A Halloween Escape on the Horizon

[Indytraveler83]

19 hours ago, Horizon2021 said:

Heading out on this cruise in the near future and haven't left out of Port Miami since before Uber existed. As I'm Ubering to Port Miami myself, how do you know what letter cruise terminal to go to?

 

Typically Carnival goes out of terminal D, but not always. Miami is not my favorite port, so it can be a bit confusing.  Thankfully, the location of the ship is pretty obvious as you approach, so you may have to ask the driver to change the terminal at the last second if it isn't D.

[Indytraveler83]

16 hours ago, ledges1 said:

I was on this cruise. I would have preferred to stay in Curacao a few more hours and skipped La Romano. Not worth the port charges. The cruise ship backs into a big ditch to dock.

 

Honestly I agree.  While we loved our excursion there, we could have done it from Amber Cove and saved quite a bit of drive time.  

 

Curacao was beautiful and I wish it woulda been a 9pm port rather than Aruba as well.

[Indytraveler83]

Day 8: Our final Sea day

 

We opened the day very homesick.  It's been a long journey with a lot going on back home, so we struggled to keep our heads on vacation (very unlike us).  

 

Breakfast went well, and we headed to the open decks for a spot in the sun to relax.  We quickly grew tired of some loud politically motivated conversations and instead decided to retreat to the balcony for a quiet day.

 

Here we took full advantage of our closeness to the atrium bar and walked glasses of wine back to our balcony and listened to the waves.  

 

 

Dinner was awesome, and the staff was friendly and seemed genuinely sad for us to go.  We closed down the atrium when the music stopped and headed to bed for our last night at sea.

 

A few notes from the day:

 

We saw several biohazard bags in the hallway, which was concerning.  In addition to heavy cleaning with loud carpet scrubbing machines, it seemed like something else more serious was going on.

 

Security was very high profile, but dining venues, bars and other places seemed short staffed.  Something was definitely a little amiss, but we never figured out quite what it was.

 

Next up: A very wild travel day

[Indytraveler83]

Debarkation day:

 

Getting off the ship was easy.  We were asked to leave our rooms by 8 am, rather than 8:30, which we thought have to do with the water/cleaning issues l, but our zone was called right at 8, so we didn't mind.  

 

Leaving the ship was simple with the new face scanning Homeland Security system, and we found ourselves in the taxi line quickly. Carnival did a great job of getting us here, but then it all went wrong.

 

We got into the taxi, that still clearly had a window full of flat rates.  From seaport to airport was $27.00, so we were rather shocked when the taxi driver asked us for $40 cash+tip.  We pointed out the sign, and asked he drive us for the advertised rate.  Instead he slammed on the gas, nearly hitting a port worker.  Freaked out, we repeatedly asked to get out of the cab, but he continued to accelerate while yelling at us. After a crazy few minutes, we grew quiet while he ripped through traffic yelling the entire way.  Eventually we got to the airport, where he again demanded cash.  Instead we used a credit card on the terminal mounted to the seat then had to repeatedly ask that he unlock the doors.  

 

We seriously debated reporting it to Miami PD, but ended up filing a complaint instead (no way we were coming back to Miami for court).  A few days later, they discounted our fare to the $27 (still haven't received the refund check) and told us he has been disciplined.  I pressed for more, but they said I'd need to fill out a police report in person.  

 

Back to the airport, we got through the Spirit terminal quickly, but Miami once again seemed to forget that cruises were unloading into the airport, and seemed to forget to open more than ONE security checkpoint for the WHOLE airport.  We were directed to a closed security checkpoint that was opened nearly an hour later.  

 

Sorry... But every time I've used that airport, they seem shocked and confused by the volume of passengers they get EVERY WEEKEND, as if it's some one off event.  

 

Our flight was bumpy, made worse by two children who had decided to re-enact a WWE wrestling event in the seats behind us, and whose mother would only mutter a very weak "No.  Please.  Don't do that." whenever asked to correct their behavior. 

 

Driving back from Chicago to South Bend is never a treat, but a Notre Dame game was letting out as we got close to the city, making traffix that much worse.

 

"Aren't we supposed to be relaxed after vacation?" Jake asked, blue knuckles on the steering wheel.

"Not this time," I replied. 

 

Up next: Final thoughts 

[Indytraveler83]

Final thoughts:

 

There's always a lot of talk about cutbacks and the "old" way of cruising.  I've seen a lot of people write here that many folks don't know what they are missing from before.  

 

I'm gonna be honest: I've enjoyed my last two cruises more than any before.  Here's why:

 

1) Carnival has either eliminated or seriously shortened lines to almost everything.  Prior cruises were always marked by annoyance with lines to get on/off the ship, lines to get food, lines to get into venues, to get drinks, etc etc.  We barely stood in line for anything.  

 

2) I really am enjoying the shift to more types of food and drinks.  The specialty restaurants, the micro brewery onboard and the overall variety of things to eat and drink is phenomenal.  

 

3) The added things.  Quietly, it seems like the food and drink menus are expanding in specialty places. In addition, the ship is crammed with musicians and entertainers.  This just works for us.

 

4) The biggest point that makes me enjoy Carnival is the staff.  With only a few rare exceptions, they are the friendliest people you will meet.  

 

A few other random thoughts:

 

1) We've decided to start booking near the atrium from now on.  The convenience for getting on and off the ship, as well as being able to visit the atrium bar to bring back drinks to our room was a benefit we never thought about before.  

 

2) While I really do love much of what Carnival is doing recently, there are some annoying maintenance issues (like the hot/cold issues and the plumbing) that seem like they never are able to fully tackle.  Wish they could improve here.

 

3) We sail on the Valor in January.  I'm very interested in how our experiences compare, going onto a much older ship. (Standby for that review!)

 

And finally:

 

I may never sail out of Miami again.  The airport is the worst I've ever been to,  and the entire city seems set on ripping as much money from your hands as possible, legal or not.  Tampa, Orlando and even New Orleans are far more reasonable places to travel.

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed my review.  Let me know if you have questions, thoughts or I'd you sailed with me, how your experiences compared!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We're taking the same cruise, but in July.  Also with a cove balcony, but in a family harbor suite, so hopefully they fix the plumbing issues by then! Love the balcony pic you posted. We're looking forward to sitting right on the water.

 

For Romana, we're considering the monkey and flavors excursion, also. How long of a bus ride was it each way, and between the two stops as well?  How much time did you spend at the two stops?

 

Was there anything else you were considering for Romana?

 

We have the other ports planned out, but Romana is proving difficult.

 

 

[Indytraveler83]

7 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

We're taking the same cruise, but in July.  Also with a cove balcony, but in a family harbor suite, so hopefully they fix the plumbing issues by then! Love the balcony pic you posted. We're looking forward to sitting right on the water.

 

For Romana, we're considering the monkey and flavors excursion, also. How long of a bus ride was it each way, and between the two stops as well?  How much time did you spend at the two stops?

 

Was there anything else you were considering for Romana?

 

We have the other ports planned out, but Romana is proving difficult.

 

 

The bus ride each way at La Romana was about an hour and a half.  We spent about five and a half hours off the ship, so I'd say we spent a little over an hour at each stop.

 

On one hand, it was cool to see the city and much of the Dominican Republic, but on the other hand the same tour is available at Amber Cove with a lot less driving.

 

La Romana doesn't have a ton to offer, but we did consider one of the beach break excursions or going to a private beach club.  I've heard they are a really nice choice but don't know exactly what to recommend. 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

3 hours ago, Indytraveler83 said:

The bus ride each way at La Romana was about an hour and a half.  We spent about five and a half hours off the ship, so I'd say we spent a little over an hour at each stop.

 

On one hand, it was cool to see the city and much of the Dominican Republic, but on the other hand the same tour is available at Amber Cove with a lot less driving.

 

La Romana doesn't have a ton to offer, but we did consider one of the beach break excursions or going to a private beach club.  I've heard they are a really nice choice but don't know exactly what to recommend. 

Thanks.  I think that's too much of a bus ride for us (with kids) for such a short time at the stops.

 

I looked into the beach days, but with 5 of us, they are a bit pricy for the relatively short amount of time we'd get given the port schedule.  With only about 3.5 hours at the beach after transit time, AI is really a waste of money, as we'd only want a light snack and a drink.

 

We have busy days planned at the other 3 ports, so I think we'd be OK with staying on the ship.

[Indytraveler83]

2 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Thanks.  I think that's too much of a bus ride for us (with kids) for such a short time at the stops.

 

I looked into the beach days, but with 5 of us, they are a bit pricy for the relatively short amount of time we'd get given the port schedule.  With only about 3.5 hours at the beach after transit time, AI is really a waste of money, as we'd only want a light snack and a drink.

 

We have busy days planned at the other 3 ports, so I think we'd be OK with staying on the ship.

The Horizon has a lot to do.  Port days are a great time to explore the usual busy stuff, like the waterslides, ropes course, etc.

[Pellaz]

Thanks for the review!   We're on a similar itinerary (swapping Curacao for Bonaire, I think) on Horizon in October.  

 

I agree with you about Carnival's numerous offerings for food, especially at lunchtime and especially the included options.  Nearly every ship seems to have Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, a stir-fry option, etc.   I was watching a certain cruise Youtuber on a recent large Royal ship saying "..so we went back out for more pizza before dinner, since we were still hungry and that's basically the only option" and I thought "wow, on any Carnival ship you'd also have at least 2 or 3 other options besides pizza."   😄  

 

Also agreed about Miami.  We got rear-ended in traffic just ten minutes shy of our pre-cruise hotel (my car barely avoided being totaled), and my airport experiences haven't been great there, either.  I much prefer Port Everglades or Port Canaveral.  

 

Regarding your taxi ride, I'd have been calling 911 from the taxi.  That is an astonishing story.   Locking the doors so you can't exit is tantamount to kidnapping. 

 

Looking at our available shore excursions, La Romana appears to be a bust; I'll probably wander off the ship, take a look around, go back, and get free lunch. 

Amber Cove used to have some awesome all-inclusive deals (the "Secluded Villa" one, at $100/pp, was actually even worth it), but this time I grabbed the last remaining Hillside Cabana; everything else was taken.  If a Poolside or Ocean Cabana opens up, I'll grab it instead.  

Aruba and Bonaire both have snorkeling excursions that look good for me.   Whew!  

 

Our room is currently a balcony literally right next to the Lido bars, so we'll have proximity.  😄   However, if a Havana cabana opens up, we'll jump on it.  We loved it last October.