Carnival Horizon Review: Day 5 – Embarkationfeatured

When we were planning this trip, the most exciting thing for me wasn’t the ports we’d be visiting or the things we’d see or all the things we could buy.

((But, real talk, those things were exciting. The excitement over the places we’d go, the things we’d buy and getting to share my love of travel and cruising with more people were all sources of major anticipation!))

The most exciting thing for me was that this would be our first inaugural cruise — that we’d be amongst the first to explore the ship, to discover its nooks and crannies and figure out what set it aside from all of our other Carnival cruises. That we’d get to be the first to sleep in our beds, eat off our plates or break in a new blanket at the Dive In Movies. We’d get to experience the ship before anyone else could experience it for us and step onboard with no idea of what we were getting.

I honestly don’t know what we’ll do now that the anticipation for this one is over. I guess we’ll have to plan another.

We woke up around 7:00 AM to bright blue skies in Barcelona. I was still feeling stuffy from our voyage up to the mountains, so Stephanie and Mom left the hotel in search of breakfast while I got a little more sleep and started packing up.

Buenas Migas (that coffee shop down the street we kept coming back to) opened an hour later on Monday’s, so Stephanie and Mom resorted to their next mainstay: McDonald’s. It wasn’t Euro-chic, but we had thirteen days ahead of us for real European breakfasts, and the more time they spent looking for a quick breakfast, the less time we’d spend on the ship. #priorities.

We had a ton of luggage and Stephanie had read online that there was a strike or some issue with the cab drivers that could make getting a taxi difficult, so Mom called the front desk of the hotel the evening before to let them know when we’d be departing and what we’d need. And I really have to give the staff at Hotel Casa Fuster props, not just for getting us a taxi big enough to fit all of our luggage (and having the hotel van on standby just in case they couldn’t hail one for us), but for their friendliness, willingness to go to any length to ensure we had a good stay and for their beyond luxurious accommodations. I’ve stayed in a lot of nice hotels, and Hotel Casa Fuster was up there with the best of them.

The taxi ride from our hotel in Eixample on the Passeig de Grácia took less than 15 minutes and cost us €25 (including the additional surcharges for our luggage, the port tax and a tip), far less than what we would have paid using private transportation. We’ve used taxi’s on just about every trip to Barcelona and have always found them to be clean, efficient and safe.

Stephanie and I have played our own version of Lovebug for years — you know, that game where whomever spots the VW Beatle first yells LOVEBUG and slaps the person next to them? We do that, but we shout WHALE TALE as we try to be the first to spot the ship. I don’t know how or why or when we started it, but it’s our little thing. And with two other ships in port, the Horizon was a little hidden away in the back, at Terminal E. But Stephanie and I agreed to a no slapsies truce so we could have our fingers on our camera shutters.

The taxi driver dropped us off right in front of the terminal, where a porter quickly came by to offer his services in checking our luggage into the luggage drop for us (which we took him up on, because that was another line and we were so ready to get on this ship!) and we took a quick ship pic before making our way into the Priority line.

We quickly zapped through security (where we carried through a bottle of cava to enjoy onboard) and made our way upstairs to the check in area, where our boarding passes were scanned, our S&S pictures were lifted from our passports and we had to electronically consent to the health questionnaire. We probably arrived around 10:15 AM, and the Priority seating section was nearly full. Beyond the Priority section, there was a separate Diamond lounge, a general seating area, a café, an outdoor terrace with seating, a liquor store and a souvenir shop. In other words, there was plenty to keep us entertained while we waited to board.

The boarding process was a little messy, likely due to inexperience with the ship. Diamonds were led in separately and privately from their lounge and when they called for Platinum cruisers, it was like when you’re standing at the gate to board a flight and everyone rushes in after first class even though half of them are in boarding group 7. To their credit, the staff was checking documents for everyone and sending back anyone who didn’t have Priority flagged on their docs, but they had their work cut out for them because there was a very big crowd of very excited cruisers.

We skipped the photo stop because, well, we never look our best after a morning of packing, schlepping luggage and generally bickering over what we’re going to do first. We walked through those glass tunnels and we could hear the celebration before we could see it. Everyone in the atrium lobby was dancing to live music. The crew were just as excited to have us onboard and see the ship as we were to see it, and their jubilance was absolutely contagious.

On any cruise, we stop first at our cabin to drop off our carry-on’s (and now to get our S&S cards, since they stopped handing them out at check-in). As we were walking down the hallway, we couldn’t help but note that the ship already *felt* different. The hallways were wider. A small detail, but one that already helped the ship feel more spacious.

Our home for the next 13 days was cabin 1390, an Oceanview cabin on the Riviera deck. We’d never stayed on Deck 1 before, largely because we generally prefer views higher up and decks that are closer to the action so we can take the stairs more, but this cruise was free, and they could have put us in a closet in the back of Deck 0 and we would have been elated.

We’ve stayed in plenty of Oceanview cabins on Carnival ships before, and this one felt the most spacious. The window was deeper set, I had a good two and a half feet between my bed and the window and the edge of the bed and the opposite wall where the television was. We had two bathrooms – a standard one (which also, somehow, felt larger) and a mini bathroom with a small bathtub/shower combo and a sink. Our pins, drink vouchers and some of our pre-ordered bar items were already set out on the desk and our room steward, Marlin, was quick to come introduce himself and hand us a questionnaire to note if we wanted our room serviced once a day or twice a day, as well as if we wanted extra towels, pillows or if we wanted robes. While I’m sure Carnival will see some significant money come in off of decreased labor, I appreciated having a say in the matter. After all, if we wanted our room serviced twice a day (as we did), nothing had changed. And with less cabins to service (on the assumption that not everyone will want full service twice a day), we were hopeful we’d also see our rooms serviced earlier.

Freed from our backpacks, we set out to explore this beautiful new ship! We started at the Lido Marketplace, where they had the most delicious looking cakes out on display. I don’t know if it was an inaugural thing or something new that they’re testing, but that funfetti cheesecake? Holy cannoli, that was tasty!

Fueled on sugar, we set out to explore any part of the ship we could get to. And we didn’t get to anywhere close to all of them, but we tried to hit as many as we could, strolling from the pools to the Waterworks, Serenity to the Piano Bar and as many places we could in between. It’d been awhile since I was on a ship with an Ocean Plaza or a lanai, and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy those parts of the ship.

((And if you want to see even more pictures of the ship, I put up a ship tour while we were onboard! You can see it here!))

We stopped in at Guy’s Pig and Anchor for a little lunch that expanded our nutritional intake beyond complex carbohydrates. Guy’s Pig and Anchor had taken the place of the Red Frog Pub and Brewery onboard the Horizon, which was one of our favorite spots for live music on some of the other Carnival ships, but I really liked what they did with the space. There’s a nice little stage for musicians, plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and if you like beer, well, they’re brewing it onboard. I don’t like beer, so it’s not my thing, but Stephanie does and she tells me that’s a big deal.

I ran off to take some more pictures around Deck 5 while Mom and Stephanie checked in at the steakhouse to see if they could move up our 9:00 PM reservation (the only thing they had left when we tried to make one for the first evening a week before we left!) and while the hostess initially told them no, she quickly changed her mind and found us a 5:30 PM opening.

With dinner taken care of, we headed back to the room. Stephanie took a nap. I uploaded some pictures. We could have been out, sure, but we had almost two weeks to get to know this ship ahead of us, and a little self care is always a good thing, especially when you’re traveling and can tend to wear yourself down in the name of not missing out.

Our luggage was delivered just before 2:00 PM and we took turns unpacking. Though the room was bigger, we felt slightly short on usable storage. And to be clear, we are chronic overpackers and we had a ton of stuff, but this was also a room for four and we felt a little squeezed on storage space as a party of three. The closet space was fine and mostly functional, but we definitely could have used more shelves or drawers on the vanity.

The safety briefing was scheduled for 4:30 PM, but didn’t really start until 4:45 PM, as the crew seemed to have issues with their systems and equipment and CD Mike was intermittently pulled away from the PA. We didn’t really expect much else – it was their first time doing this together as a crew, and first time on this ship, and we were just grateful to be comfortably seated in the Meridian dining room instead of standing out on a crowded deck. Even when one crew member told us we were dismissed and another at the door screamed at everyone making their way out that they were not dismissed. We were on vacation and in far too good of a mood to be affected by someone else’s bad one.

With the safety briefing running long, we tried to catch some (or any) of sailaway before our dinner reservation, but only mustered a few pictures and a couple of minutes of the deck party. We missed the sail out from Barcelona, but we’d done it twice before and once you’ve done it once…you know the adage.

Our meal at the steakhouse was a standout in an already wonderful day. The staff was so excited to have everyone dining with them, it was the first night so we were offered a free bottle of wine, we had the opportunity to try the new steakhouse menus that had been making their way onto Carnival’s ships AND the steakhouse opened up to the piano bar, which meant we were treated to live music (and people randomly walking through the steakhouse as they left the piano bar, perhaps not understanding where they were exiting through and where they should have exited).

And back to the new menus, I know they’ve been a polarizing topic, but we LOVED everything we tried. We’re very much creatures of habit, and we almost always ordered the same things every time we dined at the steakhouse, so even though I didn’t have the option to order Beef Carpaccio and Stephanie didn’t have a Beefsteak Tomato Salad to enjoy, we all agreed that the replacement options, as well as the experience, was much more elevated and enjoyable than the options they replaced. Except for, maybe, the bread. It’s hard to live up to those fluffy brioche rolls (especially when the replacement option is a pencil thin pretzel roll or a small, round salted croissant).

Oh, and can we talk about the Art at the Table thing? Stephanie really wanted to try it, but everyone at the table needs to order it to receive it, and we were all intrigued seeing tables around us order it, so we bit the bullet and it was one of the greatest desserts and one of the most incredible dining experiences we’ve ever had.

After dinner, we did what we do best and just kind of wandered to see what we could find. We found the new shops on deck 5 (Victoria’s Secret was an interesting one, but I was most impressed by the selection at the cosmetics store), we grabbed tea up at the Lido Marketplace and just kind of walked around to ease off the heavy meal.

Later on, we headed down to the Liquid Lounge for the Welcome Onboard show, which featured CD Mike (whose parents were in the audience for his first performance onboard!) and a performance by the Playlist Cast, many of whom were familiar faces from prior sailings. The ship was starting to rock and Stephanie and I both gave each other a look – the rocking of the ship reminded us of the earthquakes we experienced on our visit to Mexico City the month prior!

The show ran long, which meant it ran into my big evening activity: a screening of Pitch Perfect 3 at the Dive In Movies. We were up there for the good parts, but we didn’t last long – it was just too cold, even with the blankets. And if we really wanted to watch PP3, it was available on On Demand for, like, four bucks, from the comfort of our beds.

After another cup of hot tea, we called it a night from there. The next day would bring a sea day and since we weren’t expecting pool weather, it meant a day of trivia, napping and doing nothing of consequence, which just happen to be the three things I do best anyways.