Horizon- Last Minute Advice and Suggestions

[eyeeye]

Going on Horizon next week. Any last minute on board suggestions and must do”s? Traveling with wife and 2 boys ages 9 and 10. Anything we should pass on?? Overrated?

 

TIA

 

 

[a1m1y9]

We sailed Horizon last year April, sure not much has changed in a year so here goes.

Skyride is a must for you and your kids.  Free activity and great views from the Skyride.  Not sure height or age restrictions.  

 

Because of the cost - I seriously would skip paying to do the IMax.  You can always go to the movies at home.  Watch a movie on the big screen on the Lido deck instead one night.  Grab the free popcorn from the bar a few beach towels and settle the boys into a couple lounge chairs and enjoy.  Usually at least 2 age appropriate moves for your boys each cruise. 

 

We had no little ones with us but I would not miss the Dr. Suess waterworks area and some of the other Dr. Suess themed events.  Depending on how mature your kids are this could be the last year they might these brightly color Suess area are cool.  You might consider paying for the Dr. Suess breakfast - I have never done it and I have heard mixed reviews.  Just search under Carnival on here and you are bound to learn more about the green eggs and ham breakfast.  Shoots some hoops with the boys on the Sportdeck and a family game of minigolf is fun.  

 

The kids may not like the Playlist Productions but we did as adults.  This would be a great time to put them into the Camp Carnival and let them play with some other kids for a bit.  Not sure your feelings on that.  But my now 26 year old talks about the 2 cruises he went on while younger when he "met all the kids".  I liked traveling and experiencing new things with my kid when he was young, so I did not use it as a babysitter all day.  Just for a few times when I knew he would not enjoy what I was doing.  

 

If you like BBQ, eat at Guy's Pig and Anchor during the day when it is free.  But go there at night to listen to some good music.  As a rule we usually do not go to any restaurants on ship where you have to pay, except the Steakhouse.  We do not go to the Steakhouse each sailing but have on special occasions that coincided with the our cruise.  Hint:  Do the Steakhouse on the 1st night and I thought Cruise Elegant nights to receive the free bottle of wine.  If I recall Horizon has the Italian restaurant that you can pay at night but during the day it is free.  We usually hit the lunch Del Capitano at least once.  No standing in line at a buffet, food delivered to my table.  Just remember to grab your drink before going in to the restaurant.  It reminds me of when Olive Garden does your "build your own pasta" special.  

 

I am not sure if this is your first cruise or the first of your boys but a tradition I started with my son was to buy the nicer model ship from the gift shop and ask if the Captain can sign it.  They look at you funny, maybe even object at first but I have never had it refused.  I believe last time I had to take it to the Guest Services area.  It was a great ship souvenir for him and used to display them in his room.  At 26, who knows what he and his wife do, probably in a box somewhere, and assume he no longer buys the ships.  But when the box is opened, he will remember his cruises with Mom.  Ok, bit too nostalgic.   

 

Most of this you probably already know but saw you were unanswered on your questions and thought I would help you out.  

 

Happy Sailing!

[bingomamma19]

10 hours ago, eyeeye said:

Going on Horizon next week. Any last minute on board suggestions and must do”s? Traveling with wife and 2 boys ages 9 and 10. Anything we should pass on?? Overrated?

 

TIA

 

 

We are going next week also...march 23-31st.    My DD is 13 and this is our 10th cruise...first on the horizon.

 

I am looking forward to checking out all the new adventures on this ship.  

 

I am also excited to check out the new BBQ place :)

[ddloml]

The IMAX theater is worth the small cost if you go to one of the documentaries shown during the day.  I saw the one on National Parks, and it was awesome on the IMAX screen; the cost was only about $5.50.  I would agree that the IMAX of a recent feature film (I remember Aquaman being shown on my Horizon cruise last month) at $12.00 (or so) is probably a little steep in price.  

[eyeeye]

3 hours ago, a1m1y9 said:

We sailed Horizon last year April, sure not much has changed in a year so here goes.

Skyride is a must for you and your kids.  Free activity and great views from the Skyride.  Not sure height or age restrictions.  

 

Because of the cost - I seriously would skip paying to do the IMax.  You can always go to the movies at home.  Watch a movie on the big screen on the Lido deck instead one night.  Grab the free popcorn from the bar a few beach towels and settle the boys into a couple lounge chairs and enjoy.  Usually at least 2 age appropriate moves for your boys each cruise. 

 

We had no little ones with us but I would not miss the Dr. Suess waterworks area and some of the other Dr. Suess themed events.  Depending on how mature your kids are this could be the last year they might these brightly color Suess area are cool.  You might consider paying for the Dr. Suess breakfast - I have never done it and I have heard mixed reviews.  Just search under Carnival on here and you are bound to learn more about the green eggs and ham breakfast.  Shoots some hoops with the boys on the Sportdeck and a family game of minigolf is fun.  

 

The kids may not like the Playlist Productions but we did as adults.  This would be a great time to put them into the Camp Carnival and let them play with some other kids for a bit.  Not sure your feelings on that.  But my now 26 year old talks about the 2 cruises he went on while younger when he "met all the kids".  I liked traveling and experiencing new things with my kid when he was young, so I did not use it as a babysitter all day.  Just for a few times when I knew he would not enjoy what I was doing.  

 

If you like BBQ, eat at Guy's Pig and Anchor during the day when it is free.  But go there at night to listen to some good music.  As a rule we usually do not go to any restaurants on ship where you have to pay, except the Steakhouse.  We do not go to the Steakhouse each sailing but have on special occasions that coincided with the our cruise.  Hint:  Do the Steakhouse on the 1st night and I thought Cruise Elegant nights to receive the free bottle of wine.  If I recall Horizon has the Italian restaurant that you can pay at night but during the day it is free.  We usually hit the lunch Del Capitano at least once.  No standing in line at a buffet, food delivered to my table.  Just remember to grab your drink before going in to the restaurant.  It reminds me of when Olive Garden does your "build your own pasta" special.  

 

I am not sure if this is your first cruise or the first of your boys but a tradition I started with my son was to buy the nicer model ship from the gift shop and ask if the Captain can sign it.  They look at you funny, maybe even object at first but I have never had it refused.  I believe last time I had to take it to the Guest Services area.  It was a great ship souvenir for him and used to display them in his room.  At 26, who knows what he and his wife do, probably in a box somewhere, and assume he no longer buys the ships.  But when the box is opened, he will remember his cruises with Mom.  Ok, bit too nostalgic.   

 

Most of this you probably already know but saw you were unanswered on your questions and thought I would help you out.  

 

Happy Sailing!

Thanks for your input. We will be sure to have a great time

[eyeeye]

We are all well experienced cruisers. The boys will be on their 8th cruise and my wife and I are hitting our 50+ voyage. We are CCL Platinum cruisers but have not  been on Carnival in 8 years. Time has flown......

Wondering what the changes we will see on board...............

[RWolver672]

You will find that the Horizon is laid out quite different than the Conquest Class.  It was hard to find certain things.  

 

There are no glass elevators on her.  To get from one end to the other on deck 5, you have to walk through the casino.  Lots of people complaining about the smoke in there.

 

If you find that the buffet has a lot of people standing in line, there is another exact same buffet further back.

 

Miniature golf is confusing until you figure it out.  Holes 1-3 are on one level.  4-6 are one level up right by the entrance to the Sky Ride.  Then 7-9 are back down  by 1-3.

 

The Reflections Dining room is only one story.  Because of the low ceiling, it gets very noisy during meals.  

 

Photos are no longer printed ahead of time.  There are screens in Pixels that you can view your photos, then pick the ones you want.  You have to come back the following day to pick them up.  They print them on 8x10 sheets of paper for $19.95 each.  You get to choose if you want one 8xx10, two 5x7's, one 5x7 and four wallets or eight wallets.

 

Elevators:  Instead of just hitting the up or down arrow, you now pick the floor you want to go on, then pick how many people are in your party.  It will tell you which elevator to go to.  This works great in theory but most people will only hit the floor, then all in that party will go to that elevator.  At that same time, six other people have done the same thing.  Now there are thirty people standing in front of that elevator trying to get on it when it opens.  Make sure you hit how many people are with you that want to get in that elevator.  There really should be signs telling people how to use them.

 

Looked inside closets to see if we had enough life jackets.  None there.  Finally saw a small square sign on the wall at the foot of the bed that said they were under the bed.

 

We did the Thrill Theater (3D) for $5.50 each.  We thought it was worth it.  A little tame compared to Disney or Universal's but it was still worth it.  It lasted about twenty minutes.  We did level 2.

 

Hope some of this helps and that you and your family have a great cruise.

 

 

[mdin]

I would say definitely try JiJi's and Pig and Anchor for lunch at some point. Both are very good.

 

Normally my wife and I are not into the Carnival production shows, however the 2 productions shows we saw (Vintage Pop and Celestial Strings) are very well done.

[JaniceB]

On 3/13/2019 at 5:31 PM, ddloml said:

The IMAX theater is worth the small cost if you go to one of the documentaries shown during the day.  I saw the one on National Parks, and it was awesome on the IMAX screen; the cost was only about $5.50.  I would agree that the IMAX of a recent feature film (I remember Aquaman being shown on my Horizon cruise last month) at $12.00 (or so) is probably a little steep in price.  

I will have to check out the documentaries, never saw this mentioned before.