mdin

Please don't bring your bluetooth speaker into Serenity (or any public place for that matter) and blast your music. Serenity has music playing in the background that fits the atmosphere, let's leave it at that.

I did snorkeling and beach in Grand Turk and really enjoyed it. Very nice beaches. In St. Thomas, we did an excursion with a beach stop at Magen's Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches I've been too. I don't think you can go wrong at either place though.

I don't mind paper straws, but you can't let it sit too long in your drink. It softens.

My last cruise used plastic straws, but you had to ask for it (which makes sense to me).

My wife likes hard seltzers. She orders vodka soda at the bars (low cal, no added sugar). For flavor, she usually goes with Kettle One Botanicals or a flavored Stoli. Otherwise, if it's plain vodka she'll get it with a splash of pineapple (or cranberry).

In Serenity, she ordered the Skinny Fizz and enjoyed it.

On 4/13/2019 at 10:07 PM, cruises42 said:

We are on the ship also. Had brunch yesterday and asked if there was free OJ. We were told yes and got some.

I was on in February and got free OJ during brunch as well. 

1 hour ago, Gettys84 said:

Pictures above were from La Romana yesterday. The house across from the port had a helicopter pad. While we were sitting on our balcony a helicopter flew over the ship and landed. Was very cool. On the other side of ship you can see a lot of baseball fields. The entire time we were in port players were practicing. Hopes and dreams of getting the the MLB!

Have a video of the helicopter landing but tapatalk will not let me upload videos. Just pictures. But that’s ok. I’ll take pictures over nothing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was there 2 years ago on the Vista, and I remember young men playing baseball from the time we arrived to the time we left. There were a few people in the stands that appeared to be taking notes. Possible MLB scouts. 

I was on Horizon in February for a family cruise and we had no issues figuring it out. Simply select the deck you wish to go to and repeat it for each additional passenger. 

The issues that occurred are like what has been mentioned before. Some passengers would call the elevator once for their group of 4. There was also the passenger that would see that cart 'x' was going to their desired deck, skipping calling for the cart altogether. Obviously this throws the system off and in turn doesnt work how it's intended. 

My solution would be to add a 'how many passengers' option after deck selection. Simply choose your deck, enter the number of passengers, and find your assigned elevator. Also, eliminate the screen above the elevators that indicate which cart is going where. This would force everyone to check-in at the call screen.

17 hours ago, bingomamma19 said:

There were no hot tubs on deck 5.   I really missed those as I love those on the Breeze also.

 

I wish I had thought of bringing a drink with us to dinner.   I just couldn't believe that nobody asked us if we wanted a drink.   Even the waiter that fills the water didn't come around to refill.    That lack of service is why we never went back after the 2nd night.

 

I did eat in the Pig and Anchor a few nights.   Very good and loved it, although it does cost extra...at least I got a drink order with my meal.

The hot tub set up on the Breeze is better, no doubt.

I was on the Horizon last month and had late seating in the MDR. The service was great. Our waiters were very attentive, and we had our bottle of wine on the table when we arrived, plus they would ask if we would like to order any drinks soon after sitting down. Waters were constantly refilled as well. So fortunately I had a good experience in the MDR. My only complaint was that the food was very slow to come out. Sometimes it was half an hour after ordering before the apps came out. This caused us to have to rush to catch the shows, even missing one on the first elegant night (didn't get out until 9:50).

My wife and I don't normally like the production shows, however Horizon's three productions are excellent. A better theatre design would be nice though. 

I agree with the theatre, there are too many obstructed seats.

The elevators would work great if everyone used them correctly, unfortunately many passengers don't take a minute to learn the system. 

Not in the general area, but there are 2 more hot tubs in Serenity that I found wouldn't get jam packed like it the Tides area. Even if it was full, people would be coming and going so spots would open up. Possible option if you're not traveling with someone under 21.

You'll have a great time either way, but the extra 2 days plus the itinerary make the Horizon an easy choice for me.

In no particular order:

Orient/Maho Beach tour with Bernard's Tours (2019). It's very well organized with clear instructions of how to find their tent in port. First stop was at Orient Beach where we enjoyed the beautiful waters for 2 hours. Great beach, could have very easily spent all day there. We then took a 30 minute drive to Maho Beach where we spent another 2 hours on the beach watching the planes come in. The surf was rough, but I enjoy it like that and had blast getting tossed around. It was a great experience that I hope to do again someday. 

St. Thomas Beach Tour (?) through Carnival (2011). I don't remember the exact name of the excursion, but my wife and I did this tour our first time in St. Thomas and we fell in love with the island. We took an island tour from port on an open air bus up to the top of the mountain overlooking Magen's Bay. Great views and photo op. We descended to Magen's Bay where we spent 2 hours in one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to. After that, we made our way to Blackbeard's castle where at the time was a local rum factory. Several free shots and 4 rum bottle purchases later, we made our way downhill doing a walking tour through different gardens and island homes. We ended up at a bar at the end of our walk where we tried a local cocktail before hopping on the ferry to get back to port. We definitely had a good buzz that day lol. 

Grand Turk Snorkel and Beach break also through Carnival (2017 & 2019). We enjoyed it so much the first time we did it again 2 years later. The 3 tour guides do a great job making it a fun, but safe excursion. We never snorkeled before, but it was a great experience. Getting to swim in over beautiful reefs and seeing thousands of colorful fish swimming close by was such a cool experience. 

Honorable mention to Thenford Grey's Capitol City Tour and Beach Splash in St. Kitts. Also one of my favorites. 

I found the Horizon beds go be very comfortable. I always got a good night's sleep.

It was only a drive to the 2 beaches, which was what I wanted. Both Orient and Maho were incredible. Nothing more besides beach time though.

Here's a rendering of Havana someone posted on a Facebook Mardi Gras page.

705 on Mardi Gras

Just adding on:

7. Farenheit 555 Steakhouse is very good and worth what you pay. I haven't had Ji Ji's for dinner, but their lunch is excellent. 

8. Vintage Pop and Celestial Strings are very good production shows, worth checking out. 

2 hours ago, N7786W Flyer said:

Mardi Gras pool area and open decks, August 1984

 

Thanks for sharing all these pictures, they're great!

I would say definitely try JiJi's and Pig and Anchor for lunch at some point. Both are very good.

Normally my wife and I are not into the Carnival production shows, however the 2 productions shows we saw (Vintage Pop and Celestial Strings) are very well done.

20 hours ago, ksmcdonald said:

The Havana area looks different!  On deck 8, with a very small pool area.  

I'm thinking the same thing. Hopefully there is a hot tub in there somewhere. 

Out of curiosity, what's the reason for changing the ship's name?

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

I'm pretty sure you'll find Caribs all over. I definitely had them in St Kitts too. I know I've seen them elsewhere. Many of the shops and stores will have them for around $2. 

Yup, I drank Carib in St. Kitts and St. Maarten. I also had a beer called 'Stag' in St. Kitts which was very good (better than Carib IMO).

I saw them for sale in the Pixels area and Cherry on Top fun shop.

St. Kitts 

Maho Beach (St. Maarten)

Horizon and Sunshine (St. Maarten)

Sea day sunset

IMG_4744.HEIC

I filled the mini fridge with bottled water the first day and noticed it wasn't cooling. I removed some of the bottles from in front of the fan in the fridge and left the cabinet door open. The water was nice cold after that.