sue

<BR>we are thinking of taking a cruise the week of Dec. 9th and found a price of $499 from Aruba, 7 days, on the Horizon. lst...is this a good deal and second...how is the Horizon? Thanks for any info.

bruce

1st Yes it is a GOOD deal, even on Carnival it would ge a good deal, but on a Celebrity cruise, even better, much better.

sue

thanks....we booked it! Can't wait!

bruce

I don't think you'll be sorry. Celebrity was my first choice when we were looking for a cruise the week before Christmas. Couldn't get a quad, so we booked with RCI, Grandeur of the Seas. Let me know how the cruise goes, if you can. <BR>Thanks, Bruce

sue

ok bruce..I'll let you know.

tlmlb

Just got off the Horizon on the repositioning from San Juan to Aruba. Had terrific service and its a very nice ship (good size...its very personal). Since you got such a good deal on the cruise, think about staying in Aruba pre or post cruise. Its very nice.

James Ivery

We just returned last night from a 7 day cruise aboard Celebrity Horizon. It as our first cruise with this line (our fourth overall) and our first cruise during the Winter season. We were to travel from Washington, DC to Atlanta via Delta, then connect with a charter company called Miami Air to take us to Aruba for the start of our cruise. Our flight from Washington departed at 7am, so we had to get up at about 4am in order to get to the airport in time. We got to Atlanta in time to meet the Miama Air flight at 10am. The Charter company representatives told us that the flight had been delayed until Noon due to "mechanical problems". From that point on, we got further delay notices about every two hours. There was little of no information as to why. Finally, at about 10:30pm, we boarded a Miami Air jet for the four-hour flight to Aruba. We were assured that the ship would wait for us (168 passengers). We arrived in Aruba at about 3:30 am Sunday, although we were suppose to arrive at around 2:30pm Saturday afternoon, giving us time to see a little bit of Aruba before setting sail. So we effectively missed a full day of our cruise and had been up for 24 hours. And because the ship had delayed its departure waiting for us, the crew pushed the speed up which meant we had a very bouncy ride. A number of passengers got sea sick, including my wife. She spent the first night aboard the ship with an upset stomach, and next day trying to recover. When we complained to Celebrity's Customer Service staff on board, they said that Celebrity Headquarters in Miami had been informed of the mishap and were investigating it. The staff later said that there would be a letter from Headquarters in our mail boxes when we returned home with some sort of compensation for our inconvenience. Well, I just checked my mail and there is no letter from Celebrity. At no time did any senior crew member contact us during the cruise to apologize or otherwise acknowledge what had happened. I am dumbfounded about this, even more so that Celebrity would do business with such a poor charter company. Moreover, there were only about 700 passengers aboard the ship, so it was less than half full. So the people on the Miami flight made up about a quarter of the passenger load. Well, the return flight at the end of the cruise was not without its problems. The flight was delayed leaving Aruba enroute to Atlanta so everyone was very nervous. This time, we were delayed by about 90 minutes, which caused my wife and I to miss our connecting flight back to Washington scheduled to leave at 9:45pm. Needless to say, there was no one from Miami Air available to assist us, and Delta said it would be up to Miami Air to reimburse us for any expenses if we had to stay overnight. Fortunately, we were able to get on a Delta flight which left at about 12:30am. By the time we got home, it was about 3:30 Sunday morning. The point of all this information is that you should be wary of dealing with Miami Air. Their planes are very old and the the service is lousy. They even ran out of one of the food choices on the return flight so we had to eat the beef, like it or not. When one of the passengers became very irate, he upset the lead flight attendant who announced over the PA system that it was probably due to her experiencing PMS and nicotine withdrawal. Although we basically enjoyed our vacation aboard Horizon, the Miami Air fiasco took away from the joy of the trip. Celebrity should have done a lot better by us. <BR> <BR>

sandy

My advice is: Book your own air! Celebrity/Royal Caribbean is notorious for unsatisfactory air itineraries. If you don't want to book your own air, pay $35.00 for "Custom Air." That way you can choose your flights.

JanGail

I agree that it is better to either <BR>book your own air or to use "air <BR>deviation" which is travel agent <BR>terminology for "custom air". It <BR>usually costs between $25 - 45 but is <BR>well worth it! These two options offer <BR>you the most flexibility in timing, <BR>scheduling of connections (if necessary) <BR>and seating. <BR>Hope this helps. <BR>JanGail

hector

I was on the same cruise as James! The Horizon departing Aruba on the 18th of November. I was on my honeymoon and had spent the prior week in Aruba. I was one of the passengers wondering why we didn't leave on time! Sorry about the mess you guys encountered, James. <BR> <BR> Now about the cruise, yes they pushed the throttle that first night to arrive to St. Thomas as scheduled, but after that first night, I think it wasn't very bumpy with the exception of the 5th night. The boat was manufactured in 1990 but is kept in great shape. Like James mentioned, there were only about 770 people on this cruise out of a capacity of about 1300. Therefore, we had to wait very seldomely for anything. <BR> I was expected excellent food and boy did Celebrity deliver! Great food! The food was good and plenty. I was pleasantly surprised by the entertainment onboard, also. The shows were very good. The room service staff was excellent. My wife and I were invited to special cocktail for honeymooners and were treated to an awesome cake. Tell'em it's your honeymoon!!! <BR> <BR> James forgot to mention the night that the ship lost power momentarily. Everything just shut off, including the engines! But all power was restored and there weren't any major inconviniences. Apparently one of the generators had problems. <BR> <BR> If anyone has anymore questions regarding this cruise or my experience with Celebrity please don't hesitate. I personally am now a Celebrity patron and my wife and I are already planning our next cruise on Celebrtiy.