Horizon Review, April 2, 2004,10 day Ultimate Western

[rebeljohn]

Cruise Review………Celebrity Horizon, April 2nd to April 12th

This was our 10th cruise, and our 4th with Celebrity. This was our first 10 day cruise, we normally do 7 day cruises. My wife and I traveled alone from North Carolina, but met some friends we met on a previous cruise aboard the ship.

Pictures from our cruise can be found at:

[url="http://community.webshots.com/album/134319619ltxlaZ"]http://community.webshots.com/album/134319619ltxlaZ[/url]

Embarkation: We arrived about 12 noon. Since we drove to the port, I dropped off the wife and luggage at the terminal, and parked the car in the parking garage, which was right across the street. Parking was $10 a day. A porter was immediately there to take our luggage away. He checked to make sure we had everything tagged, told us where to go, and quickly disappeared with the luggage. We went right up to the counter to check in, and were told that we would be upgraded to an outside cabin. We had booked a Cat. 11 inside cabin, and were already upgraded to Cat. 10 inside cabin because of Capt. Club membership. We only had to wait a few minutes before we were allowed to board. Embarkation was a breeze, with no problems.

Cruise Critic Party: The CC party was held on the first sea day at 9:30 am. 90 had registered and about 40 showed up for the party. It was nice putting a face to all of the members that we had chatted with. The cruise director and social hostess attended the party.

Ship: The Horizon, Celebrity’s oldest ship, is holding up well for her age. The ship was clean, neat, and someone was always cleaning, polishing, painting, etc., but never in the way. We did hear someone complaining about carpet stains, and they were there if you looked for them, but a carpet stain will never distract me from enjoying my cruise! Dining areas were clean, and someone was always patrolling the area to take away trays and dishes. Lounges were well staffed and cozy. Our favorite was the America’s Cup Lounge, on Deck 11. Michael’s Club, which is no longer a cigar bar, was the least used of the lounges. The pool area was well kept, and chair hoggers got up early to claim their spots, sometimes reserving 10 to 15 chairs in one spot. We heard A LOT of complaining about this, and saw several arguments. I am not an early riser on cruises, so we end up on the top deck, which is just fine with us. We were upgraded to an outside cabin, # 5167, Europa Deck, all the way at the back. Our cabin had an excellent view from the back of the ship. The only drawback to being in the back was the vibration when we pulled into port, and the winches that operate the mooring lines were just above our room. The rest of the time the room was quiet. The noise served as an alarm clock, telling us it was time to get up and get off the ship.

Service: Absolutely the best service we have ever encountered on any of our cruises! Everyone was friendly, helpful, and greeted you with a big smile. Peter, our cabin steward, was always around the area, but never got in your way. It was obvious that he knew when we were out of the cabin, because it was always clean and neat upon our return. Our waiter, Fernando, and his assistant, Omar, were quite attentive, and quickly learned what we liked and disliked. We saw them all over the ship, and they were quick to come over and say hello. Our favorite bar waiter, Elisio, who worked in the America’s Cup Lounge. He kept us well supplied with our favorite drinks(martinis). All of the ship’s officers and staff were sociable and always smiling.

Food: Incredible! The food was awesome! Some of the finest we have ever had on a cruise ship! I can’t think of anything we didn’t like. I gained 8 pounds during this cruise! We ate all of our dinners in the main dining room, and all other meals at the buffet lines. Entrée’s were delicious and looked as good as they tasted. The last formal night was the night of the Grand Buffet. We had late seating, so it was hard to partake of all the neat foods that were displayed, but I did find room to stuff in a few more chunks of lobster. The midnight bites were a welcome treat, as they were served by wandering waiters around the ship. The Sorbet on Parade was at 2:30 each afternoon on sea days. The waiters marched around the pool, and then served the delicious treat to the many hot sun worshippers on deck. The grill, found on Deck 11 aft, had tasty hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza. Ice cream was served from a machine, as well as hand scooped ice cream and sorbets during the afternoon. The Sushi bar, open 6-9 pm, was well visited. There were several food demonstrations on board, and were fun and well presented.

Entertainment: The cruise director was John Howell. We had previously sailed with John on the Zenith. He is definitely an asset for Celebrity. John was always smiling, and was very approachable. Constantly talking to passengers at all times of the day and night, we wondered when he slept. We even got him to smoke a few cigars with us at night. The pool band, Exodus, was the best that we have heard. They could play any type of music. They were met with shouts of MORE! MORE! when they retired from playing in the afternoon. The Celebrity singers and dancers were talented and entertaining. The Salute to Broadway show was the best, and the costumes rivaled any Broadway show. The cruise director’s wife, Gail, was one of the featured singers. My wife participated in the Lip Sync show, and it was one of the funniest shows. The comedian was OK, but not the best I’ve seen. The magician was both funny and entertaining. The pianist that played one evening was the only show I didn’t like. While I know she was talented, it just didn’t appeal to me. I was glad it only lasted 30 minutes. One of the featured singers, Rodi Alexander, was energetic and fun to listen to. There were several small groups that played in the different lounges. They all seemed to be gifted entertainers. The casino is small, but still took in a lot of donations. We are not gamblers, but did spend $5 at the slot machines. It lasted 4 ½ minutes. Bingo seemed to draw a nice crowd, but we didn’t participate. Karaoke nights were well attended and fun. There were about 300 kids on the ship, due to it being Spring Break/Easter week. You hardly knew the smaller kids were there. The staff seemed to have plenty for them to do. The teenagers, well, were teenagers. They enjoyed pushing all the elevator buttons, so we just used the stairs more, which wasn’t such a bad thing considering the amount of food we consumed each day.

Ports of Call: As usual, we opted to do our own thing when we arrived in port. Most ship excursions are just too crowded and expensive for us.
Grand Cayman: We tendered in here, and spent the day at 7 mile Beach. It wasn’t very crowded, as we were the only ship in port that day. Most of the stores were closed because it was Palm Sunday, so shopping was slow(good for me, not so good for the wife).
Puerto Limon, Costa Rica: We hired a young lady to take us around for a tour of the area. We were taken to an animal shelter for animals that were being treated before being released back to the wild. We got to hold and play with some of the animals. Next we went to the Del Monte Banana Plantation where we observed banana harvesting and processing. We spent about an hour riding around the area, with explanations from our guide about the different sights we were seeing. She dropped us off at a local supermarket so we could buy coffee. It was cheaper there than the stores around the ship’s dock area. We spent the rest of the day shopping/looking in the city before heading back to the ship.
Colon, Panama: We headed straight for the taxi area when we arrived. Prices were a little steep, so we walked deeper into the city. We found a driver that would charge our party of four $10 each for a tour of the Gatun Locks and surrounding area. The Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal were impressive. It’s hard to believe the technology and equipment is 100 years old and still working. After spending a couple of hours watching the ships go through, our driver took us by a shopping area, then by a nice hotel to shop at, and then by an animal hospital. The driver dropped us off near the dock, and we spent the rest of our time shopping.
Roatan, Honduras: It was Good Friday, and we were the only ship there, so we got to dock at the small pier. I had booked a tour with Salt & Pepper tours before leaving home. As promised, a driver was waiting for our party of four at the dock. We were driven to the West Bay area, where we met our host, Paul David at his resort. Paul had a boat pick us up for a snorkel trip to the Blue Channel. The channel is not far from shore, so a boat wasn’t really necessary, but made the trip faster. Snorkeling was awesome. The water was crystal clear, and we had the area all to ourselves. About the time we were leaving the channel, other boats and divers showed up. We had an excellent lobster lunch. After swimming and snorkeling a little more, we were taken back to the ship, where we shopped at a few shops near the dock.
Cozumel: We’ve been to Cozumel several times, so we usually take it easy at this port.
My wife and her friend spent the day shopping, while my friend and I kept the stools warm at the bar inside the La Casa Del Habano Cigar store. Mojito’s there are great. We picked up a few Cubans before finding the girls and heading back to the ship.

Disembarkation: We had our luggage out in the hall by midnight on the last night of our cruise. We had gray tags, and our meeting time to get off of the ship was about 9:15 am in the show lounge. We were in the show lounge at the appointed time, and the announcement for our color came at 9:35. The customs officers checked each passengers’ passport/id’s more thoroughly than other cruises before. We were in the car and headed home at 10:00am.

Unusual Stuff: First, we were invited to eat at the Captain’s table on the first formal night. We’ve never been asked on any of our other cruises. I’m not sure how we got picked, but it was a nice dinner. Plenty of wine was served, and the Captain was a pleasure to eat with. Next, while we were cruising at sea, a passenger spotted a man in a small boat waving his arms. The ship turned around and found he had run out of gas. They gave him some gas and he went on his way. This guy was way out in the ocean in a 16 ft Jon boat! I hope he knew where he was going. On the next to last day of our cruise, we awoke to the smell of something burning, and there was some smoke in the hall! We found out that there was some welding going on above, and some insulation was smoldering. We were told they were doing some preliminary welding for the balcony additions that are coming later in the fall. Still, it was a little scary for a few moments!

Overall: Our experience aboard the Horizon was incredible. The staff of the Horizon made this our best cruise ever! This is the cruise that we’ll compare the rest of our cruises to.

REBELJOHN
Constitution '89 Meridian '90
Norway '91 Celebration '93
Zenith 11/01 Sensation 5/02
Century 11/02 Atlantica 03/03
Zaandam 11/03 Horizon 4/04

[Richard Stein]

Good reveiw: Been on this ship to Bermuda before and doing it on labor day week and driving to Norfolk.

Horizon, 9/5/04, Sapphire Princess, 6/13/004 ?
Zuiderdam-2003, Constellation -2003, Infinity-2002, Vision of the Seas-2002,
Mercury-2001, Norwegian Sky-2000, Horizon-2000, Ryndam-1999, Grand Princess-1999, Westerdam-1998, Grand Princess-1998, Oriania-1997
1985-1996-3-HAL, 1-RCCL, 2-NCL, 11-Princess, 1-Royal, 1-Cunard

[Katie H]

Rebeljohn-
Thanks for the great review.

Richard Stein-
Are you on the 9/5 sailing? If so, please sign in on our roll call thread. There are only 6 of us there so far.
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=9243096327&m=8263072577"]Horizon 9/5/04 Roll Call[/url]
Any one else reading this review who is booked for 9/5, please sign in.

Marylou
[email]katieh77@earthlink.net[/email]

[email]katieh77@earthlink.net[/email]

[mcmarya]

Thanks for taking the time to write a great review. This ship and itinerary make for a wonderful cruise.

[Lois R]

Hi John...great review[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]..sailing her for the first time in September...5 months away...after reading how good of a time you had...I am ready to go NOW [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
And...great photos too!

Next up...HORIZON Sept 18th to Bermuda!

See My Century and Mercury Pictures at:
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising"]http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising[/url]

[JDee]

John: Thanks for taking time for the review and glad you had a great time. Also did the HORIZON a few months ago and also enjoyed it.

Do have a question. You mention Exodus band was great, and I certainly would agree, but I thought I had read that they were now on the Cunard line QE2. Just wondering.....

Happy cruising.....

[Guest]

John,

thanks for the thorough review and glad to hear about your upgrade! We look forward to sailing on the Horizon next year on your same itinerary.

Jubilee 1991 Solar Eclipse
Century FO 1996 E Carib
Mercury FO 1998 W Carib
Galaxy SS 2000 Alaska IP
Infinity FV 2002 S Carib
Horizon HS 3/05 W Carib

[rebeljohn]

JDee.....Exodus was the name of the band by the pool, at least they were last week.

mahdnc...You will love the way the itinery is laid out. Sea Days are placed just right!

Lois R.....You'll love the ship and it's staff!

REBELJOHN
Constitution '89 Meridian '90
Norway '91 Celebration '93
Zenith 11/01 Sensation 5/02
Century 11/02 Atlantica 03/03
Zaandam 11/03 Horizon 4/04

[teedee]

Jaydee - I heard the pool band on QM2 is Xstacy, but don't know if that's true. They were on the Century during my last cruise and they were great!

Terri

Skyward - 1989
Carnivale - 1991
Holiday - 1994
Fantasy - 1998
Century - 2002
Century - 2003
Inspiration - 7/04
Century - 9/04
Coral Princess 3/05

[silkismom]

Hi John, thanks for the review, brought back many memories. We're finally back home and its SNOWING outside, supposed to get 12-24" this weekend--good old CO, always something new, it was in the 70's when we left in Mar. Ann

Norway 12/80, Bergen (Norway)6/86, NCL Skyward 9/88, Royal Princess 12/90, CrownPrincess 9/91, Song of America 10/92, Fair Princess 10/94, NCL Seaward 10/95, Imagination 6/95,Inspiration 4/96, Island Princess 12/95, Ryndam 5/97, NCL Star 12/97, NCL Crown 5/99, NCL Dream 3/00, Royal Princess 12/00, Sensation 10/00, Olympic Countess 5/01, Volendam 12/01, Sandpiper(Yangtze River) 7/02, NCL Wind 12/02,Tahitian Princess 4/03 Horizon 4/04, Royal Princess 6/04

[emptynest1]

Rebeljohn, thanks for the comments. I am going to Bermuda end of May and appreciate the heads up on what to expect on Horizon.

Silkismom, I grew up near Woodland Park, your snow story just brought back a flood of memories.

[img]http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/tier/cool1.gif[/img]

[marco]

We did that trip in January, and loved it. As for Exodus, they were supposed to be on at least until the 10 dayers out of Tampa concluded. They did not know at that time if they were going to still be on when it swtiched to the Bermuda run which I think, starts this or next week.

[silkismom]

Empty--we lived in Roanoke Rapids NC in the 70s--we thought that was the "middle of nowhere" [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Norway 12/80, Bergen (Norway)6/86, NCL Skyward 9/88, Royal Princess 12/90, CrownPrincess 9/91, Song of America 10/92, Fair Princess 10/94, NCL Seaward 10/95, Imagination 6/95,Inspiration 4/96, Island Princess 12/95, Ryndam 5/97, NCL Star 12/97, NCL Crown 5/99, NCL Dream 3/00, Royal Princess 12/00, Sensation 10/00, Olympic Countess 5/01, Volendam 12/01, Sandpiper(Yangtze River) 7/02, NCL Wind 12/02,Tahitian Princess 4/03 Horizon 4/04, Royal Princess 6/04

[RCLforever]

Ws on HOrion lst summer NY to BErmuda-- Loved that Martini Bar and Sanghi (?sp) the bartender! and also, the photographer was a riot!!!!
I wanna go back......

[rebeljohn]

emptynest1......We loved the ship so much, we're thinking about doing the fall Bermuda run out of Norfolk. Let us know how Bermuda is.
........John

REBELJOHN
Constitution '89 Meridian '90
Norway '91 Celebration '93
Zenith 11/01 Sensation 5/02
Century 11/02 Atlantica 03/03
Zaandam 11/03 Horizon 4/04

[Lois R]

John[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] go with us on Sept 18th!! We have a small but fun Roll Call going now [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]....we are going to have a blast!!!

Next up...HORIZON Sept 18th to Bermuda!

See My Century and Mercury Pictures at:
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising"]http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising[/url]

[rebeljohn]

Lois........We'll look into it. That's close to my birthday(16th). We haven't received our work schedules yet, so we probably won't book anything until then, about June or so.....John

REBELJOHN
Constitution '89 Meridian '90
Norway '91 Celebration '93
Zenith 11/01 Sensation 5/02
Century 11/02 Atlantica 03/03
Zaandam 11/03 Horizon 4/04

[Lois R]

John...great birthday gift!!! Mercury last month was 3 days after my birthday...a cruise is the most awesome present [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Next up...HORIZON Sept 18th to Bermuda!

See My Century and Mercury Pictures at:
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising"]http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising[/url]