MITSUGIRLY sails off into the HORIZON-review & pictorial

[SenatorsFan]

So sorry to hear that, Kim. I'm sending you a hug.

Heather

[broberts]

3 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

What new font?

 

On some mobiles the Comic Sans MS font displays as a cursive font that can be quite difficult to read.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

13 hours ago, Cafedumonde said:

Sorry to hear that.  Winter seems to bring that on.

 

 

Thank you

 

13 hours ago, retiring soon said:

Hi all!

 

mitsugirly ~ so sorry to hear of your losses. I was just to a funeral on Saturday & am waiting to hear when my BF is having her husband's. Poor guy had cancer & could only drink Boost or others fluids for the past 6 years! I can't even imagine that!!

 

So happy to hear you're going on Freedom of the Seas & having a bigger cabin. Is it just the 3 of you this time or are some kids coming too? Last time I was on that ship was Nov 2010 so look forward to seeing any changes.

Which ports are you going to please?

 

My next cruise is a TA at the end of April on NCL Pearl. You've been on that ship haven't you?

Think Spring!!🌷

 

~ Jo ~ 😊

 

Yea, it was a bad week. One was expected (Kendras fiance's dad) and the other 3 were a tragic auto accident (one that was Kendras fiance's best friend and the other 2 his friends). It was such a devastating week. We loved them all so much and they were great people we were always with. 

 

So far...just us 3 and my cruise friend Kia and her kids (we cruise together every spring break). Kendra and family are considering as well but not 100% sure yet.

 

We are going to St Maarten, St Kitts, Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia and out of Puerto Rico (my favorite place to cruise out of). I can't wait. Antigua is new for us.

 

Yes, I was on the Pearl...maybe in 2012?

 

10 hours ago, SenatorsFan said:

So sorry to hear that, Kim. I'm sending you a hug.

Heather

 

 

Thanks so much Heather! I appreciate it.

10 hours ago, broberts said:

 

On some mobiles the Comic Sans MS font displays as a cursive font that can be quite difficult to read.

 

 

 

 

Oh yea, you are referring to the beginning of the review (I hope?). I changed it as soon as everyone noticed on the mobile. I won't use that anymore in the future and the rest of the review is regular. (I thought you meant right now).

[Time2CruiseAgain]

Oh goodness!  Can't wait to follow - we are sailing the Horizon on May 18!!!  

[FLCruise7]

Thanks for the great review, Kim.  We were on the Horizon the week before you and I saw lots of things that looked so familiar and brought back fun memories!  Lorelei did a lot of the trivia on our cruise & she was so much fun.

[mitsugirly]

On 3/6/2019 at 5:54 PM, Time2CruiseAgain said:

Oh goodness!  Can't wait to follow - we are sailing the Horizon on May 18!!!  

 

Woo hoo! I hope you love it as much as we did. She was beautiful. Happy cruising. 

 

 

On 3/6/2019 at 8:14 PM, FLCruise7 said:

Thanks for the great review, Kim.  We were on the Horizon the week before you and I saw lots of things that looked so familiar and brought back fun memories!  Lorelei did a lot of the trivia on our cruise & she was so much fun.

 

I thought Lorelei was awesome! We had a great time and loved the ship!

[CoasterGuy]

On 1/19/2019 at 1:05 PM, mitsugirly said:

I absolutely LOVED it! It was a beautiful ship. I never really care for the entertainment. We aren't really into the "song and dance" Broadway type shows. We always like it when they have a variety of different types of shows like a magician, ventriloquist and so on. Carnival never seems to have much of a variety to us. Food was pretty good. 

 

 

 

Glad you loved it. I'm not into the broadway type shows either. Entertainment for me will often consist of things like the comedy shows, quest game, and karaoke.   

[brookie848]

Kim -- Thanks so much for your awesome reviews. I learn so much from all of them. 

 

I'm starting to research our 2020 cruise. When you get a chance, can you let me know which ships you were on when you visited Aruba and Curacao (that way I can search for your threads)? Obviously this review you visited those two and I know you've done land vacations in Aruba. I'm trying to figure some things out since these will be new islands for us. 

 

Also, have you been to Bonaire? Our time in that port is short and I'm trying to figure out what we will plan on doing.

 

Thanks and enjoy your upcoming cruise out of Puerto Rico. That is definitely our favorite place to start our cruises!

[mitsugirly]

5 hours ago, brookie848 said:

Kim -- Thanks so much for your awesome reviews. I learn so much from all of them. 

 

I'm starting to research our 2020 cruise. When you get a chance, can you let me know which ships you were on when you visited Aruba and Curacao (that way I can search for your threads)? Obviously this review you visited those two and I know you've done land vacations in Aruba. I'm trying to figure some things out since these will be new islands for us. 

 

Also, have you been to Bonaire? Our time in that port is short and I'm trying to figure out what we will plan on doing.

 

Thanks and enjoy your upcoming cruise out of Puerto Rico. That is definitely our favorite place to start our cruises!

 

 

You are very welcome. 

 

We went to Aruba on the Conquest as well. Then we've had a few land vacations there too. You can go to my smugmug account and see different places we went to there. Here's the link. We went there last year too but I never put the links on my account. I should probably do that because we visited new places then as well. We absolutely love Aruba. So much to do there and so easy to get around. 

 

I haven't been able to find a cruise to Bonnaire yet during the time frame we travel. 😞 Hopefully some day I'll make it there. 

 

My favorite port to start a cruise is PR as well. I wouldn't mind doing another land vacation there too (we somewhat did 1/2 land and 1/2 cruise then back to land on one of our cruises and it was my favorite yet). 

 

Having fun planning and let me know if you have any questions. I'll see about getting my other pics up.

[LF23]

Wow, I found your review yesterday in a search for camera info... well,  there went my evening and I couldn’t wait to finish this morning!  Thank you for the time and thoughtfulness you put into this. Reading your narrative with all the great pictures is the next best thing to being on a cruise. Now I have to find all your others!  

[BBigfoot613]

On ‎12‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 10:10 AM, mitsugirly said:

PLEASE NOTE>>> My reviews are LONG...as in VERY LONG, with a lot of details, A LOT of pictures and this is the experience of my family on the cruise, sorta like a blog.

 

*So, if you are not into long reviews and want something short, sweet and to the point...this review is not for you.

 

*If you expect this review to be done quickly and you don't like to wait...this review is not for you.

 

*If you don't like personal details of our daily activities, this review is not for you.

 

*If you expect me to sugar coat everything, this review is not for you.

 

*If you think I tell you about something that wasn't appealing or I didn't really care for or seen happen and you consider me "complaining" or unhappy...this review is not for you. 

I absolutely LOVED this review and this was one of my favorite parts! Little did I know that you were being 100% truthful on emphasizing how long it was. It took me 3 days to read it! (limited time being a single parent). I especially loved the beautiful pictures (even the ones on the wrong settings) and I think you could pack up shop and take pictures on that excursion, or sell locks lol. It looks like you all had a blast and Sakari reminds me of my daughter a lot. She loves to draw and getting her out of the water at that age was ALWAYS an ordeal! Carrying her stuff thru the pool is exactly what Brooke would have done LOL. Kendra looked exhausted and hopefully her fiancé helped make it up to her with a little R&R time.  

 

On ‎1‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 3:35 PM, mitsugirly said:

Sunday December 23: Time to Leave. 

 

THE END....

 

 

 

 

 

My least favorite parts of your review. I know it had to make an appearance but even though I knew it was coming I still had hoped I was wrong! 

I didn't read any of the posts past this point and hope all is ok with fiancé and his mom(?).

 

Thanks for taking the time to post such a lengthy review. I'm sure I'll be back again to take notes on here for upcoming cruises...now to check out your other reviews!

[BBigfoot613]

On ‎12‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 10:10 AM, mitsugirly said:

PLEASE NOTE>>> My reviews are LONG...as in VERY LONG, with a lot of details, A LOT of pictures and this is the experience of my family on the cruise, sorta like a blog.

 

*So, if you are not into long reviews and want something short, sweet and to the point...this review is not for you.

 

*If you expect this review to be done quickly and you don't like to wait...this review is not for you.

 

*If you don't like personal details of our daily activities, this review is not for you.

 

*If you expect me to sugar coat everything, this review is not for you.

 

*If you think I tell you about something that wasn't appealing or I didn't really care for or seen happen and you consider me "complaining" or unhappy...this review is not for you. 

I absolutely LOVED this review and this was one of my favorite parts! Little did I know that you were being 100% truthful on emphasizing how long it was. It took me 3 days to read it! (limited time being a single parent). I especially loved the beautiful pictures (even the ones on the wrong settings) and I think you could pack up shop and take pictures on that excursion, or sell locks lol. It looks like you all had a blast and Sakari reminds me of my daughter a lot. She loves to draw and getting her out of the water at that age was ALWAYS an ordeal! Carrying her stuff thru the pool is exactly what Brooke would have done LOL. Kendra looked exhausted and hopefully her fiancé helped make it up to her with a little R&R time.  

 

On ‎1‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 3:35 PM, mitsugirly said:

Sunday December 23: Time to Leave. 

 

THE END....

 

 

 

 

 

My least favorite parts of your review. I know it had to make an appearance but even though I knew it was coming I still had hoped I was wrong! 

I didn't read any of the posts past this point and hope all is ok with fiancé and his mom(?).

 

Thanks for taking the time to post such a lengthy review. I'm sure I'll be back again to take notes on here for upcoming cruises...now to check out your other reviews!

[cruisinsly]

Great review and pictures.  Thank you for taking the time to post!

[mitsugirly]

On 4/3/2019 at 1:14 PM, brookie848 said:

Kim -- Thanks so much for your awesome reviews. I learn so much from all of them. 

 

I'm starting to research our 2020 cruise. When you get a chance, can you let me know which ships you were on when you visited Aruba and Curacao (that way I can search for your threads)? Obviously this review you visited those two and I know you've done land vacations in Aruba. I'm trying to figure some things out since these will be new islands for us. 

 

Also, have you been to Bonaire? Our time in that port is short and I'm trying to figure out what we will plan on doing.

 

Thanks and enjoy your upcoming cruise out of Puerto Rico. That is definitely our favorite place to start our cruises!

 

 

Brookie, if you are still reading...I have all my Aruba land vacations uploaded onto my Smugmug now if you are interested in other places as well. You can find them HERE.

On 4/4/2019 at 8:36 AM, LF23 said:

Wow, I found your review yesterday in a search for camera info... well,  there went my evening and I couldn’t wait to finish this morning!  Thank you for the time and thoughtfulness you put into this. Reading your narrative with all the great pictures is the next best thing to being on a cruise. Now I have to find all your others!  

 

 

Haha. Glad you enjoyed it and hope you enjoy the others as well if you read them. (Some are not listed in my signature line because I have ran out of space).

 

On 4/9/2019 at 11:56 AM, BBigfoot613 said:

I absolutely LOVED this review and this was one of my favorite parts! Little did I know that you were being 100% truthful on emphasizing how long it was. It took me 3 days to read it! (limited time being a single parent). I especially loved the beautiful pictures (even the ones on the wrong settings) and I think you could pack up shop and take pictures on that excursion, or sell locks lol. It looks like you all had a blast and Sakari reminds me of my daughter a lot. She loves to draw and getting her out of the water at that age was ALWAYS an ordeal! Carrying her stuff thru the pool is exactly what Brooke would have done LOL. Kendra looked exhausted and hopefully her fiancé helped make it up to her with a little R&R time.  

 

 

My least favorite parts of your review. I know it had to make an appearance but even though I knew it was coming I still had hoped I was wrong! 

I didn't read any of the posts past this point and hope all is ok with fiancé and his mom(?).

 

Thanks for taking the time to post such a lengthy review. I'm sure I'll be back again to take notes on here for upcoming cruises...now to check out your other reviews!

 

 

Yes, they are very very long. lol  Thanks so much for the comments and glad you enjoyed the review. It sounds like your Brooke and my Sakari are a lot alike. :)

Thanks for inquiring about Kendras fiance's dad. He did make it until we returned from vacation, but he has passed away now. It's been a rough time because Kendra's fiances dad and his best friend passed away in a tragic auto accident the same day. We have all been struggling with the lost of two great men. :(

 

Happy cruising to you and your family.

19 hours ago, cruisinsly said:

Great review and pictures.  Thank you for taking the time to post!

 

Thanks for the comments and glad you enjoyed the review.

[brookie848]

On 4/3/2019 at 7:05 PM, mitsugirly said:

 

 

You are very welcome. 

 

We went to Aruba on the Conquest as well. Then we've had a few land vacations there too. You can go to my smugmug account and see different places we went to there. Here's the link. We went there last year too but I never put the links on my account. I should probably do that because we visited new places then as well. We absolutely love Aruba. So much to do there and so easy to get around. 

 

I haven't been able to find a cruise to Bonnaire yet during the time frame we travel. 😞 Hopefully some day I'll make it there. 

 

My favorite port to start a cruise is PR as well. I wouldn't mind doing another land vacation there too (we somewhat did 1/2 land and 1/2 cruise then back to land on one of our cruises and it was my favorite yet). 

 

Having fun planning and let me know if you have any questions. I'll see about getting my other pics up.

Thanks for all of the information. While I love going new places, doing the research that goes with it can be overwhelming. 

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

[mitsugirly]

12 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

Thanks for all of the information. While I love going new places, doing the research that goes with it can be overwhelming. 

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

 

 

Thanks and hopefully you got my other reply with the link that's now updated with our land vacation pics too.

[cruisejess58]

Thanks for such a detailed review!  I'm new to the boards and are going to go back and read your others.

[BigEasyCC]

Thank you so much for your wonderful pictures and review. It feels like I've come along on your cruise. I've learned so much from your reviews through the years. And love watching Sakari grow up in front of our eyes! 

[mitsugirly]

On 4/11/2019 at 10:36 AM, cruisejess58 said:

Thanks for such a detailed review!  I'm new to the boards and are going to go back and read your others.

 

You are very welcome. There are a few that I've done recently that aren't listed in my signature because I ran out of room. 😞

 

 

On 4/11/2019 at 12:25 PM, BigEasyCC said:

Thank you so much for your wonderful pictures and review. It feels like I've come along on your cruise. I've learned so much from your reviews through the years. And love watching Sakari grow up in front of our eyes! 

 

You're welcome and glad you enjoyed it. Sakari is getting so big so quick and I just had to go out and buy all new shorts for our upcoming cruise because she can't fit any of hers from this cruise in December. 😮

[pghsteelerfan]

I'm following deladane's review and I saw her post on the St. Kitts board in response to your post looking for ideas with a possible solution to the signature/link issue.  I noticed you'd posted here so just wanted to let you know in case you haven't seen it.  But oh jeez...Kim, I just saw your posts about your losses!  That's just terrible and I'm so sorry.  Especially Kendra's fiance, to lose that many in such a short period of time has to be very hard, but I know it's hard for all of you and anyone who knew them.  I'll be keeping Kendra's fiance and all of you guys in thoughts. 

[mitsugirly]

25 minutes ago, pghsteelerfan said:

I'm following deladane's review and I saw her post on the St. Kitts board in response to your post looking for ideas with a possible solution to the signature/link issue.  I noticed you'd posted here so just wanted to let you know in case you haven't seen it.  But oh jeez...Kim, I just saw your posts about your losses!  That's just terrible and I'm so sorry.  Especially Kendra's fiance, to lose that many in such a short period of time has to be very hard, but I know it's hard for all of you and anyone who knew them.  I'll be keeping Kendra's fiance and all of you guys in thoughts. 

 

Thank you so much. It means a lot. Keep Billy in your thoughts...continued...he just lost his uncle last week...and last night...his baby sister. 😞 He's trying hard to make arrangements for the funeral a day before we leave for the cruise. Times are very tough at the moment. 😭

[pghsteelerfan]

3 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Thank you so much. It means a lot. Keep Billy in your thoughts...continued...he just lost his uncle last week...and last night...his baby sister. 😞 He's trying hard to make arrangements for the funeral a day before we leave for the cruise. Times are very tough at the moment. 😭

Oh God, no!!!  Poor Billy.  😥  His uncle and now his baby sister?  This is just too much!!!  I lost a brother, suddenly, in April 2011 and that devastated my family.  That was a terrible time, still is, but in reality, I know that tragedy hits all of us, but in Billy's case, that many and in such a short period of time...I just can not imagine.  I will definitely keep him, and all of you, in my thoughts.  I'm just so very sorry. 

[SenatorsFan]

Oh no, that is so sad for Billy and his family. They will definitely be in my thoughts, too. 😢

Heather

[dreadpirate3]

On 4/13/2019 at 6:50 PM, mitsugirly said:

 

Thank you so much. It means a lot. Keep Billy in your thoughts...continued...he just lost his uncle last week...and last night...his baby sister. 😞 He's trying hard to make arrangements for the funeral a day before we leave for the cruise. Times are very tough at the moment. 😭

 

Oh, Kim, I'm so sorry. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

[TracyESQ]

On 12/31/2018 at 4:07 PM, mitsugirly said:

 

After the crafts, the kids wanted to head up to the sports court and ride the skyride and do the ropes course. We headed back to the room to change into tennis shoes because they won't let you on it without them. 

 

The line at the skyride wasn't really that long. However, the small line stated it was an hour wait from "here". Within 5 minutes we were to the "45 minute wait from here" and within about another 5 minutes we had progressed to the "30 minute wait from here" sign. Hmmm....not bad. However, the 30 minute sign was probably accurate on the time. 

 

They do have 4 carts running total and the timing all depends on just how fast your little legs can take you around the course. 

 

 

 

There's that tongue again....

 

 

 

Sakari got on and you could tell by the look on her face that she was immediately nervous! I'm not sure what's gotten into her lately. She's been scared to go on any zip lines or anything high lately and she used to be my fearless child that would do anything. I guess she's getting more aware of what "danger" means. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hubby and I were going to race but I made it a point to tell him to stay with me at the beginning because I knew they had a camera up there that takes your picture. 

 

 

 

Well later after looking at the pics, they didn't even take mine (at either location) and the hubby had several. Blah

 

At least Kendra was able to capture a photo to prove I did it!

 

 

They did capture a photo of Sakari and by the looks of it, she had a good time. 

 

 

 

This ride is fun and I'm glad that it was open while we were on the cruise. I had heard, prior to the cruise, that it was closed a lot but this wasn't the case on our cruise. 

 

If you take the outer course then when you get down to the end your cart takes off and goes down a small hill, which gives you a lot of momentum and puts you under the other cart. The other cart doesn't catch up for a while. It's fun to watch the faces of those on the carts as the other one zooms past them and they are left behind until they get to the other side. LOL It's so unexpected. 

We were on the Horizon last June and it was closed for our whole 4-day sailing.  Womp womp.