Horizon Review Oct 22-28, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel

[nydney1]

A little background:

Family of 4 (mom, daughter (16), son (18) and dad) from the Chicagoland area. Experienced travelers and cruises with multiple cruises mainly on Carnival and a couple on NCL so I am biased towards Carnival.

 

Travel to Florida:

We flew down on Spirit from O’Hare to Ft Lauderdale. Spirit charges per bag and it is cheaper to purchase when booking. I purchased 4 bags ad $48 per bag each way. (which was almost as much as the airfare). Note that the weight limit on Spirit is 40 lbs. per bag. Anything over 40 lbs. is a $75 overweight fee. Dad Tip: I told the family the limit was 35 lbs. so that there was some extra room available for the trip back.

 

Spirit also charges to pick your seats, anywhere from $25-100 depending on the seat. I chose the free option of getting the seats assigned during check in.

I checked in online 24 hours before the flight and all 4 seats were together. No issues. I did notice that my son’s TSA precheck did not appear on his boarding pass (more on this below).

 

While waiting to board I noticed that announcements for the flight next to us were offering exit row upgrades for $13.00 per person. I went up and asked and was able to upgrade from the second to the last row to the exit row for $13.00 per person. I well spend $52 for a full flight.

 

TSA precheck:

Our return flight was a 11:55 departure and I was worried about making the flight. I signed up and purchased the TSA precheck ($70.00 per person) about two weeks before the trip. There are several ways to do this and they are listed on the TSA website (www.tsa.gov).

 

We chose the offsite option and went to a Staples (yes, the office supplies store) where they did the paperwork and took the photos and fingerprints. We received the authorizations within 24 hours, but were told it may take up to two weeks. I updated the reservations on Spirit with the TSA# and thought we were all good.

 

When I printed the boarding passes my sons ticket did not indicate precheck. At the airport, I asked the agent at Spirit and they had no idea on how the process worked. Without it we all had to wait in line to get through security. I asked a TSA Agent and he said that you don’t always get approved for your flight, it’s written in the small print. I had never heard that but just said OK as time was not an issue on the departure and figured I would research it as I got time. The return flight was the one that I was worried about.

 

For our return flight his precheck again did not print. I went to the TSA website and the website says that this sometimes happens and you have to fill out a form online. The auto response said the response will be within 3-5 days. I will give them a call this morning to see if I can figure this out for future trips. (Net result $280 wasted)

 

Embarkation:

We had a one-way rental from Ft Lauderdale to Miami via Enterprise so we dropped it back off at Miami International. Dad Tip: Not sure about all rental companies in Florida but with Enterprise the toll pass does not include the express lanes. If you choose to use the express lanes and go through a toll pass it will be a $25 fine per occurrence. Thank you, Marissa at Enterprise, for this info.

 

The rental car companies stopped the shuttles over to the port back during Covid so you are on your own to get to the port. I asked about a taxi and it was $45 for the 4 of us. An uber XL was only $34. The uber picked us up within 10 minutes and it was a 28-minute ride to the port. (arriving at 11:54 AM)

 

I thought the port was packed. Our driver said it was not too bad with 5 ships boarding. Our check in time was 12:00 so we were right on time. We are Platinum so we were able to use the priority boarding. The line kept moving and we were onboarding the ship within 45 minutes.

 

Both my daughter and son had Arizona Tea’s (multiple) and water in the carryon bag. My son had the tall cans and the daughter the plastic bottles. Both were let through security with no issues. A few good mornings and some please and thank you and they were through. The person in front of them had an attitude about everything and they checked every single thing in their carryon.

 

Security was there with the dogs right after you went through the scanners and they were checking bags as you went by. There was no delay in the lines and the process took less than a minute.

 

We just carried our bags with us until 1:30 instead of dropping them at the room. We went up Deck 11 and had lunch at Cucina del Capitano. While this is a pay restaurant at night during the afternoon the lunch is free. We were the only ones there and lunch was good.  I had the linguini with alfredo and chicken. Sorry no photos of lunch. Ji Ji’s Asian was right next door and no one was there at all.

 

Time to get some things done and try to call the TSA. More to follow.

[momof3cruisers]

I love how detailed you are. We only use Enterprise to rent cars anymore. The others are just too much hassle. Good tip about the fast lane charges!

 

Looking forward to reading more.

[cicima]

Loving all of your detail so far.

As far as your son, if it happened once, i can see. But twice suggests some type of issue. Was his name on his boarding pass EXACTLY the same as what TSA has for him? No missing commas or letters or anything? We have had precheck for a long time and when i use my frequent flyer logins that match my previous name( i have ID to match) i don't get precheck. My precheck is in my married name(also have id to match). So even though the date of birth and other info is still me....it doesn't give it to me. Also, since they use a funky letter/number combo,ie..1T8UKl... make sure the info typed in actually matched. 

[nydney1]

Sorry for the delay, I had to travel for work.

 

i spoke to both the TSA and Spirit. It was my issue. 
 

Birthday was entered as 01 January instead on 10 October. 
 

It’s a shame we couldn’t use it but now we know it was my issue.

 

I will try to continue the review tomorrow 

[ninjacat123]

Love the Dad Tips!!  Looking forward to more of your review!!

[nydney1]

I apologize for the delay. Work was a tad busy this week after a week off.

 

TSA Follow Up:

It was my issue. I spoke to the TSA via the phone after holding for 30 minutes and via Spirit via chat. There was no way to get ahold of Spirit via phone.

 

I found out that I entered my son’s birthday incorrectly. The date and year were correct, but the month was entered as 01 (January) instead of 10 (October). Good to know that it will not be an issue going forward.

I can’t state enough how helpful the TSA was after I reached someone. They asked plenty of questions about the booking then followed up with me less than 48 hours later after they reached out to Spirit to confirm the issue. The process was not quick, but I do appreciate how thorough they were in getting the issue resolved.

 

Rooms:

For the first time we had connecting rooms. I was able to secure a porthole room (1214 PT-Interior) and an ocean view (1218 – 6A Oceanview) connecting room on the first floor. Dad Tip: If you can get the porthole and ocean view you can save a few $100’s and still have two rooms with windows.  Having the connecting rooms made a huge difference in cruising with the kids. The second bathroom alone was huge but being able to walk between the rooms made it seem like one big room.

 

I asked to room steward to provide the door stoppers to keep the doors open but he said he would have to speak to his supervisor to do this. Maintenance showed up on the second day, but we had just started using the luggage mats to keep them open. Dad Tip: bring your own door stoppers.

I was amazed at how dark the porthole room was. It was 50-60% darker than the other room. With the portholes having the long tubes in the hull kept most of the sun out. The new paint scheme also has the hull dark bule which absorbs allot of the light. I tried to take some photos, but it did not do justice.

Our room steward said that he would service the room once a day and that we could give a preferred time and he would do his best to hit those times. We did not see or speak to him the rest of the week, which is pretty unusual. We usually see the steward or his assistant in the hall during the week. He did a good job; it was just unusual not to ever see him.

Let me say that the weather for the week was great, but it was very windy each day. The rooms were very loud. It sounded like bombs going off as the waves hit the hull. We have had porthole rooms before, but never anything this loud. Not so load that we would not book the rooms again (as we actually are booked in the same rooms for Nov 2025) but it is something to note if you are a light sleeper. No issues with the anchor dropping.

 

The Horizon being a newer ship had some features that were new to us. The lights/power in the room was on a timer. There was a spot by the door to put your sail and sign card. If it was not in here the lights/power would shut off in the room after about 15 minutes. Any card in the slot will work. We actually used a folded-up trivia slip.

 

The thermostat in the room had a sliding scale from warm to cold. The room was very cool the entire week. The wife likes it cold and usually has a fan running, she did not need one.

There were also two usb ports for charging cell phones on the desk under the mirror.

The TV was mounted directly on the wall in front of the bed. The TV now offers on demand movies some for free and some pay per view. You can also check your Sail & Sign account on the television as well. The TV in both rooms often froze up and had to be restarted numerous times. Same basic channels (Food Network, Discovery, Cartoon Network). Carnival if you are reading this, please offer an option to get the main network channels. (ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox) offer it as a premium service just like internet.

 

We were not asked if we needed ice, so I do not know if this option was stopped or if we were just not asked. We don’t use it so it was not an issue for us. Ther is a small fridge in the room next to the desk in a cabinet. Dad Tip: If you use a towel to keep door of the cabinet open to let the heat out the fridge stays much cooler.

 

Carnival App / Fun Times

Everything is still handled through the Carnival App. However, the old Printed Fun Times are back. You can get them at the Coffee Shop and the Guest Services. If you ask your room steward, they will leave one in your cabin as well.

The app on the Horizon allows you to view all of the photos that you have taken on the ship via Pixels. The Pixels gallery is also all digital.

 

Luggage:

The luggage arrived before we sailed away. It appeared that ours did arrive much earlier than the others. I looked and did not see much luggage in the hall. Not sure if it was because we had Priority boarding or if it was because we were on the first floor.

 

Safety Drill:

This is still a walk up and they check you off process. Our muster station was in the Casino. Being an experienced cruiser, I appreciate the simplified process. However, No one is checking anything. The process needs to be updated so the new cruisers go through a more detailed training. If there ever was an emergency there would be mass chaos as so many people have no idea on what to do.

 

Elevators:

Once of the biggest changes are that the elevators have no buttons on the inside. You select the floor that you are going to before you board and how many passengers there are. The screen then tells you which elevator to board. This takes some getting used to. Once you get the knack of it it seems to work.

The elevators are also much smaller. The capacity states 18 people at 3600 lbs., but you will be challenged to fit more than 10 corn fed midwestern folks on one of these lifts.

 

Getting Around the Ship:

We spend some time trying to get the lay of the land. What we found is that deck 4 (Casino) Mezzanine, deck 5 (Shops) Promenade and deck 10 (Lido) are the easiest floors to travel the length of the ship.

 

Imax & Thrill Theater:

These are hidden (and I mean hidden) on deck 6 forward. The cost of the Imax is $19.99 for first run movies. On our trip it was the Killers of the Flower Moon and $7.95 for documentaries (think Planed Earth Series). We wanted to go to the Imax, but could not justify spending 3 hours of vacation time watching a movie.

 

Internet:

I usually do not purchase an internet package as I try to unplug while on vacation. However, the kids were missing school and asked for a plan so they could do homework. I purchased the premium plan for me, and we shared the plan. The plan was quick and worked even when in our room on deck 1. I did not try to stream anything, but I found it fast enough that I did not notice the lag.

 

Dad Comment: I will not purchase the internet plan again. The plan worked fine, but I found myself checking work email during down times and did not unplug as much as I should on vacation. The kids were good about it but, I returned not feeling as relaxed. It may just be an age thing.

 

Dinner Embarkation Day:

We had anytime dined and were set to have dinner in the Meridian Restaurant on 3 aft. I cannot even remember on what we had that night. I make sure that we eat as a family for dinner at least half of the nights. I know the kids want to do their own thing, but I want a few dinners as a family.

 

We finished the day with a trivia, which we on a coveted Ship on Stick to add to the collection then it was off to bed.

 

I’ll work on a Day 2 recap after the Bears loos today.

[ninjacat123]

25 minutes ago, nydney1 said:

Safety Drill:

This is still a walk up and they check you off process. Our muster station was in the Casino. Being an experienced cruiser, I appreciate the simplified process. However, No one is checking anything. The process needs to be updated so the new cruisers go through a more detailed training. If there ever was an emergency there would be mass chaos as so many people have no idea on what to do.

 

My experience with the "new" muster is that the life preserver vest is demonstrated like the "old" muster.  Is it knowing the location of where you need to go for the lifeboats?  Sometimes "new" muster is held out there, sometimes not.  I think that's important to know.  What other information would you include for new cruisers?  TIA!

[nydney1]

The other "new musters" are just as you said. I have no challenges with this, but this one was different. They scanned my card and said you are all 4 good. The crew member did not even see that my wife and son (who where booked in the other room) were not with me. 

 

The person with the ipad scanning people in was standing in the main walkway. The person who demonstarated the life jackets was about 25 feet away down another isle. There was no one over there by him.

 

One thing to note that in the room the lfe jackets are no longer in the closets. They are stored underneath the beds. I felt like an idiot as I was looking for them for about 15 minutes and looked in the other room as well and could not find them.

 

I sat down on the bed and thought about calling the room steward when I saw the sign right infront of me that states the lifejackets are under the bed. It is one of those signs that glows in the dark. 

[ninjacat123]

3 minutes ago, nydney1 said:

The other "new musters" are just as you said. I have no challenges with this, but this one was different. They scanned my card and said you are all 4 good. The crew member did not even see that my wife and son (who where booked in the other room) were not with me. 

 

The person with the ipad scanning people in was standing in the main walkway. The person who demonstarated the life jackets was about 25 feet away down another isle. There was no one over there by him.

 

One thing to note that in the room the lfe jackets are no longer in the closets. They are stored underneath the beds. I felt like an idiot as I was looking for them for about 15 minutes and looked in the other room as well and could not find them.

 

I sat down on the bed and thought about calling the room steward when I saw the sign right infront of me that states the lifejackets are under the bed. It is one of those signs that glows in the dark. 

I can see your concern! The lack of accountability by passengers and crew was unsettling to say the least.  I'm the type of airline passenger who listens every time to the safety briefing and looks for the closest exit to me. What you described hasn't happened to me in muster but I bet it happens a lot. And it shouldn't.

[Drazil65]

Really good start to your review so far, thank you for your thoughts. 

 

On MG and Sunshine this past year they also had the muster demo running on the TV in cabin with a much more detailed demo.  I believe it was on a loop but as someone previously mentioned, the important thing is that you actually know where your station is and they will have the life jackets there with CCL staff to help if needed.  Also, we have always asked for the ice to be filled when the cabin is serviced, never been an issue getting it if you do want it in the future, just ask.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

what a wonderful, detailed review! I look forward to reading the rest of it!

[nydney1]

Day 2 Sea

Great Day at Sea.

After 2 days in Miami, we needed to do laundry. Neither the laundry bags or sheets were in the room. We reached out to our steward and he got us a few to use for the week. I think one of the best perks that Carnival offers is the laundry. He stated they were a stickler of getting the laundry in by 0900 if it was to come back the same day. The free laundry allows us to get under the 40.lb. guideline for Spirit.

 

I did Lido for breakfast. Same Lido fare. I really enjoyed the look of Lido on the newer ship. It was bright and laid out like a European bistro. They appeared to be plenty of seating. I did find it strange that the lines start at the center of the buffet and move outward. Logistically it seems that it puts a jam at the center of the area instead of down the aisles.

 

After breakfast we headed down to the morning show. There were only about 15 people there. It was the same schtick with the cruise director’s own twist. It was fun. We won a second ship on a sick (I won the first trivia of the cruise), but we gave it to a group of “Grandma’s” that was sitting next to us that played and got second. I’m a big trivia fan and go to about half of the games onboard.

 

I headed over to the shore excursion desk for some help. Dad Tip: If you are an inexperienced cruiser or it is a port that you have not been to before, use the cruise lines excursions. They may cost a little more but, the are safe and you are not going to get left in port. After you have been there a few times and are comfortable, there are multiple options for you to do things on your own.

 

It had been 15 years since we were in Grand Cayman. I wanted to swim with the stingrays. I booked an excursion with Carnival and used the price match guarantee to match one that I found online. It was about a $30 difference per person ($30 x 4 ). Carnival approved one room’s price match, but stated the second room was denied as it was not the same tour. The same person sent the email for both? Which makes no sense. I emailed Carnival twice about it and finally gave up and decided I would resolve it once on board.

 

The shore excursion team said they would need to talk to their manager and I gave them copies of the email and they would get back to me later that day. I never heard from them, but I did see the on-board credit added to my account. Hey, $60 is $60, that’s almost tips for one person.

 

We then started exploring the ship. I am disappointed to stay that we did not make it around the whole ship in the six days that we were there. I can’t tell you why or what we did the entire time, but on the way home. I realized that I never made it to the following: the ropes course, the sky coaster, waterworks, sports area and Serenity area. For the life of me I don’t know why.

 

The last few cruises we had balcony rooms, but since we moved to two rooms, I was trying to save a little money so I scrapped the balcony for the second connecting room. I found I really missed the balcony and just being able to sit outside without going up to the upper decks. Especially being on deck 1. But I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed the connecting rooms.

 

Kids hit the pools and were off, I went to the first shopping show with the wife (I think I could do these shows now) and then I left her as she went to another talk.  I took a nap, read some and did some additional trivia. (No more winners for me today)

 

Tonight was elegant/formal night. We had decided not to do the elegant night (all out), but we did go to dinner. Ties and dresses, just no suits and formals. We had ATD and the wait time was less than 15 minutes at 6:00 PM.  Dad Tip: If you have ATD check the ap when you are starting to get ready. You can check in while still in the room so do not have to stand outside the restaurant and wait.

 

Not sure what we did that night. (I guess that is why you should do these reviews quicker).  More later today.

[nydney1]

Day 3 Ocho Rios

Anther beautiful day in paradise, but it was really windy. We were scheduled to arrive at 09:00.

Today we had booked the Konoko Falls Climb & Beach Club Getaway with lunch ($79.99/$69.99) through Carnival. The wife loves waterfalls, but did not want to fight the crowds at Dunn’s River. I am a bigger man (325 lb+) so ziplines are not in the cards for me. Following my own tip, I booked the excursion with Carnival. I looked to find something similar to price match but I had no luck.

 

Breakfast at Lido again. I was surprised that the ship has yet to feel crowded. Yes, there are lines, but everything seems to be laid out well so you do not feel crowded. People were starting to line up in the stairwells to get off the ship. Being that we were on deck 1 we just went back to our rooms. Again I missed the balcony.

 

We were supposed to meet at 9:45 for our excursion. We showed up at 9:30 and were the only ones there?  They have plenty of people ensuring people are where they are supposed to be. The lady rolled her eyes at me and said that everyone else was already on the bus. I asked her what time it was and she said 9:30. I asked local time or ship’s time and she just rolled her eyes at me. (It was funny for me). Two other families showed up after us.

 

Dad Tip: Flip flops were not allowed on this excursion (which they did not tell you). If you had flip flops they made you buy water shoes for $15.00 a pair before you got on the bus.

 

I had forgotten how impoverished Jamica was compared to the other ports we have been. There is no well-organized/commercialized port area like Cozumel/Mahogany Bay/Grand Turk/Belize. It’s literally the duty-free shop then off into town.

 

The drive to Konoko Falls was about 15 minutes from the port. The guide did a good job of talking about the area and what we were passing. There were about 25 people on the tour total. We were on a small airport shuttle type bus.

 

The guide told us we could leave our bags on the bus while we climbed the falls. I was uneasy about this, but it was fine. When we got off, they did the safety talk and then we were off to climbing the falls. The falls are about 300 ft tall.

 

Ok, as I said I am a bigger man, but fairly athletic and have no trouble doing any activities. I had some “Teva” hiking sandals on but they are very old ones. I quicky noticed that I had no traction at all. The waterfall is a limestone and some areas are slick. My son and wife wore tennis shows and had no issues. the daughter (who is not athletic) wore crocs and had not issues.

 

So we are about 100 ft up and “down goes Frasier”.  My foot went right out from under me. I hit my knee pretty hard, but was OK. I cut my foot and knee but I was more embarrassed than anything. The guide came and checked on me and we were all off again.  I was much more conscious, as I knew now that I really had limited traction.

 

At about 200 ft I fell again. This one scared me pretty good. I was being very careful and making sure that I was getting a good grip with my hands (3 points of contact for the Safety folks), both feet just went out from underneath me. I went down hard. My language was as colorful as the foliage. By the time the guide came over I was back up and taking off my shoes. He said “you can’t do that man you need the them”. As I tossed them over to the staircase (there is a set of stairs for folks who don’t want to do the falls or can’t). He saw the lack of traction on the sandals and laughed, he said “that’s a problem man, you need new shoes”. We both laughed. (Let’s be honest, when you read the quotes from the guide, you read it with a Jamaican accent”

 

I took the stairs the rest of the way. I admit I was a little shook at both feet going out. I just thought that is a long way down to fall  and a really expensive hospital bill. The other guide saw the cuts on both knees and feet and was very concerned. She said that we should get the cuts addressed. I assured her I was fine and that I was OK. She asked if I wanted anything to put on it. I said No way, you are going to pour some of that 151 Rum on it and it will burn. We both laughed. I was fine and was generally appreciate of the concern that the staff showed.  

 

After the hike up the waterfall they gave us a tour of the gardens. This lasted about 15 minutes and I was not really impressed. The hike up the falls was gool, but the garden tour was just ok.

 

We then boarded up the bus for the trip to the beach. The trip was a good 45-55 minutes. The guide did a great job telling us about Jamica the entire time and pointing things out along the way. It was just a long trip.

 

The Discovery Bay Beach Club was nothing special, it was nice, clean and lunch was good. We ate as soon as we arrived. You got a plate of jerked chicken and some fish, a small salad and some rice. There was water and juice to drink and there was also a cash bar. You then had about 45 minutes on the beach. The beach was clean, but very rocky. We ended up going to the pool which was nice.

 

The ride back  felt much quicker. They offered to drop us off back at the ship or to go do a little shopping. The family wanted to do some shopping so we stayed on the bus. They took us to “their own store” about 5 minutes from the port to shop. No other “ship approved shops” around. They then took us back to the ship.

Overall, I would say the tour is good. We all felt that that they should be able to find a closer beach club to go to. We spent 90 minutes on the bus for 45 minutes on the beach. My recommendation is to  a closer club so we spend 45 minutes on the bus and 90 minutes on the beach. We passed multiple clubs so there has to be one.

 

Back on board we hit the deli for a quick bit. My son has a goal of eating each sandwich from the deli in one week. (He failed this goal).

 

We went to see one of the comedians and he was funny. The Liquid Longe was a good venue for the comedian. Carnival does have a comedian problem. On this ship they did have multiple shows but this is one of the most popular things to do in the evening on the ship. Each show is standing room only and there are long lines to get into the show.

I don’t have an answer to this one, but they could literally have two venues for comedians and both would be packed. I like the smaller venue as opposed to the main theater. Carnival did a very good job of explaining which shows were repeats and which shows were new shows. On our Spring Break cruise, they did not do this and people were upset as they waited in line and the shows were an exact repeat of each other. They also did a good job of keeping the kids out of the venue so it could be adults only.

 

It is worth mentioning again. The temperature of the rooms was great. They were cool and made for great sleeping. It did sound like bombs were going off as the waves were hitting the hull of the ship.

 

When we arrived back from Jamica, there was a note in the mailbox that the shore excursion for Grand Cayman “Swimming with the Stingrays” was cancelled due to weather conditions. The charges would be credited back to our account. I could not help but think that they cancelled it because I found the cheaper option. More on that on Day 3.

[FlaMommy75]

Thank you so much for your detailed review of Konoko Falls. We will be on the Horizon this Sunday and I also booked that excursion except only the half day- no lunch or beach. We live near the beach and neither of my kids have any interests in the beach 😞

I am soo sorry to hear about your fall. That sounds scary! We did Dunn's River a few years ago and I though a couple parts of that was rough so I was hoping Konoko was better. Quick question...I was just planning on wearing my old running sneakers that are very lightweight and I will just trash them after..are they super strict on water shoes only? Also, the water shoes I have for my husband and kids are super cheapy and I'm sure they have no traction at all. Would they be better off with old sneakers also?

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip! We booked the ATV rainforest CCL excursion in Cozumel so I am hoping you did too 🙂

[nydney1]

28 minutes ago, FlaMommy75 said:

Thank you so much for your detailed review of Konoko Falls. We will be on the Horizon this Sunday and I also booked that excursion except only the half day- no lunch or beach. We live near the beach and neither of my kids have any interests in the beach 😞

I am soo sorry to hear about your fall. That sounds scary! We did Dunn's River a few years ago and I though a couple parts of that was rough so I was hoping Konoko was better. Quick question...I was just planning on wearing my old running sneakers that are very lightweight and I will just trash them after..are they super strict on water shoes only? Also, the water shoes I have for my husband and kids are super cheapy and I'm sure they have no traction at all. Would they be better off with old sneakers also?

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip! We booked the ATV rainforest CCL excursion in Cozumel so I am hoping you did too 🙂

Your sneakers will be fine. You won’t even have to trash them afterwards. just no flip flops. 
 

My sandals shout have been pitched years ago but they are my favorite pair. Walking on dry ground is fine and they are perfect for getting the mail. 
 

even walking by the pool I was slipping. I should have known better

Cozumel we went to Nachi Cocum 

[FlaMommy75]

38 minutes ago, nydney1 said:

Your sneakers will be fine. You won’t even have to trash them afterwards. just no flip flops. 
 

My sandals shout have been pitched years ago but they are my favorite pair. Walking on dry ground is fine and they are perfect for getting the mail. 
 

even walking by the pool I was slipping. I should have known better

Cozumel we went to Nachi Cocum 

Thanks so much for the prompt reply, That is super helpful! One last question..I noticed your son is 18. My daughter is 20 and always struggles to make friends  since they are too old for the camp/club 02. Was there any meet ups or activities for 18-20 on the Fun times? 

Edited November 12, 2023 by FlaMommy75

[nydney1]

No there was nothing. Daughter 16 and son 18 are kind of in that no man’s land. They mostly hung out together.
 

They were both Camp Carnival kids in the past. She did not even go this time. 

[FlaMommy75]

13 minutes ago, nydney1 said:

No there was nothing. Daughter 16 and son 18 are kind of in that no man’s land. They mostly hung out together.
 

They were both Camp Carnival kids in the past. She did not even go this time. 

Ugggg,,,that makes me so sad. When we were on the Mardi Gras last Christmas they did have a 18-20 meet up on the Fun Times the first night. I was hoping maybe that would be available again.

Thanks for the prompt reply 🙂

[kew1031]

2 hours ago, nydney1 said:

 

Cozumel we went to Nachi Cocum 

Interested in your opinion of Nachi. I just booked it for our cruise coming up in May. Have been there before and loved it, but it's been several years... have read some recent reviews that indicate it's not what it used to be...

[nydney1]

Day 4 Grand Cayman

We were scheduled to be in Grand Cayman from 8:00 AM -4:00 PM. We had received a notice that we could take the early tenders over starting at 7:30. We just had to meet in the dining room on 3 forward. This is a nice perk; however, this is completely on the honor system. No one ever asked to see my card or verify anything. There was no crowd at all. A member of the fun squad walked us right over the elevator and made a call on the radio and the elevator opened up and we were off.

The weather was beautiful but the waves were a little rough for the tender. Nothing out of the ordinary but I was looking since my excursion was cancelled.

 

Don’t get me wrong I know no one can control the weather. The only reason that I booked this cruise is I wanted to swim with the stingrays with the kids. I was running out of time as our son graduates high school this year. I was on a mission. We had the internet package, so since I had received the notice that the excursion was cancelled, I was online looking at other options. I was confused as in the letter it stated that I could pick another option and they had other swimming with the stingray options but they were twice the cost. (No, I didn’t ask like my wife told me to. I just assumed they were still doing those since they were on the app)

 

I found several options but I didn’t book anything online. I just figured that I would figure it out when we got into town. I knew there would be multiple vendors there offering tours.

 

We got into town on one of the first shuttles and there was only one company offering tours (That shold have been my first warning sign).  I walked around and then decided to book it. It was about the same price at $70 per person and included swimming with the stingrays and snorkeling. The tour left at 9:00 and it was about 8:30. After I paid her, she told me to meet us back in an hour. I was confused. Ok, Grand Cayman is on CST while the ship is on EST. So, we had an hour to spend before we left. We wandered around the stores right there by the dock but some were not open yet. They slowly started to open.

 

It had been over 15 years since we had been in Grand Cayman. In my mind there were allot more stores to visit before. In the hour before we boarded the van, we went through all the stores and still had time to kill. I just remember there being more places. I am not sure if they have just closed down over the years, that they did not make it through Covid or that my mind just remembered things differently. There was no Hard Rock, No Harley Davidson Store, only a handful of stores total. (Could I sound more like and tourist).

 

We boarded the van with about 8-10 other families, again about 25 people total. I believe we were the only ship in port that day. The transport was again like an airport hotel shuttle. The ride was about 15 minutes and the driver told us about the island on the way to the dock. She explained in detail about the beaches all being free and open to everyone. She explained the difference between taxis and the bus (they look just the same) and how to get back and forth from the beach to the port.

 

I could not help but chuckle as one of the other passengers had a comment about everything the driver was telling us. That it wasn’t right that there was a better way. That she has been here multiple times. The driver just took it in stride and smiled.

 

When we got to the marina we walked to our boat and it was nice and the crew was nice and gave instructions as soon as we boarded. I felt safe the entire time, they were pleasant and explained where we were going and what we would be doing. We then sailed out on the SS Minnow.

 

As soon as we sailed out of the marina, I understood why Carnival had cancelled the excursions. The water was rough. The waves were tossing our boat pretty good. The captain told us if it was too rough that we would not go out and we would get our money back. I can tell you that I was sure we would be going out.

 

I have done this excursion before and watched multiple YouTube videos on it. It was about a 30-minute ride out to the sandbar. When you get to the sandbar the water can vary from 2 to 4 ft deep and there are multiple boats out there with tours. We were the only boat as far as the eye could see. It’s tough to see in the photos but you can see the white caps of the waves in the back ground. I joked with my daughter. I’ve seen this movie and I know how it ends.

 

The waves were really rough and it was tough to enjoy the stingrays. The waves tossed you around so you could not stand without being tossed around. Did I enjoy myself, not as much as I had hoped. Did I get to see the kids hold a stingray, yes. Was it the experience I wanted. No.

 

We then moved on to a place to go snorkeling. Only 5-6 people got into the water to snorkel. Everyone had to wear a life vest and no one argued. This Dad stayed on the boat. Both kids snorkeled and there were a ton of fish, the crew was throwing squid out to attract the fish. Both kids said it was truly awesome.

 

The captain was fishing for lunch while they were snorkeling. He caught several fish about 2-3 lbs. each. He hooked about a 1-2 foot long swordfish but it got off the hook right before he landed it on the boat. I thought that was incredible.

 

We arrived back safe and sound and they dropped us off right back in town next to the water shuttle. We had about an hour before the last shuttle but we were done. We took the water shuttle back and grabbed some lunch on lido then a nap. Dad Tip- Be sure to take something to drink on the shore excursions. They only had a little water and they ran out before we got back.

 

We went to diner in the dining room and were excited as one of the waiters was a waiter that we had on a previous cruise (Freedom). I recognized him right way. The wife showed him a photo of all of us together and he smiled. He was doing well and said he enjoyed the newer ship.

 

I cannot remember if we went to the show in the auditorium or the Seaside theater tonight.  I’ll go with the show tonight. The show was good. It had a Halloween theme and the singers were really good. Most of the shows are about the same but the talent on this cast was better than most of the others. 

 

After the show Leon (Cruse Director) had a Motown sing along in the main lobby. It was allotted of fun and he was definitely in his element. It was great to see everyone singing along and just having a good time.

 

We are now half way through the cruise an everyone has been very well behaved. We have not seen any bad behavior an no one was acting out of line. We only smelled pot once and it was not real strong. You hear about all the bad behavior but we did not experience any of it.

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by nydney1
added photos

[momof3cruisers]

Wow! That is a LOT of waviness for Grand Cayman! 
 

Thanks for continuing with your review. We really like to get connecting cabins when we have sailed with our kids. That door in between really makes it feel a lot more spacious.My husband is rather claustrophobic so we always get balconies but we also hav3 three kids so five people in one cabin sounds like no fun at all.

[NewfieFam]

I was hoping you would continue with the review...

[rdh rules]

Hello enjoyed your review so far, thanks for sharing. Our 1st time to Grand Cayman and we had the town tour with the stingrays and it was cancelled as well due to the weather, just did the land tour. The 2nd time we went, my husband was scared of the stingrays so we did some awesome snorkeling.