Horizon - Philly - 9/7

Hi everyone. I'm a new poster to this sight and I must say I've been very impressed by the wealth of info contained herein. My wife and I and another couple are booked on the 9/7 Horizon out of Philly to Bermuda. While we have cruised about 8 times, only two of these were on Celebrity...the Meridian to be specific...about 12 years ago. Has anyone been on the Horizon lately? Any tips? I would love to hear your input.

Thanks,

Erik

[PJ]

My first cruise was on Horizon over spring break. I guess they consider this a "smaller" ship, but I was very impressed. They are keeping it up well, although the elevators are a little slow sometimes, we often just walked the stairs to keep that wonderful food from finding a permanent home on our hips! The workout room is kind of small, but adequate, and the upper deck was great for morning walks. Rooms are comfortable and service was great. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks PJ....by the way I've also noticed another thread concerning the Horizon arrival and departure times from Philly. Doesn't bother my wife and I so much as this is our fourth cruise to Bermuda and have flown there twice...so we don't mind the extra "cruise time". But for all the first timers to Bermuda, they're going to have to do a lot of running around to get all that sightseeing and beach time in. I wonder how many passengers are not fully aware of these times.

Erik V V

[jcb]

Count me as one of those unaware passengers! I was very distressed to see our shortened time in Bermuda (in comparison to Zenith's time in Bermuda). I am sailing on the Horizon on 10/12 with two other couples. I've cruised to Bermuda 1 time (almost twice). The first time on the Horizon, the second time on the Zenith. We never made it to Bermuda because of a hurricane the second time. I've visited Bermuda many times as well. My fellow cruisers have never been to Bermuda. I keep telling them how great it is and I was looking forward to our time there. I am kicking myself for not noticing the shortened hours at port! I just assumed both ships had the same amount of time in port. I guess that's what I get for assuming... I guess I will consider myself lucky if we don't get waylayed by a hurricane. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for decent weather. I guess my lesson is to pay more attention to the arrival and departure times! :-)

[Leona]

Hi Erik,
We too have sailed on the Meridian to Bermuda, we also have done the Horizon and it is really a lovely ship. I much prefer it to the mega ships. We have fun on the big ships but do enjoy the smaller ones too.,
We are going to be on thr 9/7 cruise, like you, and although we will not have as much time in Bermuda as we would like we will still be on a 7 night cruise and hopefully will enjoy it.
Leona

[Leona]

Bounce!

[laravago]

Well it looks like Celebrity must have received some complaints about the late arrival time in Bermuda as well as the early departure time from Bermuda. According to the Celebrity web site, the ship now arrives in Hamilton at 1:30 instead of the originally scheduled 3:30 or 4:00. It now departs St. George back to Philly at 1:00 instead of the originally scheduled 10 AM. Not the best times, but definitely an improvement!!!

Erik V V

[Leona]

Hi Erik,
So glad to hear that Celebrity made the change, We will take those extra hours gladly.
Just to let you know that there are a bunch of us who have met on the cruisecritic.com message boards, that are going on the Horizon 9/7. We all decided to meet in the Americas Cup Lounge at 5 o'clock next Sunday. Why don't you and your friends join us. None of us know each other at this point.
One week to go. Yay!!!!
Leona

[laravago]

Leona,

Thanks for the invite. Will most likely see you there.

Erik

[Leona]

Erik,
Just lets hope that FABIEN is not joining us on this cruise.
Leona