Just back from Horizon to Bermuda

[CaptainG]

Got back this morning from a great 7 day trip to Bermuda. When we booked this trip we were a bit apprehensive about the age of the Horizon and the lack of verandas. This was our 4th cruise but the first in a ship without them. As it turned out, we sorely missed having a veranda on the "at sea" days because it was difficult to find a shady outdoor place to sit and read.

 

On the bright side, the ship is clean and has been well cared for. On an even brighter note, the food, particularly in the Starlight Dining room, was much better than what we've had on any of our previous cruises (RCCL, Celebrity and Princess).

 

Service on the ship was great, entertainment was good in the lounges, a good singer and a good comedian in the show room. I could do without the big song and dance production numbers though.

 

Bermuda a a lovely place where my wife and I never felt at risk when exploring and sightseeing.

 

We highly recommend this ship and itinerary.

 

The ship arrived over and hour late in Philadelphia, due, I suppose, to code Orange safety concerns. Our trip up the Delaware river was quite slow (<10 knots) and we picked up an armed Coast Guard escort at the Delaware Memorial Bridge which stayed with us all the way to the Philly Cruise Terminal.

 

Thank You Celebrity

[hdawson]

CaptainG. I couldn't agree more. I sailed this beautiful lady in Feb on a ten day iten. It was my second time on her. In many respects, the best of the fleet. The crew certainly does take great pride in her and the service they can provide on a smaller ship. Also the galley seems to do even better than Celebrity's usual preparing for fewer people. I hate to see her leaving but glad Zenith will take over that Ultimate Western iten next fall. (06) I hate to think she will be replaced with a 120,000 ton behemouth. No announcement yet.

[Andy]

CaptainG. I couldn't agree more. I sailed this beautiful lady in Feb on a ten day iten. It was my second time on her. In many respects, the best of the fleet. The crew certainly does take great pride in her and the service they can provide on a smaller ship. Also the galley seems to do even better than Celebrity's usual preparing for fewer people. I hate to see her leaving but glad Zenith will take over that Ultimate Western iten next fall. (06) I hate to think she will be replaced with a 120,000 ton behemouth. No announcement yet.

 

Hi Hdawson !

 

I agree. While I do hope Celebrity will order some new ships, I do not want to see Zenith go away. I already feel it was a huge mistake to get rid of Horizon, especially as it is clear that these ships CAN be updated very nicely. I hope Celebrity will hang on to Zenith for a while longer.

 

I also hope that Celebrity will consider doing to Zenith, what they plan for Century. I know it is not likely, but after all.... why not ?

 

As for 120,000 ton ships.... if that is what it takes for Celebrity to have new ships, then so be it. I hope they wind up being more along the 90,000-110,000 ton size. IMHO, bigger is not always better.

 

Hopefully, it wont be very long, before we will hear some news about newbuilds. Stay Tuned !

[tuggers]

I did 28 days on this ship a couple of months ago and am doing a b2b starting 9/10. I love this ship! Hate to see her go, but for now I will continue to book Zenith as long as I can!

[jascruise]

Glad to hear that you had a good time and that the ship is still well cared for. We've done Horizon to Bermuda in the past and wanted to do it one more time before she is sold, so we've booked the 8/20 sailing. We are eagerly looking forward to it.

[cljjkelly]

Captain G, I never got to meet you. I kept hoping someone would recognize us and say hello, and I oftem thought of just standing up on Deck 12 and yelling, "Hey, Captain G..."

 

We had a great time and loved snorkeling. The kids wouldn't do the kids program and the older one cut his foot on the steps to the whirlpool, but medical took care of him and he wore a sock on that foot for the rest of the cruise like a tweisted Michael Jackson.

 

We loved the food, too, but wished they had had fruit punch after 6 for the kids and chicken nuggets. The midnight bufet was amazing...my oldest stayed up with me for it. Daddy had a rum and gambling binge, so he was sleeping.

 

The ship is certainly showing signs of wear, but was always being spiffed up. I thought it was a great group of PAX's. Everyone was happy, no stinking drunks, good mix of ages.

 

I am still rocking a little, and keep referring to Bermuda as "here", not "there."

[CaptainG]

cljjkelly

 

Hope your cruise was as good as ours. We took my 85 year old mother. She had a blast. She won a $400 slots jackpot on the last night and then they gave her a free drink (Pina Colada) that she took to the cabin as a nightcap. Overall, she was up over $500 for the cruise. Now she's talking about another cruise.

 

I understand that they took on some passengers via Pilot boat that missed the ship in Hamilton. Did you hear any details on this???

 

CaptainG

[cljjkelly]

Yes, we saw the five get on...it was a family of five, and they "welcomed" them back poolside! They were pretty embarrassed, but what a story to tell when they got home. I wouldn't have minded being stuck in Bermuda. Most of the time, my husband was musing about what he could do on the island so we could stay! He played blackjack, never won big, but never lost big, either.

[CaptainG]

I heard that someone was rushed back to the ship in St Georges with a pretty badly cut foot. I also saw a teenage girl limping around on Friday with some pretty ugly scrapes and cuts on her legs. Looked like she might have had a scooter accident.

 

Hope your son's injury isn't too bad.

 

CaptainG

[slotaddict]

I have been on the Horizon 4 times, the first being her inagural year, it is a wonderful ship and I too am sorry to see her go. I booked a trip on the Zenith, I hope things are as good on her as the Horizon. I have read about her plumbing problems and hope they can take care of that while she is in drydock. Thanks for the great review of a great ship.

[cljjkelly]

Captain G:

 

That was the girl that got four stitches. After my son's cut, we had gone down to get more band-aids and there was an older teen (or so it looked) being treated for some road rash from a scooter accident.

 

Funny thing about the cut...they almost made me write that I did not want to file an accident report. I mean, I did not want to anyway, and they did not charge for medical care, but I did feel a little pressure. My son somehow sliced the skin off the outside ball of his foot. While the hospital staff kept saying it would heal back, I knew that it was primarily a callous and that it would dry up and, sure enough, he's got nice new skin where the old skin was and the flap has been removed. He hates for me to talk about it...I don't think he's got a future in medicine.

 

Who were your favorite passengers? Mine were the dancing lady...I talked to her almost every day and never got her name...and the brave dad who was not afraid to make a fool out of himself and be Mr. Horizon! I also loved the twin moms and their families! There were such a nice bunch of people!

 

Sigh...I have had unyielding cravings for multiple desserts...wish I was back on board!

[cruisebliss]

I am glad to have cruised on Horizon before she leaves the fleet. I cruised on her last year and had a wonderful time. She is very clean and well cared for.

[skyview851]

Can you recent travelers give me an idea of the dress code order for this cruise? I am guessing that at sea days are formal, but I read on another thread that there was only 1 informal nite & the rest were casual. With our cruise coming up, I have to start thinking about what to pack!

 

Thanks for any help!

[cljjkelly]

I know that formal was the second day and I think the last full day in Bermuda. Casual is the first and last night, and I think the rest were informal. Casual and informal are almost the same for women, but informal means the men wear jackets/ties. There are thousands of threads about what to wear, but you will see casual and informal overlapping. Just no shorts in the dining room! BTW, DO NOT miss the tea!!! they had this two or three times in the Coral Cafe and once in the main dining room at 4 pm. Okay, so I have an obsession with things that come in little sizes, but these were the best little sandwiches and desserts I have ever had. After the first tea, I didn't even go to dinner!

[skyview851]

Thanks for the dress info. Since I am packing for 3 men, (DH & sons) I was trying to figure out how many sportcoats/ties I needed to pack. I was hoping to get away with 1 each, but if there are 3 informal nites, I may need to pack 2 each.

I have never tried the afternoon tea that X offers, but after reading your comments, I will try it.

It's been 20+ years since I visited Bermuda, so if you have any "don't miss" sights or excursions to recommend, I would love to hear about them.

[CaptainG]

Went back through the Celebrity Today's

 

Saturday - Casual

Sunday - Formal (at Sea)

Monday - Casual (St. Georges)

Tuesday - Informal (Hamilton)

Wednesday - Informal (Hamilton)

Thursday - Formal (Depart Hamilton at 1:00pm)

Friday - Casual (At Sea)

 

CaptainG

[BrooklynGirl2]

It's interesting to note that I was on the same cruise in June...only it was on the Zenith and we had only ONE informal night, 2 Formal nights and 4 casual nights. I wonder why? In fact I packed for two informal nights ... following the cruise literature I was sent by Celebrity. It didn't really matter as I love to dress up anyway and that is what we did for one of the casual nights.

[Rosie1]

Thanks CaptG! That helps! One jacket per person should do it! That leaves me more room to pack MY stuff :)

[greenacres]

Hi. This may sound silly but please tell the difference between informal and casual for both male and female. Thanking you in advance

[patrioticgirl]

Hi. This may sound silly but please tell the difference between informal and casual for both male and female. Thanking you in advance

Hope this helps:

Formal:

Ladies: A dressy outfit. Formal gown or cocktail dress.

Gentlemen: Dark Suit and tie, dinner jacket or tuxedo. (There were quite a few men in tuxedo.)

Informal:

Ladies: Informal dress, or pants and blouse. Informal is more along the lines of simple short length cocktail or very "dressed up" everyday sort of dresses, silk blouses and slacks, or nice coordinated dressy pantsuits ... with nice sandals or heels. Very few were in plain old "pants and blouse," so to speak. Shoes were nice sandals or heels.)

Gentlemen: Jacket, slacks. No jeans.

Casual:

Ladies: dress, pantsuit, or sporty outfit. (Casual does not mean shorts... a no-no. Plan on short sleeve casual dresses and sundresses, capri coordinated outfits, nicely fitted slacks and matching tops.The one evening I wore a pair of khaki slacks with a short sleeved silky sweater and slip on flat sandals, I felt underdressed.)

Gentlemen: Sports shirt and slacks.

[janine543]

CaptainG:

 

Which side of the ship was your cabin? Was your cabin facing the port in Hamilton or facing out to sea?

 

I'd appreciate your reply....I'm getting ready to book my cabin on a Sept. sailing.

 

Janine

[CaptainG]

We were port side. In St. Georges we faced land but there isn't much of a view from deck 5. In Hamilton the ship was docked on her starboard side so we had a view of the harbor.

 

Wind and weather will often determine which way a ship docks, so it's pretty hard to predict which side to reserve.

 

CaptainG

[CaptainG]

In either port it really doesn't matter what side you are on. Both are relatively small harbors so there is no view "Out to Sea". The side of the ship away from the port in Hamilton has a nice view of the harbor and some pretty houses on the hills of the other side. The same sort of holds true for St Georges.

 

CaptainG

[CaptainG]

Whatever you do, make sure you are on deck for the entry into both St George's and Hamilton harbors. Both Harbor entrances are very tight for a ship the size of the Horizon and there is a special greeting waiting for you as you enter St. Georges. Make sure you have a view of the Starboard bow and side.

 

CaptainG

[CDR S]

Captain G. I am pleased to hear your comments, I too am very apprehensive about going on this small older ship. I just took a 9 nite cruise on the Summit in Jan and LOVED it. The interline price is right @700 PP. I am going to look at it as a clean comfortable ride to Bermuda with meals and a roof over my head. I cannot say I am too excited about the orange decorum :eek: but hey! Any other words of wisdom?

 

thanks

CDR S