What’s up fam! 

In January, I took my first Carnival cruise since 2014. I didn’t have a good experience then and swore I wouldn’t do another one. That is until SIG the Solo Cruiser (Solo, Introvert, Gluten Free) offered a group cruise to the ABC Islands. I thought it would be a good way to try Carnival again and I always wanted to see the ABC Islands. Carnival did not disappoint.  So what changed? Let’s find out!

There’s nothing like seeing the sun rise while cruising!

The Cruise

This cruise was my third with Carnival and my seventh cruise overall. (My previous cruises with Carnival were the Carnival Fascination in 2002 and the Carnival Conquest in 2014.) This was a solo group cruise organized by Cheryl, the SIG cruiser herself. I’ve been following Cheryl on YouTube for a while. One of the things that attracted me to her channel was that her cruising style was very similar to mine; very laid back and chill. She called it a solo group cruise to indicate that if you wanted to hang out with everyone, you could. But it also wouldn’t be a big deal if you ventured off on your own. I did a little of both. I did a few group things with the ladies but largely spent my time relaxing on the ship. 

Cheryl was a great trip leader. She did a good job organizing things and keeping us abreast of changes. She gave recommendations throughout the cruise, booked events for us and checked in with us regularly. She even sent GroupMe messages to let us know where she was hanging out on the ship in case we wanted to join her. She is planning another group cruise. Watch her pages to get more info and to keep up with all things solo travel.

Just some of the gifts Cheryl gave us

The Ship

The Horizon is a Vista Class ship, one step down from the Excel class which boasts the Carnival Mardi Gras, Celebration and Jubilee. Since it’s a Vista class ship, it has way more amenities than the older ships and a fun, updated, modern decor. 

The Carnival Horizon docked in Bonaire

My cabin was great. It was a good size with a comfortable bed and a decent sized bathroom. The shower had the curtain you have to tuck in to keep from wetting the floor, so beware. There was plenty of closet space since I was traveling solo. The room had a TV though there wasn’t much on it. I watched one of the free movies, the map channel and the ship cam. While I loved the room, the next time I cruise, I will get a balcony. On sea days, it was hard to find someplace to just sit. The pool deck was crowded and I didn’t want to sit indoors or in my room. I wanted someplace sunny with a view of the water. A cabin with a balcony would have solved this. Which leads me to my next point…

The Lanai on Deck 5 was my favorite hangout spot on this ship. This part of the deck had comfortable chairs and tables perfect for sitting in the sun, reading a book or just watching the waves. I was also able to snag a clamshell on the Serenity Deck one morning. Both were great alternatives to the pool deck. Sitting on The Lanai chilling was one of my favorite parts of this cruise. I’m so glad that other cruise lines are taking pointers from Norwegian on how to use deck space.

The Entertainment

Let’s start with what I enjoyed. Carnival has the best deck parties of any cruise line so it goes without saying that the sailaway party and the 80s Glow Party were a hit. I didn’t make the White Night Party but I heard it was also fun. I also caught some live music at the Havana Club and the Violinists in the Atrium. No complaints about the musicians and the singers, they were all good. I attended the Cubano Amor show. The singing was good but the dancing was so-so. My biggest issue is that the performance did not match the show description and there was no story line. I attended another musical show with the group that was supposed to be renditions of today’s songs in Motown format. They nailed some of the songs but others, not so much. The singing was great. It’s just that the concept wasn’t well executed. As for the comedy shows, I did not attend any but some of the ladies in the group did. Most agreed that the comedians on this ship were not that good. The only game I played was bingo. I didn’t win anything but it was fun.

Towel animal takeover!

The Food

The food on the Horizon was so much better than the last time I cruised with Carnival. This is for both included and specialty restaurants. Of course, I enjoyed my meals in the specialty restaurants better than the included but everything was soo good. I ate everywhere! For the specialty (read not included) restaurants, I ate at the Seafood Shack, JiJi’s Asian Restaurant and Cucina del Capitano. I highly recommend all three. For the included restaurants, I ate at Guy’s Burgers; Pig and Anchor for lunch; the pizzeria; MDR for sea day brunch, dinner and afternoon tea; the Lido for breakfast, lunch, dinner and the Midnight Buffet and Blue Iguana for lunch. I wasn’t impressed with Pig and Anchor’s lunch offerings but I assume the dinner was better. Everything was…chef’s kiss!

Pro Tip: Many of the specialty restaurants offer lunch for free. And they’re usually a lot less crowded than the buffet on embarkation day.

I look forward to attending afternoon tea when on a Carnival cruise.

The Ports 

Aruba – In Aruba, Cheryl booked an island tour for us. The tour was very comprehensive and covered instagrammable sights, history and culture. Our guide, who was the owner of the company, was very welcoming of questions we had about the economy and the school system there. This was a great tour overall. I highly recommend this company.

Trying not to blow away at the Casibari Rock Formations.
Some of the murals we saw during our island tour.

Bonaire – Cheryl booked a private island tour for the group in Bonaire as well. The group saw both the northern and southern ends of the island and saw the flamingos, salt pyramids and the slave huts. I did not do the tour. I just walked around the downtown area and walked along the water’s edge. It was hot but the water was beautiful. There were lots of swimmers and snorkelers about. The downtown area wasn’t very built up so there wasn’t much to do besides walk around and shop. While I enjoyed my time on the island I would have seen more of it if I had taken the tour.

Curacao – We did not have a scheduled tour in Curacao. Instead, everyone did their own thing. I visited the Kura Hulanda Slave Museum. I expected it to be small but this museum had artifacts from the U.S. and Africa. It didn’t just tell the story of slavery in the Caribbean but the history of Africa and of the African diaspora in the U.S. This museum is definitely worth a visit. I also walked around the downtown area, got to see the Queen Emma Bridge in action and visited the RIF Fort.

I had not visited the ABC Islands prior to this cruise, so I was very excited to see all of them. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Aruba and Curacao had enough activities that if I came back to stay a week, I would have plenty to do. 

My first cruise duck ever!

This cruise put Carnival back on the map for me! After this cruise, I would definitely sail the Horizon again or any of Carnival’s newer ships. How about you? Would you sail Carnival?