Live from the Horizon 11/11/23 southern Caribbean

[jimbo5544]

Apps from dinner last night Emeril’s fried tomato’s and my go to Minestrone  

Edited November 19, 2023 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

Emerils new duck duck entree, outstanding.   

[jimbo5544]

One of our asst waiters.  Really nice

[jimbo5544]

They were adding these to elevator lifts.  Not sure what is going on.   They used a grinder to cut metal

[jimbo5544]

Next up.  Debark and some thoughts on our cruise. 

[jimbo5544]

As we made our way back to Miami, I noticed on Marine traffic website it said we would be at pier at 3:42 am.  This was late afternoon, and we were doing 13 knots.  We were slowly passed by other ships, including the Celebration.  This told me we were def not going to be first in and in fact we were last.  Woke up at 4:15 and still making our way in and docked about 6.  

 

Quick breakfast and headed down to Reflections, we had checked bags and were group one.  By the time we got there, they had already been released.  Off the ship fine and walking thru the LONG walkway to go downstairs and were stopped several times due to backups.  Debarking was a mess, rivaling New York City.  What a disaster.after getting bags long serpentine lines to customs.  Easily the worst debark in 10 years.  Absolutely no reason, other than a long narrow building.  All other times getting off hear we self carried.  TERRIBLE. 

[CoasterGuy]

Nice pics! And I look forward to your final thoughts on the cruise. 

 

I will be sailing the horizon to southern caribbean in November 2024. Aruba, Cuarcao, and Amber Cove. 

[five.]

7 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

we were doing 13 knots.  We were slowly passed by other ships. Woke up at 4:15 and still making our way in and docked about 6.  

 

Debarking was a mess, rivaling New York City. Easily the worst debark in 10 years. All other times getting off hear we self carried.

 

I wonder if something was wrong with the ship propulsion or something.

 

If you had self carried would it have been remedied? Or still terrible do you think?

[pirate4me2]

Thanks so much for doing the review Jimbo! Can't wait for my turn in 12 days. 🙂

[jimbo5544]

16 hours ago, CoasterGuy said:

Nice pics! And I look forward to your final thoughts on the cruise. 

 

I will be sailing the horizon to southern caribbean in November 2024. Aruba, Cuarcao, and Amber Cove. 

Based upon our trip, you will not be disappointed.

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, five. said:

 

I wonder if something was wrong with the ship propulsion or something.

 

If you had self carried would it have been remedied? Or still terrible do you think?

I do not think so.  We were hustling some to get by the tropical depression and it basically fell apart.  That put us ahead of schedule.  Wonder if there was not a preassigned order.  Basically every slot was filled except our when we came in.

 

Not sure what the problem is.  Because we are Diamond, we usually are first off either way.  Last couple times in Miami we did self assist.  The line sends you to far end and then down escalators (where the bag areas for one are.  We had a small problem locating one bag and were prob a little late coming down, but when we had bags, the line to get to customs was full way down to forward end of building (long fairly narrow room) and then back all the way from where we started.  Global entry systems were not operational.   

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

Thanks so much for doing the review Jimbo! Can't wait for my turn in 12 days. 🙂

Enjoy your trip.

[jimbo5544]

Back to the review:

 

The Horizon.  If you like Havana, you will LOVE this ship (and class).  I have said many times FLAT OUT HOME RUN.  I must be getting older because the elevator system did not bother me much save for the first day on ship.  Frankly, IMHO, there is not much not to love about the Horizon.  I could knit pick several small things but not worth the time.

 

The crew.  Carnivals best asset (by far), and as usual did not disappoint.  MDR wait staff was good and tried hard and were good, but not great.  Room steward was outstanding.  First time in a long time that was asked what time we wanted room serviced.  We really do not care all that much and said as much to him.  He replied, no mam (to my wife), you are my VIP, what you want I will make happen.  

 

Dining. We had assigned late seating in Reflection Dining room (forward), dead center in room.  We have migrated from late to main, but some in our group pushed for late.  We gave in….wish we did not.   

[jimbo5544]

Food.  Was very excited to try the new menus.  Mostly tried Emeril’s selection.  Absolutely LOVED all options.  Significant enhancement, had some time during Diamond luncheon with head chef and expressed my pleasure… He glowed.  Went to Jiji’s one night and Steakhouse another great service and great food.

 

Entertainment. Only went to one show (late dining kept getting in the way).  Very good female lead was VERY good singer.  Rock band was good, again did not get to see them much due to dining.  Rest were on par, all enjoyable.   

[jimbo5544]

Ports.  Two new ones for us (with 57 Carnival cruises, that is saying a LOT). These were La Romana and Bonaire.  All ports good, enjoyed Bonaire the most, rented golf carts and explored.  Lots of fun. No surprises here.  

[five.]

Seeing lots of complaints about the debark you went through. It's got me a little concerned about out 11:45 flight. Never had any issues with walking off, usually before it's officially open. But looks like your debark was a HOT MESS.

[jimbo5544]

23 hours ago, five. said:

Seeing lots of complaints about the debark you went through. It's got me a little concerned about out 11:45 flight. Never had any issues with walking off, usually before it's officially open. But looks like your debark was a HOT MESS.

Well, it sure did not make our top 10.  That said we had group members that did walk off and made a 11:30 am flight out of fll with tons of time to spare.

[jimbo5544]

Overall a great cruise, Havana area did not disappoint, virtually nothing bad to say.  Carnival did not disappoint.  The food, the new menu’s far exceeded expectations.  Just a really nice cruise experience.  Thanks for coming along for the ride.

[jimbo5544]

Next cruise up for us is Celebrity Eclipse out of Buenos Aris to Antartica in January.  Something new on all fronts for us.  Will post review on that as well and put a link on the Carnival Board.  

[SenatorsFan]

28 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Next cruise up for us is Celebrity Eclipse out of Buenos Aris to Antartica in January.  Something new on all fronts for us.  Will post review on that as well and put a link on the Carnival Board.  

That sounds like an amazing cruise! I'll look forward to the review. Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.

[jimbo5544]

25 minutes ago, SenatorsFan said:

That sounds like an amazing cruise! I'll look forward to the review. Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.

Thanks!  You as well.  Even tho yours falls a little different

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by jimbo5544

[thesmiths]

12 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Overall a great cruise, Havana area did not disappoint, virtually nothing bad to say.  Carnival did not disappoint.  The food, the new menu’s far exceeded expectations.  Just a really nice cruise experience.  Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Glad to hear, good for you guys!

We'll be onboard Saturday for the 8 day aft wrap Havana!

 

Thanks for all the info provided!

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by thesmiths

[thesmiths]

12 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Well, it sure did not make our top 10.  That said we had group members that did walk off and made a 11:30 am flight out of fll with tons of time to spare.

How did they get to FLL?

 

 

[jimbo5544]

16 minutes ago, thesmiths said:

Glad to hear, good for you guys!

We'll be onboard Saturday for the 8 day aft wrap Havana!

 

Thanks for all the info provided!

 

 

 

You will have a blast, my fav room in my fav area.  Enjoy your cruise.

[jimbo5544]

15 minutes ago, thesmiths said:

How did they get to FLL?

 

 

We coordinated this for most of the group.  We have used a transport company in southeast Florida for a long time.  VIP Shuttle.