I’m currently onboard Carnival Horizon for an 8-day Southern Caribbean cruise, a ship I last sailed on in December 2024 on a Western Caribbean run and, before that, back in September 2023. This time around, I’m back for one of Carnival’s more coveted itineraries: an 8-day Southern Caribbean cruise to the ABC islands.
You can check out the full itinerary below, but with stops in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, plus a late night in Aruba, this is a pretty solid run. The ABC islands are always a great itinerary, and getting all three on one cruise makes this one even better.
Southern Caribbean (ABC): Carnival Horizon
An 8-night Southern Caribbean sailing aboard Carnival Horizon with visits to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, along with plenty of sea days before returning to Miami.
| Date | Port | Country | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 4 | Miami, FL | United States | 3:30 PM | |
| Jul 5 | At Sea | – | – | – |
| Jul 6 | At Sea | – | – | – |
| Jul 7 | Oranjestad | Aruba | 8:00 AM | 10:00 PM |
| Jul 8 | Kralendijk | Bonaire | 8:00 AM | 7:00 PM |
| Jul 9 | Willemstad | Curacao | 8:00 AM | 4:00 PM |
| Jul 10 | At Sea | – | – | – |
| Jul 11 | At Sea | – | – | – |
| Jul 12 | Miami, FL | 7:00 AM |
This trip was one of those spontaneous, last-minute ones for me. I received a casino offer for a free inside stateroom on this sailing, so naturally, off I went to book it, and here we are! Now, anyone who knows how these “free” rooms work knows they’re not really free. The cruise line expects to make the cost of that room back in the casino, and I’m sure they will, as I am probably one of the unluckiest people to ever set foot in a casino.
The total charge for this cruise came to $292.98. That broke down to $100 for the cruise fare, $89.96 in required cruise fees and expenses, and $103.02 in government taxes and fees. As a bonus, Carnival gave me $100 in onboard credit, which basically offset the cruise fare.
So, in the end, I paid $192.98 in taxes and fees for an 8-day cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Not a bad deal at all, especially considering this itinerary includes Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao with that late-night call in Aruba.
Before getting into the trip itself, a few notes about Carnival Horizon.
Yes, this is the ship that has been in the news recently following the tragic death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner onboard in November 2025. Her teenage stepbrother has been accused in connection with her death, with federal prosecutors alleging the incident occurred while the ship was in international waters en route to Miami.
I’m not going to get into the details here, but if you haven’t been following the case, it has been one of the more disturbing cruise-related news stories in recent memory.
As for the ship itself, Carnival Horizon is the second ship in Carnival Cruise Line’s Vista Class and debuted in April 2018. Built by Fincantieri in Italy, she is sister to Carnival Vista and Carnival Panorama, coming in at 133,500 gross tons and measuring 1,062 feet long.
At full capacity, Carnival Horizon can carry up to 4,977 guests, along with a crew of approximately 1,450. Onboard, you’ll find plenty of the familiar Carnival staples, including the WaterWorks aqua park, Cloud 9 Spa, the Havana area, Guy’s Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Pizzeria del Capitano, Carnival Deli, Seafood Shack, Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse, and Bonsai Teppanyaki.
Basically, if you’ve sailed Carnival’s Vista Class before, Horizon is going to feel very familiar. It’s a big, busy ship with plenty of places to eat, drink, relax, and, of course, spend money. Plenty of money.
Normally, I would not go out of my way to pick a Vista-class ship, as frankly, I’m not too fond of this class in the Carnival fleet. But at the end of the day… Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao were calling!
Brightline to Miami and Embarkation
For this trip, I took Brightline from Boca Raton to Miami. For my MSC World America cruise in April, I didn’t take the train and just 30 minutes into the drive, quickly realized why Brightline is the absolute BEST way to get to the port.
My 10am train left right on time and pulled into MiamiCentral Station in downtown Miami exactly as scheduled at 11am. From there, it was off the train, down the escalators, out front to grab my Uber, and I was dropped off at Terminal F at PortMiami at exactly 11:25am.
Now, normally, I’m not one to arrive this early. But with it being a holiday weekend and the City of Miami already warning about downtown traffic, I wasn’t going to chance taking a noon train that would get me there at 1pm when final boarding was set for 2:30pm. That’s a little too close for comfort on a holiday weekend, and my OCD would never allow me to book that train!
As everyone knows, when you arrive early, there are lines. Long lines. Today was no exception.
The only saving grace here at PortMiami today was that there were only… FOUR ships in port! That’s considered a slow day here. Joining Carnival Horizon were MSC World America, Norwegian Luna, and Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas. So yes, I knew exactly what I was getting into by arriving early, and it was everything I anticipated.
Outside the terminal, the line stretched the length of the building and, at first, it wasn’t moving at all. Eventually, they started letting people inside to begin the check-in process. Since the regular boarding line and the Priority line were about equal in length, I waited in the Priority line since I’m Platinum with Carnival.
Slowly, things started moving.
Once inside the terminal, the check-in stations were manned, but nobody was actually being checked in yet. It was another 10 minutes or so before they finally started the process. When I got to the check-in agent, there it was: oops… my reservation was flagged.
I couldn’t be checked in at the counter, so the agent and I had to go through security together. And, of course, because… Carnival… the drug-sniffing dog was led past all our carry-on bags for the sniff test before we could proceed. Nobody in my group had to do the perp walk!
After clearing security, I was escorted to Guest Services inside the terminal to “have a flag removed from my reservation.” When I asked what the flag was for, I was told it was because this was a last-minute reservation and had to go through some additional verification steps. This isn’t the first time that has happened to me with a last-minute reservation, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
Next, it was on to boarding, where once again, all those people who had previously been ahead of me were now waiting in line. A long line.
All said and done, it took 70 minutes… SEVENTY… from the time I arrived at the terminal to the time I stepped foot on the ship. Even with my early arrival, that perhaps goes down as one of, if not THE, worst embarkation experiences out of all the cruises I’ve done.
And here’s where Carnival really needs to take a hard look at things.
If you compare the embarkation experience at Carnival’s Miami terminals to the experience at MSC’s stunning new terminal right down the street, it’s literally third world compared to the 22nd century. No embarkation should take 70 minutes. If MSC can get you from terminal to stateroom in 15 minutes or less, Carnival can too.
Once onboard, it was a quick stop at my muster station to check in, and then off to sit and wait for staterooms to be ready at 1:30pm.
A quick word about the muster drill: Carnival continues to do the electronic muster, where you simply show up at your assigned station, have your room key or boarding pass scanned, and you’re done. It’s then up to you whether or not you want to watch the safety video once you get to your stateroom – and honestly, nobody does so expect chaos should there be an emergency.
As Jason noted in his Day 1 report from Disney Destiny this week, Disney Cruise Line is still doing it the old-fashioned way. You gather at your muster station, listen to the safety spiel, and then, and only then, are you… “dismissed” to get on with your day.
I say it every time: while the pandemic may have introduced some wild things like face masks and one-way grocery store aisles, the one good thing that came out of it was cruise lines switching to electronic muster. Anyone who remembers suffering outside on deck, tripping over life vests in the sweltering heat, knows exactly what a welcome change this is!
Another setback. Another line.
When the announcement was made at 1:15pm that staterooms were now available, I waited for the herds to subside in the elevator lobbies before heading up to Deck 11 from where I had been chilling on Deck 5. After about a half hour, I figured things would have calmed down enough.
Well, the lines for the elevators were still long, so up the stairs I went to find my stateroom.
When I got there, surprise! The keycards waiting in the door were not mine. They were for someone else.
I found a crew member, explained the situation, and he said I’d need to go to Guest Services. So, back down I went to Deck 3. And yes, another line. A long line. At 1:50pm.
I got in line for the Diamond/Platinum guests and waited it out. I finally got to see a Guest Services agent at 2:25pm, who sorted things out and printed me a new keycard.
So, back up to Deck 11 I went.
At this point, embarkation day had become less “Welcome aboard!” and more “Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the next level of waiting in line.”
Stateroom 11263 on Carnival Horizon
Stateroom 11263 is my assigned stateroom for this cruise, and it’s a standard interior located forward on Deck 11.
This block of staterooms is very close to the Lido pool and the Lido Marketplace buffet. In fact, just head down the hall and down one level, and you’re there! I’m not sure how the noise is going to be, but we shall see as the week goes on.
There aren’t many staterooms in this particular area, so there shouldn’t be a lot of hallway traffic. But the Lido pool, where all the action is, is just a short distance away, as you can see in the deck plan below.
The room itself is your standard Carnival inside stateroom. It has enough space for your stuff and is just about two inches large enough to keep claustrophobia at bay. It does the trick if you’re sailing solo, but I would have a hard time in here with a second person. I’d have an even harder time with one of the interior staterooms that can hold up to four people. I just don’t see how people make that work with upper berths, but they definitely do.
This particular room only accommodates two guests, as it has the two twin beds that can be combined into a king. There are no upper berths and no sofa bed.
When it comes to power, don’t expect any outlets at the bedside. The only outlets in the room are at the desk: two USB-A outlets, two U.S. power outlets, and one U.K. power outlet. Other than that, nada. None.
The room also has a TV across from the bed, a cooler/fridge, adequate storage, and an in-room safe.
The bathroom itself is your standard Carnival bathroom, with a shower, shower curtain, toilet, and vanity. Dated? Yes. But this isn’t a new ship like the Excel-class ships, which have showers with glass doors and a more modern-looking bathroom.
Since it’s America’s 250th birthday, Carnival is celebrating with… two free commemorative cans of Coca-Cola that were left in the room with a little note.
Hey, it’s not exactly fireworks over the Lido deck, but free Coke is free Coke.
Stateroom Tour Video
A Hot, Hot, Hot Sail Away Party
It’s hot, hot, hot in Miami, and usually the pools, especially the Lido Pool, are packed for sail away. But today, many people were hanging out inside where it was a lot cooler before heading out for the big sail away party.
As you can see in the photos below, there weren’t many people out at the Lido Pool or the aft pool just 30 minutes before the party started. And honestly, who can blame them? Between the heat from the sun and the heat radiating off the hot steel deck, it was brutal out there.
But once 4pm rolled around, the Carnival Horizon Fun Squad started handing out red, white, and blue items like leis, sunglasses, stickers, and headbands to get everyone in the spirit. The DJ was out, the music was going, and the cruise director, MarQ, was leading the party. And no, it’s not pronounced “Mark” like you would expect. It’s “Mar-Que,” kind of like “barbecue,” which felt appropriate for a July 4th weekend sailing.
Something I noticed for the first time is that, like Disney Cruise Line, Carnival now does a sail away countdown starting at 10 and ending with a long blast of the ship’s whistle to signify that the party is officially underway. This is something Disney has done forever, so I’m not sure if I somehow missed it all these times on Carnival or if this is something new. Either way, a long blast of the horn is a pretty good party starter!
As usual, the sail away party did end up attracting a ton of people regardless of the heat. And when it was all over, the deck cleared like someone had just announced “free $500 in free play for everyone in the casino.”
I wandered around a bit… actually, I wandered around a bit trying to find the ice cream machine and get myself a little bit of no-calorie, fat-free, vegan, zero-gluten soft serve.
Unfortunately, no such thing exists.
So I settled for the traditional creamy, dreamy chocolate-vanilla swirl. Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices at sea.
Along the way, I stopped by Seafood Shack, which is an à la carte lunch and dinner option onboard. They had some of the fresh selections of the day on display, including a pretty nice-looking lobster for $26 a pound, oysters for $2.50 each, red snapper for $22 a pound, and more.
By now, it was 5pm and I headed back to my room, hoping my luggage had arrived.
Alas, no such luck.
Even though Carnival Platinum and Diamond guests get priority luggage delivery to the stateroom, mine obviously wasn’t a priority. It finally arrived around 5:45pm.
I didn’t completely panic and suddenly need to take a Xanax while wondering how I was going to make it without clothes until Tuesday when we hit land in Aruba. I had an AirTag on my bag, and it showed that it was actually traveling along with me, so it was definitely on the ship.
Thank goodness for small victories. In hindsight, if my bag didn’t make it onto the ship, it kind of would have been fitting for the whole embarkation experience!
After a quick unpacking and freshening up, it was off to see what was going on around the ship this evening.
Evening Entertainment
In what is a very nice new addition, Carnival now leaves an entertainment schedule in your stateroom so you know exactly what’s going on entertainment-wise for every day of the cruise.
This is in addition to the printed daily planner, so you can keep it handy and easily see which shows and events you want to make sure you don’t miss. It’s a simple thing, but honestly, it’s a good one. Instead of having to scroll through the Carnival HUB app every time you want to see what’s happening later in the cruise, you have the big entertainment highlights for the entire sailing right there in front of you.
Some of the main shows in the Liquid Lounge this week include the Welcome Aboard Show on night one, Celestial Strings on our first sea day, Soulbound on the second sea day, Family Feud Live while we’re in Curaçao, and Vintage Pop on the final sea day. There’s also a Viva Variety show with Banachek during our Aruba day, plus Deal or No Deal on the Bonaire evening.
The Punchliner Comedy Club is also on the schedule several nights in the Limelight Lounge, with both PG-13 and adult-only shows listed depending on the night. There are also a few themed parties sprinkled throughout the cruise, including the Fourth of July Sail Away, the U.S. Yay! Family Party, the Red, White & Tunes Party, and an ’80s Rock-N-Glow Party later in the sailing.
The Dive-In Movies lineup is listed too, with titles like Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Captain America: Brave New World, Solo Mio, You, Me and Tuscany, Zootopia, Wicked: For Good, and Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning.
Again, nothing earth-shattering here, but I like this. It’s nice to have the full entertainment overview for the week in one place, especially on a longer cruise where you may actually want to plan ahead a little instead of realizing on day seven that you missed the one show you wanted to see.
A Little Pre-Dinner Planning and Rambling
My first plan of the evening was to make a reservation for the Chef’s Table experience. This is a $125 upcharge dining event that’s held in the ship’s galley and led by one of the chefs.
I’ve done the Chef’s Table on Carnival Celebration a few times and also wrote a whole article about whether or not it’s worth the money. Spoiler: it is! Just all the wine alone at dinner makes the price worthwhile.
Chef’s Table on Carnival Cruise Line: Everything You Need to Know
So I stopped by Fahrenheit 555, the ship’s steakhouse, to check which dates were available. I wanted to do it on one of the cruise’s elegant nights, and I was able to score a seat for tomorrow, July 5th. I’ll be sharing more about the experience on Horizon in tomorrow’s report, but I anticipate it will live up to my expectations.
Speaking of the steakhouse, while Fahrenheit 555 does have a five-seat bar, it’s mainly for people waiting for their table to be ready for dinner. It’s not really one where you’re going to want to come in, sit down, and have a few drinks.
Unless you’re me, of course.
I find it to be a nice quiet spot, away from the bustling Alchemy Bar right outside the door. And speaking of Alchemy, I find it fascinatingly overrated on Carnival ships. I don’t know why Alchemy Bar is as popular as it is. On every ship I’ve tried it on, I find the service to be painfully slow, the drinks not all that creative for a “craft cocktail” bar, and not much to really “enjoy” about it.
But I digress.
I sat at the bar at the steakhouse, and the bartender happened to be one I remembered from working the steakhouse bar on Mardi Gras, which sails out of Port Canaveral. The steakhouse bar on the Excel-class ships actually sits outside the restaurant and generally draws a good crowd because it’s the perfect spot for pre-dinner drinks for both the steakhouse and the main dining room, which is right next to it.
But on Horizon, it’s a quiet, mostly unused spot that I tend to enjoy.
So after a few G&Ts, I decided it was time to pick a spot for dinner.
Dinner at Cucina del Capitano on Carnival Horizon
On Carnival ships, when it comes to Italian, you head to Cucina del Capitano. This is an upcharge specialty restaurant where dinner will set you back $24 per person.
Now, because Carnival likes to keep things just confusing enough, there are a few different versions of this concept across the fleet. On the Excel-class ships, Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee, there’s a different menu, and one visit is complimentary. On the former Costa ships, which are strangely rebranded as “Fun Italian Style,” there’s no Cucina del Capitano, but you have Il Viaggio instead. But across the standard, older Carnival ships, you’ve got Cucina version 1.0.
Tonight, I headed up around 8:15pm, and I was the ONLY person in the restaurant.
Yes. The only one.
And I was the only one for the entire meal.
Now yeah, on embarkation day, most people don’t do specialty dining, so it’s a good night to go if you don’t like crowds. But it was still a little odd being literally the only person in the restaurant!
The menu features a whole lot of Italian classics, and I did my best, without any arm twisting, to try a few.
🖼️ Menu Images
I started off with the salumi e formaggi sampler, which is an additional $15 on top of the $24 dinner charge and is taken from the Il Viaggio menu on those Fun Italian Style ships. It’s essentially charcuterie, and I paired that up with some house-made burrata, creating what I considered to be a hearty and delicious start to the meal.
Next up, since it wasn’t busy, I decided to ask if the chefs would whip something up special for me. I wanted the Lombata Milanese, which is also a $20 upcharge and also borrowed from the Il Viaggio menu. It’s a 16-ounce bone-in veal chop, and normally it’s served Milanese style, which means breaded, fried, and topped with salad.
But I wanted it done Parmigiana style: breaded, fried, topped with mozzarella and sauce.
They were happy to oblige, and this thing was absolutely massive!
Oh, and incredibly delicious.
And no, I was absolutely not able to finish it. Two people could easily share this thing.
I also got a side of gnocchi alla Romana, which wasn’t really to my liking, along with roasted broccoli and cauliflower. But with the portion size of the veal chop, the sides were complete overkill. They also brought out the salad that would normally have been served on top of the veal chop, which was also a little much at that point.
Needless to say, service was excellent. I thanked the chef on the way out for accommodating my request, and yeah, I skipped dessert, even though the mile-high gelato pie was calling my name after having it at Il Viaggio on Carnival Venezia.
Cucina on the Excel-class ships can very easily be compared to Olive Garden, but on the non-Excel-class ships, it’s taken up a notch and is definitely worth a visit.
Main Dining Room Menu and a Note on 2026 Menu Rollouts
For those who were eating in the main dining room tonight, here’s a look at what was being served, along with a special July 4th menu – because nothing says “America” more than meatloaf.
🖼️ Menu Images
Now, a quick note: Carnival is in the process of rolling out new main dining room menus fleetwide for 2026. As of this sailing, Carnival Horizon is still serving the old menu.
Right now, the new menu is being tested or has already been introduced on select ships, including Carnival Magic, Mardi Gras, Carnival Panorama, Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Pride, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Vista, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Venezia, and Carnival Dream.
The rollout is being paused for the rest of the fleet so Carnival can gauge feedback from cruisers and give the corporate chefs time to review, tweak, and make adjustments before the final version is rolled out across all ships.
So, for now, the menu here on Horizon is still the old one, which for many Carnival cruisers will feel very familiar. Depending on how you feel about Carnival’s current dining room menus, that may either be a good thing or a “well, at least there’s always Guy’s Burger Joint” kind of thing.
“Mo Mummy” and Stateroom Notes
Before heading off to dreamland, I stopped by the ship’s casino because, you know, they crank up the odds on the slot machines on embarkation day to get people hooked, right?
Of course, that’s not true. But it’s one of those cruising urban myths that gets recycled more than that pair of Joe Boxer underwear I bought at Kmart back in 2006 and somehow still wear.
But after dropping a couple hundred, I can confirm it truly is a myth, as I walked away empty-handed while some guy named “Mo Mummy” managed to sneak every last penny from my pockets into his coffin without even offering a free bonus game or a tickle of some sort.
Feeling full and defeated, it was off to Deck 11, where I came back to a very chilly cabin. So yes, the AC works great. I only wish the shower pressure was as good.
After turning off the lights and getting into bed, I quickly realized just how dark interior staterooms are and how easy it is to completely lose track of the time of day in one. I did manage to get woken up in the middle of the night by my bladder and realized that no, Horizon does not have the motion-sensing nightlights that light up on the floor for times like these.
I bounced off the wall before finding my way to the bathroom and then resumed sleep.
We’re currently sailing toward our first port of call, Aruba, where we will arrive on Tuesday, so two full sea days are ahead of us.
As always, thanks for following along, and more tomorrow from Carnival Horizon, including the Chef’s Table and whatever else this ship decides to throw my way.
Fun Times for Day 1:
Coming soon!
