Destiny 4/15 Yet another review!!

[dseres]

I wish there were this many reviews about the Destiny right before I went! The cruise critics who were on this trip are really on the ball!!

This was a pre-graduation trip for my daughter and her boyfriend, who came with me and my husband. We had a balcony room on the Empress deck, was tight but we made it work. We had a great time with a few criticisms and here they are.

 

Pre-Cruise: We live in CT. so we flew from Laguardia in New York to Miami. We took an early flight so we could enjoy the whole day in Miami, which we did! We left at 5 am. for our 7:40 flight and were surprised to find a huge line at the American Airline terminal, the reason was that the power was out. So they were basically checking everyone in manually. So after getting throught the line we had to hurry right on the plane and had a nice flight down. We quickly got off and were able to catch a Taxi within a minute or two to our hotel. It waS $24 for all four of us which is much better and easier than waiting for some shuttle or bus which usually costs like $20 bucks each.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami, which is great because it is right across the street from Bayside Marketplace, which is right on the water and there are lots of shops, stores, and places to eat including the Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gumps, Hooters, Bongos, and many others. We stored our bags at the hotel and went over and had a nice lunch outside. After that we went back and checked into our room which had a great view of the water and we were able to see our ship come in the next morning which was so exciting! That afternoon we notice that there was a Miami Heat game that night so we went over (right across the street) and were able to get tickets so that was an unplanned exciting addition to our trip (especially for the kids). So we had a quick dinner at Bubba gumps and they went to the game while I did some shopping around at Bayside and went back to the hotel to relax. This is a really good location to stay pre-cruise.

 

Embarkation: We left the hotel aroud 10:40 a.m. and got a taxi for $13 to the pier, which is right over the bridge and only takes like 6 minutes. We went right in and were given a group number, and some forms to fill out saying that we were not sick, and we checked into the kiosk, and got our sign and sail cards. After a not too long wait we were on the ship by 11:30 and eating lunch by 12. I never tried to bring any drinks on before, but I brought a 6 pack of diet pepsi and some bottled water in a CVS bag and nobody ever even looked at it or questioned it. My daughter and boyfriend bought soda cards at one of the bars on the lido deck. They were like $22 each for the four day cruise.

[dseres]

Cabin: So as I mentioned we were in a balcony room on the Empress deck. We never have stayed above the upper deck or had a balcony so it was nice to try it. It was hard to remember that we had to take the elevator down to dinner and the promanade since we usually stay low and everything is up! Fortunately we had calm seas so we didn't feel any motion out of the ordinary. I did love having the balcony it was so nice to go right outside at night and in the morning to see the other ships and ports and feel the warm air. I know it says they are the same size but for some reason the actual room seemed smaller than an oceanview room? I don't know why maybe it was set up slightly different than our last cruise on the Triumph. We had an old TV with a junky clicker that was held together by masking tape. Our bathroom was old and in need of some work, but I don't really care about that it was fine. Our carpet had a lot of stains on it which was a little gross. We had an upper and lower for the kids, but the lower one was really short and my daughter is 5'10" so she had to bend her legs to sleep lol. Her boyfriend is 6"2" so he got the top one which was fine. Our room stewards were really nice and always were out in the halls and always said hey to us and called us all by name which was awesome. The only thing was the first night they didn't come in and clean our room so after raving to my daughters boyfriend how cool it is that they turn down the beds and leave the towel animals, it was a little disappointing when it wasn't done. No big deal, just one of a few things that we noticed different this trip.

 

Dining Room: Now here is really my only big disappointment for the trip. The one thing that has always been the highlight of cruising to me is the dining room experience. Even my daughters since they were young and went on their first cruise always loved dinner in the dining room, because of how attentive and special the waiters always make you feel. First of all i had requested to be in the center dining room, because one cruise I went on we had a table all the way in the back of the ship and I felt sick there. So after looking to see where our table was we saw that we were put in the rear dining room , but worse than that was the horrible location of the table. It was practically in the kitchen in the corner all by itself. and it was a table for four, which I also was hoping to be put with other people. We couldn't believe that they actually even put a table where this one was! You wouldn't even be able to see the dining room from there. Anyway my husband went right up to the maitre D and we were moved to the center of the dining room area in a booth for four, which was much better. Okay I know I must sound like a complainer but I swear I am not a picky person but our waiter, though very nice and always smiling, was not at all talkative or attentive. In fact one night two of us had something we really didn't like and wanted to get something else, well we sat there for a half hour and by then it was too late so we just got dessert. It was the first cruise where they never "knew" what we wanted to drink or those little special things that we have always loved in the past. I went on one NCL cruise a few years ago and they had freestyle dining and we didn't like it because you don't get to know your waiter and feel that special way that we have always felt every other cruise. In fact It seemed like there wasn't a whole lot of that interacting going on around us either. I did see a few table being "entertained" by their waitstaff, but not many. Maybe they are told not to anymore? I don't know, but It is surely a let down for me. Two years ago, we had a group of 11 and we had the most awesome waiter Ismail from Turkey he would do tricks, and take pics with us and he even gave us all a picture of the ship the last night with a personal note to each of us. The girls actually cried when saying goodbye to him. Sad to me if thats a thing of the past. Don't even get me started on shorts and inappropriate clothing in the dining room. I just don't get it. I was with 2 seventeen year olds who dressed every night and liked it.

[Froufie]

Great review so far - waiting to hear about your ports!

[Sarah@Sea]

I'll be on the Destiny in Sept...thanks for the review. Oh, and I read someone where the Balcony rooms are a bit smaller than reg ocean view room, because the ocean view have inside space where your balcony is.

[cdamion]

dseres: Sorry to hear about the dining room experience. I am feeling like I had only one of the few good waiters in the dining room. Sadly other people I spoke to similarly said that their wait staff wasn't as personable. I was in the Galaxy dining room and looking around, it looked like other waiters were getting along great with their tables. I wonder if there is a difference in quality between the Galaxy dining room and Universe dining room. Maybe they are not as happy in the Universe dining room due to supervision or something?

 

I also wonder if the prepaid tips results in worse service because they are not as motivated.

[dseres]

Entertainment: This was a short cruise so we didn't see that many shows. We went the first night and caught part of the show which was the usual kind of corny singing/dancing numbers. We did see 2 comedians, unfortunately I don't remember the names, but the second one was hilarious he was on the last night. Definitely worth seeing.

 

Key West: We have never been to Key West so I was looking forward to this stop. We were there in the morning only til like 1:00 so we didn't get to do too much. But I really thought it was nice. Lots of cute little shops and lots of fun bars. I would definitely like to go there longer sometime. You can get a drink and walk around town with it which was fun.

 

Cozumel: We took a taxi right to Paradise Beach when we got off the ship, it was $13 for four of us took about 15 minutes. As soon as we got there we were greeted by a guy who sold us the $12 per person bracelets to use all the water "toys" and kayaks, etc. The kids and my husband got one, I'm not a swimmer so I am always the designated chair and valuables keeper. I got my bucket of Dos XXX's beers, which was about $15 for 5, which was awesome compared to the $26 dollar bucket of four bud lights on the ship. The only things we ate were some chips and guacamole and chicken fingers and fries. Everything was reasonable and good. The kids went parasailing from the beach as well for an additional fee. I liked that we didn't have to "pay" to use the chairs , they just expect you to spend $10 each for the day, which obviously isn't hard to do if you are drinking at all. I considered going to the all inclusive Nachi Cocum, but to be honest with you we probably wouldn't eat much, they kids barely eat anything and they like being in the water on the stuff all day. I'm sure Nachi is beautiful and if it was just me and my husband we probably would try it. At about 5:30 we got a taxi back to the dock and we stopped in Fat Tuesdays and had a frozen drink. A storm came while we were in there and it poured! it was really fun in there, they made us balloon hats and people were dancing on the stage on a pole and it was great. After the rain stopped we headed back to the ship. The last time I stopped at Cozumel we were right downtown which was really cool. This was the Purta maya pier which someone said was like being in an airport as far as the shops and stuff, I agree, we didn't really shop much, nothing "authentic" there.

 

Debarkation: We had a 2:30 flight home so we were in no hurry to get off the ship. We only had one big checked bag so I left that one out the night before, and we all had one carry on with us. We went up to the Lido deck around 8:00 had breakfast, went down to take one last look at the pictures and they were calling "last call" to get off the ship I think by then it was around 9:15. We went down and picked up my bag we were in line only about 5 minutes , went through customs and immediately caught a cab back to the airport for $30 for 4 of us. We did have a few hours to wait for our flight but it went by fairly quickly, we looked around, got a pizza, and had a great flight home, actually got in a half hour early. All in all it was a good trip, we had a lot of fun.

 

As far as the "smells" yeah, it really stunk right by the photos every night. That was really the only place I noticed it. My only other real disappointment was the dining room. But still fun. Can't wait to plan my next cruise.

[dseres]

Entertainment: This was a short cruise so we didn't see that many shows. We went the first night and caught part of the show which was the usual kind of corny singing/dancing numbers. We did see 2 comedians, unfortunately I don't remember the names, but the second one was hilarious he was on the last night. Definitely worth seeing.

 

Key West: We have never been to Key West so I was looking forward to this stop. We were there in the morning only til like 1:00 so we didn't get to do too much. But I really thought it was nice. Lots of cute little shops and lots of fun bars. I would definitely like to go there longer sometime. You can get a drink and walk around town with it which was fun.

 

Cozumel: We took a taxi right to Paradise Beach when we got off the ship, it was $13 for four of us took about 15 minutes. As soon as we got there we were greeted by a guy who sold us the $12 per person bracelets to use all the water "toys" and kayaks, etc. The kids and my husband got one, I'm not a swimmer so I am always the designated chair and valuables keeper. I got my bucket of Dos XXX's beers, which was about $15 for 5, which was awesome compared to the $26 dollar bucket of four bud lights on the ship. The only things we ate were some chips and guacamole and chicken fingers and fries. Everything was reasonable and good. The kids went parasailing from the beach as well for an additional fee. I liked that we didn't have to "pay" to use the chairs , they just expect you to spend $10 each for the day, which obviously isn't hard to do if you are drinking at all. I considered going to the all inclusive Nachi Cocum, but to be honest with you we probably wouldn't eat much, they kids barely eat anything and they like being in the water on the stuff all day. I'm sure Nachi is beautiful and if it was just me and my husband we probably would try it. At about 5:30 we got a taxi back to the dock and we stopped in Fat Tuesdays and had a frozen drink. A storm came while we were in there and it poured! it was really fun in there, they made us balloon hats and people were dancing on the stage on a pole and it was great. After the rain stopped we headed back to the ship. The last time I stopped at Cozumel we were right downtown which was really cool. This was the Purta maya pier which someone said was like being in an airport as far as the shops and stuff, I agree, we didn't really shop much, nothing "authentic" there.

 

Debarkation: We had a 2:30 flight home so we were in no hurry to get off the ship. We only had one big checked bag so I left that one out the night before, and we all had one carry on with us. We went up to the Lido deck around 8:00 had breakfast, went down to take one last look at the pictures and they were calling "last call" to get off the ship I think by then it was around 9:15. We went down and picked up my bag we were in line only about 5 minutes , went through customs and immediately caught a cab back to the airport for $30 for 4 of us. We did have a few hours to wait for our flight but it went by fairly quickly, we looked around, got a pizza, and had a great flight home, actually got in a half hour early. All in all it was a good trip, we had a lot of fun.

 

As far as the "smells" yeah, it really stunk right by the photos every night. That was really the only place I noticed it. My only other real disappointment was the dining room. But still fun. Can't wait to plan my next cruise.

__________________

[Froufie]

Key West: We have never been to Key West so I was looking forward to this stop. We were there in the morning only til like 1:00 so we didn't get to do too much. But I really thought it was nice. Lots of cute little shops and lots of fun bars. I would definitely like to go there longer sometime. You can get a drink and walk around town with it which was fun

.

 

I know KW is a short stop - what time did you get off the ship? What time were the shops open? and yes I will also ask you if you saw any wandering chickens or roosters in the streets of Key West!:D

[dseres]

We got off the ship in Key West around 9:45 but you could have gotten off earlier. We just figured if all we were going to do is walk around we had a few hours which was fine. Everything was open, including the bars and yes I did see a lot of chickens and roosters haha! especially at a place right near the dock.

[Froufie]

I can't wait to walk among the 'chickens'! :D:D Guess the stores and bars are open early if ship is in port? I guess people are already enjoying some 'drinks' - not sure I could stomach that so early in the morning - but I suppose I could 'force' myself to try some key lime pie on a stick! :D:D

[catne]

thanks for the review...we're sailing on Destiny 3 weeks from today so glad to see a current review.

[keishashadow]

u r right about the destiny reviews being few & far between, especially the eastern, thanx for TR!

 

i agree re many missing out on the experience of dressing for dinner, ur DD & BF look like they were having fun, nice of u to take him along w/the family.

 

reading of the lackluster dining experience was disappointing. were u assigned dining in MDR? We're anytime & i was worried we'd be doing tradeoff for convenience vs being 'catered to' with our drink orders, etc. waiting for us. Dining is such a big part of crusing for many of us, hope they keep their standards in place.

 

fyi, pretty sure i read in guidebook that the OVs on the destiny r same size as the balconies (even when factoring in the balconies)...im sure somebody will correct me if im wrong;)