South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
New cruise ship outdoes its sister
Carnival Horizon similar to Vista, but is slightly better
The new Carnival Horizon, the 26th ship for Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line, passes by Miami Beach on a two-day inaugural cruise Sept. 20.
Carnival Horizon and Carnival Vista are sister ships, and they are the best Carnival Cruise Line has to offer, but which is better?
The differences between the two are small, and that’s part of the cruise line’s goal of having similar experiences fleetwide, but the short answer is newest is best.
Here’s why:
Barbecue
Or bar-b-que as they like to spell it in Guy Fieri’s world. There’s free barbecue on both ships on certain sailing days, but Carnival Horizon has gone full bore (or boar possibly) with Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse and Brewhouse.
It’s in the same place as the Red Frog Pub & Brewery on Carnival Vista, and the beer is the same quality, although different flavors to go with the cuisine, but the food choices at the Pig & Anchor outweigh Red Frog’s.
There’s baby back ribs, prime rib, smokehouse chicken, pulled pork, brisket and cedar plank salmon as well as flatbread, appetizers and desserts including pecan pie, apple cobbler and banana cream pie. It costs to sit down and eat, but it’s a hopping dinner venue option that’s no more expensive than eating at Four Rivers, and about as tasty.
The elevators
Cruise ships are really good at frustrating people trying to use the elevators. On some ships, if you’re not smart enough to back up and watch all four elevator Carnival has had a long partnership with Seuss Enterprises, Carnival’s Duffy said, so guests can enjoy Dr. Seuss and his Things on all ships.
doors, you might just miss your ride. Carnival thinks it has a better solution.
While it takes some getting used to, here’s the deal. There are no deck buttons in the elevator. Everything is outside. You walk up to the elevator, choose a floor on a digital menu outside, and it lets you know which elevator you should wait in front of.
It doesn’t eliminate crowds, but at least you are more guaranteed a spot in the lift if you’re standing in front of the elevator doors you’ve been directed to.
Note that on disembarkation day, a lot of the elevators won’t be available for you to take advantage of the new technology because they’re being used to transport luggage. But once the ship is sailing, the smart elevators work pretty well and remove at least one of the pet peeves of cruisers.
Flying spatulas
Carnival has expanded the footprint of Bonsai Sushi on board to now include the small Bonsai
Teppanyaki, a hibachi grill known for its entertaining, utensil-clanging, jokemaking chefs that prepare food on a grill in front of the diners.
One chef was very adept at tossing an egg with a spatula and then having it crack on the way down. The portions are stomachbursting and the experience takes about an hour.
Dr. Seuss
When is a water slide not just a water slide? When it’s zipping you along like you were being spat out through a Thingamajig or a Splash-o-magooer. Those aren’t the names of the rides, but they could be as whimsical as this play land is. It’s nearly equal to the water park on Carnival Vista, so the rides are just as invigorating, but they have that Seussian touch that makes it just that much better.
That includes spotting Thing 1 and Thing 2 affixed to the tubing of their zippy, trippy ride, or lining up for a selfie with the sunglassessporting
Grinch. The giant 150-gallon spill bucket, though, was a little disappointing as it was continuously spilling just a little bit of water, and not a periodic splashdown that’s the normal habit of such bucket features.
The little things
Both Vista and Horizon have digital funnels in their atrium, but Horizon’s catches the eye just a little more than its sister ship, and part of that has to do with slight adjustments to lighting.
The door systems that let cruises from the interior onto the exterior decks are now a double-door variety that act like an air lock. It’s often double the doors to get in and out, but they don’t get stuck like they did on Carnival Vista.
Easier cabin entry. Now cruisers just wave their sailing card on their cabin doors to unlock it as opposed to inserting it.
But mostly the same For the most part, though, the ships are so similar, that choosing either one will give cruisers a taste of what the new Carnival Cruise Line experience is like.
Both have the SkyRide, for instance, which is definitely worth the wait, which can stretch over an hour because the line has yet to completely remedy the inherent slow-downs the ride suffers because of salt buildup from the more tropical climate of the Caribbean.
Both have a selection of specialty cabins that either embrace or shun children, depending on cruisers’ tastes. Family Harbor’s rooms are designed for large family groups and include an easy-access lounge complete with games, TVs, quick bites and even its own ice cream machine. The Havana Suites, on the other hand, are segregated during the day from the rest of the ship, and don’t allow anyone under 12 to stay in them, and has its own pool area. Carnival Horizon actually features a few more cabins in this popular option than Carnival Vista.
Both feature the SportSquare with basketball court, a ropes course, unique top-deck mini-golf, ping pong, pool tables and foosball.
They both have an IMAX theater as well as the Thrill Theater, which offers up 20- to 30-minute
3-D movies with moving chairs and sensation effects like water and wind. And both have the relatively new food venue Seafood Shack that offers fresh seafood procured from the ship's various ports of call.
Both also have Guy Fieri's Burger Joint and the
24/ 7 Pizzeria del Capitano, which are part of the free dining if cruisers want a break from the buffet. There’s also the BlueIguana Cantina, BlueIguana Tequila Bar, RedFrog Rum Bar and the Alchemy Bar. Both have the Cloud 9 spa, the adultsonly Serenity area at the bow of the ship, the familystyle Asian JiJi Kitchen, indoor-outdoor dining options at both Fahrenheit
555 Steakhouse and Bonsai Sushi, candy shop Cherry on Top and a slew of other Carnival mainstays.
In the end, both are good options, especially if it’s a cruiser’s first venture on a Carnival ship. Especially for fans of barbecue or Dr. Seuss, Horizon is slightly better.
For Florida cruises, it’s also now the closest of the two as Carnival Horizon has taken over duties sailing out of Miami while Carnival Vista has moved on to Galveston, Texas.
A third Vista-class ship, Carnival Panorama, will come online in late 2019, but it’s headed for California.
After that, the line will turn its focus to the debut of its newest class of ship, with the first in class to make its way to Port Canaveral after its debut in
2020. The yet-to-be-named vessel will be significantly larger than the Vista class with a 5,286-passenger capacity, compared to Horizon’s 3,960-passenger capacity, based on double occupancy.
For now, though, the Vista-class remains the top option for Carnival Cruise Line.
Carnival Horizon currently sails year-round from PortMiami on sixand eight-night Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean itineraries.
For more information about itineraries, go to carnival.com or call
1-800-227-6482.