Carnival Horizon Review

Carnival's Not What it Used to be

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Horizon
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minksgamma
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Feb 2019
Cabin: Cloud 9 Spa Balcony

Embarkation flowed well Only issue was our new, unopened bottles of SMART water was confiscated by Security for the reason they said "you can't have plastic bottles on the ship." However, you can purchase plastic bottles of water on the ship, and you can bring them on in the ports, and there are plastic recycle bins on the ship so apparently you can have plastic bottles on there. So, terrible reason Carnival; come up with something more honest. Also, if you can't have plastic bottles on the ship then 3/4 of my toiletries should have been confiscated too. I think they wanted our SMART water for personal use. Another confiscation was my travel iron "they" said for safety reasons. When you pull your room card out of the wall socket it shuts down all electricity in the room. So what is the safety issue? The curling irons and hot rollers don't get confiscated even though they use the same electrical outlet as the iron. Don't try to be pro wrinkle free; you have to go join the masses waiting to use the iron if you want to look nice on formal night (go early; you'll still be in a line) Once on the ship our room wasn't ready so we went to the Marketplace (buffet) and chilled. I liked the addition of the bar tables in addition to dining tables. Our room on the Spa Deck was really nice and looked just like the website photos. I did not like this ship! All through the ship you can see Carnival $ cutbacks. This ship is computer controlled everything. Hopefully, there is a backup plan for computer crashes and computer dumps.

Compared to other Carnival ships the decor is boring, the clubs are boring, the biggest disappointment was the Atrium; so boring. Showtime is no longer like Broadway shows or broken up by other acts. Every night was the same group of young people singing. That was it, just singing all the way through the show. The club was unimpressive, while the group was singing "they" would digitally display these unfavorable backdrops. The midnight buffet is the same food as the dinner buffet; no longer the extravaganza display of food and talents, ice sculptures, etc. Another huge noticeable cutback by Carnival. The mercantile store was replaced by a Victoria's Secret store. So be prepared and bring enough sunscreen, headache pills, women necessities, etc. We ate our meals in the dining room for food quality reasons, but beware, there are extra charges for food in the dining room. The pool games were boring; not like the pool games of the past. Even the men's hairy chest contest is not played the same. The casino is a designated smoking area so it ALWAYS reeked of nasty, stale, gross, cigarette smoke. The second hand smoke in it will kill you -- take a mask with you to wear in it.

We liked the ports, did an excursion in each of them which were all good, milled around the tourist shopping areas and felt safe. Enjoyed the outdoor movies under the stars. Don't stand in line for popcorn; the popcorn is stale and cold and hard to eat. Cruises of the past you weren't moneyed to death by Carnival for everything; now you are and on top of the pricey cruise price that you would think would cover more than it does, get ready to pay out a whole lot more. I suggest you watch the daily Fun Times for all the dining places available and take advantage of them. The only thing I found on the ship worth the money were the specialty donuts at Java Blue. I spent our whole 8 days reflecting on cruises of the past and comparing it to this one. So disappointing in so many areas. You can definitely tell where the $ cutbacks are. I actually felt bad for all the new cruisers and the young people for they don't know what they are missing.

Cabin Review

Cloud 9 Spa Balcony

Cabin 8S

Loved this cabin! Enough room for two to move around, Lots of storage space, lots of closet room and hangers.

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