Carnival Horizon

[beshears]

The Horizon sounds like a large ship.  If you have been on it within the past year, I have a couple questions.

 

There will be 8 of us on this trip, but NO children.  I see they have a Family Harbor. What is this all about, and is it worth being in this area?

 

I also see they have a ride call Skyride?  Is there a cost to ride it, and is it worth it?

[PhillyFan33579]

I wouldn’t stay in the Family Harbor, but I try to avoid kids as much as possible on a cruise

 

The Skyride is free and worth doing at least once. 

[ddloml]

The Family Harbor is a group of rooms specifically geared to families with children.  It looked like they had a separate dining area that served breakfast and snacks, at least when I walked past it.  If your group is adults only, you will not want to book a cabin there. 

 

I agree with PhillyFan that the Skyride is worth trying at least once.  While you're at it, the Ropes course is located in the same area.  These activities are closed when the ship is in port.

[leen50]

Family Harbor smells like diapers after day 4. My 70 + hubby likes the ropes course and the Sky Ride. We were on the Horizon 14 day Trans Atlantic. Hardly any kids...great trip.

[beshears]

Thank you "everyone" for your responses to my questions.  I am still in the "thinking" mode, but I would like to go back to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and I see the Horizon goes that direction.  I have good memories, especially of visiting the Prospect Plantation, and Dunns River Falls, and I would like for my grown children visit it as well.

 

Thanks for letting me know about Family Harbor.  I will pass that section.

 

The Skyride sounds wonderful and different, so that sounds like something to check out as well. If I understood right, is the Skyride close on sea days?

[CheckersMidwest]

No - The ropes and the SKyRide are OPEN on sea days. 🙂 Closed on port days. Sometimes. I rode it and loved it. Not a fan of the ropes because I'm afraid of heights.

 

If you're traveling with no kids, we stayed in the Havana area. Loved it. No one under the age of 12 can be booked there. In fact, we had a few college kids and maybe 1 high school kid while there the end of May. Great service, you get to know each other's names because you see the same people all week, and the Havana room guests are the only ones who get to use that pool/area of the ship. After 7:00 pm it is open to everyone, but never saw anyone use it much after that. We had a cabana room with the patio and would definitely stay there again !

 

[Erik101]

The Skyride is open on sea days but here’s a tip....the lines will be long during sea days due to its popularity.  I rode it on the Vista.  It’s pretty awesome looking at your surroundings while you pedal.  I’ll be on the Horizon in 11 days and I’ll be sure to ride it then. 

[purplephenom]

Family harbor seems like the opposite of what you want, but maybe the Havana area would be of interest to you?  It's got a pool that's only for Havana cabins until 7 pm, and its own type of lounge chairs.  Also no kids under 12.  

 

With the ropes course and I think the sky ride, you do need closed toed shoes.  

 

[2wheelin]

Do the sky ride and ropes early in the cruise and earlier in the day. It gets busier later. There is a sign telling approx. how long the wait is for the ride. Typically less than 30 minutes for us.

I don’t know if they actually post their hours anywhere but we would just walk by and check. 

Once on the ropes course, you can go around more than once if it’s not too busy.

[ddloml]

2 hours ago, Erik101 said:

The Skyride is open on sea days but here’s a tip....the lines will be long during sea days due to its popularity.  I rode it on the Vista.  It’s pretty awesome looking at your surroundings while you pedal.  I’ll be on the Horizon in 11 days and I’ll be sure to ride it then. 

I agree that the wait to go on the Skyride was very long on regular sea days.  We were fortunate on our cruise that arrived late one morning to Cozumel (around 11:00 AM).  They opened the Skyride and Ropes course at 9:00 AM for a couple of hours as we were still at sea during that time.  Not many people took advantage of that opportunity and the lines were negligible.   

[jbethel11]

5 hours ago, beshears said:

The Horizon sounds like a large ship.

It is, and I love her!

 

5 hours ago, beshears said:

There will be 8 of us on this trip, but NO children.  I see they have a Family Harbor. What is this all about, and is it worth being in this area?

It is not worth it with no children. Even though I AM NOT A CHILD, I found interest in it because you have your own "mini buffet" filled with cookies, snacks and of course, ICE CREAM 😁. But, it will be inundated with younger kids, if that is a problem for you.

 

6 hours ago, beshears said:

I also see they have a ride call Skyride?  Is there a cost to ride it, and is it worth it?

No cost, however, infamously, it is closed for maintenance on a lot of sailing, including for my sailing last June.

[beshears]

Oh my, thank you ALL for your information in regard to my questions. 

 

In regard to the "Havana" area.  Is there an extra charge for being in that area?  It almost sounds like an all inclusive in that area.

 

As for the Skyride, is it mainly for young people, or can just about anyone ride it as long as their health is good? Someone said it seems to be closed down for maintenance all the time during cruises.  Is that because it is used so much, or why does it always seem to be out of order?

 

If there is anything else to check on the Horizon that I haven't ask about, and you think it is worth checking out, please let me know.

[beshears]

Another question. 

 

I just Googled the Carnival Horizon Skyride.  Is there ONLY 2 bikes to peddle on?  If this is the case, no wonder it takes forever for people to ride them.

[KmomChicago]

8 minutes ago, beshears said:

Oh my, thank you ALL for your information in regard to my questions. 

 

In regard to the "Havana" area.  Is there an extra charge for being in that area?  It almost sounds like an all inclusive in that area.

 

Havana cabins cost more. I thought the only extra thing included is an exclusive pool most of the day.

[jbethel11]

10 minutes ago, beshears said:

Another question. 

 

I just Googled the Carnival Horizon Skyride.  Is there ONLY 2 bikes to peddle on?  If this is the case, no wonder it takes forever for people to ride them.

Yep, but I have heard since there is such a demand for couples (two people, not the romantic) to ride, sometimes solos will be called up to ride alongside a fellow solo.

[jbethel11]

8 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Havana cabins cost more. I thought the only extra thing included is an exclusive pool most of the day.

@beshears to add on, exclusive lounger-chairs and the outside portion to the Havana bar are private to the Havana guests. At 7:00 PM, all passengers are allowed to enjoy the Havana retreat.

[Organized Chaos]

11 hours ago, beshears said:

The Horizon sounds like a large ship.  If you have been on it within the past year, I have a couple questions.

 

There will be 8 of us on this trip, but NO children.  I see they have a Family Harbor. What is this all about, and is it worth being in this area?

 

I also see they have a ride call Skyride?  Is there a cost to ride it, and is it worth it?

 

We'll be on the Horizon for the first time next March. I was hesitant to try one of the so-called mega-ships. Was curious about what it'd be like, but wasn't sure if I wanted to try one yet. But this particular cruise was picked by my wife & a few members of her family who are going, so I didn't have much say. 😐 My biggest concern was the amount of passengers, but the more I read about it, the more excited I am to see what she's like.

 

The Skyride and Ropes course are free, not sure if someone answered that yet. Do a search on YouTube for them, there's plenty of videos to show exactly what they're like. In fact, you can get a good look at just about every ship using YT videos.

 

The Family Harbor Lounge (exclusive to those staying in FH cabins) is just a large space with seating, some video games and board games, and a small breakfast and snack buffet. Our son is 18 now, but even if we still had a young kid, I don't think I'd pay the extra to stay in a FH cabin just for that lounge. Other than that, I'm not sure what else comes with it that makes them special.

You don't have to pay to enter the Havana pool area, but the Havana cabins do cost more. If you stay in one, the Havana pool area is only open to those in Havana cabins until 7pm. Then everyone is welcome in that area.

 

The Horizon has an IMAX theater and what they call the Thrill Theater. It plays special 3D movies, but also includes things like a vibrating seat and air blowing at you to make it more immersive. Both of these theaters cost extra, but from what I've seen they're pretty reasonably priced.

 

If you want to check out all the other activities on board, here's the link: https://www.carnival.com/onboard/view-all-onboard-activities/?shipCode=HZ

[Erik101]

2 hours ago, beshears said:

As for the Skyride, is it mainly for young people, or can just about anyone ride it as long as their health is good? Someone said it seems to be closed down for maintenance all the time during cruises.  Is that because it is used so much, or why does it always seem to be out of order?

 

I've never seen maintenance closures on the Vista.  Every time I went outside (sea days) to the sky course deck, there was always a line for it.  Maybe this is different for the Horizon but I think if it is down frequently for maintenance, I wouldn't ride it for safety reasons.  

 

Age is not a factor when riding the Skyride except perhaps small children.  I think that if you are able to pedal on a stationary bike for 10 minutes at a leisurely pace and not pedal like you are in a spin class, then you should be okay.  

[beshears]

Once again, thank you for your responses.  I just "announced" or ASK my 3 sons (wives included) if they would like to go on a cruise next year, and their response..........YES!!!  So now will be the deciding factor if we will do the Horizon, or another ship.  I was really interested in the Skyride, but if it only does 2 people at a time, I can see how it would take a long time.

[MRSG29]

Just signed up for the Horizon in Feb. Looking forward to it. Did the Vista last Oct. I like the big ships vs the small ships. Alot more to do on Sea days. 

[Gettys84]

On 6/13/2019 at 10:11 PM, beshears said:

Another question. 

 

I just Googled the Carnival Horizon Skyride.  Is there ONLY 2 bikes to peddle on?  If this is the case, no wonder it takes forever for people to ride them.

there are a total of 4 cars.  Once a pair of people head out out the staff get the next two people loaded up, as soon as the other people get back around the send the other two cars off again.  It takes about 2/3 minutes to go around so it goes pretty fast.  It was a blast riding on them.  Have to have close toed shoes on and can not have anything in your pockets.  They have lockers for you to put your stuff in.  We are going to miss this on our next 3 cruises we have booked.  Not sure if I will like the Roller Coaster on the Mardi Gras but will give it a shot!  

 

Below is a link to our live review my wife and I did in April.  This is by far are most favorite ship out of the 5 or so different ships we have been on.  We are looking to book my turning platinum cruise in April 2020 on the Horizon!

 

 

[Organized Chaos]

On 6/26/2019 at 6:07 PM, Gettys84 said:

there are a total of 4 cars.  Once a pair of people head out out the staff get the next two people loaded up, as soon as the other people get back around the send the other two cars off again.  It takes about 2/3 minutes to go around so it goes pretty fast.  It was a blast riding on them.  Have to have close toed shoes on and can not have anything in your pockets.  They have lockers for you to put your stuff in.

 

I was hoping to be able to video my ride (and the member of my group who's going with me) with my GoPro, but I guess they don't want to run the risk of anything falling, huh? I never thought about that. I have a hand grip with a wrist strap for my GoPro, so it couldn't fall, but I guess that'll still be a no no.

[2wheelin]

7 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I was hoping to be able to video my ride (and the member of my group who's going with me) with my GoPro, but I guess they don't want to run the risk of anything falling, huh? I never thought about that. I have a hand grip with a wrist strap for my GoPro, so it couldn't fall, but I guess that'll still be a no no.

I have a neck strap which cannot come off my neck that holds my phone, which again cannot come loose, and was not allowed. However, anyone can have their card on a lanyard and it is fine. They also don’t want you to use your hands for anything but holding the handles which is just silly.

[Gettys84]

7 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I was hoping to be able to video my ride (and the member of my group who's going with me) with my GoPro, but I guess they don't want to run the risk of anything falling, huh? I never thought about that. I have a hand grip with a wrist strap for my GoPro, so it couldn't fall, but I guess that'll still be a no no.

get the chest strap for your go pro and you can take it with you.  That is the only approved way!

[ishap]

2 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

I have a neck strap which cannot come off my neck that holds my phone, which again cannot come loose, and was not allowed. However, anyone can have their card on a lanyard and it is fine. They also don’t want you to use your hands for anything but holding the handles which is just silly.

 

It's all about safety and liability.  While I don't necessarily disagree with you, and most people would want to take pictures, if something did fall/get dropped and hit someone, there would be an uproar about why Carnival didn't do more to ensure safety.  Plus they would probably get sued for a ton of money.  Also, not taking cameras is a better way to ensure people keep moving on the ride instead of stopping to take pics/video in different spots, otherwise it might take even longer to get a turn.