Cruised on Carnival Horizon Sep 2018. The elevators were 'state of the art' which means confusing. you go to a kiosk, choose your floor and the screen tells you which elevator to go to. Then you wait and wait. There is no indication on where your elevator is or when it will arrive. Once inside, you are stuck. You go to the floor that you choose on the kiosk plus any other floors where others are waiting to go to the same floor. Just strange. Never book spa balcony cabin 11234. When looking at the deck plans, there was an unlabeled cabin next to 11234. I asked my agent what that was and she put me on hold to call Carnival and ask. They said it is a storage closet. I figured no noise from a storage closet at night when I am trying to sleep. Well it wasn't a storage closet. 11234 is next to the thermal pool mechanical room and at 2am the first 2 nights, it drained the thermal pool so it sounded like a toilet flushing (but really loud) that lasted for 10-20 minutes. We switched to another open balcony room after the second night. Went to the Serenity (adults only) deck and one of the whirlpool spas wasn't working at all. Considering this is a new ship, that is a fail. The entertainment was awesome. Food was very good as well. Read Less

I chose this cruise with the thought of how wonderful it would be to sail on a new cruise ship. This was not my first cruise and I can say I was not that impressed. The hot tubs were filled with kids and no parents, soon became a kiddie pool with kids sitting on steps and diving in splashing around, went in with shoes on, complained to a staff member and nothing was done. Bathrooms were far and few between, had to travel quite a bit to find one, they were not that clean either. Not impressed with the Cruise Director, barely saw him or heard him, except for the two times he was dancing on the bar and at the sail away party. Buffets were not impressive, and "the fun ship" always had a lot more things going on, especially on the lido deck, they used to have ice sculptures and midnight buffets on the deck itself. Didn't think it was appropriate to pay to watch a movie or thrill ride in the 2 new theaters, and one reason that really made me want to take this ship was the sky ride that was not working. Embarkation and disembarkation was very good and moved quickly. The Meridian Main Dining Room was great, wait staff great as well as the food. Read Less

We did this cruise because we had to cancel another cruise; boy was I glad we got to take this cruise. It was the last cruise on this ship out of New York, and they did it New York way! Getting on the ship was fine, as long as you show up on your designated time on your boarding pass, otherwise you have to go into another line. I have cruised many carnival ships before, but this cruise ranked #2 on all my cruises. We had the best cruise director ever. Ryan and his staff kept us quite entertained. Never had a boring day. The comedians were fantastic, Mike Davis and Jeffery Jene kept us in stitches. The food was good, the ship was clean. I would recommend eating at the 55 steakhouse. It was such a great experience. The service was more personal because you have less people to attend to unlike the main dining room. The dining room service was fast, I am not sure why people are complaining, but on our cruise we did not have to wait for dinner. One tip is that you can eat at the Pig and Anchor for free on the first day of the cruise until 3:30pm. Drop your bags off, and go there, you will not be disappointed. All and all a good time was had by all. Florence ruin our beach day in Bermuda, because the waves on the beach were large and we had red flag warning. I will be cruising again in January with Carnival and I hope Ryan is our cruise director. I also stayed in a spa cabin which was a first, but would do it again. Like having access to the spa and its amenities it had to offer. Also the celestial show was amazing. You can only see this show on the Horizon. Book your cruise on Horizon, you won't be disappointed. Read Less

Okay, lets start off by saying the carnival horizon is getting a bad rep. It has had a string of unfortunate events happen, engine problems, crew member passing, skyride not working, and a port crash. Some of these are bad luck, some are unfortunate circumstance, and some are new ship issues. But don't let these things stop you from cruising on this fantastic ship. So, i am going to do this review in several parts. Pros and cons. And tips and suggestions. Lets start with the Cons: The main theater sightlines are terrible. The structure poles and low hanging lighting block the shows (so get there...early). The cabin is pretty carnival standard but of a brand new $800 million dollar ship should have outlets by the bed. The bathroom was nice, but once again your $800 million dollar ship flagship should have a glass enclosure on the shower, not a flimsy shower curtain that sticks to you and the toilet... and carnival please remove the toilet brush, nobody wants to see that...ughhhh. The horizon has 3 pools, but they are too small and too few for a ship of this size. And we noticed on our cruise, at the rear of the ship (pool area), smelled like diesel smoke. (but this maybe due to sailing in september and high humidity, which made the funnel smoke hang lower). Hurry lng ships... Now on to the many Pros: The buffet was not was good as royal caribbean, but it didn't have to be, because horizon has so many food options. The buffet, the main dining room, asian food, tacos, seafood, guys burgers, italian, 24hr pizza, room service, sandwiches, hot dogs, salad bar, bbq. So finding something was not a problem. The music was great (way better than royal), the ships decor was modern and fresh. The staff was young energetic and friendly (especially our room attendant "Windu" and "Arine Rose" in Ocean Plaza) The comedy shows were great every night. (Especially "Spike Davis") There are many activities, imax/3d movie theater, sports bar, havana bar dancing, skycourse, sports deck, night time movies on the deck (find a spot and some food, good times), and the ships main draw. The "skyride" it is the closest thing to a rollercoaster on a ship (try it on sea-days) and on this sailing we waited no longer than 15 mins. And one activity that's really an non activity is the promenade. Because of the design of the ship the outdoor waterfront had plenty of areas to just go chill and enjoy the sea. Laundry washers and Dryers and ironing board (good especially if you had kids) And the nyc port had the fastest getting on and off the ship, we ever experienced. With parking right by the ship. Also, the carnival hub app actually worked great, it had deck plans, your pictures, showtimes, and activities. The best feature was the Chat, which allow you to Text other members (it was $5.00 for the week) Tips and Suggestions: The carnival vista, horizon and panorama are carnival's new class of ships, the flagships of the fleet. Please change the hull art. Add some stripes (maybe the same as the funnel) enlarge the ship name on the sides, something, because these ships from the outside look like carnival ships from 10-15 years ago. Not latest and greatest. Please do something different with your upcoming 188,000 ton ship(s). $800 million dollar ships, add some outlets beside the bed. Get rid of the toilet brush, nobody wants to see that...ughhhh. And enclose the showers with glass. The controversial "smart elevators" for the most part they work. The problem is if you change your mind after you get in, you can't change your mind (no buttons). Carnival should have conventional elevators, along with smart elevators.. So to sum it up carnival horizon is a wonderful, loud, ship with plenty of food, music and activities. It's not royal caribbean, and that's okay... So in the future, we will sail on Carnival's newest ships I also must thank the captain for getting, us home safe ahead of the hurricane. Read Less

We had family that was booked on this cruise.. about a month out we decided to join them.. This was the first time that we had cruised with others.. and only our 5th cruise...We had a fantastic time with minor and personal disappointments.. By no means am I complaining at all.. It was great.. A few minor things.. Left out of NY. Which we have done a few times.. There was always someone at the parking pier to help with our bags.. I have COPD so its hard for me to help hubby sometimes.. Sadly no one was there to help us.. We did manage.. BUT there was a family with a few disabled children that had no help at all..When we got down stairs DH did ask that someone please go up and help this family.. There was no way they could do it alone.. We were thanked later that day by the family.. They said someone did come to help.. The Horizon is using the new elevator system.. Now this did work out for most of us after the first day.. On boarding day they do ask that you please not use the elevators until we are moving.. Go figure.. no one listened.. So it was a mess.. BUT.. How it works is simple.. and it worked great if people would listen or learn how it works. There are menu boards outside the elevators with the different floors.. They want you to press the floor you want for each person that will be using the elevator.. so if 4 people are going to floor 5 press it 4 times.. that way the elevators knows how many people will be boarding that elevator.. BUT some people would press it once and then expect to load 10 people in when we already have 7 of us waiting.. They need to stress how it works a bit louder so people understand.. When it was used correctly it was great.. Rooms.. Food.. staff.. all fantastic.. I would have preferred a better mix of music by the pools.. It was the same music everyday.. and not very entertaining.. Although the shows were great as always.. I would have liked them to mix it up a bit more..I like to do and see as much as I can.. The sitting ares outside were perfection.. I enjoyed sitting and relaxing on a few days which I never ever do. We ate in the dinning room at night and the staff was fantastic and the food was very good.. The last 2 nights I did notice that the shared bathrooms around the ship were not being cleaned as well as they had been. not sure why.. We did see some food left on th floor the next day after being cleaned.. which was also strange.. Normally the ships are very very clean.. But this was still nothing to complain about.. It was very minimal.. We did have a hurricane that was building so we had to miss a port.. but always need to be safer than not.. So now the real complaints.. I gained to much weight.. and I walked.. Enjoy your next cruise everyone.. I am already looking into ours.. Read Less

We wanted to try this new ship leaving from NYC to the Caribbean. We arrived around noon, we went on board right away, it was the fastest we have ever boarded a ship! Our room key was waiting for us on the ship. Our cruise director, Mike was very enthusiastic and entertaining. Give him a hug! We enjoyed the on ship brewery, and ordered flights of their beer and ale samplers when dining at the Pig and Anchor barbecue for the lunch time offering (no extra charge, we did not try the evening dinner which is a separate charge). My husband and his mom and aunt are from the deep south and were opinionated with Guy's fare, my spouse loved it. I'm vegetarian so I just had a sample of the mac and cheese, ok for a side but not for a meal. I would often have lunch at Cucina Del Capitano where you cand choose your pasta shape, sauce and fixings, I'd get eggplant, marinara, arugula any vegetarian choices and there are a lot. You can have meat if you choose or a serving of lasagne with meat sauce, a side of focaccia, and Ceasar salad. There are other food service areas on board, making the Lido not so crowded like at the Ocean Plaza on 5 and Family Harbor on 2. If you want an extensive salad bar you would have to make your own at the Serenity deck, it opens at 11 am. Its so worth it! your choice of greens veggies, proteins, nuts, seeds and several dressings. For dinner we chose any time dining, often going as early as possible so we would be able to see the show in the Liquid Lounge, we would have to skip dessert to catch the earlier show. The dinner menu seems a little smaller than past cruises, some of the same dishes are also on the Lido deck at dinner time. On sea days we did tea time, but it was so popular we were not offered seconds. Not that we were hungry, it's just that on past cruises we were. They were quick to serve extra hot water for tea. We enjoyed the performances so much of the Carnival Horizon Playlist players, we went to one show twice. If you want a decent seat, go when doors open 30 min before showtime. There is usually a pre-show worth seeing or participating in. We especially liked the show called Vintage Pop. We also spent a lot of time in the Ocean Plaza area when the band titled Crushed Velvet was playing. We enjoyed dancing to their songs from many decades. The bands come and go with the contracts, but they appreciated us and how often we went to see them. The Latin band in Havana was very good, we danced there often. Our trip started and ended with a bit of drama. When we left the dock in NYC we decided to go straight to the dining room, there we had a perfect view from our window seat of the Statue of Liberty, at least 4 helicopters, a police boat and a fire department boat. We are used to the escort out of the harbor, but this was unusual. Apparently there was a sick passenger who was removed to the police boat and then went to the Staten Island hospital. We had stopped by lady Liberty to give the emergency crew time to make the transfer. I hope that person is ok now and recovered. We went to Margaritaville for drinks and the pool after snorkeling on the beach at Grand Turk. At Amber Cove there are pedicabe to take you to the gate from the ship, pay what you wish, we gave them $5. We spent time at the pool, the wifi is only $8 for the day. We had $5 Presidente beer at the bar with a view, a steep climb on a well groomed path. So worth it! Our trip was scheduled for 3 destinations, we went to Grand Turk and Amber Cover, but we did not go to San Juan which would have been our second stop. The reason we skipped this port was to keep us well ahead of hurricane Florence. It was a wise move, we had great weather and smooth sailing the entire time. We had a few brief rain showers near the end of our journey. To make it up to us, our cruise director Mike Pack organized a free bingo event. This was epic! We were in our cabin and the steward gave us each a sheet of 3 bingo games. Every guest old enough was given cards and everyone played in the Liquid lounge and the lido deck, the prize was a free cruise for 2. it was a lot of fun, and I was impressed on how they made this event happen. If you are not already booked in a room on the Havana deck check it out, it's open to all after 7 pm. The bar is always open but you can see how nice the cabana rooms are and use the pool area after 7. On the last day at sea we were pretty close to home and made our way up the coast near Delaware and NJ, docking in the wee hours at 2:30 AM in NYC. The only issue I had with the trip was leaving, we carried our own luggage and went to our designated meeting spot, which put us on an elevator, but sadly when we got off the elevator, the lobby was packed and other passengers were angry that we were cutting the line. I would have been happy to wait in the lounge having coffee until the lobby cleared out, I'm pretty sure the crowd at the exit were the Family Harbor passengers. It was very unpleasant. The crew had walkie-talkies, they should of had us wait until the line was moving. Other than that we had a great time. Read Less

As usual on this cruise I was with my husband and our daughter. This was our 6th cruise, third one with Carnival. Embarkation and Disembarkation Both the embarkation and the disembarkation were smooth and painless. We arrived to the pier at 11:30, which was our call time. After checking our boarding passes we were shepherded to the check-in desks. We waited less than 10 min after checking in for our number to be called. And then we boarded. 10 minutes before noon we were eating or lunch at Lido. For the disembarkation, we were looking to get off the ship earlier rather than later. The priority went by the deck the cabin was located on. However, for the passengers that had all their bags and were looking to leave before their deck was called, there were special waiting areas. We waited there for probably 20 min. We disembarked long before our deck was called. In addition, the entire process was so well organized, there was no crowding anywhere. At 8 a.m. we left the terminal. Service The service was excellent the entire week, from the cabin steward to senior officers, whom we had a chance to meet. Everyone was always very friendly, very helpful. And everyone had an exceptional memory, seemed like every member of the crew knew our names. Ship information We loved the ship. It was new, it was big, it was beautiful. Most importantly, it had a great layout and a great space to people ratio. There was always good places to sit all around the ship. Always, good spots to tan. Always available tables on Lido. The ship, despite being at full capacity, never felt crowded. For Muster Drill we were at the Theatre. Thomas from entertainment was leading the Muster Drill in the Theatre and he was great. Dining We were rather disappointed by the Lido deck buffet options. Perhaps on our 6th cruise, we started to get picky, however, it did seem as if there wasn't that much choice. The choices that were available were not particularly healthy. We found that on Carnival Horizon there was an abundance of deep fried food and food that was very salty. Coincidently, that is what we generally try to stay away from. With that said, we did not go hungry, not by a long shot. The buffet did not impress us and as a result we ate most of the meals in the restaurants. Breakfast/brunch, tea time, dinner. The food in the restaurant was very good. Our previous experience eating in the restaurant on the Carnival ships was that the service was extremely slow. It seemed that most of the time we were sitting waiting for something to happen. That was not the case on the Horizon! The service was very timely. Within minutes of sitting down our orders were taken. If it was dinner, appetizers were out within another 5 min. The orders would come in 20 min later. The service was impressive, on time and impeccable. Cabin After staying in several balcony cabins on previous cruises, we ended up in an inside cabin. And guess what, it was not bad. At first it was odd not to have windows and not know what time of the day it is. Overall, that had little effect on our ability to enjoy the cruise. It would be good to point out that we generally spend little time in the cabin. Entertainment We absolutely loved the shows. The cast was great, the production was exceptional. It seemed Horizon was looking to push the limits with what they can do. Disclosure - on our previous Carnival cruises we were not so impressed. On Horizon we were pleasantly surprised by the caliber of the shows. The bar was definitely raised. There was a con, of course. The theater design did not include the normal incline down seating. Instead there were regular chairs. That provided the flexibility of moving them around and for every show the setup was different. On the flip side, that limited the number of 'good spots'. So if you wanted to get a seat where you can see well, you had to ensure to be one of the first 20 people to enter the theater. And that meant you would have needed to line up 40 min before the show started. Movies under the sky, the Seaside theater. A variety of latest releases were shown, including the Avengers and Star Wars. What was great, as there was plenty of seating. In addition, you could sit on any of the 3 levels and see the screen. Plenty of choice. The sound was loud that you could hear well no matter where you sat. What was not so great - the ship is so big that in comparison the screen seemed a bit small. I suppose it's hard to get that perfect. Read Less

Me and my family had used carnival cruise in the past and had a wonderful time,And being on the Horizon was amazing tons of activities foods was great i mean everything was outstanding going on a vacation where you are constantly having fun i mean non stop fun all the way to your destination and back. A experience that you will never forget and come back for more.The crew on the ship are the finest people work hard and diligently to meet your expectation in everyday possible.Taking a walk around the ship and seeing the cleanliness of the ship very detailed. Whats a cruise without a great cursie director .Mike i must say my hat goes off to you full off energy vibrant a cruise director that will make the sun shine all day on your cruise. Most important dining on the ship very elegant the staff working every night so that your dining experience is house warming quality of the food is amazing Tip my hat to American Feast Team Headwaiter Slavsia Team Waitress Lairinkmi and Asst.Team Waiter Miriko for a fabulous job in making our dining experience a memorable time. Read Less

My family frequently travel to the hottest vacation spots. Our last destination, Disney cruise, ship fantasy, was one to remember. Our latest was carnival horizon and is one we need to quickly forget. Be warned, stay away. My son asked me if I received a free horizon vacation would I still go, and I quickly answered NO WAY. Staff here are overworked and are not well trained in service hospitality. Day 5 was the first day I got an hello or a good morning. Common areas are always dirty. It is very common to see wine glasses from last night stacked up and uncollected well into the next day. In cabin is less dirty, but mostly because we complained. Bar service is on caribean time, drinks take ten or more minutes to make. With an Unlimited drink package, Bar tenders make you feel guilty of doing something wrong when you order a drink with an extra shot, which was just to get to a normal undiluted drink. Overcrowded buffet style lunch and dinners have limited selection and food quality may be just below dog food. Ship activity is also not planned out according to quoted time slots noted on everyday event calendar. We waited thirty minutes for the karaoke person to arrive. This was the same issue with the work out trainer we paid money for the class we took, he was late by twenty minutes. Does no one care about our time? We have loud noises in our cabin from outside banging. Rooms 2409, 2411, 2415, 2417 all have the same loud noise issue every morning. Booking execursions is a do it yourself process. The person that can help you offers no expertise or advise on any options. Excursion person at the desk basically asks you to read your options and decide. Don't even know what is the point of having the excursion person there. Dirty dishes are left uncollected at dinner and lunch buffet areas. Bonsai specialty dinning experience was ruined from overly aggressive staff about booking for 20 people but only 18 showed up. They were looking to charge for everything and not accommodating for kids. We had to ask for plastic cups ten times before they realized kids with glass cups are not a good idea. The shows on the ship match our overall experience, poor. Vocals were out of tune and dancers were out of sync with each other. Early comedian show was not that funny either. Also waiting in line for ten minutes or more to get into shows and still not having enough seats for all of us to sit increased our frustration with the ship. Ship set up is all wrong. You have drunken adults mixed in with young children and many adults were too trashy for any kid to see and experience how bad of an adult world can be. Having twerk competition next to the kids slide is plain out insane. Apologies from management were frequent with emphasis of improving our experience and training the staff to do better, but the apologies kept coming for all different things and different sections. Nothing got better, we just stopped complaining. Read Less

Food - dog food may be better Staff - hate their job and New Yorkers more Clean - forget it. That word does not exist on this cruise. Shows - amateur week, off tune and out of sync most of the time Apologies - expect alot for Everytime you complain but don't expect to get much more Expectations - you should have none and then you can enjoy. Smell - in all bathrooms and common areas are horrible. Don't worry your sense of smells gets used to it over time and long period of being in the same place. A/c not working in many of the common area. Drink specials are costly and Evey bar tender makes you feel like a criminal for ordering more than one drink at a time. You need to wait 5 minutes to get an extra shot and by the way. The extra shot is for the drink to tasted normal and undiluted. Kids club. Unaccomdating. My kids never wanted to be in there. Nothing for my kids to do. Fitness instructor was late Shows would not start on time Morning noises are expected so don't be alarmed if you need a day or two to rest from sleepless loud noises every morning from 5-8am Read Less