WE MISSED THE BOAT! A cruisin USA "LONG and LENGTHY" DESTINY Review

[vanislandcruisers]

Loving this Review...can't wait for more

[luv2travel29]

then, i saw this, and i bust out laughing!!! for real!!! :D

 

now, THAT (!) brings back memories!!!:

 

 

that really made me smile... :)

 

FANTASTIC PICTURE!

 

if i even knew a picture was being taken, i probably would have done the same as dave. so kudos, good form... :cool:

 

that is one hell of a picture!!;)

[K&P Luv2Cruise]

Great Review. THinking of hopping on the Destiny for Christmas this year...This review is great to read.

 

OP - Fantastic review !

DEERINH20 - We're also looking at the Destiny this December (23rd sailing), but the Imagination's departure on the 20th or 27th fits into our schedule better...this review is helping to make up my mind : ).

[AngelsRreal]

Great review of your adventure... Pray for us.. and yes I know you should fly out the day before but when i booked all this i had a job that I was pushing it to get a week off for the cruise.. But Delta of all airlines.. me to wont fly them again .. have called them 20 times and every time they just want to sell me a credit card or something... and dont care about us or our situations... I have flown with other airline that always valued the customer and would help when and how they could. Also I have to pay 25. for one way for one check on luggage..and 25 for coming home for that same luggage.. I dont get it.. People fly for vacations right... I sent a few letters expressing my unhappiness over not being able to fly with one checked luggage with paying. Was on the net last night reading all the problems with Delta.. Say a prayer tomorrw.. I am praying... ugh.

Dream here we come we hope.. :eek:

[JAXCRUISER]

Great review!! Thanks!

[gatime]

I would have to agree with all the other posters. Hands down the best review ever. I felt like I was right there with you at times. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks :)

[nytraveller53]

Great review of your adventure... Pray for us.. and yes I know you should fly out the day before but when i booked all this i had a job that I was pushing it to get a week off for the cruise.. But Delta of all airlines.. me to wont fly them again .. have called them 20 times and every time they just want to sell me a credit card or something... and dont care about us or our situations... I have flown with other airline that always valued the customer and would help when and how they could. Also I have to pay 25. for one way for one check on luggage..and 25 for coming home for that same luggage.. I dont get it.. People fly for vacations right... I sent a few letters expressing my unhappiness over not being able to fly with one checked luggage with paying. Was on the net last night reading all the problems with Delta.. Say a prayer tomorrw.. I am praying... ugh.

Dream here we come we hope.. :eek:

 

While I don't doubt that Cruising USA's experience with Delta was terrible, it could of happened with any airline at all, not just Delta. For example, Delta has always been great for me, with the best prices, and it doesn't hurt that I get free checked bags because I have Skymiles Gold. However, I have had 2 instances with American that were similar to the writer's. So don't worry, everything will go fine, uneventful.

 

Maybe I'm just partial to Delta, but please, don't worry!!!:)

[copper6606]

Loving this Review...can't wait for more

From one great review writer to another! Hi there Jim!;)

xo

[octcruise10]

WOW! A BOOK IN THE MAKING!!!!!!

 

As I was reading this.....I was getting mad at myself for not printing it and taking it on my cruise for a great read!!!! I am so glad everything seemed to work out for all of you. You have to be a "ghost writer" FANTASTIC!!!

 

What a wonderful family! Would love to cruise into you guys sometime!

 

Best wishes and happy stress free sailing!:)

[cruzinblondie]

Awesome review!!!

So glad you posted it and can't wait to hear the rest.

[jfaw]

Great review! We did this same itenerary last year and loved it! We sail on the Destiny again in 23 days!! but this time we go to Nassau, Half Moon Cay & Grand Turk! We are so excited :D

[mitchmcf]

Awesome review!!! Can't wate till 11/29 !:D

[chickie_mite]

Hawt review, thanks ever so much for the great read!!

[cruisin USA]

“Not So Smooth Sailing”

 

 

 

The next morning I awoke to a creaking sound we hadn’t heard before. I looked up at the centerpiece hanging from our ceiling. It was swaying back and forth. The water bottle on our counter was rolling back and forth as if it was some kind of “weeble wobble”.(at least it didn’t fall down). Mary Ann got up for coffee. I stayed in bed for a little extra. I got up, and got ready, went out to the lido deck. The ship was swaying pretty good, I must have looked like a drunken sailor walking through the hallway. I got on the elevator. Rode it up to the lido deck, and as timing would have it the ship rocked so that it helped me right out the elevator. I paged Mary Ann on the walkie talkie. Her and Nicole were on the lido deck, outside. I found them fast. The deck was crowded. It was cloudy and "coolish" so we decided to eat back at the Sun and Sea buffet. The line was long. We got in it. I won’t say I was feeling nauseous, but I wasn’t feeling like I could eat. Luckily, the feeling subsided before we got to the food. Lunch in the Sun and Sea buffet is always good. The selections were varied daily. Unlike the outside lido deck, where the lunch menu consisted daily of milk, coleslaw, potato salad, tortilla chips, with salsa, jalapenos, and liquid cheese. In the hot plates there was always French fries(which we saw kids pile by the plate full), chicken fingers,(with bleu cheese and honey mustard dip), hot dogs, chili(which is ALWAYS cold), hamburgers and cheeseburgers with onion and mush tops for both. It’s wonderful having so many choices….anyway. ..As I was saying, the food varied at the Sun and Sea from day to day. The salad bar in the middle was always good. Nowadays, they use a “pour” bottle for all the salad dressings(good idea),

No more dessert table…..heavy sigh. But if you’re going to cut somewhere......

The cold section of the buffet might have tomatoes

and onions in vinagrette, multi bean salad, and the like. It seemed like fruit was always an option. Other cold options might include various cheeses, lot’s o choices. On to the hot plates. Daily options might include a seafood pasta, pepper steak, broasted chicken, stuffed peppers…..There was always someone slicing meat. One day it was roast beef, another ham, another lamb. It varied. The Sun and Sea seemed like it was always busy. We like to go upstairs. There doesn’t ever seem to be many people up there. I’ve seen ships officers sitting by themselves there(probably to enjoy a little quite time like us). We enjoyed our lunch while looking out the window. It was cloudy and we could see the “white tops” of many waves in the water. After lunch we roamed. The ship was still rocking, The pools were closed, with the nets over them. The water was SLOSHING BACK and FORTH. but after awhile it seemed like we slowed down, or we hit some calmer seas. Nicole went on her way. Mary Ann and I saw a little bit of the hairy chest contest. It’s always fun, but I’d say it was the coldest that it’d ever been while we were on a ship. We mostly stuck to inside. We did end up on our balcony for a little while. We could see Cuba right there in the distance. It had to be Cuba. It was a huge island! On the bed were 2 envelopes. I opened the first. It basically stated that we had to have our bags outside the door by 11:00pm, and that since we boarded from another port, that we had to be checked by special customs. The other note said that we didn’t have to pack our bags, and that if we wanted to visit Miami for the day,

we could leave the ship anytime from 7:00-9:30am, and could return anywhere between noon and 3 using VIP boarding. Or, If we were staying on the ship(which is what we decided) that we had to report to guest services at 9:30 am. Yikes!! 2 different sets of instructions reguarding our back to back(hadn't we been through enough). I called information, and was relieved to find out we didn’t have to pack.

 

 

to be continued

[cruisin USA]

.......Mary Ann, Nicole, and myself went to the past guest party. This was our 7th cruise, and I don’t think we’ve ever missed a (free drink) “past guest” party. We enjoyed a couple of drinks. The appetizers were chicken salad on a rye crisp, and some sort of fish on a red gelatinous glob on a cracker. In the middle of the party, they showed us a movie on the big screen. It started with Gerry Cahill talking to us.

 

 

 

 

 

He thanked all of us for being returning customers. At another point John Heald spoke to us too.

 

 

 

 

 

The hightlight of the film was when they flashed through the Carnival fleet. We were encouraged to cheer if we saw a ship we’d been on. The ships would come up. We really whooped it up when we saw the Ecstasy, Imagination, Paradise, and of course the loudest cheers went when the Destiny was shown!! What I noticed the most?….Whereas the other PG parties we’ve been to have filled the entire showroom, only the bottom floor was occupied here.(and not entirely full either), Guess we were cruising with a bunch of newbies.

 

 

 

 

 

After the party, we decided to see we could find the “secret doors“. WE FOUND THEM!!! Got to Deck 6, and headed all the way forward, There was a door that led us out the the front of the ship. COOL!!(and VERY WINDY!)

 

 

 

 

I could see the very front of the ship, and the bell. Looking up and back, there was the bridge!!

 

 

 

 

Although Mary Ann and I had been on the ship before, we hadn’t been here. Stopped for a few pictures, and went downstairs to deck 5. Another small observation area. It was really windy, and we headed in.

 

 

As close as the Titanic, as you're going to get!

 

 

to be continued.......

[cruisin USA]

Nicole went to get ready for dinner. Mary Ann and I headed for the casino. There weren’t too many craps players this trip. There was a couple of times that I saw people playing, and joined, but it never lasted. There were a lot more people playing Roulette, Blackjack, Let it Ride, and of course the slots. The day sped by, and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for our last dinner with the kids. Again we dressed up, and this time we went to all the photo ops BEFORE dinner. We did 3 or 4 of the ops. As we were getting ready to do our last photo session, I see who I think is Jrock from the cruise critic boards. She’s sitting in the wine bar. I did go over and introduce myself. We had a short, but pleasant conversation. This was the second half of a back to back for her, and she sort of passed the baton onto me. I wish I could have passed the baton to someone after our second half. Back to the pictures and off to dinner. Tonight I started with French Onion Soup, followed by shrimp cocktail, fruit plate, and I ended up chosing the boneless short ribs. The meat was “melt in your mouth tender” and the sauce was hearty and flavorful. The waiters sang to us one last time(for this trip). A sentimental song, sung to “Leavin on a Jet Plane”. A real tear jerker considering all these people(except us) were going home tomorrow. At a really sad part of the song one of the waiters yells into the microphone “Please don’t go!!!” All are touched, but know his plea is in vain.(sigh..for all of them). Desmond announces that we can’t finish on that sad note, and the waiters break into another upbeat happy song. Dessert tonight? Baked Alaska!! YUM!! Being in the late seating(8:15) we were finished near 9:30. The kids had all packed. We all decided we’d go to the R-rated comedy show with Martin Todd. When we met up there, the place was PACKED! Not a seat. We decided to come back for the 11:15 show. The trick would be to get there just as the show was ending and people were leaving. We ended up scoring a front row table!! Martin was pretty funny. Even more funny were the 2 guys(1 in particular) who were drunk off there butts, and trying to heckle him. His comedy was common denominator stuff, and we all enjoyed the show. By the time it was over it was close to midnight. There was still stuff going on all over the ship. The piano bar was going. It never seemed that busy. “Guitar Music with Adam” was at the casino bar. We enjoyed Adams performances throughout the trip. He did a good Tom Petty, and some more acoustic versions of comtemporary rock songs. I never saw anything going on in the Downbeat Lounge. I regret missing Blood Power. They had a real following on Cruise Critic. We went back to the cabin. There was the bill for the first leg $102.00 total(after they applied our onboard credit). Probably the least we’ve ever spent, but we were only on the ship 3 out of 5 days. Mary Ann turned in. I went back out for awhile. I ended up getting my first slice of Carnival pizza for the trip. I ended up at the room, hanging out on the balcony, before turning in.

 

 

 

to be continued(tomorrow)

[QueensChick]

What a wonderful review! :)

I'm sorry to hear about your flight woes & having to join the ship late, but it still sounds like a wonderful experience. Thank you for sharing.

[pjtulsa]

I wanna cruise with you:D

 

You guys sound like a lot of fun and have the go with the flow attitude which always makes for a great cruise...

 

Thanks for the great read!!! Keep it coming.

[Cruisin' Kim]

Thanks for taking the time to share your story- I have really enjoyed reading this and can't wait to read the rest!

[Prairie_Gal]

Awesome review!!!

[Shelbyjane56]

While I don't doubt that Cruising USA's experience with Delta was terrible, it could of happened with any airline at all, not just Delta. For example, Delta has always been great for me, with the best prices, and it doesn't hurt that I get free checked bags because I have Skymiles Gold. However, I have had 2 instances with American that were similar to the writer's. So don't worry, everything will go fine, uneventful.

 

Maybe I'm just partial to Delta, but please, don't worry!!!:)

 

I have to agree with you nytraveller53, we fly on delta all the time, hubby is million mile plus with diamond status, I get the perks of going with him from time to time on his worldwide travels. Enjoy not having to pay for checked baggage, though we try to travel light no matter where we are going, but thats not always possible....anyway, as you stated, Delta has problems from time to time, but so does every other airline! We always leave a day or 2 early when going on a cruise. We live in Fort Wayne Indiana, about 3 hours give or take from Detroit. WE have an international airport, which is rather funny, but its a nice airport and you dont have to deal with huge crowds, there are lots who drive down here to not have the hassle of Detroit (we lived in michigan for 5 longggg years lol I would much rather fly on delta than any other airline, and given the perks we would be fools not to. Yes when we book really early, yes we get calls with changes, we did get to the airport late one time and we got the talk, "you can get on the plane but your luggage cant" we were able to get on another flight with our luggage in an hour after our orginal flight had left...we learned get to the airport (my fault) early and have some coffee :)In the big picture, all airlines have problems ever single one of them, but we all live and learn...

[Shelbyjane56]

Nicole went to get ready for dinner. Mary Ann and I headed for the casino. There weren’t too many craps players this trip. There was a couple of times that I saw people playing, and joined, but it never lasted. There were a lot more people playing Roulette, Blackjack, Let it Ride, and of course the slots. The day sped by, and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for our last dinner with the kids. Again we dressed up, and this time we went to all the photo ops BEFORE dinner. We did 3 or 4 of the ops. As we were getting ready to do our last photo session, I see who I think is Jrock from the cruise critic boards. She’s sitting in the wine bar. I did go over and introduce myself. We had a short, but pleasant conversation. This was the second half of a back to back for her, and she sort of passed the baton onto me. I wish I could have passed the baton to someone after our second half. Back to the pictures and off to dinner. Tonight I started with French Onion Soup, followed by shrimp cocktail, fruit plate, and I ended up chosing the boneless short ribs. The meat was “melt in your mouth tender” and the sauce was hearty and flavorful. The waiters sang to us one last time(for this trip). A sentimental song, sung to “Leavin on a Jet Plane”. A real tear jerker considering all these people(except us) were going home tomorrow. At a really sad part of the song one of the waiters yells into the microphone “Please don’t go!!!” All are touched, but know his plea is in vain.(sigh..for all of them). Desmond announces that we can’t finish on that sad note, and the waiters break into another upbeat happy song. Dessert tonight? Baked Alaska!! YUM!! Being in the late seating(8:15) we were finished near 9:30. The kids had all packed. We all decided we’d go to the R-rated comedy show with Martin Todd. When we met up there, the place was PACKED! Not a seat. We decided to come back for the 11:15 show. The trick would be to get there just as the show was ending and people were leaving. We ended up scoring a front row table!! Martin was pretty funny. Even more funny were the 2 guys(1 in particular) who were drunk off there butts, and trying to heckle him. His comedy was common denominator stuff, and we all enjoyed the show. By the time it was over it was close to midnight. There was still stuff going on all over the ship. The piano bar was going. It never seemed that busy. “Guitar Music with Adam” was at the casino bar. We enjoyed Adams performances throughout the trip. He did a good Tom Petty, and some more acoustic versions of comtemporary rock songs. I never saw anything going on in the Downbeat Lounge. I regret missing Blood Power. They had a real following on Cruise Critic. We went back to the cabin. There was the bill for the first leg $102.00 total(after they applied our onboard credit). Probably the least we’ve ever spent, but we were only on the ship 3 out of 5 days. Mary Ann turned in. I went back out for awhile. I ended up getting my first slice of Carnival pizza for the trip. I ended up at the room, hanging out on the balcony, before turning in.

 

 

 

 

 

to be continued(tomorrow)

 

 

You are amazing to deal with all you had to deal with, but lesson learned, you do the best you can with what you have, and thats exactly what you did, and you didnt let it ruin your vacation! I will remember you from your comments when I get frustrated with travel in the future...and I know I will get frustrated, its part of life! Have a wonderful cruise on your next one, try the Dream, we had a wonderful week along with 2 days before the cruise and 2 days after (to recover lol) WE are booking for dec and again in may, after spring break but before kids are out of school !

[sunshinecruiser62]

Love the review........keeps me comin' back for more!!!

[kcparrothead]

I'm loving your review, too! I hope the next leg of the trip is Key West & Cozumel, because that's what we're doing in 130 days!! Thanks for sharing!

[lillian marie]

Enjoyed your review. We also travel a lot for work and all the airlines have had issues. I've had some major delays with most of the major airlines. They are overbooking to try to fly full and have cut flights to economise in a difficult economy. I was stuck in San Francisco in March and Seattle in May for weather or equipment-(plane problems) issues and missed connecting flights. As a result I missed two events-birthday parties at home for family. This was not as major as missing a cruise but still major hassles. I've learned to always fly a day before my cruise because I expect to experience some delays from air travel.