Carnival Destiny Picture Review - Grand Turk, HMC, and Nassau

[agavin]

Hi all,

 

The longer more detailed version of this review can be found on my travel blog here:

http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Turks-and-Caicos/Grand-Turk/blog-765979.html

 

But I'll do a quick run down here for anyone interested - mostly pictures (we all like those the best, right? :))

 

Sailing out of Miami was a breeze - got to the port around 11 and was on the ship eating lunch within 30 mins. We left a bit later than scheduled, but it worked out fine since we ended up hitting the end of that long port area around sunset.

 

 

 

[agavin]

Our first day was a sea day (and elegant day) and we pretty much just lazed around the ship.

 

First port was Grand Turk. We rented a golf cart and explored the island - up to the lighthouse, the downtown area etc. (it was super fun), and then had a few drinks at the beach bars near the pier.

 

 

 

 

[susie8862]

GREAT..GREAT pictures. Thank you for sharing

[agavin]

Second port day was Half Moon Cay - it's AMAZING! I would happily go back there as a port stop any day. We didn't do any excursions... just relaxed, played in the water, ate, and drank.

 

There's some new cabanas being built there... I love the bright colours!

 

 

 

 

 

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[agavin]

Last port was Nassau... we've been before, so we just walked along the water to Arawak Cay (the fish fry area) and had something to eat and we watched some of the other ships come in.

 

 

 

[travlngrl1996]

Nice review and pictures. Especially HMC. "I wish I could stay there forever." :)

[susie8862]

You take amazing pictures.

[agavin]

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the ship herself. I never really care one way or the other about the decor of a ship (because every holiday is a good holiday), but I did find this one pretty ugly. I am looking forward to seeing how she looks as the Sunshine though. She's showing her age and there's signs of wear in a lot of places (carpets, furniture in the public areas).

 

Here's the few things I noticed that others might find good to know (I'm sure there's load of info on the Destiny out there already, so I won't go too long).

 

- our balcony cabin didn't have a fridge/cooler

- you couldn't do all the usual stuff with the TV (check your balance, booked excursions etc.)

- the shower was bigger than normal (hooray)

- I missed having a deck outside where you could walk all the way around the ship

 

No deal breakers here for sure. Food was the same as always. Entertainment options seemed to be about the same as always (Superstar Live was very popular on this sailing). There seemed to be a lot of new cruisers on this one.

 

 

 

[agavin]

That's a wrap... like I said - more pics and details in my travel blog. I'm happy to try and answer any questions.

 

Sorry the pics were so big... I just dumped the link from photobucket. Thanks for all the nice comments already!!

 

Cheers!

[canmom1966]

That's a wrap... like I said - more pics and details in my travel blog. I'm happy to try and answer any questions.

 

Sorry the pics were so big... I just dumped the link from photobucket. Thanks for all the nice comments already!!

 

Cheers!

 

super super photos...thanks for sharing :D

[wrigley80]

Nice Review.....when was your cruise??? Those 2 deck high cabanas were still in the process of being built on December 5th when we were there....it looks like they are going up in a hurry

[agavin]

Nice Review.....when was your cruise??? Those 2 deck high cabanas were still in the process of being built on December 5th when we were there....it looks like they are going up in a hurry

 

We got off the ship on Saturday.

[Pellaz]

Great pics!

 

Looks like those new 2-deck cabanas at HMC are all the colors of the rainbow (and maybe then some). :)

I wonder how Holland America, who refer to the one-story cabanas there by color and not by number, are gonna handle THAT? :eek:

[erewhon]

Thanks for sharing your super photos.

[TMWTim]

GREAT pics but this one stands out. Postcard quality...

 

[agavin]

GREAT pics but this one stands out. Postcard quality...

 

 

Great pics!

 

Looks like those new 2-deck cabanas at HMC are all the colors of the rainbow (and maybe then some). :)

I wonder how Holland America, who refer to the one-story cabanas there by color and not by number, are gonna handle THAT? :eek:

 

Thanks so much everyone :)

Maybe they'll call them rainbow cabanas ... there's a third one being built there too - it was framed out when we were there... and they've mixed them in among the others - they aren't down at the end.