LIVE from the Horizon - July 8 - 16 - We’re finally back at sea!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Hello all!  This is my first attempt at a LIVE trip report.  It may have something to do with the fact that this will be the first cruise where we’ve gotten a wi-if package.  Hopefully it goes well, and, more importantly, you all enjoy following along with us.

 

I am writing this from the comfort of a wonderfully comfortable bed at the Hyatt, Dania Beach, with Guy’s Diners and Dives playing on the TV. But, let’s go back in time a bit before going forward from here.

 

In August 2019 we booked a Journeys cruise on the Radiance out of NYC.  9 nights.  Over the course of the next 6 months I diligently racked up Allstate rewards points to purchase discounted gift cards to pay for it.  And you all know what happened.  So, I had thousands of dollars in Carnival gift cards sitting in my desk for 3 years.  But, I really can’t complain too much, with the 11% ROI from the Allstate discount, those cards sitting in my desk made me more money than any other account since 2020. (Isn’t that a great silver lining?)

 

So there are 5 of us going. My wife and I, college age daughter, and two sons (14 and 11).  We debated between two cabins or the family harbor suite.  We settled on the suite. It saved quite a bit of money over 2 cabins, we get the suite perks, we have the 2 bathrooms, and we really don’t spend that much time in the cabins anyway.  They’re mostly for sleeping.  It will be our first cove balcony, and we’re looking forward to that!

 

I thought about leaving you in suspense, and surprising you with what port we were in.  But, I figured, A, many of you already know, and B, you might be interested in a particular port or excursion we’re doing. So, here it goes:

Transfer to port with Larry’s Limos.

Aruba: Sea Trek helmet dive at De Palm Island

Curacao: walking tour we downloaded, self guided

La Romana: walk around the cruise port, but mostly a sea day at port

Amber Cove: VIP dolphins at Ocean World.

Last Sea day: Dr. Seuss breakfast

FLL airport transfer with Everglades tour.

 

I think that’s enough of planning. Next up: our adventure begins!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I am a compulsive planner.  I started a “To-Do” list a month ago.  I started a packing list 2 months ago.  I gathered everything we were bringing 2 weeks ago, making order after order on Amazon for things we didn’t have (or couldn’t find).  

 

So what happens this week? Emergency orthodontist appointment (his braces basically fell out). Work due dates change. Massive traffic jams. Cat sitter has an emergency and can’t come some of the days.  Front door lock stops working and needs to be replaced. Dryer decides it misses the repairman and asks for a visit. (Luckily it agreed to dry all the clothes we need for this trip). 

 

I scheduled packing to start 9 am July 5.  Instead, first clothes go into a suitcase at 9pm on July 6.  14 hours before our flight! And then there‘s dishes. And cutting the cat’s claws so the (new) cat sitter doesn’t sue us. Did I print the boarding passes? Luggage tags? Passports? Wait, my father in law isn’t coming, we don’t need his passport!  

 

We planned on leaving for the airport at 7:15 this morning.  Car was officially packed and ready to go at 7:10. Yes, I pulled an all nighter.  We spent 5 minutes saying goodbye to the cat (I won’t lie, there was some crying involved. Not the cat). And…. We pulled out of the parking spot.  And stopped.  “Daddy, I think I dropped something on the way to the car, can you check?”  10 feet later. “Daddy, I can’t find my sunglasses.”  

 

Drive to the airport was almost the entirety of the trip, thanks to the lady who thought it would be a good idea to multi-task while driving: eating and checking her phone.  For those keeping count, she did not have a third hand.  And she apparently needed an alignment on her car. Badly.  And lets not forget the truck driver practicing his NASCAR skills. Seriously.  He’d do well.

 

We avoid the demolition derby, and, a few miles from the airport, my wife suddenly points out the window, “There, over there!” She wasn’t talking to me at all, but showing the kids something.  But, being the dutiful, obedient, husband that I am, I get off the highway where she was pointing. Or, maybe I was a brain dead zombie from sleep deprivation.  I’ll let you decide.

 

GPS rerouting kicks in, and our arrival time at the airport was only 2 minutes later, going in the back way.  Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart.That exit could have been a highway with no exits for miles!

 

The flight to FLL couldn’t have been more uneventful and boring. Only thing of note was that  I noticed that the flight to FLL that left two hours after our flight was delayed about 3 hours! We almost picked that one, but my wife said to book the earlier flight.  Score one point for women’s intuition!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We collect our bags and call the Hyatt for pickup.  The guy tells us which door to wait for him at (Door 223 I think from the departures level. Don’t bank on this, I’m still punch drunk from sleep deprivation!) He gets there 1 minute after us (if that), and, as he helps us load our bags into the van, BOOM goes the FL thunder! We get ourselves in the van just before the flood gates open, and we’re practically at sea already.

 

A short 10 minute drive to the Hyatt, and we exit the van to completely dry skies.  FL weather.

 

Hyatt Dania beach is very nice.  Large rooms, comfy beds. Nice fitness center (which the whole family used).

 

Dinner was at Lime’s Mexican Grill across the street. AMAZING. OUT OF THIS WORLD. Biggest problem was that the free salsa bar had too many amazing varieties and my stomach could only fit so many chips after that burrito with a side of beans and rice.  And a strawberry margarita.  I would have taken pictures, but everything was eaten faster than I could get my phone out to take them!

 

After that we walked over to Sprouts for 3 bottles of wine (advantage of a daughter who is 21) and nut pods for my wife’s coffee.  And, ice cream sandwiches for dessert.  

 

I should mention that we have a lot of allergies in our family, so we’re going to have a lot of experience with the allergy tablets.  But, for now, I should note that Sprouts is heaven for desserts for those with allergies.  Those dairy free and gluten free ice cream sandwiches didn’t last.

 

We walked back to the Hyatt, and as we walked under the awning the rain returned.  We timed that perfectly!

 

And, now, here we are, settling in, excited for embarkation day!  Larry’s Limo is coming at 9am, and my wife wants to use the fitness center before breakfast, so it’s time to turn off the Diner and Dive’s marathon.

 

Good night everyone, and see you tomorrow!

[Haljo1935]

I know this is going to be great - thanks for letting us come along!

We did a helmet dive a few years ago that we still talk about; I hope yours is as enjoyable.

[princess76021]

I'll be aboard if you don't mind 😊😊

Thanks for inviting us!

Hugs from Texas

[dbrucern]

Have you been to La Romana before? Not really a port to walk around in, we always book a resort day pass plenty of those and very nice.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

12 minutes ago, dbrucern said:

Have you been to La Romana before? Not really a port to walk around in, we always book a resort day pass plenty of those and very nice.

No, but we don't plan on leaving the port complex. There's a nice pool there that opened this year.  We saw online they have pictures with monkeys, a fish pedicure we might try, and shopping. 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

So far so good! We're now relaxing in the priority lounge at Terminal F. I hope the rest of the week goes as smoothly! I hope i didn't jinx it!

 

The hyatt breakfast was very good. Food was replenished quickly and stayed fresh.

 

Larry's Limo arrived at 8:35 for our 9am pick up.  We weren't quite ready yet, but it felt good to know our ride was there. 

 

The van was a nice 9 passenger van, very clean, great ac, courteous driver. Highly recommended. 

 

We left the hotel at 9:01 and pulled into a spot at the terminal at 9:26. A porter came up to us to collect our luggage, confirmed we were not giving him our boarding passes and ids, and gave us directions on where to go.  He almost left before I could give him his tip! I had to chase him down!  

 

Check in was a breeze.  No one in front of us.  Up to the luggage area.  A bear sniffed our carry ons. (The sign claimed it was a dog. That was no dog.  That was a bear. ) We all had to restrain ourselves from giving her a great BEAR hug. 

 

Upon entering the priority lounge we got a card with "Priority G" on one side. The other side says we have to return the card when boarding. Dang! I thought i had a free souvenir! 

 

We took our picture with the horizon booth and got a seat in a mini living room. A coach and 2 chairs. Restrooms are nice and very clean.  We've been sitting for about a half hour and they just announced boarding will start "soon!"

 

I'll see you all on board!

Edited July 8, 2023 by PrincessArlena'sDad

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

10 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I know this is going to be great - thanks for letting us come along!

We did a helmet dive a few years ago that we still talk about; I hope yours is as enjoyable.

We had a helmet dive planned in Bernuda for 2020. When we booked this cruise, the first thing the families said was "can we do a helmet dive?"

[Jamman54]

We'll be following along! We did this same cruise a couple of years ago and had a blast. Have a great cruise! 😎

[blarko]

15 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

We'll be following along! We did this same cruise a couple of years ago and had a blast. Have a great cruise! 😎

If you’re following, I’m following 🤣🤣🤣

[2Shoes2Go]

Thank you for sharing your cruise! Horizon we’ve managed to miss, but checking her out in March. I like your style of writing! 😊

[SenatorsFan]

I'll be following along, too. I can't believe it's almost 5 years since we've been on Horizon. I hope you have a wonderful cruise. 😊🚢

[VIFP1987]

Following along! 

[lazydayz]

Thanks for bringing us along.  We loved the Horizon and you are in for a great time with the dolphins at Ocean World. 

[Haljo1935]

7 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

We had a helmet dive planned in Bernuda for 2020. When we booked this cruise, the first thing the families said was "can we do a helmet dive?"

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

What a busy first day! It's 9pm, and I don't know where the kids are. 

 

That reminds me.   This is from a disney cruise, but it's cute.  Song to "When You Wish Upon a Star:"

 

When you're sitting at the bar

And you done know where your children are

Take this tip

You're on a ship

They can't go far

 

So... where were we? Oh yes... we boarded! 

 

For those who keep track, they boarded a wedding first, then suites.  I didn't stick around to see who was next.  

 

They took my Priority G placard (I tried keeping it, but no luck) 

 

We walked into the atrium, and the colors explode.  Almost overwhelming, but in a good way.  

 

We walked down a flight to drop odd our carry ons, and walked into a wall of people boarding the ship.  The non Priority folk board the ship deck 2 midship. Salmon swimming upstream.  And that wall of people were hungry for salmon.  And confetti cheesecake. 

 

Next we went to lunch.  We went to Mongolian wok on 11, but it was closed today.  They did it'll be open for lunch tomorrow. Same ss pasta bar.  So we went to Guys BBQ. Very good. 

 

The welcome show starts in a couple of minutes.  So... I'll leave you now with thoughts of pork butt.  

 

Coming up next.... women's intuition scores point number 2.

 

 

[TxTeach79]

Heck yes! Love this ship and these ports - can’t wait!

[pe4all]

What a great writing style you have!  Following along on your adventure!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Sorry for the delay getting back.  I meant to continue upon returning to the cabin last night, but I just fell asleep. And, today was a fun, busy day at sea.  I just took a picture of Cuba from our balcony. I’ll post it here later.  It’s not very good, considering it’s 11pm, so it’s just a few lights in the distance.  I bet the view is better from the Havana cabins.

 

But, hey.  It’s Cuba.  

 

So, back to yesterday, where I just left you all at pork butt.

 

After lunch, we went to our cabin to find that most of our luggage arrived, so we did most of our unpacking.  Once that was done we explored the ship. And, by explore, I mean get lost.  Over and over and over again.  We found about 15 ways to get to the basketball court, but not a single way to get to Camp Ocean.  Spoiler alert: midship stairs to deck 11.

 

As we were wandering around, my wife suddenly says she wants to go to the spa raffle.  I ask, “Why?” She has never used the spa services, never seemed interested, but she really wanted to.  So we did. And she won!  $100 spa credit!  

 

I told you it was coming: 2nd point for women’s intuition.  She’s going to book a facial treatment (probably) on the morning of La Romana, where the ship comes in to port late morning. (The credit has to be used on a port day).

 

Freshly aglow with her victory, we continued our tour of the ship, until it was time for the sailaway party.  We felt obligated to at least try the big deck party, but only stayed for 2 minutes.  That’s because it took that long to cross the deck.

 

Why did the family cross the deck? To get to the AC! It really is too loud for us. And hot.

 

Instead we went to the “secret deck” all the way forward. I think we were on 12, but maybe 11.  Of course, as soon as we get out there, my 14 year old says, “What are these windows?” And sticks his head in it.  Spoiler #2: It’s cabins.

 

We hung out there while we pulled away, and enjoyed the view and the breeze until reaching the open sea. We were the first ship to leave, followed by Harmony of the Seas hot on our aft. We left the Disney Magic in the dust. Or sea spray.  We did enjoy the deck party music of the Harmony of the Seas.  We did the Cupid shuffle with the folks on Harmony. They were a fun group, waving and cheering for us as we passed.

 

The Disney folk were a bunch of snobby stiffs.  Ignored us low life Carnival cruisers completely.

 

At this point we went back to our cabin to get ready for dinner, and found the remainder of our luggage waiting for us. So, we put away the remainder of our stuff.  Then made our way to dinner.  Well, we got lost first.  Then went to dinner.  

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Our server at dinner, Marie, is fabulous.  Full of energy, fun, and really on point.  As I mentioned earlier, we got a lot of allergies in our family. I thought we would have the allergy tablet, but they aren’t using it.  Maybe because we have some non-typical allergies that the tablet can’t accommodate? Anyway, the kids ordered gf/dairy free/egg free sweet and sour shrimp.  Marie let us know it would be 15-20 min delay because the chef would have to make it from scratch.  We finished dinner at 7:40 (we have 6pm fixed). Food was great.  I had the brisket, which was perfect and fresh. Stir fry veggies were very good, but a weird pairing.  Dessert was melting cake.

 

Between dinner and the welcome show we finished straightening out the cabin.  Oh, I also enjoyed the family harbor lounge cappuccino machine.  Absolutely great.  Kids are enjoying the hot chocolate (at least the ones who can have dairy). We do have one gripe with the machine though; “black coffee” has some cream in it.  You can’t get plain black coffee.  So, the machine can’t be used if you have a dairy allergy.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

1 minute ago, TreyB said:

Dude you are a fantastic writer. Have you ever published anything?  This is just great!

Thanks! Only things I published were for school - academic boring stuff.  I do enjoy writing though.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Before commenting on the welcome show, I want to talk a bit about Camp Ocean and Circle C. 

 

11 year old is enjoying Sharks (it’s the party night there now, so I’ll go get him at 1am. Or sooner if he texts me asking for a pickup.  We gave him an old phone to use that we don’t use anymore.  Galaxy S7, actually.  Works great with the Hub app, so he can text us on it. He was given the option of moving up to Circle C with his brother (they asked out of the blue), but he decided to stay with the kids his own age.  Last time we cruised he was a Stingray, and he really wanted to be a Shark at least once.  Next year he’ll be Circle C. 

 

Apparently, the parents on this ship didn’t get the memo that on Carnival ships they are supposed to let their kids run wild.  The scavenger hunt had to be cancelled because hardly any of the Sharks were given permission to leave the camp without a parent.

 

So far he is enjoying Camp.  He’s made a couple of friends (one of whom was on the same flight into FLL that we were on - maybe they’ll keep in touch when we get home!)

 

Circle C has also been a lot of fun.  He danced the night away with a couple of kids last night.  That’s not just an expression.  He really loves dancing.  And, today, they went around doing the scavenger hunt together.   Right now they are having a Hollywood themed party.  Fun stuff!

 

All the middle school and HS kids are also being very well behaved.  Even the adults have been very polite.  Well, there was that one person who cut the line to get the free charm bracelet.  Yes, that really happened.  I guess there’s always one.

 

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

The Welcome Show was fun.  We like Cooke a lot.  One point he made, which I fully appreciate, was how fortunate and blessed we all are to be on this cruise, and it was because of the men and women in uniform that keep us safe, that allow us this luxury.

 

Then they did the competition to win the VIP seats to the shows. I was hoping to get chosen. I did not. 

 

Speaking of the Liquid Lounge; WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???

 

That venue is terrible.  A huge disappointment.  The lower level is bad with the flat level, but the balcony is possible even worse. I’m over 6 foot tall, and sat in the 2nd row, center balcony.  The person in front of me was a short, petite woman.  Yet, she completely blocked my view.  I had to lean one way, then the other, to see around her.  

 

And the side balcony? First, the seats should be angled to the stage. Why they are facing the other side balcony, I do not know. The people sitting across the theater are not that interesting. Sorry, but true. And, second: those columns completely block the view of many a seat. Those columns are even less interesting than the people across the theater. The columns obstruct the view so badly that there should not be seats there.  

 

I do have to say, though, that this is by far my biggest complaint. We really are having a fantastic trip. I hope you all are so fortunate when you have your trips!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

After the welcome show, they had the Comedy Showcase, which was 15 minutes of each comedian.  The first one was OK, the 2nd was very good. Then we staggered back to the cabin.  I would have fallen right to sleep, but I had to force myself to stay awake to wait for our 14 year old to return from Circle C. Party animal!

 

Our plan was to get up to have breakfast in the family harbor lounge, and then sea day brunch for lunch.  That didn’t happen.  Not because we didn’t want to pig out. But because we slept too late.  The food was gone when we got there. People were still eating though, and it looked really good.  I thought of starting a fight to steal their food.  But I was too tired. So we went right to brunch.

 

Brunch was very good, very fresh, and good service, and accommodated our allergies really well. Breakfast potatoes were a standout.

 

We then went up to try the sky ride and ropes course, but it was closed for high winds.  So instead we wandered around a bit.  The kids went to the clubs, and I was going to come on here and catch up, but, instead, we went up to the fitness center.  The machines are set up really nicely to be able to look out into the ocean while working out.  And then they put giant TV screens on top of each machine to completely block the view. Why? Am a an anomaly? Would most people rather watch TV than the open ocean? 

 

After burning off the cheesecake I was about to pick up at Family Harbor, we collected the kids and got ready for formal night.