I booked this cruise because they offered a jacuzzi on the balcony on a cruise ship, which apparently is very rare. And wow what an outstanding experience! First recommendation: Book “back-to-back” (two weeks in a row) because it takes days to experience everything they have to offer. The suite is HUGE and includes a walk-in closet, bathtub in the bathroom, sitting area with a sofa that makes a bed, and a nice big comfy bed. Extra towels for the hot tub and robes and slippers are provided. The carpet is so plush, it makes up for the terrible balcony chairs (don’t lean back). But most of the time spent on the balcony was in the hot tub, so the chairs didn’t matter. Our suite was 15042, in the forward part of the ship, and perfectly located close to the Sports Bar (great bartenders Paul and Alexander) and the Seaview Lounge and the spa and the Piazza Grande. The shows were over the top amazing! They spared no expense on the costumes and talent. Reserve the shows as soon as you get on the ship, but the early show doesn’t fill up and the late ones overbook, so if you don’t have a reservation, go to the early show. The gorgeous atrium with sparkling stairs was constantly donning entertainment and the perfect place to get coffee in the morning and cocktails in the afternoon. We especially loved listening to Marcus, the pianist. Our favorite band we found in the Seaview Lounge on 8–The Swingtime Band. I would book this cruise again just to be able to listen to this talented quartet. The champagne bar on 7 has fresh seafood such as shrimp cocktail and oysters. We did a champagne tasting with the somolier and it was incredible. The food was outstanding. Other than limited breakfast room service, we found no limitations. Our suite included The Aurea experience which allowed for dinner anytime in the main dining room with no reservations. The service was impeccable for lunch and dinner. We had so much fun playing trivia, and we really enjoyed the beer prov comedy acts. The daily schedule is packed full of activities. I will say that sometimes the schedule is wrong, and we went to guest services to clarify and they swore to certain changes on the schedule which were not correct, so we missed some things, but filled the time with other things. We are the world, drank the world, saw some great islands, and met some nice people. Looking forward to another awesome experience with MSC! Read Less

Great shows, awesome entertainments, variety of music,very good personnel, fair restaurants, foods and buffets. Cabin are smaller than other cruises in the same category (you can make #2 while washing your teeth and/or makeup). Too many kids and noises. All new. Three shows, since the theater is one level and small. Three different dinner schedules, since, too many people to fix in two as other cruises. Good Latino(Salsa, merengue, Bachata, Sha-sha-sha and other dance classes almost every day. I would do it again. Read Less

We found it as a last minute deal. The price was attractive. Once onboard be prepared to open your wallet, a lot! We spent the price of the cruise on board for what is normally included. They pipe music in every single corner, Latino music. Again, great cruise. The if you are Latino, but if you are not, be prepared to wait longer for drinks, or service of any kind. The ship is difficult to navigate. Not to mention they pack them in on this ship. It is difficult to move at times and days are sea are almost unbareable. The staff are not very good at managing drink guests. The second to last night at sea a fight broke out in one of the bars , it continues on to the south beach outside deck where they proceeded to throw furniture off of the ship. Yes, you read that correctly. These folks were permitted to stay and enjoy their cruise. Also kids were throwing bottles off of their balconies onto decks below, injuring a staff member and a guest. This was simply reported to their parents. Again, do not sail with this line Read Less

I have always been a Royal Caribbean cruiser, so I thought I would give this one a try with a friend. That will NEVER AGAIN happen. The ship is old and extremely outdated. The food is absolutely not up to cruise expectations. There is a $20 fee for certain foods (ie. lobster, steaks, etc..) in the dining room. I have never heard of such a thing. The beauty of cruising is not having to deal with those things. It is a different waiter every night so they do not get to know you and have nothing ready for you. The dining room staff was unfriendly to say the least, with the exception of only a few people. Bar staff was very slow at nearly all bars except till I found Alan in the bar by the casino. He was awesome! Our room attendant only made our room up completely 2 out of the 5 nights. The other days the bunks were left in the down position making it difficult to move around the already small room. Excursion towels were never left in our room even though the daily news told us to take the blue towels located in our room to the beaches. Rarely did you find a Purell hand sanitizer station that actually had Purell in it. The main thing that sealed the deal for taking the time to write this review is the fact that a guy was hammering away on some metal railing right outside our stateroom at 8:00 AM. Despite us telling him that kids were sleeping in the room. Overall this ship was a huge disappointment. I highly recommend spending a little extra on a better boat. I would not cruise this ship again even if it was free. Read Less

Limited to travel in June I would love for carnival to retire the ship sensation and use a newer ship for This Bahamas destination. I don't have the opportunity to cruise on the newer ships because the cruise line uses the same ships in June to this destination. I take my parents with me and they deserve to cruise on the newer ships. Come on Carnival make that change for my parents and all the other cruisers who deserve to experience the newer ship. Atlanta Ga 2018 carnival did an excellent job with embarkation and debarkation. We arrived at 3p to ship. The process was fast and easy. The staff was nice. They were smiling and very pleasant. We needed to wheelchairs and help with our luggage and they had them readily available. I liked Guy's hamburger station. The food was delicious The omelet station was good also. Come on Carnival make that change for my parents. Read Less

We wanted to sail the newest ship in the Carnival fleet. We also wanted to see some sights in New York City. So this cruise was our choice since the home port is NYC until later this year when it goes to Miami. We are fans of cruising and our foursome was ready for some fun and relaxation. We found the Horizon to be a well designed and comfortable ship and our experiences were great fun and memorable. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We’ve cruised Disney, NCL and Carnival and we’re close to platinum on Carnival. So we clearly like the CCL cruise experience. We’re experienced world travelers so we can discern good from bad and don’t see things with rose colored glasses. Everyone is different and has their own opinions. Carnival meets our needs for value and comfort and fun. And as long as it does that we don’t see a reason to alter the course. So when I make a review I focus on the objective things and not too much on subjective. Some things are outside the control of the cruise line. So how can I fault the cruise line for that? But things within their control, they should be called out for within reason. In short, I try to be fair. First, the ship. Horizon is the second ship of this design for Carnival. The sister is the Vista which we cruised about 18 months ago. They are almost identical. Horizon is only a few months old and it still has that new car smell! Lol. Just kidding, but everything is shiny and new and clean as a whistle. Contrary to another reviewer I found it super clean and well maintained. Crew members are everywhere cleaning, polishing and it shows. It’s been the same on prior Carnival cruises and Horizon is no different. Ship shape and then some. Horizon (and Vista) are much like the prior mega ships in the Carnival line, Magic, Breeze and Dream. If you like those you will love the Horizon. The ship has lots of food and entertainment options. And it has some new innovations that are cool and fun. Horizon has the traditional main dining room which has a fixed schedule of early and late seating. They also have the anytime dining option whereby you make a reservation or check in before you can be seated. We’ve done both and we prefer the fixed time early option. The menus are the same for both. Food options vary daily but there are some standard options that are available everyday. Overall our table of six ordered lots of choices and enjoyed them. One night a fish option was over cooked for one person but he said it was fine. I would have asked for a new one. For me, I like steaks and the flat iron steak is on the menu daily so I know I’ll be good. But I also had pasta and Indian main courses. Appetizers can be interesting and fun. We usually order one or two as they are usually small. Soups and salads are quite good. Not a fan of cold soups, but our son loves them. They also feature port of call cuisine which is a traditional starter and main course from the port of call that day. Opinions vary about food. We liked our food preparations and presentations. Never went hungry. And our service was top notch. Our waiters were always on top of refills, extra bread or clearing plates. It’s also nice when they remember you’re name and greet you by same. Dinners were relaxed and enjoyable. From what I saw everyone near us was enjoying themselves too. Desserts were really really good. Try them all. Food options are everywhere. Sushi. Japanese steakhouse. Italian. Asian. Seafood. Pizza (24 hours). 555 steakhouse. Guys burgers. Pig and anchor bbq. Burrito bar. Buffets. Deli sandwich counter. And more. Some have moderate charges. The 555 steakhouse is an extra 35 per person and is worth it. The steaks are amazing and the service superb. Best steak ever in my book. Our cabin was fine. More on that below. Our services were quite good. Our room steward was friendly and did a great job of keeping our cabin clean a stocked with fresh towels. I don’t know how they camel the bed look so crisp. Good training I guess. This room steward was a towel artist. Best towel animals ever. Thanks Arturo! I could go on and on, but overall the ship is high quality and the crew that we interacted with were friendly and good at their jobs. I found the fellow passengers to be fine. No wilding kids. People on vacation and enjoying themselves. Another reviewer mentions older passengers. I did not experience hat st all. Read Less

First off let me say that this was my 2nd of the bigger ships to cruise on. I should have listened to my gut and not bothered to get on this gigantic turd that is known as the Carnival Horizon. ALL YOU DO IS WAIT IN LINE FOR EVERYTHING ON THIS SHIP. That being said, allow me to digress and talk about the positives of this cruise. PROS---------- 1. Embarkation. This was a dream for me. My last cruise on the Pride I went ahead and purchased Faster to the Fun for embarkation. I was upset at first that FTTF was not offered for the Horizon out of NYC. I am so glad that it wasn't. It would have been kind of a waste of money. It was the fastest I have ever got on a cruise ship from the moment I walked into the cruise terminal until I was on the Lido deck. A mere 15 minutes. They had their ducks in a row finally. Really nice job Carnival 2. Cabin and the cabin steward where nice and ready very fast. Our steward did a very nice job and we gave him an extra bump of a tip. Cabin was clean and the temperature was perfect. 3. Entertainment. By far the best entertainment we have had on a cruise. The singing was top notch through out all entertainment venues. I have Zero complaints about the entertainment. 4. Cruise Director. Mike Pack was one of the best CD we have had. He knows his job and how to entertain. He was given the unenviable task of making up for a lost port and he and his staff did a wonderful job. 5. Family Harbor Lounge. This is a nice little addition to a Carnival ship. Nice place to get a quick snack or a coffee. CONS----------------------------- 1. 20% off a future cruise for a missed port. We had an unfortunate medical emergency on board and were forced to turn back closer to land. This caused us to miss Grand Turk. Why? I guess they didn't want to burn more fuel and speed up to still get us there. I just got this feeling that it was a cost saving move by Carnival to just skip this port instead of trying to make it. I thought that the compensation was cheesy and a slap in the face. I am not blaming the poor person who got ill by any means. If it was me or one of my family I would want to get the best medical treatment required, but Carnival thought is was no big deal. 20% off of a future cruise I will never take isn't much of a compensation. 2. Waiting in line for EVERYTHING. I understand that a big ship also means a large amount of people, but I swear carnival didn't take this fact into account when designing this ship. Poor design led to many lines when there didn't need to be. As popular as the burgers are at Guy's, wouldn't a second location be better? Oh no we had to add an upcharge sea food shack that absolutely no one ate at. Food places seemed to close at odd times. I think this is another way to get you to pay for the upcharge room service. 3. Treated like crap. I felt on many occasions that if you weren't constantly spending money, the staff didn't want to be bothered with you. We had a drink menu shoved in our face almost constantly. They were all about the up sale on this cruise. If you were just looking in the shops, those folks avoided us like the plague. I asked about the price of a watch and was basically told that it was quite expensive. 4. THE BIG SUCK------I attempted to purchase the Pixels photo package that was being offered before my cruise. I took the time to crunch the numbers and figured out that with as many photos my wife purchases, it would be prudent to purchase it. The day I go to buy it from Carnival's website, it is mysteriously gone. I called Carnival and inquired about it and they told me there was nothing that could be done. If it wasn't there anymore, then they could do nothing. This PISSED my wife off. So after several days at sea, my wife had amassed around 30 photos. She went to Pixels and asked if they could do anything for us. They said no. She was told to pick out only her absolute favorites if she couldn't afford all of them. She made a stop at guest services and they were able to secure a 10% off of pictures. Well, she was able to cut the amount down to 12 of her favorites and went back to purchase these 12. They didn't want to give her the measly 10% off because she wasn't willing to buy them all. After we put our foot down they gave us the discount but before we could tell them how we would want the pictures, they just saved them to my phone. If you can avoid it, DO NOT USE PIXELS. Treated like crap and they seem very doggy. 5. UPGRADED. We were originally signed up for a family harbor interior cabin. Got a call from Carnival that they had received quite a few noise complaints from the past guests in that cabin and wanted to upgrade me to a balcony at no cost to us. Of course I said yes only if we still got all the perks from being in family harbor. The person at carnival said yes we could still have access to the family harbor lounge and the free night of night owls for the kids. The problem was they put us on deck 11. It was basically right next to Lido. Talk about noise....holy crap it was loud. Didn't complain, but was definitely bothered by the extreme noise most of the time until after midnight. SO SO------------------------------------------- 1. We had one horrible waiter at dinner and one awesome waiter. One pushed the drinks on us constantly. They were ok. Forgot my shrimp cocktail one night, but overall, what you would expect. 2. Dr. Seuss Breakfast. Signed up for that as soon as we got onboard. Went to the breakfast and they didn't have our reservation. Luckily I brought the receipt with us and showed them we had indeed paid for it. We were eating our breakfast and the time came to go get our picture with the Cat in the Hat, so we got up like all the other families do and got in another line. While we were getting our photo, they cleaned up our table. We had just gotten our meal. The wait staff apologized and brought us a new breakfast, but when we got up to get the photo with Sam I Am another waiter tried to clean up our table and I yelled "for the love of god don't take my breakfast away again". That waiter ran for the hills and we were indeed allowed to eat. Basically they were just rushed to put as many people through this up charged breakfast as possible and didn't really care if you were done or not. 3. Debarkation was ok. Long lines to get through customs, but that wasn't unexpected. I am done with Carnival. I used to defend them to everyone who said that Carnival was a low rent cruise line. I had Carnival's back every time, but no more. I did not enjoy the Horizon and will NEVER cruise a big ship again. Read Less

If you’re a picky eater like I am, you will starve on this cruise. I lost so much weight. Guy’s burgers were gross, buffet was gross, restaurants were good but need to book days in advance for reservation. I had no food on my birthday. I ordered chocolate cake from room service that came 3 hours later and it was so bland I spit it out. They cancelled Grand Turk due to someone being sick and needing a helicopter escort, which I understand, but only 2 days of land and wayyyy too many days on the ocean. THE EXCURSIONS ARE A WASTE OF MONEY. Complete disappointment. By the time the “2 hour” excursion is over, which ends up being 5 because they’re so unorganized, it’s time to get back on the ship. Dominican republic was scariest experience. The people will force you to buy things and won’t leave you alone until you do! Couldnt relax on beach. People literally came up to me-poking me to buy things. Taxi driver wouldnt pick us up until 2. had to be back on ship by 3. and beach we were at was an hour away! nothing to do on ship but the pool which is unbelievably overcrowded. people on cruise are so rude- they’ll reserve beach chairs on ship by putting valuables on them just so strangers don’t sit by them! I never got to sit by pool. One day ONE chair out ot hundreds was open, but my boyfriend couldnt sit next to me. comedians are funny- that was only thing I enjoyed. Their “fun activities” are like hairy chest competitions. Real fun for a 19 year old girl. Do not go on a Carnival cruise. The Ports the cruise pulls up to are in the scum of the scum places. nice beaches are hours away. huts and slums around. In puerto rico we were where hurricane hit. not nice at all. Amber cove is surrounded by sketchy places and people. worst experience of my life!!!! Read Less

This was my 5th cruise, 3rd with Carnival and being this was a new ship, I had such high hopes. I was severely disappointed. Your time Dining was HORRIBLE. First night we didn’t eat at all. Took 30 mins to wait in line and then another 30 mins with a pager to eat. I have a special needs child who started to freak out so we just went back to cabin. Luckily the next day we had to pull the Autism card and got switched to a set dining time. I felt sorry for all those other people stuck with that dining plan. Norwegian knows how to do that so much better. Food court in Lido was so bad. Not enough seating. Food choices poor and weird. Nothing for kids unless you waited on a min 30 min line for pizza. The Pride was soooo much better. Overall food was nothing great AT ALL Room was clean but shouldn’t it be? The ship was brand new. I would say ship didn’t give the appearance of new though and I am used to crew being everywhere cleaning. Not on this boat. Overall I thought it was pretty dirty. Stewart was OK but not real friendly and forgettable. Crowded oh so crowded. People everywhere with not enough space to accommodate. I think they jammed as many cabins as they could without thought to activities for all these people. Thank God I got a balcony room for some elbow room Elevators were a nightmare. NIGHTMARE. New system implemented and it DOESN’T work. Staff were OK but not great. Not overly friendly like I’ve experienced on previous cruises. They seemed slow and unhappy. Some side notes not necessarily Carnivals fault but worth mentioning. Someone got ill or something on board causing us to lose one of our ports. I think they could have made it to the port had they sped up but why should they...a third day at sea so people could gamble and spend money. I don’t gamble and enjoy the ports so I was severely disappointed. Our consolation was 20%off a future cruise. Not a consolation if you ask me. I’ll never use it. Also worth mentioning that I wasn’t surprised to hear someone got ill as the boat was swarming with older senior citizens. Decrepit senior citizens. Some looked like they should have been in a hospital. I have never seen so many sickly people on a cruise ship in my life. I’m sorry but I don’t think a cruise is somewhere for sickly older people when there are no facilities close in the event of an emergency. This was the case on my cruise and because if 1 person needing medical attention and the boat having to turn around, over 4000 people were inconvenienced. Maybe I’m insensitive but that was not cool!!! People complain about certain cruise lines having too many kids well this one has way too many old people. All in all Carnival bombed with this new ship and I seriously doubt I will ever take my family on a cruise again because of this. Too crowded, too unpredictable with older senior citizens, and quality/cleanliness going downhill. Read Less

Thought this cruise would be great with a new ship!But what a disappointment crew was rude and unhappy, entertainment was poor ,did not stop at one port that everyone wanted to stop at !the older ships are much better I will never go on this shipb again save your money and enjoy the other ships.excursion we horrible had to wait for latecomers if you are not there on tine you should miss it that’s it !in dinning room we waited 3 hours for meal bright spot was comedian Percy Cruze very funny entertaining Iger guests were great met some really nice people they need to work on employees and service loved my other cruise s because of the customer car and joy the brought into my day I came home more stressed then relaxed I spent a lot ooney for a stressful week hope someone makes some changes talking to other guests they felt the same Read Less