Currently on the Horizon

[bowlinmoe]

On 4/16/2019 at 8:30 PM, Gettys84 said:

As requested!

Good looking couple!

 

Thanks again for the review and all the pics.  

[tiazzi]

Thank you so much this was the best review so far of the Horizion.

I'm excited for my trip in August.

[MzOhioLady]

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 8:30 PM, Gettys84 said:

As requested!

Good Looking Couple Indeed!! Thanks for doing the review, I really liked your photos!

[Gettys84]

Finally getting a chance to let you know about our experience getting off of the ship from last Sunday.  Sorry this has taken so long.

 

We went to the debarkation presentation on Saturday to learn where we needed to go to get off the ship as early as possible. We did not have faster to the fun and I am about 25 days short of Platinum status so we have to deal with the chaos.  This is probably the only part of the trip, and well any other cruise we have been on, that always seems very disorganized.  During the presentation, the cruise director told people that wanted to get off as soon as possible to go down to deck 5 at the Pig and Anchor to line up.  We decided we would do this vs having to wait for them to call our deck since we had a 10 hour drive home (had to get the dogs by 6pm...this was a gots to get there by 6pm situation)  They said we would dock around 7am and have to be cleared. We were docked at 6am when we got up when I looked outside.  I guess it just took a while for them to get cleared.

 

We left our room on deck 6 forward and headed down to deck 5 at 6:15am to get in line.  We have been on enough cruises to know people are ready to get off the ship and get up early!  We got down to Pig and Anchor and there were about 15 people sitting on the booths in the hallway that have the iPads on them for looking at your pictures taken on the ship. We asked where the line started/where we should go to line up (remember this part if you don’t remember anything else from this review).  The line STARTED closest to the Pig and Anchor and the line went towards the coffee shop and ocean plaza.  Well here is where the problem is. There is no staff on duty this early or no signs that says “line starts here”.  So over the next 45 minutes people started just standing and lining up all over deck 5 towards the lobby area.  If there had just been a sign like at the sky ride that said “line starts here” we could have policed it ourselves for the people that got there first.  Finally around 7:15am a staff person walked up and said lets go down to deck 3 so you can get off the ship.  So all the people that had been there for 20 minutes, not an hour like us, got to go first.  Not the end of the world but a simple sign would fix the problem and make it less confusing for everyone.

 

We walked towards the atrium area and it was a mad house.  People coming down the stairs, people trying to get elevators, it was a free for all.  Our cruising buddies were able to snag an elevator (which was good because my wife’s mom has a suitcase we call “the beast” because it is loaded...loaded with stuff!!), but my wife and I could not fit.  We headed over to the stairs and went down two decks to deck 3. We got separated from our cruising buddies but they were not that far in front of us.  Once we got down to deck three they had 4 people scanning us out.  Maze back though the terminal and down an escalator to the customs agent.  By the time I paid for parking, $180 for the 8 days, we were pulling out of the parking lot at 7:40am.  Reminder to have your sail and sign card out to get scanned out of the ship, and other documents for the custom agents!

 

Maps took us under the tunnel and routed us back onto the turnpike.  It cost $6.90 for the time we were on it, about 100 miles or so.

 

Out of the 11 cruises we have been on this was our favorite and best vacation we have ever taken.  I really liked the 8 day but it was hard getting back on a Sunday late and having to take Monday off as well as the Friday before the trip. 7 day may be a little better for this leaving Saturday to Saturday.  I hope that they move a Vista ship to Port Canaveral, this is about 6 hours for us, but very very excited about Mardi Gras being in Orlando.    

[Gettys84]

We ended up going about 2,800 miles on our cruise.  Here is the route we took!

[Gettys84]

One night we decided we wanted to just relax and watch a movie in the room.  They have over 40/50 free movies on demand in the room.  I took a picture of a few of them.  It would have been like 20 pictures if I had gotten them all.  We figured they would change by the time some of you would sail.

[Gettys84]

The best new item we took with us on this cruise was a night light for the bathroom.  (Wow, talk about exciting item)  I have read reviews where people say to take them, watched videos where people say to take them.....well go buy them and take them! It was very nice not having to turn on the main light in the middle of the night if needed to go to the restroom.  We found these in walmart for $10 for a pack of 2.  They took 3 triple a batteries and were perfect.  We found them back in household items isle close to the paint section.  

[Gettys84]

We wanted to say think you for everyone complementing this review.  It was the first time we have ever posted anything to cruise critic of any kind and it is awesome that we got so many views and questions.  Our next trip is in September on the Carnival Sunshine out of Charleston SC...2 hour drive!!!!!!  We are headed to Bermuda and Princess Cay.  Two new ports for us, but our cruising buddies have been to Princess Cay.  We will definitely do another live review and bring you guys along with us!

[jerrya72]

Thank you for the review!  I was a little worried about the ship after hearing how crowded it was but after reading your review I feel much better about our trip on the Horizon next March.

[JaniceB]

Nice to have a face to go with your review!

[mithuri]

Hi Gettys84,

 

I purposely signed up to Cruisecritic so that I could say thank-you.

 

We're cruising on the Horizon in August and your review has been amazing and very helpful - Thank-you!

[JMA]

I agree....thank you so much for the review.....we will be on the Horizon Feb 8, 2020 and are very much looking forward to it, especially after your great review!!

[tnutt10]

Gettys,

 

Thank you for starting this thread as it really helped me as we went on the 6 day right after your cruise. We just got off yesterday. I agree with you on the 7 day sweet spot. Maybe they will change it and do 7 days Saturday to Saturday every week instead of the 8 and 6 day rotation. The cruise left yesterday on another 8 day, I wish we went on one of the 8 days but it didn’t line up for spring break (fiancé and mom are both teachers). 

 

Some of our favorite things to do on this ship was get specialty coffee every morning and then get omelettes! We would normally split the omelettes because this would be like 10 am and I didn’t want to skip lunch and dinner was at 6. We (sometimes only I) stayed in the casino very late so about 9am was the earliest I got up. Next time I think we will do the 8pm dining. This will also make it easier to eat a late breakfast and lunch and still be hungry for dinner (have to get our money’s worth haha). Question: does the flex dinning room have shows and dances from the Matre D? We ate in there one night when we didn’t want to eat at 6 in our regular dining room and they didn’t that night while we were there. Our family likes the “showtime” with the dancing and singing so if not we will probably stick to the fixed dining but move to 8pm. We do like that our table is always available at that set time (we normally cruise with at least 10) so we don’t have to decide what time we are going or wait on a table. We also really enjoyed the Sushi restaurant as it was very reasonably priced. The rolls were $5 and $7 for 8 pieces and they were delicious! We got the pizza one night about 1am. Believe it or not there was a line after we got ours because this was just after they had the back decks closed (again on this cruise) for another helicopter evacuated patient. They actually put some meatball subs on the buffet since the pizza restaurant was closed. When the deck opened back up we went out and got our pizza and then once we finished eating I went back out and a long line had formed (including some of our group) to get pizza. Maybe everyone that tried to get it the hour or so the deck was closed.

 

We went to the piano bar and night club also and had fun. Our Steward Franklin was awesome on deck 3 so I made sure to give him some cash on the last day. 

 

This was my 5th cruise and definitely the best. My fiancé’s first and she was nervous at first but she had a blast and is ready to book our next one! The fantasy class ships are fun but this was awesome with so much more to do. I have never been on the “middle” class ships (dream, breeze, etc.) How do they compare? 

 

Sorry for for the long post and thanks again for making this thread!

Edited April 22, 2019 by tnutt10

[Organized Chaos]

On 4/18/2019 at 3:14 PM, jerrya72 said:

Thank you for the review!  I was a little worried about the ship after hearing how crowded it was but after reading your review I feel much better about our trip on the Horizon next March.

 

We'll be on Horizon next March, too. Same here, I was not looking forward to a bigger ship simply because it means a lot more people. I wanted to try one of the Dream class ships before jumping to the Vista class, but my wife and a few members of her family picked Horizon, so I'm just going with the flow. I'm still leery, but Gettys did a great job showing how busy (or not) some of the areas were at different times throughout the cruise, so it makes me feel a little better.

[Organized Chaos]

49 minutes ago, tnutt10 said:

Question: does the flex dinning room have shows and dances from the Matre D? We ate in there one night when we didn’t want to eat at 6 in our regular dining room and they didn’t that night while we were there. Our family likes the “showtime” with the dancing and singing so if not we will probably stick to the fixed dining but move to 8pm. We do like that our table is always available at that set time (we normally cruise with at least 10) so we don’t have to decide what time we are going or wait on a table.

 

Believe it or not there was a line after we got ours because this was just after they had the back decks closed (again on this cruise) for another helicopter evacuated patient.

 

This was my 5th cruise and definitely the best. My fiancé’s first and she was nervous at first but she had a blast and is ready to book our next one! The fantasy class ships are fun but this was awesome with so much more to do. I have never been on the “middle” class ships (dream, breeze, etc.) How do they compare?

 

We always do Your Time Dining. It works best for us since we never know what we'll be doing come dinner time and like it to be flexible. That and we aren't always hungry at the same time each evening (big lunch, snacking, whatever). So we like to be able to go whenever. In our experience, the waiters do their song & dance routine in the YTD dining room, but only once a night. I can't remember exactly, but I feel like it was usually around 7pm.

 

I can't believe there were helicopter evacs on two Horizon cruises in a row. That's crazy.

 

We haven't been on any of the Dream class ships yet, but have done two Conquest class, which is one class smaller than Dream class. We were on Conquest a few years ago and Glory last year. Probably my favorite part about them is the Lido pool area and the decks surrounding it. They're somewhat terraced to the rear of the pool area so you don't feel like you're down in a deep hole. It makes for a lot of good spots to watch the dive-in movies and gives several great vantage points to watch the Fun Squad entertainment around the pool. And if it interests you, the aft pools on the Conquest class ships are adults only. When we got off the Glory last year, we shared a shuttle with a woman who had just gotten off the Vista and she said there was so much, she didn't even see everything on the ship. That's not going to be me. We may not DO it all, but we like to explore and at least see everything there is to offer.

[crucero]

On 4/18/2019 at 1:28 PM, Gettys84 said:

One night we decided we wanted to just relax and watch a movie in the room.  They have over 40/50 free movies on demand in the room.  I took a picture of a few of them.  It would have been like 20 pictures if I had gotten them all.  We figured they would change by the time some of you would sail.

When we went on our first cruise in 2001, the only movie that was played on repeat was Bedazzled with Brendan Fraser. 🤣This is such an upgrade. 

[Gettys84]

On 4/21/2019 at 9:50 PM, tnutt10 said:

Gettys,

 

Thank you for starting this thread as it really helped me as we went on the 6 day right after your cruise. We just got off yesterday. I agree with you on the 7 day sweet spot. Maybe they will change it and do 7 days Saturday to Saturday every week instead of the 8 and 6 day rotation. The cruise left yesterday on another 8 day, I wish we went on one of the 8 days but it didn’t line up for spring break (fiancé and mom are both teachers). 

 

Some of our favorite things to do on this ship was get specialty coffee every morning and then get omelettes! We would normally split the omelettes because this would be like 10 am and I didn’t want to skip lunch and dinner was at 6. We (sometimes only I) stayed in the casino very late so about 9am was the earliest I got up. Next time I think we will do the 8pm dining. This will also make it easier to eat a late breakfast and lunch and still be hungry for dinner (have to get our money’s worth haha). Question: does the flex dinning room have shows and dances from the Matre D? We ate in there one night when we didn’t want to eat at 6 in our regular dining room and they didn’t that night while we were there. Our family likes the “showtime” with the dancing and singing so if not we will probably stick to the fixed dining but move to 8pm. We do like that our table is always available at that set time (we normally cruise with at least 10) so we don’t have to decide what time we are going or wait on a table. We also really enjoyed the Sushi restaurant as it was very reasonably priced. The rolls were $5 and $7 for 8 pieces and they were delicious! We got the pizza one night about 1am. Believe it or not there was a line after we got ours because this was just after they had the back decks closed (again on this cruise) for another helicopter evacuated patient. They actually put some meatball subs on the buffet since the pizza restaurant was closed. When the deck opened back up we went out and got our pizza and then once we finished eating I went back out and a long line had formed (including some of our group) to get pizza. Maybe everyone that tried to get it the hour or so the deck was closed.

 

We went to the piano bar and night club also and had fun. Our Steward Franklin was awesome on deck 3 so I made sure to give him some cash on the last day. 

 

This was my 5th cruise and definitely the best. My fiancé’s first and she was nervous at first but she had a blast and is ready to book our next one! The fantasy class ships are fun but this was awesome with so much more to do. I have never been on the “middle” class ships (dream, breeze, etc.) How do they compare? 

 

Sorry for for the long post and thanks again for making this thread!

Glad you guys had a great time and our review could help.  You guys should do the anytime dining.  And they waiters do dance around 7 or so if I remember correctly.  Congrats on the engagement! Sounds like time to book a honeymoon cruise!

[tnutt10]

1 hour ago, Gettys84 said:

Glad you guys had a great time and our review could help.  You guys should do the anytime dining.  And they waiters do dance around 7 or so if I remember correctly.  Congrats on the engagement! Sounds like time to book a honeymoon cruise!

Yes it was a great time and the review was awesome! We may do an all inclusive resort for our honeymoon but we will definitely be cruising regularly!

[moonbmn53]

I am going on the Horizon in August with this same itinerary.  Gettys84, did you by any chance save your fun times and if so could you post them for us?

[kwokpot]

On 4/21/2019 at 9:50 PM, tnutt10 said:

Question: does the flex dinning room have shows and dances from the Matre D? We ate in there one night when we didn’t want to eat at 6 in our regular dining room and they didn’t that night while we were there. Our family likes the “showtime” with the dancing and singing so if not we will probably stick to the fixed dining but move to 8pm.

I was on this same cruise(Third time on the Horizon)Your Timing Dining DOES have the Waiter's show on the last night, IIRC around 7:30?

Also it should be noted that you can make Your Time Dining Reservations right on the APP! It's the best thing going! This way you don't have to line up at the desk or get a beeper. You can be ANYWHERE on the Ship-your stateroom, a bar, and when your table is ready the app will tell you which table and them all you do is go to the Dining Room, tell the greeters which table you were assigned, and then they will escort you right there. Usually Formal night has the longest wait,about 25-30 minutes (For a table for 2). Otherwise it was about 10-15 minutes max.

[kwokpot]

On 4/7/2019 at 5:23 PM, CChamp said:

I have one question, please. In the new elevators, do they stop at other floors to pickup people? If I am on deck 3 and am going to deck 9 will it stop at say deck 5 to pick people up going to deck 9 or is it always a non-stop ride for everyone? Thank you very much and have a good time.

With regard to the new elevators, you need to go to a special screen that's situated right by the elevators(there are several on either side) and select the floor you want to go to. The Screen will then tell you which Elevator you need to go to, whether Cab A,B,C,D,E, or F. You need to do this for EVERY PERSON in your party, so if there's 4 of you, you SHOULD do this 4 times(This way the elevator computes know how many people are getting on at that floor). 

 

With these elevators YOU CANNOT just jump into any elevator cab; there are no buttons on the inside(Except for doors open,doors close)to choose a floor and each cab ONLY stops at pre-selected floors.

 

This system is used at many hotels and office buildings. It's supposed to make it a smoother process but I'm not particularly convinced it works on a cruiseship just for the simple fact that unlike a regular land-based hotel, guests are using elevators all day and night long to go to many different floors. In a hotel guests usually just go from the lobby to their room floor and the reverse.

[cpayne]

Soooo thankful to find such a positive review of the Horizon!  Had been reading all the formal reviews on another section of CC.  Couldn’t understand how there could be soooo many negative reviews of such a new ship offering so much to see, do and eat.  ????   I always take reviews with a grain of salt especially on this site as contributors are becoming increasingly cranky for some unknown reason. Your one review with pictures to document some of the not so accurate complaints was appreciated.

 

Plan to sail Oct 31, 2020 for our 23rd annual honeymoon and hubby’s 60th bday.   He’s always wanted to try a Halloween cruise so is a good fit for his birthday milestone. We also wanted to return to Curacao w/o sailing from San Juan.  We were in Curaçao this past Nov for 10 days for the 21st annual honeymoon. The day before we left we discovered you could rappel from the Queen Julianne Bridge!   Was too late for us to schedule this prior to our departure and vowed to absolutely come back for that reason. Nothing like celebrating 60 years by jumping from the tallest bridge in the Caribbean! 

 

Just returned from our first 8 night cruise. All other cruises we have done have been 7 nights. This was a Cuba itinerary and gave us 2 separate cities in Cuba, 3 full days in Cuba and 2 overnights + Cayman.  Thus the 8 nt itinerary. Like several other said, though, we think 7 day is our sweet spot and preferred.   If we want to get back to Curaçao and not on a southern itinerary from San Juan, though, it looks like the 8 night will have to be it. The price you pay for fun! 

 

Several people mentioned the high prices of hotels in Miami for next spring. Our Cuba cruise left from Miami on March 3 last month.  When planning this trip a year out I too noticed the obscene  prices of hotels in Miami. We ended up booking three rooms at the Intercontinental on either Black Friday or cyber Monday for $118 per room. They had been going for approximately $200 per night for the same week with no discounts. Just something for others to watch for who also think the Miami hotel prices are out of control.  

 

 We have not sailed CCL in some time. Have been on Royal the past few years as well as have been exploring Central America on land vacations. Can you tell us how much the Internet package was by chance for one device?  

 

Does anyone have pictures of the Havana balconies? We are debating this cabin type versus a regular balcony. We are not ones to lounge by the pool during the day so access to a private or secluded pool during the day is not of value $$ to us. We like being able to look off our balcony and see the water directly. Wasn’t quite sure what the view of the water was from the Havana balconies?  Any pictures anyone has are appreciated.  

 

Look forward to continuing this thread and learning from others! 

[Gettys84]

24 minutes ago, cpayne said:

Soooo thankful to find such a positive review of the Horizon!  Had been reading all the formal reviews on another section of CC.  Couldn’t understand how there could be soooo many negative reviews of such a new ship offering so much to see, do and eat.  ????   I always take reviews with a grain of salt especially on this site as contributors are becoming increasingly cranky for some unknown reason. Your one review with pictures to document some of the not so accurate complaints was appreciated.

 

Plan to sail Oct 31, 2020 for our 23rd annual honeymoon and hubby’s 60th bday.   He’s always wanted to try a Halloween cruise so is a good fit for his birthday milestone. We also wanted to return to Curacao w/o sailing from San Juan.  We were in Curaçao this past Nov for 10 days for the 21st annual honeymoon. The day before we left we discovered you could rappel from the Queen Julianne Bridge!   Was too late for us to schedule this prior to our departure and vowed to absolutely come back for that reason. Nothing like celebrating 60 years by jumping from the tallest bridge in the Caribbean! 

 

Just returned from our first 8 night cruise. All other cruises we have done have been 7 nights. This was a Cuba itinerary and gave us 2 separate cities in Cuba, 3 full days in Cuba and 2 overnights + Cayman.  Thus the 8 nt itinerary. Like several other said, though, we think 7 day is our sweet spot and preferred.   If we want to get back to Curaçao and not on a southern itinerary from San Juan, though, it looks like the 8 night will have to be it. The price you pay for fun! 

 

Several people mentioned the high prices of hotels in Miami for next spring. Our Cuba cruise left from Miami on March 3 last month.  When planning this trip a year out I too noticed the obscene  prices of hotels in Miami. We ended up booking three rooms at the Intercontinental on either Black Friday or cyber Monday for $118 per room. They had been going for approximately $200 per night for the same week with no discounts. Just something for others to watch for who also think the Miami hotel prices are out of control.  

 

 We have not sailed CCL in some time. Have been on Royal the past few years as well as have been exploring Central America on land vacations. Can you tell us how much the Internet package was by chance for one device?  

 

Does anyone have pictures of the Havana balconies? We are debating this cabin type versus a regular balcony. We are not ones to lounge by the pool during the day so access to a private or secluded pool during the day is not of value $$ to us. We like being able to look off our balcony and see the water directly. Wasn’t quite sure what the view of the water was from the Havana balconies?  Any pictures anyone has are appreciated.  

 

Look forward to continuing this thread and learning from others! 

Glad you enjoyed the review!  The internet package was great. I was able to stream the espn app and the masters app to watch the tournament while sitting on our balcony. We had the best one you could get. 

 

I am am not sure on the Havana na na na  cabins. We did not stay in them. We really enjoyed our balcony on deck 6 forward. 

[Gettys84]

I think we paid $115 for the best internet package before the cruise. It cost more if purchase when on the ship! 

[cpayne]

On RCL you can buy the internet by the 24 hr period.   Is that an option on CCL? We have 4 port days and won’t need it those days as we always stop at a local bar, etc to “test” a local beverage and use free WiFi.   We just like an hr/day or so to check in with our Bow Wow Nanny, etc....