My only regret is that it's over! We had a fantastic time as always!!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very smooth, on board quite quickly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We had some hiccups at the MDR (on the first elegant night we had to be moved to a different section because other guests sat themselves at our designated table (not Carnival's fault!), but the waiter for the section we were moved to was not very nice, very gruff and angry; on another occasion our ordered bottle of wine didn't come until dessert). Tranquilino at the MDR was an outstanding waiter! And Abner was so kind to us after the mishaps of elegant night. We had some amazing experiences as well, our waitstaff for our second elegant night was fantastic and so was our experience at Jiji's. Cyrus, our Teppanyaki chef, was super!! He was so funny and talented and he had the best giggle! Teppenyaki was our favorite meal. I feel like breakfast could be improved in the Lido; I sincerely wish that there were more options such as fruits offered in Lido for breakfast; I did find watermelon at Blue Iguana which I was grateful for, but I'd love to see pineapple, guava, papaya, etc. as well. I was so happy to see flaming tomato soup on the brunch menu, but it did not taste as I remembered, bland and unexceptional. My husband reports that he was not alone in feeling frustration at the self serve beer machines; they didn't work well, if at all. In general I feel like the quality of food offered in Lido and MDR has gone slightly downhill from prior to the pandemic. One exception to this is the gelato that I discovered in Lido and ate pretty much every day. I also took a chance and chose portobello steak one night and it was really good. Delicious!!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We did not go in the pool. We did spend some time in a hot tub in Serenity. Both were very nice. The fitness center was clean and had plenty of machines. We did not watch any movies on Horizon. We were too busy with the entertainment!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We loved Andi...EIE Andi! Trivia was fantastic. I did participate in Sailaway, the 80s Rock and Glow Party and Quest and I have to tell you I was SOOOO impressed with Jacky Tang. He has a commanding presence and we had a lot of fun with him. We are huge fans of Chris Williams, Chris will always be our #1, but Jacky has firmly locked in a close 2nd with this trip! Dylan Scott, the guitarist, was my husband's absolute favorite!!
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
My 16 year old had a fantastic time at the teen club.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Bhayu, our steward, was the friendliest and most accommodating steward we have ever had. He had a great sense of humor too! I cannot say enough nice things about that man. Although we did not have Chito as a steward, our friend 5 doors down did, and he was also very nice and friendly to us because he knew we were friends with his cabin occupants.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Horizon is a nice ship, newer and always clean and in order. I do like the ships with dedicated large Ocean Plaza areas.
One thing I didn't love was the elevators. I got the concept after a day of using them, but I didn't find them to be any more efficient or faster.
I also found it a bit strange navigating around the galley. We were on floor 2 midship and our MDR was Meridian, so we were impacted by this placement. It wasn't a big deal once we figured out that we needed to go all the way to the stern instead of up one floor at our elevators if we wanted to eat, but boy were we stumped for the first two meals.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I absolutely love the cove balconies! Bhayu did a great job cleaning up after us, there were 4 in the cabin so it was a little crazy at times. Bed and pillows were comfortable and although with 4 people you always wish you had a little more room, it was perfect.
Ship tip
Before you embark, make SURE you understand how the Horizon elevators work! Also go to muster as soon as you get on the ship, it's super easy and then you can start having fun!
We only spent one day in Miami, in Little Havana. I found Miami generally to be a bit dirty and scrappy, we were warned several times about staying away from certain areas in the city, but we had a nice time in Little Havana.
It was ok. There was another large ship there that day and once they disembarked, it got super crowded. The food was just ok. Our family likes that "authentic" experience at port and this was not the port for that. We did walk up the hill to the Sky Bar where it was quieter and the view was amazing, so we appreciated that, but it was a bit of a walk.
You know, we were leery of this port because of the amount of people that say "don't leave the ship" but we had a lovely day exploring Saona island on an independent excursion.
Five stars are not enough for this island. It's my new favorite port. We rented golf carts and toured the southern half of the island independently. I loved the beauty and ruggedness and safety of the island. Snorkelling was amazing, wild donkeys were friendly, gosh I loved this place so much!!
I did not enjoy Aruba nearly as much as I thought I would. We thought we got on a bus to Arashi Beach but we ended up at Eagle Beach; I think we may have been duped by the transportation people. It felt like Fort Lauderdale or Miami to me...nothing but a crowded city beach (so crowded there were no chairs or umbrellas) with mediocre food and expensive beer. It sure beat working at home in Boston, but my socks weren't knocked off.
People complained about the slowness of the disembarkation, but apparently there was an arrest (or more than one) before we could disembark, so I view that as totally out of our control. We had no issues; from when they called our number to when we were on the curb waiting for an Uber, it couldn't have been more than 20 minutes. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Thanks for sharing. We were embarking when you were disembarking and the wait seemed like forever. They didn't start letting us on until 12:30. Glad you enjoyed your trip.
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