Review of Horizon 8 Day Southern Caribbean 3/19/22

[mdin]

I just got back last week from an 8 day Southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Horizon and figured it might be fun to try this review thing. I'll try to post some of our experiences during this cruise over the next few days, occasionally adding some pictures as well.

My wife and I are 30-somethings from Connecticut cruising for the first time since February 2019 (also on Horizon). This was my 7th Carnival cruise, and my wife's 6th. We are pretty easy going, like to lounge around with a drink and relax. We are generally beach people, so when we cruise, beach excursions are usually our first choice.
 

Pre-cruise
We did our covid tests on Wednesday at CVS and then uploaded our results to Verifly. We flew in directly from Hartford to Miami on Friday. We arrived around 10:30am so we had all day to enjoy a little bit of Miami. We dropped off our luggage at the Bestern Western Miami Airport North and took an Uber to South Beach. We ate lunch at Havana Vieja Cuban Restaurant (excellent) and then walked the boardwalk at South Beach. We got to the southern end just in time to see Carnival Conquest and Norwegian Pearl leaving port. Very cool experience to see. Later that night, we Ubered to Mayami Mexicantina in Wynwood (also very good) for dinner and drinks and then called it a night.

Carnival Sensation, Norwegian Pearl, and Carnival Conquest 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by mdin

[mdin]

Food at Havana Vieja Cuban Restaurant 

 

Drinks at Mayami Mexicantina 

[cxr133]

Following going on the Horizon end of June 🙂

[Indiansbaseball]

Those food dishes look amazing ! What exactly are they ? I’m assuming the last pic is a Cuban Sandwich !

[mdin]

35 minutes ago, Indiansbaseball said:

Those food dishes look amazing ! What exactly are they ? I’m assuming the last pic is a Cuban Sandwich !

Yes, the first main dish is Ropa Vieja and the second is a Cuban sandwich. The Ropa Vieja was delicious and my wife really enjoyed the sandwich. 

[mdin]

Embarkation
After breakfast we took the hotel shuttle ($12 each) to Port Miami. We had the 12-12:30p boarding time and arrived at the cruise terminal at 11:45a. From curb to ship it took us about 15 minutes. Using Verifly turned out to be convenient and seemed to speed up the boarding process. We wore our N95 masks in the terminal until we boarded. Neither of us have any issues masking up when requested or when we feel it's safer to wear around a large crowd indoors. Fortunately, it was only needed a handful of times during the 8 days. Once boarded, we headed directly to our Muster Station on deck 3, Meridian Restaurant. We checked in and attended the demonstration. We also watched the short video on the Carnival Hub while we waited for the drill to start, but not sure if that's required or not. Very easy and hopefully here to stay.

 

Then it was time for our first drinks. We like to kick off our cruises with the Funship, it's become a tradition lol. We got the drinks from the Lido and then proceeded to aft, deck 11 to grab some chairs and enjoy the view and wait for our stateroom to be ready.

 

Funships

 

Disney Magic and Symphony of the Seas

[mdin]

Stateroom
We always sail in the basic interior staterooms. This cruise however, we booked an Havana interior stateroom on deck 7. Nice room layout and room decor, felt just as spacious as previous rooms we've stayed in. The best part were the Havana bracelets giving us access to the outdoor Havana area. Game changer! Props to our room steward Ketut for always having our room put together. We chose morning service and between the time we left the room and came back after breakfast he had taken care of the room already. Very friendly and hard working. Great service!

 

My wife did the the over the door shoe holder hack. Works perfectly!

Edited April 4, 2022 by mdin

[mdin]

Sailaway
After grabbing a bite to eat from Pig and Anchor we partook in sailaway with some drinks in Havana. We normally enjoy sailaway on Lido, but this was a new perspective doing it in the aft. Finally sailing again.

 

Pig and Anchor

 

Sailing away

[postal2011]

Following this.  On the same cruise in May.  Can you tell me which nights are formal dining?  wanting to make reservations for Teppanyaki.  Thanks

 

 

[mdin]

58 minutes ago, postal2011 said:

Following this.  On the same cruise in May.  Can you tell me which nights are formal dining?  wanting to make reservations for Teppanyaki.  Thanks

 

 

Ours was Sunday (1st sea day) and Friday.

[mdin]

Havana Area
So this was the first time staying in Havana for us, and we loved it. Easily our favorite area of the ship and where we spent the majority of our time this trip. There were always loungers or chairs available, while the pool and hot tubs were never full (only the 1st sea day was it somewhat busy in the area). The pool water was warmish, and the hot tubs were actually hot.

 

The staff were always friendly and very helpful. From handing us towels to taking our drink orders (the Cuban Iced Tea quickly became a favorite for both of us lol). Only the rotating door was working, and they had a staff member there checking for bracelets. Only Havana guests were allowed in. We will absolutely book Havana again next time on a Vista Class ship.

Cuban Iced Teas

 

Havana

 

Sunset as seen from Havana

[peteandpris]

Nice review thank you.

 

[mdin]

Bars
We drink, but didn't have the drink package. We decided that we would calculate our drink cost totals at the end so we would know if the drink package will be worth it for the next cruise. We ordered drinks anytime we wanted one, never held back.

We never had to wait very long to be served at any of the bars. We patroned many, but not all of them. We stuck to trying something from the menu at each respective bar so that we could try some new drinks as well as drinks we already knew we liked. Not a bad drink was had lol.

The spot that there was ever more than a few minutes wait was Alchemy. It's understandable considering some drinks there take considerably more time to make, plus it's the most popular bar on the ship. Annamaria and crew were phenomenal and this continues to be our favorite bar.

 

Martini Seduction and Deal Closer 

 

P.S. Our combined drink totals with 18% gratuities ended up being $150 less than had we paid for the drink package.

 

 

[2wheelin]

Do you recall uber price hotel to South Beach?

[atxlady]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:21 AM, mdin said:

Stateroom
We always sail in the basic interior staterooms. This cruise however, we booked an Havana interior stateroom on deck 7. Nice room layout and room decor, felt just as spacious as previous rooms we've stayed in. The best part were the Havana bracelets giving us access to the outdoor Havana area. Game changer! Props to our room steward Ketut for always having our room put together. We chose morning service and between the time we left the room and came back after breakfast he had taken care of the room already. Very friendly and hard working. Great service!

 

My wife did the the over the door shoe holder hack. Works perfectly!

Is that a door? Did she move the tile and hang it from there?

[mdin]

1 hour ago, 2wheelin said:

Do you recall uber price hotel to South Beach?

Around $25.

[mdin]

1 hour ago, atxlady said:

Is that a door? Did she move the tile and hang it from there?

It comes with hooks and is hung on the closet door.

[renza]

Love to hear more. Thank you

[mdin]

Fahrenheit 555
We ate here on the first day. We had reservations that we booked a few weeks prior. Food was very good overall. From the apps to the wagyu beef entrée we each ordered, everything was delicious. The cheesecake was big, but basic tasting. The service wasn't as good as we have received in the past. The waiter was friendly, but seemed to be rushing us from the start. I had picked a bottle of red wine, but it wasn't available and neither was the second. Meanwhile, she kept pushing us to take the free bottle, even though I mentioned I'd rather not. After being told they were out of the first couple selections, and feeling rushed, I gave in and took the free bottle. Now I know why it's free. Santa Helena. I suggest avoiding this wine if possible.

 

Kobe beef slider

 

Pork belly

 

Stuffed mushrooms

 

Wagyu beef

 

Cheesecake 

 

[mtns2sea]

Thanks for the review. Will be doing this cruise in August.

[mdin]

JiJi Asian Kitchen
Excellent! First time we ever ate here for dinner, and we really liked it. For the amount of food you get, and quality, I think it may be the best bang for your buck on the ship. The service was superb. We enjoyed it so much, we ate there again on our last night of the cruise.

 

Dumplings, Duck, Braised Short Ribs, Creme Brulee Crepes

Cucina del Capitano
So we are spoiled when it comes to Italian restaurants. We live in an area with a large Italian community and lots of established restaurants. We did try Cucina for the first time, and unfortunately the food was not very good. At least the dishes we ordered. I probably won't be going there again. However, the service was excellent and very friendly as usual.

 

BTW, sorry for the screenshot pics. I can't get the normal pic files to upload here at the moment.

[helene109]

On this cruise next month! Thanks for doing a review!

[rolloman]

Nice review...hoping for the casino report.

[mdin]

Pig and Anchor
We ordered some apps and a shared the platter of meats (the whole smoker) and it was very good. I'm not sure how it compares to regions with a strong BBQ game, but I enjoyed it. The porter from Thirsty Frog was very good as well. We spent about $60 in all.

 

Dragon Chili Cheese Fries

 

The Whole Smoker

 

Mashed Potatoes and Mac and Cheese

 

Banana Cream Pie

[mcgore83]

Great review so far!  Thank you for sharing!