Great. Would go again. Really loved the variety of activities on the Horizon and so nice that it was so new and clean and sparkly.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Fine. Fairly typical. Lines weren't too long.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining room food was quite good. Not amazing, but good. Loved the fun atmosphere. Tried Teppanyaki restaurant one night and it was excellent. Taco Bar on the lido deck and French fries up there were awesome. Main Lido buffet was just okay. Loved the Havana Bar. Enjoyed the BBQ restaurant with outdoor seating too.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Loved the IMAX theater. Enjoyed the Skycars that pedal-zoom around the top of the ship- got exercise and had fun with the teenagers. Walked the top track with my husband which could be longer, we walked deck 5 which was bigger when we got bored with the mini track.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
This was our 7th cruise, and the cruise director, Mike, was hands down the best cruise director we have ever had. We loved every activity he led, especially the Carnival Quest (not for the timid), the Love and Marriage Show, the Hairy Chest Contest, and all the Bar Singing events. Lailani and Christian were good too, but Mike was the best. So MUCH FUN! The regular shows were just okay, we have seen both better and worse. They were kind of different and we liked the way they did the sets. The Cuba and 20's shows were the best of the ones we saw.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
My teenagers, 13 and 17, enjoyed the activities. My son mostly liked the dodge ball, and the last night scavenger hunt was one of his favorite things. My daughter also liked the dodge ball, and did more activities at Club C. She was a little bummed that some times she would show up for stuff on the schedule and it wouldn't be happening, which the counselors said was due to lack of interest Her favorite thing was probably Carnival Prom, which was basically a dance party on one of the elegant dress nights. She danced her heart out and sang until she was hoarse, she said.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Main dining room was great. We had a great staff the 1st night (Goose, Paul, & Michael) and after trying a couple of others we started requesting Goose (I Gusti) and his team every night because they were so friendly. Our room steward, Rodolfo, was also very friendly. Rest of staff was generally fine.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Enjoyed it overall.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Well, it was squishy for 4 people for 8 days, but better than some we have had and not unreasonable. Bunk beds worked great and we managed to find a home for all our stuff. It was fine.
Ship tip
Do all the activities the Cruise Director leads. He is very funny and they are fun.
Did the Everglades. We saw 3 gators in the wild and enjoyed the show. We heard some later groups didn't see any wild gators but everyone got to see the show. Fun.
My husband and son did the horseback riding. My son loved it, my husband said it felt like a kiddie rid and was kind of boring. My daughter and I did the village tour, which I thought would be a Dominican Republic replica, but was actually a replica of an Italian Roman Village. It was fine, quite pretty, but not what I expected. We enjoyed shopping in the few tiny boutiques there and bought a few souvenirs.
Super pretty city, and neat to be in a port at night. We didn't do an excursion, just wandered around. Had dinner in town at the "Govenors Mansion" which overlooked the ferry and the water and so was really beautiful. Food was also quite good.
So...we did the island tour which was simultaneously interesting and hokey. They take you to 3 sights which are dinky little things in the middle of nowhere, but interesting because the island is so dry and desert-like, covered in cactus, which was unexpected. It wasn't tropical at all! And very poor. Then they take you down to the beach and suddenly it's completely different, all white sand and bougainvillea an huge resorts and super beautiful. Such a contrast! So then we hung out on this beautiful beach in the warm water drinking rum punch and it was lovely. We couldn't decide if we were happy we had done the 1st part or should have gone straight to the beach, but it was kind of really interesting to have seen it? So then we took a catamaran back to port and we really enjoyed it. It was a our 2nd favorite port on this trip. We had fun.
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