Destiny 4/11...A Cruise of Firsts

[crisp1]

Our 5th CCL cruise, but one of many new experiences. This time we had our own cabin/balcony. This cruise we 'connected' with other CC's, and had a Great time, made friends, had a whole different type of cruise.

 

San Juan/embarkation. Nothing exciting about deck Zero, ( next month or two the terminal will be done and everyone will be able to enjoy the embarkation we are use to , in the mean time you can carry your own bags or tip a porter to get you to the head of the line ( it's worth every dollar). Once on board, you are supposed to go to the Lido, But try your cabin first, it may not be ready, but maybe you can drop off those carry-on's you don't need and say hi to your steward .

 

Next firsts... The meet/n/greet with the CC's. Our cruises have been for three ( this time our son had a friend), so it was like dating again . our freinds, LDR et al.,Tdoust ( happy anniversary), and the rest of the gang met on Sunday, right after the muster drill in the All Sports bar. After having 'too good of a time'( who bought the the last round? ) I found my way back to the cabin.

Next, although we've been to St. Thomas, we took the 'Trunk bay excursion' ( more later).

Another first, hanging in the Apollo bar. Along with the 'other celeb look alikes' we had a great time... and drove Anton crazy . This became 'our place'... and he lost control .

 

First time taking a cruise with the 'sea days' at the end

 

First time with 4 ports

 

First time not having to 'enjoy' the funnel deck late at night (see above )

 

First time on the upper deck for dining ( even the photo lab says 'dinning')

 

First time in Dominica, Barbados, and Aruba

 

First time having an entire day post cruise to enjoy a 'port'

 

first time I ever went on a cruise during my 'busiest time'.... more to come!

 

 

 

To Sea, or not, to See.

Starward 81, Volendam 83, Oceanic 87, Majestic 93, Victory 2/10/02, Imagination 5/23/02, 1/30/03, Conquest 12/28/03, Destiny 04/11/04

 

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[Hawaii697]

Please hurry with more! Can't wait to read about Dominica and Barbados.

 

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Cruisin' Southern Caribbean August 2005

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[crisp1]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hawaii697:

Please hurry with more! Can't wait to read about Dominica and Barbados.

 

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I have to this in bits and pieces because of work, so I'll do the ports ( by request)

 

St Thomas has to be one the most beautiful ports to see/ be in. The hills with pink houses, the bluest water. We were there on the Victory and went to coral world/ coki beach ( nice), so we decided to go to Trunks Bay. Although I knew we could 'do' it on our own, we decided to go on the ships excursion. Although the ferry leaves from the dock, you end up having little over an hour on the beach, which is a little disappointing ( probably good for me with the size head I had from Sunday night ). It was a bit crowded along the snorkel trail ( I can't understand why people need flippers when snorkeling like that ). Cruz, Hawksnest and Caneel bays are beautiful... worth going back for an extended vacation.

 

Dominica. It is just as beatiful as St Thomas, but in a totally different way. Approaching the island you can see the cloud covered mountain tops without a house, hotel or golfcourse , arriving at the dock, you can see that this is not your typical port. We had decided to 'do' it on our own. After waiting for the first wave of passengers to leave we got off the ship around 11. Right off the dock is an area that's very busy, an information booth, a wharehouse type of building with tables and booths, and a place where there were a dozen taxis or so. The DW immediately goes up to a taxi dispatcher and tells him what we want to do , this guys says $50pp and tries to get us in a small bus. I tried to get ouselves out of there ( DW doesn't understand what's going on), just then a small cab pulls up and drops off 2 fellow CCers, and negotiate with him for a day trip. Now this guy's in trouble because that's a no-no. The dispatchers want their peice of the pie. After telling them a white lie, we were off ( The lesson here is to go thru the second gate to the outer lot near the street). Arthur Thomas was GREAT! We spent nearly 5 hours going to the Emerald Pool, Trafalga falls, stopped by "It's Nice To Be Nice" for all the local fruits, juices, coconut water and delicacies, along with some great talk... all for free . " If you can reach the coconut leave what you like, if you can't reach it, no problem, if you don't have anyting, no problem" Yes it is 'great to be nice'. we also went to the botanical gardens an up to the point overlooking Roseau for some great pictures, drove thru Roseau and back to the ship. The people of Dominica are very friendly. Little children waved to us continuously, the shop/stand owners never tried to push anything on you. This port was the highlite of the 8 days for us. I have Arthur Thomas' phone and cell #'s if you're a small group (up to 4), and want to pre-arrange a tour and have him waiting for you. Next Barbados and arid aruba

 

 

 

To Sea, or not, to See.

Starward 81, Volendam 83, Oceanic 87, Majestic 93, Victory 2/10/02, Imagination 5/23/02, 1/30/03, Conquest 12/28/03, Destiny 04/11/04

 

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[Jeepers385]

Have to agree w/you Crisp on Dominica, I found it to be very beautiful and unspoiled. People reminded me of the folks in Costa Rica, extremely friendly and so joyful.

 

Can't wait for the rest of your review.

 

Debbie

 

Carnival Destiny 2/8/04

Grand Princess 7/6/03

RCL - Nordic Empress 2/03 & 4/02

Crown Dynasty 7/00

Queen of Bermuda 7/87

Carnival - Mardi Gras 11/75

 

[scubadave]

Glad you had a nice cruise.I am going on the Destiny on May 2.How was the piano bar.

[crisp1]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by scubadave:

Glad you had a nice cruise.I am going on the Destiny on May 2.How was the piano bar.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

It being Easter week, there were alot of families, so some nights it was dead, The night of the captains party, and sea days were alot of fun

 

 

 

To Sea, or not, to See.

Starward 81, Volendam 83, Oceanic 87, Majestic 93, Victory 2/10/02, Imagination 5/23/02, 1/30/03, Conquest 12/28/03, Destiny 04/11/04

 

Conquest New Years Cruise

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[crisp1]

Barbados.

 

We wanted to take the island safari tour, but it was sold out and ended up taking the coast to coast tour. The east coast is beautiful, but they say unswimmable due to strong currents, other than that, the only thing that sticks out in my mind is all the sugar cane.

 

Aruba

 

A very interesting but small island. surrrounded by water, but it's a desert. All their water comes from desalinization. We did the 4x4 cross country tour. It was good, but the description does not tell you that you're going to drive, or end up in another jeep/ land rover as a passenger. I drove ( we got the older land rovers- another group got new jeeps). The rocks, natural bridge and the beach were nice, I like one guides idea for the piles of rocks all over the place " they're not from witches or voodoo, it's from monkey-see-monkey-do". An island full of rocks, what else would you do

 

The Ship

 

I found the crew to be very friendly, our cabin steward nice, kept our cabins clean, made great animals. Cheers was a nice place to stop and chat with Ilianna on our way to carousing at night. It was usually empty, so we had pleasant conversations and met some nice folks. The piano bar was fun ( It was never the place I wanted to hang out in before) Anton was good when there was a crowd, even got the DW to get up and sing an Elton John song. I was a little disappointed in the Lido breakfast. Some mornings there was coffee in only one station, much of the food was on the cold side, only found grapefruit juice 2 days. We should have eaten in the restuarant, but were either one our way off the ship, or up by the pool. Gotta go, moer to come

 

 

 

To Sea, or not, to See.

Starward 81, Volendam 83, Oceanic 87, Majestic 93, Victory 2/10/02, Imagination 5/23/02, 1/30/03, Conquest 12/28/03, Destiny 04/11/04

 

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[crisp1]

More on the ship

 

This was our 5th CCL cruise, and I've become used to the service, activities, entertainment etc. First, I must say, I think Carnival is trying to torture me. The past 2 cruises I've had to run from the Prominade area. Luckily I don't gamble. This guy 'Thomas' is the worst 1 man band I've ever had to listen to. Thak god we had a balcony cabin. Our afternoons and after dinner my DW and I would usually sit by the windows and have a glass of wine. the first time I stepped onto the Promenade I could hear that voice and I knew it was the guy who made 'Leroy Brown' unlistenable forever. However the jazz groups/ big band and the classical gruops were enjoyable. Cool Runnings were also good. I liked the first set where the drummer played the steel drums, thought they were just a tad loud. The repeaters party was packed, but there were no pictures taken and no one got up to dance. The drinks flowed for both the captains and repeater's. They are in the process of re-doing the lounge chairs by the main pool... and I think they waited much too long. Some had seats that sagged almost to the deck. The lounge saving is bad on sea days. I'm guilty of myself, but only as far as putting our towels down, and then having breakfast. One day someone moved our stuff, and when I said something her answer was " no one was sitting there", after some heated comments by myself and DW we went off and found some other chairs, but checking on this group again on Sat ( They took the same spot every day) they were worse than the worst. Saved a group of almost a dozen from 8 am with some of them not showing up until noon . CCL seems to have changed their entertainment from the usual Vegas shows to more comedian/ juggler/ hypnotist, and brought back the horse racing. There were movies on the big screen, but only on days in port. Overall we had a great time, but I miss Sur Mer, the alternate dining, enjoyed the sandwich shop, and the lunch of nations.

 

 

 

To Sea, or not, to See.

Starward 81, Volendam 83, Oceanic 87, Majestic 93, Victory 2/10/02, Imagination 5/23/02, 1/30/03, Conquest 12/28/03, Destiny 04/11/04

 

Conquest New Years Cruise

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