Comin’ at you LIVE from Horizon 3/7-3/15

[Organized Chaos]

10 hours ago, soonernstlouis said:

OC, please post your opinion on a few currently relevant topics as you experience them:

 

•Pre-screening for temperature, ect and how that affected embarkation.  Miami is said to be one of the easiest ports to embark from & I wonder if the new process slows things down much.

•Any closures (shows), port changes, etc you are made aware of.

•Crowds or lack thereof.  If the lido pool isn’t masses of humanity we then know there were a lot of cancellations.

•Any special dining experiences you have; pictures are great.

•Overall how others are handling the situation (masks, being more clean-hand sanitizers, covering cough).

 

Have a great time!

 

Someone was outside the terminal handing out the health questionnaires. Very short: name, ship, cabin #, and I think 4 yes/no questions about recent travel to any of the “danger zones” and recent illnesses. We got inside and did check-in first. They took the questionnaires and check-in only took a minute or two. Then security, which was also quick. After that, they had the temperature checkers before you could go to the waiting area. Thermal thermometers, point it at your forehead. I was sweating so he asked me to wipe my forehead and he had to do it again. I passed the test that time. Overall, the two additional measures (questionnaire and temp check) didn’t really slow things down. I’ll go into a little more detail about check-in in a separate post.

 

So far our Grand Turk change is the only one we know of. Listening to the buzz, passengers aren’t too pleased about that change, but it is what it is. Other than that, passengers don’t seem to be worried about coronavirus related issues. I’ve only seen one crew member wearing a mask (housekeeping) when we got onboard. They have hand sanitizers set up in many places. Around the Lido buffet and at the entrances to the MDR, a crew member is stationed at each one strongly encouraging passengers to use them.

 

Hardly anyone was in the mid-ship and aft pools while we were still in Miami and right after we set sail, but it was kind of cool outside, so that may have been why. I haven’t been out there tonight. I’ll report back on crowds as I go.

[Cruzer1102]

Following as we are sailing Horizon same itin on 3/21. Curious if this is the only port change. 

 

Thanks for review!

[beshears]

Still following along.  The 7 of us have been back/forth on what is going on, but with our 6 day cruise coming up next Sunday, only time will tell.  I have a feeling, as you mentioned, that we might be going to Nassau, instead of Grand Turk.  I know your doing a few more days than us, but they may give us an "idea" of what ports we might be doing, not that it helps us make any plans ahead of time.

[projectblacklace]

Just found out our CD is Chris “Donkey” Salazar. The schedule I had last looked at on here said Mike Pack, who I heard was great, so I’m a bit disappointed. Anyone who’s had Donkey, what did you think?
 
Saw some questions, but we’re getting ready for muster in a minute, so I shall.

Had him on Liberty in November. Found him to be incredibly annoying and fake. Mostly his tone of voice and demeanor when speaking and at events around the ship. He’s trying too hard. Just my opinion. YMMV.


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[Vitamin Sea Addict]

Following as we are also on the Horizon 3/21....and we booked it for it's ports. The idea of Nassau is saddening...but where they choose to move as an alternate port depends on the ships in each port so there's still hope for something else OR that GT will realize that loss of revenue is a big deal. Can't wait to hear how this sailing goes and see the funtimes and meals.

[mechomper]

Is the port time staying the same in Nassau as it was in Grand Turk, 7-2?


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[Organized Chaos]

Just now, projectblacklace said:

Had him on Liberty in November. Found him to be incredibly annoying and fake. Mostly his tone of voice and demeanor when speaking and at events around the ship. He’s trying too hard. Just my opinion. YMMV.

 

I can see what you mean by trying too hard. He does give off that vibe. So far we’ve only seen him at sail-away, where he just followed the choreographed routine, and the welcome aboard event. At that, he was over-animated, if that makes sense. We’ll see how things go.

[Organized Chaos]

Just now, mechomper said:

Is the port time staying the same in Nassau as it was in Grand Turk, 7-2?

 

Not for us. Guests go ashore at 8:15 and back on board at 4:30.

 

We’re not going to bother doing much. Our son has never wanted to do elegant night, so as usual, we didn’t bring his khaki pants. Well now he likes the menu for our first elegant night and wants to go. He has nice enough shirts, but not the pants. Does anyone know if there’s a store nearby in Nassau that might sell khakis? I know it’s a long shot because it’s all souvenirs and T-shirts, things like that. If not, no big deal. He’ll learn to prepare for it next time. 

[Organized Chaos]

Our internet was down most of the afternoon and night, otherwise I would’ve posted a little more. They were having trouble with satellite signal. I’ve read plenty of past posts about how good Horizon’s internet is, but so far I’m not impressed. I have the Premium plan and I feel like it’s slower than it should be. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

 

Tonight was quite cold. Only people in the hot tubs, no one in the pools.

 

Pizza line check at 10:30pm was about a 10-15 min. wait, but was worth it because it was excellent. 

[chadci]

We're on the Horizon in a few months so following along.

[grandmarnnurse]

10 hours ago, projectblacklace said:

Had him on Liberty in November. Found him to be incredibly annoying and fake. Mostly his tone of voice and demeanor when speaking and at events around the ship. He’s trying too hard. Just my opinion. YMMV.


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I had Donkey last March on the Breeze, and loved him. I guess to each their own. 

[Organized Chaos]

Sitting in Serenity waiting for the fam to get up. Thought I’d jot down some thoughts about embarkation day. 

 

I posted a bit about check-in, in regards to the additional health safety measures, on post #26 at the top of this page.

 

I did online check-in at midnight as soon as it was available and still got a 12:30-1:00 Arrival Appt. as the earliest one. But it didn’t matter since we have FTTF. Our hotel shuttle left at 10:00 and we got to the terminal around 10:30. The early/late line didn’t have too many people, but we were able to walk right in the priority entrance after filling out our health questionnaire. Check-in and security were a breeze, as noted earlier. Since we had cash accounts, they insisted we go to the Guest Services at the terminal. I tried to get us out of this because we bought Cruise Cash, but no matter who I told, they made us go. I wasn’t happy about that. The woman at the Guest Services counter didn’t understand Cruise Cash. I had to explain, and even then, she didn’t get it. Finally, she just said she’d stamp our boarding passes as having funds and instructed me to go to GS on the ship. Nope.

 

We sat down and by 10:45, they started boarding. Maybe 5 minutes later, they called FTTF. We walked right by the D/P lounge and were beating many of them onboard. My wife’s aunt & uncle are Platinum. They were right behind us at security and we somehow beat them onboard by a good deal. My wife’s cousin was zone A06 and she was called to board as we were walking down the second level walkway right above the waiting area. So needless to say, boarding was going very smoothly. 

 

We went to our cabin and everything was ready. We hung out in there for probably 10 min. while we explained some things to our son’s friend, whose only been on one cruise, on another line.

 

We got to Lido and the Guy’s line was already fairly long. In our experience, the Guy’s line always moves pretty fast, but they were a little slower. Not terrible, though.  I used to absolutely love Guy’s burgers, but they’ve lost something along the way.  They’re still very good burgers, but not what they used to be. All the outside seating was taken, but still some inside.

 

We spent the day exploring the ship. We tried the Skyride and ropes course. Both very fun and we’ll definitely be doing those more.

 

We were scheduled to set sail at 4:00, but it wasn’t until shortly after 4:30. Not sure what caused the delay. The sail-away party was just eh. Donkey and the Fun Squad did their choreographed dances and that was it. Once we set sail, it was very windy & chilly, so we didn’t hang out up top too long.

 

The Welcome Aboard show wasn’t much to crow about. One thing though...the Playlist performers sang 3 or 4 songs and my initial thoughts are that they’re pretty good. So I’m eager to see how they do at their shows.

 

Nassau this morning is in the high 60’s and very windy. We may not even get off the ship.

[Organized Chaos]

I had Donkey last March on the Breeze, and loved him. I guess to each their own. 

The jury’s still out. I want to see more of him before I decide definitively.

He does have one odd quirk though. When he’s finished with his PA announcements, he just disappears. It makes you think there’s more to be said, but he’s just gone without saying anything

[Organized Chaos]

From yesterday’s sail-away party.


Headed up to Lido now to see who’s out & about. Crowd report coming soon.

[Organized Chaos]

3 hours ago, soonernstlouis said:

Forgot to add until it was too late to edit: please

give 1st hand details to the new non self-serve stations in the buffet, etc.  Is it everything (including Guys Burgers condiments) or just the buffet?  thanks

 

It appears to be just the buffet. I had breakfast at the buffet this morning. It was before everyone got off, but it wasn’t too crowded and I got served my food immediately. They station a crew member at the ice cream machines to make it for us. I’m not real fond of that because I got a cone and he barely put any ice cream on it. It was just peeking over the top of the cone. LOL Guy’s condiments was still self-serve when I last looked yesterday. 

[Organized Chaos]

Despite all the moans & groans from people yesterday when Nassau was announced, it appears a lot have gone ashore. Lido buffet isn’t crowded. It’s still quite cool outside (69°) and windy, so not many in the pool area.

 

I don’t like the smoking area on deck 11 aft. A lot of people like to stand on the aft decks to watch the water, us included, and I don’t want to smell smoke while doing it. The other deck 11 smoking area is starboard side overlooking the pool. Another bad spot for it, in my opinion. Well, good for the smokers, not for non-smokers.

 

On our way to have the Pasta Bar for the first time

[grandmarnnurse]

39 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

Despite all the moans & groans from people yesterday when Nassau was announced, it appears a lot have gone ashore. Lido buffet isn’t crowded. It’s still quite cool outside (69°) and windy, so not many in the pool area.

 

I don’t like the smoking area on deck 11 aft. A lot of people like to stand on the aft decks to watch the water, us included, and I don’t want to smell smoke while doing it. The other deck 11 smoking area is starboard side overlooking the pool. Another bad spot for it, in my opinion. Well, good for the smokers, not for non-smokers.

 

On our way to have the Pasta Bar for the first time

Don’t get me going about smoking on cruise ships. I’ve been flamed numerous times for my comments. In my honest opinion, in this day and age with individuals much more educated about the dangers of smoking, it should be totally banned from cruise ships. Now, I do not see that happening in the foreseeable future, but Id bet you the time is coming, after complaints after complaints, that smoking will be limited to outdoor restricted areas only, meaning no more casino smoke. That doesn’t solve the problem you mentioned about the smokers on deck 11. It seemed every time my hubby and I found a decent place to sit and relax, it ended up being a smokers area when on the Breeze last year. Even overlooking the aft pool. Cruise lines need to wake up to the demands of the majority of their cruise base, and that is non-smokers. Now, I’ll get off my soap box. Be prepared for the cries of “its my right”. Nope. Never a right when you expose your dirty hazardous habit to other people. It’s an addiction. Not a right. 

[UGACamper]

As a former smoker, I could not agree more. I swore when I quit that I wouldn't become one of "those people" who complain about smokers. I was wrong. 

[Acheavacci]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

Despite all the moans & groans from people yesterday when Nassau was announced, it appears a lot have gone ashore. Lido buffet isn’t crowded. It’s still quite cool outside (69°) and windy, so not many in the pool area.

 

I don’t like the smoking area on deck 11 aft. A lot of people like to stand on the aft decks to watch the water, us included, and I don’t want to smell smoke while doing it. The other deck 11 smoking area is starboard side overlooking the pool. Another bad spot for it, in my opinion. Well, good for the smokers, not for non-smokers.

 

On our way to have the Pasta Bar for the first time

I agree on the smoking areas. On the decks.  People were not adhering to only those areas either.  And vaping was everywhere.  Hello, you dont fool anyone!! 

 

The smoke from the casino on the Breeze wafted out to the atrium.   It was so strong we couldn't enjoy the entertainment or fun shops in the evening.   There were ionizer machines in the casino.  The smell was not as bad walking through as it was outside the casino.  

[Organized Chaos]

The smoke from the casino on the Breeze wafted out to the atrium.   It was so strong we couldn't enjoy the entertainment or fun shops in the evening.   There were ionizer machines in the casino.  The smell was not as bad walking through as it was outside the casino.  

The smoke smell was horrendous yesterday before the ship got underway. We could smell it in the stairwell on deck 6 (casino is on 4). But we were also refueling, so maybe it was because ALL of the smokers were inside. Once we set sail, it got a lot better. I haven’t noticed it too much outside the casino so far.

[Organized Chaos]

Had lunch at the Pasta Bar. First of all, you can hear all the basketballs bouncing directly overhead, which seems to be a bad design decision. The food was good. A bit bland, really could’ve use some salt, but by no means bad. I had the Caesar salad, linguini noodles with meat sauce, and chicken strips. Even the strips were kinda bland. I tried the bread, too. Not my favorite, but it wasn’t bad.

 

I’ve been looking forward to this pasta ever since following @Gettys84 live review last April. Judging by his photos, the salads have shrunk.

 

Here’s the photo Gettys84 posted back then...

And here is the current serving. Not much less, but noticeable.

We’ll definitely go back. I tried a bite of my wife’s Alfredo. Again, needed salt, but good enough that I want that next time.

 

And here’s the bread...

 

[Gettys84]

21 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

Had lunch at the Pasta Bar. First of all, you can hear all the basketballs bouncing directly overhead, which seems to be a bad design decision. The food was good. A bit bland, really could’ve use some salt, but by no means bad. I had the Caesar salad, linguini noodles with meat sauce, and chicken strips. Even the strips were kinda bland. I tried the bread, too. Not my favorite, but it wasn’t bad.

 

I’ve been looking forward to this pasta ever since following @Gettys84 live review last April. Judging by his photos, the salads have shrunk.

 

Here’s the photo Gettys84 posted back then...

And here is the current serving. Not much less, but noticeable.

We’ll definitely go back. I tried a bite of my wife’s Alfredo. Again, needed salt, but good enough that I want that next time.

 

And here’s the bread...

 

Man we could go for some pizza and some pasta bar right now. We have 40 days until we board the Breeze!  My wife adds a lot of parmesan cheese to her Alfredo and that helps with it being bland.  Crazy on the salad size difference!  Hope you are having a great time. Don’t forget to go check out sky billiards on deck 11!  It’s really fun! 

[grandmarnnurse]

49 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

Had lunch at the Pasta Bar. First of all, you can hear all the basketballs bouncing directly overhead, which seems to be a bad design decision. The food was good. A bit bland, really could’ve use some salt, but by no means bad. I had the Caesar salad, linguini noodles with meat sauce, and chicken strips. Even the strips were kinda bland. I tried the bread, too. Not my favorite, but it wasn’t bad.

 

I’ve been looking forward to this pasta ever since following @Gettys84 live review last April. Judging by his photos, the salads have shrunk.

 

Here’s the photo Gettys84 posted back then...

And here is the current serving. Not much less, but noticeable.

We’ll definitely go back. I tried a bite of my wife’s Alfredo. Again, needed salt, but good enough that I want that next time.

 

And here’s the bread...

 

I will be on the Magic in 27 days, and can’t wait to go to the Italian Restaurant again, but we found the Caesar salad to be too fishy from the anchovy’s that is in it. Turned me right off. 

[Organized Chaos]

Just now, Gettys84 said:

Man we could go for some pizza and some pasta bar right now. We have 40 days until we board the Breeze!  My wife adds a lot of parmesan cheese to her Alfredo and that helps with it being bland.  Crazy on the salad size difference!  Hope you are having a great time. Don’t forget to go check out sky billiards on deck 11!  It’s really fun! 

 

I added a little parmesan, maybe I’ll try more. We’re having fun. As usual, so much to do and not enough time to do it. My wife and her cousin played sky billiards today. I haven’t had a chance yet.

[Organized Chaos]

Just now, grandmarnnurse said:

I will be on the Magic in 27 days, and can’t wait to go to the Italian Restaurant again, but we found the Caesar salad to be too fishy from the anchovy’s that is in it. Turned me right off. 

 

My wife agrees with you. We have a restaurant back home that has Caesar with a pretty strong fishy taste, and I love that, so I guess I’m used to it.