Indytraveler83

The good: Most service staff (dining not included): the bar staff on this ship was phenomenal, room stewards were friendly and full of smiles, and Guest Services (which we rarely have needed on past cruises) responded admirably to extensive issues with our room (I'll detail this in the "Ugly" section). Guest services aggressive response likely saved our relationship with Carnival, so I am grateful they have a team that is well trained. Ship cleanliness: Visually the ship looks much better than expected, and cleaning was constantly occuring. Cozumel: our visits to Mr. Sanchos are a tradition that never disappoints. I know Cozumel is one of the most touristy ports that offers very little in unique experiences. That's ok, we needed at least one reliably good thing. That's it. That's all I got for this section.

Getting off the Valor now from a 5 day trip to Costa Maya and Cozumel. This is our 8th cruise and mimics our first that occured on the Elation out of New Orleans almost exactly 8 years ago. Typically I do a detailed "Winter Escape" review detailing every day of our cruise. I'm typically as balanced as possible and give both positives and negatives. That will not happen here. I have no desire to revisit this cruise in detail. Normally I enjoy our cruises so much I get labeled a "Cheerleader," so please understand I'm being honest when I say this was a terrible experience that will alter how we cruise in the future. I'm going to cover "the good, the bad and the ugly" and try to be as fair as I can. I'll answer any questions as best I can as well, and leave my advice at the end.

The Horizon has a lot to do. Port days are a great time to explore the usual busy stuff, like the waterslides, ropes course, etc.

The bus ride each way at La Romana was about an hour and a half. We spent about five and a half hours off the ship, so I'd say we spent a little over an hour at each stop. On one hand, it was cool to see the city and much of the Dominican Republic, but on the other hand the same tour is available at Amber Cove with a lot less driving. La Romana doesn't have a ton to offer, but we did consider one of the beach break excursions or going to a private beach club. I've heard they are a really nice choice but don't know exactly what to recommend.

Final thoughts: There's always a lot of talk about cutbacks and the "old" way of cruising. I've seen a lot of people write here that many folks don't know what they are missing from before. I'm gonna be honest: I've enjoyed my last two cruises more than any before. Here's why: 1) Carnival has either eliminated or seriously shortened lines to almost everything. Prior cruises were always marked by annoyance with lines to get on/off the ship, lines to get food, lines to get into venues, to get drinks, etc etc. We barely stood in line for anything. 2) I really am enjoying the shift to more types of food and drinks. The specialty restaurants, the micro brewery onboard and the overall variety of things to eat and drink is phenomenal. 3) The added things. Quietly, it seems like the food and drink menus are expanding in specialty places. In addition, the ship is crammed with musicians and entertainers. This just works for us. 4) The biggest point that makes me enjoy Carnival is the staff. With only a few rare exceptions, they are the friendliest people you will meet. A few other random thoughts: 1) We've decided to start booking near the atrium from now on. The convenience for getting on and off the ship, as well as being able to visit the atrium bar to bring back drinks to our room was a benefit we never thought about before. 2) While I really do love much of what Carnival is doing recently, there are some annoying maintenance issues (like the hot/cold issues and the plumbing) that seem like they never are able to fully tackle. Wish they could improve here. 3) We sail on the Valor in January. I'm very interested in how our experiences compare, going onto a much older ship. (Standby for that review!) And finally: I may never sail out of Miami again. The airport is the worst I've ever been to, and the entire city seems set on ripping as much money from your hands as possible, legal or not. Tampa, Orlando and even New Orleans are far more reasonable places to travel. I hope you've enjoyed my review. Let me know if you have questions, thoughts or I'd you sailed with me, how your experiences compared!

Debarkation day: Getting off the ship was easy. We were asked to leave our rooms by 8 am, rather than 8:30, which we thought have to do with the water/cleaning issues l, but our zone was called right at 8, so we didn't mind. Leaving the ship was simple with the new face scanning Homeland Security system, and we found ourselves in the taxi line quickly. Carnival did a great job of getting us here, but then it all went wrong. We got into the taxi, that still clearly had a window full of flat rates. From seaport to airport was $27.00, so we were rather shocked when the taxi driver asked us for $40 cash+tip. We pointed out the sign, and asked he drive us for the advertised rate. Instead he slammed on the gas, nearly hitting a port worker. Freaked out, we repeatedly asked to get out of the cab, but he continued to accelerate while yelling at us. After a crazy few minutes, we grew quiet while he ripped through traffic yelling the entire way. Eventually we got to the airport, where he again demanded cash. Instead we used a credit card on the terminal mounted to the seat then had to repeatedly ask that he unlock the doors. We seriously debated reporting it to Miami PD, but ended up filing a complaint instead (no way we were coming back to Miami for court). A few days later, they discounted our fare to the $27 (still haven't received the refund check) and told us he has been disciplined. I pressed for more, but they said I'd need to fill out a police report in person. Back to the airport, we got through the Spirit terminal quickly, but Miami once again seemed to forget that cruises were unloading into the airport, and seemed to forget to open more than ONE security checkpoint for the WHOLE airport. We were directed to a closed security checkpoint that was opened nearly an hour later. Sorry... But every time I've used that airport, they seem shocked and confused by the volume of passengers they get EVERY WEEKEND, as if it's some one off event. Our flight was bumpy, made worse by two children who had decided to re-enact a WWE wrestling event in the seats behind us, and whose mother would only mutter a very weak "No. Please. Don't do that." whenever asked to correct their behavior. Driving back from Chicago to South Bend is never a treat, but a Notre Dame game was letting out as we got close to the city, making traffix that much worse. "Aren't we supposed to be relaxed after vacation?" Jake asked, blue knuckles on the steering wheel. "Not this time," I replied. Up next: Final thoughts

Day 8: Our final Sea day We opened the day very homesick. It's been a long journey with a lot going on back home, so we struggled to keep our heads on vacation (very unlike us). Breakfast went well, and we headed to the open decks for a spot in the sun to relax. We quickly grew tired of some loud politically motivated conversations and instead decided to retreat to the balcony for a quiet day. Here we took full advantage of our closeness to the atrium bar and walked glasses of wine back to our balcony and listened to the waves. Dinner was awesome, and the staff was friendly and seemed genuinely sad for us to go. We closed down the atrium when the music stopped and headed to bed for our last night at sea. A few notes from the day: We saw several biohazard bags in the hallway, which was concerning. In addition to heavy cleaning with loud carpet scrubbing machines, it seemed like something else more serious was going on. Security was very high profile, but dining venues, bars and other places seemed short staffed. Something was definitely a little amiss, but we never figured out quite what it was. Next up: A very wild travel day

Honestly I agree. While we loved our excursion there, we could have done it from Amber Cove and saved quite a bit of drive time. Curacao was beautiful and I wish it woulda been a 9pm port rather than Aruba as well.

Typically Carnival goes out of terminal D, but not always. Miami is not my favorite port, so it can be a bit confusing. Thankfully, the location of the ship is pretty obvious as you approach, so you may have to ask the driver to change the terminal at the last second if it isn't D.

Day 7- Amber Cove! We got off the ship fairly early, with designs on spending the day by the pool. Amber Cove is fun, pretty and the pool has quite the pool party going for sure. However, the DJ makes sure you know you can buy drinks. Again. And again. And again. Oh, and don't forget the drink of the hour! I personally enjoyed relaxing in the pool where it was far less crowded than the small ship pools, but after a few hours, we missed Cheers, food and the Carnival staff. So we headed back onboard, dropped off our things and made our way to the aft deck to lay in the sun. The view back here was spectacular, and after a Guys burger (which was far better than I remember), we settled into our usual pattern. The rest of our day went as it typically does: dinner, music, room service, then sleep. A few things were worth pointing out however. The ship's A/C struggles got worse this day, with ocean Plaza being unbearably stuffy and humid, even at night. The 2ns floor Hallway seemed to be struggling more with water and the smells of the weeklong fight against overflowing showers seemed to go down the entire hall. Thankfully we keep air fresheners in our cabin, so it went unnoticed once we got back to our home away from home. We also noticed the staff overall was becoming increasingly edgy. Not unfriendly, but cautious and constantly aware of their surroundings. Security was highly visible, and something just felt "off" as the evening wore on. Still, the bar service and music was top notch, which in all honesty is 90% of our cruise. So happy, but getting a bit homesick, we prepared for our last day at sea! Up next: Day 8- Our final Sea Day

And I think it's a reminder that I'd something isn't right, it can be fixed. I see a lot of reviews where people suffer through things like that the entire cruise. Carnival is usually pretty flexible if you need something adjusted during the cruise itself.

We unfortunately didn't stop long enough to see much. There is a very small area with vendors you can shop a bit, but that's about it. Unlike most other ports, there's just highway and fields within walking distance.

Day 6: La Romana! Today Jake selected the Monkeyland excursion for our visit to La Romana. Most onboard had little intention of getting off at this much maligned port. Our excursion was set to take up the entire port stop, so we were ok with that. After a quick breakfast, we got on a typical air conditioned bus and started the long journey across the Dominican countryside. Our guide proved to be interesting and funny, with a hint of dark humor in many of his jokes that we quite appreciated. We crossed a large city (can't remember the name) that looked crowded and crazy. Then the bus started up a steep mountain pass that seemed more intended for a Jeep than a tour bus. Clear hurricaine damage made the road look even more treacherous, and at one point the bus snagged a live power line, bringing it down. They didn't seem to worry though, bringing us to our first stop: a farm that makes cocoa, coffee and other organic foods. Now I'm not usually a fan of these types of things, especially knowing there would be sales at the end. But our guide actually did a fantastic job of both showing and describing how cocoa especially goes from seed to hot chocolate, giving us samples to taste and see all along the way. Above you can see the raw form, plucked straight from the plant and cut open. We actually found the entire experience charming and quite interesting. After buying a little cocoa, coffee and vanilla, we all moved on to the main attraction: Monkeyland! This was a really unique experience, where they hand you food bowls, then stand you in a half circle. As they drop food into the bowls, the monkeys climb, jump and run across everyone to get food. The best part, was while they did take photos for us to buy, they also encouraged us to use our own cameras, and provided equal opportunity for us to get good photos on our own. They monkeys were of course adorable, and about a dozen babies were running around as well, increasing the "AWWWW" factor tenfold. After Monkeyland, we headed back to the ship, but the bus was running a little late. Thankfully it was a Carnival excursion (I don't always book with the cruise line), so the Horizon waited for us to get onboard. We were alarmed to realize that we boarded the ship at 5:35, and we're already 5 minutes late for dinner! Changing only our shirts, and re-applying deodorant, we raced to the dining room for prime rib and conversation. This night we were EXHAUSTED from the three intense port days in a row, so rather than our usual routine of drinking and listening to music, we settled on hydration and made a visit to the IMAX theater to see Halloween Ends (Jake is a huge horror movie fan, and this was his only opportunity to see any Halloween film in IMAX). Unfortunately tickets are $16.99, which is a little steep. However, the screen and sound are very good quality and even a knock on the door can be felt through the seat. Our theater at home is falling apart, so it was nice to have a decent moviegoing experience. After that, we fell into our old pattern of room service and TV, thankful we hadn't scheduled anything specific for Amber Cove. Next up: Last stop: Amber Cove

As far as Aruba, I'm not sure how much of it is direct storm damage, vs abandon buildings from the long pandemic pause in visits. Either way it's a little sad. For some reason crew cards weren't on any of the tables. Mark told me they were supposed to get more on the next cruise, but all were completely out. He hand wrote ones for all of us, so we could leave positive remakes for them.

Yeah, I wasn't happy. Had the Maitre D been around, I would have handled it with him. Not sure what was up with that server on that day. I certainly don't want to characterize the entire cruise that way though. We didn't always remember to ask for Mark during breakfast, and the other serving teams were up to normal Carnival standards. Just a really weird day, and a really angry guy apparently.

I'll be back and sharing more tomorrow. We had a long day of work and moving duties to work on today, and just now getting to bed!

I'm pretty sure I can't share specific website links, but "singles cruise" within the familiar www. and .com should get you to where you need to go. 😉

Getting back onboard, one of the Horizon's well known problems seemed to surface. Pockets of warm air existed through the ship, blasting you in random hallways or rooms. We found it rather excusable when the ship was sitting with doors open in the heat, but the problem continued through the night. It wasn't a big deal to us, but be warned, this can/does happen. The fans in the hallways of deck 2 had also seemed to reproduce, and a funky smell was coming from the aft part of the deck. Thankfully we were forward, but the Family Harbor area in the aft part of the ship was beginning to smell like a forgotten load of wet laundry. With neither issue being much more than a footnote to us, we headed out for food. Just as we opened the door, the phone rang, so I stepped back in to answer it. Guest services was following up on our neighbors, and confirmed that security has visited them. Thankfully all had gone quiet, and aside from a few balcony door slams, we didn't hear from them again. I decided to get sushi at Bonsai for a "snack" and Jake was going to go get a Guys Burger. However, we realized that the Bonsai menu has expanded a lot since we were last there years ago, offering non-sushi beef and chicken entrees. The Udon with beef was calling his name, so we both set down for the snack... Ok second lunch and enjoyed ourselves. We had overheated, so spent the rest of the afternoon in the casino, which seemed as if the slots had been tightened up significantly, then the shops where we bought a bit of 50th anniversary merchandise. Dinner was great (as usual) but then in the evening we came up against our old familiar foe: other passenger. We had seated ourselves in Pig and Anchor to watch our favorite duo, until a large group (singles maybe?) decided to take over the table where we were sitting (literally pulled chairs up to our table and sat around us). We moved to the Atrium to instead watch the string trio, but again found the area overrun by singles. This is where somehow... some way it seemed a stand was taken. There was a group of 3 or 4 couples that pretty regularly found themselves in the atrium. We had gotten to know all the bartenders quiet well at that point who has also grown increasingly annoyed with the loud and irritating group. Once we placed our drink orders, the bartenders kept track of us, and would wave us up to the bar for our next order if the glasses were empty. It didn't really matter if they had 2 or 20 people waiting. They pushed us ahead and would stop the singles drink orders to make ours. At the same time, we all also decided we were attending a concert. Grouped together, we sang, clapped and danced, which while not being obnoxious, certainly didn't fit the tense prom scene that was unfolding amongst the increasingly desperate singles group. They slowly got the message, and seemed to seek a different place for their... activities. We celebrated late into the night, but pizza on the aft deck would not be our friend either. For whatever changes Carnival thinks they made to speed the line up... It wasn't on display. We then admitted defeat, ordering room service and curling up in bed for some Food Network. We were so tired, that before I knew it, it was 4am, Guy Fieri was yelling at me from the other side of the TV screen and a half eaten pizza lay precariously on the edge of the bed... Up next: La Romana- Monkeys, cocoa and a bit of misplaced electricity...

Day 5: Curacao The day dawned anew, and we awoke to the nearly teal water before the multicolored buildings of an island unlike anything we'd quite seen before. The ship docked at 7:15, but afraid that nothing would be open so early, we took our time and got off around 9:00am. The actual port area is fairly small, but leads you right onto a path that goes straight through the fort, down a vendor-lined path and right to the famous floating bridge, into the crayola inspired "floating market" For everything that Aruba was not, Curacao fit the bill. Local vendors, artists, musicians and cafe's where everywhere. The usually port vendors you see at every stop seemed to limited to the area before the fort. We spent hours walking, buying art and getting nearly lost in this gorgeous city. Everyone here was very friendly, however on two separate occasions, a very friendly local also offered us some... substances... to make our visit even more psychedelic than the colorful buildings had already. We politely declined. Instead we sat down at a local cafe, near a band playing and ate Arepas while listening to more music. After nearly 5 hours of walking in sweltering heat, we finally made our way back to the ship and some much needed A/C.

Our friends at dinner suggested making a fake profile on their website just to monitor when they cruise, so that it doesn't happen again. I may just do that...

We loved our Ocean Plaza and atrium mini-concerts! It's one of our favorite things on cruising. And yeah, that singles group was a major issue the entire cruise. Unfortunately, I also think the Maitre D enjoyed looking busy over actually doing anything. We saw him walking around on his phone frequently, but rarely actually interacting with guests or staff. One time, our dinner friends were approached by him late in the cruise and they said "If you couldn't listen to us before, we won't talk to you now" and walked away from him.

Returning to the ship touched off another set of frustrations. Upon arrival to the cabin, our neighbor (a part of the singles group) had both his front door and the balcony door propped open, with music blaring and the noises of the women (yes, several) currently in his cabin destroying any chance of a peaceful moment. We showered, changed for dinner later, then did something we NEVER do: visit guest services. The only reason we've ever stepped to that desk in the past is to replace a cabin card smeared and damaged by saltwater. I addressed my concern as politely as possible to the guest service staff, who promised to send security down immediately. Dinner proved interesting, as the hostess automatically checked us in at 5:30 (our usual time). When we arrived, we found she had done the same for our new dinner friends, seating is next to each other. For the rest of the cruise, this would occur, effectively turning Your Time Dining for 2 into a seated time for 4. With irritation at other passengers increasing, we were very glad to know that dinner would be good conversation with a good wait staff for the remainder of the cruise. Afterwards we watched more music, and continued to befriend the bar staff in the atrium. We didn't stay long though, as the day had been tiring (and maybe our most irritating) of the cruise, and we were ready for Curacao. So was the Horizon, as it zoomed through the dark sea: Up Next: Day 5-Curacao

Day 4: Aruba After following our usual pattern of breakfast in the dining room, we headed off the ship for the Seabob excursion Jake had selected for Aruba. We arrived and our group of 16 was split in half. One had was to enjoy Arashi beach first while the other half went in the water, then we flipped. Arashi beach was a cool sandscape where cactus meets beach. However, the Seabob adventure was awesome. Our guide fed fish at various points along the reed, attracting sea birds to dice for them. He fed a massive moray eel for us all to see, found sea turtles that we followed (at a respectable distance) for a while to watch them swim, and took us all up and down the colorful reef on that side of the island. The Seabobs were insanely easy to use and didn't even require more than a few simple instructions (aim it where you want it, pull the trigger). We enjoyed the excursion, then headed into the colorful buildings, wondering just how long we would want to stay on the island (docked for 12 hours). Unfortunately, Aruba is not what it once was. Local shops were shuttered with various signs of storm damage. The only customers were the birds, happy to take advantage of the 100% discount on what few foods may have remained inside. Disappointed, we returned to the ship.

I'll be honest, I've been a part of the "keep them small" crowd for years. But after two voyages on the Horizon, my mind has changed. My main reasons why: 1) Many of the older ships (not including Spirit class as they are a different story) tend to have just a few huge areas for all the passengers. They generally expected most everyone to be on Lido, the MDR or in the show lounge. This meant that you always had 2,000 of your new closest friends near you. To me, the Dream class was the biggest offender in this regard, especially before they started adding venues to the lanai. The newer ships have several small venues. Yes, some of them do fill up, but you are never surrounded by the entire ship of people at once. We just got off a sold out cruise on the Horizon, but never felt it. 2) Those venues I just mentioned are fantastic. And I'm not talking about a roller coaster or movie theater at sea type of attractions. I'm talking bars, places to eat and multiple places on the ships for music and performances. 3) Simple stability. We went through some storms on the Horizon, and the ship never moved enough to threaten the balance of a full wine glass. Years ago on the Elation, we cruises through a similar storm that had the bow pitching up and down, glasses filled less than half full and barf bags everywhere.

We always use a PVP. Frequently, we have a ship, date, rooms type and floor already picked. We could book it ourselves if we wanted, but... When things go wrong (need a date change, name change, etc) the 1-800 number is a nightmare. A PVP will only assist with trips they booked typically. For example, I have a sister in law that loves to cruise. But she's utterly incapable of making up her mind who in her family is going, and typically has a new boyfriend every 2 months. Our PVP takes it all in stride and has had name change and room change fees waived multiple times for her. If we called the 1-800 number, she's likely be swimming in $300+ in fees already for our January cruise alone.