A Fall Escape: Horizon Edition

[Indytraveler83]

Welcome to my review of our November 7, 2021 cruise on the Carnival Horizon!  My husband (Jake) and I (Shaun) have cruised 5 times with Carnival before, but this is the first cruise since early 2019 on the Miracle (almost three years!)

 

We cruised for 6 days on the Horizon, visiting Amber Cove, Half Moon Cay and Bimini.  However, this cruise was the third time we had cancelled/rebooked and the itinerary was originally supposed to be a Wester Caribbean trip to Montego Bay, Cozumel and Grand Cayman. We didn't much care about the itinerary change, at this point we just wanted to get back to cruising!

 

To give you a bit of an idea of what's to come:

1) I try to write fair and sensible reviews, not letting brand loyalty or emotions overly affect my experiences. 

2) I try to include a photo in every post, but this is a heavily word based review with stories. 

3) I'll happily answer any questions I can, or include answers in my review, but: we don't have kids, don't participate in trivia, bingo or much gambling and won't have many good answers for you in those categories. 

 

A few questions I will answer in the next several days:

 

How was the food on the new, limited menu?

 

What capacity was the Horizon sailing at?

 

What is the new Bimini stop like?

 

Is Eden (piano bar) coming back after his contract ends with Carnival next week?

 

All of this and much more to come when I get home! Until then, please feel free to drop your questions, or let me know if you sailed with me this week!

 

 

[Indytraveler83]

**Quick note- I'm going to be posting the story in one (or two) section(s), then pictures in the next.  It's far easier to write from my laptop, then post pics from my phone**

 

Day 1: Off to Miami!!!

 

This trip began fraught with a lot of nerves.  Jake had contracted a breakthrough case of COVID a few months ago, and we worried about his test still showing a positive.  Thankfully we both tested negative and were ready to cruise.  We'd also arranged flights on American Airlines, and they were still reeling and rearranging flights to make up for a disaster on Halloween weekend.  Neither of us were going to be ready to celebrate a vacation until we had touched down in Miami.  Eager to get started and tackle any issues, we left home at 6:30 am in the hopes of making it to Detroit Metro about 3 hours before our flight.

 

As is the tradition in the Midwest, there were several road closures and constructions projects that were just started, having no hope of being completed before winter hits.  I thought Google Maps was going to start yelling at us we had to change routes so many times.  By the time we got to the Park and Go near the airport, we had lost about a half hour and only had about 2 hrs and 30 minutes before our flight.  Thankfully, the shuttle bus was there to get us within minutes, and we arrived at the terminal quickly.  To our surprise... the airport was a ghost town.  I have never walked into any airport that slow.  We walked right up and had our bags checked, then walked through security who appeared bored and eager to interact with anyone.  From the time we entered the building to the time we sat down at our gate was only about 15 minutes.  

 

After getting some breakfast, we waited patiently at the gate until our flight was ready to go.  American repeatedly offered priority boarding for "only" $27.00 per person.  I guess I'll never understand that one.  Why would I want to pay to have the privilege of getting to my cramped seat first, just to watch everyone else sit down?  We typically choose to wait at the gate until there isn't a line, then board the plane right before takeoff.  

 

The flight was uneventful (which was a blessing given recent events) and we ended up circling the city twice before being cleared to land.  We saw the cruise ship port from the plane, and could identify two Carnival ships, an RCI Oasis class ship and another smaller ship I couldn't quite place (Maybe NCL or MSC) from the airplane.  The plane landed, and had the longest taxi to the gate I've ever experienced before we finally emerged into the madhouse that is Miami International Airport.  

 

Saturdays must be the craziest day to try and fly to/from Miami, as there were cruise ship passengers and other travelers everywhere.  Eventually we found our bags and proceeded to the exit where we wanted to get an Uber.  It was showing $36.00 as the price for an Uber from the airport to our hotel on South Beach, however Uber only recognized us as being on an "unknown road" and couldn't quite place us.  I've dealt with this in Chicago before, and it typically results in the Uber driver spending 5 minutes trying to figure out where you are (with the meter running) and then cancelling when they can't get to you.  There were people getting in and out of cabs and shuttles everywhere, and in the chaos a cab driver asked us if we needed a ride.  I asked him how much to take us to South Beach.  He replied "$40 flat rate."  We quickly jumped in.

 

The driver turned out to be very nice, and when he learned this was our first visit to Miami, decided to play tour guide, pointing out various landmarks, sports stadiums and points of interest.  We drove near the cruise port where the Carnival Sunrise was making its way out of the port, and what I believe was the Freedom was still docked.  The Oasis class ship loomed in front of them, making both Carnival ships look the size of a toy boat.  

 

We finally got to our hotel on Ocean Blvd, the "Room Mate Waldorf Towers" hotel.  The cab driver asked us if we had a ride to the terminal in the morning, and when I told him we didn't, he offered to pick us up whenever we'd like.  We exchanged information, and he said that either himself or his wife would pick us up at 9:45 am outside the hotel (this will be very important as you'll soon see).  Thanking him, and tipping him, we walked to the hotel.

 

Up next: Miami Pt 2

[pcvtmom]

Looking forward to your review.  We will be on the Horizon in February, and after almost 2 years of no cruising, we can't wait!!

[Indytraveler83]

Miami Pt 2 - 

 

The hotel was quite expensive, but we'd decided to splurge a little on our first trip to South Beach and stay on Ocean Drive.  Check in was quick and friendly, and we were offered beach chairs on South Beach if we wished.  Had we gotten there earlier or chosen to stay another day we would have taken them up on it, but it was nearly 5 pm already and the sun was on its way down.  Instead we checked into our small, but rather fancy room and headed out to check out the area on foot.  The beach is beautiful (and huge) and honestly what we think of when people say they are going to the beach in Florida.  Ocean Drive was teeming with all sorts of people exercising, having get togethers and starting the night life early.  

 

After walking around a little bit, we chose a place to sit down and eat what was advertised as authentic Cuban food.  I had a dish with ox tail, while Jake had their signature pork dish.  They were both very good, but just like the hotel, very expensive.  (I thought I'd remember the name of the place, but didn't write it down, and now don't remember it for reasons you are about to find out).

 

Now we were enjoying ourselves, but this is our first vacation just the two of us in years.  Usually our families force themselves into our trips, but due to COVID, no one else wanted to risk a cruise or travel.  We also haven't had much of a stop in our busy work schedules in months, leaving us overwhelmed, anxious and still trying to stop thinking about work, our to-do lists and everything else that stresses us out.  So, after dinner, we decided to do what every well adjusted adult does to relieve stress... Drink!

 

We found our way to a nightclub on South Beach and were very, very early to the party.  It was mostly empty, and we sat ourselves in a nice booth and started to loosen up as we waited for the place to come alive.  Eventually it did, and eventually we forgot that we had anywhere to be the next day.  We were certain we were the life of the party.  

 

I remember Jake asking if we should get going...

 

I remember walking down Ocean Drive looking for our hotel...

 

I think I remember someone asking us if we knew where we were going...

 

And that's all I remember that night...

 

Up Next: Day 2 - Time to board the ship that we'd sort of forgotten about...

[Indytraveler83]

 

I'll try to write up day two tomorrow!  Until then, I'll leave you in suspense as to how our overindulgent night may have ended...

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Looking forward to your review as I was on this cruise & the one before.

I was really happy with the ship, staff, food, comedy & excursions, well pretty much everything!!😉

Hope you enjoyed it too.

 

~ Jo ~ 😊

[Indytraveler83]

46 minutes ago, retiring soon said:

Hi all!

 

Looking forward to your review as I was on this cruise & the one before.

I was really happy with the ship, staff, food, comedy & excursions, well pretty much everything!!😉

Hope you enjoyed it too.

 

~ Jo ~ 😊

I'll be very interested to see if you had similar experiences as us, you'll have to let me know your thoughts as I go!  

[Indytraveler83]

Day 2: Embarkation Day!

 

I woke up to a text that read "My wife will pick you up in 30 minutes."

 

"Huh?" I asked aloud.  I looked around and found myself in a hotel room, with Jake snoring loudly next to me.  I had no idea why we were there, whose wife was coming to get us, or where we were going.  My head was still swimming and buzzing, and the room was unstable.  I stood up to get a glass of water, hoping it would clear my head.  On the floor I saw a puddle of water that extended from the bathroom all the way to the middle of the floor which ended with a sopping wet pillow.  

 

I woke Jake up, and asked him what was going on, still clueless.  I told him about the text.  "Whose wife is picking us up, where are we going?"

 

"The CRUISE!" he shouted.  It all came back to me then.  We had no time.  We absolutely had to shower, so we each rushed in to wash the smell of alcohol and sweat off, then packed up everything in the room.  We tried our best to clean up the puddle, threw everything in our suitcases and rushed downstairs still wearing the same clothes as the night before, and still feeling enough of the effects that we wouldn't have been able to legally drive.

 

Next to the hotel was a small market, and Jake ran in to get breakfast while I looked for the cab.  She arrived exactly on time as promised, and we loaded up while making our best attempts to appear sober.  Scarfing down a breakfast burrito and orange juice helped a little as she made friendly conversation and we tried hard to listen and respond.  

 

I embarrassingly don't know what condition we left that room.  I really hope the puddle was water.  But I am certain that if we'd not agreed to let the cab driver pick us up in the morning, we would have slept right through embarkation and likely slept until the hotel kicked us out!  

 

 

We arrived at the cruise terminal slightly more coherent, and the previous cruise was still debarking, so it took a little effort to find the porters. There were folks aggressively trying to clear the area and they nearly shuttled us back into a cab, not understanding we were checking in, not out.  However, as soon as we found porters and made our way inside, it got much easier.

 

They started by checking our ID's, vaccination documents and COVID test results.  After the agent verified these all checked out and matched our ID, we were sent upstairs to check in.  With our early arrival time, there was no line at security or check in and we breezed through in just a few minutes.  We found ourselves sitting and waiting to embark the ship rather quickly, while the effects of the previous night quickly caught up with us.

 

 Thankfully we only waited about an hour before we boarded the ship at about 11:30 or so, far earlier than we've ever made it onboard.  From here we started to explore the Carnival Horizon's public decks.

 

Now most of the ships we've sailed have been the older "Farcus" designed ships with the bold colors and Vegas style themes.  The only ship we've sailed that didn't have this design was the Magic.  Now we didn't mind the Magic's style, but it was a little boring and came across as very bland and generic.  This is what we expected of the Horizon as well.  We were certainly wrong here.

 

The Horizon has relaxing, but not boring color schemes throughout the ship.  Brick and fake wood textures adorn the ship, along with tasteful, if subtle themes.  It is a much more attractive evolution of what was started when they decided to get away from the Vegas style of Joe Farcus.

 

I also thought the ship was sort of a tribute to Mr. Radu, their favorite senior photographer.  We were pleased to find out the high pressure art gallery had been replaced by walls of art my Mr. Radu that could be purchased for the listed price (while sort of expensive, there are no salesmen, no auctions and no pressure to do anything but look at them).  Each stairway was also adorned with huge 3D art pieces of other Carnival ships that appeared to be the work of Mr. Radu, or other Carnival photographers.

 

As we wandered through the ship, we found the Havana Bar, and quite accidentally realized it was our muster station.  We were invited to sit and participate in the muster drill, which we agreed.  SIXTY SECONDS.  IT TOOK SIXTY SECONDS.  Literally, we were shown how to put on a life vest, told where to go, told to watch the video, then invited to ask any questions.  That's it.

 

Not only did the drill take 1/45th the amount of time it used to, but we also thought that if someone truly had questions about life jackets or safety measures on the ship, this format lends itself far better than the large group sessions of old.  There were 7 or 8 of us, and the staff member likely repeated this dozens of times through the day for small groups.  I hope they never go back to the old muster drill.

 

We finished exploring the ship, and were honestly quite impressed.  I've avoided the Vista class for years, thinking of them as a "Sunshine'd" Dream class ship with more passenger capacity and less room.  That may be what it looks like on the outside, but walking the ship proves they are much different than the Dream class, and in many ways, more refined.

 

While I'm still a bit sore over the Havana area taking away the walk-around lanai, we were happy to see that Carnival had installed several great seating and outdoor eating areas all around the lanai.  This is a far cry from the random patches of deck chairs and large empty sections on the Dream class.  The lanai on the Horizon was more like a boardwalk, with different venues and cozy, hidden areas to relax.

 

More of the same is found above the Lido deck, with tons of places carved out to sit and relax, and overall it appears Carnival has upgraded their deck furniture significantly, with more cushions and less plastic seating.  The Serenity deck also seems like a huge upgrade over the Dream class, with more wind blocks, a large dedicated bar and a staff served salad bar on the deck.  It also felt far bigger than any Serenity deck we've been on to date.  

 

We finally made our way back down to the buffet, made a large salad (which was pretty good) and drank about a gallon of water each in an attempt to re-hydrate.  We said our goodbyes via text/social media and went into airplane mode and activated the hub app while seated on the rear pool deck near the buffet.  I know some people cruise with wifi, but we both needed a getaway from demanding employers that don't always respect our personal time, and a cruise is the perfect excuse.  

 

Up next: Embarkation day Pt 2: Our room and our first evening on Horizon!

[Indytraveler83]

Embarkation Day: Pt 2

 

When they say rooms aren't ready till 1:30 PM, they aren't joking.  The hallway doors had been opened to get to our room, so at 12:30 we decided to see if we could get in a bit early.  Our suitcases were in front of the room already and our Sail and Sign cards were in the mailbox already!  But the door was still propped open, and some giant breakfast food mess was all over the floor.  It looked like someone had dropped a room service tray and the contents had exploded, with bits of egg and yogurt all over.

 

We quickly jetted out of the hallway and back up to Lido, taking only our Sail and Sign cards.  From there we browsed the Hub app and talked a little about what we wanted to do that night, marking our favorites on the app.  Deciding that maybe a little "hair of the dog" would help our pounding heads, we ordered frozen drinks, and for the first time discovered the edible straws, which are a fantastic idea, and something we've never seen before.

 

At 1:30 we went back to our room, to find it in pristine condition with no signs of the mess that had adorned the floor just an hour before.  As we unpacked, our room steward Dwi (pronounced Dewey) introduced himself and asked if we preferred morning or evening service, and if we had any special needs or special requests.  I know some people are a little upset by twice a day service not being offered, but on our first cruise on the Elation, we found evening service to be a bit intrusive and unnecessary, so we've gladly accepted morning service only for years.  Dwi noted our request for extra towels and made sure his greeting was warm and welcoming, seeming very pleased to be back on a ship with guests again. 

 

From there we unpacked and "watched" the safety video about 10 times while we did so.  Couldn't help but laugh at the lame joke that Shaq makes in the video about mistaking the muster station for a "mustard" station, as my sister in law had done the same thing a few years ago.  The previous day's activities had caught up to us however, so we curled up in bed and watched the Horizon depart Miami and pass Virgin's cruise ship, as well as another one of the RCI Oasis class monsters.   

 

At 6:00, we made our way to the Steakhouse to enjoy the reservation we'd purchased in advance.  Jake was feeling much better, but I still felt like someone was punching me in the back of the head, and the gut.  Miami's nightlife has certainly beaten me...

 

Upon arrival at the Steakhouse, we were asked if we wanted to eat "outside" or inside.  It was a little chilly outside, and the wind was bad, causing the ship to rock a little.  We asked to eat inside, unaware that the "outside" space is very protected from wind, and looks quite a bit more intimate than the inside.

 

We weren't particularly impressed by the format of the Steakhouse on the Horizon.  Tables are closer together than on any other ship we've been on, and the lighting is brighter, making it feel quite a bit less formal than it is meant to be.  Unfortunately, we were seated next to a very loud single diner that thought he could find companionship with the staff if he promised to buy them things and send them to their families.  It was awkward watching the staff try to provide service to someone who clearly wanted much more than dinner.  He announced that he'd be gracing them with his presence every day, as he could easily afford the expense.  Great, just great.  We thought about asking to be moved, but the steakhouse was already jam packed.

 

Jake ordered the French Onion Soup, the FIlet Mignon and cheesecake for dessert.  He reported that they were all very good and up to the normal standards of the steakhouse.  I ordered the Caesar salad, the lobster and the fruit selection for dessert, trying to take it easier on my revolting body.  

 

I forgot... don't order the ceasar salad in the steakhouse.  I know they are trying to be "artistic" but it is literally three full pieces of lettuce layed next to each other, with a drizzle of dressing, a bit of cheese and a few croutons.  Art it may be, salad it is not.  The lobster was fair, but I found it to be dry, which is a little odd with lobster.  However, the fruit selection was fantastic.  It was carefully arranged in almost a flower shape, with green apple shaved ice in the middle.  I could have used a whole bowl of the shaved ice, it was that good.

 

Our lead server in the steakhouse was fairly good, if not a little distracted by our impolite neighbor who wanted to be sure that everyone knew how rich and capable he was.  The second server was quite annoying however.  Instead of actually providing good service, she repeatedly interrupted our dinner to remind us her name, and how good it would be if we cited her in our after cruise survey (its embarkation day, we don't want to hear about "after the cruise").  She spent the meal begging for a good review, rather than actually providing the experience she was hoping we would say she did.

 

Overall dinner was good, but the atmosphere was weird.  In every single steakhouse experience we've ever had, the service and food couldn't be beat.  But this just wasn't up to that standard, and we decided we'd likely avoid it for the rest of the trip, with intentions of trying JiJi's, Pig and Anchor and maybe even a few of the other places, as well as the MDR.  

 

After dinner, we felt tired and still beaten up, so we decided to head to bed, and watch cooking shows on TV until we fell asleep.  It is now that we noticed that the Stateroom TV's aren't the tiny 20" monitors any more, but larger, more appropriate screens (maybe 36 inches?).

 

Up Next: Day 3: Our first sea day

Edited November 15, 2021 by Indytraveler83

[Indytraveler83]

Our view from our deck 9 balcony in port. 

Delicious salad from the buffet

Am I faking it well enough?  Still in yesterday's clothes, lol. 

 

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Me again! I was at the steakhouse the 1st night of the Oct 30  as a replacement for the Chef's Table I had booked & just found out wasn't being offered. I was there right at 5:30 & there was way more staff than guests but that changed in a hurry. I had the bone marrow & steak tartare, lamb chops & the fruit salad which I agree was very artfully done & delish. I got the free bottle of wine but never touched it again.

I found the Caesar salad I ordered in the MDR to have an anchovy taste although I never saw evidence of any. I pretty much tried all dining venues except Teppanyaki & enjoyed them all, over the course of 14 days.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

 

~Jo ~ 😊

[Indytraveler83]

9 minutes ago, retiring soon said:

Hi all!

 

Me again! I was at the steakhouse the 1st night of the Oct 30  as a replacement for the Chef's Table I had booked & just found out wasn't being offered. I was there right at 5:30 & there was way more staff than guests but that changed in a hurry. I had the bone marrow & steak tartare, lamb chops & the fruit salad which I agree was very artfully done & delish. I got the free bottle of wine but never touched it again.

I found the Caesar salad I ordered in the MDR to have an anchovy taste although I never saw evidence of any. I pretty much tried all dining venues except Teppanyaki & enjoyed them all, over the course of 14 days.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

 

~Jo ~ 😊

 

Hopefully you had a less awkward experience than we did. While the food was fairly good, it was a very strange night!

[retiring soon]

Hi again!

 

Well, let's just say I was beside a couple whose male partner seemed to have taken advantage of the Cheers package, spilling a drink which his lady was wiping up when I left. I was sailing solo & ran into an obnoxious guy seated at the solo group table which caused me much anxiety. Luckily on this cruise I sat at anytime with a nice couple.

 

[IloveOrchids]

3 hours ago, Indytraveler83 said:

Embarkation Day: Pt 2

 

When they say rooms aren't ready till 1:30 PM, they aren't joking.  The hallway doors had been opened to get to our room, so at 12:30 we decided to see if we could get in a bit early.  Our suitcases were in front of the room already and our Sail and Sign cards were in the mailbox already!  But the door was still propped open, and some giant breakfast food mess was all over the floor.  It looked like someone had dropped a room service tray and the contents had exploded, with bits of egg and yogurt all over.

 

We quickly jetted out of the hallway and back up to Lido, taking only our Sail and Sign cards.  From there we browsed the Hub app and talked a little about what we wanted to do that night, marking our favorites on the app.  Deciding that maybe a little "hair of the dog" would help our pounding heads, we ordered frozen drinks, and for the first time discovered the edible straws, which are a fantastic idea, and something we've never seen before.

 

At 1:30 we went back to our room, to find it in pristine condition with no signs of the mess that had adorned the floor just an hour before.  As we unpacked, our room steward Dwi (pronounced Dewey) introduced himself and asked if we preferred morning or evening service, and if we had any special needs or special requests.  I know some people are a little upset by twice a day service not being offered, but on our first cruise on the Elation, we found evening service to be a bit intrusive and unnecessary, so we've gladly accepted morning service only for years.  Dwi noted our request for extra towels and made sure his greeting was warm and welcoming, seeming very pleased to be back on a ship with guests again. 

 

From there we unpacked and "watched" the safety video about 10 times while we did so.  Couldn't help but laugh at the lame joke that Shaq makes in the video about mistaking the muster station for a "mustard" station, as my sister in law had done the same thing a few years ago.  The previous day's activities had caught up to us however, so we curled up in bed and watched the Horizon depart Miami and pass Virgin's cruise ship, as well as another one of the RCI Oasis class monsters.   

 

At 6:00, we made our way to the Steakhouse to enjoy the reservation we'd purchased in advance.  Jake was feeling much better, but I still felt like someone was punching me in the back of the head, and the gut.  Miami's nightlife has certainly beaten me...

 

Upon arrival at the Steakhouse, we were asked if we wanted to eat "outside" or inside.  It was a little chilly outside, and the wind was bad, causing the ship to rock a little.  We asked to eat inside, unaware that the "outside" space is very protected from wind, and looks quite a bit more intimate than the inside.

 

We weren't particularly impressed by the format of the Steakhouse on the Horizon.  Tables are closer together than on any other ship we've been on, and the lighting is brighter, making it feel quite a bit less formal than it is meant to be.  Unfortunately, we were seated next to a very loud single diner that thought he could find companionship with the staff if he promised to buy them things and send them to their families.  It was awkward watching the staff try to provide service to someone who clearly wanted much more than dinner.  He announced that he'd be gracing them with his presence every day, as he could easily afford the expense.  Great, just great.  We thought about asking to be moved, but the steakhouse was already jam packed.

 

Jake ordered the French Onion Soup, the FIlet Mignon and cheesecake for dessert.  He reported that they were all very good and up to the normal standards of the steakhouse.  I ordered the Caesar salad, the lobster and the fruit selection for dessert, trying to take it easier on my revolting body.  

 

I forgot... don't order the ceasar salad in the steakhouse.  I know they are trying to be "artistic" but it is literally three full pieces of lettuce layed next to each other, with a drizzle of dressing, a bit of cheese and a few croutons.  Art it may be, salad it is not.  The lobster was fair, but I found it to be dry, which is a little odd with lobster.  However, the fruit selection was fantastic.  It was carefully arranged in almost a flower shape, with green apple shaved ice in the middle.  I could have used a whole bowl of the shaved ice, it was that good.

 

Our lead server in the steakhouse was fairly good, if not a little distracted by our impolite neighbor who wanted to be sure that everyone knew how rich and capable he was.  The second server was quite annoying however.  Instead of actually providing good service, she repeatedly interrupted our dinner to remind us her name, and how good it would be if we cited her in our after cruise survey (its embarkation day, we don't want to hear about "after the cruise").  She spent the meal begging for a good review, rather than actually providing the experience she was hoping we would say she did.

 

Overall dinner was good, but the atmosphere was weird.  In every single steakhouse experience we've ever had, the service and food couldn't be beat.  But this just wasn't up to that standard, and we decided we'd likely avoid it for the rest of the trip, with intentions of trying JiJi's, Pig and Anchor and maybe even a few of the other places, as well as the MDR.  

 

After dinner, we felt tired and still beaten up, so we decided to head to bed, and watch cooking shows on TV until we fell asleep.  It is now that we noticed that the Stateroom TV's aren't the tiny 20" monitors any more, but larger, more appropriate screens (maybe 36 inches?).

 

Up Next: Day 3: Our first sea day

Enjoying your honest review!  I appreciate your honesty about the steakhouse......just made our reservation today...yikes....

[Indytraveler83]

7 minutes ago, IloveOrchids said:

Enjoying your honest review!  I appreciate your honesty about the steakhouse......just made our reservation today...yikes....

Thank you!  If your on the Horizon, I'd suggest "outdoor" seating, as it's much more private/intimate. The food is still very good, just skip the Caesar salad. 

[Indytraveler83]

Day 3: Our first Sea day!

 

The morning started with Room Service arriving about 15 minutes early.  We hurried out of bed to dress and get the room service tray, then took it out to the balcony for coffee.  One of our favorite traditions on a cruise is to sit on the balcony that first sea day and just admire the sea.  We sipped coffee and had bananas and yogurt, but did remember that the complimentary room service breakfast has slowly grown a bit more skimpy over the years.  They did add some for fee options, but most of them sounded like McDonald's breakfast sandwiches, so we skipped out.  

 

After moving in slow motion for most of the earlier part of the morning, we headed up to the Serenity deck to see if there were still any chairs left unclaimed by 9:30.  To our surprise, there were only about a dozen people on deck, and only a few "claimed" chairs as well.  The weather was warming quickly as the sun announced itself from behind cloud cover, and we found a nice spot on the port side of the ship that would get sun for most of the day.  

 

It didn't take long for bar service to find us, where Jake decided to start trying a plethora of new drinks he'd heard of, but never tried.  I decided Mimosa's were better for the morning.  We were sailing with "Cheers on us" and still intended to try and get the most of it.  To our pleasant surprise, "Nick" brought us not just drinks, but a bucket of ice with bottled water in it, telling us it was going to get hot and he wanted to be sure we'd be prepared.  

 

For the rest of the morning, Nick brought us anything we wanted, while refilling the bucket of ice with water bottles as needed.  We've had good, even great bar service before, but between the extras, learning our names and folio numbers almost immediately and having a knack for knowing when we were ready for another, it made for a pretty awesome morning.  

 

It was only around 11:30 that Serenity finally started to fill up, and by then we were hungry.  We'd sworn to go get Blue Iguana Tacos, but we were already relaxed (and about 4 drinks into the day) and didn't feel like going all the way down to Lido.  Horizon has a staff served salad bar on Serenity, so we took full advantage of that, getting large salads for lunch without walking more than a few feet away.  No one seemed to know about the salad bar up here, so we were both arrived with no line and a very bored looking staff member who was happy to fulfil our order.  

 

Around noon, a few young women (who had clearly been drinking more than us) sat in the couch next to us, then promptly spilled both their drinks on the cushion.  They left, and from that point on, everyone refused to sit on the wet couch.  With drinks arriving whenever we wanted, food just a few feet away, and no one willing to sit next to us, we took full advantage and didn't leave our relaxing spots until it was time to get ready for dinner...

 

Next up: Sea Day part 2- Nightlife

[Indytraveler83]

Sea Day Part 2: Horizon Nightlife

 

Being elegant night, we decided it was time to try the MDR.  This was our first experience with the new Hub-based reservation system, as we'd chosen anytime dining rather than early or late seating.  We get hungry pretty early in the window, so found ourselves waiting to make a reservation right at 5:30 when the app opened up reservation requests.  I clicked on the "make reservation" button, and it asked who was coming to dinner, with a toggle button for both of us.  There was also a "seat us at a shared table" toggle, which I left unchecked.

 

As soon as I clicked the button, it told me we'd be notified when a table was ready.  Less than 30 seconds later, a table was ready and it told us they'd hold the table for 10 minutes.  We made our way to the dining room for the first time, and were pleasantly surprised by subtle lighting and a rather secluded table where we could see the sunset out the rear windows of the dining room.

 

Our lead water "Nelson" greeted us quickly, asking for our drink order, our names and any dietary restrictions.  This would be the only time he asked our names or folio numbers, as he was set from then on.  Jake ordered wine while I decided to start trying one of the various Martinis that Carnival offers, starting with the chipotle pineapple martini, followed by an espressotini.  

 

As we ate, we marveled at how empty the dining room was, and how much calmer it was here than at the other venues in the ship.  Nelson was on point, making sure our food was perfect (the lobster was very good, and the steaks were both cooked exactly to order).  The relaxing, romantic dining experience we'd hoped for in the steakhouse the night before was right in front of us tonight.  We lingered long enough to have some after dinner cocktails, then headed out to see what was going on around the ship.

 

The piano bar was stuffed, so we decided to watch the violin trio in the atrium until the first adult comedy show.  The trio was good, but they were playing more classical music than we were typically accustomed to. We were surprised how much we liked the classic white and chrome of the atrium, making the area feel far classier than we are accustomed to on a Carnival ship. The only issue was the atrium funnel.  The idea is spectacular.  But between decidedly low resolution LCD screens and large chunks of dead pixels, we wondered if the atrium would have been better served by a static centerpiece instead.  We left for the comedy show in time to get good seats (about 30 minutes early) and waited for the comedian.

 

The comedian started out by letting everyone know that while only half of Carnival's ships are sailing, they had hired back almost all of the entertainers and musicians, so we would enjoy double the entertainment on this cruise. This would be pretty much the only time we'd clap for him.

 

I get it, adult shows can be vulgar, and Carnival won't listen to pretty much any complaints.  If you've kept up with this story so far, I hope you can tell we aren't exactly sheltered or prudish.  I wasn't even offended.  It just wasn't funny.  He would launch a knowingly offensive joke, then scold us preemptively for being offended, letting us know it was an R-rated show and he could do what he wanted.  Rinse, repeat.  It was like listening to a jr. high student in a playground when they think a teacher isn't watching.  Vulgar jokes can be funny.  He seemingly forgot the joke part...

 

A bit put off, we wandered back down toward the atrium area and noticed empty seats in the piano bar.  This would be our first time meeting Eden, and boy what a night that turned out to be!  We've had times in the piano bar with really good singers, and times with singers who thought they were comedians.  Eden's got jokes (the comedian could have learned something here), but he's also got a HUGE voice.  We'd managed to sit at a table near the front of the permitted area (the chairs right against the piano are restricted, allowing the piano player to play without a mask). 

 

Bar service here was again quick and we found ourselves riding high again with some very good drinks and epic music.  We loudly sang along, and at one point even got up and danced.  When Eden was done playing, he playfully scolded us for not coming earlier as we brought much needed energy to the room.  A couple other couples agreed with him, and we stayed around and chatted for a while. 

 

Jake insisted that the night wasn't over, so we went to the nightclub (converted comedy club lounge) and I was surprised to see it was actually really busy.  We danced for about an hour to music he knew, but I didn't, until mercifully the DJ packed up and we finally climbed into bed at around 2:00 AM to prepare for a date with Amber Cove in the morning!

 

Next up: Amber Cove and a few surprises!

[Indytraveler83]

The view from our balcony

Our favorite inside joke with the weirdest book you'll ever encounter

A good picture of our surprisingly private table in the MDR

[Indytraveler83]

Day 3: Amber Cove!

 

This was a huge day, I'll try to keep it to 2 parts, but so much happened!

 

We had decided the night before that we needed better food than the skimpy room service breakfast.  Getting up early we reserved a table at the MDR for breakfast instead of our normal balcony tradition.  Much like dinner the night before, we had a table almost immediately, and made our way to the dining room to eat.  Jake ordered the vanilla french toast, while I ordered the avocado toast and we each ordered a yogurt parfait (filled with nuts, dried fruits and other things) as well as coffee and grapefruit juice.  

 

Breakfast arrived quickly and was really quite good, especially the avocado toast.  Much like the night before, there were very few people taking advantage of the MDR, and instead were packing lido deck.  Service was fantastic yet again, and we agreed that we may have found our preferred place to dine for the rest of the week.  

 

As soon as we got out of the dining room, "Donkey" the CD announced that we'd docked early (about an hour) and that we could get off the ship whenever we pleased.  We went back to the room and packed up to get ready for our Carnival excursion "Waterfalls of Damajagua." It was interesting to note that we tried to go on this excursion on the Magic several year ago, but bad weather caused us to skip this port.  In a weird twist of fate, we weren't scheduled to even be in Amber Cove when we booked the Horizon, but it replaced Grand Cayman when they decided not to allow cruise ships until 2022.  

 

Due to being so early, we had some time to walk around the port a little before finding our excursion group.  There are a ton of cabana rentals near the water, a nice pool area and a nice little shopping area.  It sorta reminded us of Mahogany Bay, but a "light" version of it without a beach.  

 

The wait for the group was typical and we got on an air conditioned bus for a 20 minute ride out to the location.  We noted that the releases were fairly extreme, making sure you understood you really could die, and it wouldn't be their fault.  We were a bit curious when we saw an elderly couple (mid 80's) board the bus for the excursion as well.  

 

When we got off the bus, we struck up a conversation with a person who soon identified themselves as a member of Carnival's "Fun Squad" on the ship, and using their day off to take an excursion they really wanted to do.  I'm not identifying them in this post, as I'm not entirely sure some of what they said was entirely ok with Carnival (more on that in a bit).

 

The excursion was an absolute blast.  We hiked up a small mountain trail for about 40 minutes, then came upon a mountain river with waterfalls cascading down it.  Some of them are formed neat natural waterslides, while others forced you to cliff jump next to them.  We soon understood the reason for the safety equipment, lengthy waiver and multiple guides making sure you jumped in exactly the right spot.  We stuck close to our Fun Squad friend and watched in shock as the elderly couple walked every inch of the trail that we did, slid down every slide and jumped down every jump.  Absolute life goals!  I hope we can do that when we are their age!  We enjoyed ourselves and even bought the overpriced photos on a USB stick so we would have some memories.

 

On the bus ride back, we talked extensively with our Fun Squad friend, and they gave us a lot of cool and interesting information about working for Carnival, some of which I'll share here:

1) The Horizon was sailing at about 2,500 people, which was typical for several of the 6 day journeys.  8 day trips and holidays were a little more full, but not by a lot. 

2) They spent a lot of time talking about the odd dynamic of being at work 24/7.  Your friends are also your co-workers, and no matter how close you think you are, they are also vying for the exact same career opportunities as you are, so you can never entirely open up. 

3)Our new friend was extremely excited to be cruising again, but was feeling the effects of what appears to be an easier path to anger by many guests.  When asked what they wished all passengers would understand, they simply replied "that we are human too" and talked about a guest that was literally trying to get them kicked off the ship at the next port, all because they thought bingo was rigged. 

4) I was a little proud to hear that in their opinion, as well as many of the crew they worked with, that Carnival has a higher ethical standard than the other major cruise lines.  This crew member had expressed a pretty high regard for conservation and saving the planet, so hearing that Carnival was making a better effort at that as well as taking care of its employees.  They did admit that there is a lot of ground yet to cover, but they felt better about working for Carnival than it's competitors. 

5) One of the more interesting things they talked about, is how a ship can very much have a "hive mind" mentality, and the crew tends to get a sense of the passengers within the first day.  They admitted that each group of passengers (guests) is very different, and the crew tends to react too.  Sometimes crew and staff will be more guarded and more on edge, while other times they have to try and enforce rules, and other times passengers seem more laid back allowing them to open up more.  Given the in depth conversation we were having, we assumed this cruise was the latter.

 

Rather sheepishly, the crew member admitted that they really wanted pictures, but hadn't brought enough to pay for the USB drive (I think it was $55.00).  The drive had all the pictures from the entire group on it.  They offered to pay us $20.00 to borrow the USB drive and copy pics to their computer.  I tried to reject the money, but they felt it wouldn't be right and insisted on payment.  We allowed them to borrow the drive, then wandered around the port a little bit before getting hungry.

 

Prices in the port for food were too expensive, and we thought the ship might be a little more entertaining as well.  With no need to buy anything further, we headed back to the Horizon for lunch.

 

Up next: Waterfall pics, then part 2!

[Indytraveler83]

This is one of the awesome clearings that the river carves out of the mountain.

On the left, you can see where people are jumping down into the water (they move the groups out of the way first).

Here we are at the end of one of the short slides, water coming down our backs as we pose!

[Indytraveler83]

Amber Cove Pt. 2:

 

Arriving back on the Horizon, we changed and I placed an order on the Hub for lobster rolls at Seafood Shack.  We got to the aft pool area of the ship and Jake got pizza while I picked up my order, then got a mudslide from the bar.  The lobster rolls were fairly good, but I also didn't really understand how two small portions of lobster on toasted bread was worth $12.00.  Jake gladly ate his free pizza.

 

While sitting there, a guy walked up to us and said he'd seen us applauding for the violin trio earlier, and envied our energy.  He started to strike up a conversation, then asked us what we thought about the ship.  After giving him mostly positive thoughts, he started going on a rant about how Carnival doesn't respect single travelers, and how much more NCL and RCI did for singles.  We started to tune him out, because while I understand the point, it doesn't really apply to us (if anything, we need a group rate when sailing with large family groups).  

 

Somewhere in tuning him out, he started dropping weird hints to us, and repeatedly mentioned how NCL caters meet and greets for the LGBTQ community.  He kept referring to getting people together, meeting "like minded people" and we soon realized he wanted more than conversation.  He reached for my hand to shake it, and I used it as an escape, letting him know it was sticky from my food, and I needed to go wash my hands.  Jake joined me in leaving, and we made sure not to return.  How creepy...

 

Instead, we went up and decided to try out the ropes course and the sky ride.  The sky ride was actually quite a bit more fun than we thought it would be, and the sun was starting to go down when we went across the back of the ship, giving us a great view of the sky.  We then tried the ropes course, and I realized about as soon as I got up there that I was petrified!  I was a little embarrassed as a few young children sped by on the course next to me, while I went in slow motion, terrified I'd end up falling on the deck below.  Jake somehow convinced me to try both courses, and I was slightly less terrified the second time around, but still was rather surprised at how hard I found it to be!

 

We went to dinner around 6, and found ourselves at the same table quite quickly again.  We had a nice conversation with our Lead waiter Nelson, and found out he'd been a wine steward when he originally started with Carnival.  He had a pretty extensive knowledge of wines, and knowing that we had Cheers, offered to let us try wines by the glass, and he'd help us find our favorites.  I honestly don't even entirely remember what we had for dinner, as he essentially gave us a private wine tour that night, which we enjoyed more than anything they put on the plate...

 

More pics, then sorry, Part 3! 

[Indytraveler83]

That's some serious avocado toast!

 

Our first chance  to see the Horizon without a terminal in the way. Notice we are all alone!

 

Sea turtle (statue):selfie!

[Indytraveler83]

After dinner, we noticed that the Aura pop duo was performing "all requests" in one of the aft lounges.  Impressed with the little bit we'd seen previously, we decided to take our wine glasses from the MDR to the performance, in the hopes of requesting a few songs.

 

When we arrived, there was a small group of people near the bar, politely chatting with each other about the day, but paying no attention to the musicians.  We grabbed one of the request books and started listing songs we wanted to hear.  To our surprise, while a few others sat down, no one else made any requests.  We felt strange when we handed them a handful of songs (about 15), but they were very graceful, and since we had made the only requests, they arranged our songs in the order they wanted to play them, then spent the next hour playing just our requests as we drank wine, sang along and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  It felt like a little private concert that Carnival was putting on just for us!

 

As we neared their break, several other requests started to come in, and we decided to head to the piano bar to get seats early.  We thanked them as soon as they started their break, and headed off to get seats in the piano bar about 30 minutes early.  To our surprise, another piano player was playing.  We soon learned that much like the comedians, there were double the piano players on the ship, and Jeffrey Muntz was playing from about 5:30 to 8:45.  Jeffrey doesn't sing much during his sets, instead playing a mix of covers and original music while the doors between the steakhouse and the piano bar remained open.

 

When his set was over, he struck up a conversation with the small group of us sitting there, and we learned that not only was he a talented musician, but also an author working on his second book. A wanna be author myself, I talked with him a little bit more, wondering how he had time to compose music and write books.  At some point, Jake snuck off with him and had a little chat, coming back with a gifted and signed copy of Jeffrey's first book, with some words of encouragement inside the cover.  How cool!

 

As Eden made his way in and got the set started, we started to form our "group" with about 5 other couples that were all very enthusiastic about Eden's show.  He'd previously announced how much he hates playing "Sweet Caroline" despite the fact it gets requested every night.  So of course, each of us put in a request, and made sure it was the top 10 requests he had sitting on the piano when he came in.  We thought he was about to jump overboard!

 

Mid way through the show, Jake got up to use the restroom.  Remember all that wine we'd been sipping that night?  Well upon his return, he misjudged the doorway and walked directly into one of the glass panels instead!  Everyone heard a loud "THUMP" that almost caused Eden to stop playing.  Jake retreated in embarrassment as his glasses cut open his face in a few places, and it dripped down his face.  It was a while before he slid back into the piano bar, tail firmly tucked between his legs.

 

The night ended with the large group of us going up to the "nightclub" hosted on the Serenity deck.  Despite two swollen red spots on his face that still threatened to bleed, Jake danced the night away, and we are still hoping that the videos taken that night never find their way to our social media circles... 

 

Up next: Second sea day!

[Indytraveler83]

Day 4: Sea Day #2!

 

We woke up rather late (for us) on this day, around 9am.  Deciding to repeat our dining room experience, we found our way back into the dining room for breakfast (or seaday brunch as Carnival calls it).  This menu is slightly different than the port day breakfasts and features "breakfast burgers" as well as several other things that weren't really appropriate for our stomachs at 9am.  We had a bit of an odd experience at first.  The assistant waiter that brought us to our table seemed distracted as soon as we walked over with him.  He grabbed Jake's chair as if to pull it out, then ended up staring off into space for a while.  I sat down on my own, and Jake eventually was able to get seated himself, the waiter still distracted.  He offered us coffee without making eye contact, then left, never to be seen again.

 

Thankfully our head waiter noticed we hadn't been served, and quickly got our breakfast service back on track.  Jake got the steak and eggs, and was delighted to find out they used the filet mignon cut for the steak!  It wasn't as good as the MDR (or steakhouse) variety, but is a far cry above what is normal provided for steak and eggs.  I got the huevos rancheros, which were pretty good, but nothing particularly memorable either.  While we were eating, we saw a uniformed officer station himself near our table watching the servers, and couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with our disappearing assistant waiter.  

 

After breakfast, we changed and found ourselves back up on the Serenity deck, which was starting to get full at around 10 am.  I started reading the book I had been gifted the night before, and Jake pulled out headphones, putting us both hard at work relaxing.  At one point I drifted off to sleep.  Then suddenly:

 

"SHAWN!"  I jumped up, thinking Jake had yelled it.  He had been dozing too, and was looking around now.

"SEAN!  SHAWN!  SHAAAAAAAWN!"  came the yell.  We soon came to realize there was a rather intoxicated man wandering the deck looking for his friend, who unfortunately shared my name.  He was attempting to impress some women he'd just met, and was desperate to find his wingman.

"SHHHHHAAAAWWWWNNN!!!!!"

It went on for over an hour, even after her found "Shawn" (or Sean or Shawn).  Every story started with that man's name, every sentence, every utterance "Hey SHAWN!!"  Thankfully the bar staff started ignoring this man, swiftly walking right by him without asking him if he wanted yet another round.  Shawn himself eventually grew tired and headed off to his cabin, and his friend decided to follow.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon in relative peace on the Serenity deck, but angry clouds started to roll in right before dinnertime, causing the ship to start to move a little more than it had most of the trip.  We spent a few minutes in the casino, trying to do just enough to keep the casino offers coming for us on future bookings.  Jake ended up ahead by $4.00, while I lost $20.00.  I wouldn't have really cared, but a woman next to me won a $350 minor jackpot, while the slot machine slowly ate the money I fed it, which was a little discouraging, but aw well!

 

Dinner was yet another wine tour, though Jake and I had narrowed to our favorites,  The table next to us filled in for the first time, and we actually had good conversation with the family next to us, sharing stories about our dogs back him and about what we'd each done in Amber Cove.  They'd all stated that the rocking of the ship was really starting to bother them, and it showed when the barely touched their own dinners.  Through the night we heard several people complain about the movement of the ship, but after riding out a pretty good storm on the Elation, and endless choppy waters in the Magic, this seemed like pretty normal sailing to us.

 

We arrived in the piano bar early so we could hear Jeffrey play for a while, and it was particularly good, if not entirely different than Eden's show.  Throughout both of the shows, we found Mignon the main bartender at the piano bar to be funny and particularly talented as she started whipping up her own drink concoctions for us that would rival anything in the Alchemy bar (which was far too full every night to even dream about visiting).  

 

At the end of Eden's show, we stopped and talked to him a little more, where he opened up about his personal life a little bit, something that had started to seem regular on this cruise, even though we've barely experienced it in past cruises.  At the end of a pretty cool discussion, he'd mentioned that the next cruise (occurring right now) would be his last on this current contract. 

 

We asked him what he was going to do after this contract, and he stated that first he intended to take the holidays off.  He said he didn't mind staying away from home too much during the year, but he really did like going home for the holiday season, and likely wouldn't start his next contract until after Christmas.  We then asked him about where he was going, and he said he didn't really know.  Apparently Carnival has made it known to him that they intend to outbid anyone else for his services, but those other companies hadn't started bidding yet, so he didn't have any definitive answers yet.  However, he didn't seem very worried about it and figured he'd find himself onboard another Carnival ship in January.    

 

Tired and wanting to be sure we saved up some energy for Half Moon Cay, we retreated to the room with some pizza, with the intention of having a quick snack and heading to bed before 1 am.  We ended up on the balcony chatting and enchanted by the dark water just beyond our reach, and before we knew it 2:30 had arrived and we were still awake.  Knowing we'd never make it to breakfast, we quickly filled out a room service card and finally got to bed a little after 3 am.

 

Up next: Pictures and then Half Moon Cay!

[Indytraveler83]

Heavy clouds rolled in just before sunset.

Our towel animal collection grows!

Not the best picture, but our regular view at the piano bar.

Silly piano bar selfie!