Just Returned On The Horizon 6/05

[seahorse]

I have sailed on the Horizon in 1998 so here is my comparison review.

She is showing her age and desperately needs upgrading. I believe I read on another thread that there was a sewage smell forward. There was for the first 3 days. I brought along a special spray and that seemed to help.

After sailing on the NCL Dawn in a balcony cabin and no first and second seating it was a little difficult going back to "regular cruising"

Embarkation:
This was the first sailing from Philly this year so there was disorganization to say the least. It was cold and rainy so there were many unhappy people.

Debarkation;
This was much better. I was home by 9:30. I live about 40 min. from the pier.

Food:
I have sailed X since 1990 and the food and presentation were outstanding!!! IMHO X is on par with the rest of the cruiselines now.

Crew and Service:
I can`t say enough, FANTASTIC, OUTSTANDING, SUPER FRIENDLY, ABOVE AND BEYOND IN EVERY WAY.

Entertainment:
Production shows were not on par with the rest of the industry. Lounge acts were better, some better then others.

Bars and drinks:
America`s Cup and staff was my favorite. The little Scot bartender was superb as well as the Indonesian server, wish I could remember their names. I guess it was all those Cosmopolitans I drank [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] The coffee bar was a pleasant place to be also. It was amazing that all you had to do was order a drink in any of the bars and those servers remembered your name and whenever they saw you on board they said "Hello Ann".

I hope that this review came off more positive then negative. I had a great time and enjoyed the experience. After her refurb. I may sail her again in a balcony cabin.

Any questions? Feel free and fire away.

Ann

[sueinphilly]

couple of questions.
1. What time can you start boarding?
2. How was Bermuda?
3. What was going on at night on the boat while it was docked in Bermuda.

Thanks for writing a review. I'm going the last week in July. I'm willing to overlook some ragged carpet. I'm really looking forward to the food. The last time I was in a sit down restaurant was 10 months ago on my last cruise! Only other place I've been out to eat in the past year is the Chinese buffet (and if you live in the Philly area the best buffet is on Bustleton Ave right below Street Road in Feasterville).

Susan

[seahorse]

Hi Susan,

You can start boarding around 10:30/11:00. Are you driving and leaving your car, or dropped off?
Bermuda is always great. I like St. George better then Hamilton. Hamilton and Front St. are getting very crowded.
They had entertainment every night while in port. Make sure you don`t miss the Caribbean Party and the 50`s night on the deck. Lots of fun.

Have a great cruise!

Ann

[sueinphilly]

thanks for the info

I think we will be dropped off. I want my vacation to start as early as possible :-)

I've done a lot of research on Bermuda and since my boyfriend is a horticulturist, I know we'll be spending a lot of time looking at plants.

Did you know that the John Lennon album Double Fantasy was named after a flower he saw in Bermuda (freesia hybrid flower). He wrote songs for the album in Bermuda the summer before his death

Fasinating stuff.

[Spender Nui]

Sue ... if he wants to see flowers and greenery, Bermuda is a great place to do it.

[sueinphilly]

Hi Person in Valley Forge,

If you need to buy flowers go see my boyfriend at Oaks Gardens right in your neighborhood. You can't miss him, long hair and a beard.

Susan

[helenkpa]

Hi,
We were on the same cruise. It has been along time since I was on a cruise, but the service was excellent, and the food was very good.
I have to agree with the embarkation in Philly, wow what a mess. They really need more security people to help things go faster. Once you got to the Celebrity counter, everything went quickly, but getting there was such a chore. The disembarkment was very well organized and we got off very quickly. One piece of our luggage was on the other side of the room for some reason so that slowed us down a bit.
I am looking forward to cruising with Celebrity again!