Ports of Call from Carnival Horizon: Western and Southern Caribbean

 January 2025

We have been to all of these ports before except Bonaire. You can find more information than what is provided in this post by clicking on the labels at the bottom of this post.

Ocho Rios cruise pier from Carnival Horizon

Ocho Rios, Jamaica: 9:00 - 5:00 PM

There is nothing to do at this pier, and it is not recommended to explore Jamaica on your own. We have previously gone on excursions to Dunns River Falls, an island tour with butterfly garden, and more. This time, we stayed on board, and enjoyed the peace and space on serenity deck. 

7-mile beach in Grand Cayman
Views from Governor's Beach

Grand Cayman, CI: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Grand Cayman is a tender port, and there were several cruise lines in port the day of our visit. This made the process to get to and from the ship take a bit longer than usual. After we got to shore, we walked a couple of blocks inland to the public bus depot next to Starbucks. The cost to take the bus to Governor's Beach was $2.50 per person, one-way. This beach has a couple of picnic tables, and a bit of shade. There is a building on the south end near the parking lot that looked like it may have been restrooms, although we did not check this out. We enjoyed the beautiful beach for awhile, and then we walked back to the cruise port along the beach. This is about a 3 mile walk, and you can walk along the beach most of the way. We walked out to the sidewalk when obstructions in the water made our walk in the water more than waist deep. We had walked through the water a little before this; however, we did not want to go that deep because of belongings we were carrying.

Cozumel cruise port from Carnival Horizon
Below: leaving Cozumel

Cozumel, Mexico: 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM

We did not do anything new at this port. There are many tours available through Carnival and independent companies. We disembarked the ship just so we could walk around and get some exercise, different than on deck 12! Again, there were many ships in port, so the area was very busy. 

Above: cruise ships from Renaissance rooftop pool downtown Aruba
Below: free bus ride downtown Oranjestad, Aruba

Aruba, BVI: 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM

Aruba is a beautiful island with many things to do on your own, or with an excursion. Be prepared for a breeze, as it is always windy in Aruba. We rode the complimentary double decker bus through town. This stops at the cruise port, and there are different stops in town. This entire area is walkable; we only rode the bus to get a different view point.

Above: swimming and snorkeling pier in Bonaire from Carnival Horizon
Below: sea turtle in Bonaire from cabin 9206 on Carnival Horizon

MBJ airport/Sangster International Airport ~ Montego Bay, Jamaica

January 2015

We had Sky Priority first class seats on Delta, and I have Priority Pass membership through American Express. This is our departure experience from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Delta check-in

Our check-in experience was very quick. It would have been even quicker except for the rude passengers who cut in line in front of us.

Montego Bay, Jamaica / Sandals Royal Caribbean

December 2014, 7-nights--Christmas Day to New Year's Day, Caribbean premium room #1219

I want to provide a little background about our prior visits to Jamaica, to help readers understand my point of view. We have been to Jamaica at least six times--by cruise ship and in resorts, and even though this visit was not 100% perfect, it was by far our best Jamaican experience! The service at Sandals Royal Caribbean was exceptional. The servers and bartenders work hard (as did everyone we observed), and I was impressed with how well they always knew who was next, and who wanted what. I never observed an incorrect food or beverage item served, and there was only one time I observed a bartender ask who was next because he was not sure.

Sunset over Thai restaurant and private island

I do not have reviews for all of our previous visits to Jamaica because some of them occurred before I started this blog. Here are links to reviews of our previous experiences in Jamaica: Hilton Rose Hall Montego Bay, Holiday Inn Sunspree Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios from Freedom cruise ship.

This is a lengthy review with a lot of detail. Additional photos are posted on my Facebook travel page.

Montego Bay, Jamaica / Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort All Inclusive

Christmas week December 2012, 5-nights, King ocean view jr. suite #1437

partial beach & island view

Platinum status perks

I was able to reserve an ocean view guestroom when I redeemed standard points (35,000 per night) for this stay. I sent the hotel an email before our stay to ask about dining reservations and room location; however, no one replied to my email. Check-in service for platinum PCR members, was provided by the concierge at a desk across the lobby from the check-in counter. I did not observe PCR signage at the desk, so I went to the front desk when we arrived, and was then referred to the concierge desk. Fortunately, there were not any guests at the counter, so I did not wait in line before I was referred. The concierge referred to my platinum status several times, so I am not sure if the perks we received were solely platinum perks, or if some were basic PCR perks.

We received an upgrade to an ocean view Jr. Suite on the top floor, a massage for two, and the concierge had made dinner reservations for us for the first three nights of our stay. We received different color wristbands than most of the other guests, which did not seem to make any difference with the service we received. The wristband was nice because it was smoother, softer, and more comfortable than the band we had just worn at the Hilton resort. The wristbands most others were wearing looked the same as the ones we had worn at the Hilton.

Jamaica / Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa

December 2012, Weekend before Christmas, 3-nights, King ocean front guestroom #255

early evening view from balcony

view from our balcony

Gold perks and check-in

I redeemed 60,000 points per night for this stay (the standard amount). The room types available with standard reward points were "resort view" and "tropical view," so we reserved a tropical view guestroom.

I sent the hotel an email before our stay to ask about making dinner reservations, and to inquire about a room upgrade. The concierge contacted me by email about my dining requests. When I checked our reservation online a couple of days before our stay, I saw that we had already been upgraded to an ocean front guestroom!

If you are a Hilton Honors member, look for the concierge desk with the HHonors sign, located across from the check-in counter. There were no guests at the concierge desk when we arrived, so we were assisted at the desk for check-in immediately. Concierge Andrea confirmed our dining requests, and then she provided a reservation card for each night of our three-night stay. As a gold member, I received a coupon good for 10% off a cabana rental, and I received an internet access code for the complimentary internet perk for gold and diamond guests.

Guestroom #255

Before assigning a guestroom, Andrea read my profile preferences for a top floor king bed, and then she said there was not an ocean front guestroom on the top floor available for the length of our stay. She said that she could assign a guestroom on the 2nd floor right away (we arrived before check-in time), and that if we wanted to wait, the only higher floor room that would be available later was on the 3rd floor. This resort has 7 floors, and we did not think there would be much difference between floor 2 or 3, so we took the room on the 2nd floor. 

Carnival Freedom -- 6-night Western Caribbean Cruise

Carnival Freedom from shore excursion

Check-in

This was one of the smoothest check-in processes we have experienced. We took a cab from a cruise port hotel around noon. Our driver was able to pull right up to the luggage drop off spot at Port Everglades, and we walked inside after leaving our bags with the porters. We wove through a couple of line mazes, went through security, and were on board in about an hour. I noticed that the line had become quite long shortly after we boarded, although it still moved along quickly.

Carnival Freedom interior cabin 1021

Interior cabin 1021, category 4H

We usually book a balcony room; however, this was an extra cruise for us, so we went for the lowest category inside cabin--at a rock bottom rate. We booked the Early Saver rate, and saw two price drops before our cruise. One price drop was showing all inside cabins for the same price, so we were able to move up to the 10th/Panorama deck. This was still an inside cabin, but better than the bottom of the ship! There is a front balcony on this floor, which can only be accessed through the cabin hallway, so many guests do not know about it. It's not a place to hang out, since there were not any chairs or anything, although it was a great place to view the port as the ship was arriving and leaving.

Carnival Freedom interior cabin 1021

The room was quite small. In fact, our son's room, #2212, was much larger than our room. Our cabin had the basic storage space and bathroom; there just wasn't any sitting room. The foot of the bed almost hit the vanity, and there was barely room to sit on a chair in front of the vanity. We could not walk by the foot of the bed, if someone was sitting in the chair.

Food & Beverage

The food and beverages were very good, as always. I think the free champagne Carnival serves at events is lower quality than what we received on prior cruises. They used to serve Korbel, which I like. I did not like the complimentary champagne served on this cruise. For dinner, the three of us were seated at a table by ourselves in the dining room, which we found disappointing. This happened to us last time we cruised together after Thanksgiving, too. The Maitre'd says this is because there are so many families cruising this time of year. We like each other; however, we also like to meet new people. We think the dining experience is part of the fun. We ate breakfast in the dining room almost every morning, so we did get to meet and socialize with some guests this way. I prefer the dining room menu for breakfast, although my husband likes being able to get special order omelets at the buffet. The dining room breakfast menu only offers a ham and cheese omelet. The dining room is open for lunch on sea days with open seating. We ate lunch in the dining room one day, and it was very good. Lobster was served in the dining room for dinner on the first formal night.

One of the days that we were in port, we arrived back at the ship around noon, and ate at the Mongolian Wok, which is similar to BD's Mongolian Barbeque. The flavors were great, and the line wasn't too long. We ate at the Deli when we returned to the ship ahead of most of the guests on another port day. We are early risers, and are often done on shore before the crowds. There is a menu to order from at the Deli, and you can also make special requests to add or remove an item--such as cheese, or ask for a cold sandwich to be grilled. I requested Swiss cheese for the turkey wrap I ordered. The wrap was jalapeno flavored and wasn't very spicy, which was fine with me. I thought the sandwich was very good.

Many guests are not aware of Fish & Chips on the 10th deck at the back of the ship, so we dined there for lunch on a sea day because there was never a line. Other seafood is available, along with the fish and chips.