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

[willdra]

1st Sea Day

 

We got to sleep in this day because we were going to the Diamond Luncheon at 11:15. Thanks to my brother from another mother  Jamman54, and his many informative reviews, I had an idea of what to expect. I also knew that we didn’t want to miss it, and I was not wrong. I'm getting better at this being right thing. Please tell W.

 

I opened my eyes around 9, saw that we had a message from BG looking for us, answered it,  then fell back asleep. I also changed my alarm from 10 to 10:30. Because Lazy. W didn’t even stir while all of this was happening. He was enjoying the quiet bliss of finally getting his earplug situation sorted. Goody. 

 

We jumped up around 10:30 and got dressed. We were only going down to Deck 3, which was convenient. We were ready around 11. When we got down there, we saw the sign for the soiree and were permitted in. There was a for real crew member at the door turning people away. We didn’t need our invitations to get in tho. The door guard saw my sail and sign card and waived us in. It was open seating and we picked a table in the back center-ish. This was my first time in this elite gathering, and I wanted to be able to see everything. As soon as we were seated we got menus. It was a small menu but there were good choices. Another couple sat with us and we liked them instantly. We hit it off talking about our past,  present, and future cruises. It was nice to get their perspective on some places that were on our bucket list. We placed our orders when the servers came around, then the bar service began.

 

 

 

[willdra]

We were told that we could order whatever drinks we wanted on the house. Say less. I got a Blue Margarita, and W got a Blue Moon. Marco was our bar server and no cap, he hooked us all the way up. He brought W two Blue Moons then he came back later and asked if he wanted to try the Captain Morgan with Pepsi that our table mates had. W said "of course", and he brought me another Blue Margarita with W’s drink.

 

I had only been officially awake for about an hour, so that first drink hit way different. Suddenly I felt wonderful, and kinda tingly all over. What in the world did Marco put in that glass? I mean, that wasn’t a drink, it was a dranky drank! The food was delicious too. I had the Crab Cake, Pappardelle Pasta, and the Peanut Butter Brûlée. That Peanut Butter Brûlée slapped for no reason at all. It was a pure flex. Shout out to the chef for that one.

 

We really enjoyed the whole luncheon. We sat around eating, drinking, and talking until the place was almost empty. W forgot to bring tip money so he ran back to the cabin to get some for Marco. It took him a long time to come back (why?) and I thought Marco would be gone, but W walked in right as he was leaving. Perfect timing. He was so good I would’ve hated to not show our appreciation for everything that he did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After the luncheon we went to the cabin, then went to find AG and BG. I got happy when we got to the cabin cuz someone left us a duck in our mail slot. That was so precious! I prolly will never be a duck hider, but I am a duck finder. I love finding them. High five and fist bump to the hiders! Love y’all for that.

 

We found AG and BG on deck 11. In the sun. Nope not gonna happen for us. They were ready to move so we all went to find shade. We found it on the port side next to the Camp Ocean Playground. We found enough chairs there, and it was perfect. We sat back there pretty much all day. It was nice, cool, and quiet. The only bad part was there was a solid metal wall in front of us, so we couldn’t really see the water. It was still a good spot tho. I loved having my SIL to talk to all day. W was free to do W, and BG caught up on his sleep while AG and I chatted about all kinds of grown up girl stuff. 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Later on in the day I decided that I needed to attend to my water bottle “situation”. I don’t love the bottled spring water that they have, so before the cruise I went back and forth with myself on whether I was ordering the 12 pack or not. I decided that I would bring my metal bottle that has a screw on lid and just refill it with water on the Lido or use the water in the cabin that we get for free. Welp I forgot that I had made that plan, and I forgot that I didn’t order water, so I was outchea with a dry parched throat. Thirsty. The opposite of hydrated. Not cute.

 

I saw some water bottles in the gift shop, so I told W I wanted to get one on our way back to the cabin. I went on a good day too. They were 25% off. As soon as I had one rang up, W says "oh there’s some more over there". I turned to look, and the clerk was like ”um can you sign please?”  I guess he was over it and ready to go back to folding air. He gave me a look that said ”be indecisive on your own time, not mine”. Got it. While we were still in there looking at stuff that we didn't need, a little boy close to us asked his mom how many stores did they have to go to cuz he was ready to go. She looked at him and said “All of them. We are going to all of the stores and you’re gonna like it”. I laughed out loud, and told her "good job". That’s my kind of parenting there.

 

W and I arrived at the cabin around 5:30 to start getting ready. AG and BG wanted to check in to dinner at 7. We thought it was a good compromise and we liked that we all agreed on the time so no one would be confused or rushed. Perhaps. 

 

 

 

[purpleally]

45 minutes ago, willdra said:

 

Awww that's so kind of you! I'm gonna show this to W, maybe he will let me book more cruises so that I can write more reviews! 😁😃😆

Fantastic idea!💜💜💜💜💜

[willdra]

After my shower, I set my timer so that I would stay on task. I really only wear makeup on cruise elegant evenings and special occasions at home so it takes me forever to end up looking like somebody. As long as I don’t look like a train riding hobo from a Looney Tunes cartoon, I’m good.

 

 Right as I had a bunch of hair in my hands to redo my little ponytail, and I most definitely looked like a harmful hyena, Fadil knocked on the door. I answered it trying not to sound and look as annoyed as I was. He said “I wanted to see if Mr W wanted more ice”. Chile what? I was stunned, but “yeah ok” I guess. I let my ponytail go, gave him the ice bucket, he filled it, and left. I can’t even feel any type of way about the interruption. That was very thoughtful of him. If it was up to me, W would've had room temperature lukewarm drinks for the duration of the cruise, especially if I had to make a special trip for it. Too much.

 

At 6:45 I was done and we met AG and BG in the hall. Their cabin was 2 doors down from ours. We tried to get a cabin next to them but they were all taken. Bummer. The app said that we had 40-50 minutes to wait. We went to wait on the seats outside of the Limelight. We must’ve had looks on our faces that said “please talk to us” (no we didn’t), because a lady literally walked up to us and started having a conversation like we’d been talking to her all night. First of all. Ma’am who are you?  Second of all, the only thing that you’ve said that halfway made sense was “How long have y’all been waiting?”, but Waiting for what? Since when? That question has many different answers. Clarify please. She didn’t, so we told her that we’d waited 20 minutes. To that she started going off about the wait times as she was walking away. We all looked at each other with that “What just happened here?” face.

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

The time counted down quickly, but when it got to 10 minutes, it stayed there for about 20 minutes. Then W and I got the notification that our table was ready, but BG didn’t get it. His phone was stuck on that 10 minute screen. He wanted to see the confetti and the confirmation, so I told him to exit and go back in. He did that and the screen refreshed and he was happy. That was easy.

 

We went to get in line to wait for someone to show us to our table. At first we weren’t sure if that was the line, cuz people really do like to just show up and stand around. BG went and asked people and most of them said yes that was the line. Some were confused, and had no idea why they were standing there, but that’s to be expected. Go around them. They’ll figure it out eventually. Or not. 

 

When we got to our table we ordered quickly, but the food did not arrive quickly. I ordered the Crab Cake, Filet Mignon, Grilled Shrimp and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake with Butter Pecan Ice Cream. When W got to put a bar order in, he ordered a Diet Pepsi. When the server brought it, he was about to open it and pour it in the glass. W said "please don’t pour it I’ll do it". The server was like "oh no I got it". W got the can from him just in time. One thing W is gonna be, is a snob about the way to pour a canned soda into a glass. If you just dump it in, it will more than likely go flat fast. Especially if the glass has ice in it. However, if you tilt the glass a little, and pour slowly down the side, most of your bubbles will remain. I'm sure there are other ways, but that works for him, so he doesn’t mind taking the time to do it.

 

After sodagate, we talked and waited for our food. The table behind us was loud and it was hard to hear, but we made do. We could hear their entire conversation. Some people think they’re funny, and everybody needs to hear them, so everything that they say has to be audible all over the room. That’s false. We’re good. Nobody cares about you getting your bunions shaved, nor do we need to hear about it while we are eating. Thanks.

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

At the conclusion of dinner W and I were going to see the show Soulbound. AG and BG were calling it a night. We took a few pictures out and about, then went in to the show. Y’all. It was good and terrible. As soon as the first note was sung, I regretted sitting down. I’m much more mature than I used to be (barely), so I gave it 20 minutes to get better. It didn’t. I’d given them the benefit of the doubt. The doubt had benefited. I looked at W, and he already knew. I jumped up so fast, I almost fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle trying to get outta there. Carnival Horizon how is your lead singer tone deaf?? I need to understand who picked her? She had all of the talent of a soggy sock. Hopefully it was just a bad night. 

 

Back in the comfort (and quiet) of our cabin, I scrubbed my face while W watched tv. We decided to watch Independence Day 2 which was one of the free On Demand movies. After the first 10-15 minutes, I started reading my book, and never looked back up. That's how much I enjoyed that movie. 

 

Before I fell asleep I said a prayer thanking God for that bar of soap that they put in the cabins. I don’t know what’s in that stuff but it cleans my makeup brushes like a dream! A couple of swipes, and they are good as new. I need to ask our steward for an extra bar to take home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jamman54]

Congratulations on your first Diamond event. Did you realize that you could have brought AG and BG with you as the invitations say "and guest". Or maybe you knew that and decided against it. 😁

[willdra]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

Congratulations on your first Diamond event. Did you realize that you could have brought AG and BG with you as the invitations say "and guest". Or maybe you knew that and decided against it. 😁

We found out when we got there that we didn’t read the invites very well! We were so excited to get them, it never occurred to us to actually read the words! 😭😭

[HeyJut]

So happy to be reading your new review.

[notscb]

3 hours ago, willdra said:

 

 

 

Ok now i feel gooped. I never knew you could order a real order of ice cream with this cake! My server once brought me two of the little ones and I was amazed. Now I feel like I truly have the life hack.

Edited June 27, 2023 by notscb

[willdra]

26 minutes ago, notscb said:

Ok now i feel gooped. I never knew you could order a real order of ice cream with this cake! My server once brought me two of the little ones and I was amazed. Now I feel like I truly have the life hack.

LOL! 😂 Yes you can order any ice cream (that they have). Just ask the server which ones are available and they will bring your choice. 😉

[willdra]

38 minutes ago, HeyJut said:

So happy to be reading your new review.

Thank you 😊! I’m happy that you’re here! 🤩

[minniegidget]

Glad you enjoyed the Diamond party. One day I might make it. Got a long way to go. So for now I live vicariously through pictures of cruise critic. 

[pcvtmom]

Interesting...I guess the Diamond event must depend on the number of Diamond guests onboard.  We were on the Horizon June 10-18, and just had small bites and drinks, instead of the meal (which we had on the Miracle in January). I thought perhaps it varied by ships, but your Horizon luncheon disproves that theory! Oh well, we enjoyed it, nonetheless. ☺️ 

 

Fantastic review, as always!

[RenoNanaOz]

On 6/25/2023 at 3:55 PM, willdra said:

Before we walked out, we got a letter in our cabin informing us that we were supposed to get some special Diamond level gifts. When we got to Pixels they didn’t scan the cards like normal. I think there was a system issue so we just gave our Folio number and we got pins and the bum bag (Fanny pack). W really wanted the other things so I told him to take the letter back over there later.

 

Another thing that was neat about turning Diamond was that we got 2 free steakhouse dinners for 2. W and I could go twice on that cruise for free. Cha Ching. We were so gonna cash in on that. W had already looked at the MDR menus and picked two nights based on our least favorite dinners. One thing about W. He plays to win the “man vs. food” competition. My dude.

 

It was quick at Pixels, so we sat at Alchemy afterwards. I got The Remedy and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them make it. It's amazing when they do several drinks at once. When I got my drink, I checked the app, and our table was ready. It didn’t take as long as originally stated, which we figured.

 

It was really neat having AG and BG with us. It’s been awhile since we’ve cruised with another couple, so this was extra nice. Even tho they like to eat early. We will work on that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is that Marija? We loved her. 

[Megan_Strick]

I haven't seen anything from them in a long time.

[Megan_Strick]

OMG I literally just made a post saying I haven't seen you in a long time!

[ColeThornton]

LOL...active review right here on Page 1.

[787cruiser]

🤦‍♂️

[hard_eight]

[mistycruiser]

18 hours ago, minniegidget said:

Glad you enjoyed the Diamond party. One day I might make it. Got a long way to go. So for now I live vicariously through pictures of cruise critic. 

It was a recent change, like the last couple of weeks or so, that the Diamond lunch is on hiatus and cocktail and appetizer parties are in except for Journeys cruises and European cruises.  Hope it's short lived and the luncheons return.

[Beagleluv6107]

Hooray Willdra is BACK!!!  I see you girl. You and W looking Fantastic! When I say my prayers tonight I'm gonna thank God ya'll survived the seedy Walmart and the shady gas station to bring us another great review!!! 😎