Horizon Review, April 12, 2004 Repo Cruise

[Logic]

[B]Danno[/B] - I Dont Know What Your Problem With Me Is. These Message Boards Are Here So We Can All Share Our Opinions & Experiences On These Ships & Cruise Lines.
My Opinion Just Happens To Be 90% Bad And That Should Be OK To Do..........Afterall We Are Here To Help Each Other, We Are Not Here To BOAST The Accolades Of The Cruise Line,Unless You Have Major Stock It In & Feel You Must Constantly Defend Celebrity Even When There Are Problems. Its Not Even That You Think My Opinions Were Harsh...Its More Like You Believe YOURS Are The Only RIGHT Opinions.

As Far As Your Snobbish Dissing Of Carnival...Grow Up! This Was A Review On A Celebrity Ship If You've Been On A Carnival Ship You Didnt Like Go Post It There & Help Someone Else Decide On Its Pros & Cons.

I Wish I Wouldve Read More Reviews Similar To Karl's Before I Booked The Horizon. His Review Was Very Well Presented With His Opinion Of Good & Bad. I Wish Someone Wouldve Posted That This Ships Rocks Alot & Appears To Be Without Stabilizers Or That There Are So Many BAD Smells Near The Eating Areas In Coral Cafe' Or Gave Run Downs On The Daily Activities Or Lack There Of. All Of Us Were Very Excited About The Ports On This Cruise And We All Read Reviews That GLOWED....I Cant Understand Why No One Mentioned The Bad Aspects So We Could All Get A Truer Idea Of What To Expect. Could It Be Because People Like You Make Shyer People Afraid To Post Their TRUE Feelings & Opinions?

I Am Not The Only One Very Unhappy With This Ship & Line! Atleast 6 People Left The Ship, 4 Left In Aruba With 5+ Days Left On The Cruise & 2 More Left In St. Thomas With 3+ Days Left. Now THATS A Whole Lot More Unhappy Then We Were! Heres The Link To Our Thread

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=9243096327&m=2453046377&r=734101161#734101161"]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=9243096327&m=2453046377&r=734101161#734101161[/url]

Carnival Ecstasy 1998
Carnival Paradise 2001
Star Princess 2002
Carnival Legend 2003


[img]http://www.seaescapes.com/cruiselines/images/CEL_Horizon.jpg[/img]
Countdown To Celebrity Horizon
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=9400d3&cdt=2004;4;12;16;30;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[richsea]

I'd love to read that thread, but I don't have a wide enough screen!

Meridian Bermuda 1996
Century E Caribbean 1997
Century W Caribbean 1998
Zenith Bermuda 1999
Galaxy So Caribbean 2000
Galaxy So Caribbean 2001
Zenith Bermuda 2002
Mercury W Caribbean 2002
Constellation S Caribbean 2003
Infinity Hawaii 2004

[tuggers]

I know that there are all going to be those of us who have our favorite 'pet' ships. Danno is a big fan of Horizon and I have to admit it's a favorite of mine, too. But I know it's not for everyone. My next door neighbors and I are best friends and do LOTS of things together, but they cruise Carnival. They have no desire to even try X. Different strokes. And sometimes it's hard not to get 'testy' when someone diss's your baby! In all fairness, the smells are a result of the recent sickness as there was none of that on my 10/31/03 or 3/1/04. And if we want to talk about sickness and odors I think Carnival holds the prize for most of those! No diss, just facts. The crew may have been suffering from a little cabin fever having to do with the sickness and missed ports, but they are generally one of the best crews in the business. I am really sorry that you were not able to see the Horizon at her best, however, those of us who have know that she is a real gem and are not offended by the pointing out of a few flaws. We know that the good will always out weigh the bad. Heck, we even like that 'rolling' - it's some of the best sleep I get!

Until the Zenith! Second X Cruise In Two Months!
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=800080&cdt=2004;4;11;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[Danno]

Logic...you indicated you enjoyed Carnival's style.You indicated you disliked Celebrity...thus you and Carnival would seem to be a good fit.

Your comment about cat food and a grade of 2 out of 100...who is "dissing" who??

I respect EVERYTHING Karl put forth as it was done objectively and with thought...as upposed to your rant.

Tuggers...she is definitely my favorite ship. However the day the service, food, and repair of this ship is not first class then she will cease to be my favorite. She is only "my baby" for as long as she is all that I expect. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]


See ya...

Dan

CenturyX1,GalaxyX2,HorizonX5,VolendamX1,

Zenith to Bermuda Oct/04
Century to E.Caribbean Feb/05

**email mrtnb(at)efni(dot)com

[Seabee]

It is absolutely amazing that a ship can be so different in three weeks. I disembarked the Horizon on March 22 and posted that of all my cruises, 6 on Celebrity, this was by far the best. Food was great, crew wonderful,etc. Maybe we ate too mcuh and there was no good food left. At any rate, it jsut goes to show...well, I'm not sure what it shows. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

******************************************************
With Compassion for others we build...we fight for peace and freedom

[Orcrone]

karl&steph,

I was considering this cruise for next year. I appreciate your detailed and honest review. In the meantime I'm going to be on HAL out of Norfolk in October. I've cruised with Carnival and RCCL previously, which are a bit different. Only time will tell how I'll like this cruise.

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America
4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration
10/30/2004 - Maasdam

[sgrissom]

Karl,
Thanks for an informative and entertaining review. I especially enjoyed reading about what you did in the ports.

My husband and I were on the Galaxy repo cruise in March and loved it. In fact we loved it so much we booked the reverse of our repo cruise in Oct...again on Galaxy. You just can't beat those prices! We found a very young crowd, probably because of the great prices and short 7 day itinerary. The crew and food were wonderful and we never felt like we were treated any differently than the "regular non-repo" cruisers.
I would have been very disappointed with the itinerary changes as well. I'm sure glad I booked my repo and not yours! Better luck next time. Celebrity really is a wonderful line.
Sally

Galaxy 10/04
Galaxy 3/04
Summit 3/03
Spirit 3/02
Magic 8/00
Magic 8/99
Magic 8/98

[karl&steph]

Cruising, as with anything else is exactly what you make it. I boarded with four books totalling over 2,000 pages and knew there was a library for more. I boarded knowing that the ship was smaller/older and that the weather in the Atlantic this time of year could be very disagreeable (turns out it wasn't). I knew that our last two days at sea could have been COLD after a strong cold front had exited off of the coast lowering the air temperature to 60 degrees (didn't happen).

I also booked/boarded thinking that the food would be bar none some of the best I'd ever eaten (it wasn't). I booked because 4 of the 5 ports of call that were listed I'd never visited. And finally, I booked because of the price and the fact that it dropped me off 20 minutes from my door. As to the price, paying for an inside on Deck 5, aft and getting upgraded to an outside on deck 9 (with a view) somewhat mitigated for the port changes. I understand that *most* passengers did not have the benefit of this mitigating factor at the start of their cruise.

I may try X again at sometime in the future but being the ages we are and with the variety of options in the cruising industry, we will try a few more out before settling on our line of choice.

Thank all of you for the kind words regarding my review of the Horizon. My intent was to post as honest a picture of the experience as I could.

Karl

[johnrhodes54]

Karl--Though I don't think you ever said on our roll call what you actually do for a living (I know Steph works for the city in some capacity) I suspect you might be somehow connected to politics-- [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] You did an excellent job on your review [B]without[/B] ranting & raving. The reason I am waiting until this weekend to post mine was to let emotions die down so I [B]don't[/B] rant & rave. However, my review will definitely not be as generously neutral as yours. You made the choice of Celebrity as I did and it was not quite our "cup-of-tea". You really did make the best vacation out of the situation you could and seemed to enjoy yourselves. However, as people are different in this world so are how they react to various "challanges". Some people were alot more upset than others and voiced their opinions accordingly. Others, like yourselves were a bit more objective and contained their disappointments somewhat. Some I feel will not even bother with reviews (on the Celebrity board anyway) for fear of being ostracized (which I notice [B]does[/B] happen on occasion when anything contrary to their opinions is expressed). Once again, you did a great job and it was very informative--I can relate to your observations because I was there (although for only half the cruise- [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]). You should see my review sometime this weekend (after I mow the "not cared for 2-week lawn")-- [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img] I hope you find that certain cruise line you're looking for--as for me I think I'm sticking with "all-inclusive" land lubber vacations from now on-- [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
It was great meeting you & Steph--If Teresa & I were 20 years younger we might have been able to keep up with you guys--[url='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008'][img]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_12_6.gif[/img][/url] John & Teresa

[newtocc]

johnrhodes54, I've read some unbelievable things on this board before, but this really takes the cake, I can't believe you haven't mowed your lawn, or gotten someone else, to mow your lawn, in 2 weeks, I'm sorry, I just don't believe it!

This ship 10/91
That ship 11/95
Whatever ship 12/98
here a ship 13/99
there a ship 14/00
everywhere
a
ship ship 15/05

<font size="3" color=red>Over 1 year</font> into my LMBO cruise

[johnrhodes54]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by newtocc:
johnrhodes54, I've read some unbelievable things on this board before, but this really takes the cake, I can't believe you haven't mowed your lawn, or gotten someone else, to mow your lawn, in 2 weeks, I'm sorry, I just don't believe it!

Newt--Believe it buddy--no one volunteered to do my lawn and between blowing my wad on duty free shopping and the Horizon casino I couldn't afford to pay someone to do it. Besides, without it being watered for 2 weeks I assumed it wouldn't grow very much--big mistake- [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] Next time I'll budget lawn care expenses into my vacation plans-- [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
BTW--I'm still waiting for a copy of the video you claim to have of the topless decks activities--where is it? [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]