lensonlife

Just now, fyree39 said:

Any of those rooms will have a lot of foot traffic going past, so imo they're all the same. I might go with 81 or 82 to mitigate the noise from the Lido deck.

Thank you! We had HORRIBLE creaking in our stateroom on the Horizon (made worse by significant movement). I got through that (with ear plugs and Benadryl). Carnival was overly gracious though- and we didn’t even make a fuss! Only had asked about it when our room was being serviced. 

Maybe this will help

I’m booking on the Radiance out of NYC next June to San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Grand Turk- slim pickings. Just my husband and I! 25 years together, 22 years of marriage and several children later... this will be our first vacation ALONE, and it’s much needed. We’re choosing Lido, which is ironic because with the kids we always chose deck five and six 😂. Also first time choosing and cabin with a balcony. That said, much of this decision was based on offering- inside cabins were deck one or front of ship- I don’t want those. So, please help me choose the side of the ship I want to be on. Right now 9281, 82, 87, 88, and 94 is available on Lido.

Also, if anyone has any huge opinions about this itinerary, please speak up! I really want to avoid flying next summer- my husband would like to go to Bermuda, but I don’t like that the sailing out of NYC only allows one day there and several days onboard. 

Just make sure you go! They will hunt you down via the loud speaker system while everyone sits in waiting. I would be so embarrassed! 😳😅

Yay! We just got off an 8 day Horizon last Sunday and are already thinking about our next vacation- sans kids this time! When the kids were little we did a Disney cruise- it was a whole lot more affordable then! In 2015 we did a land and sea, piecing it together ourselves, choosing Carnival to cruise and then did Disney in FL. I’m WAY over Disney now. I just want to chill on islands and have my days planned out for me onboard 😌

21 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I happened to see Kyndall Fire's name the last time I looked at the CD schedule. I thought to myself, now THAT'S one heck of a name for a Cruise Director! "Ladies and gentlemen, introducing your Cruise Director...KYNDALLLL FIRRRE!!" LOL She's only on the schedule once, filling in for Matt for a few months. Maybe she's learning the CD ropes.

 

We have Mike Pack next March on Horizon. I've heard good things about him.

We just got off the Horizon last Sunday and had Mike! He is INSANE! If only they could bottle and sell his energy! He has amazing presence, was everywhere, and just spot on! 

I was flabbergasted at the sheer number of people wearing not only your basic flip flop, but shorts and graphic t-shirts.... to elegant in MDR! My husband is bald and did remove his hat (which is like asking him to remove his wedding ring). I wouldn’t care really if it was casual- but there is a weird energy when you’ve diners who are very dressed and others who are significantly under dressed. 

We recently cruised and took all of our meds in original bottles, with printouts from pharmacy. Also kept them In carryon. 

1 hour ago, purplephenom said:

 

Cute picture! was the walking tour on your own?  Where did you get the route?  

 

I normally love snorkeling everywhere, but Curacao is the one island I really love walking around downtown- trying to plan a non-snorkel day is weird to me, so I'm gathering all the information I can find

We purchased the tour via a Carnival excursion. I think it was $30/pp and lasted approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. The tour helped to inform us of the history of Curaçao (there is lots), but also lead me down roads and paths that I might not have taken on my own. The tour is one way (although they will walk you back if you wish), so on the way back we were able to take our time and revisit some of these places we quickly breezed by before. There is a lot of art in Curaçao! It’s really quite a fun little place and I would definitely like to go back. I also found this mural of wings in an alley- could have just as easily of missed it (my youngest daughter). Here are also some images I took in Curaçao. Honestly, if I could do it again- I would do both the day and the night tour. Go back to the ship and cool down. I bet it’s pretty at night! 

50 minutes ago, CheersPkg4Us said:

Shaded Lady, thanks for sharing that. I was unaware of that. Wish they had that on our recent 8 day southern on the Horizon. They did show the Final 4 games but all we got was the unsalted popcorn !

Just got off the Horizon... that would have been great! 

On 7/3/2019 at 10:20 AM, purplephenom said:

Your pictures are awesome!  Glad you made the ship after all the stress, hope you have a great vacation.

 

Curacao is an easy port to walk around- go look for the Curacao sign, see the floating bridge, get some Dutch chocolate.  If you want to go to a beach for a couple hours, you could easily get a taxi, then return to the port and walk around the downtown area.  

We did a walking tour! I loooooove Curaçao!!!! Pic of me and my 2 daughters in downtown Curaçao 💛

On 7/3/2019 at 6:49 PM, James4me said:

I love seeing the Havana retreat empty!  Can’t wait for our Panorama cruise.  Havana we will be.

Havana was often empty- day and night! I spent a lot of time at Tides, so overlooked Havana. Of course, one cruise and one family could change everything. But I would have been very happy to have been in the Havana area! I liked getting to know people, but I went in search of solitude and you’ll find that in Havana. If you’re looking for a party- go to Lido deck 😂🙌💃

On 7/3/2019 at 7:02 PM, evandbob said:

Glad you're enjoying the Horizon, we sailed it shortly after it came to NYC from Europe on its repo cruise.  Horizon is a great ship!

 

The OP is enjoying a quiet, serene sunrise, something I have never witnessed in over 50 cruises, I can't stay up that late any more, LOL.

 

How's the ice cream churning station?  We enjoyed some the 2nd day, after that more cruisers became aware of it andthe lines got too crowded. They were out of the flavor we wanted by then as well.

Do you mean the soft serve station? It was well accessed by my 18 year old 😂- nothing has changed since he was a freshman in high school (now graduated). Those stations are well-frequented (but available). I really wanted to try the gelato, but every time I went (evening), it was closed. I never had any. My daughter told me the toppings (jimmies/sprinkles) are only available at the gelato station so you can only get them for the soft serve when gelato station is open. 

7 minutes ago, Watergal60 said:

Thanks for the review...…..are you located on the port side (even numbers) or the ocean side (odd numbers)?  And does the ship dock on the port side each time you reach a port?

I’ll write a lengthier review now that we’ve returned home, but we had inside staterooms (odd- not that this matters). 

These images uploaded wonky.

Image 1: Grand Turk

Image 2: Curaçao 

Image 3: Curaçao 

Image 4: Grand Turk

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of ship in port at Aruba or La Romana (I didn’t get off in LR though my husband and children did for a bit). 

On 7/6/2019 at 9:44 PM, SNJCruisers said:

Usually nights 2 & 7.  The worst night in the MDR, IMHO is night 3, in case you were interested in eating at Cucina del Capitano for 15.00 pp, which is a great value, especially with the tomahawk pork chop entree.

I second this! Much value! We ate here on the last night and I said that had I known, I would have eaten there several nights!!!! The ambiance alone is worth it! 

We just got off an 8 day Horizon yesterday- party of 6, with anytime dining. We were on deck 6 and assigned to MDR. I don’t think we ever checked in before 6:30/7- and one night at 8:45. We also never sat at the same table or had the same server twice, and we were not disappointed! We ate in MDR 4 times I think. Were NEVER disappointed!!! 

I would also echo that I’ve had very attentive service and good drinks! 

I’m on Horizon now and I’ve been doing this. $1.00 per drink. I also purchase a couple pitchers at the comedy club and I think I left $3.00 there because it’s what I had. 

Grand Turk at Jacks Shack- so many dogs, a couple belong to the Shack and several others looked to be homeless. One curled up and took a nap under my daughters chair. It appeared to also be covered in ticks (definitely not fleas) 😣. 

Photo of of me and a performer on ship after I danced my face off 💃

And photos yesterday taken from back of ship at La Romana. 

Some photos I took at sunset and sunrise 

First, we we’re grateful to have finally boarded after the issues with airline. Second, after reading too many negative reviews about the Horizon, I began to worry that we booked the wrong cruise. We booked before the Horizon ever sailed and were excited to sail on the new ship (we did the same with the Sunshine). That said, we are having a BLAST! I’ve had zero problem finding chairs, or a spot in the pool. Mostly hanging out at the Tides. I got up at 5:30 am the first morning so I could catch the sunrise and it was worth EVERY SECOND OF LOST SLEEP! The ship is so beautiful and peaceful early in the morning, and obviously- you get your pick of chairs. MDR has been prompt and yummy. I am less of a fan of the Lido Marketplace- that said, I am not a fan of buffets, and even less of a fan of that killer floor. Holy hell. It’s like a venus fly trap. My husband and kids like the buffet, so we are constantly pulling each other in different directions or divide and conquer. They report to be disappointed in both the long lines and quality of Guys burgers. I love the pizza (yesterday I waited 3 minutes for fresh out of oven- day before was much longer). Blue Iguana breakfast burritos also a fast favorite! The salad bowl was disappointing- the shell had become stale from the heat. Filling fresh! We did not buy Cheers, and I do not regret that! Mind you- while we do not drink during the week due to demands of kids and work responsibilities, we do enjoy drinks on the weekends. But the heat just slams us New Englanders lol! A day in the hot sun and we are not eager to “turn up” as they say 😂. We instead added several hundred in cash for credit- and have barely made a dent. We’ve watched two different comedy shows- same guy, different shows- and pee your pants funny! We also went to the Love and Marriage show. OMG! So funny!!! Jacks Shack in Grand Turk was perfect. My family got off in LaRomana for about 1.5 hours and got back on- I did not. We do not have an excursion planned today in Curacao. Any ideas of what we can do? 

Thank you! Boarding flight now to Florida ☺️

Was supposed to be in Fort Lauderdale last night, but our Jet Blue flights out of Worcester- ORH were significantly delayed. At check in, it was reported to us that there was no guarantee the flight would not be canceled with zero other flights to grab out of that airport. So Jet Blue paid for all six of us to get to Boston via Lyft where we paid for two rooms at the Hilton. They said they will reimburse us for all expenses incurred from last night- which will be good because the Hampton North in Fort Lauderdale would not waive the room fees due to lack of 24 hours notice. I won’t even begin to list the number of things that have gone wrong in the final days and weeks of this trip (not necessarily related to the trip itself). We so need a physical and emotional reprieve. And will not ever book a family vacation again without insurance. Ever! Our flight out of Boston at 6:45 is on time (knock on wood). We were planning on buying wine and soda last night at the plaza near the Hampton. Now it looks like we’ll be building a stop into an UBER for wine. I’ve read that we should plan to tip our driver WELL for this. I do tip generously as it is, but what would be considered a good tip for a quick stop for wine? And any recommendations on where to stop? Also, I prefer a red- is it too hot to drink a red on deck at night? 

Wide awake in Boston 🥴

We’re sailing on the Horizon this Saturday with a stop in LaRomana, and choosing to stay onboard. I just want to be on vacation. I work a in a profession where I have to frequently be mindful of my personal safety. If this part of the island wasn’t as underdeveloped, I’d probably consider getting off the ship. 

14 minutes ago, conjr said:

I've never used the laundry service. Are your clothes washed with clothes from other cabin guests?  Have you ever not received an item back from laundering?  This is my fear.

I think we may need to run a load or two in an effort to avoid paying extra for additional luggage in flight. I don’t mind doing a load of laundry at all, but am wondering how available the machines are? Are the frequently being used?