Enjoyable cruise to the Southern Caribbean

Item: Carnival Horizon
Rating: 4
Author: WhodatRalph

Carnival Horizon Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

WhodatRalph

Contributor Level: Cruise Director

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 8

Helpful Votes: 246

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

8 Night Southern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 09, 2019

Ship: Carnival Horizon

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7454

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

We really enjoyed sailing on the Carnival Horizon. Overall the cruise was enjoyable and had some highs and some lows. The highs were a beautiful ship with a lot to do (or not do if that is what you wanted), great weather (except for the shower the one day when we were standing in line to ride the Sky Ride, which is a must do), a couple of great ports (Grand Turk and Aruba), great crew and staff, some good food (of note were the Pig and Anchor and JiJis), the comedians, and one of the Playlist Production shows. We had a cabin in the Havana section and enjoyed that section. We were always able to get deck chairs (even though there were some chair hogs in the section) and it is a beautiful, well decorated section of the ship. I am sure I missed something in the highs. The lows would be the food, at times was mediocre and warm, not hot. The steakhouse service was slow and the food there was not as expected, most of the Playlist Production shows left a little to be desired, it was difficult to get into the comedy shows (show up real early), and a couple of our shore excursions (the Blue Hole in La Romana and swimming with the turtles in Curcacao) were disappointing. One problem we had with our cabin was soot from the funnel had a tendency to fall on the aft balconies when the ship was not moving so y wife's shorts got soot on them the first day but Carnival cleaned them for free. Also our balcony always seemed to be wet. All in all it was a great vacation.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Embarkation was quick. It took 20 minutes from the time we got in line until we were on the ship (and that was without priority boarding, FTTF, etc.)

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

The main dining room was okay. Some days the meals were good, others they were just mediocre. One thing that we noticed is that the food was not as hot as it probably should have been. Went to the steakhouse and was a little disappointed in it. Service was slow and the food (like in the MDR) was only warm, not hot. Really liked JiJis and the Pig and Anchor. Both had great food.

Ji Ji Asian Kitchen

5 out of 5

Best place we ate at and worth the money. Food tasted great and was served hot. Try it.

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse

3 out of 5

Service was very slow and the food quality was below expectation. It was also warm, not hot. For dessert we had "Art at the Table" and it was interesting but they should have let us open the surprise instead of the chef doing it.

Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ Smokehouse Brewhouse

5 out of 5

Really enjoyed the BBQ on the ship. We got the plate that had a little of each type of meat and it was plenty for both of us. The banana cream pie should not be missed.

Liquid Lounge

3 out of 5

The room, if laid out, differently, could seat more people and there are a lot of seats with obstructed views. However it is laid out the way it is so the floor can act as an extended stage for some of the shows.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Enjoyed the Sky Ride and my wife did the ropes course and waterslides and thought that was fun. Fitness center was adequate. Went to see a 3-D movie at the IMAX theater and enjoyed that.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Comedians were funny (when you could get in the see them) but a little disappointed in the Playlist Productions shows. Enjoyed the Amor Cubano show but the others were not that interesting.

Children's Programs

No children

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Sometimes the dining room service was slow. Our room steward was great and accomodated any requests we made.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Ship was clean and appeared to be well maintained.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

We had a Havana aft extended balcony cabin. The biggest advantage to the Havana section is we were always able to get deck chairs (even with the few chair hogs that were in that section). One problem we had was we found out that when the ship is not moving soot from the funnel tended to drop onto the balconies. My wife got black soot on her shorts after sitting on the chair on our balcony (the ship cleaned them for free).

Ship tip

Take the time to learn the layout of the ship and the correct operation of the elevators. Once you figure it out it is a piece of cake.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

4 out of 5

We stayed in Miami Beach for a couple of days before the cruise and enjoyed the area even with all the rude people and drivers.

Thumbs Up 3

Grand Turk Island

4 out of 5

We just stayed at the beach that was right off the ship and went to Margaritaville.

Thumbs Up 8

La Romana, Dominican Republic

2 out of 5

Nothing to do here. We went on the Blue Hole tour and it took an hour drive to get there with nothing (except sugar cane) to look at so bring a book or take a nap. One thing about the Blue Hole that I have not seen mentioned anywhere else is the number of honey bees that are there. There are hundreds of them.

Thumbs Up 1

Willemstad, Curacao

3 out of 5

Did not have a great time here (maybe it was the excursion we picked) but the place seemed just okay.

Thumbs Up 0

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5

Aruba is beautiful and we did a great excursion (Sea Bob and beach break). I could go back to Aruba for a longer stay.

Thumbs Up 3

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Disembarkation was about average. I did not like the luggage on the conveyor belts. I would prefer it all be located in a central area (separated by the disembarkation numbers) like they do at other ports

Traveler Photos

View from the beach in Grand Turk. Beach is right off the ship.

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