Saint Greg's Carnival Horizon ABC - Live - April 27, 2024

[Saint Greg]

This is my 27th cruise, 25th with Carnival, first on Horizon, third time out of Miami, and first time to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.

 

 

[Saint Greg]

.

[tha sista]

Finally....😀

[Saint Greg]

My list of prior trip threads is too long now so I'm just going to link my last two. The rest you can find linked here:

 

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/cc/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25 by Saint Greg

[Saint Greg]

Booking

I have been trying to book this itinerary for five years. Back in early 2019 on Carnival Vista I remember Cruise Director Matt Mitchem saying ABC was his favorite. Ever since then I’ve been keeping an eye out for it.

 

Prices on this cruise were typically high. I tried to book it for December 2021 but they wanted about $2,300 just for a basic upper/lower interior. I ended up booking a Western Caribbean cruise on Vista instead.

 

When Carnival had their Spring Sale of 2022, this was the first itinerary I looked for. I ended up booking three cruises during that sale including this one. I was able to get a 4J (interior with a picture window) on deck 9 above the bridge for under $1,000.

 

At the time of booking, I wasn’t looking at the times we were in port. But knowing what I know now I probably would. I’m very happy to be in Aruba and Bonaire from 8am-10pm. We are in Curacao from 8am-5pm.

 

During my research I come across other cruisers who don’t arrive in Aruba until 1:30 or who leave at 3pm. Both of those itineraries would make Aruba more challenging than what I have.

 

Airfare

One thing I like about cruising out of Miami is I know I have two airport options for my favorite airline, Spirit. In this case I’m flying into Fort Lauderdale and out of Miami.

 

Since I’m flying in on the day of the cruise, I wanted the earliest flight possible. That’s a 5am flight from Dallas-Fort Worth that gets me into Fort Lauderdale at 9am. I have a 10:30am arrival time at the port so by the time I collect my bag and catch an Uber/Lyft, it should be about that time. 

 

Frequently with Spirit the flights area early morning and late afternoon. On the return I usually have to wait for a 2 or 3pm flight. This time I was able to get an 11:30am flight out of Miami that will get me back to Dallas at 2pm.

 

The base cost of these flights were $30 and $80. It was a total of $150 after taxes and fees. I always check a bag. Normally I pay $35 each way for that. Now it’s up to $50. That brought my total up to $250.

 

I always do seat upgrades to at least an exit row aisle seat, if not a big front seat. The exit row aisle was $20 one way and $30 the other. That brought my cost up to $300.

 

As usually happens I start looking at that big front seat, which is really a first class seat without the service, and I end up booking it since it’s only another $50 each way. With that I get myself a window seat in the front row of the plane and a big, comfortable seat with an armrest big enough that I don’t have to worry about anyone touching me.

 

That brought my total ticket cost up to $400. But that $400 is for the best seat on the plane with a checked bag. On a higher cost airline that would’ve been the cost of just a basic seat.

 

Onboard Purchases

I loaded this cruise up back in the spring of 2022. I believe that was when they had the 10% spa code that worked for everything. That’s when I added Cheers and Wifi to this cruise.

 

Just before the specialty dinner increase of 2022, I purchased three nights at JiJi and one night in the steakhouse.  I know that’s a lot of JiJi but it is one of my favorite restaurants on Carnival and they only have it on Vista class ships. The last time I had JiJi was December 2021 on Vista. The JiJi dinners cost me $18 each and the steakhouse was $38. I saved about $10 paying with 10% off gift cards. Since then there have been two price increases on specialty dining so JiJi would be $25 and the steakhouse would be $49. 

 

Ports

Aruba

In Aruba I was looking at excursions. There were no excursions that covered everything I wanted to do. One of them did one side. Another did the other side with them overlapping at the lighthouse only.

 

I looked into public transportation. The bus seems to be a decent option. You can buy one way passes or a full day pass. I was considering the full day pass but then I read a review that mentioned they had to wait so long for the city bus that they ended up taking their version of collectivos. Those are vans with “autobus” on them that apparently come around more frequent than the buses but aren’t included in the day pass. I’m a big of the collectivos in Mexico.

 

When I looked deeper into the public transportation it seemed like I was going to have a hard time getting to some of the sites I wanted to see with them. At this point I was considering doing an excursion to one side of the island and public transportation to the other.

 

When my Bonaire planning led me to renting a car, I decided to look into it for Aruba as well. I found a lot of good reviews for Jay’s Car Rental. The prices are about the same as Hertz and while it didn’t show up on the map search, they have a location at the port. I went ahead and reserved with them. $60 for a compact + $10 insurance, but then I got an email from them saying they were sold out.

 

I ended up reserving at the Hertz Renaissance Ocean Suites location which looks to be about a mile from the port. A compact with them was $58 for the day.

 

Bonaire

In Bonaire I decided not to book an excursion. Golf cart rentals are popular there and start at $100-125 for the day. If you want to book one, I recommend doing so at least 6-8 weeks out. That’s how far they are sold out.

 

I started looking into car rentals. There are some local car rental companies right outside of the port. Those started around $70. I ended up booking a compact with Hertz for $50. I booked with the Hertz Divi Flamingo Resort location which is just a five minute walk from the port. Most of the car rental places including another Hertz location are at the airport which is quite a bit further.

 

Curacao

In Curacao there’s a free walking tour that comes highly recommended. I have it booked for 9:30am. The ship sells a walking tour for $35 but I’d rather just give it all to the tour guide. That takes us to noon. At 12:30 I have the Best of the West ship excursion that will get me over to the west side of the island. That tour cost $55. I used onboard credit for it. We should get back to the port at 4pm and back on board is 5pm.

Edited April 25 by Saint Greg

[Saint Greg]

For those who don't know already, this happened to me this week.

 

 

So my car is in the shop

 

 

And I'm driving this.

 

 

 

 

[Destaw71835]

Yay another Saint Greg review and to the ABCs!

[tha sista]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

For those who don't know already, this happened to me this week.

 

 

So my car is in the shop

 

 

And I'm driving this.

 

 

 

 

Hopefully they have insurance?

[Saint Greg]

Just now, tha sista said:

Hopefully they have insurance?

 

She does. I'm going through mine and having them go to hers. The shop has already been paid minus my $500 deductible. The big part is figuring out how I get my deductible and the $200 tow I paid for back from either her or her insurance company.

[tha sista]

Just now, Saint Greg said:

 

She does. I'm going through mine and having them go to hers. The shop has already been paid minus my $500 deductible. The big part is figuring out how I get my deductible and the $200 tow I paid for back from either her or her insurance company.

Hopefully you have her information and she's a decent upstanding citizen eager to pay her bills.

[fethiyeden]

Been waiting for this. I’m following along.

We did a walking tour in Curaçao & also did an excursion to Hato caves.

Aruba we got the local bus to Arashi beach & saw the lighthouse.

Bonaire we only had a short time in port so just walked around the port area.

Have a fabulous time.

[Saint Greg]

3 minutes ago, tha sista said:

Hopefully you have her information and she's a decent upstanding citizen eager to pay her bills.

 

I got all of her info to my insurance company. Police report could be ready today. I need to check on that. I know the insurance company already requested a copy but I want to get a picture of it and upload it to my case so they have it there as well.

[Saint Greg]

As you may know my large suitcase handle broke during the great luggage delay of Barcelona. Well half of it broke there. The other half broke in Vancouver. I put in a claim with Air Canada and they sent me a check back in the fall.
 

I’ve just been using my small suitcase for these past three drivable cruises. But I wanted a new suitcase before the next one I was flying to.

 

I went suitcase shopping last month. As you can imagine on this one my primary focus was the handle. I picked the suitcase that seemed to have the best constructed handle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saint Greg]

One of the things that is quickly moving up my list of reasons I need a vacation...The guy across the hall who I've worked with for nearly a decade has all of the sudden taken up whistling while he works. It's been going on for about two weeks now and it's really getting under my skin.

[tha sista]

He got a girlfriend?

[Saint Greg]

10 minutes ago, fethiyeden said:

Been waiting for this. I’m following along.

We did a walking tour in Curaçao & also did an excursion to Hato caves.

Aruba we got the local bus to Arashi beach & saw the lighthouse.

Bonaire we only had a short time in port so just walked around the port area.

Have a fabulous time.

 

I didn't pick the tour with the caves because it seemed like it might have some overlap with my walking tour...and no pictures in the cave. Did they tell Picasso no brush?

 

[Saint Greg]

Just now, tha sista said:

He got a girlfriend?

 

Married...for a long time. Maybe he just got a side piece.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

yay!! I've been thinking you had a cruise coming up, I just couldn't remember which line so I was checking all the boards.

[tha sista]

3 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Married...for a long time. Maybe he just got a side piece.

 

Bingo!

[Bob NC]

I'll be following.  We are on the Horizon for an 8 day Southern in September.

 

In Feb 2022 we received an offer for 500 OBC for this Sept 2023 cruise and we called to book.  At the end of the process the PVP said ".....Sept 2024"  We thought it was 2023 so we backed up and rebooted and instead booked the Mardi Gras for Sept 2023.  10 Minutes after that phone call we called back and booked the Horizon for Sept 2024.

[SenatorsFan]

I'll be following and hope you have a great cruise. 😃

[princess76021]

i here on page one!! whoopie!!

hugs from texas!!

 

[illinoisfive]

I am excited to be on the first page also, as I usually find these great reviews many pages in.

Yay!!!

Have a great trip!

[depplep]

I'm ready to go let's roll. We're doing an ABC on Celebrity in July. Haven't been to Bonaire yet. 

[rwest898]

Looking forward to your review.  Thank you for posting the link.