I was on the Horizon July 18th-24th. Ask me Anything.

[sailingships]

4 hours ago, Cruise Related said:

Truth. Yeah you have the stuff on your phone, 

Are any of the events, menus Fun Times etc on the TV? The menus used to be on the TV on some of the ships.

[tap_out]

How was the experience in the mdr? We generally like to get in and out but have heard some horror stories.  

 

Crowds? Mdr shows? Comedy shows? I know on our 2019 horizon cruise comedy required every bit of 30 min early.  

[pokerguy90]

Did you have any problems with deck chair availability?

 

[phoneman69]

12 hours ago, Cruise Related said:

I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have! Sorry, failed at taking pics! But I was really truly there! Mainly hung around the Havana areas. Louis and Wendy (Havana bartenders) were amazing! Did every specialty restaurant. Ask away!

Did they take a embarkation photo ? i saw a lot of videos of people getting onboard but no mention of the photo stop. We real like saving them in our albums.  ( helps me remeber when i sailed ) Did the do photos in MDF and your time dinning ? Thanks on Sept sailing

[SNJCruisers]

13 hours ago, Georgie562 said:

You were on the 6 day run. What Days were Elegant night?

Two and five

[EngIceDave]

My question is in regards to "elbow room"

Not necessarily social distancing, but with the reduced capacity, do you feel less crowded, but not under booked?

 

Let's say, does it feel like just the right amount of passengers, or too little/many?

 

Both pre and post pandemic?

 

With that said, how'd it effect any wait times, deck chair availability, specialty restaurant availability, etc?

 

What was closed or unavailable?

 

Thank you

 

[WeBeCruisinMon]

Did your itinerary say you docked at 8am on disembarkation day? How soon were people able to walk off with their own luggage? Was it quick?

[SNJCruisers]

13 minutes ago, WeBeCruisinMon said:

Did your itinerary say you docked at 8am on disembarkation day? How soon were people able to walk off with their own luggage? Was it quick?

What time is your flight?  Flying out of MIA or FLL?

[WeBeCruisinMon]

51 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

What time is your flight?  Flying out of MIA or FLL?

Id like to do 10:35 out of FLL, otherwise there’s an 11:16 out of FLL. I also have TSA precheck.

Edited July 28, 2021 by WeBeCruisinMon

[mpacker]

14 hours ago, Cruise Related said:

Love all the questions! Sadly I can only answer a few. A few days prior to my cruise Chefs Table popped up as a specialty dining reservation, I jumped on it! Sadly it never happened. I talked to many a staff, they looked at me like I was a bit crazy whenever I mentioned it. So, nah didn’t happen, very sad about that, but I will tell ya this, the food in general was lacking, supply issues is a serious thing, so tamper expectations when it comes to food. 
 

Bonsai was available and I prebooked it. I’d say it was a pretty good experience. Very fun. The chef was attentive and made every guest feel like they were a part of the show. They eventually gave us all the appetizers in very small amounts, but we got to try them all. They specially said this before we got to order, so another supply issue? Everything was great, but I’d stay away from the chicken. 
 

Elegant nights. As far as I know, there was one  on the second day of the cruise, honestly cannot recall the 2nd elegant night. Carnival has gotten kinda weird with their naming of special events, so I have no idea sadly. I’m sorry. 

Night Club. Another unknown. I’m sorry. However I do know there was a lot of activity til at least 3am. People getting pizza and what not. The Tides Bar on aft which is located on lido stayed open until 2am. 
 

Lido chair hogging. Ok, so I barely visited lido unless to get a burrito or some pizza. So I’m unsure of whether or not there was chair hogging. However, when I was there, there was plenty of chairs/loungers available for everyone. 
 

Thank you for the questions and I hope I answered at least some of them clear enough. 

 

 

 

 

 

There were two elegant nights on this cruise and both were sea days i believe.

 

everytime i walked around lido deck their were chairs available on all three decks.

 

@cruisegus there were some people wearings masks.   in casino, in events too (I know because we wore ours inside).  there "required" it in a few places (tinders, amber cove) but none of those were enforced.   also they changed the rules for people under 14 from when we booked to when we got on.  originally they were required to wear masks onboard.  then evidently it was just changed to inside, but  none of this was enforced.  the staff wore their masks

 

we (like @cruiserelated) stayed on the boat in bimini, it just looked too small and residential and even though we were wearing masks inside on cruise we didn't want to walk around outside with masks like we did at amber cove (it was brutally hot with masks).

 

i never once saw a funtime anywhere.  we did use the app a few times but honestly i think it meant we didn't do things we probably would have had we had them.

 

 

[MsTabbyKats]

17 minutes ago, mpacker said:

 

 

@cruisegus there were some people wearings masks.   in casino, in events too (I know because we wore ours inside).  there "required" it in a few places (tinders, amber cove) but none of those were enforced.   also they changed the rules for people under 14 from when we booked to when we got on.  originally they were required to wear masks onboard.  then evidently it was just changed to inside, but  none of this was enforced.  the staff wore their masks

 

 

Just like I said over a year ago....any restrictions will not be enforced.

 

 

[EngIceDave]

I've been to Bimini, it's tiny....really tiny.

 

A ship would swamp the place. I'd stay onboard too.

 

The local Port Canaveral casino boat (Victory Casino) has a larger casino that the one at at the Hilton there.

 

Pretty resort hotel, but not huge.

[momin05]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I'm sure they are evolving - even during a cruise.

 

 

funtimes.pdf 97.62 kB · 24 downloads funtimes.pdf 72.89 kB · 19 downloads funtimes.pdf 72.38 kB · 10 downloads funtimes.pdf 431.32 kB · 8 downloads funtimes.pdf 437.19 kB · 8 downloads funtimes.pdf 78.61 kB · 9 downloads funtimes.pdf 77.9 kB · 7 downloads funtimes.pdf 75.29 kB · 11 downloads

Thank you Blerk. This is awesome. We are on the 6 day and I know things change, but I love to see what activities are offered and when things are open on sea days and port days. Very helpful!  And I will definitely it let be picking this up from guest services. I enjoy the app, but I like seeing everything on one page!

[Cruise Related]

12 hours ago, sailingships said:

Are any of the events, menus Fun Times etc on the TV? The menus used to be on the TV on some of the ships.

There was some options on the tv, I tried to see what was offered, but the tv was being difficult so I gave up and didn’t think to bother with it again. 

[Cruise Related]

11 hours ago, tap_out said:

How was the experience in the mdr? We generally like to get in and out but have heard some horror stories.  

 

Crowds? Mdr shows? Comedy shows? I know on our 2019 horizon cruise comedy required every bit of 30 min early.  

Didn’t do the MDR, however I heard service was fast and the food was ok. Never once did I feel crowded except on lido deck during embarkation day. The comedy clubs definitely filled up but not nearly as outrageous pre-pandemic. 

[Cruise Related]

6 hours ago, pokerguy90 said:

Did you have any problems with deck chair availability?

 

Nope, I was mainly in the Havana area the entire time, plenty of everything there. The times I went up on lido there seemed to be plenty of loungers and casual seats available. 

[Cruise Related]

5 hours ago, phoneman69 said:

Did they take a embarkation photo ? i saw a lot of videos of people getting onboard but no mention of the photo stop. We real like saving them in our albums.  ( helps me remeber when i sailed ) Did the do photos in MDF and your time dinning ? Thanks on Sept sailing

They definitely took embarkation photos, has the big ole horizon back drop going on. Couldn’t tell ya about the other locations unfortunately. 

[Cruise Related]

4 hours ago, WeBeCruisinMon said:

Did your itinerary say you docked at 8am on disembarkation day? How soon were people able to walk off with their own luggage? Was it quick?

They started self assist debarkation around 6:30-7:00, could hang around in your cabin until 8:30 then you either need to go to your muster station or somewhere not in the way. They were calling self assist by muster station. Was pretty easy and fast getting off, especially if you had a passport for embarkation. They do facial recognition, so when ya get off, you just stand in front of the computer and you’re on your way. 

[Dmg00]

I’m on the Horizon in September, I cannot seem to pre-book Bonsai Teppanyaki? Any advice? Also our itinerary changed are there shore excursions for Bimini, Half Moon Cay, and Amber Cove? Are they all just beach days and do any of these places have swimming pools? Also, if mask mandates happen I will cancel what happens with my prebooked Steak House, Wi-Fi, and massages that I’ve already paid for? Sorry so many questions I’m just concerned about this itinerary change. 

[Cruise Related]

12 minutes ago, Dmg00 said:

I’m on the Horizon in September, I cannot seem to pre-book Bonsai Teppanyaki? Any advice? Also our itinerary changed are there shore excursions for Bimini, Half Moon Cay, and Amber Cove? Are they all just beach days and do any of these places have swimming pools? Also, if mask mandates happen I will cancel what happens with my prebooked Steak House, Wi-Fi, and massages that I’ve already paid for? Sorry so many questions I’m just concerned about this itinerary change. 

You’ll have no issues booking Teppanyaki once on board. And for the most part yes, all three ports are beach days with the exception of Amber Cove, it’s very much a beach day, but there’s a town not too far from Amber Cove and you can explore it and book an excursion to do so. There’s also excursions for the other ports as well, but it’s your typical beach type stuff. Not sure about Bimini and pools, however there is a resort there, I assume they have one, no idea if it’s open to cruise guest or not. HMC has an incredible beach and amazing water, so no need for a pool, but if that’s your thing, they do have one. Not sure about Amber Cove unfortunately, didn’t spend any time there. As far as mask mandates, mask were required in every port except for HMC, but mask were required on the tender to the island. Amber Cove and Bimini both require mask indoors and outdoors. If/when you cancel, all your prebooked things will be canceled as well, or you can just do it yourself prior to canceling your cruise. Hope I answered all your questions lol. 

[EngIceDave]

This ask me anything is working out well....LOL

[Cruise Related]

10 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

This ask me anything is working out well....LOL

Lol no kidding. Totally don’t mind though. 

[Dmg00]

1 hour ago, Cruise Related said:

You’ll have no issues booking Teppanyaki once on board. And for the most part yes, all three ports are beach days with the exception of Amber Cove, it’s very much a beach day, but there’s a town not too far from Amber Cove and you can explore it and book an excursion to do so. There’s also excursions for the other ports as well, but it’s your typical beach type stuff. Not sure about Bimini and pools, however there is a resort there, I assume they have one, no idea if it’s open to cruise guest or not. HMC has an incredible beach and amazing water, so no need for a pool, but if that’s your thing, they do have one. Not sure about Amber Cove unfortunately, didn’t spend any time there. As far as mask mandates, mask were required in every port except for HMC, but mask were required on the tender to the island. Amber Cove and Bimini both require mask indoors and outdoors. If/when you cancel, all your prebooked things will be canceled as well, or you can just do it yourself prior to canceling your cruise. Hope I answered all your questions lol. 

Thank you! 
 

[Houst]

Were you able to use your onboard credit in the casino? 🙂 

[mpacker]

5 hours ago, Cruise Related said:

Didn’t do the MDR, however I heard service was fast and the food was ok. Never once did I feel crowded except on lido deck during embarkation day. The comedy clubs definitely filled up but not nearly as outrageous pre-pandemic. 

 

5 hours ago, Cruise Related said:

we did MDR YTD every night.  Service was fast and extremely friendly. They had some kind of singing in there every night.  Food was great.  Even when we were done (and we ate at 5:30) when we left there was rarely more than a handful of people