Baby_Bear

Hi, on our upcoming cruise, we are going to bring on one bottle of wine each. We are fine paying the corkage fee. My question is how it works. We like to have a glass of wine with dinner. Do we give the bottles to the MDR? And they will bring out the bottle in use at dinner? And I'm assuming the wine is appropriately chilled?

Thanks!

Thanks again Loonbeam. And thanks for posting the map. Looking at the map, would you estimate about 10 minutes slow walk to the taxis or would you think it would be longer?

Im a little annoyed that Carnival which has developed this port, doesn't seem to have given much thought to people with reduced mobility. It's one thing if it's a very old port as those as harder to retroactively upgrade, but for a new port they should be keeping the changing demographics of cruisers in mind.

Thanks so much for your help and making the port layout so much more clear.

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, I will reach out to Marysol for sure to ask them.

As a backup - several people mentioned they just got a taxi at the port and you can ask for an English speaking driver to take you around the island, cable car, etc for 3-4 hours. Do you know if these taxis are available just outside the port, i.e. close to where the peducabs drop you off?

Loonbeam, do you know if you can take the pedicabs from the pier to where the guide will pick you up? We would love to take the tour, but my mom can't walk much and the 15 minute walk you describe would be too much for her. We are not fans of ship tours but will have to take their offering otherwise. I'm happy to tip the pedicab guy to make it worth his while, but was not sure if they were allowed to leave the port.

Hi, starting to plan for our cruise in August, and had a question for Amber Cove. Where is the pickup location for those on a private tour? I read somewhere on Viator that people had a long walk, whereas people on ship tours were picked up right outside the ship. I'm traveling with my mom who has a bad hip and can't walk too much or too fast. We usually prefer private tour options, but if there is a long walk in the hot sun to reach the pickup location, we may elect to go with the ships tour.

Alternatively, does the port have a buggy or rickshaw service (paid is fine) that can transfer people from the ship to the pickup point?

I had the same question recently. The feedback I got was it's pretty good on the Horizon. Bring a new ship, they appear to have invested in good coverage. I'm going in August, but since you are earlier, do please report back on the speed. We have a cruise with 4 sea days so to have good WiFi would be a nice change.

Thinking back, on our Carnival Med cruise in 2012, there was only one port of call where we were specifically advised to carry our passports off the ship and that was Dubrovnik, Croatia. And the passports were checked at the security gates at the port. I believe that's because while Croatia is in the EU, its not part of the Schengen zone. The other ports were all part of Schengen and we were advised to carry off only picture ID and our ship card. Carnival was very good about that. In the Caribbean, we have always carried picture ID only. We always travel with our passports but prefer to leave them on board unless the cruise line tells us otherwise.

Concerns about theft of passports is real. My dad was pickpocketed in Paris a few years back and unfortunately, they got not just his money, but his passport. He had to go right away to our embassy in Paris where they issued him an Emergency Travel Document which is a one-time passport to allow him to get home, and he then had to apply for a new one as soon as he was back. All good in the end but a huge PITA!

You had several great tips! I disagree with #1, but to each his own. I am a huge advocate of packing light but that approach is not for everyone. Nevertheless I do love the idea about the pad for the bed -- not sure how that is going to fit into my packing light plan. ;p

Hotel/ cruise ship beds are almost always much too firm for my liking but I was never sure what to do about it. Never thought to have the steward help us vacuum out the bag. I think I'd be willing to give a bit of an extra tip for that service.

 

 

 

 

More excellent ideas. Despite the foregoing dispute about technology vs unplugging, I always take paper copies of almost everything. I have what my daughter jokingly refers to as a "trip folder." As each reservation is made (car, hotel, cruise, steakhouse, whatever) I print out my confirmation and it goes into the folder, in chronological order according to when it will be needed. So, for example, air confirmation might go first, then rental car reservation, then pre-cruise hotel, cruise documents, steakhouse reservation, excursions, etc.

 

I am reasonably up to date from a tech standpoint, but I still find it helpful and comforting to have paper copies. Just in case the unthinkable happens and my phone is lost, stolen, damaged or otherwise becomes unusable. I do value the ability to unplug and still function.

Luckybecky, you and I are obviously twins separated at birth! I thought I was the only crazy one who printed out confirmations of everything related to the trip and organised it by date! We were just in Croatia and Germany for 2 weeks on a family trip and I had accumulated a thick trip folder with every single confirmation from hotels to tours to transfers. We wound up not actually needing any of it, as everything was super organised, but it was great to know we had paper copies just in case.

I want to thank the OP for bringing this issue to our attention. I'd never heard of Norman or Di before, but I know now what or who to look out for.

I'm a big fan of private tours. Particularly in Europe, its such a great way to go, as most European cities have restrictions on buses in the city centers, and a car or minivan gets you right to the center with minimal walking. But you have to check out the tour company well in advance. Well run operators are very cognizant of what time you need to be back by and are particular about ensuring you are back on the ship in time. TripAdvisor is invaluable here in deciding on the good guys. If the person you are booking with refuses to give you the name of the operator, I wouldn't be shy about pulling the booking.

Thank you so much for your honest and detailed review. Always great to hear about the pluses and minuses! I really hope Carnival will listen to your (and others) feedback and sort out the elevator system - it's in a lot of NYC buildings and works very well but has to be properly implemented and explained. The smoking is unfortunate and irritating, but that seems like a more fleetwide issue. But very annoying when you want to just chill out on your balcony.

If you have any ship pictures, would love to see them. :D:D:)

Ok...the video was of an OS but it's possible Carnival just added extra goodies for the Horizon's first few cruises. Hopefully, people cruising on her out of New York will be able to confirm either way.

I was watching a YouTube video about the Carnival Horizon and it showed that for the Ocean Suites, there are little bottles of toiletries provided in the bathroom, in addition to the generic stuff in the wall dispenser. Is that something Carnival now provides for the suites? If so, I was wondering what the brand is, how the quality is, etc? Would love to cut back on packing toiletries for our upcoming cruise, if possible. Thanks!

To avoid the possibility of being seated with people you may not get on with, we always now do the YTD and ask for a table for our family. No drama that way.

On one cruise, we ended up making friends with people we were doing private excursions with, and we all started going to dinner together. And if there wasn't enough room at one table, they were great at putting the rest of the group at a neighbouring table. We wouldn't have been able to do that if we were locked into fixed dining. On other cruises, it's been just us. Great to have that flexibility.

We had Ken on the Breeze in 2012 and I still remember how amazing his singing was! It's a pity he won't be on the Horizon in August. Very nice guy, always walking around and shaking hands. Just made it a very welcoming experience.

Woo hoo! So good to hear!

The price is exactly the same - $10.25 per day for the midrange value package for advance orders. I think Carnival would get pushback if they started charging different rates for internet access on different ships.

That said, I'm interested in what you said about a new faster wifi system on the Horizon. Hopefully, Horizon pax will be able to provide their feedback as more people sail on her. Might be worth it if it really is faster. Otherwise, I'll just use the free WiFi at the ports. 20 mins to send an email sounds terrible!

The funny thing was, when I did a price comparison for New York vs Florida departures, even after factoring in the pre cruise hotel, airfare, etc., it still worked out slightly cheaper than sailing out of New York. Which shows you what a premium Carnival is charging. Norwegian was not so high but the itinerary was boring (just Bahamas) and was an older ship, and Carnival had the more interesting itinerary and the ship is new. And tbh, with the amount of traveling for work everyone in my family is doing this year, the thought of not having to get on another plane is suddenly more attractive!

On our Horizon cruise in 3 months, we are interested in the WiFi packages. Most likely, the mid-tier value one seems to be best. My question was - for people who recently took the package, what was your experience in terms of speed? The website says the speed is faster than the social package, but was looking for user experiences. Do most websites, email, etc. download quickly? Just wondering if it was fine or should we look at the premium package.

Also - do these packages ever go on sale? Thanks.

Horizon is definitely at a premium. We are booked for Aug 28 out of New York and it's about 40% higher than comparable sailings out of Florida. I figured it's a combination of a new ship and being out of New York, which locals like me would happily pay a premium for as we don't have to get on a plane to catch our cruise. In your case, it's 2 days to year end, and I would expect cruises over that week to be much more expensive. It's the same as on land, hotel rates from December 27-28 onwards skyrocket in a lot of places, and come down to normal after Jan 2. Thanksgiving as well, airfares are crazy that week.

I don't think prices are going to come down. Maybe you can wait till final payment date. If they have a lot of cancellations, maybe they will offer a flash sale. But it's an off-chance.

Wonderful photos! We are booked on the Horizon out of New York and are excited! Really appreciate your taking the time to post such a thorough photo review. If you have any cabin photos, that would be wonderful.

Vielen danke fur alles!

11:30 is the earliest time you can arrive at the Port. You're not getting on the ship at that time. You have to go through the boarding process once you arrive, then you get on board. It takes maybe 30 minutes until you're on board, as long as everything is moving as it should.

Drop your bags with the Porters, only carry on a small carry on bag. Maybe you'll be on board at 12, walk around a bit (which is why you don't want all your luggage), then go to lunch about 1. Your room should be ready by the time you're done.

The earlier you get on the earlier the fun begins!

 

 

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I know it doesn't mean we will be on the ship at 11:30. In my experience, it usually takes about half an hour to check in so that's why I was thinking to maybe take a later slot. I guess I was wondering what the crowds would be like slightly later (we had a nightmare experience last year boarding Princess in Athens) but maybe due to the staggered slots, that won't be an issue here.

Hi, we are booked on the Horizon for August 28, sailing out of New York. I was doing our pre cruise registration and we were given these half hour time slots for boarding. We took the 11:30 slot which was the earliest. I'm now wondering if we should take a slightly later slot, as we would prefer to go straight to our room on boarding to drop off our carry on, use the bathroom, etc and then go to lunch.

On our previous cruises, the rooms were ready between 12:30-1:00, I'm assuming that's still the same? I was therefore thinking maybe to change the boarding slot to 12. What do you think?

I guess I find it a bit odd that your TA would include on the list of available OS cabins, one that is configured for four guests, knowing there were only two of you and when he has seen a bump happen to another client. Regardless, if you want to remove the doubt and apprehension that a bump could occur (either up category or down category), just pick another OS that is for two passengers and in a location that is just as convenient. There are quite a few OS's on Horizon so the odds of being moved are relatively small but "there's a chance.....". ;)

To be clear, the TA was the one who brought this issue to my attention. He was inclined to book another cabin. But I wanted this one, because of the proximity to the elevators so that my mom who has an arthritic hip doesn't have tons of walking to do. The other OS's that are free are not as well located. And all the free OS's are for either 3 or 4 people. I guess I'm a little surprised as I had thought the moving of cabins was more related to guarantees. We've done about 7-8 cruises now on various lines and never had a cabin change and we have always been in suites that can take 3 or 4. At this point, I'm thinking to wait till final payment date in June to see if additional OS's open up in good locations.

Thank you, that's reassuring. You don't think they could actually downgrade us though, do you? Because regardless of any compensation they offered, that wouldn't be something we would be ok with.

When I was booking our Horizon cruise yesterday, my TA sent me a list of available Ocean Suites. However, when I selected a cabin and gave him the number, he was initially a little bit hesitant to book that one for us. It's an OS which has a double sofa, and can accommodate up to 4 people. We are only 2 of us. He told me the reason he was hesitant was that there was a slight possibility that Carnival might bump us from the cabin in case they got bookings of families with 3 or 4 people, and all the other OS cabins with the higher capacity were already taken. It happened to one of his clients last year, however, that was beneficial as the person was moved from a balcony to an OS.

Have you guys seen a lot of these involuntary bumpings? My only concern is, if Carnival was to change our cabin, what would they change it to? If all the other OS cabins were taken, the only option would be to upgrade us and if all the GS cabins were taken, what would happen?

Do you think I should ask him to change our cabin to another OS with a single sofa? Problem is, I really like our cabin location as it's close to the elevator bank and reduces walking for my mom who has a bad hip. I guess I was wondering what the chances are of (a) this actually happening and (b) what usually happens if there is a cabin change. Thanks!