Carnival Horizon 6 day Mini Review May 26-June 1

[JaniceB]

The itinerary for this cruise was Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  

 

A little background, I chose this cruise because the dates were the best for my friends who were cruising with me.  We all were born in 1959 and wanted to celebrate our 60th year together.  I have known 2 of the girls traveling since elementary school and the third traveler we met in Jr. High.  We were all very excited to plan a trip together and spend some quality time together.  We chose 2 Havana cabins for this trip 5237 and 5239.  I do not have any pictures to include since there is a great YouTube video of 5239 that we watched getting ready for our cruise. 

 

We all arrived in Miami the day before the cruise.  Two of us flew into FLL and used SAS Transportation to bring us to the JW Marquis Marriott in Miami.  The other 2 drove to the port and parked at the hotel.  Parking at this hotel is very expensive, $55 a day.   SAS Transportation was very pain free.  We called when we received our luggage at the turnstile and he arrived in a very timely manner.  We had 1 other family on the the shuttle with us going to a hotel in Miami.  

 

Our hotel was very nice.  It has an outdoor pool, indoor sports court, bowling alley and various games to play in the sports area.  I am platinum with Marriott so we had a room on the concierge level and a very nice buffet for happy hour.  They do not include alcoholic beverages but the area and the view are very nice.  We were joined by some friends in Miami and had a nice evening catching up and we chose to eat at the hotel and called it an early night because tomorrow we board the Horizon.

[JaniceB]

We woke up Sunday excited to soon be boarding the Horizon.  The girls traveling with me had a 12:30 check in time so we were not in a hurry to get to the ship.  We proceeded to the concierge breakfast.  We were given mimosa's to start the day.  We had a nice breakfast. 

 

We checked out of the hotel and 2 of us grabbed an uber while the other 2 drove in a car.  We arrived and waited for them to park.  If you ever drive to the port of Miami get there early for a space in the parking garage.  It was full when they arrived and they were redirected around the port.  I saw them come around and we unloaded their luggage and a porter took it.  They then had to drive to an open air lot and park the car.  This process took some time.  They finally met up with us and we all proceeded into the terminal building.  There was not waiting to check in and we walked onto the ship and were met by this fellow.

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

For me there was no wow factor boarding the ship like other Carnival ships.  Since our rooms were ready we headed to the Havana area and our rooms.  Our keys were in our mailbox and some other reading material.  

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by JaniceB

[pirate4me2]

Great start to your review, I cant wait to read more! We sailed Horizon last year and loved it, we will be going back next year. :)

[JaniceB]

Here are the fun times and the other items.

Edited June 10, 2019 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

20 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

Great start to your review, I cant wait to read more! We sailed Horizon last year and loved it, we will be going back next year. 🙂

Thanks, I would love to sail the Horizon again and stay in the Havana area again.

[JaniceB]

We grabbed our Havana wristbands and made our way to the Havana bar.  We had all purchased the cheers package.  We ordered a drink, found some chairs and took in the scenery.  Since we had eaten a good breakfast none of us were hungry.  We enjoyed our drinks and went back to our cabana to see if our luggage had arrived.  It had so we started to unpack before the muster drill.

 

 

The muster drill was held in the dining.  We only had to go down 2 flights of stairs and we were there.  We completed the muster  drill and went back to the Havana area for sail away.  We had wanted to go to the Lido but didn't feel like fighting the crowds for an elevator.  We got some drinks and enjoyed sailaway.  

 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

I had made reservations for dinner at the steakhouse (night 1), Ji Ji's (night 3), Cucina (night 5) and Bonsai (night 6) prior to sailing.  I printed out my email confirmations and brought them with me.  I also had paid for the social media package and knew I would be using the Hub app to communicate with my other travelers.  

 

After sail away, I went back to the room to unpack.  I also updated my phone with the internet and hub feature.  I checked the hub and realized I had 2 reservations for this first night, the steakhouse and Ji Ji's.  My girlfriend  and I freshened up and went out to get explore and take care of the 2 reservations.  I found 2 employees at Bonsai and they fixed my reservation for me.  Good thing I had brought the emails with me, the did not see the correct Ji Ji's reservation. They also told us about a promotion for 3 specialty dinner for $60.  One could be the steakhouse and any of the others except the Bonsai Teppanyaki.  We went ahead and bought the promotion.

[JaniceB]

Here is a calendar I made before the cruise so that everyone would know what we were were doing and when we were eating at the specialty restaurants.  

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2019 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

We went back to the cabin and got our other friends and headed to the Steakhouse.  We decided to eat outside because it was a beautiful evening.  It was not windy at all at our table. We had a very leisurely dinner.  I think it took 3 hours.  We were a little slow to order and our table was one of the farthest away from the door.  A few us of ordered the shrimp cocktail and thought that it was not very good.  The shrimp were very limp.  I wish I had taken a picture but we so hungry because we had skipped lunch that I think we all devoured the appetizer.  I think most of us also ordered the lobster bisque, too.  We all received a wagyu beef mini burger.  It was very good. We all got the filet and a few different sides.  I ordered the wasabi mashed potatoes and they were very tasty.  Something new to me was the ability to pick the salt seasoning for my steak.  I just went with the plain sea salt.  I wish I read more about the seasonings before hand to see what everyone thought was the best one.  

 

After dinner we called it a night.  

 

Here are a few pictures.

[MzShae]

Great start to your review! I've never been on Horizon, but I loved her sister, Vista!

[JaniceB]

8 minutes ago, MzShae said:

Great start to your review! I've never been on Horizon, but I loved her sister, Vista!

Thanks!

[smurfm69]

You got on right after we got off the Horizon.  We loved the ship and Mike Pack was an awesome cruise director.  How did you like the new elevator system?  Worked well for us and we never really had a long wait to go anywhere.

[JaniceB]

18 minutes ago, smurfm69 said:

You got on right after we got off the Horizon.  We loved the ship and Mike Pack was an awesome cruise director.  How did you like the new elevator system?  Worked well for us and we never really had a long wait to go anywhere.

We never had a problem with the elevators either.  I just wish there was a way to say how many other than pushing the button so many times.  Totally agree that Mike Pack is awesome.  He has so much energy.  

[JaniceB]

Seaday!  Here are the funtimes.

[JaniceB]

Three of us decided to try the sea day brunch, our other friend headed to the Havana pool.  The sea day brunch was very good but also rather long.  We passed the time catching up, and enjoying the view from our window table.  We finished and joined our friend at the Havana pool.  We spent the whole day there.  We loved the wait/bartenders in the Havana area.  We hardly left our lounge chairs.  We skipped lunch since we had brunch.  We did get hungry around 3 but saw long lines at Guys, the Deli and Pizza place.  We totally forgot about room service.  It would have been nice to have some kind of snacks to munch on.  

 

We all dressed for cruise elegant evening and used the hub app to reserve our table. We arrived and were barely escorted to our table.  This is the first time I have experience cutbacks on a ship.  The menu's were on the table and no one handed them to us.  We sat down and waited and waited.  We asked for some drinks and waited some more.  We placed our orders and one of my friends ask for some coffee and another wanted a glass of ice.  Our dinners arrived and still no coffee or ice.  We asked again.  On the third request we received the items.  We all ordered the lobster and shrimp.  I didn't get any pictures.  Unfortunately the shrimp were not the best, similar to the shrimp cocktail the night before.  They were very limp.  We didn't have much interaction with the servers and this would be the last night we ate in the dining room.  

 

After dinner,  two of my group went to bed.  I went to see the comedian Cowboy with my friend and we also went to the lobby bar to see Mike Pack and the Motown Music trivia party.  We then went to the Alchemy Bar for my first drink from one on a ship.  The bartenders were awesome.  I love Grey Goose Cherry Noir and one of them made me a special drink using it.  

 

We headed back to our room.  I found my first towel animal for the cruise and my platinum gift, a nightlight!

 

 

 

 

 

[Bases5]

Enjoying your review.  We are doing the same one in Sept.

[JaniceB]

Short video of Mike Pack end of Motown Party.  

[JaniceB]

6 minutes ago, Bases5 said:

Enjoying your review.  We are doing the same one in Sept.

You will have a great time!

[JaniceB]

Ocho Rios

Edited June 10, 2019 by JaniceB

[jnwrn11]

Enjoying your review so far! We'll be on this same cruise in December, first time on a vista class ship, and we can't wait to see if we love her! 🙂 

[JaniceB]

11 hours ago, jnwrn11 said:

Enjoying your review so far! We'll be on this same cruise in December, first time on a vista class ship, and we can't wait to see if we love her! 🙂 

Thank you and the Horizon is a fantastic ship.

[PhillyFan33579]

20 hours ago, JaniceB said:

For me there was no wow factor boarding the ship like other Carnival ships. 

 

 

Enjoying reading your review. I agree with this comment 100%. Both Vista and Horizon lack the wow factor like every other Carnival ship currently in the fleet.  I never cease to be amazed by the large vaulted atriums and glass elevators found on every class of ship except for Vista class ships. 

[JaniceB]

We didn't have any plans for Ocho Rios other than checking out the Margaritaville.  We woke up and my roommate was not feeling well.  The rest of us went to breakfast at the ocean plaza.  It is a buffet with eggs, meat, cereal, yogurt, fruit and danish.  This is very convenient when you are staying in the Havana cabins.  We had a nice breakfast and went to check on our friend.  She was not feeling any better, so we went out to the Havana pool and got some loungers and checked out the scenery.  

The hoards of people leaving the ship.

 

[JaniceB]

7 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Enjoying reading your review. I agree with this comment 100%. Both Vista and Horizon lack the wow factor like every other Carnival ship currently in the fleet.  I never cease to be amazed by the large vaulted atriums and glass elevators found on every class of ship except for Vista class ships. 

Thanks, it is more like you are entering a hotel lobby than a cruise ship without the glass elevators and large vaulted atrium's.