Carnival Horizon Cruise B2B: 6-day Western Caribbean and 8-day Southern Caribbean from Port of Miami

 January 2025

We were on the Horizon from Port of Miami in 2020, and you can find additional ship information in my previous post.

View of Carnival ships at Port of Miami from bridge sidewalk 

Arrival and diamond check-in ~ Miami

We walked to the cruise port from the InterContinental, which was farther than we usually walk to a cruise port (just under 2 miles). The walk was pretty easy, although there is a small section when you first get to the port area after crossing the bridge where there is no sidewalk. Traffic is slow, so this did not present too much of a problem. We had planned to take the Coral Way trolley to the port, and then decided it would be easier to walk with our luggage, than it would be to load it on and off the trolley while hoping to have enough room for it.

We did not receive diamond status before boarding this ship, because our Carnival Glory cruise credit from two days before this cruise, had not posted to our accounts yet. I left a voice message and an email with our PVP to inquire about this, and she never responded. Needless to say, we are longer working with her. We worked directly with the diamond desk after this cruise (more information about that experience at the end of this post). The cruise port was packed before we boarded, and we again had difficulty maneuvering through the crowds of people to board when it was our time, just like previous Miami port experiences. 

Cabin 9201, category 4J, on Carnival Horizon

Interior picture window cabin 9201 category 4J 

We think the front walkway cabins on Carnival cruise ships are a great value. Every cabin we have been in is spacious, and they have a large window. The only thing we missed was a second chair, or loveseat type seating for two. Not many people walked by on the front walkway in front of our window. You can only see through the widow to the inside when it is dark out, and the cabin lights are on. Additional photos for this cabin category (#9203) can be found in my previous Horizon post (link above).

Cabin 9206, category JS (junior suite), on Carnival Horizon

Junior suite obstructed view 9206 

We booked a suite for the second leg of our back-to-back cruise, so we we had to change rooms. We packed everything up, and our room stewed pushed our bags down the hall to our new cabin, after it was ready. This was our first time booking a suite, and we loved it! It was a bit pricey, but we had a 25% on board credit, after our 25th cruise, that we used. This was enough to cover our gratuities, drinks, speciality dining, and a few purchases.  

I neglected to get photos of the bathroom and closet area in our suite. This cabin has a large walk in closet by the entrance with a full length mirror. The bathroom has a whirlpool tub/shower combination, and a large vanity with a double sink. The suite also comes with two bottles of water. 

Above: view from balcony of cabin 9206 on Carnival Horizon
Below: 9206 balcony and wetness after bridge window cleaning

Miami, Florida: InterContinental

January 2025, two nights, weekend

Beautiful sculpture in the lobby at InterContinental Miami.

Reservations, arrival, platinum perks

InterContinantal has an ambassador program, and elite level IHG members do not usually receive perks if not also an ambassador member. I am not a member of the ambassador program, because there is a cost to join, and the program is only good at IC hotels. I received the platinum on-site 600 bonus points at check-in, and I opted to pay for club access. I had booked this stay with points, and the only points room available when booking was a basic guestroom. The club upgrade was a bit pricey, so we only added this for one night of our stay.

Floor 28 in InterContinental Miami hotel

Guestroom on floor 28

This guestroom is one of the corner rooms with a partial view, so I suppose we also received a slight room upgrade. The guestroom did not seem particularly large, although the corner rooms do look larger in the guestroom diagram (see photo above).

Guestroom on floor 28 in InterContinental Miami hotel

Carnival Horizon Cruise: 8-day Southern Caribbean from Port of Miami

February 2020, Interior picture window cabin 9203

Carnival Horizon from shore excursion in Aruba.

Arrival and VIP check-in ~ Port of Miami

This was our first time out of the port of Miami since Carnival started setting boarding appointment times. I had hoped this process would make VIP boarding easier, and it did somewhat. In 2013, the check-in process was a breeze; however, it had been difficult to get to the boarding area, even though we were being led by a Carnival representative, because we had to navigate through throngs of people between the VIP room and the boarding entrance across the room. The VIP room in Miami is now gone. We checked in at a kiosk before going through security, and then we sat in the assigned Platinum VIP boarding area near the escalator entrance. Water and lemonade was available.

The boarding order remained the same: groups, Diamond, Platinum, guests with suites, then Faster to the Fun guests. The group that boarded first was led through the waiting VIP guests, like we had been during the mess in 2013; however, since there were no non-VIP guests in the area, this was not as crowded, and it was easy for them to get through. After this, the situation turned mildly chaotic. An announcement was made for Diamond guests to board, and almost all of the Platinum guests stood up, too (Diamond guests were seated in a separate area closer to the escalator). When we did not stand up, a couple of people standing near us asked what had been said, and we told them. After a brief pause, they all decided to go join the closer huddle of standing Platinum guests, and then the rest of the Platinum and suite guests stood to walk toward the boarding entrance, as well. Carnival representatives ended up shrugging their shoulders and throwing their hands up in the air. We got in line after this happened and were on board before noon. We had arrived at the terminal about an hour earlier.

Sunrise from inside cabin 9203 on Carnival Horizon

Interior cabin with picture window 9203, category 4J

We have previously stayed in interior cabins near the front of the ship with easy access to the front deck; however, this was our first cruise with an interior picture window cabin. I was excited, although I also wondered how crowded or noisy the front deck might be since there was an overwhelming amount of online chatter about the "secret decks" out front. Interior picture window cabins have a window, which looks out onto the front public deck area. That means people can walk right by your window. The window is mirrored glass, so you can only see inside the room when it is dark out, and the inside lights are on. Usually, this area is quiet because not many guests know about or use the front deck areas. The front deck is accessible on most levels of the Horizon (5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 14), so we hoped our deck would be quiet. Activity did not turn out to be a problem, and we loved this cabin! We even spent a couple of afternoons out front in loungers outside our cabin window. You can find more photos of this cabin, and the cruise in the Carnival Horizon Facebook album.

Carnival Horizon cabin 9203.

The cabin itself is specious; however, the room only contained one chair, and one vanity stool. The single closet contained only one small rod with plenty of hangers, and a row of shelves. A safe was located in the shelf area. This sufficed for us, although I am sure many people would complain about the lack of storage. The mini fridge was excellent; it was the coldest fridge we have ever had on a Carnival cruise.

Carnival Horizon cabin 9203 looking out at the loungers where we sat.

Our cabin was ready when we boarded, and our room steward was fabulous. He introduced himself right away, and made a point of cleaning our room while we were at dinner, after he learned we had early dining.

Partial Signature Tower from the brunch menu.

Food & Beverages

Breakfast and brunch

• Dining room: excellent service and delicious breakfast. We did not have enough days on board to try everything we wanted.
• Sea Day Brunch: also excellent and delicious, although I wish I could receive the Signature Tower as listed on the menu. I have ordered the Signature Tower on previous cruises, and after another two attempts on this cruise, I finally realized what it is supposed to look like. The menu showing the description of this item is in my Carnival Sunshine blog post. Since there are three tray spots on the tower, I imagine it should arrive with the tomatoes, cukes, and bagel on one plate (I never received this unless I asked for it again after receiving just the plates without the tower), and the two choices from the menu should be in the other two spots. The foods I received were always good; however, my expectation had been for the entire tower. I was able to get the Salmon Super Food Salad this cruise (my attempt was unsuccessful on our last cruise), which was amazing!

Salmon Super Food Salad from Sea Day brunch menu.

Miami, Florida: DoubleTree by Hilton Grand Hotel Biscayne Bay

February 2020, weekday, 1-night, double bed bay view guestroom 657

I had a difficult time getting a room at this hotel. Starting a year before our stay, the hotel was either showing sold-out, or the room cost was outrageous (over $300 + taxes). I was finally able to book a room with 60,000 points. There were three of us, so I booked a room with two beds, and a balcony overlooking the bay. I received an offer to upgrade to a condo for $20, so I took it. The day before we arrived, the condos were sold out, so I checked in online and chose guest room 852.

View of cruise port from pool deck on floor 10 
while waiting for guestroom.

Diamond perks and check-in

We arrived from the FLL airport around 1:45 PM, and checked our luggage with the bellman because our room was not ready yet. I received a text around 3:15 PM saying that our room was ready. I returned to the front desk, and we were assigned guestroom 657. The agent did not tell me why we were receiving a different guestroom than the one I had chosen during online check-in, and I did not ask. I mistakenly assumed they were taking care of their diamond members, and giving me a guestroom that was at least as nice as the one I had chosen. As a diamond member, I received bottled water and a breakfast coupon for two.

Same view of cruise port from guestroom 657.

Guestroom 657

This guestroom is located near the center of the hallway above the back rooftop. It is fairly spacious, with a large bathroom.

Entry area in guestroom 657.

A safe was located in the entry closet. The beverage area next to the closet contained a small fridge, ice bucket, coffeemaker with supplies, and glass glasses.

Shower room in guestroom 657.
Vanity located across from toilet.

Carnival Splendor Cruise ~ 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise from Miami, Florida

February 2016

1st sunset at sea

This was the second time we have sailed on the Carnival Splendor. The first time was November 2009 out of Long Beach, California before I started this blog. We had stateroom 6447 in 2009 and 7434 this cruise. I could not fit all of the photos I have of the Splendor and cabins in this blog post. Please visit the Splendor Facebook album for more photos and information.

Pre-cruise

We booked a dinner reservation at Pinnacle Steakhouse for the first evening of our cruise, and received a confirmation email before the cruise. When we did this on the Carnival Sunshine, we never received an email confirmation, and I was not able to check on the reservation until after we boarded. It would be nice if this information would show under Carnival booking information, like shore excursions.

Arrival and check-in ~ Port of Miami

The last time we departed from Miami on the Carnival Breeze, our departure experience had been superb, so we decided to arrive at the port around the same time, 11:30 a.m. Things started out well; we quickly passed through security and got our key cards. Even though we had tied our son's account to ours, his room key was not with ours. Our travel agent had specifically called Carnival about this a few days before our cruise, and she told us we would be all set to board together. It only took the representative a few moments to get him his card, and then we sat down in the VIP waiting room to wait.

There was one restroom in the waiting room, which I did not recall from our last cruise out of Miami. Beverages and danishes were available. It was over an hour later when VIP boarding started. The seats in the VIP room were full before this, and several guests were standing along the wall. When the Carnival reps came to lead us to the entrance, we had to walk from the VIP room across the general waiting area to enter through the boarding gate on the opposite side of the room. It was not easy for guests to follow the person in front of him or her because the area was crowded, and guests in the outside waiting area cut in between boarding guests. I kept as close to the guest in front of me as I could without stepping on his heels, and people still cut in front of me! Apparently, I do not look very gruff. We then had to follow the non-boarding guests who were pulling their luggage (there was no room to go around them) until they veered off, and then we had to relocate our line in the distance.

photo taken of guests in cruise port after we went up escalator to board

Boarding had been smoother on our last cruise out of Miami, because we started boarding before noon, and we had boarded through the entrance by the VIP lounge. All-in-all, I do not have any serious complaints, and we were on board shortly after 1:00 p.m. The only guests that boarded before VIP guests were guests attending a wedding on board.

cabin 7434 balcony

balcony cabin 7434

Balcony cabin 7434, category 8B

Carnival Breeze ~ 8-day Exotic Southern Caribbean, February 2013

Carnival Breeze in Aruba

Check-in

Our check-in at the Port of Miami was the smoothest we have experienced since becoming Platinum guests. We arrived around 11:30 a.m., and were quickly routed through the Priority lines. We got held up briefly at the check-in counter because our son was with us, and he is not a Platinum guest. Our PVP had told us that if we tied his account to ours with the same credit card, he would be able to board with us. We did this online a couple of weeks before the cruise; however, when we got to the check-in counter, his sail and sign card was not ready with ours. The employee helping us had to ask another employee for assistance, and then they made his card right then.

The VIP lounge area was fairly full; we found the last two seats together, and our son stood. Coffee was available on a table in the room, although there were no restrooms in the lounge. We had passed the restrooms outside the lounge and around the corner before we entered. When I went out to use the restroom a few minutes later, there was a wait for the single room. All of the priority guests were already boarding and gone from the VIP lounge when I returned (except for my family members who were waiting for me!). If I had realized we were going to board that soon, I would not have left the lounge.

Carnival Glory cruise -- 7-night Exotic Western Caribbean from Miami

Carnival Glory;
photo taken from our excursion boat in Belize

Check-in at port of Miami

This was our first experience with kiosk check-in. I had not noticed that our boarding document said "kiosk ready" on it before we arrived. Two Carnival representatives were greeting and directing guests to two different lines. They were also providing zone number cards. We arrived around 11:30 a.m., and received a Zone 7 card. One check-in line was for guests with kiosk ready boarding passes, and the line on the left was for other guests. After checking in and scanning our passports at the kiosk, we received a receipt from the machine with a window number for our cabin key pick up. Our receipt was for window number one. There was no line, and we were immediately greeted and given room keys. We sat down to wait, and our zone was called about 30 - 40 minutes later. We were on board the ship around 12:30 p.m.

When we had first arrived at the port, we noticed guests who rushed right past the Carnival representatives instead of waiting to speak with them. They were in such a hurry to get in line, they paid for it later. While we were waiting for our zone number to be called after check-in, we observed guests being redirected to the other line (they had chosen the incorrect kiosk or non-kiosk line in their haste). And, some guests did not have zone number cards because they had not waited to speak with a representative when arriving (we had to wait briefly behind four or five guests when we arrived). When these guests noticed the zone numbers, they asked what they were for, and what time certain guests had arrived (yes, some of them asked us what time we had arrived). Then, the guests without numbers expected Carnival to give them a low number (or, they expected guests like us who had a low number to include them in our group). They claimed that a representative was not greeting guests when they arrived, which was untrue. I always observed at least one representative greeting guests from the time we arrived until we boarded. There was only one representative when we first arrived, and the second representative returned to a his post a few seconds after we stood in line to wait. We were glad to see that the Carnival representatives were not providing already called zone numbers to the complaining guests.

Cabin 7442, balcony, category 8M

We had an aft cabin extended balcony room. The balcony is much deeper than the aft cabin balcony we had on the Legend; however, the room is smaller. There was no couch, and there was only one chair with the table. There was room for two chairs, so I did not understand why only one was provided.

Carnival Glory cabin 7442

There were two chairs and a lounger on the balcony, which was great! Unfortunately, I do not have any good balcony photos to share.

Carnival Glory cabin 7442

Food & Beverage

The food on this ship included the same offerings that I wrote about in my Freedom post from December 15, 2010.

There were a couple differences, which I will list here. There is a burrito bar on the opposite side of the ship from the deli counter. It was similar to the deli: You waited in line to special order any type of dry burrito desired. My husband had a shrimp burrito, which he said was great. If there was a burrito bar on the Freedom, we missed it. The sushi bar on this ship was open every evening from 5:00 - 8:15 p.m., instead of just a few nights. This was not listed in the Fun Times each day; however, I observed a sign stating the hours.