Horizon 8-1-21 to 8-6-21 - really nice ship
Carnival Horizon Cruise Review
6 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 01, 2021
Ship: Carnival Horizon
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 3 years ago
Review summary
Day 1 – Aug 1 (Sunday) Port of Miami was a nightmare. We left the car at the hotel and took an Uber to the port. Uber driver missed the drop off so we had to circle but that was not too bad. Unfortunately it let us see the long line waiting to go in. We had an appt for 11:30 and got in line at 11:15. Porters were there taking luggage which was then piled up all over the place. Some in carts, some not. The line was very long (see photos) and in the Miami muggy noon heat, it was not a happy place. Add to that the fact were was told to wear masks and it did not get better. Porters were telling people who asked that the line must just people lost so many people, me included, walked to the front to ask Carnival personnel if there was somewhere else we were supposed to be. Carnival workers were very nice about it and explained that the line was correct. We were in that line for about 45 minutes. Then we entered the terminal to, yep, another line. That one took only about 15 minutes to be directed to Carnival workers who were confirming COVID vaccination and health screening questions. Then security which was the fastest part. Then we walked a ways to get to the terminal part where we waited in, another line! Yeah. That one was pretty short though and we were directed to a check-in agent. We had done the pre-check in so it went really fast and we were off to another line where they scanned us for temperature then it was on to the ship. First time on Horizon and it is BIG. Almost twice the size of the Carnival ships we have sailed in the past but it is very well laid out. I stopped by Guest Services while the line was short (although welcoming staff recommended I wait until we were underway when they said the lines would be shorter but I knew that was a complete lie). Guest services were extremely nice and helpful and arranged for us to have a fan and extension cord in our room. Overall, staff were extremely polite and pleasant the whole cruise although they seldom gave a correct answer the first time. We went to the Pig and Anchor. At the entrance, I asked the staffer where the buffet was located and she was insistent that it was on the 10th deck (Pig and Anchor is 5th Deck) so I just gave up and walked through. Found the buffet on the far side just outside the restaurant on the desk. It was delicious and free and they had BBQ pork, BBQ beef, chicken and sausage. Good beans and mac and cheese too. Saw some people ordering in Pig and Anchor since no one told them there was a free sample buffet right outside so they paid for a meal that should have been free. Beware. Then we headed up to sample the Lido Buffet and look around. Lido Buffet was very good and varied. All dishes had distinctive flavors and were far better than normal buffet meals. About 1:30 we headed down to our cabin and the key cards were there. A little disappointed in the cabin because there was no chair or sofa or anything other than a stool and a bed. 2 closets instead of the normal 4 we were used to. Bigger TV than other ships though. Went back out to wander some more and when we came back, luggage was in the room so we unpacked. Met out cabin steward, Aldrin. He was very nice and arranged to get us some extra pillows and was anxious to see if there was anything we needed. They are only doing cleaning once a day so he asked if we wanted morning (9-12) or evening (6-9). Since I hoped to be sleeping late, I opted for evening. We have late seating in dining room. No issues getting in and finding out table. Waiters were nice and the food was good. Only issue was that the show started at 9:30 and there was only 1 show (not an early one and late one). Dining at 8:15l (really 8:30) does not leave a lot of margin for making it to the show so we had to miss dessert. Show was welcome aboard with our cruise director (Donkey) and it was way too long and boring so we left. He definitely likes the sound of his own voice. Day 2 – Monday (August 2) – At Sea Slept late. DW went up on deck to sunbathe. Bed was comfortable and good pillows and ship hardly feels like it is moving. I ate in the Mongolian Wok (the JiJi Asian restaurant serves Mongolian Wok for lunch complimentary)j and the Captains Pasta (the Cucino del Capitano serves a pasta meal complimentary for lunch). Both have you select what you want from a pick protein, pick sauce, pick noodles paper sheet and the server takes it up. Had Mongolian Wok on a previous cruise where everyone stood in line and ordered and this was a much better method. Mongolian Wok was incredibly good. Although they only had Chicken, Pork or Calamari (beef was crossed out due to lack of beef) it was fabulous. The Captain’s Pasta was good (had linguini with Bolognese and Italian sausage) but Mongolian Wok was better. I could not wait for a chance to eat the Wok again. Restful day watching movies on my computer in the Library, playing in the casino and just people watching. DW loved just laying out. Pools were not crowded and plenty of deck chairs. Dinner was elegant so we got dressed up and asked our wait staff (8:15 seating) to please help us make the 9:30 show in the lounge. They did it with time to spare. It was prime rib and lobster night. Went to the IMAX theater to see “Snake Eyes”. Awesome theater and good movie. I see they are playing The Suicide Squad on its opening day so I will be back for that! Show was the Playlist players doing “Soulbound”, a Motown mainly show based on a Louisiana Voodoo premise. I loved it. DW did not like the singers. We both agreed that the special effects and especially the new backdrop which had people and things going into the screen or coming out of the screen was terrific. Crowded show but likely due there only being 1 show for the whole ship. Day 3 – Tuesday (August 3) – Amber Cove We booked the Sightseeing and Shopping excursion through the ship ($40 each). We had never been to Amber Cove before or the Dominican Republic. Disembarking was each and ship was docked at a pier so no tendering. The first thing to note is that the pier is very long and L shaped. Basically I estimate each part of the L is about 2 ship lengths which is a very long walk. There are pedicabs available for hire (no set fee but tips are encouraged). We walked it but agreed we would take a pedicab back. Amber Cove is a made port. It immediately reminded me of Riviera Maya in Mexico. A port created for cruise ships. Unlike Riviera Maya though there is no nearby small village or town. The nearest town/city is Puerto Plata and it is about a 15-20 minute drive to the outskirts. More about that later. The Amber Cove area is closed to anyone but cruise passengers and port employees. There are a number of tourist shops (think “airport shops” and such) as well as bars and pools. NOTE that there is Free WiFi available at the shops! You find the zone where your exclusion is to meet and wait. We were required to wear masks the entire time except when actively eating or drinking. When the guide says it is time to go, he walks you through the rest of the port shopping area to a taxi area. There were a few taxis there but nothing like at other ports. There were car rental places too. We were loaded onto a nice bus and saw people getting on the “Wild Truck” and other executions. Our guide was named Marino and he liked the sound of his own voice. Although sometimes he gave interesting or useful information, most of the time he was making very unfunny jokes (example – “what do you call two birds on a branch? A couple” – that is what I mean but not funny). The traffic was unbelievable. Bumper to bumper with large trucks down to motorcycles. Everyone just weaving in and our and blowing horns. Combined with the fact that people were parked on the side of already narrow roads it is not a place anyone but a local should drive. It took us quite a while to get to the first stop because we have to navigate streets to get pointed in the correct direction since many streets are one way (but not marked). Meanwhile motorcycles would buzz by us on either side and intersections were a nightmare. Again, if you are thinking of renting a car and driving yourself around, please do not. We noticed that most vacant spots were covered with trash and discarded bottles or such. All signs were in Spanish only with no English translations for the most part. Our first stop was “Carmen’s Factory Souvenir Shop” which was billed as a Larimar factory. Wrong. It was just a tourist gift shop for Larimar (a very pretty blue stone unique to DR) where we heard about a 3 minute speech about Larimar then were led into a gift shop with employees ready to put the hard sell on everyone. We were locked in with our bus just outside and Marino guarding the door while each employee harangued and badgered us to buy these very special necklaces and rings. Typical haggling where they start really high and keep dropping no matter how many times you tell them you are not interested. It made me feel like we were paying for the right to be captive sale targets. Finally we left there to go to the Rum Factory. At least this place was nicer and cooler. There was a short film about Macroix Rum and then we were led to a tasting room where we were given free samples of all of their rums (about 4 and then 4 more flavored rums). They were very nice, not pushy and the rum was good. Please note that it was not a shot of rum and rather little bit so no one would be getting drunk. They would have given you a bigger taste if you asked I think. Then across the road was the gift shop where they had rums (and other liquors) on sale for a good price. This was more like what I was expecting. Then it was more navigating the narrow streets to another gift shop. I knew we were in a tourist area because there were signs in English and there were police and military guards to ensure no one went missing. Another tourist trap of trinkets probably made in China. Very hot and Marino kept us here way too long. He said that they had added two new stops which were Pink Street and Umbrella Street. Sounded interesting but it is not. Pink Street was an alley, no stores or anything, that was painted pink. That is it. Someone painted an alley pink and then called it a tourist attraction. Down the road was Umbrella Street. When I saw that all the signs were in English only, I knew it was not going to be much. It was a short narrow street, blocked off to vehicle traffic, one short block long with about 8 shops total. Selling coffee and trinkets. Military and police at either end to ensure no bad guys bothered people (but of course street hawkers were allowed). It is good that police and military were there and they were very nice and polite and desired to be helpful. Since Tourism is their major support, it is smart to protect the tourists and try to ensure their safety but it also ensures you will not get the real flavor for Puerto Plata. It also indicated that if I decided to strike out on my own rather than an organized tour, I would probably have trouble (which would be my own fault for not staying in the safe zones). After that long period of being targets, we went to the main plaza where the city hall and courthouse were. It was pretty and HOT with little shade but there was a section selling pina coladas and snacks. There was a general store that had no English signs where they had snacks, drinks, refrigerators, stoves, furniture, etc and DW and I were able to get Dasani 1 liter (33 ounces) bottles of nice cold water for the cost of 2 for $1. That was really nice and welcome! Then we headed for the Fort as our final stop since the Amber Museum (as well as the big statute of Jesus and the cable cars) was closed. Admission to the Fort was not include and DW and I were tired so stayed on the bus. Others said it was very nice and we thought it was beautiful from the outside. Watching our fellow passengers get off the bus though reminded me of being on the beach and throwing a bag of chips onto the beach. Seagulls would swoop in and have a frenzy. So did the hawkers swoop in on the passengers. Nice and police but doing their jobs. There were at least 3 tours from the ship that included similar things. Top 10 things was one and Mountainview and City Sights was another. We saw the people from those excursions at our stops so I doubt they did or saw much different than we did. With the cable cars and Amber Museum closed, I am glad we took the cheaper option. There are likely independent tours available, and we saw some, but they cannot be much different. In Vegas and places, they pay big gambles to come to gamble. Here I felt like we were paying for the privilege of being swarmed by hawkers. I would not get off the boat in Amber Cove again or if I did, I would not go further than the port area and that far just to use free WiFi. Day 4 – Wednesday (August 4) – At Sea A great restful day. Played Trivia in the Ocean Plaza, watched movies on my computer, ate at the Wok again and just relaxed. DW read and napped. Dinner was good and we were excited for the show, Celestial Strings featuring the Sunny Girls Trio and the Playlist players. The Sunny Girls Trio was 3 girls from Russia (or similar counties) who play the violin but they are terrific. It is fun to watch and fun to listen to. Unfortunately, the show and the Playlist players were awful. It was just bad and I would have rather just listened to the Sunny Girls play. Day 4 – Thursday (August 5) – Half Moon Cay There was some confusion about the water taxis because the printed material talked about time but the tickets were for zones. You can read my post about Things I Wish I had Known about Horizon if you want more details about it. Bottom line, by 10:30 AM, all zones had been called. We had breakfast and headed to HMC. DW loves the beach and said the water was beyond perfect. Clear and the perfect temperature. She wanted to stay in it forever. I dislike sand so walked around a bit, went to the Island Barbeque (or cook out as we call it in the South since BBQ is only for pulled pork). Food was plentiful and good and island was pretty. No phone service or internet as an FYI I went back to the ship (caught the Wok before it closed) and relaxed in the AC because the island was hot! Good dinner and restful day. Unfortunately, the show that night was the Playlist players who were once again very bad with a “Roaring 20s” show that was in the style of the 1920s with some modern pop songs. Song selection was awful and overall just a really bad show. Day 5 – Friday (August 6) – Bimini After being hot on previous shore trips and having to wear a mask and the advice of other cruises on the CruiseCritic board that most things in Bimini were closed, I opted to stay on the ship and continue my practice of relaxing, watching movies and eating at the Wok. DW went ashore though. There was a free tram that took her around some and took her to the Hilton. She said it was a nice resort and although there was free WiFi there, she could not get anywhere on it for whatever that is worth. She felt it was a beautiful place but did not go into the town. I went to see The Suicide Squad in the IMAX. Again, great theater and it was a good movie so it was fun to see it in IMAX for less than what it would have cost me on land. There was nothing really enticing on the main dining menu so we opted to go to the Steakhouse. We each had the Waygu beef and it was good, as was everything else, but the service was absolutely awful. The restaurant was at about 1/3 capacity at most and often less than that with numerous wait staff wandering about but getting a water refill, salt and pepper or anything else was very difficult. Our server was terrible and unhelpful. Dessert was cheesecake and it was delicious. The show was called “One Night Only” and it did not have the Playlist players but did have the other musicians from the ship. It was very good and lively and we enjoyed it a great deal. Playlist really needs to work on things. Day 6 – Saturday (August 7) Miami and disembarkation We opted to carry our luggage off rather than check them as we usually do. It made things much quicker and I will do that in the future. We had to wear masks but disembarking was very smooth and easy. Getting through customs was as simple as pulling down our masks, looking at a screen that used facial recognition and we were done. Barely even a line. We parked at our hotel from Saturday night so got a Lyft back to the hotel and were on our way home. For those curious about parking, it was $5 per day at the hotel (so $30) and a $21 Uber/Lyft ride each way for a total of about $72 for our car to be safe and secure. All of the cautions about parking at lots near the port that offered free shuttles had me scared and using those would have been $65-75, parking in the port would have been $132 so I am happy with $72.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Onboard Activities
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
THINGS I WISH I KNEW ABOUT HORIZON BEFORE - First and foremost, this is a great ship and you will have a great time 1 – This is a very big ship! Despite how big it is, you do not feel it is that large because it is well designed with dividers and such used well to make areas feel smaller. Check the dimensions to compare to what you are used it. This was roughly twice the size of most of the large ships we have sailed in the past. 2 – Lots of food choices – in addition to the places you have to pay extra to eat at, there are any free places. The Lido Buffet (The Marketplace) has basically 2 entire buffets. Each buffet area has 4 buffets, a salad bar, a sweets bar and each one has a different specialty area (one has a deli and one has Empanadas and Gelatos). There are 2 main pools (Resort Pool and Tides Pool). By Resort Pool, you have Guy’s Burger Joint on one side and the Burrito/Taco place on the other. By the Tides Pool, you have the Seafood Shack (which is not free) and the pizza place (which is free). Cucino del Captaino and JiJi Asian both offer lunch menus for no additional charge. 3 – The Carnival HUB app works really well on board. Checking it before boarding, it was not very good and I was uncertain about it and the fact that there were not going to be Fun Times printed out. Onboard however, once connected for free to the Carnival WiFi (which is free for HUB purposes although you cannot connect to anything else like the internet without a package), it is very intuitive and simple. Menus are easy to access and so are maps. 4 – Elevators are “smart”. You go to the bank of elevators and select what floor you want. The elevators are given letters (A, B, C, D, E) and the system then tells you that elevator A (for example) will take you to your floor. When that door opens, you board and there are no floor buttons. It takes you to your floor. It actually does make things quicker and easier. 5 – Simple Muster – when you board, you go to your muster station and are shown how to wear a life jacket (as stupid and quick as it sounds). Then you are done with the muster and there is no mass gathering in the heat. You can watch a safety video in your cabin. Still some people do not comply with this 2-3 minute process so be prepared to constantly hear reminders when you are getting on ship. 6 – Movie theaters – In addition to the “Dive in Movies” (movies they show by the pool on a huge overhead) there are 2 movie theaters. One is the Thrill Theater which is similar to many movies/shows at Disneyworld (such as “It’s a Bug’s Life”) where the seats rattle a bit, water sprays, things tickle your legs, etc. It only shows 3D immersive videos and each is about 4-5 minutes long. They are shown in blocks of 3 and are Thrill Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 (based on how scary or active they are). I did not do these but heard they were fun. The other is a full IMAX theatre. If you have been to an IMAX theater, you know what to expect. It is quite large (tip, sit toward the back because with a huge screen, sitting close means having to turn your head a lot). It shows standard IMAX fare like under sea things, space things but also shows first run movies. When we were there (Aug 1-7, 2021) they were showing Snake Eyes and on Thurs and Friday when The Suicide Squad opened in theaters on land, it was shown there too. Price was about the same as a movie on land so it was awesome. 7 - Incredibly poor at answering simple questions – The crew were incredibly nice and polite and wanted to be helpful but if you asked questions, we almost always got an incorrect answer the first time. If you ask a question, and they answer, confirm it with them! Example, for the water taxi to Half Moon Cay, the notice put in everyone’s cabin talked about the timing of water taxies and how you need to go to 10 Forward to get a ticket for the time you wanted. On 10 Forward, tickets were just numbered as Zone 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. We were part of a large group of people all standing there trying to equate the zones with times. I asked a crew member and he proceeded to “explain” that it was a water taxi port so everyone needed a ticket to determine the time they could board the tender and blah blah. I had to stop him and explain that we understood that but we needed to know what TIME the zones would be. He then explained that since there was no docking system, water taxies/tendered needed to be used so we should take a ticket for the time we wanted and blah blah. I tried a final time to get him to understand that we just wanted to know what time, for example, Zone 6 might be boarding. He said Oh, it will board after Zone 5. I just thanked him and waited for a ship’s officer to walk by. Same thing happened where he was determined to explain the mechanics of docking vs water tendering and would not answer the simple question. I just thanked him and used the telephone to call Guest Services. After being on hold for about 15 minutes, someone picked up and just hung up. We gave up and just took tickets for Zone 6. Same thing happened with several other issues. 8 - Port of Miami – We had an 11:30 “boarding time reservation”. The line was VERY long and we waited in the lovely Miami muggy heat for about an hour to get into the building where there was another line. Porters taking luggage were making huge stacks everywhere but shockingly, apparently all bags make it onto the ship. Porters were telling people that they had no idea why the line was so long which caused me, and many others, to walk to the front of the line looking for a Carnival employee to ask to confirm that this was the line we needed to be in. It was the correct line and I can only assume that porters were getting their jolly by telling lies to people. Beware. Once in the building, it does move pretty quickly. By then you will be drenched in sweat though and tired of carrying whatever you planned to carry on. 9 – COVID changes – There were very real changes due to COVID. The crew all wore masks the whole time (depending on what the current requirements are when you go, hopefully you will not be required to wear one. We only had to wear them when embarking, disembarking and then in the port of calls if required locally). Buffets still operated normally with self serve. Ice cream was still self-serve. Seating in theaters was still seat to seat. Crew were very quick to clean any table when someone left but otherwise it was the same as it has always been. 10 – TV Stations – Although the TV was nice and large, you had to turn it off and on a couple of times before it would work. From the comment of our cabin steward, that is normal. The only channels are Carnival stations about food, excursions (not necessarily for the ones you are able to go on), ship cameras, spoken What’s Happening, TCM (Turner Classic Movies), HGTV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Discovery, Travel Channel (aka Ghost Hunters any time all the time), Food Network and CBS News. There is no movie channel but there are on demand movies. Some are free, some are $4.99. 11 – Smoking – I am not sure if the casino is a a gambling place where people smoke or a smoking lounge with some slot machines. All I do know is that it almost seemed that smoking was mandatory in the casino because there was a LOT of it. Casino is midship on Deck 4 and there is a large opening to Deck 5 so if you walked midship on Deck 4 or Deck 5, you better like smoke.