Southern Caribbean Ports of Call from Carnival Horizon: Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao, Aruba

February 2020

We have been to all of these ports before, and only booked one excursion this trip. You can find previous posts with more information by using the search bar at the top of this page, or by clicking on any of the labels at the end of this post.

Grand Turk from Carnival Horizon in the afternoon, 
after we had gotten back on board.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

This was our first experience arriving in Grand Turk on the first cruise ship, and arriving so early. One time, our ship could not dock at all, another time, we docked a few hours late, and only had a short time on the island, and the last time, we arrived around 11AM after another ship. After our first bad experiences on the island, we have learned a few things: all the beach chairs with a green Cruise Center umbrella are complimentary at the Cruise Center, even the ones by the water. The Cruise Center is located left of the pier. Additionally, the chairs at Margaritaville are complimentary, unless you rent a cabana. Be aware that locals will come up to you and try to charge you for chairs. We went ashore about an hour after we had arrived, around 8:00 AM, and all of the complimentary beach chairs had already been taken. If you click on the photo above to enlarge it, you can see that there is only one green umbrellas near the water, and it also looks like there are fewer chairs in the Cruise Center area than there had been the last time we were at this port.

Grand Turk from Carnival Horizon in the morning when we arrived.

Last time, we had been able to purchase a liter of local rum and then some mix to take it back to our seat for the day. This time, we were told we had to go to the ship, if we purchased a large bottle (smaller, non-local, more expensive bottles could be taken ashore). I am not sure if things have changed, or, if we took it back to our seats in error last time we were here.

Looking toward the [rocky] beach to the right of the pier in Grand Turk.

The beach area to the right of the pier and Duty Free shops is less crowded; however, the beach in this area is rocky. Although the water is beautiful in Grand Turk, the atmosphere on this island has been the same every time we visited--crowded, touristy, and locals who want nothing more than to take your money. I am already rethinking how we will spend our time the next time we visit this island; provided our ship docks there. I am writing this post during the Coronavirus pandemic, and our next cruise with a stop in Grand Turk is almost a year away. If things return back to normal, and we do visit Grand Turk again, I imagine we will take our time in the morning to enjoy breakfast and be relaxed, and then walk ashore with only our towels and no expectations. At the very least, we will walk the beach in both directions, swim, and maybe do a little shopping or browsing before returning to the ship.

Carnival Horizon in La Romana.

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.