Willdra's Heavenly Carnival Horizon Apr. 29-May 7 Cruise Review

willdra · June 25, 2023

16 hours ago, SenatorsFan said:

I'm so happy to see that you are back with another entertaining review! 🥰Funny, our first night dinner in Miami before our cruise in Nov. was at Luke's, except we had the chowder with the trio and I also had to have gelato after. 😃

I wonder if they strategically placed the gelato right where we would see it after having Luke's. Now I don't think I could go there again and not get it! 😂

willdra · June 25, 2023

16 hours ago, VIFP1987 said:

Yay, another fabulous Wildra review! Doing the happy dance!

Thank you!!! 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽

willdra · June 25, 2023

15 hours ago, AKR2011 said:

Hooray for a new Willdra review! I'm excited to follow along and meet the latest members of your alphabet family. And you have a second one coming up too?!?! I am here for it always! ❤️⚓️

Welcome back! These alphabets are a mess! 🤣

willdra · June 25, 2023

6 hours ago, DanvilleCruiser said:

Yay Willdra review!

Thanks for the cheers! 🎉🎉

willdra · June 25, 2023

6 hours ago, bunnyette said:

Welcome back Wildra!

Thank you! Feels great to finally get this one going!😃

willdra · June 25, 2023

5 hours ago, georgiacat said:

Yahooo!!! Another vacay with Wildra. Enjoy it for me. I love your writing and your locks.

Awwww thanks! 🥰

minniegidget · June 25, 2023

Looking forward to your review. Thanks for posting. I am going to enjoy the ride.

willdra · June 25, 2023

5 hours ago, RenoNanaOz said:

We just did this cruise in January. Looking forward to doing it again, with y’all.

Thanks for cruising with us! Please jump in if (when) I forget something! 😍

willdra · June 25, 2023

3 hours ago, gotscrapz said:

Cruising along with you and W.... love your reviews!

Welcome aboard! 😁

willdra · June 25, 2023

1 hour ago, pinto18 said:

yay my favorite reviewer! reviewist? review-person?

LOL!!! I identify with all of them! 😂

willdra · June 25, 2023

1 hour ago, josieallen said:

I am so excited. I’ve been searching for weeks for your review and today I found it. Yippee!

Perfect timing! I'm just getting started. 😁

willdra · June 25, 2023

5 minutes ago, minniegidget said:

Looking forward to your review. Thanks for posting. I am going to enjoy the ride.

Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and buckle up, it gets bumpy in here!😊🤪

notscb · June 25, 2023

I think we need a Willdra fan club cruise where we can hear live commentary, based on the amount of positive feedback on your latest review. Thanks, as always, for sharing your sense of humor and experience with us 😄

princess76021 · June 25, 2023

1 hour ago, willdra said:

Thanks so much for jumping in early! 😍😍 Hope you are keeping cool down there!

101* as I type!!!

so no ☺☺

Hugs

willdra · June 25, 2023

On cruise day I woke up with my alarm at 7:30. We wanted to leave the hotel at 9. When I got in the bathroom, I turned on the water (cuz that's what one does before a shower). Nothing happened. Then suddenly, the water shot out! Hot water splashed all over me. The situation wasn't better in the shower. It ran for a little while, then the water suddenly just went off. Not a drop was dropping. But a minute later it came back on. Hmmm is this place haunted? This was feeling really haunty. Especially since it was giving “The Shining” vibes the day before.

I finished getting ready as quickly as possible since I didn’t know how long or if we would still have water (and I hadn’t totally ruled out the ghost possibility). While I was finishing up, I took a minute to open the curtains and look outside. I loved the view from our room. It was beautiful to see the ships all lined up in the bay. I woke up W around 8:20, and he got ready quick. At exactly 9am we walked out of the room.

minniegidget · June 25, 2023

4 minutes ago, willdra said:

On cruise day I woke up with my alarm at 7:30. We wanted to leave the hotel at 9. When I got in the bathroom, I turned on the water (cuz that's what one does before a shower). Nothing happened. Then suddenly, the water shot out! Hot water splashed all over me. The situation wasn't better in the shower. It ran for a little while, then the water suddenly just went off. Not a drop was dropping. But a minute later it came back on. Hmmm is this place haunted? This was feeling really haunty. Especially since it was giving “The Shining” vibes the day before.

I finished getting ready as quickly as possible since I didn’t know how long or if we would still have water (and I hadn’t totally ruled out the ghost possibility). While I was finishing up, I took a minute to open the curtains and look outside. I loved the view from our room. It was beautiful to see the ships all lined up in the bay. I woke up W around 8:20, and he got ready quick. At exactly 9am we walked out of the room.

My favorite sight is looking out the window and seeing my cruise ship.

willdra · June 25, 2023

Then chaos. When I turned the corner in the hall, I could hear people talking loudly in the elevator section. It sounded like they’d been there awhile. Not good. We get around the corner, and there’s a million people. Waiting. Apparently there’s only 1 elevator working. In this big hotel. 1 elevator. The only bright spot about it, was the ladies we were waiting with were entertaining. They kept calling the front desk and complaining, knowing that there was nothing they could do. Then they made a fake plan to fight whoever was in the next elevator if they wouldn’t let them in. They were kidding of course, but it was still funny hearing them plan. They kept my mind off of how awful it was. We waited and waited. People came and went. 1 or 2 completely full elevators came. Then went. Without us. W and I maintained our composure, and I said a lot of prayers. Afterall, we couldn’t be stuck there forever. Or could we? Oh Lawd!

At around 9:55 an elevator came. And it was half empty. W and I threw our bags in, threw our bodies in, and thanked God. Loudly! That was excruciating! One elevator for all of these hundreds of people. They charge Hilton prices for that hotel, but the elevator situation screamed Motel 6. When we got down to the lobby it was a little more organized. Just a little. To get down to the ground from there, we had to take another set of elevators. These were working (good looking out God) and there was also a staff member operating them. Something tells me this wasn’t their first rodeo. They were experienced.

willdra · June 25, 2023

We finally left the hotel at 10:10. We drove to drop off the rental at Miami Intl. It was very fast. We drove up, left the keys in it and walked (swiftly) away. We took the elevator up and got a taxi out front to take us back to the port. They used to have the free rental car shuttles going back and forth to the port, but they stopped during Covid and never restarted it, at least not from Hertz. Boooooo. That was one of the best benefits of renting and returning the car there. They still don’t charge an additional drop-off fee to rent from FLL and return to MIA, so that benefit is still in place.

It was $36 for the taxi. At that point, it could’ve been $100 and I wouldn’t have cared. Just get me on that ship Jesus. The taxi pulled up to the port at 10:52, and we walked on the Horizon at 11. We didn’t wait for anything. It was pretty much straight thru. I tried to get a few pictures on the way in, but we were moving too fast.

willdra · June 25, 2023

Onboard, the lobby bar was pretty active. We saw a crew member holding a sign for muster station B3 down there. This meant that we needed to go up 1 deck to our muster station B4. W was hungry and he wanted to go straight to the Lido, but I was not having it. Muster first. Periodt. B4 was in the casino. When we got up there, they scanned us in. Then one of the crew members said: “Do you know how to put on a life jacket?" W: “Yes” Crew member: ”You’re done”. Wait. What? Ok then, you don’t have to tell us twice. Deuces!

l2f · June 25, 2023

10 minutes ago, willdra said:

Then chaos. When I turned the corner in the hall, I could hear people talking loudly in the elevator section. It sounded like they’d been there awhile. Not good. We get around the corner, and there’s a million people. Waiting. Apparently there’s only 1 elevator working. In this big hotel. 1 elevator.

Don't want to high jack your great review. We were at the Hilton (and on the Horizon) as well. We were told the electric was out on the entire block. So, 1 elevator due to back up generator.

Edited June 25, 2023 by l2f
missing info

willdra · June 25, 2023

We walked aft and took those elevators up to Lido. There was no one waiting for the elevators, and we got there quick. Lido was not empty tho. We found a table, dropped off our gear, then went to find food. I went to Guy’s, and W went to the buffet. He likes the roast beef on the first day. The line on the side wall (my choice spot) at Guy’s was all the way back to Blue Iguana. I got a spot and passed the time by talking to y’all.

After I got my food, I went back to the table to find W. Almost as soon as I sat down I got a text from W’s sister AG and her husband BG. They had an arrival time of 1, but they said when they got to port, they let them board. Nice. It’s always good not to have to wait. Especially to get on a cruise. That’s one of the worst waits.

We moved to a bigger table in the aft so they could join us. When they found us, we sat and traded travel horror stories. AG and BG were flying in from Cincinnati, and were supposed to land the night before at midnight. Due to delays which caused them to miss their connection, they got in at 3am. A 3 hour delay could be catastrophic if it happened on cruise day. Avoid it.

willdra · June 25, 2023

At 12:30ish we went to see if our Sail and Sign cards were in the slot. They were, and we were both excited because it was official. We made Diamond on this cruise! It took us 13 years to go from Platinum to Diamond, and we couldn’t believe that we finally got there. Just as we were starting to feel royal and regal, our steward popped in and said he wasn’t finished cleaning yet, so please leave. Bubble burst, and we’re back to reality. We dropped off our crap in cabin 7291 then bounced.

From there we went up to lido to take some pictures. I forgot my sunglasses, and that sun did not come to play. FL sunshine is 876% hotter than GA sunshine. You are gonna put some respect on that FL sun’s name.

Before doing another thing, we went back to grab my shades(do people still call them shades?). When we left, we went up to the forward elevators, which were closest to our cabin. They were using those elevators for luggage, so I was ready to scrap that plan. W said "no let’s just walk up". He actually fixed his mouth to say "it’s the same as if we were walking aft to forward" Bruh. Where? On the moon? Walking aft to forward is absolutely not the same as walking from Deck 7 to Deck 14!! Somebody come get W. He has to be in the throes of some sort of mental breakdown.

willdra · June 25, 2023

I walked up to prove to him that he was indeed deranged. Each floor made me madder and madder. We have one good knee, and one decent lower back between us. And it showed. When we got up there, W mumbled something about going to the bar. I took that as my apology. He had to go and sit down to catch his breath after that Mount Everest climb that we just did. I laughed, which was my “I told you so”.

I took a few pictures in Serenity, then I was over it. We went back to Lido. After we took our official "we outside" pictures, we found good seats to sit and wait for the party. W went and got us a couple of Funship Specials and we people watched (I people watched, W watched his eyelids) and waited. While we were patiently waiting for the festivities to begin, this group of people came and stood right in front of us, which blocked our view, as well the couple next to us. This kinda got on my nerves, so I went over and told them they were blocking us, and they moved. But rude.

willdra · June 25, 2023

The show was set to begin at 4 and it started a little after. Y’all. I was not prepared for how much I was gonna love Cruise Director Cookie! He was hilarious when I really listened to him. I laughed the whole time he was out there. There were many many people out and about enjoying themselves. They had the usual dance contests, then line dancing. We left after the Wobble. It’s like I’m not officially on a cruise until I hear the Wobble. Once I hear it, I'm good.