Review of 10/6/18 Horizon Cruise

[VegasMark]

After reading so many negative reviews, I feel the obligation to post this review here.  I'm happy to answer any questions, and I'd love to hear from those who had a negative experience to see where things went wrong.  My review follows:

 

After reading countless negative reviews of the Carnival Horizon, I feel the need to clear the air.  This was my 29th cruise, and one of my top few.  I traveled with my octogenarian, but very active father.  He's a lifelong Bostonian, and I live in Albuquerque.  We sailed an 8 day cruise to Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten on 10/6/18.

 

My Dad stayed for a few nights before the cruise at the Fountainbleu Hotel on Miami Beach.  I can't speak to it personally, but he really enjoyed it, and has stayed there multiple times.

 

The ship was one of the major draws for us, as we like all the cool things you can do on the Horizon.  We were quite disappointed when we got an email a few days prior to sailing stating that the Sky Ride would be down for the duration of our cruise.  We were lucky that they got it up and running on the fourth day, but more on that later.  The bottom line is that the ship did not disappoint.  She is a beautiful ship that was very well maintained.

 

The activities on the ship were many.  If you happened to read my Splendor review from June, you'd know that besides one ping pong tournament, there were no organized sports activities.  I wasn't sure if this was a trend for Carnival, but I'm happy to report that there were several different sports tournaments:  ping pong once, dodgeball scheduled three times but played twice due to rain one day, volleyball twice, soccer once I believe, and basketball knockout twice.  I think there were also pool games one day.  Besides the staff run tournaments, there were plenty of other activities.  The aforementioned Sky Ride was a thrill.  The lines could get long, so I'd suggest either going early or on a port day.  The Sky Course was also a lot of fun.  My Dad and I did each several times.  The wait for the Sky Course ranged from 0-5 minutes.  I'd recommend doing the course without grabbing your harness for support.  Most people did the course while holding their own harness, and it defeats the purpose of the obstacles.  The mini golf course was one of the best at sea.  They also had cornhole, foosball, ping pong, billiards, and soccer billiards (that will be a new one to most, as it was to us).  I also played several rounds of trivia of various subjects.  The staff did an excellent job hosting these events.

 

Service onboard was excellent.  Our room steward was very capable.  We had My Time Dining, and ate at around 6:45 most nights (which I'd consider around the peak time).  We only waited on one night for about 15 minutes (the first formal night).  All other nights we were assigned a table right away.  All of our waiters (and we had different ones each night) were exceptional.  Food was delivered quickly and our orders were always correct.  Food was not always piping hot, but that is to be expected given the circumstances of serving several thousand guests.  

 

Speaking of dining, the food was really great.  Horizon shines at lunch time.  One negative thing that I read about before sailing was that the wait times at lunch venues was intolerable.  I can tell you that for my sailing, we hardly waited at all, and we tried all of the lunch options.  Our faves were probably Guy's BBQ and Guy's Burgers, but there isn't a bad choice in the bunch.  I love the menu options in the main dining room - there are so many good choices that I ate way too much!  I'm a lover of Royal Caribbean as well, and I have to say that Carnival far exceeds Royal in the MDR.  Royal only has a few selections of each category, while Carnival has double the options.  They even have special menu items based on the port you were in each day.  Oh - check out the buffet at lunch, even if you eat elsewhere.  They have 5-6 awesome cakes and a couple types of gelato, all of which are different each day.

 

We stayed in an interior cabin on the 8th deck in the center of the ship.  This was a very quiet area and we were easily able to get to the Lido deck only two floors up and the entertainment decks just a few decks down.  The cabin was simple but very functional with two desktops and two 110v plugs, two USB plugs, and a European outlet.  The fridge in the room was empty (as it was on Splendor), so you don't have to mess with freeing space for your own stuff.  The beds were very comfortable.

 

The entertainment on this ship is arguably the best in the Carnival fleet.  I'd still say that Royal holds an edge here on Oasis Class ships, but Carnival's singer/dancer shows were extraordinary.  I read reviews that said the show venue is too small and has poor sightlines.  This is true, but if you arrive 20-30 minutes before the show starts, you will get great seats.  The performers frequently come into the audience to perform, and it results in a really great show - as long as you get there early.  The same goes for the comedy shows.  For the late night performances, you definitely need to get there at least 15 minutes early to get a seat.  The earlier shows do not fill up, so you can arrive just before showtime.  I do love how Carnival offers so many comedy shows on their ships.

 

We had late flights heading out of town, so we booked the Carnival Everglades trip with airport drop off.  This was a great trip at a very fair price.  The only negative is that you have to meet to get off the ship at 7:45am.  I wish they offered a later option for people with really late flights like us.  We were at the airport around 12:30pm, about five hours prior to our flights.

 

All in all, we had an excellent trip at a great value.  I look forward to cruising the Horizon or a sister ship in the future.

[NillaB]

Thank you - we will be on the Horizon in February and I enjoyed reading a positive review. 

May I ask about the airport transfer tour to Everglades (which I am considering for the same reason). Did you get priority luggage tags the last day, or how did that work?

[jimbo5544]

Nice review, we sailed the Horizon in July and loved her.  

[Mellylucy]

Thank you for this great and positive review. 

We sail the same itinerary dec. 1st on the Horizon. Do you happen to have the Fun Times and if so can you post them.

 

TIA.

 

[uttu]

Thanks for the positive review! I would love to see the Fun times too if you have them. We have similar itinerary coming up soon.

[VegasMark]

10 hours ago, NillaB said:

Thank you - we will be on the Horizon in February and I enjoyed reading a positive review. 

May I ask about the airport transfer tour to Everglades (which I am considering for the same reason). Did you get priority luggage tags the last day, or how did that work?

When we first got to our cabin, we had an envelope with tickets, an instruction letter, and #3 luggage tags. You will meet in the assigned location and exit the ship in a group with whatever luggage you didn't check. You will grab any checked luggage, clear customs, and get directed to your bus. We had one full bus that went directly to the Everglades and then stopped at FLL first and then MIA. I assume if they had more than one bus load, there would be a separate bus for each airport. Even with the stop at FLL, we were inside MIA before 1pm. Make sure you dress for the Everglades - it was hot and humid, but no pesky bugs in the daylight (at least on a sunny day).

[VegasMark]

1 hour ago, uttu said:

Thanks for the positive review! I would love to see the Fun times too if you have them. We have similar itinerary coming up soon.

Sorry, I did not retain the Fun Times. However, someone did a live review recently on an 8 day with different ports that might be helpful. That person posted the Fun Times for that voyage. 

[mdin]

Thanks for the review. My family and I will be sailing the same itinerary in February. We are looking forward to it.

[MsMot]

We sailed the Horizon on September 22nd.  While we were in line waiting to embark, Carnival representatives were passing out letters letting us know the sky ride would be down for the duration of our cruise.  That was very disappointing as I had my grandson traveling with us.  This was the worst embarkation experience I have ever had.  We arrived at the port at our appointed time of 11:30 AM and did not finally get on the ship until 2:30!  We stood in the sweltering heat all that time.  They were still debarking the previous cruise at 2:00PM.  

 

Sounds like you had a better experience than us as far as the food goes.  The food in the dining room was lack luster, most of the time we left most of the food on our plates.  The lido deck food was horrible!  The best things were Guys, the pizza and the tacos.  Those were the only things we ate the entire week.  Like you, I found the staff to be awesome!

[NillaB]

1 hour ago, VegasMark said:

When we first got to our cabin, we had an envelope with tickets, an instruction letter, and #3 luggage tags. You will meet in the assigned location and exit the ship in a group with whatever luggage you didn't check. You will grab any checked luggage, clear customs, and get directed to your bus. We had one full bus that went directly to the Everglades and then stopped at FLL first and then MIA. I assume if they had more than one bus load, there would be a separate bus for each airport. Even with the stop at FLL, we were inside MIA before 1pm. Make sure you dress for the Everglades - it was hot and humid, but no pesky bugs in the daylight (at least on a sunny day).

Thank you.  I did think it must be something like that. 

And thanks for the reminder about Everglades 😊

Can't wait for our cruise!

Edited October 23, 2018 by NillaB
Forgot something

[VegasMark]

31 minutes ago, MsMot said:

We sailed the Horizon on September 22nd.  While we were in line waiting to embark, Carnival representatives were passing out letters letting us know the sky ride would be down for the duration of our cruise.  That was very disappointing as I had my grandson traveling with us.  This was the worst embarkation experience I have ever had.  We arrived at the port at our appointed time of 11:30 AM and did not finally get on the ship until 2:30!  We stood in the sweltering heat all that time.  They were still debarking the previous cruise at 2:00PM.  

 

Sounds like you had a better experience than us as far as the food goes.  The food in the dining room was lack luster, most of the time we left most of the food on our plates.  The lido deck food was horrible!  The best things were Guys, the pizza and the tacos.  Those were the only things we ate the entire week.  Like you, I found the staff to be awesome!

It sounds like there must have been an issue with the previous cruise for there to be that sort of delay. 

As for food on the Lido deck, did you try the pasta bar or the Mongolian wok? Both were fresh, made to order, and with simple ingredients that would be hard to mess up. We might have to agree to disagree on the food quality, which is subjective.

[mj]

Nice review.  Looking to try Horizon as one of my next Carnival cruises.

[BENHANDEL]

Thank you! We sail her at Christmas and I love seeing more positive reviews!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[IntrepidFromDC]

We sailed the Horizon out of NYC for 8 days while it was scarred from taking out a section of a parking garage in Manhattan.  I agree!  I think it's all about perception... do I miss the grander atriums with glass elevators... yes.  But Horizon adds SO MUCH NEW Carnival Fun and better food!  Three of the pay restaurants are FREE at lunch and the quality is GREAT!  The Seuss waterpark, the skyride, other things and don't forget the AWESOME broadway-style/musical performances!  Best I've ever seen on a Carnival ship!  All the new excellent quality pay for restaurants is exactly the direction I was hoping Carnival would take and Horizon made me love Carnival more than ever!  Oh... large flat-screen HD tv's!

[wiskt]

Great review and glad you saw the positive side of this ship like I did.  I was also on this sailing and have to agree.  The HORIZON is a beautiful ship and I am already looking to re-book a sailing in possibly DEC for the other itinerary it does.    I just submitted my lengthy review.   It's primarily about the SHIP and what it offers.   I also submit my reviews to the cruise lines as feedback.    

 

My favorite thing aboard by far was the NEW AGE TRIO- Electric violinists.  BRAVO.    They were captivating.  Its nice to see Carnival continuing to add quality side entertainment.

 

I did not particularly like the new floor seating in the theater.  I understand the want to bring the performers into the audience, but the lack of drink tables and tight chair formations.  MEH.      

 

The new SMART ELEVATORS work well when smart passengers take the time to learn and use them.    I tend to use the stairs but I did try the elevators a couple times for my review.    Most of the time there were passengers just crowding in to whatever doors opened up without following the instructions.  Then complained when it was not going where they wanted and/or that there were no buttons inside to choose a floor.   

 

My review should be up once approved in a coupe days.     Safe travels onward everyone. 

[laumicmah]

Thanks for the review. I was also on this cruise and did a review. LOL...a  lot of us around (another gal did one too).

I enjoyed the Horizon (been on many Carnival ships and classes). I LOVED the havana section we booked. Loved that everything we needed was all mid-aft deck 5. Pretty much. We did not find the MDR all that great (ate 4/8 dinners there). The food was good to so-so and our dinners took close to 2 hours. We had your-time but went around 5:30 each time. Though we never waited more than a couple minutes for our table...we always checked in on the Hub app (liked having that app). We did 4 pay places for dinner too and those were outstanding. We felt the buffet was meh for lunch BUT there were many other great options like Guy's burgers, BBQ, pizza, wok upstairs (we never made it to the pasta bar, when I tried the line was way long) and the pay seafood counter (also didn't try the taco place as the line was always way long). There is a great variety of food on that ship, for sure. And yes, a lot to do too. It was probably too much for us and too big a ship. There was a lot we never got around to doing. Probably a bit too long for us too. Also didn't like the port of Miami...very chaotic. We have the Legend and Paradise on our radar (out of Tampa). And we had a noisy cabin location, right over top of the havana stage that played Latin music until 1am. Will be more careful about that in the future. Loved that Havana area though...so maybe we'll have to venture back on a Vista class. I do give the cruise a solid B if grading it. It wasn't our very best but not awful. 

Edited October 24, 2018 by laumicmah

[JaniceB]

Thank you for your positive review, looking forward to trying the Horizon next year.

[Jenjer]

Thank You for your review.

 

Any entrees that stand out that you really enjoyed?

 

 

[Jenjer]

I have another question

 

Is there anyplace or time to get crepes on ship?

[VegasMark]

2 hours ago, Jenjer said:

I have another question

 

Is there anyplace or time to get crepes on ship?

I don't recall seeing crepes on the ship. As for entrees, nothing really stands out because it was all so good and I ordered so much! I also really like the port day breakfast menu - there are many good options. 

[VegasMark]

16 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

We sailed the Horizon out of NYC for 8 days while it was scarred from taking out a section of a parking garage in Manhattan.  I agree!  I think it's all about perception... do I miss the grander atriums with glass elevators... yes.  But Horizon adds SO MUCH NEW Carnival Fun and better food!  Three of the pay restaurants are FREE at lunch and the quality is GREAT!  The Seuss waterpark, the skyride, other things and don't forget the AWESOME broadway-style/musical performances!  Best I've ever seen on a Carnival ship!  All the new excellent quality pay for restaurants is exactly the direction I was hoping Carnival would take and Horizon made me love Carnival more than ever!  Oh... large flat-screen HD tv's!

Thanks for reminding me of a couple things I forgot to mention in my review. I can't believe I didn't talk about the water slides. I was on those things multiple times every day! On the Cat's Hat (red and white one), you go down on a tube. It is slower than the other, but still fun. The second one is called Fun Things. That one is super fast and fun. These are the best cruise ship slides I've been on. I also like that although Fun Things is completely enclosed and the Cat's Hat is enclosed for the first half of it, you can still see the entire way. Two of the slides on RCL's Harmony of the Seas are totally dark, and for those of us with claustrophobia, that isn't cool.

You also reminded me of the cool video "funnel" in the atrium. Personally, I didn't miss the 8-10 story atrium, which I feel is wasted space. I did really enjoy watching the funnel and seeing the various displays. 

[VegasMark]

16 hours ago, wiskt said:

Great review and glad you saw the positive side of this ship like I did.  I was also on this sailing and have to agree.  The HORIZON is a beautiful ship and I am already looking to re-book a sailing in possibly DEC for the other itinerary it does.    I just submitted my lengthy review.   It's primarily about the SHIP and what it offers.   I also submit my reviews to the cruise lines as feedback.    

 

My favorite thing aboard by far was the NEW AGE TRIO- Electric violinists.  BRAVO.    They were captivating.  Its nice to see Carnival continuing to add quality side entertainment.

 

I did not particularly like the new floor seating in the theater.  I understand the want to bring the performers into the audience, but the lack of drink tables and tight chair formations.  MEH.      

 

The new SMART ELEVATORS work well when smart passengers take the time to learn and use them.    I tend to use the stairs but I did try the elevators a couple times for my review.    Most of the time there were passengers just crowding in to whatever doors opened up without following the instructions.  Then complained when it was not going where they wanted and/or that there were no buttons inside to choose a floor.   

 

My review should be up once approved in a coupe days.     Safe travels onward everyone. 

Loved the violins as well! Also appreciated that they used the violins in Celestial Strings and the Havana band in the Cuban show. 

[Floridastorm]

As far as the entertainment goes what specifically is available on board? In the smaller venues, clubs/bars, do they have jazz or modern groups? How about the stage type or similar venues? We are not into any of the Disney World stuff, including slides, etc. and we don't gamble. So, would be nice to be on a ship that has good entertainment and of course good food. 🎭

[laumicmah]

We did not see any theater shows. The comedian was good. They had a latin band and a duo that did cover songs and another band I didnt pay attention to. They do trivia and bingo. They have stuff like the Love and Marriage show and some dance off thing at pool along with belly flop contest. They had a white hot party in the lobby where a DJ plays dance music and the CD danced on the bar and was funny. They had a Halloween dance party...Thriller dance. There was always stuff going on. They played big movies at night on the pool big screen. I think they had other parties too...that we missed. And there was karaoke every day.