Beautiful Islands- will return

Carnival Horizon Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

rmjc1975

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 29

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Southern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 30, 2022

Ship: Carnival Horizon

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8373

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

This is our second Carnival try and we went on for the kids - it was their choice. They were a little disappointed with the slim activities. Also shows aren’t geared to them , not one. We love cruising so we had many positive moments aside from our “cons”. The food on Carnival is a huge deterrent for us. They do need to get better ventilation in the casino or make a non smoking. We love to go but the cigarette is so bad we just were showering after each visit and had to clean our clothes. Also, it would be nice to see more tween and teen based activities and shows. Overall it was a nice cruise and poor or okay food is better than cooking ourselves. There was not a lot of attention to Covid. There were shared condiment bottles, no wiping going on, even peanut butter in a bowl open with a reused spoon. It was icky. No one masked in common areas . We did at shows and in crowded places but no one else did. We did so in transit . Kids came home with Covid so it was definitely from the ship.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Only 1 crew member once we step foot on board welcomed us and was visible. Bit of let down. At the port multiple staff competing to send you to a different line . Little old lady unpleasant.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

The buffet on Carnival is terrible really- unfortunately. My teen called it “prison slop”. Even the restaurant has pre made from state side waffles and food. Dry. Egg waffles taste better. We wanted to be objective but the food on Carnival is really tough. Specialty is better but it’s all salty and heavy. Even the fruits are cubes not nice slices etc…. Not great variety either. I don’t appreciate pre toasted cold toast and bagels. If they are worried about Covid and lines, they might worry about the shared condiments and lack of hand washing.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

They were closed most of the time due to wind. Seemed scaled down a lot.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Very extremely talented group. The sang and danced amazingly. The visuals on the show were superb. We enjoyed the shows very much .

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

A lot closed. Scaled down. Not remarkable. 14 year olds did not appreciate the younger 12 year olds and thus avoided it but weren’t old enough to join the 15 +.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Varied. Our cabin steward was very very nice. Some of the male customer service reps at the desk were a little crispy when we called for help with certain things. The dining room was busy and we didn’t have the same server, only once did we have a nice engaged server. No singing and dancing anymore ?

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The layout of the ship was a little hard with some areas being blocked off/no pass. The elevators were really small and never had air conditioning.. Truly never - always little sweat boxes. They were hot the entire trip. The crew did work hard to keep common areas clean with exception to the common bathrooms that needed attention each time we went in.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Our cabin was nice. No issues. It is as was described. I find the bed and bedding very comfortable. I wish deck chairs were designed with larger people in mind. We were quite comfortable.