Cruising is back on the HORIZON!!! (with pics) – 8/21/2021.

young_ens · September 4, 2021

@Jamman54 thanks for story so far and looks like fun! This does send me into cruise withdrawal! Hopefully things settle down to something of the old normal, mostly pocketbook items like flights. Like you guys, I can't justify the ticket prices for 1 week of fun but catch 22 is I don't have time to do a 4 day drive.

Jim and Monika · September 4, 2021

Happy to have you sharing your trip on the Horizon. We have followed your other journeys, but this could be our next ship. We are worried about the size and amount of passengers, but considering cruising this fall while capacity it below 90%.

Jim

retiring soon · September 4, 2021

Hi all!

Jamman54 ~ so happy to see you & Patti are cruising again & on Horizon!

I'm booked on it BTB end of October after MSC cancelled their cruises to Canadians yesterday.

Sure hope things improve with testing before then!🤞

Have a great cruise & thanks so much.

~ Jo ~ 😊

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

1 hour ago, young_ens said:

@Jamman54 thanks for story so far and looks like fun! This does send me into cruise withdrawal! Hopefully things settle down to something of the old normal, mostly pocketbook items like flights. Like you guys, I can't justify the ticket prices for 1 week of fun but catch 22 is I don't have time to do a 4 day drive.

Thanks for following along! Hope things get back to "normal" sooner rather than later.

1 hour ago, Jim and Monika said:

Happy to have you sharing your trip on the Horizon. We have followed your other journeys, but this could be our next ship. We are worried about the size and amount of passengers, but considering cruising this fall while capacity it below 90%.

Jim

Glad to have you on board once again. We had around 3,200 on our cruise, which is 68% if you count all berths, or 81% if you count just double occupancy.

2 minutes ago, retiring soon said:

Hi all!

Jamman54 ~ so happy to see you & Patti are cruising again & on Horizon!

I'm booked on it BTB end of October after MSC cancelled their cruises to Canadians yesterday.

Sure hope things improve with testing before then!🤞

Have a great cruise & thanks so much.

~ Jo ~ 😊

Hey Jo! Glad to have you along with us once again! Enjoy your B2B!

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

It’s time to continue on with our embarkation day antics. It was nearing noon when Patti came back to the Lobby Bar to collect me. Our plan was to drop off our bags, do our muster drill, then go for lunch. We used Deck 4 to head back to the aft elevators, and then programmed one to take us to deck 7. I’ll talk more about the elevators later.

All the cabins would not be ready until 1:30, but in the email Carnival sent explaining how our Diamond and Platinum benefits would work, it said that we would be allowed to drop off our bags and leave.

We pushed through the heavy door and made our way to our cabin…..

Our Sail & Sign cards were in the mailbox, and our cabin was done being made up. It was at this time our cabin steward, Ketut, came up to us, introduced himself, and said that we were welcome to stay if we wanted. We told him we would just be dropping off and leaving. He asked us what service we would like, and we told him the evening service would be just fine, and to keep the ice bucket full. After he left we entered the cabin and Patti began to immediately take pictures before I could mess anything up!

Here is the typical Carnival bathroom…..

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

Here are the electrical outlets and USB ports on the desk…..

This was the only paperwork left on the desk…..

Here are the scanned copies for easier reading……..

Now here is where I usually insert our scanned copies of the Fun times for today. As you probably know, they are no longer distributing copies of the Fun Times to the cabins. They do have paper copies of the activities, though in a different form, available at Guest Services, Java Blue, Red Frog Rum Bar, and probably several other places, for you to pick up if you choose. Of course, everything you need to know is on the Hub App. I like to scan in the daily sheets as a public service to those who like to plan ahead. Long story short, we only remembered to pick up copies on only 4 of the 8 days, and today is not one of them! We will share the ones we have when appropriate. I told you that we were rusty from all the down time. We promise to do better on the next review.

Here is our standard size balcony…..

Here are some views from our balcony……

We are two decks above the Havana Cabanas. Not much privacy is there? We hardly saw anybody using theirs the entire cruise, and don’t think that they are worth the money they charge, IMHO.

To be continued……

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

Here are some more views from our balcony…..

We decide that it’s time to go get our muster drill over with, but just as we are leaving the cabin, a cart with all three of our luggage pieces arrives……

We’ll unpack later, so we program an elevator to take us to Deck 3. Our muster station was D3, which was the Meridian Restaurant on Deck 3 aft. They scanned us in, and then we had to watch a crewman demonstrate how to put on a life jacket……

Folks, that’s it! It took 5 minutes and then you are done. They made announcements every 15 minutes practically begging and imploring people to get this done by 3pm. Sadly, at 3:30pm there were still 280 people who hadn’t gone, and it delayed our departure by an hour and a half. SMH.

After the muster drill we programmed an elevator to take us up to Deck 10 and the Tides Pool…..

This is the Deck 10 entrance to JiJi’s and Cucina de Capitano. We always go to Cucina for embarkation lunch on ships that have them…..

To be continued……..

WhiteOptima · September 4, 2021

We did a B2B on Horizon in November of 2018. We had a Spa Interior which is not normal for us because we don’t use the spa but wanted the same room both weeks so grabbed it. Ketut was our room steward and we really got to know him. Sadly when I came home from that cruise the letter was waiting for me to get a second mammogram at once and my breast cancer journey began. I am clear now and finally going to cruise again Oct 31st and do not care if it is 14 days no ports!

Anxious to read the rest-when we did Vista we had Havana and the boat was so crowded I was grateful for the pool area and the breakfast and lunch in the area by the coffee shop. We hit the same place on Horizon unless we did brunch in the dining room. Buffet for breakfast was just too crowded.

luvcruzing · September 4, 2021

47 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

They made announcements every 15 minutes practically begging and imploring people to get this done by 3pm. Sadly, at 3:30pm there were still 280 people who hadn’t gone, and it delayed our departure by an hour and a half. SMH.

Wow! That’s just wrong!

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

40 minutes ago, WhiteOptima said:

We did a B2B on Horizon in November of 2018. We had a Spa Interior which is not normal for us because we don’t use the spa but wanted the same room both weeks so grabbed it. Ketut was our room steward and we really got to know him. Sadly when I came home from that cruise the letter was waiting for me to get a second mammogram at once and my breast cancer journey began. I am clear now and finally going to cruise again Oct 31st and do not care if it is 14 days no ports!

Anxious to read the rest-when we did Vista we had Havana and the boat was so crowded I was grateful for the pool area and the breakfast and lunch in the area by the coffee shop. We hit the same place on Horizon unless we did brunch in the dining room. Buffet for breakfast was just too crowded.

Glad to have you on board with us! Glad that you are clear and will be sailing soon again. Most people don't know that Patti is now a 21 year breast cancer survivor so we can relate to you and what you've been through.

We utilized the little breakfast buffet in the Ocean Plaza several times during our cruise. Many people don't even know about it.

23 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

Wow! That’s just wrong!

Uncalled for! They can't make it any quicker and easier. I was told that you were limited to two drinks until you completed your muster but I don't believe it.

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

Here are some views of Cucina de Capitano……

We filled out our menu paper and in about 12 minutes our food began arriving. We both started with the bread and Caesar salad……

Of course we forgot to take pictures of our pasta dishes which were very good. The waiter took a picture of us which turned out dark, and one of Patti which wasn’t bad…..

We left Cucina via the Deck 11 entrance…..

To be continued…..

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

Here’s a view of the Tides Pool from Deck 11…..

That’s the Elation in the distance docked in Miami. She is not yet sailing….

Here are some more views from Deck 11…..

This is the smoking section on Deck 11 aft starboard side…..

Here are a couple more views from Deck11…..

We looked over at the terminal and couldn’t believe our eyes. The line to get in the terminal building was insanely long. I heard that it took some people almost two hours to go from the end of the line to boarding the ship. Don’t know what happened as we had a very different experience…..

Looking up at the funnel……

Someone just pedaled by overhead…..

To be continued…….

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

This is the Camp Ocean playground located on Deck 11 mid ship on the starboard side…..

Looking down on the Red Frog Rum Bar and the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar from Deck 11…..

Looking across at the Dr. Seuss Water Works……

Regie is playing for the Lido crowd…..

To be continued……

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

We moved up to Deck 12 and are looking down at the Beach Pool…..

Looking aft from Deck12 mid ship…..

Here is the Dr. Seuss Water Works located on Deck 12 forward…..

To be continued…….

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

We take a tour of the Serenity area located on Deck 15 forward……

This is the Serenity Bar and Fresh Creations Salad Bar…..

Afterwards we made our way back to the cabin to unpack and rest before the sail away.

To be continued…..

Edited September 4, 2021 by Jamman54

ejnsb · September 4, 2021

Thanks for bringing back some great memories. We kept hearing the announcements about mustering but did not know that's what held up sailaway. Did you hear that from a crew member?

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

11 minutes ago, ejnsb said:

Thanks for bringing back some great memories. We kept hearing the announcements about mustering but did not know that's what held up sailaway. Did you hear that from a crew member?

Yes, apparently they have to have 100% compliance before they can sail.

jeepchick444 · September 4, 2021

Enjoying your review!! Horizon is my favorite ship to date!!! 😎

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

11 minutes ago, jeepchick444 said:

Enjoying your review!! Horizon is my favorite ship to date!!! 😎

Thanks! Glad to have you aboard.

princess76021 · September 4, 2021

Hey Jeff and Patti!

Got here a little late but I'm aboard now! Thanks for waiting!!

by now you know I'll just shadow you. Promise I'll behave !!!

Hugs

Nicki

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

1 hour ago, princess76021 said:

Hey Jeff and Patti!

Got here a little late but I'm aboard now! Thanks for waiting!!

by now you know I'll just shadow you. Promise I'll behave !!!

Hugs

Nicki

Hey Nicki! Glad to have you along for the ride!

Jamman54 · September 4, 2021

Around 4:30 I went up to the Red Frog Rum Bar as there was supposed to be a roll call meet up there. Patti hung out a little longer before heading out to document our sail away. Here she passes through an empty Lido Marketplace…..