Are you thinking of booking an interior cabin on Carnival Horizon? Then you’ll want to know what to expect before you decide to purchase that room. Or if you’ve already booked, then you’ll want to know what to expect when you board.
Carnival Horizon is Carnival’s newest ship, sailing on six and eight-day journeys from Miami. The ship is large — measuring more than 1,050 feet and carrying about 4,000 guests on a given trip. You can read our review of the entire ship here or you can see our must-have tips here. Bottom line: If you are thinking about booking a trip on the Horizon, then you should have no worries and be excited about sailing.
That said, picking the right cabin can make a big difference in the enjoyment of your cruise. Even though most people spend a lot of time out and about on the ship and in port, your cabin is your home during your cruise. It’s where you can relax, rest, and regroup after a long day. You definitely want a cabin that will fit your needs and budget.
With that in mind, we recently stayed in stateroom #7238 aboard the Horizon. This interior cabin is classified as “4E”, one of the most common cabins on the ship. Below are our thoughts and impressions from staying in the cabin.
Cabin Overview
Cabin #7238 is an interior stateroom on deck 7 of the Horizon. It is located forward on the ship, six cabins down from the forward elevators and stairs.
According to Carnival’s specifications on their website, the room measures 185 square feet. That number includes both bedroom and bathroom space. This cabin is also a connecting stateroom with a door that can be opened to effectively turn two rooms into one large suite.
In our case, we had two beds separated. You also have the option of pushing them together to form one king-sized bed.
As you enter, you have closet and storage space on your left and the cabin bathroom on your right. Enter further into your room and you’ll see a small desk with mirror and pull-out stool on the left. To the right is a cabinet with refrigerator, with a TV mounted above.
Cabin Size
As mentioned, Carnival says the interior cabin measures 185 square feet. What does that mean for you? Simply that the cabin is small. It was fine for two adults who spent most of their time out and about the ship and in port. However, we would not want to fit anymore people in the cabin. Even having a child in the room would be too tight of a squeeze.
While we expect interior cabins to be small, we were still a little surprised at how little room there was. Other interior cabins we’ve sailed in have a small sitting area with a couch. That was not the case in this stateroom.
There was still ample storage to keep suitcases and bag out of the way. Not only was there a closet with some drawers and shelves, but there was also plenty of room underneath the beds to put empty bags.
Features & Amenities
If you’ve sailed on a cruise before, then you know the regular amenities you can expect in the cabin. In this area, the Carnival Horizon didn’t disappoint. In fact, there were a few items that were unexpected and welcomed.
Starting before we even opened the door, the ship features RFID-style door locks. You simply tap your card to the reader and it will open. As you enter, you must put a card into a reader to turn on the lights. This helps to keep you from leaving the lights on when you aren’t in the room. However, it can be easy to walk out of the cabin and forget your keycard in the reader.
There were a number of things you’d expect in the cabin, including a flat-screen TV with remote, in-room safe, a controllable thermostat, a mini-fridge, telephone, and a full-size closet for hanging clothes.
What stood out to us was that our room had two outlets and two spots for charging via USB. Considering many older ships just have one outlet for the entire cabin, this is a nice change given the amount of electronic devices we all travel with today.
One other perk we liked was that pool/beach towels were already in the room for our use. Because of this we didn’t have to bother going to a towel station when we were ready to hit the pool.
Bathroom
The cabin bathroom was a traditional size as other ships we’ve sailed, which is to say it is small but manageable. It features a counter, shelves for toiletries, a commode and standing shower. There was also a makeup mirror that folded in and out to save space.
There is no controllable vent in the bathroom, so if you need to have some white noise while you go, we suggest turning the shower on low. You can also use one of our tips and head to a public bathroom on the ship if you don’t want smells to linger in the cabin.
The shower is a handheld wand shower, which raises and lowers to match anyone’s height. There are also soap and shampoo dispensers in the shower if you don’t bring your own.
Bedding
One area that surprised us was the bedding in our cabin. Most cruise ship beds feature mattresses that are rather thin and can feel lumpy from so many nights of use. Perhaps it was because the ship was new, but the mattresses felt thick and supportive, giving us a great night’s sleep. Pillows were also soft but firmed up under pressure.
What we liked most, however, were the comforters. Our room was set extremely cold at night but the comforter kept us warm — borderline hot — while we slept. If you’re worried about thin blankets, then you can put those fears aside.
Noise Level
Overall our room was perfectly comfortable, if a little small. The one major complaint we had was the amount of noise in the cabin.
First, we had a connecting stateroom. When guests in the other room were talking they could clearly be heard through the adjoining doors. Thankfully our neighbors weren’t party animals and didn’t spend much time in their room, so the noise wasn’t bad.
What was more disturbing was the late-night music that could be heard in the cabin. Our room sat above the Circle C teen club, which itself sits over the Liquid Lounge theater. During our cruise thumping bass could be clearly heard — as well as felt through the floor.
The good news is that the music ended at midnight, so it didn’t go on all night. The bad news is that if you are a light sleeper, the sound and vibration was more than enough to keep you from getting to sleep.
Overall Impression
Overall, the interior cabins on Carnival Horizon are clean and comfortable, albeit small.
If traveling with one other person, booking an interior cabin on Carnival Horizon is a great way to get on the ship for the least amount of money possible. While small, the cabins still offer plenty of space given that most people aren’t in their room most of the day. If you want to put three people in a cabin, upgrade to a larger room.
That said, we highly recommend looking at the deck plans to see what is above and below your cabin. In our specific case, the noise from other areas of the ship was easily heard in the cabin.
Have more questions about cabins on Carnival Horizon? Let us know in the comments below.
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