Day 3 on Carnival Horizon, and yes, it was another sea day as we continued making our way toward the first port of call on this Southern Caribbean ABC cruise: Aruba.
The ship is scheduled to dock bright and early Tuesday morning, and we’ll have a literal full day ashore with an 8:00am arrival and a 10:00pm departure. That’s a nice long port day, and I’m definitely looking forward to getting off the ship and stretching my legs on land for a bit.
Mother Nature, however, was not exactly our best friend today.
We had some pretty strong winds throughout the day that kept the ship rocking and rolling, along with frequent short bursts of rain that seemed to last about 10 to 15 minutes at a time. As far as sunshine was concerned, it was one of those days where the clouds rolled in the second you went outside, and the sun came back out the second you went back in.
Naturally.
Being out on the open decks was a challenge because the wind was exceptionally strong. Up on Serenity, which is the adults-only deck located all the way forward on Deck 15, it was hard to even hear because of the whistling wind, and you had to keep a close eye on your belongings unless you wanted them ending up somewhere near Kansas.
The best outdoor spot I found was down on Deck 5, where there’s plenty of conversational-style seating, along with loungers scattered about. Of course, choosing the proper side of the ship was key. One side was much more protected than the other, and today was definitely not the day to pick poorly.
One thing I’ve noticed since boarding is that the tile floors around the ship are slippery as hell. No exaggeration.
The ship has been a bit on the warm side, and there seems to be condensation forming on some of the floors. The crew has been out trying to keep things dry, but you really have to be careful with your footing. Even the metal stair rungs in the stairways have been slippery, so if you’re onboard, take it slow and watch your step.
Before moving on, let’s talk about the fellow passengers on this trip for a minute.
There are a lot of families onboard, which means plenty of kids, plenty of teens, and long lines for the free soft serve. So far, though, no real issues. Everyone seems to be under control.
There’s also a bit of an older crowd, with a good number of passengers in that 55-plus range, which makes sense for a longer cruise, even on Carnival.
And, as usual, there are some very large and very loud family groups onboard who are clearly making this cruise their big family trip. You know the ones. As soon as you hear the yelling and carrying on, you think, “Ugh, it’s them again.” They’re the groups that take over a venue, a hallway, a stairwell, or an entire section of the ship and make it their own without much regard for anyone around them.
Something else I noticed: even though Carnival bans portable Bluetooth speakers and is supposed to collect them at embarkation, plenty of them have made it through.
I know Carnival does confiscate them because I had a small speaker, no larger than a phone, in my carry-on a few cruises ago. I use it as a white-noise speaker at night, but it was confiscated at embarkation and returned to me on the last night of the cruise.
That said, there are definitely some speakers onboard this sailing. There’s nothing worse than being somewhere with competing DJs blasting music from different directions. I’ve also seen security walk right by people playing their speakers and do nothing, so your mileage may vary on how strictly that rule is enforced once onboard.
Next, let’s talk weed.
Yeah, it’s still banned, and Carnival does have dogs at embarkation to sniff out any of the devil’s lettuce. They also often have dogs living onboard the ships to help ferret out the stink-weed smokers.
So far, I haven’t smelled any weed anywhere, but that may change once we hit Aruba tomorrow. I haven’t seen any drug dogs onboard the ship so far, so it will be interesting to see if dogs are out checking passengers as they return to the ship in Aruba. If not, we’ll see whether the stinky smoke starts making an appearance as the cruise continues.
Speaking of security, Carnival has had a very visible security presence around the ship. I’ve seen them at the pool, walking around the atrium, inside the comedy club, and in several other areas. They’re in visible SECURITY uniforms, and honestly, their presence alone makes you think twice before trying any nonsense.
So, with the few things I’ve mentioned so far, it is good to see Carnival trying to get control of some of the unruly behavior that regularly makes the rounds on social media.
Dinner Options on Carnival Horizon
In yesterday’s report, I talked about the breakfast and lunch spots on Carnival Horizon and promised that today I would cover all the places to grab dinner.
So, let’s get started with that.
First up, let’s start with the old standards: the main dining room and the Lido Marketplace buffet.
Carnival offers traditional early or late seating, as well as anytime dining. With early or late dining, you’re given an assigned time, an assigned table, and an assigned service team. With anytime dining, when you’re ready to nosh, you can head to the restaurant to see if a table is available, or you can simply go into the Carnival HUB app, check in, and wait for a notification that your table is ready.
Something else Carnival rolled out in the not-too-distant past is an express dining option in the main dining room. This is for guests with anytime dining, parties of six or less, and those who want to rush through dinner in under an hour.
The express dining menu has a select number of items from the regular menu that evening and is designed for those, such as families with kids, who literally want to dine and dash.
Speaking of menus, Carnival is in the middle of rolling out new main dining room menus for 2026 across the fleet. Right now, the majority of ships have the new menus, but Horizon does not. After the initial rollout, Carnival has been gauging guest and chef feedback, making some tweaks, and then rolling the new menus out across the rest of the ships.
As we go down this list, remember, you can check out all the Carnival Cruise Line restaurant menus on our page here.
Both the main dining room and Lido Marketplace are the only complimentary spots, besides the pizza and deli, where you can grab dinner. Everything else onboard is going to cost extra.
First up is JiJi Asian Kitchen, which is the ship’s Asian restaurant. It offers a very similar menu to Chibang!, which is found on Carnival Celebration, Mardi Gras, and Jubilee. If you’re looking for items like spring rolls, peppered beef, or Kung Pao chicken, this is the place to go. Dinner will set you back $24 per person.
Next up is Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse. While the buffet-style lunch is free, dinner here is not. Everything is à la carte, and if you’re looking for pulled pork, brisket, a full rack of St. Louis-style ribs, or even a 16-ounce prime rib, this is the place to go.
Pricing is pretty reasonable, with pulled pork at $9, brisket at $11, a full rack of ribs at $17, and prime rib at $20. It’s nothing fancy, and the food is served on aluminum trays. It’s designed to be casual and messy, so maybe don’t pick this one for elegant night or white night.
Cucina del Capitano, which I dined at on Day 1, is the ship’s Italian spot and will set you back $24 per person.
This should not be confused with the one-dinner-free Cucina del Capitano on the Excel-class ships. The non-Excel-class version has a much larger menu, a more intimate dining space, and, in my opinion, is much better than the “Olive Garden” version found on Celebration, Mardi Gras, and Jubilee.
My dinner here on Saturday night was fantastic and well worth the price. Just be sure to come hungry because you’ll be well fed.
If you’re looking for teppanyaki or sushi, Bonsai is the place to go.
Bonsai Sushi is all à la carte and has sushi items, small plates, and noodle bowls. If you’re like me and like to order a bunch of different sushi, heads up, the bill can run up quickly. With sushi priced around $9 and $10 per roll and small plates running between $7 and $12, you can ring up a tab pretty fast.
The sushi side of the restaurant has a sushi bar where you can sit and watch the chefs, along with high-tops and tables.
Over on the teppanyaki side, it’s a smaller space with two tables that hold around a dozen people each. Dinner, along with the show from the teppanyaki chef, will set you back $49 per person. In my opinion, it’s a good value for the amount of food you get, and of course, it’s hella fun.
Next up is the line’s signature steakhouse, Fahrenheit 555, which is found across the Carnival fleet.
This is classic steakhouse fare with elegant white tablecloth dining, delicious steaks, and usually fantastic service. It’s perfect for elegant night. The steakhouse will set you back $52 per person, or more if you choose some of the upcharge items, like the $70 36-ounce tomahawk for two or the $35 14-ounce porterhouse.
Then there’s Seafood Shack.
Just like at lunch, fresh seafood is offered à la carte, so if you’re looking for a whole lobster, peel-and-eat shrimp, oysters, crab claws, or whatever else they have in the fresh fish case that day, this is where you go for it.
Now, this is not a fancy spot. It’s outside near the aft pool, but it’s quick and easy to order something and then head into the Lido Marketplace to eat.
Finally, there’s the most expensive option on the ship: The Chef’s Table, which I wrote about yesterday. That will set you back $124 per person, and you can read more about it in that report.
All prices mentioned here are plus a 20% service fee.
And then, if you’re still hungry later in the night, there’s the late-night buffet, which is widely panned on social media. Depending on the day, it usually opens around 11:00 or 11:30pm and includes things like thick-crust pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and some other assorted stuff to help you cope after hitting the 15-drink max on the drink package, when you really don’t care whether what you’re eating actually tastes good or not.
And that’s the dinner roundup!
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!
Now that we’ve covered all the food options, before I talk about my dinner this evening, let’s talk casino!
Here on Carnival Horizon, the casino is located on Deck 4, and like many of the older ships in the fleet, it does not have its own bar. However, there are bar servers constantly making the rounds to see if anyone needs drinks, so you’re not exactly going thirsty while donating to the Carnival Fun Fund.
The casino has your standard selection of table games and slot machines.
When it comes to smoking, the casino is split into smoking and non-smoking sections. While there is no physical separation between the two, machines in the smoking section are marked with a smoking icon, and those in the non-smoking section are marked with a no-smoking sticker.
What happens then is the smoke looks for the sticker and decides whether or not to descend.
Of course, that’s not how it works.
When there’s no actual physical separation between smoking and non-smoking, it’s pretty much like flying in an old DC-9, sitting in the non-smoking section of a metal tube while the rest of the plane is smoking like the dragon from Maleficent.
On the first night, I dropped a couple hundred and had no luck. Night two, I skipped because of my Chef’s Table commitment and the resulting food coma after the event.
So tonight, it was time for some serious play.
I noticed that two of the Dragon Link machines had a maxed-out $1,000 major jackpot, which meant one of two things was going to happen.
Either I could sit there all night chasing the jackpot and lose more money than I actually planned to, or I could get lucky enough to have that jackpot hit.
I jumped between different denominations, switching up my play from $1.25 to $2.50, then $2, then $5. When I was going through the $5 spins, I ended up getting a bonus game, which just so happened to have the major jackpot!
So I ended up winning the major, plus an additional $220.
That puts me ahead for the cruise and also covers my bar tab so far, assuming I were to cash it out.
Whether I actually do that or not… eh, I still have five days to go.
I’ll talk more about the casino program as the week goes on, but tonight’s win was a pretty good one.
Dinner at Fahrenheit 555 on Carnival Horizon
After my win in the casino, I decided to head over to the ship’s steakhouse, Fahrenheit 555, for dinner.
I had a few drinks at the bar before asking the restaurant manager, Nelson, if he had a table available for me. Since it was a very busy night in the restaurant, I was fully expecting the answer to be no and was prepared to ask if he could bend the rules and let me eat at the bar.
But he had a table for me right away.
Fahrenheit 555 Menu
Available on: All ships
Like I mentioned earlier, dinner here is $52 per person, plus a 20% service fee, and includes your choice of starters, an entrée, and dessert.
I started out with the shrimp cocktail and the tuna tartare, which is always a favorite of mine. Both were fresh and refreshing after a hot day at sea.
When it came time to choose a main course, my eyes were on the Dover sole. I asked my server if the sole was fresh or frozen.
“Frozen,” was whispered.
So that was an instant no for me.
I guess I’m spoiled by the sole on Holland America at Rudi’s and Pinnacle Grill, where it’s fresh and delicious every time.
Having noticed the table next to me all eating lamb chops, my choice was made. I ordered those medium, with broccoli and fries on the side.
I did have one request, though.
The lamb chops are served in, of all things, a freaking bowl.
Yes. A large bowl. For lamb chops.
I asked my server to please not bring mine in a bowl, which they were happy to accommodate. When Nelson was making his rounds checking on tables, he said, “I see you changed to a plate.”
I told him I don’t know who thought lamb chops would be best served in a bowl while you’re trying to cut them with a knife.
He agreed.
The lamb was cooked perfectly and was simply delicious.
When it came time for dessert, I was going to skip it, but ended up going with the apple tart to wrap things up. Service was on point, the food was fantastic, and every part of the meal was pretty much perfect.
Well, almost every part.
One of those family groups I mentioned earlier had a table of 12 nearby, and one of them was celebrating a birthday. Over the course of my meal, they went into long, loud renditions of “Happy Birthday” in variations I had never heard before.
Not once.
Not twice.
But three times.
The first time was when their server brought over a birthday dessert and the crew led the song. Fair enough. But then about ten minutes later, they did it again. And then again later before they left.
Because apparently one birthday needs a full concert series.
Also, something to note about the steakhouse and dress code. Carnival’s dress code guidelines states: “the following attire is allowed in the restaurants: casual dresses, casual skirts or pants and blouses, summer dresses, Capri pants, dress shorts, jeans, sport slacks, khakis, long dress shorts, and collared sport shirts.” There is no separate dress code for the steakhouse.
I know a lot of people get their knickers in a bunch when they see someone in the steakhouse wearing shorts and think it’s appalling. So don’t go in expecting everyone to be dressed business casual, because it’s not required.
After dinner, it was time for a little walking around before heading back to my room and calling it a night.
Tomorrow is Aruba, and we have a full day ashore.
More then, and as always, thanks for following along!
Fun Times for Day 3:
This is also available as a PDF by clicking here.
