Carnival Horizon Review

Interesting Experience

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Horizon
User Avatar
dmm1163
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Feb 2019
Cabin: Cloud 9 Spa Balcony

We are platinum members on NCL. We thought we would give Carnival a try. Embarkation was a breeze! From cruise port door to lunch in less than 45 minutes. Great job on that. Our spa balcony stateroom was lovely, nice colors, plenty of space, comfortable. Our cabin Steward, Alfredo was top notch, friendly, always around and just a very nice young man. We thank him for being so attentive. Most common areas are ok to look at nothing that elegant or fabulous. People go crazy over the elevators but we found it very efficient, our cabin was on the top of the ship, we had no trouble with the elevators. The thing that made this cruise was the Cruise Director, Schwartz! He was really terrific and made the events quite fun. There were so many things we enjoyed in the area of entertainment, this is another thing Carnival does really well. The movies on the deck were quite enjoyable as well. Nice touch offering blankets! We enjoy the spa on any of the ships we have been on so we booked the spa balcony. The first day the staff was oh so nice after that wow they got crankier and crankier. The spa itself is very disappointing, the thermal pool is pretty tiny and can't fit more than 6 people. They do have the wondrous stone loungers but if you are not able to get one, well there's no place for your to relax and you have to leave if you have done the steam and sauna etc. The locker room was adequate. We booked the Italian restaurant and the Steak House for specialty dining, but also went to Pig and Anchor one night. The Italian restaurant was terrible. Food was cold and quite underdone, we left most of it, the Steak House served a great meal and is worth the cost. Pig and Anchor...oh my! Lunch there was pretty awful as well. Does Guy Fieri follow up on his namesake? If he did he would find out that this place is butchering his name, the food was barely edible. Most of it tasted like reheated frozen food. So that left the main dining room and buffet, both served pretty miserable foods any time we tried dinner there. Breakfast was ok, not much on flavor or variety. Trying to get an omelette at the buffet was a long long wait. The Gelato at lunch time was delicious! Cakes we pretty and mostly not very tasty. I will give good words to the Pizza place, Blue Iguana and the Guy's Burger place, all three served pretty good foods. We are still reeling from some stomach ailment we got on board, not sure what it was. The adult area, Serenity was nice but getting a chair is virtually impossible unless you go up at 6 am. Wow! It was always hard to find a place to sit, you end up milling around until you stalk someone leaving. Perhaps Carnival can convert this area or part of it to a limited access pay for area with guaranteed seating. I'd pay for that! Casino was smoky and pretty smelly, we stopped in for a brief few minutes once or twice. Getting off the ship and back on at the ports was also very easy and quick, I give Carnival great praise for people moving overall. We did our own excursions so I can't speak for ship excursions. We went to Bohio Dive Resort in Grand Turk, walked all around San Juan and had dinner at Vaca Brava, went to the Marriot St. Kitts on a day pass, and the most fun excursion was Billy Bones Cigarette Boat All Day Excursion, it included snorkeling, beaching, lunch, airport beach and more swimming/snorkeling. Lots of fun! There are a lot of things this ship does well, there are things that this ship does not do well. If a nice dining experience is important to you, I would not recommend this ship. I can't speak for all Carnival ships just this one. Overall, I give high praise to Embarkation and Debarkation, Cabins, Cruise Director, Room Steward, Steak House and Casual Lunch at Pizzeria, Blue Iguana and Guy's Burger. We unfortunately will not try another Carnival Cruise.

Cabin Review

Cloud 9 Spa Balcony

Cabin 8T

Cabin was lovely, very comfortable furnishing, plenty of storage. Very enjoyable.

Port Reviews

San Juan

It's a nice place to do some walking and exploring of Old San Juan, very picturesque. We had dinner at Vaca Brava, very delicious!

St. Kitts (Port Zante)

Marriott St. Kitts Day Pass. Beautiful resort will all amenities. Beach was picturesque but a little rough. Definitely a go back to resort.

Grand Turk

Bohio Dive Resort, very nice beach and grounds. Pretty quiet and comfortable. Ocean water was beautiful colors and very scenic.

1 Helpful Vote
previous reviewnext review

Find a Carnival Horizon Cruise from $403

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.