nicnic96

Here's my plan, maybe someone can suggest something better.  Flying into Hobby the day before.  Staying at Holiday Inn Express Clear Lake, TX.  There are 5 of us and we want the flexibility of having a car to get to Church, go to dinner, and run to the store for last minute items.  I found a rental for $70 (incl. everything) for Hertz that is pick up at Hobby and drop off at League City, TX.  I'll be dropping them off at the port and returning the car and grabbing a Lyft/Uber to the port (looks like another $35).  Because there are 5 of us, a Lyft XL for all of us is $70.  I'm also thinking they can check in and get situated and then I'll join them when I get back.  Not sure if Carnival will let them check in without me.  If not, we can share the XL Lyft.  Anyone have a better idea?

Count us in as fans of the new ones!  Sorry, we liked the fact that they weren't so crunchy!  We never ate the old ones and now we seek out the new ones.

I hope this isn't true as I was on the Horizon in October and they were the originals.  I will definitely notice a difference if there is one on the Dream in January and I'll definitely be letting Carnival know as I like the fries almost as much as the burgers!

I realize handmade fries take more labor but no need to skimp on such a simple item!

15 hours ago, never_cruised said:

A few questions if I may

 

1. Is the Horizon a good choice for a small family ?

As far as Carnival goes, it's one of the better options.  Fun water park and they have a Family Harbor separate buffet and lounge built for small families staying in the Family Harbor rooms (Aft Deck 2).  We walked by this and thought it seemed like a nice quiet safe area for a family.

 

2. What location or room type would you recommend for 3 people ?

Again, I'd recommend the Family Harbor area.  The lower levels of the front of the ship has loud bangs (louder than any ship we have been on).

   

3. Whilst I accept all the mainstream cruise lines are busy especially on sea days how does the Horizon fair in this respect ?

All depends on where you hang out.  The main pool area will be busy but consistent with other Carnival ships.  You can find quieter areas (deck 5, deck 15 Serenity, Aft pool)

 

4. As a family who've never cruised Carnival before you hear a lot of horror stories about the line what's your experience ?

If I was traveling with kids, I'd encourage them to use the kids programs, have them in bed by 10, I would avoid the Love and Marriage show and the main Pool deck for things like the hairy chest competition and other dance competitions.  You will still encounter a lot of near thong bathing suits and drunks.

  

5. From Miami the month we wish to go their appears to be two sailings a 6 night which goes to Ocho Rios , Grand Cayman and Cozumel the other is an 8 night which goes to Aruba , Bonaire , Curacao being we haven't visited these what are your thoughts on the best ?  We just got off the Horizon 6 night you described.  We liked the itinerary.  I would use a Carnival Excursion (Dunn River Falls and/or Magic Mountain) to make sure you are safe in Ocho Rios.  Grand Cayman seems safe, as does Cozumel.

 

Just for info we've cruised a few Royal Caribbean ships before and one Disney. All replies are greatly appreciated.

Carnival is similar to Royal in my opinion.  Disney probably has a higher class of guests that might be better behaved and more kid oriented.  Full disclosure, we don't cruise with our kids because of the stress, expense, and because we don't want to worry about the scantily clad and poorly behaved guests.  There definitely seems to be a substantial increase in the alcohol consumption on Carnival more recently which can be problematic for families.

On 1/30/2020 at 1:54 PM, bjd2 said:

We've been on both ships. We enjoyed the Magic and will always remember it as it was our 30th anniversary cruise to Bermuda. Months before that we were on the Horizon. We loved that ship! Can't wait to be on the Panorama in March. We love the elevator system and had no issues on the Horizon. We did see many others not tapping the deck for the number of people needing to go, so often there were elevators that would open but were already full or people getting in and looking for a floor button to select.

 

 

Maybe the difference on the elevators is what bank of elevators you are using.  We were forward, we tapped the number of people each time, still consistently waited longer and rode longer than any other cruise ship.

On 1/30/2020 at 1:29 PM, Sagittarius traveler said:

I sailed horizon and want to go in Magic next . 

 

Horizon was okay the elevators was easy to use but like you have said it does take a while half the time my family and I we used the stairs instead and got a workout haha. I was a little sad about the atrium design no more gold stairs lol. JiJi kitchen was a plus on Horizon and the family harbor.

 

Looking forward to be on Magic even though they don't have the Jiji kitchen but atleast they have Magnolian Wok.

We didn't go to Jiji's for dinner, but we did for lunch.  I actually prefer Mongolian Wok as the sauces tasted the same to me and it was much faster and easier to just grab a bowl of what I wanted at Mongolian.  Jiji's was slow for us and unfortunately it is right below the basketball court and apparently there was a dodgeball tournament going on and it was extremely loud.  We had a similar experience on the other side (Cucina del Capitan) a few days later.

We followed the directions and we still waited consistently longer and made consistently more stops than on the Magic and every other ship we have sailed.  This included forward, mid, and aft elevators going any direction.

I should have pointed out that Magic was our preferred ship of the two even though it has a lot of rust for a ship less than 10 years old.

Maybe the Horizon elevators need reprogrammed.

You make an excellent point about the lido buffet on Horizon!  We had no wait at the buffets (unless you wanted an omelet).  They have definitely improved this.  However, I didn't discover until day 4 or 5 that unlike breakfast the dinner buffet was different by station.  I incorrectly assumed they were all the same and we went to the main dining room because they had such limited options at the buffet.  When I realize that they were each different at night I wished we had tried dinner at Lido one night.

We just did a back to back on these 2 ships (Magic out of Fort Lauderdale/Horizon out of Miami).  This was our 7th and 8th Carnival cruise, but we have also sailed NCL and Royal.  I would be happy to answer any questions, but here are some notes I took...

Carnival Horizon is beautiful ship with a modern decor but has some significant design flaws.  The elevators are pathetic (and all you Carnival lovers better not blame "user error" because having just got off the Magic we consistently had MUCH longer wait times on the Horizon and every elevator stopped on 4 or 5 floors).  By the end of the cruise, guests were getting on the first elevator to open and hoping it would stop somewhere near where they were headed but were content to walk up or down a couple floors so they didn't have to wait on an elevator.

Horizon's show theater is poorly designed with the balcony offering poor visibility from most seats.  Even when we got a front row seat in the balcony we still had a prop to contend with (see the large rose in the attached picture).  The shows are visually beautiful but very artsy and lack a broad appeal.  We walked out most nights asking each other "Did you get the storyline?" Even though there are more guests on board there seemed to be less (unique) comedy shows.  Maybe that's because the Punchliner is smaller than most ships forcing the comedians to repeat shows so that they don't run out of room in the club. 

I'm puzzled by how Carnival, after all these years, can't design better soundproofing for cabins.  We were in 2212 for Horizon and while I know that forward lower cabins have more noise, I was disappointed when it sounded like the thrusters were immediately below us and when we hit a wave (a mere 6 ft wave) it sounded like we hit another ship!  My wife was awake for 3 hours in the middle of the night in spite of the fact that we had asked for a fan to drown out the noise.  Someone in the neighboring cabin stopped me in the hallway and said "WHAT IS THAT BANGING NOISE?" I told him that I believed it was waves hitting the side of the ship and he said "How could that be, the seas are like 6ft?  What happens when there is a real storm?"

The Magic is a more traditional Carnival experience.  The shows are comparable to the other ships, as is the food.

I will say that the food was generally better on the Horizon.  Same food, better flavor, cooked better.

Both ships offer good value, but both ships had a ton of drunks!  I suspect folks figured "we saved money on the cruise, so we can afford the all you can drink plan!"  And then they attempted to get their money's worth.  I saw a guy nearly throw up on the comedian.  His buddy stood up in the middle of the comedy show for no apparent reason.  We also had a group of young girls talking loudly the entire comedy show, a really loud group at dinner, another really loud drunk in the Serenity hot tub, and a fight on shore where the girlfriend punched her boyfriend in the jaw after he called her a terrible name.  My suggestion is that Carnival offer a 1/2 plan at a reduced cost.  Maybe some folks will recognize they don't need 15 drinks and we will all be better off.

You embarked on the Fascination the day we disembarked. We had one more port of call than you--Dominica. We loved this cruise.

Yes this was definitely the best value (great itinerary for the price) we've ever had. Usually we like to try different ports, but I would repeat this trip for a great price.

+1- as a tourist to Puerto Rico, I can say that this works really well. Between this and knowing what your personal insurance covers, you will be all set without the supplement.

 

OP- question for you- that's kind of an unusual flight plan. Was that because the overall system price was the least? We are from metro Detroit, and face the same connections to Puerto Rico. But generally, we find that an overnight say someplace isn't saving us any money to get there, even when adding in hotel costs.

We debated this. The problem was the best option on cruise day involved leaving the house at 3:00 am (we have a 90 minute drive to the airport). Rather than be dead tired the first day, we talked about spending the night at a hotel at the airport (I have points). But then we decided if we were going to do that we might as well stay some place nice (Ft. Lauderdale), split the trip up, and get some rest. Plus we got a really good deal on the airfare between Ft Lauderdale and San Juan that made the split trip almost the same cost (points) as flying in on the same day.

I noticed others also use Charlies Car Rental. The rate is good but the insurance is sky high so considering carrentals.com with insurance. I'm not american so believe that I need the insurance? have you used carrentals.com?

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I was told that they will bring as much ice as you want. I've already prepaid gratuities and plan to give extra tips but see no reason why one should have to pay extra for the steward to do their job? Maybe I sound harsh but I'm trying to figure out what they do on a cruise ship different from a regular hotel except bring you ice.

Actually I wish the Fascination had an ice machine like a hotel since they have no fridge. I struggled with a leaking collapsible cooler that turned ice to water in a hurry. I abandoned it after 1 day. I felt like I was inconveniencing the steward who preferred to just bring ice in the evening and when he brought it he just had a bucket with no lid. I would rather have access to ice when I want it rather than having to call someone or work out a plan. Fortunately I didn't have anything that would expire. At one point I called for ice (as my steward instructed) and they brought me a bucket via room service. They had me sign for it (it was free) but clearly they were looking for a tip. Really hard for me to tip for ice when every other ship I've been on has had a fridge.

I think some folks like a full service hotel, I prefer a self-service hotel. A steward for me is housekeeping not a butler.

If your driving Loquillo is great just by the Rain forest, but the beach at Isla Verde is great as well and closer.

I agree about Isla Verde. I was there on Sunday and as a beach snob it met my standards!

If you are one of those travelers who believe "I'm on vacation, I'm going to live it up!" this is not the review for you. Please just move on and save your judgement for another thread.

On the other hand, if you are looking to save money, you might find some things you can use here. We are the cheapest couple we have ever met and our friends and relatives are quick to tell stories about the extremes we have gone to (i.e. bunk beds on cruises, rebooking car rentals dozens of times to save a couple bucks each time, spending months doing daily searches for deals)! Someone may top us, but we have yet to meet them.

First, we booked the Carnival Fascination directly through Carnival during Wave Season (specifically Feb. 4th) for the Sept. 23rd 2018 sailing. The cost was $229 pp for an outside guarantee room plus we got a $50 on board cabin credit. We also got a $100 credit from American Express (an offer AMEX sent us around that time). This was by far our best deal on a 7 day cruise. I don't plan to use this price as a benchmark because I've never seen anything less than $300 for a comparable cruise.

We used the on board credit towards our gratuities (we actually didn't have any expenses on our sail and sign account except gratuities). We used points on Southwest (from signing up for their credit cards) flights and points on hotel the night before. There were no non-stop options for us from Columbus Ohio (or nearby), so we split the trip and flew non-stop to Fort Lauderdale the day before and then non-stop from Ft.Lauderdale to San Juan on cruise day. We knew the Fort Lauderdale area from previous cruises, enjoyed an extra beach day, and I felt better that we had a non-stop on cruise day (less risk of delays and cancellations). We stayed at the Hampton Inn Fort LauderdaleSouth Cruise Port but it was not up to Hampton standards. The rental car I rebooked the week before because I was able to get a better deal (Dollar Mid Size for $22 incl taxes and fees). I booked it through Southwest's website (Car Offers) and that's the best 1 day Ft. Lauderdale deal I've ever seen plus we got 600 Southwest points for the booking.

When we arrived in San Juan, I asked for the Uber pick up area and the “visitor info” people said you can’t take Uber from the airport. I explained that I read on the internet that this was resolved several months ago. They disagreed and then I tried the Uber app and it said pickup was unavailable at this location. By the way, my Total Wireless phone was totally useless in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas even though they are US provinces. I blame Verizon who controls the Total Wireless network. Thankfully, my wife’s Republic Wireless phone (Sprint’s Network) worked just like it did on the Mainland in both Puerto Rico and St. Thomas.

So we made our way to the taxi station. Yes there is a bus but we waited almost 30 minutes for the bus last time we were in San Juan and still never saw it and there are bag restrictions onit. At the taxi line they informed us it would be $27 for 2 of us with 3 bags total. The guy behind us heard us talking and said he too was going to the Fascination and was quoted $27 for just himself. It drives me nuts that the taxi coordinator knew we were headed the same place and didn’t automatically put us together. So we made our own connection and shared the taxi. I gave the other guy $15 and he covered the rest. I know someone here will say that Puerto Rico needs the tourism dollars, but taxi drivers are not my favorite charity. We gave the money we saved to the local church and a homeless man instead.

We boarded the ship and got back off later to get a 12 pack of Coke at Walgreens. Next time I will grab the Coke before boarding. By the way, the Walgreens only sold 12 packs of 8 ounce mini cans ($4). There was a sign at the port saying you could get a free shuttle to Walmart (about 7 min away). You’d have to be buying something Walgreens doesn’t sell to make it worth it. Had I not brought a camping chair with me, I might have taken the shuttle. I like buying the cheapest Walmart Ozark chair ($5) in our departure port and then carry it with me to the beaches in the ports of call. Not only does it save me the cost of a rental chair, it’s more comfortable for me. I give the chair away to a local in our last port.

In St.Thomas, we rented a car from Avis (Economy $42 incl taxes and fees). We got to Avis early (8:15 am) and they were not ready for us. We had to wait about 30 min for a car to be brought over from their airport location. You do have to drive on the wrong side of the road which is mostly a problem at intersections (especially if you are lost J). A taxi is generally $32 roundtrip for 2 people to Magen’s Bay. The last 2 times we’ve been to St. Thomas we’ve done this and drove to Sapphire Beach (good snorkeling) and Lindquist Beach (pure beauty). Both are uncrowded (almost deserted) and Magen’sBay has lost a lot of its shady palms in Hurricane Irma. Lindquist now has the same admission charge ($5 pp) and parking fee ($2) that Magen’s Bay has. We did think that a lady at Sapphire may have been checking out our bag while we were snorkeling (she walked away from the direction of our bag and our bag appeared to have been opened). She was raking the seaweed at the beach and recommended we put our stuff over by her’s in the shade. It may have been coincidence. We did see a school of squid (Sapphire) and a small nurse shark in 2 feet of water (Lindquist). We also drove to Mountain Top and Paradise Point (yes you can drive this but it’s hard to find and the drive is crazy steep and narrow). Driving in St. Thomas is not for everyone.

In Barbados, we walked to Browne’s Beach (Carlisle Bay). We had been here before so we were familiar with the walk (research it so you don’t get lost). We setup between Pirates Cove and the Boatyard. There is a little natural shade area and the beach and water are beautiful. Honestly, if you face the water, this beach is comparable to Half Moon and Grand Cayman with powder white sand (with a hint of pink) and that lovely blue Caribbean sea. We then walked to the middle of the bay where there’s a bathroom facility onshore and snorkelers off shore. We swam out to the shipwreck snorkel area (I recommend life vests forthis). You need to research this before attempting on your own but you can do it if you are careful (especially watching for boat traffic). We snorkeled above one of the closer shipwrecks and then followed the crowd to see a large sea turtle. Good visibility and calm seas made this trip better, but we saw more turtles last time. We shared a taxi back to the ship because I wore the wrong shoes for the walk. They wanted $10 for 2 people but the couple we shared with had already negotiated it to $6 for the two of them so we agreed to pay $12 for 4 of us.

In St.Lucia, it was raining heavy off and on when we got there and we had to be back on the ship at 1:30 to get ahead of Tropical Storm Kirk. The first time we were in St. Lucia we planned to take the local bus to Vigie Beach but the bus was full by the time it reached the stop just outside the port, so we walked (around the airport). We decided to risk the weather and do the same this time. It might not be the safest walk but we’ve made it roundtrip twice now. The weather cleared up. The locals greeted us when we got to the beach and informed us that we were the only ones from the ship there and the waves were unsafe. We hung out on the beach at the Rendevous resort. You can’t use their facilities or chairs and they have security to enforce that but we didn’t want either (I think they do offer day passes). Eventually a young man tried the waves, so I decided to risk it. Some of the waves were about 10-12 feet. It was fun, but borderline safe so I didn’t stay in the water long. The last time we were there the surf was up too, so maybe Vigie is not normally calm.

We had never been to St. Kitts. We decided to take a cab to Carambola beach club. We waited to share the cab and it cost us $4 pp and would have been double that if we didn’t share. We rented an umbrella $10 because there’s not much shade and this gave us access to the facilities. They were reluctant to just rent the umbrella (I brought my chair), but they relented. The locals offered 3 pictures with pet monkeys for $5. We snorkeled for free instead in the shallow isolated bay on the other side of the rocks. You need to snorkel near the rock piles to see anything. It was an easy swim, good visibility, with an assortment of fish. We also walked further down the beach to the bars to see more black sand and there wasn’t a lot of beach to work with down there. All in all another great day.

I had looked at the Rainforest Adventures excursion in St. Maarten including the Flying Dutchman, Schooner Ride, and Zip Line and thought this is what I want to do but I knew my wife wouldn’t want to spend the money ($130pp). As it turned out, she went to the Explore the Ports show and won this specific excursion. We were really excited! Our excitement turned to a little fear when the bus approached the mountain and we realized just how high this excursion was! We conquered our fears and had a blast. I can see where the weather (wind and rain) could affect this, so we were fortunate to have another great day. We asked the tour operator to drop us off in town for shopping and the beach and then we walked back to the ship. Last time we took the water taxi, but next time we will walk as it was easier than I thought (once we found the way).

When we got back to San Juan we called Charlie’s Car Rental to pick us up at theport. We had reserved an economy car ($25 incl taxes and fees) to be picked up at their Condado location (cruiseport area) and dropped off at Isla Verde (airport area shuttle). This allowed us time at the beach (tried both Condado and Isla Verde and we definitely prefer Isla Verde) before our afternoon flight.

Feel free to ask questions. You can also check out our review of the ship. Happy cruising fellow frugals!

We just got back from San Juan. We rented a car post cruise from Charlie's Car rental and they picked us up at the port took us to their Condado location and we got the car (economy for $25 incl. taxes and fees) and we checked out the beach in Condado and Isla Verde. Isla Verde was much nicer. When we were done we dropped off the car at the Isla Verde location (yes we reserved it this way) and then took that shuttle to the airport. This is the second time we did this and it worked well both times.

I thought I would check out this posting, as we are doing the Fascination the end of March next year. We are doing a late fly in, so probably by the time we reach the ship, most people will have already been on board, or been on board and left the ship for a while. San Juan is nice, but I have seen it in the daytime, as well as nighttime, which is really the prettiest to me. Someone mentioned about rain when they came in and not seeing the forts. There were 8 of us that went "inside", the forts. It was very warm, and rained some, but it wasn't that bad that we couldn't stay somewhere in the fort from the rain. With it being very warm, we dried off fast!:)

 

 

We are staying on deck 6. If you know, what is the best way to get to the dining rooms, hoping to "avoid" the casino area because of the smoke?

We were on Deck 6 and we had My Time Dining in the Sensation Dining Room. We too avoided the smoky casino. Just walk down deck 6 hallways to the front stair well and take the stairs to deck 8 and walk around the atrium (lobby) to the restaurant. If you are eating at the Imagination Dining Room, use the same process but use the rear stairwell. Our problem was we usually headed to the Punchliner Comedy Club after dinner and the best way to get there was around the casino. For Imagination Dining Room this is not an issue because the comedy club is directly above it. Check out the deck maps if I confused you.

I'm hoping not to rush but it seems so rushed when I see that you have to meet to leave the ship by 9. I would have to like I do at home and get up by 5 to be working out by 5:30-6 and have time for breakfast and shower before heading out to the islands. Forget making it to the fitness center classes at 7-7:30. Maybe I will get a good routine going after the first couple of days!!!

I had plans to work out, but only did once (on the sea day). This is such a full itinerary that we were out late (Comedy) every night (midnight) and up early every morning (6:30 am). Honestly, if you are taking advantage of the ports and shows, you have very little free time. My Fitbit showed that we averaged over 7 miles a day, so I still feel pretty good about my activity level.

Thank you CC! On Sunday we got off the Carnival Fascination rather early (8:30 am) and we were standing in front of the Aloha restaurant waiting on our shuttle when the infamous CC Scammer approached us. Tall, slender, middle aged white man with blond/brown hair, dressed like a tourist (dockers, unusual color polo shirt) with a scratch on his face, just like the prior posts. Does he use makeup or is it a birthmark? That's a scar that hasn't healed in 9 years!!:confused:

He asked if we spoke English and when we said yes he chuckled and said "well I speak Wisconsian". He started his story of being mugged and his dad was in the hospital and I immediately knew who I was dealing with. I wish I would have lured him to the authorities. On second thought, they certainly know him by now! Maybe I should have asked him to pose with us for a selfie...it took us 3 trips to meet the CC Scammer!:') Instead I interrupted him and said "I heard about you on Cruise Critic so you need to move along!" He said "have a nice day" and quickly walked away.

My wife said "what was that about?" and after I explained that he's been doing this for 10 YEARS she said "why would someone go through the trouble of making up such a story, why not just ask for money?" I said "because it works" and clearly it has for 10 years. I think she wanted to hunt him down. :D

We have almost always done our own excursions through the years and it's not for everyone as it puts more responsibility on the planner than some are willing to take on vacation. I felt confident going it alone with all the help I've found on CruiseCritic and we've had great success. Once we ventured out on our own and snorkeled from shore in Hawaii and ended up swimming with dolphins in the wild. On our way back to the ship we encountered a couple who spent much more on the ship excursion for a dolphin watch tour and didn't see a dolphin. They asked us about our day and we felt bad talking about it.

However, on our last cruise we were debating between taking a Carnival excursion (cave tubing in Belize) and booking a nearly identical one ourselves to save some money. I was a little concerned about the distance from port and a transportation breakdown causing us to miss the ship. Then I read a post about Carnival's price match guarantee on CC and decided to try this option. I contacted Carnival with the details of the competitor's excursion and they matched it. I must admit that I was more relaxed than ever before knowing that I wasn't going it alone and that Carnival had my back in getting back to the ship.

Thanks for the responses so far! I'm still undecided to what I want to do. A rental car is only going to cost me $26, so I think I'm leaning towards that route even though parking is expensive. Between a bunch of taxis, and a tour, I'll probably rack up way more money with less freedom.

I can't speak to the current state of the forest or route (post hurricane).

However, we rented a car from Charlies (Ace Car Rental) a few years ago and drove to El Yunque. If memory serves me there's a toll road near the airport that if you miss your turn you will end up on and that gets costly with a rental car (which adds fees). Make sure you look at the route ahead of time.

We did get a little nervous when we got close to El Yunque because the road wasn't well marked, narrow, and not well paved and we thought we made a wrong turn. Once we got there it was clear we made a good choice to rent a car because we had the freedom to see what we wanted to see on our schedule. We had a flight to make so we saw a lot in a short period of time and it was beautiful. There was a bit of traffic on our way back to the airport and I think there were a lot of stoplights, so it took longer than I thought.

I'm pretty sure this post wasn't meant to be taken literally, just more or less to lighten the atmosphere here a little. :)

Hard for a Browns fan to agree with a Steelers fan, but yes and thank you!

I wonder what people who say Carnival isn't what it used to be think when they look in the mirror?

Are you saying it's okay that Carnival doesn't age well because no one does?

That's why they have showers near the beach. The cruise line doesn't want a messy trail any more than your suitcase does.

I guess I will have to start planning my beach day around which beaches have showers. Maybe they should setup hazmat tents for us to decontaminate before boarding.

Is it cheap because it's in the hurricane season?

I'm sure it's a combination of hurricane season, San Juan departure, and older ship. I'm okay with all of these since a hurricane could interupt a cruise anytime between June and November and I prefer the Fall offseason.