snowdogsmm

no the brewery tour is separate and doesn't count towards your Cheers total. I haven't done the mixology class but it should be the same as the brewery tour.

Horizon from August https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2884363-horizon-southern-caribbean-review-82022-82822/#comment-64050713

It was the Cadillac Hotel and Beach club and I reserved it through DayUse.com

It was the Cadillac Hotel and Beach Club and I reserved it through DayUse.com I recommend both.

I love Hula Grill! Enjoy your dinner.

Don't know what ship you are on but we went to Cucina on Horizon in August and it was our least favorite meal....by a long shot. We won't go again.

Our flight was at 5:00 so we rented a resort room for the day on Miami beach. Laid out by the pool, had a nice lunch and then was able to shower before leaving for the airport.

I think it was $20 per person. It was listed in the Hub app and we made reservations the day before. It was well worth the money. We were at tables for 4 and each table got about 3/4 of a pitcher of each beer to taste (so way more than a small taster) then everyone received a souvenir pint glass to take home. The brew master was really knowledgeable and the whole experience was very interactive.

I'm in Medford at the southern end of the state-what we like to call the banana belt 🙂 I'm originally from southern California so this is the furthest north I could live. I couldn't deal with the rain up north.

You will have a great trip-enjoy!

I want to say around $8.00 for one device for the whole day. I needed to download more books on my iPad otherwise we wouldn't have purchased it.

The balcony itself? No but all of the photos coming into and out of port were taken from the balcony. The extended balconies are decent sized with a lounger, chair, ottoman and small table.

We actually didn't feel much movement at all. We were on the 8th deck and it was very quiet. There was no noise issues at all. No one running down the halls or slamming doors and there wasn't much noise at the Havana pool so nothing to filter up. It rained overnight almost each night so the balcony was always wet in the mornings. The only thing we said we would do differently if possible was to move up to deck 9 where the balcony is more shaded. We were in the sun most of they afternoons.

yes you can purchase multiple bottles. they will tag them for you and they will "follow" you to other dining venues. My husband doesn't drink wine so my bottle from night 1 followed me to Ji Ji's and Bonsai Tepenyaki. It is a great deal.

Thanks we did have a great time. My last installment is "hidden" right now needing to be approved by a mod for some reason. Hopefully it will post soon.

Entertainment We love stand-up comedy so we went to at least one comedy show each night. They had 4 comics that rotated throughout the week and we enjoyed all but one who was just ok. The Horizon had a new comedy host who started that week and he did a great job. Love & Marriage show with Donkey was really funny. I’m not sure there was a clear “winner” but we were entertained. Vintage Pop was the only Playlist Production that we went to and I really enjoyed it. I am a musical theater fan and can be pretty critical but I thought they did a good job and I liked how they took current songs and arranged them in the style of swing. Havana Bar- We went and listened to the live salsa music one night in the Havana Bar and the dance floor was packed. Fun watching everyone dance and have a great time. Casino- spent some time in the casino almost each night and left my standard “donation” to the cause. The casino got pretty smoky so there were some nights were didn’t play very long. We also did a slot pull that someone from the book of faces group organized. Pig & Anchor Brewery Tour- My husband is beer drinker so he wanted to do the brewery tour. It was educational and enjoyable and we received souvenir glasses to take home. The brew master makes his own brews in addition to the standard P&A beers so we got to taste those as well which was fun. CHEERS- We had the Cheers package. Neither one of us came close to the 15 drink max but I like paying for everything in advance and not worrying about a bar bill at the end so it was worth it to us. There are many areas of the ship we never made it to because we spent most of our time on deck 5 in the Havana Pool and I’m ok with that. We had a very relaxing trip. Final takeaways- We loved the Horizon and would sail on her again. I’m a Havana area snob now and the extra cost was worth it to us. Ports-loved Aruba and Bonaire could skip the DR and would want to add Curacao in the future. The staff was terrific across the board. The ship is very clean and the staff works really hard to keep it that way. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.

I agree. It was the very best snorkel trip I've ever been on.

Friday-Amber Cove We decided to check out the party pool at Amber Cove. I tried to get one of the pool side cabanas but they were sold out when I tried to purchase. We rented an umbrella and purchased Wi-Fi. We only lasted a couple of hours. As the pool started getting more crowded and the guests more rowdy, we made the decision to go back to the ship and enjoy the peace and quiet at the Havana pool. We dined at Cucina del Capitano that evening and this was the worst meal and service we had the entire week. My husband had the chicken parm and I had the veal. I just don’t have anything good to say at all about this meal so we’ll move along.

Thursday-La Romana On our last cruise we said that the next time we cruised we would pick one port day to stay on the ship and this was the day we chose. I got a facial at the spa which was discounted since it was a port day. We chilled at the Havana pool which we pretty much had to ourselves and that night we had dinner at Bonsai Teppanyaki. I had the shrimp and chicken and my husband had the filet and chicken. It was really good, so much food!!! And you can’t beat the free show. The dessert presentation is lovely.

Wednesday- Bonaire Bonaire was my favorite stop and I would love to go back for a land vacation someday. Beautiful turquoise water and excellent snorkeling. We did the Sea Cow snorkel excursion and had the best time. It is a smaller boat that holds a max of 30 people. They split you into 3 groups of 10 and you snorkel with a guide. The first location was about a 30 minute drift through beautiful underwater scenery. We saw a ton of colorful fish, a turtle, and interesting coral reefs. The second location was another 30 minute swim and including a huge coral wall that must have been 12’ tall. I have never seen anything like it. The crew of the Sea Cow are the best and I can’t say enough about this excursion. By far my favorite snorkel trip I’ve ever taken. We ate in the main dining room that night. I had the wild rice, country chicken soup, the shrimp creole and the chocolate melting cake. My husband had the Caesar salad, lasagna Bolognese and the apple pie.

Tuesday-Aruba Our excursion wasn’t until the afternoon so we got off the ship and went shopping near the port. We stopped into a great waterfront bar that is decorated with money. Since this was our anniversary trip we made a donation to the décor. Next we boarded our banana bus that would take us to Arashi Beach where we were doing the Sea bob excursion. A little note about this excursion. The way it was advertised made it seem like the “lazy way” to snorkel. Sign me up! Well it ended up being a work out let me tell you. I barely had enough upper body strength to make my bob dive and you’re supposed to layout flat so your shoulders are screaming by the time you’re done. While the tour company was fine, the actual sea bobs were not our thing. Arashi Beach was beautiful and we enjoyed a couple of adult beverages on the beach before heading back to the ship. Dinner that night was at Ji Ji’s and this was by far our favorite meal the whole week. We loved it so much that we went back on the last night. All items are served in portions meant to share. We started with pot stickers and spring rolls. For our entrees we ordered the Kung Pao Chicken and the Sweet and Sour Shrimp. For dessert I ordered the Rose Crème Brulee and my husband ordered the crepes. Everything was delicious and the service was excellent.

Monday- Sea Day We spent most sea days relaxing in the Havana area, in and out of the pool. Some people mentioned this was the most “crowded” they had seen it at Havana but we were always able to get loungers or chairs in the shade. We loved the Havana pool and will probably only sail this way again. I’m not interested in having to be down at the pool at 6 am to get a lounge chair or to squeeze into the pools with hundreds of other passengers and I really appreciated not having kids running around the pool deck! It was very relaxing. We dined with Andy again in the main dining room. I had the spring rolls, the leg of lamb and I can’t remember what either of us had for dessert. My husband had the BBQ pork sliders and the steakhouse filet.

Sunday- Day at Sea We got up Sunday morning and decided to go to the Sea Day brunch. We requested a table through the Hub App and within 5 minutes received a notice that our table was ready. When we reached the dining room it was apparent that MANY guests were not aware you could request a table through the app. There were so many people standing around it was hard to get in the door. It got better through the week as people realized they could reserve a table and show up when it was ready. Brunch was fine. I had the 12 hour French toast which reminded me of a cinnamon roll-hard on the outside and chewy on the inside. My husband had eggs and bacon. I had read about slow service during brunch on previous cruises but we did not experience that at all across the ship. And here is where I will make my public service announcement regarding the elevators. By day two I would expect the majority of people to have figured out how to work the smart elevators but alas that was not the case. Although it was humorous to watch people get into the elevator and search for the buttons on the inside, it became frustrating as the week went on. I have a suggestion for Carnival-explain the proper use of the elevator during muster. They have condensed the muster briefing to 60 seconds, take an extra minute to explain the elevators please. I was shocked on day 7 when I still saw people just jumping into an elevator not knowing where it was going. How did they get where they going all week???? Is there an elevator God they were praying to all week to get them where they needed to go? I didn’t take notes and I can’t remember where we ate lunch each day so I will just cover it all at once. We ate the Seafood Shack and it was really good. We both had fish and chips and enjoyed it. We had Guy’s burgers twice. This was the first time having a Guy’s Burger and while it was good I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. It was not life changing. And sorry but I can’t tell you if they have gone back to the original fries since this was our first time. We had pizza delivered to us by the Havana pool one day and it was delivered hot, timely (under 30 minutes) and we were pleasantly surprised with how good it was. We also had a salad and a California roll at Bonsai one day. The salad was really large and very fresh same with the roll. Super yummy. That night we ate in the main dining room as it was the first elegant night. We requested a table through the Hub app and were notified within 10 minutes that our table was ready. Our lead server was Andy who we loved. I had the cream of mushroom soup, the lobster and prime rib and crème brulee. My husband had the Caesar salad, carbonara and the melting chocolate cake. We dined in the main dining room 3 times on this trip and the best I can say is it was ok…as in not great, not horrible just ok. Most of the dishes were really bland. This was the best of the 3 nights.

Saturday-Cruise Day Our check-in time for the Horizon was 10:30 so after a trip to Whole Foods for wine we took an Uber to the Port. What looked like utter chaos upon arriving at the terminal, ended up being pretty organized. We dropped one bag with a porter and made our way inside the terminal building. We utilized Verifly which the agents appreciated and within minutes we were through security, on our way to show passports then directly onboard. Total check-in process was around 15 minutes! We went directly to our muster station and completed the safety briefing which took about 1 minute. Next we made our way to the Havana area where we stashed our carry-on luggage and proceeded to spend the next couple of hours at the pool. Rooms were ready right at 1:30 so we took our carry-ons and unpacked what we could. This is when I realized I had stashed my 2 bottles of wine and 12-pack of sparkling water in my checked bag. Oops. Hoping my bag didn’t end up in the naughty luggage room, we went to Lido Marketplace for a little lunch. I am not a fan of buffets so this would be one of only two times we ate there. Typical buffet food, good salad bar though. Before our trip I had read several reviews complaining about excessive heat in areas of the Horizon. The Marketplace was the only area on board that we found it to be uncomfortably warm in certain spots. The doors on both ends are constantly opening so I’m guessing the AC has a hard time keeping it cool in the heat of the day. We had reservations for the steakhouse and took advantage of the wine special. On night 1 you can have a complimentary bottle of wine or 50% any wine on the menu. My husband doesn’t drink wine so I usually order by the glass but I knew that they would save it for me and it would follow me to other restaurants on board so I ordered a nice bottle of chardonnay at 50% off. We were served complimentary micro mini beef sliders which were really cute and bite-sized. I ordered the risotto appetizer, surf and turf with a baked potato and sautéed mushrooms and the de-constructed chocolate sphere. My husband had the Caesar salad, filet mignon, wasabi mashed potatoes and the cheesecake. Everything was fabulous, and service was very efficient.

A little background to start with. This was supposed to be a cruise for our 25th anniversary in June of 2021 which was cancelled so rescheduled for August of this year. My husband and I are both in our early 50’s and we hadn’t cruised since 2016. This was our second cruise with Carnival and I chose the Horizon specifically for the Havana area. We had a Havana Extended Aft Balcony on deck 8. We are from Oregon so it is a hike to get to Florida for the Caribbean cruises we prefer. On Friday we left home at 3:45 am for our 5:00 am flight to Seattle. We only had a 45 minute layover in Seattle which was cutting it close. We had a medical emergency on board which ended up getting us to SeaTac early and thankfully the passenger with the medical emergency was able to walk off the plane themselves. By the time we reached our gate for our connecting flight to Miami we walked right on and we were set for the 6+ hour flight. Flight was uneventful and we arrived on time including our luggage! I am a platinum member with Marriott so we stayed on points at the JW Marriott Marquis in downtown Miami. The hotel has a ton of things to do on-site including a full-size, indoor basketball court, bowling, ping pong, golf simulator, and one of the best concierge lounges with views of the water. After a couple of cocktails and appetizers in the concierge lounge we took an Uber to the Bayside Marketplace. We had dinner at the Black Market which had a great outdoor/covered patio where we watched the tour boats as the sun set. We wondered through the shops and purchased t-shirts at Hard Rock Café to add to our collection then made our way back to the hotel.