HORIZON REVIEW APRIL 30, 2022

[tattoos]

We sailed on the Horizon from Miami on April 30th.  I thought I would write some comments regarding our cruise while they are still fresh in my mind.  Our Horizon cruise was 8 nights to the southern Caribbean...Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao were the port stops.  I am Diamond on Carnival and sailed on the Horizon in November 2021 when the ship was sailing at 50% capacity.  The April cruise was at full capacity and made a big difference in our cruise experience, lines were long everywhere, loungers on sea days were at a premium, etc.

 

Our check-in time was between 10:00-10:30 a.m. but the usually 1/2 hour drive from our home to the Port of Miami turned into a 1-1/2 hour drive on I95 because we got stuck in traffic approaching Miami and it became a big parking lot.  We arrived at the port and checked in around 11:00 a.m. and they had already called the cruisers in our time slot.  Check-in and boarding was very quick and we were on the ship 10 minutes after we arrived.  We went to our staterooms and dropped any carry-on suitcases off and proceeded to the Lido Marketplace for lunch.  I headed straight to the Deli and ordered a Cuban sandwich and two pieces of Funfetti Cheesecake Cake, OMG.  There are different cake selections in the buffet every day for lunch but this cake is only available on embarkation day.  The Deli would be my "go to" dining venue for the rest of the week.

 

The interior common areas and venues were hot all week.  This is my observation and experiences only.  I kept moving around in the casino to find a cool spot, in line waiting to eat at JiJi's was hot and by the time we sat down, the sweat was pouring down my face.  I ate lunch one day at Cucina and it was hot in there also.  We went to see the comedy show one night and walked right back out....well, you get the idea, everywhere we went, (with the exception of our stateroom) was hot.  This was not our experience when we sailed on the Horizon last November. 

 

FOOD and FOOD VENUES:  Again, these are my observations only and comments reflect only the food venues I ate at during the week 

 

JiJi's:  except for the sweat pouring down my face, the lunch food was delicious, Grade A

Cucina del Capitano:  over rated and comparable to an Olive Garden, Grade D

Pizza - terrible on this ship, what happened?  Grade D

Main Dining Room:  hot in our area, short staffed, ordered food that never came, never received our desserts or coffee, food that was supposed to be hot was cold (entree) and food that was supposed to be cold was hot (shrimp cocktail) , we ate there two nights and just stopped going, terrible experience in MDR, worse than any other Carnival ship I have sailed on.  Grade D for service, food quality and quantity.

Guy's Pig & Anchor for lunch:  mediocre at best and in the evening, service was terrible, food was cold, Grade C

Bonsai Sushi:  delicious and service was great, Grade A

Lido Marketplace:  room temperature was hot, especially in the aft buffet area which was the only area open for dinner.  It was so crowded, hot and long lines that we grabbed food from the deli or had to wait for the stampede of people to die down.  Some of the food offered was inedible, goopy sauces smothering a few pieces of mystery meat, roast turkey that tasted like it had been brined and was very salty and mashed potatos nowhere to be found.  The casseroles on the buffet looked like something my mother used to make during the Great Depression to feed 7 people, lots of vegetables or pasta and very little protein.  Even the sliced bread was hard and dry.  If you had any digestive problems or dietary restrictions, I don't know what you ate on this cruise.  As mentioned earlier, I ate more food from the deli all week than ever before on a Carnival cruise.  The only food I really enjoyed in the Lido Marketplace was the over easy fresh eggs in the morning and the croissants.  They ran out of chocolate milk on the third day of the cruise and when I asked for chocolate milk, they brought out a pitcher of chocolate milk from the galley...don't know where they got it from but it was awful.  Grade C

Cherry On Top:  I love ice cream but don't like the soft serve and the gelato in the Lido Marketplace had the same flavors three days in a row, mango and coffee.  There is a small ice cream shop in Cherry On Top on the Horizon similar to a Cold Stone Creamery that is fantastic.  There was an extra charge for the ice cream but well worth it...yum, real ice cream with any toppings you want folded in, delicious and worth the minimal extra fee.  Grade A+

 

ENTERTAINMENT:  We attended the first show in the Liquid Lounge and they made an announcement that the show that was listed would not be presented because of inclement weather, HUH??  The curtain was closed and out walked 5 or 6 entertainment staff members who proceeded to sit on wooden bar stools that were placed in front of the curtain and they started to sing their renditions of classics and were TERRIBLE.  After two minutes, the mass exodus started and we were part of the crowd walking out of the theater.  The live entertainers in the Pig & Anchor were an embarrassment, the gentleman in the piano bar was awful, and the three violinists in the Atrium were talented but I actually saw people with their heads back and snoring.  Where was the lively band or DJ?  The best entertainment in the Atrium was a flamboyant couple who dressed and danced with an artistic flair and was the best entertainment on the ship, sad to say.  

 

ARUBA:  We took a taxi to Palm Beach for a few hours, beach is clean but very windy so I don't know if I got a sunburn or was sand blasted.

 

BONAIRE:  We were planning to take the ferry to Klein Bonaire to snorkel but quite a few members of our group were not feeling well (something they ate perhaps?) so we walked around the little area of town right near the dock...believe me, there isn't much there.  This is one port, I believe, where you have to get into or on the water because it is beautiful.  The rest of the day was spent on the Serenity Deck working on my sand blasted tan and spending time with my friend, Sam Adams.

 

CURACAO:  Beautiful, as always.  We took a shared taxi to Mambo Beach, rented loungers, ate some snacks and drank some beer.  We like to walk through the RIF Fort at night but on this cruise, the ship left at 3:00 p.m. so we had to hustle back.

 

Don't get me wrong, we had a great time on our cruise because we had a fun family group with us and we made our own good times.  We didn't go to the IMAX theater on this cruise because there really wasn't anything we wanted to see, however, the IMAX theater is great.  We're not spa people so can't comment on that experience...no small children in our group so we didn't spend much time on the water slides.  We tried to play trivia one day in the Ocean Plaza and waited an hour in a packed, hot area for the Carnival team member to show up and they never did...people were not happy. 

 

Debarkation was quick, however, the suitcases that were supposed to be in Group 1 on the carousel, were in Group 3's carousel, etc., etc.  We were waiting and waiting and waiting just watching the same suitcases going around and around so we went on a quest to find our suitcases which were finally found between carousel #3 and #4, OMG.  People were freaking out because they couldn't find their luggage, the suitcases were spread out helter skelter all over instead of being at the area designated by your luggage tag.  Thank God for the Porters, they tried to calm people down and helped them search for their luggage.   

 

Again, these are my observations and experiences.  We are sailing again in November on the Horizon, I hope they fix whatever problem there was with the air conditioning.  Also, hope the staffing issues and food shortages are back to normal.

 

 

 

 

 

[LatinaInTexas]

A little disheartening to hear, we will be on her first week of August but with 4 ports we will be spending a lot of time off the ship.

Our Feb cruise on Panorama was not the best due to numerous, mostly covid related circumstances.

The heat seems to continue being an issue and that would be a big issue to me if it's not fixed. I have no desire to eat meals feeling sweaty or having to spend extra time in my cabin to beat the heat. Hoping for the best🤞

 

[tattoos]

When you return from your cruise, if you have a minute, write and let me know how your cruise was.  I read two other cruiser's comments who were on our sailing and one said she experienced the same warm temperature that I did but another cruiser said she did not notice that the interior venues were too warm.  When I entered the Lido Marketplace from the mid-ship pool area and walked straight back to the aft pool area, I could feel the temperature change from cool to very warm.  Hopefully, it was just a fluke on this sailing??

 

My cool stateroom did became more of a refuge for me on this cruise because I was uncomfortable in the interior spaces. 

 

Have a great time on your cruise!!!

[cruiselover**]

I was on this same cruise on April 30th.  I traveled with my husband, sister-in-law and her husband.  The four of us had a wonderful time and did not experience any of the problems you had.  I am so sorry that things were not up to par for you!  I will admit we didn't go to all of the food venues that you did, but the ones we did go too were enjoyable.  I consider myself kind of an experienced Carnival cruiser - I have been on 25 cruises, all with Carnival.

I do hope that Carnival will make some improvements in their on-board shops soon.  I still remember the days when they had a large inventory of souvenir t-shirts and logo items that were ship specific.  On the Horizon they had half the store as Victoria's Secret merchandise.  I don't go on a cruise to buy items I can get at my local shopping center!

[SRQbeachgirl]

If this a/c issue isn't fixed by next year I will definitely be switching ships for our November 2023 cruise.

[atxlady]

We were also on the same cruise. I agree it was HOT everywhere, except for our cabin. We had an inside so that was also helpful. We spent most nights in the Havana Bar which was HOTTER than heck. The food selection was hit and miss, we went to the MDR once and it was ok. We managed to find something in the Marketplace or Pizza and salads one or two nights. I agree the Deli was very good, we had sandwiches most days for lunch.

We thought the ladies in the Atrium were wonderful, they should have been highlighted more on the final show. 

We spent most of the sea days in the Havana pool area so we didn't go to the Serenity deck. The Lido pool area was crazy packed.

We really enjoyed the ABC Islands as we had never been to them before. I cant wait to go back at some point.

I truly hope the fix the AC problems, we should not be sweating while playing trivia in the Ocean Plaza area or eating breakfast.

[tattoos]

cruiselover**, I agree about the shops.  I have a Victoria's Secret at the mall near my home, why would I purchase items from this store on the ship??  Where is the large store with Carnival branded items for sale?  I want to purchase Carnival branded pens, key chains, magnets, emery boards, etc.  The selection on the Horizon was terrible.

 

Thank you, atxlady, for responding.  I'm glad someone else experienced the same hot temperature on the ship.  I know I didn't imagine it because the family members in our group had the same experience.  We did not experience this when we sailed on the Horizon last November.  

[sunshower9]

I was on this cruise as well.  I've commented on this before, but the ship was definitely hot in some of the common areas.  Our room was nice and cool, however.  We actually had good service in the MDR and we thought the food was fine overall.  There was one day that we ate breakfast (not brunch) in the MDR and the food was horrible so we just didn't go back for breakfast.  We did have sea day brunch in the MDR and that was good, just the port day breakfast was inedible.  Other than that, we enjoyed most of the food, and we ate at every venue except Bonsai Teppanyaki and Seafood Shack.

 

I was also there waiting on the trivia that didn't happen, and no explanation was given. *shrug*  I agree that the entertainment was lacking overall.  I thought the band in the Ocean Plaza was just okay.  They sounded fine but they were a little...well, boring.  They just didn't have the stage presence of other bands I've seen.  As far as the shows, we watched Celestial Strings and Soulbound and really enjoyed both.  We also saw that one guy that did a show (Sideshow Bert, I think?).  We found him incredibly corny and unfunny so we actually left the show early lol.

 

Even with the negatives, we had a good time anyway.  Our excursions were wonderful.  This was our 2nd time in both Aruba and Curacao, but our first time in Bonaire.  I would love to do the ABCs all together again one day, even if it does mean I have to fly to Miami.

[tattoos]

sunshower9:   Concerning our bad experience in the MDR and the hot area we were assigned to, we were going to approach the maitre d' and request to be moved to another area but our group decided just to wing it for the rest of the cruise and try other food venues which we did.

 

I love the ABC island itinerary also.  On our last cruise, our late day was in Curacao instead of Aruba and it was great getting off the ship after dinner and exploring the fort and waterfront.  The Queen Emma pontoon bridge is beautifully lit up at night with colored arches and canopy of lights.