Indytraveler83

We dressed in costume and headed out to get some pictures and walk around for Halloween fun! Carnival was doing quite a few fun things around the ship, but we noticed a large and rather irritating crowd was hogging many of the spaces (come to find out later it was about 100 people from the same singles group that seemed intent on small area takeovers. More on them later...). We headed to dinner, where we found our hostess who set is in our requested secrion. Marky Mark and Mark provided significantly better and friendlier service, capped off by a special cheesecake! The couple we met at breakfast was seated a few tables down from us, and we ended up going back and forth chatting with them, much to the irritation of the table next to us, who seemed to think dinner in silence was preferable. We left dinner and got too caught up on music again (a common thread with us) to make all of the Halloween festivities. However, we did end up attending the costume contest. We had thought about participating, but the participant pool was huge, and we decided we would rather watch. We ended up seated next to the group from the Chef's table (who had already gotten any early start on their Cheers) and spent most of the rest of the evening laughing and commenting on costumes. Now... that costume contest was something else. There was a large group who participated with a stunningly accurate and high quality set of costumes for the cast of Bridgerton. There were several "IT" costumes and quite a few other complex arrangements I couldn't even imagine trying to get through airport security. There were several... um... less family friendly costumes, and some that were so weird we still don't know what they were. Regardless, it was a ton of fun, however we retired shortly after to prepare for our day in Aruba! Next up: Seabobs and island exploration ( tomorrow)

Day 3: Halloween!!! Some people are just counting the days till Christmas. Jake, on the other hand is made for Halloween. We awoke fairly early on his favorite day of the year to get breakfast, then do the least Halloween thing imaginable- sunbathe! Heading into the MDR, we were seated at a table near the back windows. A far more polite server introduced himself as Mark: "Call me Marky Mark!" and his assistant... Mark. Hearing his voice, another couple loudly called out to him from another section. He asked us if we mind they be seated at the table next to us (his section was unusually busy) and we told him that would be ok. They sat down, introduced themselves, apologized for the intrusion, but really wanted this server. As we got to know them, we found out they were celebrating their milestone 25th cruise, as well as his birthday. We told them about our experience the prior day, and they were none too pleased either. They helped us find a very nice hostess named Elana who heard our story and said she would be happy to seat us in Mark's section for the rest of the cruise. Happy for the help, we thanked everyone and made our way to the Serenity deck. The Serenity deck was nice (as always), but we did notice a lack of bar servers walking around. None too discouraged, we made friends with the bartenders quickly and enjoyed the afternoon and watched the Explorer of the Seas spend the day slowly overtaking us. Then the weather turned... Rain hit around 4:30, intense enough to drive everyone inside. Believe it or not, the two photos above are less than an hour apart! The seas got rougher (not too bad, but it had been silky smooth up to this point). We retreated to our cove balcony, but did notice dryers spaced through the hallways. Showering revealed a very slow drain, that others may have missed, and we heard a few people talk about overflowing showers. For us, simply turning the water pressure down a bit seemed to remedy the issue. Regardless, we got dressed in costume and prepared for a night of trick or treat!

Oh we felt so lucky. The family with us was ready to have a ton of fun too, and I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe at many points!

Day 2: The First Sea Day We dreamed of rivers of Merlot while having Pinot Grigio nightmares. Through clouds of tannins we climbed until we finally awoke to late morning sun on our balcony. Exhausted from the prior days, we chose not to rise, instead waiting for lunch to order in. Napping through the day, we didn't finally make our way from the cabin until dinnertime. We had hoped for a fine dinner on the first formal night, but our plans were quickly changed, and the evening turned from relaxing to irritating. "What do you want?" asked the server. Ok, so maybe he was new? He's failed to introduce himself or his team, simply pulling out his notepad and taking our order. Jake ordered steak, I ordered the striped bass, and the server left without another word. "Will someone else take our drink order?" Jake asked. "Usually," I replied. Our appetizers were quickly dumped on our table without a word, and no time to order drinks or even a water refill. The plates were pulled from us without a word, and the main courses dumped before us unceremoniously. I found the striped bass to be dry and tasteless, but had no chance to request a change. After spending too much time with it, it was ripped from before me and our desserts slammed on the table with a clank. We started watching our serving team then, and saw the head waiter angrily motioning to his team and storming around the dining room. We left shortly after the single worst dinner service we'd ever had on a ship. The Maitre D was nowhere to be found, and the hostesses had lines to visit them. After swearing we'd never go through such a service again, we decided to handle this issue later and not let it ruin our night. As live music fools, we again settled down to music in the ocean plaza. Jake decided that whiskey would clear the taste of dinner, while I settled for a non-boozy milkshake to give my worn out body a break. Thankfully the ship's musicians were far friendlier than the servers, and we ended the night with Missy and Gabe. They took requests, but didn't know many of our songs. "Just wait till Aruba," they said. "We get better internet and will learn them for you." On that promise and cheerier note, we headed to bed to prepare for Halloween onboard the ship. Next up: Day 3- 🎃 Halloween!

Before money got tight, we purchased excursions and the Chef's Table. We did the Chef's table on the first night, Jake's birthday. It turned out to be an amazing choice, as we were two of only six people who were attending that night. The event was hosted by a sous chef, an assistant, a wonderful server and the best magician we've ever seen on Carnival's ships. I took a LOT of photos, but now realize most of them contain the other guests faces. The one above is a photo of the best bread we've ever had. This is just another one of the dozen or so courses that were served to us. The Horizon has a fabulous private dining room inside the kitchen where we were served wine and watched as our chefs made our food fresh in front of us. It's hard to describe the entire experience (and I don't want to spoil the surprise. But think of it as a culinary excursion worth taking, not an expensive dinner. We got a brief lesson in making chocolate melting cake and a tour of the galley that we could only compare to a beehive, with hundreds of people moving about in orchestrated chaos. We all joked that while there were only 6 people, someone would have thought it was a booked out night by the sheer volume of wine we went through... Afterwards we headed to Ocean Plaza, the oversized entertainment area in the aft of the ship where we watched the Horizon Rock band and then the duo of Missy and Gabe (more on them later) before retiring to our room, feeling the effects of the endless wine. Next up: Day 2: Our first sea day (likely will post tomorrow, as our flight home takes off shortly.) Please let me know if you have questions or shared the ship with us, and I'll be sure to get back to everyone!

Day 1: Boarding the ship and first impressions- Having gotten into Miami late, we took full advantage of the noon checkout at the Best Western near the airport and took an Uber to the cruise terminal for our 12:30 check-in. We arrived at the terminal by 12:10 and were completely shocked that they waved us in, despite being so early. The check-in process continues to get smoother, and we never sat or stopped. Our first steps on the Horizon occured at 12:18 PM. Our muster station was near the atrium, so we sat through all 2 minutes of that before heading down to the Pig and Anchor for lunch. At exactly 12:30 I found myself sampling the limited holiday run of their beers: We mostly lounged around the ship until our rooms were ready and bags were delivered. Now, the Horizon is BEAUTIFUL in the new blue hulled paint scheme. This is the first time we've seen that in person, and it was a great choice. We also noticed that the ship was spotless. We would see painting, cleaning and maintenance through the cruise. Carnival is certainly making sure the Horizon doesn't get mistaken for one of the older ships that everyone seems to complain about. We had selected a cove balcony for this cruise, room 2315 which was under the forward dining room and just a quick flight of stairs to the atrium. I had received an upsell call days before the cruise offering us a suite for $500 total. While tempting, we couldn't take it with so much money tied up in the home purchase. Still... the view on cove's can't be beat: Our room steward greeted us around the time our luggage came. I had no idea how to pronounce his name, but he told us to pronounce it "Ninja." It was appropriate, as this would be only one of two times we would see him the entire cruise. However, as soon as we left our room in the morning, even if just for a minute, our ninja steward would sweep in and have everything spotless before we returned. Up next: Day one, Part 2- The Chef's Table and a late night.

'Tis but a fever dream. We live life, go to work and have families. We pay bills, go shopping and try our best to be part of the world. Then we board the ship and life begins anew. It was like this we found ourselves aboard the Carnival Horizon again, living those rare moments without responsibility nor care. I wrote that shortly after boarding the Horizon. It often feels like real life turns off while you board a ship, and you are able to release the world for just a little while. However, let's back up a little bit and make some introductions: My name is Shaun and this is my 7th cruise with my husband Jake. We booked a Halloween trip on the Horizon shortly after getting off a 6 day journey on the ship last year. His birthday is Oct 29th, the day we boarded, and Halloween is his favorite holiday, so this trip seemed ideal and we were VERY excited for it. This was an 8 day trip with visits to Aruba, Curacao, La Romana and Amber Cove. We booked it on our last "Free Cheers for you" offer and intended to go a little wild for this trip. However, life can get crazy, and we made the decision to move out of a declining neighborhood, leaving us shorter on money and energy than we intended. We literally closed the final real estate agreement in the O'Hare airport bar via phone right before our long delayed flight finally took off for Miami, landing at 3 AM. The result was us boarding the Horizon tired, worn out and ready to simply relax. I'll start our Day 1 post shortly!

Im a little confused as to why people think this is a cutback. Carnival has not been shy about raising prices on just about everything. If it were a financial decision, why would they remove a massively overpriced item that people already buy, rather than just hiking the price more? We have all seen the increase in more violent behavior on cruise ships, and my guess is that Carnival is trying to thwart that (or at least appear that they are). Their bigger concern is to keep fights or medical emergencies out of the news (that is a financial consideration) so that people keep booking. That may also be why they are staying fairly quiet about it. Some sort of analysis of violent or medical issues likely determined that people who buy bottles in room are x times more likely to be a source of these issues. This, along with the cut from 24 hour pizza feels like an attempt to get the ships away from some of the more wild late night activities.

I'm going to guess this is due to some of the disorderly conduct, fights and other overconsumption issues they've had. If it were a revenue issue, they'd simply raise the prices (like they've done on several other items).

Our of pure speculation, I'd suggest Carnival will look to retire remaining ships at 30 years old or so, which would give the Elation another 6 years or so. It'll be curious to see as another person mentioned as to whether the Sunshine or the Elation is the next to go.

I really hated the idea of using my phone all the time. One of my favorite parts about cruising in years prior was putting it in my safe and not touching it again until the ship docked. That said... the Hub app is really nice. I love being able to set event reminders, order "room service" anywhere on the ship and check my account balance without using the insanely slow TV app. I'm also one who absolutely hates waiting in lines and the online check in for meals saved us from the line that used to stretch well out of the MDR down nearby halls. Even my dad, who absolutely does not adjust to technology at all, found it useful on the Alaska cruise, and loved looking over menus (he can be very picky) before deciding on dining for the evening. We still don't get the internet package, and find ourselves generally happy with the experience. If you aren't sure, try it as you can always put your phones away later if you don't like it.

On our last cruise I ordered the lobster from the steakhouse and was fully unimpressed. Formal night for the MDR I ordered something else, and they gave each of us a lobster tail in addition anyways. I actually thought the MDR lobster was better, but neither was great. For our upcoming cruise, I've sworn to try foods I usually don't, so I thank you for the tip on the striped bass!

I think my focus would be on ship layout: 1) Pools and venues need to be larger in proportion to the newer ships. Pools and hot tubs rarely accommodate the number of people who actually want to use them. Bars, piano bars and other venues in the new ships also only seem capable of accommodating a few dozen people on ships with 4,000+ passengers. I can't remember the last time I actually was able to sit down at the Alchemy Bar. 2) Serenity Deck placement and improvements. Many of the newer ships have the "peaceful" serenity deck on windy, high decks with the water slide entrance sharing the entry steps. 3) Better design for getting on and off the ships in ports. It always seems crazy to me that large quantities of passengers are forced to get on and off the ship in 2 narrow entry areas with narrow stairs and limited elevators. There's gotta be a better way to get everyone on and off the ship.

My parents just got off the Spirit a few months ago. They had a wonderful time overall. On the negative side, they enjoyed the decor less than on other Carnival ships and they said the ship was showing some cosmetic signs of wear. While she did get the new paint scheme in 2021, it sounds like the last time the ship got a good "refresh" was 2018. Overall, you are looking at a ship with a great layout and one of the best space ratios for passengers in mass market cruising. However, you are also looking at the oldest example of such. Keep that in mind, and you should have a great time, as Alaska is all about the scenery, not the ship.

We have Cheers for only the second time on our upcoming 8 day cruise on the Horizon in October. Our first experience with Cheers was fun, but we didn't do a great job of picking drinks other than the very sweet selections on the short menu they carried around. We are looking for some lower sugar options to order while on Serenity Deck or the Lido (so something that can be served outside of specialty bars like Alchemy). This isn't for a specific health condition or anything like that, just that a Cheers quantity of very sugary drinks made for a difficult recovery last time. 🤢😂 Please let me know your favorites, and if possible, the brand of spirit you request. We are open to trying pretty much anything!

On one hand, it seems like Carnival is slowly pulling the entire Spirit class (and similar builds) from it's other brands to Carnival to replace the outgoing Fantasy class. On the other hand, it's likely a band aid. Cruise ships are getting bigger and bigger, and new port opportunities pop up from time to time. It's likely going to be up to the ports at some point to either find a way to accommodate larger vessels or lose them.

Awesome! This is going to be our first cruise during a holiday, so I'm excited to revisit the ship. We booked this one on our last "Cheers for you" offer, and its also a birthday cruise for DH.

We will take this same cruise on Halloween, also with a cove. A few tips and tricks I can think of: The salad bar on the Horizon Serenity deck is not well known and very good. Great way to get a quick lunch! In addition, the Serenity deck is tweaked and enlarged from the Dream class, offering a less windy and much nicer experience. The steakhouse on the Vista class ships isn't as nice as some of the others. Ways to make it nicer: 1) Wait until the piano bar gets going, as they open the doors between the two venues and let you hear the music. 2) Ask for outdoor seating. They have a covered area outside that's very private and feels like a more intimate experience. The Vista class has fairly small venues compared to other classes. If you have to be somewhere specific (especially the piano bar) get there very early. On the other hand, there's a TON of bars and venues, and it's fairly easy to find a neat place somewhere on the ship that's quiet if you so choose. We've sailed cove balconies on the Dream class, and I imagine this is similar. Bring earplugs, because rough nights at sea can be a bit noisy. However, good days/nights are gorgeous and we've seen plenty of flying fish as well as a pod of dolphins from the balcony. Also... Try to fully embrace the Hub app menus and ordering. Some don't like the change from paper, but fully utilizing it can make your experience much smoother. They have a cool feature that allows you to order "room service" anywhere on the ship. We got hungry while in the piano bar, and didn't want to give up our seats, so we ordered quesadillas and chicken wings to our table there!

I stopped getting those codes over a year ago, shortly after the restart. Felt like a desperation offer to get deposits while the ships weren't moving. With bookings up now, they have no motivation to offer these.

This seems very cherry-picked. There's always a few cruises that have outrageous prices, especially on brand new, unreleased ships. Just a quick search shows the following prices for the Mardi Gras, which seems pretty much in line with Carnival pricing over the years: Edit: I also noticed the OP's examples were 14 day Journeys cruises. Those have always been priced crazy. Not saying it's reasonable, but nothing different than I've seen for similar sailings before.

We typically cruise in January due to the low prices. We've also found (prior to the pandemic anyways) that this was the least busy time of year. Book and enjoy!

This certainly is a good reminder not to rely on an email to make your final payment. While it is ultimately our own responsibility to make payments, sometimes juggling multiple cruises and life in general can cause things to be missed. One piece of advice for the OP and anyone else who has these worries: When booking the cruise, you can put a card on file to pay the balance in full at the deadline. Our PVP knows I prefer that he set this on every cruise we book. This way, I can still make payments on other cards or in smaller chunks in the meantime, but if we miss it (because I definitely would) it gets auto charged at the deadline.

I always find it sorta funny how these "cutback" threads bring out the anger. Carnival has been moving in the direction of for fee offerings and limiting dining hours for some time. Often it's forgotten what's been added. I frequent the boards, but was pleasantly surprised to see all of the additional free food offerings on my Carnival Horizon cruise, including the salad bar in the Serenity area. No one had huge positive reactions to things like that. Carnival isn't just cutting back. Carnival is changing (quickly I might add). The Vista class and newer are a massive departure from the Carnival of old, offering a far different experience. Carnival is CHANGING. It's totally ok to not like it, that's the freedom of choice that we have. But this narrative that it's only removing things is a little tiring. Guys Burgers, Shaq's Chicken, Pig and Anchor, nice water slides and free comedy shows weren't a part of the Carnival of old.

I didn't think of it, but that may be another factor. Carnival has long publicly considered itself a "family" cruise line, while benefiting from the "party" crowd on the short, cheap "booze cruise." It could be a bit of a quiet way to try to encourage that late night party to head to bed before anything too bad happens.

I don't disagree. Another reply above cites that they are hoping to do away with free room service, so they likely aren't building the free stuff into the app. It seems like when Carnival ends something popular, they try to take baby steps, in the hopes that it won't create such an uproar. We were initially very ticked off about the cut away from free room service several years ago. John Heald probably hates me for quoting him as saying it wouldn't go away, only to tell us it was going away a few months later. However... All lines are making changes all the time. Cruisers have to adapt to the changes as time goes on. Anymore I try not to react much to changes until I've experienced them, then weigh the effect of those changes vs the experience on another line. I feel like that's the best way to not be either a fanboy or too much of a cynic.