My View: I See a Cruise on the Horizon! (Semi-Live)

[APDMOM]

Lunch/Brunch in the MDR:

The menu stayed the same for all the sea days.  

 

This time, I had the Flamin' Tomato Soup - there was really nothing 'flaming' about it.  It was just the same tomato soup from dinner.

 

 

A favorite for DH: Huevos Rancheros - still excellent:

 

A favorite for DS:  Skillet Cake - we ordered this 3 times and it was a bit different every time.  The first one had all the sides, including cream, guava sauce, and marshmallows.  The second one only had the cream and guava sauce.  This last one only had the marshmallows... Go figure. 🤷‍♀️

 

Seven Layer Chocolate Cake - Carnival gets Cake Right!!!

[APDMOM]

TIP: Be sure to get your luggage tag from Pixels or the LIDO deck when they put them out - you choose your own based upon the time you want to leave.  We saw a long line trying to get first choice here around 11 AM by Pixels.

 

 

 

Download PDF here

Debarkation.pdf

Edited March 26 by APDMOM
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[APDMOM]

Our Stateroom/Cabin/Cove Balcony: 

With a sea day prior to returning to port, we enjoy the balcony time away from the crowds, especially when it rains.  

 

TIP: Cove balconies are great because they are mostly sheltered from the rain.  Occasionally the waves will get big enough to spray the balcony, but most days it is quite dry and a great place to relax. The room started smelling a bit like a dirty mop on day 2.  We realized it was because the carpet by the balcony door was getting wet from all trips to and from the wet balcony.  So, TIP: put a pool towel on the carpet by the balcony door to keep the carpet dry. 

 

With that, I present room 2315 - a great stateroom/cabin with less obstruction from lifeboats... more about that later.

 

There were 3 of us, so the couch was transformed into a bed for our DS:

 

 

 

 

[vanislandcruisers]

Thanks so much for taking us along!!!

[APDMOM]

TIP: There are two USB ports and 2 US outlets by the mirror.  There is one European outlet too.  (Forgot to take pics). I don't know if it is standard, but this card was in the power slot during the whole cruise.  So, we did not need to use our seapass cards to keep the power on in the room:

 

TIP:  Some of the doors on this ship are NOT metal, so our magnets did not stick to the door.  We placed our decor on the metal around the room number.  We only use the decor for quick and easy location of our room:

 

Most of the menus on the ship are now accessible by QR code, including the room service menu:

 

Bottle of water is $4.50

 

 The safe is spacious enough to fit an iPad Air:

 

Storage:

 

 

TIP:  There is a wooden shelf that can be lowered or put up on the left side of the closet, if more shelves are needed.  In the picture above, it is put away.  In the picture below, it is lowered to create an extra shelf.

 

TIP: If you don't like clutter, bring an over-the-door-shoe hanger to store hair tools, lotions, make up, deodorant, etc.

 

 

TIP: If you like to know what temperature your AC is set at, bring a thermometer with a magnet.  We always travel with this for DH's sake.  I listen to my body to change the temperature - he listens to his brain by looking at the Fahrenheit.  🫠🤣 It makes for interesting science conversations in our left-brain life.

 

[APDMOM]

The Bathroom... UGH!  That Shower Curtain. 🙈

 

TIP @ Carnival Cruiselines - PLEASE bring doors to all new ships for the shower.

 

 

TIP: The shampoo is not great for hair - I recommend bringing your own shampoo and conditioner.

 

 

TIP:  They do not have rinse cups for toothbrushing in the bathroom.  We brought a plastic cup from the buffet to use for this purpose.

[APDMOM]

That Balcony!

TIP: On this ship, Cove balconies 2315, 2309, 2305, and 2301 have not large lifeboat obstructing the view.  The same counts for the port side balconies of 2308, 2306, 2302, and 2398.  

 

Our View forward:

 

Our View Aft:

 

Our View straight down to the water:

 

 The View Above:

 

TIP: If you book adjoining balconies, note that the door between 2315 and 2309 on the balcony can be opened, but not the door between 2315 and 2317.  Plan accordingly.

 

Door between 2315 and 2309 that can be propped open:

 

Door between 2315 and 2317 that cannot be propped open, because it blocks the balcony door to exit 2315:

 

I can almost live on that balcony!

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

TIP: If you share pictures or videos of balconies from your cruises, consider taking pictures/video of the forward, aft, downward and upward views - it really helps to see if there are obstructions.  🙂 

[APDMOM]

Dinner: Day 8 - At Sea

 

 

I forgot to take pictures of the appetizers.  I had the ale and cheddar soup, which was very good.

 

Enchilalas (veggie): Okay

 

Penne Mariscos: Okay

 

Roast Duck: A No Go - the white meat was very dry

 

 

[APDMOM]

Let me take the Oompa Loompa song out of your head...

 

🎶All your bags are packed, you're (not) ready to go...🎶

 

🎶You're leaving our Funship! 😔

 

 

[APDMOM]

TIP: If you have loyalty status, be sure to check your benefits.  Last night, free drink after 5 PM

 

[APDMOM]

My View: End of Day 8 - At Sea

We are running out of wake view time too fast...

[APDMOM]

FUN TIMES: Day 7 - Amber Cove (forgot to post earlier)

 

 

Download PDF here:

Day 7.pdf

Edited March 26 by APDMOM
pdf

[APDMOM]

FUN TIMES: Day 8 - At Sea

 

 

Download PDF here:

Day 8.pdf

Edited March 26 by APDMOM
pdf

[APDMOM]

That's it for now.  Tomorrow, I will close out with our debarkation experience, our 'favorites' of the week, and a quick summary of our view of Carnival Horizon.

 

Thank you for following along!  After a grueling day at my 'day job' it was fun to relive a few more VIEWS from our amazing week.

Edited March 26 by APDMOM
typo

[dlphn501]

2 hours ago, APDMOM said:

TIP: Be sure to get your luggage tag from Pixels or the LIDO deck when they put them out - you choose your own based upon the time you want to leave.  We saw a long line trying to get first choice here around 11 AM by Pixels.

 

 

 

Download PDF here

Debarkation.pdf 1.32 MB · 0 downloads

Did they have the digital embarkation?  I heard the debarkation from this cruise was really messy, so I assume not, but John Heald just announced today that it is now on all Carnival ships.  

[APDMOM]

1 hour ago, dlphn501 said:

Did they have the digital embarkation?  I heard the debarkation from this cruise was really messy, so I assume not, but John Heald just announced today that it is now on all Carnival ships.  

Yes, they did.  We signed up for 8:05 for self-assist in the app.  I will post more about debarkation tomorrow, but it was indeed messy.  There is lots of back and forth blaming between Carnival and Customs, if you can believe the posts on another platform.  😄 I'm just happy we got off without injury and still enjoying our cruise memories.

 

 

[vwgolf2]

What's the disembarkation routine for those booked on an excursion? We have booked the Everglades trip with onward travel to the airport. Do you still have to like up to get luggage tags for an early exit?

[grimpil]

19 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Let me take the Oompa Loompa song out of your head...

 

🎶All your bags are packed, you're (not) ready to go...🎶

 

🎶You're leaving our Funship! 😔

 

 

IMG_8747.MOV 582.77 MB · 2 downloads  

Not one person crying in this video... maybe its just me lol

[APDMOM]

6 hours ago, vwgolf2 said:

What's the disembarkation routine for those booked on an excursion? We have booked the Everglades trip with onward travel to the airport. Do you still have to like up to get luggage tags for an early exit?

I am sorry I don't know about this... I would assume the instructions of where and when to meet will be on the excursion ticket, but I don't know about the luggage.  Hopefully, someone with that experience will chime in here.

🙂

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 9 - Debarkation in Miami

[APDMOM]

Beautiful Views Entering Port:

I woke up at 4 AM, noticing the ship was slowing down a lot and that Miami was in the distance.  With pictures always priority in my life, I could not sleep anymore, thinking I would miss sailing into port.  Little did I know we would hover outside port as one after another ship sailed in, waiting for about 2 hours!  

 

 

 

Almost Full Moon!

[APDMOM]

Ships in Port:

Oasis of the Seas:

 

 

Norwegian Encore:

 

 

MSC Divina:

 

Our Space waiting for us:

 

Carnival Celebration:

 

Granduer of the Seas:

 

Scarlet Lady:

 

Seabourn Quest:

[APDMOM]

Breakfast:

We were very happy to see that Blue Iguana was open for debarkation.  There was no line at 6:30, nor at 7 - we stopped by twice.  Once for Huevos Rancheros, and once for my LAST Arepa.

 

Debarkation:

Something went wrong with debarkation.  Here are the theories about what 'may have' been problematic...

 

1. We were the last big ship to dock, even though we had been hovering outside Miami since 4 AM. 

2. Customs took a long time to clear our ship.  We had a close-up view of the gangway to the terminal from our balcony.  We left our room around 8:10 and even then, nobody had walked off the ship through that gangway.

3. People who were not self-assist took it upon themselves to just cut in line and walk off, looking for their checked bags in the terminal.  Many checked bags had not even left the ship when they jumped the line.

 

Well...

Whatever it was, it did not ruin our cruise.  We kind of go with the flow, but we do draw the line by making a WIDE line of our family of 3 when people start cutting the line in front of us. 😄 After about 10 people passed us "looking for family ahead", we decided it was time to walk wide, or we would be pushed right back to our cabin.  (Not that we would mind another few days on the ship, but I hear they don't accept stowaways) 🤣

 

 

We "got lost" leaving the port parking, and ended up driving through the tunnel:

[APDMOM]

My View: Carnival Horizon and our Southern Caribbean Cruise:

 

Pros:

• We loved the edible straws!  What a fun way to 'help the environment'.  I don't want to know how many processed foods or calories made up those straws, they were FUN!
•  
• Carnival gets cake right.  The best cake we have had, by far, on a cruise ship.  Not a single slice of cake we tried was dry - they were all perfect. (I can't say the same for the cookies... skip the cookies, have the cake and eat it too!)
•  
• Food was overall good, even though choices were MUCH more limited than on previous Carnival cruises.  I think it is smart that they save money by serving the same dishes in the MDR and the buffet, with a few variations.   We never went hungry and we found many excellent dishes.
•  
• We LOVED the Cove Balcony (if you have not caught on to that yet).  We love hearing the sound of the ocean, rather than loud muzak and music playing from public venues.  Sometimes, the ocean spray got onto the balcony and I could taste salt on my lips, but it was just 2 days out of the whole cruise, and it was all part of the fun! 
•  
• I appreciate that Carnival is cracking down on drugs with their drug-sniffing dogs.  I did not realize until day 7 that a dog lives on the ship!  I saw the dog and trainer playing on the basketball court that night.  
•  
• It also seems like Carnival is cracking down on poor behavior - there was lots of security on the ship.  We also heard that people got left behind in La Romana.  The ship left ON TIME.  I believe in personal responsibility and taking care of unforeseen circumstances with a good attitude rather than expecting a whole ship to wait... or book your excursions through Carnival - then the ship will wait for you.
•  
• Smoke is contained VERY well on this ship!  I love how they have glass around the Casino view on deck 5 - it contained the smoke so well.  The only place I ever smelled smoke was in the forward stairwell by deck 4 (Casino entrance) and the few times I walked through the starboard smoking areas. 
•  
• I like that you can have small table seating for brunch and breakfast for an intimate family experience.
•  
• Live music was very well done.

 

Cons:

• There is no digital checkin.  You are required to print out your boarding pass.
•  
• Drinks are very expensive.  We could hardly find any alcoholic drinks under $12 - only the spiked coffee and Amaretto Sour cost us under $10.   The milkshakes at the coffee bar were not worth the price.
•  
• Excursions are also expensive on Carnival - the same excursions on Royal Caribbean are much cheaper.  In the end, it probably evens out, but it is just something we observed since we had two ports booked through both cruiselines and could compare exursions and prices.
•  
• There was limited to no live music during the day on sea days.  They play mostly muzak/elevator music, which I cannot acknowledge as 'music'.  Maybe I am just old, but who likes listening to this stuff (I almost said 'junk') ... oh, wait, there I did it 🤣. ...see video below with an example and tell me if you like it.
•  
• Something was wrong with the electricity and wifi on this ship.  Prior to our power outage, the wifi took up to 12 tries to connect.  My flat iron also stopped working - I thought it had broken because it is older.  After the power outage, it seemed like the power had reset.  Wifi connected well and my flat iron worked again.  As the last couple of days rolled around, wifi troubles re-emerged and the flat iron 'broke' again.
•  
• We did miss the more elaborate breakfast items in the buffet, like whipped cream and banana compote.  Only one special item was available per day, like only pancakes or only french toast.  However, the arepas made up for it!
•  
• Cleanliness was a serious issue in the buffet.  We watched the tables being wiped only half-heartedly and often sat down to a sticky table, or one with crumbs.  One time, I had a spoon in the MDR that had a coffee line on the handle and lines where it looked like it had been licked.  I wiped it with a wet wipe and it came clean, so it was clearly a dirty spoon replaced to be re-used.  Dishes and cups often had food residue in the buffet, so we would need to set them aside to be taken back for a re-wash.  The rest of the ship was spotless, so something is wrong with the supervision in the dining and food prep.  

 

In Summary:

This was a fantastic cruise overall. We enjoyed the ship and amenities.  We loved the ports and people.  Although Carnival is not our favorite cruiseline, we are all glad we took this cruise, since the price was right.  We will cruise Carnival again if the opportunity arises, with the right price, ship, and itinerary.  We just prefer NCL (DH and DS), Royal Caribbean (Me) and Celebrity (all of us).

 

Now for our Favorite Experiences/Memories:

DH:

• Jonathon Timpanelli Show
• Excursion with the train trolley in La Romana
• SkyRide

DS:

• Water Slides
• Blue Iguana
• Ropes Course

APDMOM:

• Minigolf
• SkyRide
• La Romana and the friendly people

 

Favorite Food:

DH:

• Vegetable Wellington (MDR)
• Huevos Rancheros from Blue Iguana

DS:

• Cake (all of them)
• Huevos Rancheros from Blue Iguana

APDMOM:

• Arepas
• Strawberry Frozen Yogurt Soft Serve

 

 

 

 

Edited March 27 by APDMOM
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