spot. There were vendors out, and you could purchase souvenirs and maybe snacks. There was also a large dog minding his own canine business, while laying on the side of the chapel. Before Carlos could stop the bus good, people were asking about the dog, and then going over to try to pet him. Look man. You don’t know nothing about this dog. This is a foreign country. He’s got a setup that you are not familiar with. Don’t be mad when you get a rare form of people parvovirus, or you turn into the American Werewolf in Aruba, from petting stray foreign dogs. Incidentally, if either of those 2 things happen, you can’t ride back on the bus or ship with us, for obvious reasons. No shade. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can’t talk about a dog and then not post a picture of said dog!  That’s just mean!!!  😡😉

[willdra]

22 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I have pictures of the paper copies from your cruise if you want any of them.

 

 

Yes, thank you so much! That would be awesome! Please post them here if it's possible. 😃

[willdra]

22 hours ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

I love it when Wildra takes us on a cruise 😄

 

Me too! I love reliving and remembering our escapades. 🤣😂

[willdra]

4 hours ago, Drew B 58 said:

You can’t talk about a dog and then not post a picture of said dog!  That’s just mean!!!  😡😉

 

My bad, I was making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm homebound. Here he is. 😉

 

 

[willdra]

13 hours ago, l2f said:

We were on Deck 7 as well.  I saw the forward cabins every mail slot had FunTimes.  I asked our steward and he said he only provided if requested.  But just asking that question, he gave us a FunTimes every day.

 

I have PDF for all the FunTimes.  I can email them to you if you would like to include the missing ones.  I made this offer in my review.

 

GREAT REVIEW!!!

 

That explains it! I guess they try to save the paper and stay green. I get it, and I normally don't like a lot of pieces of paper. But the FunTimes hit different. Those are papers that I want. 🥰

[willdra]

Bonaire

 

Laziness has entered the chat y'all. We didn’t get up until 9:15. Our excursion was at 10:45. We walked out of the cabin to go to breakfast around 9:45. It helps when we get our foolishness together the night before. It's amazing how much time we save by not walking around in circles looking for stuff, forgetting what we are looking for, then remembering again. 

 

As we were walking down to the elevators I saw a little boy hit his mom. Now normally I wouldn’t pay it any attention. But this was not the first time I’ve seen that happen on the cruise. Back in my day, verbal and/or physical violence against your parents was met with the wrath of the krakenest kraken. It was hands down THEE quickest way to get mollywhopped. This was not the case on this cruise, in my observations. It’s actually been the exact opposite. I have questions. Many many questions. However. Not my circus, and not my monkeys, so I kept it pushing.

 

We got up to Deck 10 quickly. W went to go stand in a line somewhere and I went to Blue Iguana. There were 3 people ahead of me and 4 arepas. The first guy goes and he orders 2 huevos rancheros and 2 arepas. The next guy goes, and he gets 1 huevos rancheros. No arepa. I hold my breath. The guy in front of me orders 1 arepa and 1 huevos rancheros. I release my breath and order the last arepa and huevos rancheros. That was a close one. No cap, that last arepa was fighting for its life. It looked like it needed CPR and some ibuprofen. Today was not its day, but I got it and ate it anyway. Yay me.

 

  I sat down and started talking to y’all while waiting for W to show up. He finally did after a long time. I didn't even want to know what took him so long. One look at his face said "don't ask". I didn't. We finished our food, then it was time to debark for our excursion.

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We were doing the Bonaire Highlights and Sorobon Beach Tour. Before we got to the elevator, I checked my bag and my sunglasses weren’t in it. Uh oh. I looked all through the bag. No sunglasses. I told W we had to stop by the cabin on the way out. I didn’t remember seeing them laying around anywhere, so I was concerned. I also know I wouldn’t have left them anywhere crazy. So there’s that. 

 

We ran in the cabin and I did a quick search. Nothing. Then W said “maybe they’re in that Starbucks bag”. Ah ha! I dug in the closet, found that bag, and they were indeed in there. Lifesaver. I don’t know about y’all but I really try very hard not to lose anything. I've had those same 2 pairs of sunglasses for at least 15 years. It irritates me when I lose something. It's like I just lost a family member. It’s that serious. Thanks to W, I won't be outchea looking like parts sold separately.

 

We joined the line around 10:30. This was the perfect time. AG and BG were already there, and they saved us a spot. Little things like that remind me that AG is their parent's (ahem) first born. She is always looking out for everyone. That can't possibly be easy. Especially when it comes to W and I. Pray for her fam.

 

 

[willdra]

We left right on time at 10:45. Our tour guide was Ronny and Pop was our driver(I think). We drove around the island and we got history and lots of info on the salt mining process and the island. I like taking excursions like that the first time we go to an island, or if we haven't been in awhile. It's a great way to learn a little about the culture and scope out future destinations(or places to avoid). We have found so many hidden gems like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[momof3cruisers]

Love all of your reviews Wildra! Thanks for taking us all along and entertaining us. We went to Aruba and Bonaire last fall and would LOVE to go back to both places.

[willdra]

The bus went on and we stopped at Sorobon Beach. It was nice there and we had our own “VIP” area. Well it was more like a roped off section in the back. The drinks and food were supposed to be a special price, but we didn't have anything to compare it to, so we just took their word. We found 4 chairs together, then I ordered a rum punch, and it was $8. I had a $10 bill, so I gave the server that. W ordered 2 beers and a water and his was $11.50.  He gave the server $20.  She left, and didn’t give him his change. She didn’t even ask. That ain't congenial. W is a pretty generous tipper, but that was taking it way too far. He was about to say something, but a different server brought our drinks. When the original server came back by, he asked her about it. She apologized and fixed it. Then he gave her a tip. And I sighed heavily.

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Later on, we got in the water and it was really nice out there. It was cool watching the wind surfers doing their thing. It was also funny when they wiped out. That was nothing to them. They just whipped back up and kept going. If that happened to me, I would've gotten out of that water looking like a bent back paperclip. Then I would need a break for 7 to 10 business days. We splashed around a little (very little), then AG and I got out after about 30 minutes or so. The two of us sat out and chatted for a good while. The men were off doing whatever men do at beach bars. 2 hours felt like 20 minutes out there. I think the beach cheats on the time. It goes by way too fast. Who do I contact about that?

 

We cleaned off as much sand as we could (I still had some in hard to reach places) then we went out front. The bus was already waiting for us and we got on and waited for everyone else. We left the beach around 2:18. Not too bad. More island culture and info was given on the way back.  Bonaire seems like a sweet place to visit and I was ecstatic that we got to experience it. Back in 2014, we were on the Breeze and we were scheduled for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. We went to Aruba and Curacao, but we missed Bonaire due to high winds, which judging by today seems normal. That wind was working like rent was due. It didn’t quit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After we were evicted from the comfort of our seats on the bus, W and I walked around. I needed to get some gifts for my team so W and I popped in and out of a few of the gift shops close to the port. I was able to get almost something for everyone. One thing is for certain, if you like flamingos Bonaire is your jam. Every shop had flamingo themed things, and some of them looked like a pink nightmare.  A little of that goes a long way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Our next mission after boarding the ship, was to drop off packages and bags, then find food. Only the Deli, Seafood Shack, and GBJ were open. We opted for deli. I had a southwest chicken wrap and it hit all the spots.

 

Y’all won’t believe this but I wasn’t sleepy after I ate. I wanted to go up to Serenity and chillax. So we did. We had the best of both worlds. W got an empty hot tub, and I got a shady clamshell. Cha Ching! I took a few pictures, put in a few notes, then tried to catch up on my reading. We were only out there until around 6pm when it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, willdra said:

 

Yes, thank you so much! That would be awesome! Please post them here if it's possible. 😃

 

[willdra]

W checked the 4 of us in for dinner at 6:45, and at that time there was a 10 minute wait. When we got to the dining room, the hostess said that our table was changed. What? Then she told us to refresh the app. I did that and our table number changed. Strange. We sat down and ordered right away before anything else changed.

 

I ordered Michigan Pasty, Shrimp Cocktail, Prime Rib, and Butter Pecan Ice Cream. I liked everything that I had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We finished dinner then decided to crash BINGO cuz that’s usually the only way to get a good seat for the Love and Marriage Show. Edsel was the host of BINGO, and I adored how happy he was with himself. He was living his best life onstage and I loved to see it.

 

That BINGO game was over quick. They only played 3 games. Cookie was up next to host Love and Marriage. He was so much fun. When he brought up the longest married couple,  he said “who was at that wedding Jesus and the 12 disciples?" he also called them Mema and Papa and I lived.