Recently off the Horizon with a Havana patio room -- ask me [almost] anything!

[Pellaz]

So we recently debarked off the Horizon and I'm finally getting back to a normal schedule.   It was a strange experience because my car was rear-ended in Miami traffic just short of our pre-cruise hotel.  I tried not to let it get me down during the cruise and overall, it was a great cruise.  

 

We had a Havana patio room and were pleased by everything about it...except the soot we'd find on the exposed portion of the patio and the adjoining walkway.  To me it's not a dealbreaker but my friend John wasn't happy with it.  We've had balconies before, including aft extended balconies, but I don't remember seeing much soot before.  

 

Other observations....   

• The crew washed both sides of the glass partition along the Havana walkway (with a specially designed angled sprayer) so they didn't have any salt-spray buildup.  That was nice.  
• Patios contain a hanging chair, a lounger, a chair with a footrest/hassock, and a table.  
• The Havana area pool and hot-tubs were a bit more crowded than we were expecting, but still FAR better than the regular pools and hot-tubs.  Even the Serenity hot-tubs were jammed on sea-days.   Staff in the pool area (Roderick, Yoga, Fahrul), and the Havana bartenders (Jens, Jose Luis) were all excellent.  
• We'd heard that frozen fruit (red grapes, strawberry, cantaloupe, etc.) was brought around to patrons in the Havana area twice per day...and that was indeed true!  You'll have to exit the pool before imbibing, though.  No eating in the pool.    🙂  
• We had dry weather for most of the trip, which is good since the Vista class, with all of the outside "lanai" spaces,  really needs good weather.   Our previous sailing on the Vista wasn't so lucky.  
• We encountered a "small boat in distress" on the way back from Cozumel.   We circled back around to them (12 in a small boat) and they hastily got under power and declined assistance.  

 

Anyway, if you have any questions, fire away!  

 

 

 

[cruisemanross]

I'm on Horizon in beginning of December so have been monitoring the boards for a bit.

Did you notice any of the heat problems people are talking about?

How was the food? I've heard mixed reviews so just curious!

We have a Havana room so very glad to hear the crowdedness is much less than the other places!

Did you attend any of the main shows or comedy shows? How were the crowds?

Thanks 🙂

[Pellaz]

9 hours ago, cruisemanross said:

I'm on Horizon in beginning of December so have been monitoring the boards for a bit.

Did you notice any of the heat problems people are talking about?

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.  

 

9 hours ago, cruisemanross said:

How was the food? I've heard mixed reviews so just curious!

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.  

 

9 hours ago, cruisemanross said:

We have a Havana room so very glad to hear the crowdedness is much less than the other places!

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.  

 

9 hours ago, cruisemanross said:

Did you attend any of the main shows or comedy shows? How were the crowds?

Thanks 🙂

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.   

[cruisemanross]

Were the hot tubs/pool in the Havana open after dark? My wife and I enjoy sitting in the hot tub after dinner but I cannot find hours for the havana pool area anywhere!

[Guest BasicSailor]

DidJa swung in the swing😇

[Pellaz]

1 hour ago, cruisemanross said:

Were the hot tubs/pool in the Havana open after dark? My wife and I enjoy sitting in the hot tub after dinner but I cannot find hours for the havana pool area anywhere!

 

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.   

 

 

 

[Pellaz]

1 hour ago, BasicSailor said:

DidJa swung in the swing😇

 

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.  😄  

[CruiserLucas]

Thanks for this topic and sharing your thoughts and answering questions! Horizon was our favorite ship so far with Carnival, and the Havana Bar our favorite bar. I'm considering getting a Havana Cabana room on Panorama in the future; is that the same as the "patio" room you described? It's where you have a fenced in area along the walkway, right? Not a private balcony; unless they're two different kinds of rooms? What did you think of that if it was the public walkway area? We like private relaxation on the balcony, so not sure if we would be comfortable with the more public seating area. lol I saw those on Horizon and wasn't sure about it, but having access to the rest of the Havana areas makes it enticing... lol

Edited October 21, 2022 by CruiserLucas

[Pellaz]

On 10/21/2022 at 4:20 PM, CruiserLucas said:

Thanks for this topic and sharing your thoughts and answering questions! Horizon was our favorite ship so far with Carnival, and the Havana Bar our favorite bar. I'm considering getting a Havana Cabana room on Panorama in the future; is that the same as the "patio" room you described?

Yes, sorry, I used "patio" but it's called a "cabana."   It's a bit confusing since when I think of a cabana, I think of the ones you can rent at HMC, Grand Turk or Amber Cove that are solid structures on 3 sides.  

On 10/21/2022 at 4:20 PM, CruiserLucas said:

It's where you have a fenced in area along the walkway, right? Not a private balcony; unless they're two different kinds of rooms? What did you think of that if it was the public walkway area? We like private relaxation on the balcony, so not sure if we would be comfortable with the more public seating area. lol I saw those on Horizon and wasn't sure about it, but having access to the rest of the Havana areas makes it enticing... lol

You don't have as much privacy as a balcony on the side of the ship, that's for sure.  About half of your patio (cabana area) is covered, but the outer portion is not, and that part is visible to folks from above.  You can also see your Havana neighbors along the same side if they're in the farther out part of the patio, and you get fairly occasional folks using the walkway between your patio and the glass wall.   The walkway SHOULD only be accessible to Havana patrons.

 

That being said, we really enjoyed our patio -- aside from the soot, and the fact that the sliding patio door is VERY hard to get moving.   And the usually uncrowded Havana hot tubs and pool in back were a sharp contrast to the rest of the ship, where even the Serenity hot-tubs were overrun.   Also, the service we had from the Havana deck crew was great.    Also-also....no kids!  🙂  

 

 

[havanadaydreaming]

Love the Horizon.  i cant quantify why we like it better than Panorama,Breeze, Magic....but we do!