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

[clambert1273]

5 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Good choice, and we still have a lot to show you! 

I got a steal on it so couldn't pass it up, My daughter is thrilled since it's her spring break

[Jamman54]

Before continuing with our review, I want to pause and reflect on today, the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I grew up and worked in a town called Perth Amboy, New Jersey which is a little less than 30 miles south of New York City. As a teenager, I watched those towers being built and rising into the sky. I have been in them. From my office window where I worked, on a clear day you could see them. I'll never forget that day as long as long as I live. I witnessed it live from a distance. There were people from my home town, and from where Patti and I now live, that didn't come home that night.

 

New York City is our home port. We have sailed from there over two dozen times. Here are some photos taken from some of our early cruises.....

 

 

 

 

 

These last three were taken on our Zenith cruise to Bermuda, less than two months before the attack....

 

 

 

 

 

We will never forget!!!

Edited September 11, 2021 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

We are continuing with our walk……

 

 

 

 

 

Here are Patti and I with the Horizon…..

 

 

 

Walking Tour sign # 2…..

 

 

The Horizon and the Norwegian Pearl……

 

 

 

Walking Tour sign # 3…..

 

 

Here are a couple more of the Horizon and me…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti encounters a fearless and friendly iguana. The place is crawling with them…..

 

 

 

 

This is the Renaissance Wind Creek Curacao Resort and some shops…..

 

 

 

 

 

This is Walking Tour sign # 5. Darn, we missed sign # 4 somewhere!

 

 

We have made it to the Rif Fort……

 

 

 

 

Patti is going to climb those stairs to the Rif Fort Wall…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti got these views of Willemstad from the Rif Fort Wall…..

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Walking Tour sign # 6…..

 

 

We are leaving the Rif Fort and heading into Willemstad……

 

 

Here is the final Walking Tour sign # 7…..

 

 

We are making our way to the Queen Emma pontoon bridge…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are crossing the Queen Emma Bridge to the other side of the bay…..

 

 

That’s the Queen Juliana Bridge in the distance…..

 

 

Looking back at the Rif Fort where we came from…..

 

 

We are about halfway across the bridge…..

 

 

 

That is one of the government buildings…..

 

 

Willemstad has very colorful buildings…..

 

 

This is one of the ferries. They operate when the Queen Emma Bridge is opened for ship traffic at no charge…..

 

 

This is one of the motors used to open the Queen Emma Bridge…..

 

 

Looking across the bay at the Horizon…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are walking the narrow alleyways of Willemstad…..

 

 

 

 

Here is the produce market…..

 

 

We are at the ferry terminal as we needed a bathroom break. Look, that’s a real phone booth!

 

 

 

Patti wanted to continue to explore and browse the shops, so we needed to find a Husband Daycare. We found this diamond in the rough…..

 

 

 

They had some outside seating……

 

 

 

But I chose to sit inside…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti continues to explore and browse some of the shops…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are Love Hearts…..

 

 

 

After an hour or so, Patti comes to collect me and we cross the Queen Emma Bridge back to the other side…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[IntrepidFromDC]

2 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Before continuing with our review, I want to pause and reflect on today, the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I grew up and worked in a town called Perth Amboy, New Jersey which is a little less than 30 miles south of New York City. As a teenager, I watched those towers being built and rising into the sky. I have been in them. From my office window where I worked, on a clear day you could see them. I'll never forget that day as long as long as I live. I witnessed it live from a distance. There were people from my home town, and from where Patti and I now live, that didn't come home that night.

 

New York City is our home port. We have sailed from there over two dozen times. Here are some photos taken from some of our early cruises.....

 

 

 

 

 

These last three were taken on our Zenith cruise to Bermuda, less than two months before the attack....

 

 

 

 

 

We will never forget!!!

Seeing the smoke and destruction with your own two eyes brings another level of personal pain as I recall.  I worked at US Airways HQ for a while prior to my 18 glorious, fun-filled years at GEICO HQ (also in DC).  US Airways HQ was 10 or 15 blocks from the Pentagon.  Although the plane crashed into the opposite side of the Pentagon, I could see not only smoke, but the flames rising from the Pentagon, from my office window.  Later that evening I drove my daughter (1 year old) and her mom to see it and the flames were still not completely out.  I never thought I'd see a "Pearl Harbor" and a Spanish Flu" in my lifetime, and yet...

[Jamman54]

Here are some views as Patti and I walked along the bay back to the Rif Fort…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are back at the Rif Fort…..

 

 

I am going to head back to the ship while Patti checks out some of the stores listed on the sign…..

 

 

Once back on the ship I went and got myself a Guys burger and settled in at the Red Frog Rum Bar. About 45 minutes later, Patti made her way back to the ship. She spots another friendly iguana…..

 

 

 

The Horizon and Norwegian Pearl are back in view…..

 

 

 

To be continued….

[Jamman54]

Can you spot the iguana on the rocks?

 

 

 

Patti takes one last look back towards the Rif Fort, before getting back on board the Carnival Horizon…..

 

 

 

 

Once back on board, the elevator lobby on Deck 0 was crowded, and the elevators were extremely slow. Patti decided to take the stairs up to Deck 2, and then walk back to the aft elevators. That is when she discovered the Family Harbor…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti made her way up to the Lido Marketplace for lunch, and then met me at the Red Frog for a drink. We decided to head back to the cabin for sail away. Here are some views from our balcony…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking towards the Renaissance Wind Creek Curacao Resort and their infinity pool…..

 

 

 

 

It’s after 3pm and we’re not ready to sail. Apparently the Captain is waiting for some stragglers. This poor port worker has to wait. I hope he’s getting paid overtime!

 

 

Here come the pier runners, but they’re not running. They get an earful from the port side crowd…..

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Now that the pier runners are back on board he can now throw the lines…..

 

 

The Horizon pushes away from the pier…..

 

 

 

We are now sailing from Curacao. The people in the infinity pool have a great view……

 

 

 

What happened to the Queen Emma Bridge?

 

 

The Queen Emma Bridge is open…..

 

 

 

Goodbye Curacao!!!

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[4hunters]

Wow!  First a review by Greg and now a Jeff review?!  I couldn't ask for anything more. 👍  Thanks for posting and looking forward to more, Jeff!

[Jamman54]

We hung out in the cabin until it was time to go to dinner. Tonight we are eating at Cucina…..

 

 

 

 

 

I love the garlic bread, Patti not so much…..

 

 

Patti started with the aracini and I had Nona’s meatball…..

 

 

 

For our mains we both had the Caesar salad, chicken parm, and fingerling potatoes……

 

 

 

 

For dessert Patti had the apple pie, and I had the biscotti…..

 

 

 

After dinner we were feeling full and tired, so we decided to head back to the cabin and relax tonight. Here is today’s towel creature…..

 

 

The gang is growing!

 

 

Coming up next: Our first ever visit to La Romana!

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Seeing the smoke and destruction with your own two eyes brings another level of personal pain as I recall.  I worked at US Airways HQ for a while prior to my 18 glorious, fun-filled years at GEICO HQ (also in DC).  US Airways HQ was 10 or 15 blocks from the Pentagon.  Although the plane crashed into the opposite side of the Pentagon, I could see not only smoke, but the flames rising from the Pentagon, from my office window.  Later that evening I drove my daughter (1 year old) and her mom to see it and the flames were still not completely out.  I never thought I'd see a "Pearl Harbor" and a Spanish Flu" in my lifetime, and yet...

Thanks for sharing your story. You are so right that when you can actually see, and even smell the carnage, it really hits close to home. I was extremely proud how the WHOLE country rallied and came together as one following the attacks. I wish it was still like that today.

[Jamman54]

19 minutes ago, 4hunters said:

Wow!  First a review by Greg and now a Jeff review?!  I couldn't ask for anything more. 👍  Thanks for posting and looking forward to more, Jeff!

Thanks for following along. Glad to have you aboard! 

[MJSailors]

5 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Before continuing with our review, I want to pause and reflect on today, the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I grew up and worked in a town called Perth Amboy, New Jersey which is a little less than 30 miles south of New York City. As a teenager, I watched those towers being built and rising into the sky. I have been in them. From my office window where I worked, on a clear day you could see them. I'll never forget that day as long as long as I live. I witnessed it live from a distance. There were people from my home town, and from where Patti and I now live, that didn't come home that night.

 

New York City is our home port. We have sailed from there over two dozen times. Here are some photos taken from some of our early cruises.....

 

 

 

 

 

These last three were taken on our Zenith cruise to Bermuda, less than two months before the attack....

 

 

 

 

 

We will never forget!!!

  Thank you for posting those photos,Jeff.

In August,2001, my DH and I were aboard the QEII on a transatlantic trip to England. We have similar photos of the Twin Towers in an album of that trip.

It is still difficult to think that as we sailed past the buildings of lower Manhattan,in less than a month following,the World Trade Center would be no more.

    I went to the WTC on several occasions for meetings and conferences. Sometimes, my attention at those events was distracted by the views out the windows of the busy harbor. The buildings and surrounding area were always a center of activity and energy.

   Prayers today for the souls who perished that day and for their loved ones and the survivors of the attack.

[clambert1273]

7 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Before continuing with our review, I want to pause and reflect on today, the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I grew up and worked in a town called Perth Amboy, New Jersey which is a little less than 30 miles south of New York City. As a teenager, I watched those towers being built and rising into the sky. I have been in them. From my office window where I worked, on a clear day you could see them. I'll never forget that day as long as long as I live. I witnessed it live from a distance. There were people from my home town, and from where Patti and I now live, that didn't come home that night.

 

New York City is our home port. We have sailed from there over two dozen times. Here are some photos taken from some of our early cruises.....

 

 

 

 

 

These last three were taken on our Zenith cruise to Bermuda, less than two months before the attack....

 

 

 

 

 

We will never forget!!!

This day I was still active duty Army stationed in TX,  we watched it transpire from our home on post, then we quickly packed our duffle bags, uniforms, boots, etc thinking we were about to get phone calls deploying but no it took them 6+ months to activate us & by that time I was out processing medically.  My husband and I can still remember every moment & when they locked our bass down we passed our 2yo son through the fence to my cousin for my mom to pick him up & keep him until we knew what was going to happen

[watermelonqueen99]

18 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Hey there! It's great to see you posting and to have you aboard with us. How are you feeling? 🤗

 

Feeling great and ready to cruise, thanks for asking! 🙂

[Beagleluv6107]

Hey Jeff,

Welcome back to cruising my friend. We all couldn't wait for you and Patti to get on board a ship so we could read a review. 😁  You two are the best! 

I really appreciated seeing your tribute to the Towers today. 20 Years later and the emotions are still so raw. 

 

I can't wait to read the rest of your adventure on the Horizon!! 

[Jamman54]

17 hours ago, clambert1273 said:

This day I was still active duty Army stationed in TX,  we watched it transpire from our home on post, then we quickly packed our duffle bags, uniforms, boots, etc thinking we were about to get phone calls deploying but no it took them 6+ months to activate us & by that time I was out processing medically.  My husband and I can still remember every moment & when they locked our bass down we passed our 2yo son through the fence to my cousin for my mom to pick him up & keep him until we knew what was going to happen

 

Thanks for sharing your story with us! 😎

 

14 hours ago, watermelonqueen99 said:

 

Feeling great and ready to cruise, thanks for asking! 🙂

 

Great to hear! Any cruises planned? 😎

 

13 hours ago, Beagleluv6107 said:

Hey Jeff,

Welcome back to cruising my friend. We all couldn't wait for you and Patti to get on board a ship so we could read a review. 😁  You two are the best! 

I really appreciated seeing your tribute to the Towers today. 20 Years later and the emotions are still so raw. 

 

I can't wait to read the rest of your adventure on the Horizon!! 

 

Thanks for reading and for your kind words. Still plenty to show you on this review. 😎

[bontx33]

Really enjoying your review as hopefully I will be going on Carnival Vista next Sat after getting negative test results on Thurs. Thanks Bonnie 

[CoasterGuy]

Thank you so much for your review. Enjoying all the pictures and that cruising is back. 

[LouChamp]

Thank you so much for your report and especially the food pictures. I was born and raised in lower manhattan and like you watched the towers being built.  Then lived in battery park city across the street and moved on September 10 2001.  Our building which we now rent out our condo can be seen in your pictures. Love sailing from new york but actually from anyplace lol.  We are hoping to resume cruising next year as we are caring for my mom now who has dementia but enjoy sailing vicariously with you.

Good Health and love!