Horizon / (*Not) Live / Solo - May - 25 - June - 2024...

[sid_9169]

 

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore”… William Faulkner 

 

Back in January, at some point around the middle of The Tribe cruise, I decided against doing a full “Live Review” of this upcoming sailing on the Carnival Horizon. Not the full Monty version anyway… Ever since 2017 I've been spending countless hours on board taking pictures, writing content, and battling the headwinds of on board internet. It's a LOT of work, and I really enjoy all of the back and forth with all of you readers, but after seven years (minus the 18 month “pause in operations”) I really need a vacation just for myself. 

 

I thought about doing a scaled back type of “Live” review, and at one point even considered creating an entirely new username and doing a “phantom Live Review”, masquerading as a brand new Cruise Critic member. Then I figured that would defeat the entire purpose of attempting to just have a nice relaxing vacation… In the end I finally decided to compromise and do a little “before” but mostly”after” sort of “reverse engineered” version of my original format, with 90% of it happening afterwards. 

 

 

 

 

[sid_9169]

For the first time in years I've decided not to even purchase an on board internet plan and really unplug from the World. (Something tells me that if I did purchase a plan then I'd slip back out of “vacation mode” straight into “Live Review mode”...) But I do want to try and give something back to all you members of the Cruise Critic community that's supported me so much over all these years, so here we go!...

 

 

[Jamman54]

Good plan sid! We enjoy doing our reviews after the fact. We love experiencing our cruises for the second time. We could never do "live" reviews and having to be "on" all the time. One suggestion is to take the time each day and jot down some notes. Doing that, plus the time stamps on your pictures will make the process easier. 😎

[dallasdan]

@sid_9169 Enjoy your vacation.  You deserve a nice relaxing time to get away and unwind.  Look forward to your after action report.

[sid_9169]

Gotta try and make it through one more day here at the 'ol salt mine before vacation officially begins... I'm hoping for a nice smooth work day, but the final day prior to vacation is usually a rocky one. I sure could've used one more hour of sleep this morning. 

 

 

[princess76021]

You know I'm here too!!

take it slow and enjoy yourself!!

hugs fro from Texas

 

[sid_9169]

Around the beginning of October 2023 I was poking around looking into possible future bookings when I came across some 8 night Southern Caribbean sailings on the Carnival Horizon. I'd spent my 50th birthday on board the then new Horizon back in September of 2019, and I thought it'd be nice to go back and conquer the second Vista class vessel once again. I've really gotten spoiled with all the dining options on the new Excel class, but one thing that's missing on board the newer ships is one of my favorite on board restaurants: Jiji Asian… I made a reservation for that the very first night since it's been almost five years since I've had it. The only other specialty dining I have pre booked is the Steakhouse for the next to last night of the cruise. 

 

I will miss some of the additional dining options on the newer, larger vessels such as Shaq's Big Chicken, Emeril's, and Street Eats, but I suspect that I'll survive a week in board with the available dining options.

 

 

 

[sid_9169]

This final day before the long weekend, already lazy coworkers seem to have forgotten how to do their job altogether... I'm determined to do whatever it's takes for me to make it till quitting time, even if I have to do everything myself...

 

 

[dmet0225]

2 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

For the first time in years I've decided not to even purchase an on board internet plan and really unplug from the World. (Something tells me that if I did purchase a plan then I'd slip back out of “vacation mode” straight into “Live Review mode”...) But I do want to try and give something back to all you members of the Cruise Critic community that's supported me so much over all these years, so here we go!...

 

 

Enjoy the cruise, @sid_9169.  There hasn't been a vacation where I haven't just shut off the phone and put it in the safe for the duration.  I get enough stinkin calls, emails and texts while not on vacation (nights/weekends included), so I just shut it down.  I always leave instructions with the family on which number to call at Carnival, along with my stateroom number, in the event there's an emergency.

[sid_9169]

 

Once again I'll be sailing in an inside cabin, which I've pretty much gotten used to after all these years. Obviously I'd rather have a balcony, but with the costs of cruising ever rising like everything else, it has everything I need: a bed, shower, toilet, ect… When selecting a location, I always make sure to have cabins above and below me, so as to minimize the possibility of noise from public areas or night clubs and such. I can't even imagine being one of those people who book cabins that are subject to any number of situations that could result in being kept up for half the night due to excessive noise. I also bring my handy dandy ear plugs just in case… 

 

The price I ended up paying for this sailing was right around $1,786, not including gratuities and the beverage package. That comes out to $223 per day BEFORE those items are added in. Either way, I'd be hard pressed to find a land vacation to the Southern Caribbean for the same amount or less. 

 

 

[meskel503]

Love all of your reviews.  I am sure this one will be just as great no matter the format.

[sid_9169]

Since there wasn't one already, I started a Cruise Critic roll call for this sailing, but it never really gained any traction. Seems like 99% of the action happens on other social media sites now. This one only had 143 views and 12 replies, while there were over 900 members elsewhere. 

 

 

 

[sid_9169]

[maxandmolly]

Enjoy your unplugged cruise, we will not so patiently wait for your after trip report!  I could never be ‘on’ enough to do a Live. I enjoy unplugging too much. 

[noshoobie]

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to your review as we are hoping to book an ABC cruise for this September.

[mikayla73]

Have a great time and enjoy being on vacation!

[sid_9169]

I suppose the idea of a nice easy work day went straight out the window about a half hour into the day... It's almost lunch time now, and I'll be having whatever happens to be in the fridge here, which I believe is spicy kimchi and some potato salad. I promise an increase in the quality of food p0rn as the "review" progresses...

 

 

Edited May 23 by sid_9169

[sid_9169]

[Sadebud]

Following in whatever capacity you do the review!  Unplug, relax, and ENJOY your cruise!  Looking forward to hearing all about it on the "flip side".

[sid_9169]

 

Since I'm going to be going completely “radio silent” once I'm on board, I'll be bringing along my pen and notepad to keep up with each days activities, which will mostly just be eating and drinking and laying out in the sun. Yes, I do much prefer an actual written hard copy version of notes rather than trying to type everything into my phone, which the entire goal of this vacation is to stay away from as much as possible. I guess that I'm a lot closer to a boomer than a millennial in that regard…

 

 

 

[Roscoe13]

Here's to a relaxing cruise...with coffee served when you are seated...

[pblack]

Can't wait to read about your trip! We board the panorama on Saturday for an 8 day and will be on the horizon in September for an 8 day. 

[sid_9169]

I was down to my very last pair of earplugs, so I took a walk up to Home Depot during my lunch break... I only use a single pair for two nights, so I need at least five pairs to make it through 9 nights, including one in Miami. They had them on clearance for $2.44, but it didn't scan that price, so I had to walk the cashier all the way back through the store to show them the price tag. They said that was for a different item, but said they'd honor the price since it was mistakenly put in the wrong place... Either way, I wanted to try and get my daily walk out of the way, since it's supposed to be raining later. Only a little over three hours to go now at work, although I suspect we may even close a little bit early!...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sid_9169]

About a week or so before the cruise I went ahead and pre purchased the Cheers beverage package as usual. It runs about $565 for an eight night cruise, but I had a couple of hundred in OBC, so that took a little bit of the sting out of the price. In the spirit of maybe trying not to drink as much on the cruise, I'd considered not even getting it, but 365 ÷ 8 is $45.62 per day, and that includes water AND all my coffees and whatever… 

 

I'm hoping to be able to get a seat at the bar at Alchemy, but I suspect that I could camp out on the first day just to try and cement my place there. I likely don't know any of the Alchemy bartenders there either, unless I get lucky. I've had some pretty good luck with the “good tip” straight off the bat to try and keep the drink's coming quickly if I can't get a spot at the main bar, and end up out at the outer bar, which is unique to the Vista class of ship as far as I know

… 

 

(***For whatever reason, the $200 in obc doesn't show up on this invoice, but I called my credit card and the total charge is $365...)

 

 

 

[sid_9169]