Pellaz

That happened to my friend Kathy on our just-finished Horizon cruise. Not only did the mains not interest her that evening, but they front-loaded a bunch of her favorite appetizers that night, so she ordered all four apps that she liked. Our (awesome) server didn't even bat an eyelash. lol, I've seldom if ever seen a reduced portion of the pasta served as my appetizer. On our last cruise we compared one "appetizer-sized" serving and one regular serving and, if anything, the app was slightly larger. On the Horizon, we DID notice that the daily pasta offering was usually -- but not always -- offered on the menu as an appetizer as well. (I think there were two nights where it wasn't listed twice.) We all thought it was about time they codified on the menu what we've always known was the case: you CAN get the night's pasta entree as an appetizer.

It's a pricey tour, but.... Did y'all enjoy it? I've done BtF numerous times and always learned something new or saw something "extra" that I hadn't seen before. Most expensive purchase I've ever made from Carnival aside from cruises and Cheers was the Private Oasis at Half Moon Cay, for members of our Roll Call. Naturally the port visit was scrubbed due to weather, and I got a cash refund at Guest Services. $1700 or so. I wanted to ask for an armed escort back to my stateroom. 🙂

I believe I read during our last cruise (ended 10/15) that you can still request masks from your room-steward, and probably from Guest Services. I don't know what kind of mask you would get, so if it's a major concern, you might want to bring your own high-quality N95 masks.

Havana is basically starboard side and midships on the Mardi Gras, so it looks like your closest options vertically would be down to JavaBlue Cafe (not sure what they offer at breakfast) or up to Lido, which has basically everything. If you're willing to walk toward the back of the ship, on the same deck as Havana (Deck 8 ) there is a breakfast buffet served in Guy's Pig and Anchor and Heroes Lounge...or at least there was in October of '21.

Mmmm, I'd use a slightly longer timeframe than 15 minutes. That's barely enough time to go to a busy bar for a drink or to use the restroom, etc. Carnival sets the time officially at 40 minutes and that's fine with me;. If I were setting policy I'd probably make it 30 minutes and you're out.

If what you're imagining were true, then all of those crew folk enthusiastically taking part in "Sssssshowtime" deserve Oscar Awards for their incredible acting prowess.

Yes, there was a beer pong event in the Havana Bar area on one night during our 10/09 cruise. Unfortunately I don't have details as to the actual mechanics of it, as we were outside in the pool area.

I've seen it as early as, well, just after 10 am, and as late as 12 noon...but THAT was due to an unavoidable delay involving the previous cruise. I expect it to start between 10:30 and 11 and if I'm pleasantly surprised, so much the better.

I'm pre-diabetic and I dislike the taste of alcohol so it's an odd balance, trying to watch sugar intake. I'd asked John Heald about Carnival maybe having some reduced-sugar daiquiri mixes for our MG cruise last fall and he enthusiastically agreed, said he'd do something since he is diabetic...but nothing, nada. I will note that a frozen mudslide has only half the calories as a frozen daiquiri...and I also tried and liked a Tito's (vodka)-and-cranberry. 😇

Sorry, that is incorrect. If you put a tip on a drink receipt, it goes to the bartender or barista named on the receipt. I asked three different bartenders about this and they all confirmed that they DO get their written-in tips. Having said that, cash IS king. If you're carrying it, sure, go ahead and use it. In most cases on the ship, though, I don't have my wallet with me; it "lives" in the stateroom safe.

The Havana pool deck was surprisingly crowded on our recent Horizon sailing and on sea-days it was difficult to find an open lounger. I DID see timed cards placed on several chairs, but didn't see whether the (excellent) deck staff cleared the loungers after 40 minutes. The no-chog policy and the 40-minute timeframe were posted at the Havana towel kiosk.

I was on this same sailing. I'm looking forward to your review, as I didn't opt to do a full review this time around. We had a great time, though!

That's a tough call; we loved the Mardi Gras and we also liked the Magic enough that we sailed her twice in a row. If the prices are similar I'd opt for the Magic, mostly for the extra day and the excellent itinerary.

I swung a little in the swing (hanging chair) on the patio....AFTER I reassured myself that it didn't seem in immediate danger of falling under my considerable weight. 😄

ALL pools and hot-tubs on the ship closed at midnight....which is one reason why I spent a lot of time in the Havana pool area at night; it was awesome. Latest hours of operation I've seen for all of the pools and hot-tubs ever. I think the pool water (sea-water) was drained and refilled each night. A little chilly when it was refilled near Miami the night before we embarked, and quite warm when they refilled it near Grand Cayman. 🙂 The Havana Bar also closed at midnight.

Indeed, virtually all of them have two MDRs; AFAIK the only two exceptions are the Spirit and the Pride.

Just off the Horizon where I was the third person in the room and stuck with the couch-bed.* We considered tipping extra to have a daytime couch but we didn't, and I'm kinda glad we didn't. We never really NEEDED the couch and there were times when I wanted to take a nap during the day...and I did. 🙂 ---- * the converted bed is actually quite comfortable and I never had a problem falling asleep

I have to get Cheers since my cruise-friends and I share a cabin and THEY drink a lot. Alas, I'm not a huge drinker -- I don't like the taste of alcohol -- and even less so now since I'm pre-diabetic. So, I get a few alcoholic drinks here and there, and a lot of zero-sugar sodas. Even though gratuities are baked into the Cheers price, I tip 50 cents for sodas, $1 for alcoholic drinks (think Frozen Mudslides, pina coladas, etc.) and $2 for drinks that require special handling, like Miami Vices. And yes, I generally get great repeat service and heavier pours. Watching the bartender's face light up when they see a 50-cent tip on a mere soda receipt is worth it EVERY time, since they never expect it.

Yes, some of the common areas (elevator lobbies, outside ends of the Lido Marketplace) seemed warmer than normal. And yet some were fine. The Meridian (aft) MDR was quite cool in spots. Our stateroom was fine after we dropped the temperature all the way down on the thermostat. We're not foodies and we thought the MDR food was fine. We did not opt for any of the added-fee restaurants and never felt like we had to. The Lido breakfast offerings were somewhat disappointing but we didn't have to go there often and it's important to note that the two sections of the buffet may have different choices. (They definitely do at lunch.) We went to Sea Day Brunch on our sea days. Service was a bit slow but not as slow as some others have reported...maybe 30-40 minutes total. While the steak wasn't the accustomed filet mignon, it wasn't bad by any means. Guy's Burger Joint, the Deli, Guy's Pig & Anchor (lunch), Jiji's (lunch), the Cucina (lunch) and the Blue Iguana Cantina were all great. I got some tacos at the latter, for the first time ever, and there's seldom a line on that side since they just prep the tortillas and put your meat or shrimp on them; you customize them to your tastes at the toppings bar. We're considering changing our October 2023 cruise on the Horizon to a Havana if we can get one. Right now we have a midship balcony. I didn't attend any shows but our friends Ashley and Todd went to the late comedy show at least one night and said it was good (and funny). I was often in the Havana pool area, which was nice and quiet at night. The ship was at full capacity but quite a few people had to cancel at the last minute. Lines were longest at the Pizzeria and the Deli after 10 pm or so. The Deli line moved surprisingly quickly and the pizza line moves in spurts. Note that the "Pizza Plus" menu is available at the Pizzeria from 11: 30 pm to 1 am, and includes lasagna, a rotating sandwich choice and caesar salad in addition to the pizza. One of our biggest complaints was the lack of free/included choices after 11 pm, and we stocked up on deli sandwiches and "warehoused" them in the room fridge for late-night snacks.

Just off the Horizon over the weekend and the only truly unpleasant behavior we saw was a group of 3-7 kids who tried to get into the Havana pool area at least twice, and also tried to cut in line at the Pizzeria one night. Security finally got called on the line-cutting incident and detained two of the kids. I doubt there was any sort of action taken, but OTOH I didn't see those kids again for the rest of the cruise either. 🙂

How far in the future for Coz? I think it's likely that'll get cancelled. I've done the snuba at Cozumel and Grand Cayman before and really enjoyed it, so the lack was...disappointing. I snorkeled at GC instead and it was one of the best (and best-managed) snorkeling excursions I've ever done.

Absolutely this. I was considering retiring there. (Not now, though, since my 401k lost seven grand in one MONTH. 😞 ) For those unaware, if you look at a map of the Turks & Caicos, you'll see a long, curving horizontal island which is Providenciales. There are no cruise terminals there, but quite a few resorts and an international airport. Population about 40,000. From there heading down to the southeast you'll see the much smaller island of Grand Turk and Cockburn Town, capital of the Turks & Caicos (oddly enough), population around 4,500. When a ship docks, the population doubles. The LAST thing they want is any hint of crime, and I suspect the locals would swiftly "take out the trash" in a hurry if something came up.

The mandate was dropped during our cruise last week on the Horizon. We had established a friendly rapport with Roberlyn, our MDR server, and the evening after masks became optional we all acted like we didn't recognize her...until my friend John grabbed a cloth napkin and held it near her face, mask-style. "Oh! Look! It's Rob! Hi there!" She said that made her whole day. 😄 😄

The only port where you are guaranteed to "nose in" (and therefore portside cabins always have a view of the island) is Grand Turk. Ships can't back in due to the nature of the man-made dredged "pocket" at the pier.

Recently back from Grand Cayman and Cozumel and this appears to apply to snuba excursions as well. Both ports had snuba listings at one time for our sailing, but they vanished a few months ago.