I just got back on Monday from the horizon cruise. It was very good. Caught a taxi from home to the port and there were reps waiting on the pier near the taxi rank to collect your luggage. Then we had to fill in some forms to make the check in easier on board. They asked for mom in laws return ticket before boarding. Then we boarded and went to reception on deck 5 to check in and get our cruise cards. There was a small wait of 15 or 20 minutes while they checked the new guests in. Then we were free to roam around. The luggage is delivered to your cabin. Although they kept mom in laws luggage until after we departed as she had a small pair of nail scissors in there? Odd as I had a pair in my handbag they x-rayed when we boarded.

Anyway, onto important things.
Smoking - Someone asked about the smoking policy. You are not allowed to smoke in your room or balcony but you are allowed to smoke on the open decks (there are ashtrays built in around the outer decks) and also on one half of the pool area here there is a lounge area and tables to eat and relax. You are also allowed to smoke out the back of the upper deck restaurant outside. I do not smoke and others smoking only bothered me once or twice when I was having breakfast, but I was sitting in the smoking area as I wanted to see the scenery on that side of the ship. There is also a piano bar where smoking was permitted inside the ship. This opens from 6pm till late.

Other guests - I actually don’t know what to say about them. Mostly French with a lot of Spanish speaking. Not many people spoke English but that was ok with me as I did not go to make friends but rather relax. They had to be the rudest bunch of people I have ever met! Pushing old people out of the way in the buffet line, not letting you get out of elevators before they barged on. The list goes on and on. Very very rude. And as someone who lives on a half French island and spent time in Paris I have never seen this bad behavior from adults like this before. The children made some friends with other little kids even though nobody could understand each other but that didn’t seem to matter to them.

All inclusive – there was one main restaurant that was open for breakfast most days (depending on arrival times in various ports) from 730am-830am which had waiter service for drinks and a help yourself buffet for the other breakfast items. You could also order a cooked to order omelet, salmon, different eggs etc. cooked to order with a max 20 minute wait or you could help yourself from the buffet. Cereals, fresh fruits, hams, cheese, eggs (different every day, scrambled, poached or fried), bacon or ham and some sort of potato and ready-made sliced omelet. Along with a huge variety of pastries, croissants, donuts, banana breads, brioche, etc. The buffet upstairs as open from 7am till 930 or 10am. There are machines with various juices and sodas and a large selection of teas to choose from. My favorite place for a coffee was the Mocha coffee bar here they had lavazza coffee and bloody Mary’s, mimosas etc.

Staff – They made the cruise! There are a lot of staff on board from Mauritius and they were all amazing from the bar staff, our cabin steward (who cleaned the cabin twice a day and left lovely little towel animals for the kids) to the kids club staff, activities, etc. nothing but very good things to say about them all. There as only one man making crepes that could not speak English but he called his supervisor in less than 5 seconds to answer our questions with a huge smile on his face.

All in all in would certainly recommend this cruise, especially for the price.