Either Carnival was totally on point for the Thanksgiving week or all of those complainers are people that would cry about anything. This cruise was fantastic. Our family cruises for Thanksgiving and the last couple of times have been on the Oasis Royal class boats so this was our first time back to Carnival after several years and we selected it based on the ports it went to.

Embarkation – we got an email days prior saying that they are expecting a delay in the debarkation so arrive an hour later than your scheduled time. We flew in that morning and did you know there was a check in at the airport?? USE IT! We did that and they did not say there was a delay so we went on to the port. There are two entrances to the ship – one for airport check in and one for regular check in. We walked right on through with no stopping. Highly recommend it! Security didn’t go through our bags, didn’t check to see our wine bottle was intact, and didn’t check to see that it was really pop cans in the bag. They did have the hallway doors to the rooms closed so you couldn’t access that until 1:30 which was fine.

Food – It’s funny we did a carnival one year that was great food, and then the next year it wasn’t. The next was Royal Caribbean and amazing food and then the next year RC was bad. This year on the Horizon we were completely surprised at how good everything was. The food options were plentiful and because I wanted to try everything once I didn’t get to go back and try anything twice! I opted for the tacos at Blue Iguana for the first day and they were great with the salsa bar and accoutrements you could add to it. My family went to the Lido and complained at the limited options there. I had read Carnival was doing that and spreading the food options out across the boat. I never ate at the buffet other than for breakfast with the other amazing options out there. The Guys Hamburgers were great as well and even with lines it moved fast as they were cooking hamburgers constantly. You could add any additions, sautéed onions, mushrooms, sauces etc. The Italian place on 11 was free for sea days as well as the Mongolian Wok. You have an order sheet and check what you want. GREAT food. The BBQ was free on sea as well as lunch and the beef tips and pulled port were very tasty. For breakfast you had breakfast tacos or burritos from the Iguana – full of flavor. I did eat the lido here but it was very limited to straight breakfast foods. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, French toast, made to order omelets always had a line and cereals, toasts etc. Other cruise lines have included food for international passengers so thought that was unusual. Our dining room service was outstanding; food was always great, always hot. And quicker than on past cruises. We had the old fashion 6:00 dining and we just walked in to our table and our waiter Inyoman got to know us. Super friendly, attentive and great. I’m telling you we had no complaints in this section! We did do the Steakhouse on the first night – the special is a free bottle of wine with dinner on the first night. Everything there was outstanding. Read more