Horizon Review

3.5 / 5.0
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All Inclusive Bargain Pricing With Great Ports Of Call

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Horizon
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terrycoles
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: May 2013

Just returned from our first cruise on Pullmantur's Monarch, a cruise line out of Spain owned by Royal Caribbean. One might call them the "little sister" of Royal Caribbean since their fleet incudes the older, smaller ships passed down from the bigger cruise line. But what Pullmantur offers that other cruise lines don't is an ALL INCLUSIVE package for one low price that includes food, alcohol and other ship board activities. And another special feature offered only by this cruise line is the ability to board the ship at ANY of the ports of call that they stop at, creating an unusually diverse group of cruisers mixed together. Our trip left from the port of Colon, Panama and included stops at Cartagena, Columbia, Oranjestad, Aruba, La Guairá, Venezuela, and Willemstad, Curacao before returning to Panama. At each port while cruisers are enjoying shore excursions other passengers are embarking and disembarking, continually adding new passengers to the mix. Despite the fact that the Monarch is an older, smaller ship we found it elegant, tastefully decorated with all the necessary bells and whistles needed. Along with plenty of food and booze for free there's a spa, gym, rock climbing wall, two pools, two hot tubs, teen club, dance clubs, casino, bars, nightly shows, internet café, jogging track, basketball courts, ping pong and so much more. Although the official language onboard is Spanish, all of the crew seemed to speak English well along with several other languages too. All announcements are made first in Spanish and second in English, so everything we needed to know was clearly stated. All documents and menus were also available in English as soon as the staff knew we weren't fluent in Spanish. But since we're US expats living in Panama we are learning Spanish and enjoyed being immersed in the language for a week, but knew we could revert to English whenever we got lost. The crew was absolutely wonderful and always willing to bend over backwards to take care of our every need. My husband broke his toe on board and needed medical treatment and was immediately seen by the ship's doctors where he was given intravenous pain medication, had x-rays taken of his foot, and had all arrangements made for surgery in Cartagena, since that was our next stop. We returned to the ship before it left port and were able to continue with the rest of our vacation with the benefit of follow up medical care right on board. Cleanliness was of the utmost importance onboard as hand sanitizer was everywhere. Each time we entered or exited an eating establishment we sanitized our hands. And at every port of call we had to sanitize when leaving and re-entering the ship, making us feel very safe that we wouldn't bring home some disease. Overall we loved our cruise with Pullmantur and plan to travel with them again. Absolutely great value for the money, warm, welcoming crew members, great food and lots of good, tropical mixed drinks all of which created memories to last a lifetime.

Cabin Review

Cabin superior ocean view

Our cabin was the typical small, but adequate cruise ship type of room. Our queen sized bed was clean and comfy with fluffy white pillows and a comforter to match. A small desk sat on one side of the room with a closet and the bathroom nearby. The shower had great pressure and lots of hot water with soft, fluffy white towels. Shampoo and soap were provided by the cruise line along with a hair dryer. The room had a safe in the closet and a flat screen television set with a few stations, although most were in Spanish. My favorite part of the cabin was a large, oval window from which we could watch the waves crashing as we cruised on by. Our cabin was located on the 4th floor near the elevators, while the reception desk, shore excursions desk, internet café were also nearby. The window let in plenty of light but during the night the room did seem a bit creaky and we couldn't figure out why. Other than the creakiness the room was very quiet and tranquil.

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