Willdra's Heavenly Carnival Horizon Apr. 29-May 7 Cruise Review

[willdra]

Everyone was checked in and we left around 10:38. They like passengers to make a lot of noise on this excursion. There are maracas in the windows of the bus for that reason. Crazy.

 

Carlos was our captain and guide for the day. He gave us detailed history of the island as we drove around. He played music and sang a lot. He had a decent singing voice so I didn’t mind.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Our first stop was The Chapel of our Lady of Alto Vista. We had 15 minutes there. It was a small but popular spot. There were vendors out, and you could purchase souvenirs and maybe snacks. There was also a large dog minding his own canine business, while laying on the side of the chapel. Before Carlos could stop the bus good, people were asking about the dog, and then going over to try to pet him. Look man. You don’t know nothing about this dog. This is a foreign country. He’s got a setup that you are not familiar with. Don’t be mad when you get a rare form of people parvovirus, or you turn into the American Werewolf in Aruba, from petting stray foreign dogs. Incidentally, if either of those 2 things happen, you can’t ride back on the bus or ship with us, for obvious reasons. No shade. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Aruba is dry and dehydrated. The thirst was real. 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After spending 15-20 minutes at the chapel, the California Lighthouse was our second stop. It was so nice up there, with a good breeze blowing. We had 15 minutes at that stop. At 20 minutes after(yes 5 bonus minutes), the bus was ready to go. Somebody yelled out that we were missing 2 people. Carlos blew the horn, and 2 people slowly walked on. Then he started to leave, but somebody yelled again that we were missing 2 more people. This time he started to pull off, and I could tell he was irritated. Can’t blame him. We drove down the road a little, turned around, and went back for them. They were in their own little world, walking turtle slow, like they had all the time they wanted. When they finally boarded, Carlos told us that he was on a strict schedule. He had to drop us off at Arashi Beach by 12:30 because he was picking up the 8:30 tour to take them back to the ship then. He said that he hated to be late. I don’t blame him. Be courteous. Be on time. Why is this difficult?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rwest898]

We are considering this excursion so I'm glad to hear your thoughts in it.

[willdra]

Arashi Beach was gorgeous. That same wind met me at the beach, and kept me company all day. I welcomed it. Our beach chairs were included in the excursion but the umbrellas were $20. We were only going to be there 2 hours so we found a palapa and situated our chairs in the shade with 2 other couples. W and I took a few pictures, then I sat in my chair enjoying the quiet and cool breeze. I really didn’t move after that until my alarm went off at 2:20 signaling time to get ready to leave. As promised, Carlos was right on time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

On the way back, we drove thru the hotel areas then down to Eagle Beach honking and yelling at people as we passed them. It was fun to be loud for no reason. It was also funny when someone didn’t wave back, and a lady on our bus would yell “say hello, that’s rude!”. Ok maybe you had to be there. I promise it was funny when it happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We pulled back into port around 3. When we got to our cabin, the first thing that I did was change my shoes. Chaco was a ”no go”. They didn’t really get any better. We were hungry by then too, so we dropped off our backpacks, then went up to Lido to see what we could get. I got a burger from GBJ and a salad. W got a burrito bowl from Blue Iguana. Sorry my phone was dying so I forgot to bring it to take pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MzShae]

Thanks for the pics of Aruba. When we went in 2017, we didn't get to see anything beyond the port because of lack of options for the disabled. Unfortunately, my husband passed away. But I hope to get back to Aruba one day and see it.

[willdra]

W and I decided to go back out to peruse the shops after we ate. We walked down pretty far to the Marketplace. The Starbucks was our destination. W needed to download a book that he forgot about on his Kindle, and I wanted to see if they had the Aruba mug. When we walked in the store, they had the mug so I loaded up my Starbucks card to get it. When I went to pay, the barista said they didn’t take the Starbucks card. Heh? I forgot some of them are like that in different countries. Alright. I knew that I could use the gift card elsewhere so I paid with my credit card. I try not to use the actual card whenever possible. If there is a tap option I will pay with my phone. Nothing is impossible, but I think it’s less likely that my card will be cloned if I use Apple Pay. It’s so sad that we have to be concerned about this stuff when traveling, but that’s precisely when the bad guys strike. When we are having a good time and our guard is low. Tsk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

From there we walked back down towards the ship. There are lots of shops along the way. We saw one called “I♥️Aruba” that looked reputable, so we stopped in there. I did end up getting a few gifts at that shop. I didn’t see anything else that caught my fancy, so we went back to the ship.

 

I was getting drowsy with every step that we took towards 7291. It was time to remedy my non nap taking situation. W said he was going to the pool, and he would be back at 7:00. That gave me about 2 hours to knock out. I was all the way there for it. I snatched the curtains closed as fast as I could, and went in.

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

When W came back I was not ready to wake up. I took my time and slow rolled out of that soft comfortable bed. W had run into AG and BG and told them we would go to dinner with them at 7:40. That was late for them, but they went for it. I guess they got impatient, BG checked us all in at 7:20ish.  W told them we needed more time, so they said ”later potato”. They canceled our table and rebooked for the 2 of them. That’s what I love about Your Time Dining. You go on Your Time. It’s also good to travel with family who are ok going on their own. We don’t have to be joined at the hip to have a good time. Thank God.

 

W checked us back into the app, and we were out the door around 7:45. We were seated upon arrival, and we ordered quickly. I ordered Shrimp Cocktail, Mango Cream, Fried Chicken, and Bitter n Blanc. I also ordered a Rum Punch and W ordered a Blue Moon. While we waited for our food, we talked about this and that. It was cool to just relax and enjoy doing nothing. I quickly browsed the “what’s happening” section of the app to see what there was to do other than the Silent Party at 11. There’s no way I would be awake for it, if there was nothing else to do after dinner. W wanted to do beer pong but that was a "heck no" for me.

 

 When the food arrived, it was decent. We had the other steakhouse registration on Thursday night but it easily could’ve been this night. Oh well, maybe I’ll eat less tonight and lose another pound. #winning but not really.

 

After AG and BG finished eating, they came and sat with us. AG said she was exhausted and she was going to bed. BG needed to find his Sail and Sign Card. He had no idea where it was, nor the last time he had it. Hmm. Sounds like someone else that I know(W). He said he would join W later in the casino, cuz he wanted W to show him how to play craps. Possibly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

Is it me or is this shrimp cocktail shrinking?

 

 

 

Well what do you know? A spoon! They do exist!

 

 

[willdra]

W and I decided on Adult Trivia which started at 9:30. We had an hour to wait after dinner. It was crazy still being in port so late. I wonder if that’s why there weren’t that many activities going on. Maybe look at that, Carnival. I’ll bet most people were back on board, and bored already. See what I did there?

 

Adult Trivia was fun, but I prolly wouldn’t stay up to do it, or choose it over any other activity. It was interesting, but most of the questions led to wild guesses. At least that’s how it was for us. It's also possible that we are as smart as a pair of stale seaweed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

After that we went to make a pit stop at the cabin. We thought the Silent Party was on the Lido so we went there next. When we got up there, we saw that Wakanda Forever was still playing, and only about halfway thru. Hmmm. W thought that was off, so he checked the app and the Silent Party was actually in the Limelight Lounge. Where we just were for the Adult Trivia. Fabulous. So we burned a couple more calories going back down there.

 

The Silent Party started at 11, and we were there at 10:30. W didn’t want to take the chance of me falling asleep, so he kept me as far away from the cabin as he could. He was not wrong.

 

This time since the party was in the lounge, we didn’t have to use our cards to sign out the headphones. They just gave them to us, but we had to turn them in prior to leaving. They were checking ID tho, to make sure everyone was 18.

 

The Silent Party was still tons of fun. It’s a great way to dance off some calories from all of the warm chocolate melting cake and ice cream (among other things). I love watching people get into the songs, and especially those who may not normally dance. One guy out there was looking like he was having a stroke, but he didn’t care how he looked. He just kept getting his groove on. Yessss! I loved that for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

The party only lasted an hour and it went by quick. When it wrapped up, we handed over the headphones at the door, then went back to the cabin.

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God that Grumpy Snuffleupagus evicted himself in a timely manner. If he hadn’t, I would’ve needed to receive his half of the cruise fare, or else I was turning him in as a stow away. Nobody invited him, nor appreciated his presence. Disrespectfully, get out and stay out sir! Amen.

 

Side note: I normally take screenshots of the PDF version of the FunTimes by clicking on the link in the hub. For whatever reason, on this cruise, they didn't update them everyday, and we didn't always receive a paper copy. That's why I don't have all of them. I think maybe the crew hadn't gotten back in the habit of updating and distributing them regularly yet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

41 minutes ago, MzShae said:

Thanks for the pics of Aruba. When we went in 2017, we didn't get to see anything beyond the port because of lack of options for the disabled. Unfortunately, my husband passed away. But I hope to get back to Aruba one day and see it.

 

Oh no, I'm so sorry for your loss! Aruba is breathtakingly beautiful. It's one of the rare destinations that I would consider taking a flight to. 🤗