Just off Horizon....

[bingomamma19]

2 hours ago, madiaka said:

Thanks for your review. Which ship did your 13 year old prefer?  I was wondering how the kids like the clubhouse at the SportsSquare. It seems like a nice addition but I wondered if it was usually too crowded because Horizon has more people than Breeze. 

The clubhouse and the sports square were very nice.   Never too crowded when we were there.   She does like the breeze better because she like the shows in the theater also and we just couldn't get in to get a good seat unless we lined up 30 min early.     On the Breeze you can walk in 5 to 10 min early and get a nice seat.

 

We didn't try the sky bikes...both of us were too chicken, but many times there were only 7-10 people in line..not as bad as I have read about others wait times. 

[DanF86]

From deck 11 cabins can you walk right out to the outside ? Or do you have to go down to 10 then back up ? 

[bingomamma19]

12 minutes ago, DanF86 said:

From deck 11 cabins can you walk right out to the outside ? Or do you have to go down to 10 then back up ? 

You could walk right out to the 11th floor seating that is above the lido deck.  I cant tell you how much we loved this convenience.    We will always book a room in this area from now on.

[DanF86]

Awesome thank you. We have stayed on deck 11 on the Dream class ships and loved the location. But wasn’t sure if vista class had doors going outside. 

[KmomChicago]

15 hours ago, bingomamma19 said:

I think the Vista and the Horizon are the same class, so are very similar.

 

The other problem with the seats...many are directly behind each other...no lift to them so you are mostly looking at the back of someones head.   Just a terrible design.  

 

We usually go to all the shows...we only went to 1 this time.

 

Thanks for this.  One thing I liked on Triumph was the great big show lounge (though I have to admit it was larger than necessary and never came close to filling up), and disliked about Sensation's was all the obstructed seats, low sight lines, poles all over the place, and very hard to get a good view anywhere. So, very good to know about Vista class!  Also, pretty weird that after all this time and experience building ships, they can't do a better job designing a theater.  Dream class seems to get better reviews overall.

[KmomChicago]

12 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

What's your secret? I love doing the trivia, but all the cheating has made me feel like it isn't even worth my time anymore, and that's disappointing because I do enjoy it a lot. Last year I didn't even bother the last couple days. I'm no genius, but I do have a lot of random, sometimes useless knowledge rolling around in my head. But it never fails, someone always has one more right answer than anyone else. Sometimes it's just me, I just don't have the answers. But a majority of the times I've played, I see people on their phones looking up answers and always see people writing in answers after the host reads them off. And those two types of players are usually the ones who "win." I just wished the Fun Squad hosts would pay more attention to that kind of thing. I know it's just a dumb plastic trophy. It's not even that, really; although, it'd be nice to win one after all of my repeated efforts. But it's more so that the cheating really hurts the experience for honest players who enjoy trivia.

 

I haven't seen that kind of outright cheating, but I would try reporting it to the Fun Squad person afterwards and again before the next session starts.  I'm fine with losing honestly but it's no fun to lose to cheaters.

[JaniceB]

Such a nice review and discussion afterwards.  I am enjoying all the comments, thanks for posting. 

[AmberTeka]

15 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

What's your secret? I love doing the trivia, but all the cheating has made me feel like it isn't even worth my time anymore, and that's disappointing because I do enjoy it a lot. Last year I didn't even bother the last couple days. I'm no genius, but I do have a lot of random, sometimes useless knowledge rolling around in my head. But it never fails, someone always has one more right answer than anyone else. Sometimes it's just me, I just don't have the answers. But a majority of the times I've played, I see people on their phones looking up answers and always see people writing in answers after the host reads them off. And those two types of players are usually the ones who "win." I just wished the Fun Squad hosts would pay more attention to that kind of thing. I know it's just a dumb plastic trophy. It's not even that, really; although, it'd be nice to win one after all of my repeated efforts. But it's more so that the cheating really hurts the experience for honest players who enjoy trivia.

Totally agree.  It is trivial, but it is galling.

[mdin]

17 hours ago, bingomamma19 said:

There were no hot tubs on deck 5.   I really missed those as I love those on the Breeze also.

 

I wish I had thought of bringing a drink with us to dinner.   I just couldn't believe that nobody asked us if we wanted a drink.   Even the waiter that fills the water didn't come around to refill.    That lack of service is why we never went back after the 2nd night.

 

I did eat in the Pig and Anchor a few nights.   Very good and loved it, although it does cost extra...at least I got a drink order with my meal.

The hot tub set up on the Breeze is better, no doubt.

 

I was on the Horizon last month and had late seating in the MDR. The service was great. Our waiters were very attentive, and we had our bottle of wine on the table when we arrived, plus they would ask if we would like to order any drinks soon after sitting down. Waters were constantly refilled as well. So fortunately I had a good experience in the MDR. My only complaint was that the food was very slow to come out. Sometimes it was half an hour after ordering before the apps came out. This caused us to have to rush to catch the shows, even missing one on the first elegant night (didn't get out until 9:50).

 

My wife and I don't normally like the production shows, however Horizon's three productions are excellent. A better theatre design would be nice though. 

[ksmcdonald]

20 hours ago, JaniceB said:

Thanks for the well written review.  I didn't realize the casino didn't have any tables or chairs around the bar, we like to hang out on other ships there.  Did they not put the hot tubs on deck 5 like the breeze has?  I have made speciality dining reservations for my Horizon cruise since many have complained about the MDR.  I will try it a few nights and hopefully enjoy it.  I always bring a drink with me to dinner.  Lately drink staff has been hard to find in the MDR.

 

the hot tubs on deck 5 are for Havana guest only.  They have two and we never had a problem getting in one.  But we did pay extra for that exclusive area.

[JaniceB]

I too have booked a Havana stateroom and looking forward to no children under 12 in hot tub.

[Organized Chaos]

6 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I haven't seen that kind of outright cheating, but I would try reporting it to the Fun Squad person afterwards and again before the next session starts.  I'm fine with losing honestly but it's no fun to lose to cheaters.

 

On our last two cruises, the Fun Squad members who hosted trivia acted like they didn't want to be there. They'd be cheerful and "fun" when doing other things, like deck parties or things in the main lounge, but they made it seem like hosting trivia was a punishment and couldn't wait to get out of there. If I could see people cheating from where I was sitting, surely they could too standing in front of the entire group. I just figured since they acted like they didn't want to be there, they didn't care about cheating. Like AmberTeka said, it is trivial, but annoying. If it's a problem on our next cruise, I'll probably speak up, but hopefully we get this Gerry person who seems to know how to run it.   

 

4 hours ago, mdin said:

My only complaint was that the food was very slow to come out. Sometimes it was half an hour after ordering before the apps came out. This caused us to have to rush to catch the shows, even missing one on the first elegant night (didn't get out until 9:50).

 

My wife and I don't normally like the production shows, however Horizon's three productions are excellent. A better theatre design would be nice though. 

 

We missed a show one night on the Glory last year because of excruciatingly slow MDR service. We enjoyed Epic Rock a few years ago and had been telling our son how good it was, because he likes rock music and didn't go to it the first time. It was on our Glory cruise, so we were eager to see it again and for him to see it. The slow MDR service caused us to miss the early show and by the time the late show came, the seas were too rough and they couldn't do the whole production. They just sat on stage on stools and sang the songs. It wasn't good at all and we left after three songs. Was so disappointed, especially for our son since we hyped it up.

 

I've read that some people tell their waiters they'll be skipping dessert when they want to get to a show and the meal ran late. I've even seen a couple people say their waiters gave them their desserts to go and they ate it in the main lounge. Even if we don't eat it in the lounge, I like the possibility of getting dessert to go. That could come in handy. I've only heard of this recently, so I don't think it's common, but worth a shot.

[jimbo5544]

4 hours ago, JaniceB said:

I too have booked a Havana stateroom and looking forward to no children under 12 in hot tub.

Or pool

[crusinpsychRN]

22 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

What's your secret? I love doing the trivia, but all the cheating has made me feel like it isn't even worth my time anymore, and that's disappointing because I do enjoy it a lot. Last year I didn't even bother the last couple days. I'm no genius, but I do have a lot of random, sometimes useless knowledge rolling around in my head. But it never fails, someone always has one more right answer than anyone else. Sometimes it's just me, I just don't have the answers. But a majority of the times I've played, I see people on their phones looking up answers and always see people writing in answers after the host reads them off. And those two types of players are usually the ones who "win." I just wished the Fun Squad hosts would pay more attention to that kind of thing. I know it's just a dumb plastic trophy. It's not even that, really; although, it'd be nice to win one after all of my repeated efforts. But it's more so that the cheating really hurts the experience for honest players who enjoy trivia.

 

What cheating?

 

Always a long wait to get a drink in the MDR.

Edited April 4, 2019 by crusinpsychRN

[jimbo5544]

26 minutes ago, crusinpsychRN said:

 

What cheating?

 

Always a long wait to get a drink in the MDR.

The trivia competition has gotten way out of hand..... supposed to be about fun, not so much winning, but to each their own.