Carnival Horizon 14 Day B2B Southern/Eastern Caribbean Review

[jam19872016]

Day 11:

 

Today we are in Half Moon Cay. This is my third time here. This is also officially my longest cruise to date. It feels wonderful. Somewhere along the way this feels like real life and not just your vacation away from real life. I long for the day I can retire and make this my reality for real 🙂 

 

Health protocols for Half Moon Cay.

 

 

I slept in just a little bit so breakfast was closed already. I went to Blue Iguana for a burrito and they were still out of jalapeno wraps so they must be unable to get it as I doubt they ran out again already since turnaround day. I got the wheat and it was much better today so maybe it was an off day the last time I got it.

 

After I ate we headed to the theater but it was right at 10:30 and they were now doing open boarding on the tender...I mean water shuttle so we walked right down to deck 0. 

 

I'm going to wear my negativity hat for a minute. I was pretty miserable today. The tender ride over was bad, the rows of seats were so close together that at 5 foot 11 I had to fold my legs up into myself and still rubbed legs with my new BFF seated across from me the whole way over. By the time we arrived I was in a lot of pain from being seated in that position. 

 

I wish I would have gotten a picture it was seriously bad. They could have removed that row, and we would have still been too close to the people in the next row. People walking by when it was still an empty row had to turn sideways to walk through, and still bumped into us all. 

 

Thankfully the tender....water shuttle back had reasonable spacing between rows. The issue going back was we waited at least a half hour for a shuttle to arrive and then spend another good 15 minutes loading more people before we took off. I was hot and miserable. I know people love this stop, and it is not doubt a beautiful island but it is really not for me.

 

Ok, negativity hat off now.

 

My mom did a little shopping and found a shirt she has been trying to find for a while now as the one she bought previously no longer fits. 
 

[reeinaz]

23 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

 

 

 

 

Back on the ship there was a lady yelling and screaming and causing a scene at guest services. I had to rubberneck and this lady was a mess. She was upset that her ports changed (umm duh!) and that her kids were not allowed to get off the ship. 

 

Now to play devils advocate here, I thought maybe she was trying to invoke the 110% guarantee which I wonder if that is no longer a thing. It sounded like she wanted to go home and get her money back which should be allowed if they still do that. I can't be sure though because she was pretty hysterical.

 

Now that I'm done playing devil's advocate, yelling at people is never the answer especially when it is not their fault. Also I think the communication has been pretty clear from Carnival about the change in itinerary and most certainly the restrictions for unvaccinated passengers. I can't see how you can go through the process of applying for an exemption and not be clear on the rules regarding leaving the ship. It seems while she was the loudest, there were a lot of people at guest services right now upset that their children could not leave the ship, seriously how is this possible that all these people did not know this?
 

Maybe they thought the exemption applied to all the rules. 

[jam19872016]

Carnival Horizon anchored offshore.

 

 

 

The island from the ride back now that I could actually move.

 

 

[jam19872016]

For lunch I thought I had a brilliant idea and I got a taco bowl from Blue Iguana and topped it with a Guy's burger patty.

 

 

It was good, but I need to work on it a little. Maybe drop the rice. I don't care for the beef at BI so I thought this would be a good sub. It was good just not the genius idea I thought I had lol.

 

And no lunch is complete without a stop for some cake.

 

 

 

I found the ship coin while walking around earlier in the cruise.

 

 

I didn't post it when I found it because I didn't want to give away any clues where it was.

 

After lunch I went back to try my luck at some trivia, but first letme take an #ElevatorSelfie

 

 

I thought today would be a good day for trivia since so many would be in Half Moon Cay but I was wrong, still a lot of competition. My chances for winning a ship on a stick do not look promising.
 

[jam19872016]

For dinner tonight I returned to Jiji's using one of my vouchers I bought again for this leg. Tonight's dinner menu back in the MDR.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Compliments of the chef.

 

 

 

Jade shrimp har gow.

 

 

 

These were tasty but that pork belly is too good to ignore to order these again.

 

Kung pow chicken with hakka noodles.

 

 

 

Very good. It used to be spicier I feel like they have dumbed it down for American taste buds. I wish I could get it how it used to be but I am almost afraid to ask for it extra spicy, just in case they get carried away lol.

 

Following my success with crème brulee last night I departed from my usual and ordered the rose crème brulee.

 

 

 

This was good but again the crepes are too good to pass up too often.

 

Dinner at Jiji's was amazing again and service is really good. I've been a few times now and it feels like going into your local restaurant. The hospitality is top notch.
 

[jam19872016]

Towel animal back in the room, with another photo bomb from my mom's pillow.

 

 

We took it easy in the room again tonight. Tonight was mega deck party so I took in a little of that for a bit. I wasn't going to get second dinner tonight I really wasn't hungry but I have no control around food so I ordered a tuna sandwich.

 

 

 

After second dinner I went back to the room for the evening. Tomorrow is our first sea day for this cruise.

[jam19872016]

18 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

Maybe they thought the exemption applied to all the rules. 

lol maybe. They seemed like very self absorbed people. 

[EngIceDave]

14 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

lol maybe. They seemed like very self absorbed people. 

Most seem that way as of late

[JaniceB]

I'm sure you are looking forward to a sea day.  I don't think I have been on a cruisethat had 2 port days and then a sea day unless it was a 3 or 4 day cruise.

[WECRUISE4US]

Great review.  We are going soon on Horizon (3rd time).  On Sea Days do they still have Tea Time at 3pm in the Dining Room?

[ray98]

Awesome job.  I appreciate how much work you put into this.  We just finished the 8-night and you covered it all.

Edited August 30, 2021 by ray98

[JaniceB]

Guess you must be having a great time since you haven't posted for awhile.

[EngIceDave]

He must've passed out on a chair somewhere

[EngIceDave]

[jam19872016]

On 8/28/2021 at 11:00 PM, JaniceB said:

I'm sure you are looking forward to a sea day.  I don't think I have been on a cruisethat had 2 port days and then a sea day unless it was a 3 or 4 day cruise.

I've never had a sea day so late in the cruise either. It was a very weird itenary for sure.

On 8/30/2021 at 8:40 AM, WECRUISE4US said:

Great review.  We are going soon on Horizon (3rd time).  On Sea Days do they still have Tea Time at 3pm in the Dining Room?

Yes and for the first time in 24 carnival cruises I finally attended 🙂

 

I'll talk about it once I get the next part posted.

[jam19872016]

21 hours ago, ray98 said:

Awesome job.  I appreciate how much work you put into this.  We just finished the 8-night and you covered it all.

Thank you.

 

2 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

Lol no. I've been a bit under the weather for a couple days. Of course you know where my mind went in these times we are living in but I am happy to report that I am negative.

 

Thank goodness because I have 16 days of cruises starting up Thursday. So also busy getting ready for that. I'll finish up in the next couple days though I promise even if it's from my next cruise 🙂

 

thanks everybody for reading along.

[EngIceDave]

OK, same thing without the glass

 

(Thanks, been fun reading)

[eileen11]

Did this great review end?

[CruisinMama2003]

4 hours ago, eileen11 said:

Did this great review end?

He is actually on another cruise right now and has a Live review for that one too (on the Sunshine). He did mention in that review that he will finish this one while on the current cruise.

[jam19872016]

On 9/3/2021 at 4:23 AM, eileen11 said:

Did this great review end?

 

On 9/3/2021 at 9:14 AM, CruisinMama2003 said:

He is actually on another cruise right now and has a Live review for that one too (on the Sunshine). He did mention in that review that he will finish this one while on the current cruise.

Here I am. Its harder than I thought writing about a previous cruise while you are on a cruise. It's like wait a minute, why am I talking about this when I am on a cruise? I don't know if that makes sense but that's my story and I am sticking to it lol. I am not going to finish but going to post a little more right now 🙂

 

[jam19872016]

Day 12: Fun Day at Sea

 

This has been an unusual itinerary. Usually the first sea day is day two. I've been on a couple where it was not until day three but this cruise with all the changes to the ports our first sea day is not until the fourth day of the cruise.

 

I was still a little full from last night and I had plans for lunch today so I went with a light breakfast today.

 

Ceaser salad with salmon.

 

 

That's about the only salad I eat because I don't want to accidently be labeled health conscious 🙂 It was tasty and hit the spot. Ignore the grits in the background, I have lost my photo on my phone that no longer works so I am recycling an older photo. Pretend you didn't catch on. 😁

 

You can really tell the ship is at lower capacity this week on this sea day. It is much more comfortable on board than last week on a sea day when it was still at 90%. I'm sure its not good for Carnival's bottom line but it does make for a nicer experience.

Edited September 10, 2021 by jam19872016

[jam19872016]

For lunch today I was using one of my meal vouchers to enjoy a nice meal at Bonsai Sushi.

 

For my starter I ordered the kakuni which also came with a small salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was delicious and I was able to use my ameatuer chopstick skills. The rest of the meal required a fork lol.

 

For my main I ordered the chicken katsu and teriyaki steak.

 

 

 

Both were very good.

 

Lunch was good and despite going over $15 the entire bill was taken care of by my voucher. I am not sure how high I could have gone before it stopped being covered but I was able to order $18 worth and the voucher was only good for $15.

 

Lunch was good, but I honestly wasn't blown away. I enjoy the sushi but I ordered from the expanded menu that most ships don't have. I probably would stick with the sushi menu if I went back.
 

Edited September 10, 2021 by jam19872016

[jam19872016]

It was nice not having to run to the casino constantly this afternoon. I thought I was off the hook for at least one day but later I saw that they had drawings tomorrow even though it was a port day.

 

As if I hadn't eaten enough yet today I did something for the first time in all my cruises - I went to tea time. I always say I want to go but it is always at such an awkward time meal wise. It still was really, but I made it work so that I could finally say I went. The food didn't knock my socks off by any means but it was a nice afternoon treat that I wouldn't mind doing again but maybe not every cruise.
 

 

[jam19872016]

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly eat anymore, it was dinner time. Tonight is the final elegant night of the cruise.

 

Tonight's menu.